Local News Now

Oak Hill Vice Mayor: Colleague showed up at house in blonde woman's wig & robe after meeting with insiders

OAK HILL, Fla. -- Volusia County's smallest coastal municipality on the southern rural frontier has struggled for decades with trying to come of age from its orange-grove roots where modern amenities like water and sewer are non-existent -- save for a stretch of River Road -- in this rural outpost of 1,737 residents.

Interim Police Chief Donna Lavallee: NSB cop shop earns accreditation for first time in its history

Show Me the Money: New Smyrna Beach PD: From evidence room scandal to accreditation / Headline Surfer®

Evidence room scandal leads to revolving door of top brass before positive changes take hold in municipal force

New Smyrna Beach Interim Police Chief Donna Lavallee please her agency is accredited / Headline Surfer®First in a series / Display photo for Headline Surfer®. /
Donna Lavallee, New Smyrna Beach PD interim police chief, places her agency's official patch on a Florida accreditation board in a recent ceremony in Daytona Beach, Florida.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- After a tough five months in leading the New Smyrna Beach police force as interim police chief, Donna Lavallee has reason to smile with pride and a sense of real achievement as she gives way to new top cop Mike Coffin on Tuesday.

University of Florida study: Most millennials get their news online

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Millennials get most of their news from online sources, but don’t feel all that well-informed. That's the latest from a study conducted by Elite Daily with help from a research group at the University of Florida.

 

85. Indy 500 pace car revs up Turkey Run in Daytona Beach's Bellair Plaza

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®

Headline Surfer® videos / Lots more videos inside.

Vintage Indy 500 pace car at Turkey Run in Daytona Beach / Headline Surfer®DAYTONA BEACH -- A pace car from the 500 made a pit stop at the 2014 Turkey Run at Bellair Plaza, the last of the big annual special tourism events that is held during the extended Thanksgiving weekend.

86. Woman wanted in connection with DUI-related fatal crash in New Smyrna Beach arrested in Indiana

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®

Kim Yurcison returned to Florida from Indiana on arrest warrant / Headline Surfer®NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — A woman wanted in Florida for a fatal DUI was arrested in Indiana on Sept. 24, local authorities said.

Kimberly Ann Yurchison was allegedly under the influence of cocaine and prescription narcotics back on March 17 when she struck and killed 82-year-old John Curtin in the 4000 block of South Atlantic Avenue in New Smyrna Beach, police said. Curtin was crossing the street when when he was struck and killed, but was not in a designated crosswalk.

The apprehension of Yurchison comes in at No. 86 in the HeadlineSurfer.com countdown of the top 100 stories of 2014.

VCSO: Man shot in face by deputy during serving of drug warrant at Deltona residence has died

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Volusia County Sheriff at scene of fatal Swat-team shooting of Deltona man / Headline Surfer®Derek Cruice of Deltona / shot dead by Volusia County SWAT deputy / Headline Surfer®Photos for Headline Surfer® /
Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson answers media questions related to the fatal shooting early Wednesday of Derek Cruice, 26, by a member of his SWAT team during the execution of a drug warrant at a residence at 831 Maybrook Drive.

DELTONA, Fla. -- The Deltona man shot in the face by a Volusia County Sheriff's deputy while serving a drug warrant at a residence in Deltona this morning has died, an agency spokesman said. Derek Cruice, 26, was pronounced dead on arrival at Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City where he was transported after he was shot by a SWAT deputy just after 6:30 a.m.

"(The victim) was one of six adults who were at the house this morning -- four men and two women," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson told Headline Surfer. "Deputies were there to serve a narcotics search warrant."

Joshua Wagner leaves Ted Doran's law firm in Daytona; partners up with Steven Vasilaros

Party Lines political notebook pulse on Central Florida politics  / Headline Surfer®
Volusia County Councilman & attorney Joshua Wagner joining Vasilaros Legal / Headline Surfer®Joshua J. Wagner, the Daytona Beach-area Volusia County Councilman is joining the Vasilaros law firm / Headline Surfer®Headline Surfer® photo /
Volusia County Councilman Joshua J. Wagner, shown here in the inset, has left power attorney Ted Doran's Daytona Beach law firm to partner up with veteran personal injury attorney Steven Vasilaros, shown second from left in his signature logo for Vasilaros Legal, which will now become Vasilaros Wagner.

 DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Say it ain't so! Volusia County Councilman Joshua J. Wagner and power attorney Ted Doran have gotten a divorce of sorts. Wagner left Doran's larger law firm earlier this month to partner up with veteran personal injury attorney Steven Vasilaros.

87. Incumbent Bill Crippen wins Orange City's only contested race in 2014 elections

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®

Bill Crippen romps to victory in 2014 elections in Orange City, Fla. / Headline Surfer®2014 election has Bill Crippen winning in Orange City / Headline Surfer®ORANGE CITY, Fla. -- There was only one contested race in Orange City in the November elections and even it wasn't much of a contest as incumbent O. William "Bill" Crippen romped over Vernon Stafford to retain his at-large seat with nearly 67 percent of the votes cast.

Election night totals showed Crippen with 1,890 votes or 66.93 percent to Stafford's 934 or 33.07 percent of the total.

RUSH TO JUDGMENT? NASCAR suspends Kurt Busch from Sunday's Daytona 500 race

Dayton 500 / Speedweeks / Headline Surfer®
NASCAR driver Kurt Busch & ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll / Headline Surfer®

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR suspended Kurt Busch indefinitely Friday in the wake of a Delaware family court's findings that "by a preponderance of the evidence" that the 36-year-old driver "committed an act of domestic violence" against former girlfriend Patricia Driscoll on Sept. 24 of last year.