Top 100 Stories

Daytona Beach News-Journal puts on full court press against advertising rivals at Waverly Media

Daytona Beach News-Journal has put a full court less on waverly Media and its factual allegations are being questioned / Headline Surfer®

Ramara Garrett and James Sotolongo / Headline Surfer®Attorney Michael Politis advertises with Waverly Media's bus bench ads / Headline Surfer®DAYTONA BEACH -- The stakes are high in the competition for ever-shrinking advertising revenues by the Daytona Beach News-Journal, purchased off the scrap heap of a federal-court supervised sale four years by Halifax Media for just under $20 million.

And that includes competition from the widely popular Port Orange-based Waverly Media, which provides bus bench advertising across the Volusia County landscape.

New Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer raised taxes while not paying his own tax bills

Newspaper Section

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Mayor Adam Barringer led the vote to raise property taxes to support the municipal budget back in September while not paying his own taxes, Headline Surfer® has learned after reviewing public records.

baby

NEW SMYRNA BEACH --

Baby schedule tonight according to baby's rules:
2:00 AM- playtime with baby
2:30AM- diaper change
2:35 AM- resume playtime
3:00 AM- feed the baby
3:30 AM- snuggle with baby
4:00 AM- baby nap time. Now that you're awake mommy, just TRY getting back to sleep! Mwahaha!
........ Thank you Jamison, I didn't need more than 3 hours of sleep tonight.
5:00 AM- no mommy, you must hold me while I sleep!
Gah!

Daytona Beach Fire Dept. PIO not complying with Florida public records law

Newspaper Section

DAYTONA BEACH -- The public information officer for the Daytona Beach Fire Department is not complying with Florida public records law when in denying Headline Surfer® information requested involving an injured worker at Daytona International Speedway.

Daytona Beach public works offering sand bags for residents with heavy rains expected

National Weather Service forecast for Daytona Beach, FL / Headline Surfer®

DAYTONA BEACH -- Due to periods of heavy rain expected throughout the remainder of the week, the city is offering sandbags at its Public Works facility, 950 Bellevue Avenue in Daytona Beach, the city's public information officer said.

"Materials are available now until further notice," Daytona Beach PIO Susan Cerbone told Headline Surfer® this afternoon. "City crews are currently on hand to assist residents throughout the day."

Sunshine State lacks provisions safeguarding pregnant women from discrimination

Newspaper Section

'All that needs to be done is for the House to take up the Senate bill out of Messages, vote on it and send it to the Governor!'

Mario Valle, Florida Commission on Human Relations / Headline Surfer®By MARIO VALLE
Chair, Florida Commission on Human Relations
Written as an op ed submission for publication in Headline Surfer® 
 

TALLAHASSEE -- The State of Florida through chapter 760 of the Florida Statutes provides vital protection against discrimination for individuals on the basis of several categories, including sex, color, and religion.

One category of individuals noticeably missing from such beneficial protection is pregnant women. Federal law has afforded them protection since 1978.

Over the last decade, there have been multiple attempts to amend Florida law to include pregnant women as a protected class; however to date, including this current legislative session, all such attempts have failed. The main issue preventing the amending of the statute is the apparent ambiguity within Florida's Civil Rights Act.

Sotolongo and Musselwhite found guilty in Volusia County mortgage fraud trial; Garrett acquitted

Ramara Garrwtt and James Sotolongo / Headline Surfer®Photo for Headline Surfer® / Ramara Garrett and James Sotolongo, of greater Daytona Beach couple who have a baby girl in addition to five older children from their previous respective relationships, may have but a few precious months together before Sotolongo is sentenced to what could be a prison sentence of at least five years, and possibly twice that and maybe more  later this summer in the wake of his guilty verdict and her acquittal in US District Court.  
 

ORLANDO -- A jury found James Fidel Sotolongo and Stephanie Musselwhite guilty on multiple counts of conspiring to defraud four lending institutions close to $13 million in seven upscale home mortgages in greater Daytona Beach, but Ramara Garrett, the former realtor, was acquitted outright in highly emotional verdicts earlier Monday on the second day of deliberations.

Florida News Feed stealing intellectual property from Headline Surfer®

DAYTONA BEACH -- A site listed in the search engines as http://www.flnewsfeed.com is blatantly stealing the intellectual property of HeadlineSurfer.com, the Central Florida-based 24/7 internet newspaper, and passing it off as its own.

Headline Surfer® has sent "Florida News Feed" several tweets over the weekend and again this morning demanding that it cease and desist from lifting our copyright-protected stories, blogs and images. We have also contacted Google Legal and are awaiting a response.

Political advertising specials for 2014 election cycle

DAYTONA BEACH -- Headline Surfer® is offering special advertising for the 2014 election cycle for in races throughout Central Florida in the following counties: Volusia, Seminole, Orange, Osceola, Brevard, Flgler, St. Johns, Putnam, Marion and Lake. The pricing, $250 to $1,500, is based on a number of factors such as the type of race, size and frequency of the ad placed, location and click-in options.