Local News Now

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The regularly-scheduled Jsn. 8 meeting of the Community Redevelopment Agency Commission has been cancelled, City Clerk Johnny Bledsoe announced in an e-mail.

With nothing of significance pensing ina light agenda, Bledsoe said the CRA commission will reconvene 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12 meeting in the chambers at New Smyrna Beach City Hall, 105 Sams Ave.

Photo for Headline Surfer / The owner of John's Appliance in South Daytona, 949 Beville Road, sees positives behind Mayan calendar fizzle: year-end blow-out.

SOUTH DAYTONA -- John Hinton, the face behind the zany John's Appliance and Bedding TV ads is excited about his latest appliance and blowout sale that starts the day after Christmas, now that the Mayan scare has passed.

Hinton cracked, "The world was supposed to end today, but I guess the Mayans got their dates wrong.

And with the Mayan calendar scare as a backdrop, Hinton is offering what he calls "end of the world bargains."

Normally open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, Hinton and his sales staff will have on-site bedding and cabinet professionals to meet the needs of the customers looking for that specific fit.

Photo by Serafina Frederick / Headline Surfer Editor/Publisher Henry Frederick is shown with Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry, his wife, Dr. Stephanie Henry, and their adorable baby boy, Derrick Henry, Jr., at their Daytona Beach home on Thursday for an exclusive video interview that will be posted on Christmas Eve.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The newly elected mayor of Daytona Beach will share his Christmas message for the citizens of Daytona Beach, as well as those throughout Volusia County and beyond, in an exclusive video interview recorded from his Daytona Beach home, along with his wife, Dr. Stephanie Henry, and their 5-month-old son, Derrick Henry Jr.

This is the first media interview Henry has granted in his home and it's exclusive to Headline Surfer, the New Smyrna Beach-based 24/7 Internet newspaper and lone media outlet to endorse his candidacy for mayor in the Nov. 6 general elections.

Headline Surfer photos by Henry Frederick / County Council Chair Frank Bruno and council member Joie Alexander show their appreciation for members of the Daytona Area Chamber of Commerce and representatives of five other chambers during a luncheon in August.

DELAND -- County Chair Frank Bruno told 50 chamber executives and other business leaders at an Aug. 9 luncheon that the naysayers will always be critical of issues like the Ocean Center and its reliance on taxpayer funding, but overall he's pleased with the way things are going.

"You can make negatives out of anything," Bruno told the gathering in a meeting room at the administration building, making reference to the Daytona venue that was brought up by an earlier speaker referencing to it costing less than in previous years. "I'm very proud of our quality of life in Volusia County."

This luncheon comes in at No. 80 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- When it comes to police teamwork, there is no better partnership than duo than Bruce Holcomb and his K9 partner Buddy. 

The CVS pharmacy on Howland Boulevard in Deltona was the target July 22 of a cross-dressing robber with a green wig, black lipstick and a handbag.

DELTONA -- A cross-dressing thief claiming to have a bomb failed in an attempt to rob a Deltona drug store of its prescription pills after the pharmacist refused to give him what he craved in July.

The would-be-robber ran from the CVS pharmacy, 2187 Howland Blvd., empty-handed just before 6 a.m. and managed to get away just prior to the arrival of responding Volusia County Sheriff's deputies. The bizarre robbery attempt comes in as No. 82 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012.

A man perished in a July 29 fire that destroyed his DeBary home at 54 W. Highbanks Road as shown in this locator map.

DEBARY -- The body of a man was found in the charred remains of his home in late July, a Volusia County Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman said.

The fire fatality comes in 81st in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012.

"(The fire) was reported at 9:19 Sunday morning, after a passerby spotted flames coming from the windows of the home," Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said," of the July 29 blaze. Volusia County and Orange City firefighters began dousing the flames at about 9:25 a.m. and then entered the residence.

Snoopy is reunited with 77-year-old Bob Johnson of Deltona on Jan. 20, 2012, after his release from quarantine in a biting incident involving a leashed dog that broke free from its owner and attacked him. But because Snoopy was involved in a bite incident five years ago and declared a dangerous dog, he lost his freedom for nearly a month.

DELTONA -- Snoopy the pit bull made a lot of friends on Facebook during his nearly month-long quarantine for nipping at another dog -- more than 24,000 of them -- and in late January, he was sprung from doggie jail to his Deltona owner.

Snoopy's situation is No. 83 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012.

Snoopy had been under lock and key at the Halifax Humane Society in Daytona Beach since Dec. 27, 2011, when he pit a Jack Russell that was leashed broke free from its owner and attacked him. But Snoopy was taken into custody because he was declared a dangerous dog five years ago after biting another dog in his neighborhood. He could have faced being put down and that caused quite a stir in cyberspace.

Scene of deadly crash is shown here at left, involving a Lamborghini.

ORMOND BEACH -- A 24-year-old man was killed Feb. 12, after he lost control of a 2006 Lamborghini while driving at speeds of up to 150 mph, crossed the median and struck a steel pole in the 200 block of north US 1, resulting in the vehicle bursting into flames with him pinned inside, Ormond Beach police said.

A passenger, 40-year-old Vanessa Bain, escaped with minor injuries in the 3:44 a.m. accident. Police did not indicate if she or the young man or someone else was the owner of the high-priced sports car. The tragedy comes in at No. 84 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012.