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DAYTONA BEACH -- With the sour economy, there were far less bikers this time around during the annual four-day October biker rally throughout Volusia County. If there was a real positive that came out of this special event that is supposed to boost the local economy, it's that there were no road fatalities. The same held true on both fronts for last spring's 10-day Bike Week with fatalities down to five.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Total passenger traffic at Daytona Beach International Airport decreased 34 percent in November compared to the same month a year earlier.

During November, 29,300 passengers arrived and departed through DBIA, compared with 44,622 in November 2007. For the 12-month period ending Nov. 30, 608,912 passengers traveled through the county-operated airport, compared with 704,786 recorded during the prior 12-month period and representing a 14-percent decrease.

NSBNEWS.net photo by Sera King. Cutline: The New Smyrna Beach City Commission voted "no confidence" in City Manager John Hagood in September, but stopped short of terminating him or asking him to resign.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Perhaps the only thing that saved New Smyrna Beach City Manager John Hagood's job when the City Commission voted a "no confidence" in his performance Sept. 23, was the fact he would have received a $300,000 severance.

ORMOND BEACH -- Isaac Turner had been city manager of Ormond Beach for seven years before he was forced to resign Aug. 6 after differences of opinions with several city commissioners.

In December the city chose Joyce Shanahan, who holds the same position in Fort Walton Beach. She is expected to arrive here early in the new year.

Turner is a finalist for the city manager's position in Venice near Sarasota.

PIERSON -- A 17-year-old Pierson girl was badly burned when she was accidentally doused with gaoline during a bonfire late Friday night, Volusia County Sheriff's Office spokesman Gary Davidson confirmed.

The girl, whose name was not immediately available, was flown by Sheriff's helicopter to the Orlando Regional Medical Center's burn unit.

The Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident.

PIERSON -- A man described by witnesses as drunk and playing with a gun in a reckless fashion died Friday night after accidentally shooting himself in the head, Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said.

The shooting occurred at about 9:14 p.m. outside of a home on Murphy Road in Pierson. Sheriff's deputies who are investigating the shooting haven't positively determined the victim's name, but he's believed to be either 37 or 42 and was visiting from North Carolina.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A middle-aged man was seriously injured when he was struck by a motor vehicle that took off in the 4600 block of South Atlantic Avenue just before 9 p.m.

EVAC responded and the unidentified man in his 50s was airlifted by Volusia County Sheriff's helicopter to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach.

EVAC spokesman Mark O'Keefe described the pedestrian's injuries as "critical."

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the incident just outside the city limits of New Smyrna Beach.

DEBARY -- The search for an accused murderer in the gunshot-slaying of a DeBary woman on Christmas Eve ended less than two days later with the discovery of the suspect's body in a wooded area of St. Johns County.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The lawyer for the Florida Law Enforcement found dead with his wife in their Cedar Avenue home died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head Sept. 22, while there were no outward signs of trauma to the wife's body, autopsies done by the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office revealed.

DAYTONA BEACH -- A man stumbled out of his friend's apartment at 139 South Halifax Drive, to which a neighbor herd him say, "I'm dying," before he did just that the night of Feb. 20. The woman inside was already dead.

Both Kirk Allen Zoeller, 50, and Donna Truillo, 51, had been stabbed to death just before 8:30 that night.

Police later charged 26-year-old Doug Blaine Matthews with two counts of first-degree murder in what may have been a drug-related robbery.