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DAYTONA BEACH -- The Main Street Bridge in Daytona Beach was closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic at 3 p.m. today after it experienced an electrical malfunction that made the drawbridge inoperable.

A crew from Volusia County’s Road and Bridge Division opened the bridge manually to permit boat traffic while the bridge undergoes repairs, county spokeswoman Pat Kuehn said of the Tuesday mishap. The bridge will remain closed until further notice, she said

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NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A Venetian Bay man armed with a handgun and threatening to kill himself was taken into custody without harm to himself or others early Sunday, June 6, and transported to Bert Fish Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation under provisions of the state's Baker Act.

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NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The City Commission unanimously agreed to a new one-year contract with its police officers in January that provides no wage increases and actually costs the city less money.

Not only that, but there's a "savings of $56,000," with the new pact, said Personnel Director Carol Hargy at Tuesday night's City Commission meeting, adding it's retroactive to the start of the 2010 fiscal year that began last Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30.

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Edtor's Note: You can read the OBPD incident report on Sunday's discovery of a human skull in Ormond Beach by clicking the attachment.

ORMOND BEACH -- Police were called Sunday afternoon after a group of people who were operating all terrain four-wheelers in a dried up canal bed saw what appeared to be a human skull protruding from the mud.

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Courtesy photos VCBJ / Kendell Ratley, 25, of DeLand (shown at far left), is charged with first-degre murder ( with a firearm) and armed robbery with a firearm in the Monday shooting of 22-year-old Erin Grey of Deltona.

Listen to the dramatic 911 call made by the victim's brother, Nicholas Gray, pleads with a dispatcher: "Please I don't want her to die" and he's heard pleading with his mortally wounded sister: "Erin, please don't leave me."

DELTONA -- Saying he's a good person who carries his Bible every day, a Deland man charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery this afternoon, told Volusia County Sheriff's investigators he accidentally shot and killed a Deltona woman in her garage.

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Photos by Dale Smith / Joie Alexander is all smiles in her first weeks since being sworn in as the district 3 representative on the Volusia County Council, following her overwhelming Nov. 2 election victory over private attorney George Trovato.

Just a year shy of a decade with the Volusia County Council, Joie Alexander was term-limited from the at-large seat before deciding in the 11th hour last year to seek the district 3 seat held by term-limited Jack Hayman. Fighting off the label of career politician, Alexander finished first in the Aug. 24  primary in a field of seven and then easily defeated finalist George Trovato in the Nov. 2 general election with 56-plus percent of the vote.

The Newsmaker Q & A interview was conducted by contributing writer Dale Smith.

PORT ORANGE  -- Joie Alexander believes in sage words spoken by others who have had an impact on her life. Take Will Rogers, for example: "Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."

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SAMSULA, Fla. -- Fourth-grader Donnie Padgitt was among the many children at Samsula Academy on Monday to receive a fast-break visit from "Hot Shot" Aundre Branch, a member of the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters.