Top 100 Stories

DAYTONA BEACH -- Zodrick "Scooter" Jones was shot dead during the late hours of June 21, in what may have been a vengeance killing.

The 20-year-old was found in a pool of blood outside his grandmother's home on Cedar Heights Boulevard just before midnight that night.

According to police reports, the grandmother heard a series of gunshots and when she got outside, she found blood puddled under his head.
Less than a month later, Daytona Beach police arrested Woody Ross on a charge of murder.

President-elect Barack Obama will invoke God when he takes the oath of office January 20, despite a lawsuit filed by atheist and non-religious groups, according to an attorney for Chief Justice John Roberts, who will administer the oath.

This was one of the lead-in stories in CNN politics in our Washington politics headlines on NSBNEWS.net early this morning and it made me proud to be an American. It also reaffirmed my belief in Barack Obama as our next president and why I am pleased to have voted for him.

DAYTONA BEACH -- A 50-year-old Longwood man was found dead near his BMW of the Interstate 4 off-ramp at U.S. 92 Thursday morning.

The man was identified as Donald Heintz. There were no signs of foul play and an autopsy was ordered to determine the cause of death, Daytona Beach police said.

An employee found the man's body when co-workers at his workplace in Daytona Beach were worried about him when he didn't show up, police said.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- About 400,000 gallons of raw sewage spewed into a wooded area Thursday morning near Sugar Mill Drive, but was contained to a low-lying area that stopped it from continuing into a nearby drainage ditch, county officials said.

The spill was blamed on a broken 30-inch pipe that has since been repaired, officials said. The same mainline was affected by a broken pipe off of Glencoe Road a year ago.

County officials said the spill does not pose any health risks because of its remote location and is being cleaned up.

Editor's note: This is a courageous topic on the part of the blogger. It's a reminder for all of us to learn as much as we can about the importance of proper nutrition and daily exercise. Please see your physician before undertaking strenuous exercise.

Obesity is epidemic in this country. This is a fact we all know. Some thin people look at fat people with disdain because they feel the fat person has done this to themselves and could just undo it.

This is just not so.

I have fought obesity most of my life and I am currently losing the battle, again.

Robert James Engelkamp, 83, of New Smyrna Beach, a retired postal supervisor for the U.S. Postal Service in Cincinnati, died Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2008.

Shelly Jo Johnson, 38, of Edgewater, a homemaker, died Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2008.

Betty Landrove, of New Smyrna Beach, who worked data processing in the health care industry, died Thursday, Jan. 6, 2008.

Marjorie McDowall Morris, 93, of New Smyrna Beach, a former office secretary for Avon Tube Corp., in Rochester, Mich., died Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2008.

DELAND -- Four masked men armed with guns smashed their way into the Howard Johnson Inn east of DeLand early this morning, pistol-whipped the clerk and made off with the money from the hotel's cash register, Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said.

The attack resulted in lacerations to his face and head of the 52-year-old male clerk who thrown to the ground and pistol-whipped on the back of the head. The clerk was transported by EVAC ambulance to Florida Hospital DeLand for treatment of his injuries, Davidson said.

DELAND -- A motorcycle officer suffered a serious leg injury earlier today when his bike collided with a small truck that turned into his path and that of another motorcycle officer at the intersection of Woodland Boulevard and and Plymouth Avenue, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.

DELAND -- Staff from the Volusia County Personnel Division will meet with representatives of the International Association of Firefighters union, which represent county firefighters, from 1:30 - 5 p.m. Tuesday, to discuss collective bargaining negotiations.

The meetings will be in the second floor conference room of the Volusia County Personnel Division, 230 N. Woodland Blvd., Suite 262, DeLand.