DELAND -- Volusia County Manager Jim Dinneen presented the Volusia County Council with a $634.7 million proposed budget July 10, to fund the operations of county government for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, insisting cutting taxes would hurt services.
DELAND -- Even though Volusia School Board Chairwoman Judy Conte was against it saying it "sends the wrong message," Superintendent of Schools Margaret Smith gave herself a 2 percent pay cut Sept. 30, to bring her base salary down to $171,665, a drop of $3,506.
EDGEWATER -- Dorothy "Dot" Carlson, a leading environenmental voice from Edgewater who spoke out not only on city, but county and state environmental concerns such as keeping development in check and protection of wild animals, died Oct. 6, of lung cancer. She was 59.
DAYTONA BEACH -- Two brothers were arrested on homicide charges in connection with the Dec. 19 fatal shooting of a man in the back on Whitney Street, Daytona Beach police reported.
Channing Kendrick Black, 21, is charged with second-degree murder, and hois older brother, Matthew Howard Black, 40, both of Lockhart Street, was charged as a principle to second-degree murder, police said.
ORANGE CITY -- Two men armed with guns burst in through the front door of a home near Orange City the night of Dec. 13, but were in for a surprise themselves when they were chased off by a resident who was also armed, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Three local teens were arrested in a stolen car and a handgun recovered following a suspicious motor vehicle stop at 3 a.m. off 10th Street, New Smyrna Beach police reported.
The car was speeding and driving recklessly when cops caught up with it in the parking lot of the Newport Sound Apartments off 10 Street. Three teens jumped out of the car and ran and police caught up with them a short distance later with the help of canine units.
DELAND -- The Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C., recently sent a summary of benefits to all veterans across the country, including the estimated 70,000-plus veterans who live in Volusia County, said Pat Kuehn, Volusia County spokeswoman.
According to Mike White, director of Veterans Services for Volusia County, the letter is for personal information purposes only, similar to the annual letter sent out from the Social Security Administration.
DELAND -- Two teens charged with ploting to go on a killing spree at DeLand Middle School avoided jail time in favor of probation.
The sentences were reached in plea agreements in November for a boy and a girl, both 13, similar to that reached with a 14-year-old boy earlier, in which all three pleaded no contest to dusruption of a school function, a lesser charge than the initial conspiracy to commit murder. All three were also banned from interacting or placing comments on MySpace.com.
OAK HILL -- The victims in the noon Wednesday double-fatality crash at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Halifax Avenue were identified as 71-year-old Eunice Perkins and 70-year-old Mary Campaigue in their 70s, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
DELAND --The Children and Families Advisory Board will meet at 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 16, in the Volusia County Council Chambers of the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center, 123 W. Indiana Ave., DeLand, said Pat Kuehn, Volusia County spokeswoman.
Members will discuss information to be presented to the County Council in a future workshop.
