250 attend hob nob at Brannon Center in New Smyrna Beach

Headline Surfer photos by Henry Frederick / Sheriff Ben Johnson speaks of his eperience at the Southeast Volusia Chamber ogf Commerce Hob Nob at the Brannon Center in New Smyrna Beach. He wasa big winner in the chsmber's straw poll.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Sheriff Ben Johnson was the big winner in the Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce's hob nob straw poll by a near 2-1 margin over challenger Wendell Bradford. The results were released today and posted on the chamber's Facebook page.

EDGEWATER -- Four more years are needed for President Obama to reach his goal of generating friendships with 57 Muslim states.  In one of his early speeches, he said, "We will win all of the 57 states -- Keep in mind there are 56 Muslim States."

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Deb Denys did herself a favor and brought her dog with her for early voting Sunday outside the New Smyrna Beach Library. 

EDGEWATER -- There comes a moment or sets of moments when we wonder if it was all for naught. Was all my patient plea and serious consequences go in one ear and come out the next.

Calvin Robinson, shown here in a jail mug, is charged with trying to ram a deputy's patrol car and driving under the influence. The deputy was not hurt in the Sunday incident near Ormond Beach.

ORMOND BEACH -- When the Volusia County Sheriff's deputy first saw 34-year-old Calvin Robinson early Sunday morning, the man was quietly slumped over in the driver's seat of his car parked by the gas pumps of a truck stop outside the city limits.

That quickly changed, though, when Robinson suddenly struck the deputy with his car, ran into and damaged the gas pumps, rammed the deputy's patrol vehicle and took off the wrong way on the highway.

2nd in a series: Mike Graham's life ended in suicide the same violent way as his father and son before him: With a gunshot blast to the head.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The facts are clear: 61-year-old retired pro wrestler Mike Graham of Tampa Bay, whose real name was Edward Michel Gosssett, shot himself to death by aiming a revolver at his own forehead and pulling the trigger on Oct. 18, while visiting here in Daytona for Biketoberfest with his wife.

His wrestling-promoter father, Eddie Graham, killed himself the same violent way back in 1985. And Mike Graham's 37-year-old son also died the same violent way nearly two years ago, but not at the same event, despite what Graham's wife, Diane Marie Hamilton, told Daytona cops as describd in a police report, Headline Surfer has learned.

Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall's name and photo are prominent of the public agency's website. What's missing, though, are the daily resultys of early voting in greater Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach, Ormond Beach, DeLandf and Deltona.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- For the second consecutive day, Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall has failed to post the daily voter turnout for any of the five voting precincts.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Suddenly everything has stopped spinning; I’m a little dizzy but my vision is beginning to clear. The whirlwind that was sophomore year has come to an end, and looking back, so much has happened.

Headline Surfer photo by Serafina Frederick / The lines were long with waits of up to an hour or more Saturday at the New Smyrna Beach Library, the second heaviest of the five early voting precincts across Volusia County.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Voter turnout was intense today on the first day of early voting for the 2012 general elections with people standing in line for more than an hour waiting to vote at the New Smyrna Beach Library, which was second among the five voting precincts.

1st in a series: The sound of a gunshot coming from inside a residence in Daytona's Beachside where Biketoberfest had opened Oct. 18, was unmistakable to Diane Marie Hamilton, who had just stepped outside following an argument she had with husband Edward Gossett of Tampa Bay, a former pro wrestler known in the ring as Mike Graham. When she returned to the bedroom, she found his lifeless body on the bed face up with a bullet hole in his forehead. The handgun was on a pillow immediately to his left. 

DAYTONA BEACH -- Former pro wrestler Mike Graham's suicide during the opening night of Biketoberfest here in Daytona Beach is even more tragic than initially reported for this reason: His wife, Diane Marie Hamilton, was leaving the residence where they were staying for the fall biker rally when she heard the gunshot, ran back inside and found her 61-year-old husband face up on the bed with a bullet wound in his forehead.