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DAYTONA BEACH -- The Volusia County Library Center – City Island will offer a variety of free programs for children and teenagers this fall.

• Toddler and preschool Storytime begins at 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays for children 5 and under.

• Family movies will be shown at 2 p.m. Sundays for children and their parents or caregivers. Parents may bring snacks and drinks. Upcoming movies include “Hannah Montana: The Movie” Oct. 4, “CinderElmo” Oct. 11, “Kiki’s Delivery Service” Oct. 18, and “Halloweentown” Oct. 25.

DELTONA -- He just said no. That's what a store clerk did when a would-be robber pointed a gun at his face Saturday night and demanded money. The attempted hold-up occurred at the Chevron station on Saxon Boulevard in Deltona at around 8:30 p.m.

The man walked into the store and got a soda from the cooler, then waited for the other customers to leave.

The city spent $15.4 million on employee salaries for fiscal 2009, which ended Sept. 31, an increase of $303,769 over the previous fiscal year. The figures do not include mileage reimbursements, health or retirement benefits...

The top city wage earner in fiscal 2002 was then-City Manager Frank Roberts who grossed $72,100.28...

Daniel T. Sullivan, 81, Edgewater, a former surveyor for International Union of Operating Engineers, New York, died Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009.

Carl L. Weaver, 88, of Edgewater, a retired chief warrant officer 3 for the U.S. Coast Guard for a total of 26 years of service including World War II and the Korean Conflict., died Monday, Sept. 28, 2009.

ORMOND-by-the-SEA -- Volusia County Sheriff's investigators made short work of a search for the robber who held up the Bank of America on Ocean Shore Boulevard in Ormond-by-the-Sea Thursday morning.

Thanks in large measure to an anonymous tip, investigators nabbed the suspect this morning -- less than a day
after the robbery and about a mile from the scene of the crime, the Sheriff's Office said.

"Gregory Harris didn't put up a fight or even try to deny he was robber who strolled into the bank on Thursday wearing a floppy hat and

Courtesy photo/Jail mug. Darren Sanders, 33, has been arrested on charges of assaulting and exploiting an elderly New Smyrna Beach woman he was hired to care for, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Thanks to alert employees at a bank near Daytona Beach Thursday, a 67-year-old woman may finally get some relief after being struck and threatened by a 33-year-old male caregiver who was also caught in the act trying to force the woman to withdraw money from her bank account, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said today.

WASHINGTON, DC -- Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas,D-New Smyrna Beach, announced that veterans can apply online at www.va.gov beginning today for a special emergency payment of their Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits.

Kosmas has heard from numerous Central Florida veterans who are beginning classes without receiving their education benefits due to a backlog in processing applications at the VA, said her spokesman, Marc Goldberg.

Courtesy photo (near right) of Zone 2 City Commissioner Jack Grasty and NSBNEWS.net photo (far right) of candidate Palmer Wilson. Even though his first try at elective office came up short, former Zone 2 commissioner-candidate Palmer Wilson pledges to continue public discussion over ways to cut down on municipal spending in his role as private citizen.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The day after the Sept. 22 primary saw Zone 2 City Commissioner Jack Grasty as the outright victory in the Sept. 22 primary, runner-up candidate Palmer Wilson, a retired Maryland police lieutenant, offered congratulations to the incumbent and pledged to continue speaking up about ways to curb what he deems excessive municipal spending.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Felony charges have been forwarded to the State Attorney's Office for possible prosecution against four eighth-grade girls at New Smyrna Beach Middle School for ingesting prescription pills that resulted in all four being briefly hospitalized Monday morning after their teacher reported them to the principal for acting strangely in class.