Local News Now

LAKE MARY -- The unmistakeable sound of a commercial airliner making its descent over Lake Mary to land at the nearby Sanford Airport is one thing, but the thunderous twirling of the blades of the Seminole County Sheriff's helicopter at 2 in the morning at a low altitude reaches new heights on the noise meter.

Headline Surfer® graphic / For unforeseen emergencies, the town of Ponce Inlet has turned to 'Code Red' to alert citizens and merchants as shown in this snapshot.

PONCE INLET -- The municipality in April instituted a rapid emergency notification service called "CodeRED," which distributes emergency messages via telephone to targeted areas or the entire town at a rate of 1,000 calls per minute, according to a press release on Ponce Inlet's website.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Happy New Year's greater Daytona Beach and all of the visitor's to Headline Surfer® throughout Central Florida, the rest of the Sunshine State, across the USA and around the world. We  love you!

Photo for Headline Surfer® /  John Francis Roach is spending the rest of his life behind bars for his sexual assault on a pre-teen boy.

DELAND --A 60-year-old Deland man was sentenced Aug. 16 to Life in prison without the possibility of parole for sexually battering an 11-year-old boy.

The sentence handed down on John Francis Roach was for a Volusia County jury finding him guilty of one count of sexual battery on a person Less than 12 Years of Age, a capital felony; and one count of lewd and lascivious molestation by a person 18 Years of age or older on a person less than 12 years of age, a life felony.

Photo for Headline Surfer® / Tony Ledbetter, second from left, is shown here in this Dec. 9 photo op. with Gov. Rick Scott, along with Ledbetter's daughter, Kimberly Patterson, Gov. Scott's wife, Ann and then-Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll at the governor's mansion in Tallahassee. 

ORLANDO -- Pledging to his GOP colleagues that he would be a "conservative voice" for the party, Tony Ledbetter, chairman of the Republican Executive Committee of Volusia County, was elected Congressional Dis. 6 chairman for the Republican Party of Florida at its annual meeting the first weekend of January at the Rosen Centre Hotel. 

Photo for Headline Surfer® / New Smyrna Beach PD recruit Shawn Adkins is shown here with his father, NSBPD Investigator David Adkins in this July still image.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Like father, like son: The New Smytrna Beach police Department saw the first-ever father and son duo of police officers with the July 9 hiring of recruit Shawn Adkins.

When deciding which police department he wanted to work for, Adkins, son of New Smyrna Beach PD Investigator David Adkins, said it was an easy decision: “My Dad has been really successful at this agency and I have always felt like it was part of my family.”

The 22-year-old Adkins added, "I know and love this community."

DAYTONA BEACH -- The Central Florida media focus on the 2-year-old Daytona boy who drowned in a retention pond Monday behind his home and in-depth advance reporting on the New Year's Eve block parties in Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach are dominating local news coverage during the noon hour today.

Headline Surfer®, the smallest of the daily media outlets and the lone new media representative, was among the top news outlets reporting on the drowning. And the 24/7 internet newspaper had top coverage of New Years eve block parties in Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach where alcohol-fueled partying is emphasized with CRA funding being utilized in both cities.

Headline Surfer® videos and photos / Rockin' in the New Year's Eve party Daytona Beach-style is shown from Main Street as 2012 gave way to the current year. The alcohol-fueled CRA-sponsored party on Main Street returns tonight with 20,000 strong expected to usher in 2014 with the usual array of trashiness, drunkenness and naughtiness.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Paul Politis, one of Daytona Beach's more prominent and longstanding small business owners with his Gator Beach and Sports across from the Ocean Walk Shoppes on A1A knows all too well that tonight's New Year's Eve block party on Main Street appeals to the lowest common denominator -- thousands of revelers drinking until they puke with little kids in tow and some even getting behind the wheel drunk -- the ultimate honk-tonk family outing.

Troopers: Speed a factor in death of young woman

Headline Surfer® graphic / Sanford teen Kimberly Phillips died Friday afternoon in an ATV accident in a heavily-wooded area of Osteen, as shown in the locator map at left.

OSTEEN -- An 18-year-old Sanford woman was killed when she crashed her ATV in a ditch before it landed on top and pinned her, the Florida Highway Patrol reported over the weekend.  

The freak accident occurred at 4:45 p.m. near Deer Run Road and Doe Drive when the teen, identified as Kimberly Phillips of Sanford, fishtailed while operating the 2012 Polaris all-terrain vehicle at a high rate of speed, the FHP said.