Top 100 Stories

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- S. Truett Cathy, a billionaiure several times over who saw himself asa simple man, would often say, "I cook chicken for a living.”

The founder of Chick-fil-A, who owned a seasonal home in New Smyrna Beach outside of the gated Sugar Mill golf course community, died Sept. 8, 2014, at his home in Clayton County, Ga., a Chick-fil-A spokesman confirmed. He was 93.

Photos for Headline Surfer® /

DAYTONA BEACH – At the age of 26, Alliston George of Daytona Beach could very well spend the rest of his life behind bars for shooting another man in the face with a .38 semi-automatic handgun the afternoon of Oct. 23, 2014, after an apparent soured drug deal.

A jury on Friday found George guilty of Attempted first degree murder with a firearm, which subjects him to Florida's 10-20-life statute, whenever a gun is discharged causing injury, which requires a 25-year-to-life sentence to be imposed. That he's looking at spending the rest of his life behind bars perhaps was a fata com-pleat for this three-time convicted felon.

Photo for Headline Surfer® /

SANFORD, Fla. -- On Nov. 21 at 12:58 p.m. a then-unknown man entered the Bank of America, 3094 South Orlando Drive.

Here is a synopsis of what happened as described in a press release sent to HeadlineSurfer.com and other Central Florida media outlets: The suspect entered the financial institution and approached a teller, demanding an unknown amount of currency.

The suspect was last seen wearing a black bandana on his head, sunglasses, a black shirt, jeans, a sports coat, and blue sneakers. The suspect was described as having a thin build and possibly in his late twenties or early thirties. Furthermore, the suspect fled the scene without removing any currency from the financial institution.

DEBARY, Fla. -- A 76-year-old man was struck and killed by a van in the roadway on Highbanks Road in DeBary near a Walgreens pharmacy about 90 minutes ago, an official with the Volusia Counry Sheriff's Office said.

Here is a synopsis of the pedestrian fatality that was reported at 9:28 p.m. Tuesday and decribed by Sheriff's PIO Andrew Gant in an email alert to Headline Surfer® and other Central Florida media outlets: The caller reported a white Chevrolet van struck a 76-year-old man in the roadway on Highbanks at the intersection with Charles R. Beall Boulevard, near a Walgreens.

Photo for Headline Surfer® /

SANFORD, Fla. – The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of first-degree murder inmate Michael Ross Friedman, 64, of Delray Beach, who collapsed in his jail cell Sunday night and died a short time after he was rushed by ambulance to South Seminole Hospital.

Friedman had been held without bail at the Polk Correctional Facility in Sanford on a capital murder charge out of Winter Springs for the alleged shooting death of his ex-wife's boyfriend.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Realtor Tom Alcorn bought the New Smyrna Beach Observer off the scrap heap of federal bankruptcy for $2,500 and re-opened it as a monthly, publishing 18 issues, but as the year 2014 drew to a close,  the paper was dead again.

Alcorn hired Tiffany Evers, who studied journalism in college as his editor, but the Observer never really got on track in terms of substantive reporting and lacked a credible distribution network. As a result, it officially ceased operations on Dec. 31, 2014.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Between now and Dec. 18, Deputy Police Chief Donna Lavallee and her colleagues in lawn enforcement at the New Smyrna Beach cop shop are encouraging citizens to remember the holidays and the true meaning of giving -- not just among family and friends, but to those less fortunate in the community.