Local News Now

DELAND -- Children can give their brains and bodies a workout during free programs at the DeLand Regional Library this fall.

County Council candidate Justin Kennedy: Incumbent Deb Denys & others on dais conducted duplicate witchhunt investigation in desperate attempt to hold onto seats

DAYTONA BEACH -- The State Attorney's Office exonerated all candidates who received in-kind advertising in the 2012 election cycle from Waverly Media of committing any crimes and officially closed the investigation Tuesday.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Tony Stewart struck and killed a 20-year-old driver on a half-mile dirt track in upstate New York on Saturday night after spinning him out on lap 14 of the 25-lap race, according to officials with the Ontario County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating it as a "tragic accident."

"The judicial experience Judge McGlashan brings to the Volusia County court bench is invaluable," Ritchey said of the incumbent. "Judge McGlashan’s fair and efficient administration of justice makes him the most qualified candidate to continue to serve our community as a county court judge."

DAYTONA BEACH -- Volusia County Judge Peter A.D. McGlashan received an endorsement from a political heavyweight in former Daytona Beach Mayor Glenn Ritchey, who touted his experience and invaluable service.

"The judicial experience Judge McGlashan brings to the Volusia County court bench is invaluable," Ritchey said of the incumbent. "Judge McGlashan’s fair and efficient administration of justice makes him the most qualified candidate to continue to serve our community as a county court judge."

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ORMOND BEACH -- The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the circumstances that led to a 3-year-old boy's drowning death in a backyard swimming pool near Ormond Beach on Tuesday afternoon.

Deputies were dispatched to a home on Rodeo Acres Drive after receiving a 911 call at 3:45 p.m. The toddler was identified as David Airhart. The father and an older sibling were home at the time, according to a Sheriff's incident report.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Soon after winning re-election in the 2012 elections for what would be her 19th and 20th years on the dais, term-limited district 5 County Councilwoman Patricia Northey announced she was running for the at-large seat held by incumbent and fellow Democrat Joyce Cusack.

Headline Surfer® graphic / The locator map at left shows the area south of the 500 block of Osteen-Maytown Road where the body of a man was found floating in shallow water on Saturday. He has since been identified.

OSTEEN -- The body of a man found Saturday afternoon floating in a water-filled borrow pit in Osteen, has been identified as that of 56-year-old Robert Lewis Williams, a Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman said.

"Witnesses said they saw the victim going into the water Friday afternoon," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson told Headline Surfer®. "Williams has family who live close by where the body was found, but he had no known permanent address. While there were no immediate signs of foul play, the Sheriff’s Office is investigating and will work with the Volusia County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of death."

Sheriff's spokesman: At first, convenience store clerk thought man was joking

Headline Surfer® graphic / At left is a locate map of the Circle K, 1805 Elkcam Blvd., in Deltona that was robbed by a man, possibly armed with a handgun at 12:23 a.m. Sunday.

DELTONA -- At first, the convenience store clerk thought the man was joking when he approached the counter and demanded cash early this morning, but it was all too real.

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office respond to 9-1-1 call about the robbery at 12:23 a.m. Deputies, who began arriving at the scene at 1805 Elkcam Blvd. two minutes later, were told that the robber had entered the store and demanded that the clerk hand over the money in the cash register.

"At first, the clerk said he thought it was a joke," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davison told Headline Surfer®.

Photos for Headline Surfer® / Ken Ali, a candidate for the district 2 County Council race in 2012, shown here in this recent self-portrait on his Facebook, has no regrets in declaring at the end of a debate that he's 'heterosexual,' a veiled bi-sexual jab at the incumbent, Joshua Wagner, married with his wife pregnant at the time with their second child, who laughed it off.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Things weren't quite right to begin with. First, the Daytona Beach News-Journal debate for the district 2 County Council race was held at the Brannon Center in New Smyrna Beach instead of a venue in Daytona Beach since that's the home turf of the seat held by incumbent Joshua Wagner.

Then came the prophetic words that that doomed the candidacy of candidate Daytona Beach businessman Ken Ali, if he had a prayer toy begin with in surviving a primary in the three-persion race and forcing a run-off with Wagner, in the 2012 November elections.

OAK HILL -- The first of the HeadlineSurfer.com Public Candidate Debates were held over two nights in late June. They were memorable for two things: attendance and two prime debate no-shows from the Volusia County Council dais in District 3's Deb Denys and term-limited District 5''s Pt Northey, who is vying for the at-large seat.