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ORANGE CITY -- Three people were killed when a sport utility vehicle overturned early Sunday on Carpenrter Avenue, just north of Rhode Island Avenue, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Michelle O'Rourke Fisher, 36, of DeBary, was driving north on Carpenter Avenue, when she lost control of her 1997 Ford Explorer at 12:30 a.m. and the vehicle overturned -- killing her and two passengers -- Christopher Lee Doerr, 27, of Orange City and Marianne Doerr Nipper, 52, of Austell, Ga. None of them were wearing their seatbelts, the highway patrol said.

DELAND -- A DeLand biker was struck and killed early Saturday by a pickup truck going the wrong way on U.S. 17, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The midnight accident north of Old Daytona Road claimed the life of Michael E. Priester, 53, who was riding his 2007 Harley-Davidson on the inside northbound lane, when he was struck by a 2007 Dodge pickup driven by Raymond T. Youngblood, 62, of Seville, the highway patrol said.

The truck then veered onto the east shoulder, across Old Daytona Road, and into a building at 1519 Old Daytona Road.

I’m sad to read about the young man killed at the Medicine Shoppe. Mostly, I am sad for his family. They lost a son, a brother, an uncle. While the news media and townspeople vilify him for having an illness, what some people fail to take into account is that most addicts don’t chose to be addicts but once hooked on something, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and even food which most of us have battled at one time or another, the habits are almost impossible to break.

DELAND -- Fire officials from Volusia County Fire Services are warning the public of telephone solicitors who may be contacting local citizens for donations, said Shelley Szafraniec, Volusia County spokeswoman. Over the past couple of days, fire officials received a call from a citizen asking if a telephone call they received from a “group” in West Palm Beach was legitimate.

“From what we understand, the caller said they were seeking donations on behalf of Volusia County Fire Services,” Volusia County Fire Services Director James Tauber said. “So far, we are not aware of anyone

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- An 18-year-old Edgewater woman was arrested early this morning on charges of possession of marijuana under 20 grams and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Kaila Blohm was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach on the misdemeanor charges following a 1:10 a.m. motor-vehicle stop at Faulkner and Murray streets.
In an earlier unrelated arrest, a 25-year-old New Smyrna Beach man was arrested on an outstanding warrant following the report of a disturbance Friday afternoon in the 700 block of Downing Street.

Fans of Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” are invited to a fan party at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, at the Edgewater Public Library. “Twilight,” published in 2005, is the first in series vampire-romance novels.

The library staff will offer games, crafts, prizes and snacks. Fans can have their pictures taken with a life-sized cardboard cut-out of character Edward Cullen. Participants must be at least 14. Pre-registration is required and may be made by calling the library at (386) 424-2916.

For adults who have enjoyed this book, a book discussion club will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 31.

NSBNEWS.net photo by Henry Frederick. This Mustang collided with a Buick LeSabre on North Dixie Freeway at Eleanor Avenue at 10:30 tonight. No one was seriously injured, but southbound Dixie Freeway traffic had to be re-routed by police west onto Eleanor Avenue while firefighters tended to the occupants of both vehicles.

NSBNEWS.net video by Sera King. Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas returned from Washington to New Smyrna Beach where she presented information on President Obama's stimulus package to jumpstart the economy. She told about 60 local small business owners at a breakfast meeting Thursday at the Smyrna Yacht Club that Florida would receive $12 billion in funding.

ORMOND BEACH -- An Ormond Beach motorist who engaged Florida Highway Patrol troopers on a chase at speeds of up to 120, initially south of Edgewater on Interstate 95, was shot and killed in Ormond Beach by four troopers this morning after pointing a gun at them, according to the highway patrol.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The Daytona Beach News-Journal fired nine newsroom employees Tuesday, bringing to total 186 employees let go in the past six months, along with the closings of its bureaus in New Smyrna Beach, DeLand, Deltona and Bunnell.

All are part of cost-cutting measures to get the newspaper ready for sale, though no prospective buyers have been announced since the News-Journal lost a lawsuit to its minority partner, Cox Enterprises.