Local News Now

Editor's Note: New Smyrna Beach Mayor Jim Hathaway, shown here in the inset, was asked for a copy of his 2016 Memorial Day speech, which he delivered on the sacred holiday on Monday in Riverside Park for publication in Headline Surfer®. Hathaway, a New Smyrna Beach native, who served as a city commissioner for 18 years until 2012, was elected mayor two years later. He is seeking re-election for another two years in the 2016 elections. Hathaway served in the United States Army Reserves, earning the rank of captain in the Quartermaster Corps, before he was honorably discharged. The main display picture in recognition of Memorial Day, was shot on the hard sands of New Smyrna Beach, among the most popular tourist destinations for the eclectic shops on Flagler Avenue, leading to the curling waves where it's a badge of honor for surfers nipped by a shark near the South Jetty, and home to the US Coast Guard station. 

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- On this day of remembrance, we honor the bravest amongst us – those who stood up, carried the American Standard, and then came home embraced in that flag. What do you say to a young wife whose husband won’t return from a foreign battlefield? How do you console a grieving child whose parent paid the ultimate sacrifice for his or her nation?

Photos for Headline Surfer® /

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Gov. Rick Scott today removed the word "acting" from the job description for Dr. Celeste Philip, the state surgeon general and secretary of the Florida Department of Health.

Philip has served as Florida's acting surgeon general since March. She's also a one-time assistant director of the Volusia County Health Department.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The race for the face of Volusia County government has gotten ramped up with the driving force behind keeping cars on the beach seeking the chairmanship of the County Council in the 2016 elections.

Greg Gimbert, leader of the political action committee, Let Volusia Vote, joins an already-crowded field for the lead post on the seven-member elected body that sits on the dais of the Frank T. Bruno Jr. County Council chambers in DeLand.

Photos for Headline Surfer® / 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A motorist was shot and killed by one of two deputies after he refused to put down a gun he reached for while seated in his car on the side of the road in the 1400 block of SR 415 in rural Osteen, a Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman said, but a full 24 hours later on Sunday night, there were far more questions than answers as to the use of deadly force.

DELAND, Fla. -- The DeLand Planning Board meets 5 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 120 S. Florida Ave. For more information, please call 386-626-7000.

DELAND, Fla. -- The next installment of the Volusia County Sheriff's Office's 90-minute "Coffee With A Cop" program is scheduled for 8 a.m. Friday at the McDonald's restaurant in the Brandywine Plaza just north of the DeLand city limits.

The 2-year-old program is part of a national initiative to further dialogue between law enforcement and citizens without heavy lectures or hidden agendas.

Photos for Headline Surfer® /

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Often times, running for elected office becomes convoluted in numbers.

Consider the candidacy of State Attorney R.J. Larizza was returned to office for a third consecutive four-year term at high noon Friday in the Seventh Judicial Circuit when qualifying ended and he had no challengers. 

Third, four, seventh -- that's a mishmash of numbers that help define the office sought, such as the length of time and jurisdiction. But here's a number that perhaps is most impactful for this particular office: $116,379. 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Looks like the Hard Rock Hotel – you know, the project that was billed as a panacea for every problem facing Volusia County from beachside blight to head lice – has been “put on hold” for the foreseeable future.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Karen A. Holbrook, Ph.D., became the interim president of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on Monday replacing John Johnson, who retired.