Local News Now

The reason for 6-1 vote to take cars off beach in Daytona? Quid Pro Quo!

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Typically, a man of the cloth speaks loudly in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
There's no quid pro quo to sell one's soul for the almighty dollar is there, especially when such a man of the cloth is silent when he ispected to speak up?
Then again, there's the age-old adage that "Money talks.
After all, didn't Judas Isariot do that for mere pieces of silver?
How about one with a forked tongue?

Sunny along beaches in Daytona & in New Smyrna, but rip current warnings issued

Newspaper Section
Daytona Beach cam / Headline Surfer®New Smyrna Beach beach cam / Headline Surfer®Photos for Headline Surfer® /
At far left is a snapshot of the Daytona Beach beach cam at the Dunlawton Avenue Approach in Daytona Beach Shores and near right is the New Smyrna Beach beach cam at the Flagler Avenue beach ramp approach. It's easy to see the NSB locale is busier with beach goers on this Saturday afternoon.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It's a beautiful picture-perfect Saturday along the World's Most Famous Beach In Daytona and in New Smyrna Beach with sunny skies.

But looks can be deceiving, especially in the surf.

County Chair: Rocket plant going to Brevard instead of Oak Hill despite vote tonight on land-use change at ex-city dump

Big question: Is Project Panther still in play or are citizens being played by their own government representatives and Daytona insiders?

Blue Origin not coming to Oak Hill / Headline Surfer®OAK HILL, Fla. -- Volusia County Chair Jason Davis said despite a second and final vote tonight by the Oak Hill City Commission on a land-use change from mixed use to manufacturing for a rocket-rebuilding plant shrouded in secrecy for weeks, tonight's expected final approval is all for naught.

That's because the project dubbed codename "Panther" that has been touted for location at the city' former dump, is headed to Brevard County's Cape Canaveral, home of NASA..

"That project is long gone," Davis reiterated to Headline Surfer this afternoon. "That ship sailed long ago to Brevard at NASA. t's a done deal." 

58. DeLand mayoral candidate Pat Johnson: Daytona Beach News-Journal portrayed him as slick used car salesman

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®
Pat Johnson, 2014 candidate for mayor of DeLand, FL / Headline Surfer®Photo for Headline Surfer® /
Pat Johnson is shown in a photo from a cruise he took several years ago. It was published repeatedly by the Daytona Beach News-Jounal in stories critical of Johnson during his failed campaign for mayor of DeLand in 2014.

DELAND, Fla. -- The way Pat Johnson saw it, the Daytona Beach News-Journal's incessant use of a black and white photo of him in casual dress was indicative of the negative image the print newspaper was creating to protect the interests of the entrenched incumbent, Bob Apgar, in the weeks leading up to the Aug. 26 primary.

59. VCSO: Ormond Beach woman tells neighbor fatal shooting of husband Easter morning inside home accidental

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®
Homicide locator in Ormond Beach, FL / Headline Surfer®Headline Surfer® graphic /
The early Easter morning shooting death of Sanford Olson at his residence at 7 Seabreeze Drive in Ormond by-the-Sea as shown in this locator map, apparently was first thought to be accidental at the hands of his wife, but that's not what happened.

ORMOND BEACH -- The Volusia County Sheriff's Office's Major Case Unit has said definitively that the early Easter Sunday morning shooing death of a 55-year-old man in Ormond-by-the-Sea was by his own hand and not accidentally by his wife as she told a neighbor.

The clarification into the death at 7 Seabreeze Drive after receiving a call at 2:52 a.m. about a shooting that had happened. When they arrived on scene, deputies discovered he had been shot to death.

60. NSB cops: Man killed, several injured when elderly woman backs car into medical building

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®
Car inside building in NSB / Headline Surfer®Janet Spurgeon, 78, transported to Bert Fish MC after crashing car into med. bldg. / Headline Surfer® Photos for Headline Surfer® / Janet Spurgeon is transported to Bert Fish Medical Center with minor injuries after backing her car into the medical building at 600 Palmetto Ave. A patient inside was killed and two others injured.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Police remain baffled as to why a 78-year-old woman backed her Chevy Malibu 40 feet into a medical buildingthe afternoon of Feb. 5, killing one man and injuring two others.

"It's bizarre," then-police spokesman Sgt. Eugene Griffith told Headline Surfer®. "We're still trying to determine exactly what happened. Apparently, she hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, but it remains under investigation as to why."

61. Daytona Beach Shores cops: St. Augustine man killed in fiery car crash caused by excessive speed

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®
Michael Viola of St. Augustine killed in speeding wreck in Daytona Beach Shores, FL / Headline Surfer®Photo for Headline Surfer® /
Michael Viola, 48, of St. Augustine, was killed in a fiery crash after going airborne. Excessive speed was cited as the reason for the deadly crash.

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. -- Traffic homicide investigators to this day aren't sure why a St. Augustine motorist was driving at speeds of up to 110 mph on April 25, when he crashed his Toyota hatchback leading to a fiery explosion and his death.

The driver crossed into the northbound lanes, struck a curb and became airborne -- then collided with a light pole 13 feet above ground. This led to a fiery explosion with the driver inside.

62. VCSO: Hillsborough appliance theft suspects tracked to Deltona & nabbed with U-Haul truck

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®
E Parks, alleged Hillsborough appliance thefts / Headline Surfer®A Higgins, alleged Hillsborough appliance thefts / Headline Surfer®McKinnie, alleged Hillsborough appliance thefts / Headline Surfer®J Johnson, alleged Hillsborough appliance thefts / Headline Surfer®Photos for Headline Surfer® /
Evan Parkes, Adrain Higgins, Alexander McKinnie and Jermaine Johnson, were all allegedly involved in the theft of household appliances emanating from Hillsborough County and ending in Deltona as shown with their jail mugs here at the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach. 

DELTONA, Fla. -- Deputies gave an assist to investigators in Hillsborough County two days before Thanksgiving after a group of theft suspects drove a stolen U-Haul truck full of stolen appliances from Tampa to a residence in Deltona, according to a spokesman for Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson.

Hillsborough deputies investigating a break-in at 13523 Staghorn Road near Citrus Park determined that appliances taken from the home had been moved to Avon Park in a stolen U-Haul truck.

63. Deltona man kicked out of Planet Fitness in Orange City after complaints about his anti-abortion T-shirts

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®
Mike Amaroso of Deltona in abortion controversy / Headline Surfer®Abortion controversy at gymn in Orange City / Headline Surfer®Photos for Headline Surfer® /
Mike Amoroso holds up one of his anti-abortion shirts that got him kicked out of a Planet Fitness that had him featured in a WFTV news report that went viral.

ORANGE CITY, Fla. -- A 70-year-old pro-life supporter from Deltona was reportedly kicked out of the Planet Fitness in Orange City twice for wearing T-shirts with anti-abortion messages that drew complaints from several other patrons, according to a story published in November by WFTV in Orlando.

Among the slogans on the T-shirts worn by Mike Amoroso and deemed offensive by some at the workout facility: "Abortion Stops a Beating Heart" and "Pray to End Abortion."