Local News Now

NSBNEWS.net video by Sera King. Video highlights: Members of the New Smyrna Beach Class of 1955 recently celebrated their 53rd reunion at Clancy's Cantina on the beachside with song, merriment and a few classic memories. At left is Ken Phillips, star basketball player, and at right is Peter Mallory and Sandy Roberts. The video is dark due to lighting, but is worth checking out, especially for the less than stellar singing of Bobby Howard. So take a stroll down memory lane when times were gentler and poodle skirts were en vogue. 

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Bettie Johnston will never forget the day she and the other cheerleaders wore short skirts for the basketball squad against St. Augustine: "The boys walked right off the court!"

"We always wore our skirts past our knees, but not for this game," recalled Johnston, now 72, of what had to be the most bizarre turn of events for the New Smyrna Beach Class of 1955.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa will slip away from his workshop and busy schedule to visit Art Walk today on Flagler Avenue for a "Christmas
Celebration."

You can visit this special holiday Art Walk from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., as you avoid the traffic and the crowds at the malls and stroll along Flagler Avenue, the charming five-block area between the Indian River and the ocean.

There will be something for everyone. Galleries have works on display by more than 120 artists; and dozens of visiting artist will be set up under canopies on the avenue,

NSBNEWS.net photo by Sera King. Cutline:

We swore we’d never do it again! It’s too much trouble! It’s a lot of work!

But there we were again gathering the junk we have collected over these past 10 years since our last yard sale.

What were we thinking?

Unfortunately, we are collectors of "stuff," the preferred verbiage for junk.

Getting rid of stuff is almost impossible for us since “we just might need it one day,”or so we delude ourselves into thinking.

Stuff piles higher and higher in our two houses taking space and collecting dust until we finally decide that something has to be done and soon.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- The Bush administration's Christmas gift to America is a package of disaster. 

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The St. Johns River Water Management District has voted today to purchase 1,402 acres for $3.9 million, approximately three miles north of the Brevard County border, the agency said in a press release.

the property is part of the Indian River Lagoon Blueway Florida Forever Project adjacent to the District's Turnbull Hammock Conservation Area. The property includes 1,213 acres of contiguous land and 189 acres of non-contiguous lots to the southeast.

Bank of America surveillance photo provided by New Smyrna Beach Police Department for NSBNEWS.net. Cutline: This man participated in a scheme to skim money from the ATM at the Bank of America Brach on State Road 44 in New Smyrna Beach. If you know who he is, please contact Detective Tony Ford with the New Smyrna Beach Police Department at (386) 424-2240.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Bank of America has informed the New Smyrna Beach Police Department that sometime during the weekend of November 15-16, an organized gang compromised several bank ATM/Debit machines throughout the State of Florida, including the branch in New Smyrna Beach located at 1880 State Road 44, police said this afternoon.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Whether you’re trying to navigate the Internet or still looking for the computer's on/off switch, the New Smyrna Beach Regional Library has beginner computer classes that can help you find your way, says Pak Kuehn, a Volusia County spokeswoman.

Among the courses:

# Computer Basics will begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14. This class is for people with little or no computer experience who want to learn about the components of a computer and get acquainted with terminology. Participants will explore some of the functions and features of the Windows operating system.

EDGEWATER -- In 2003, Edgewater Fire-Rescue, in conjunction with Edgewater Fire-Rescue Association, began to expand its Operation Caring program. For many years, both organizations had been active in providing food and toys to children and families during the holiday season through the Operation Santa program.

GRADE: F

The whole world of finance is agog about the $50 billion Ponzi scheme carried out by Bernard Madoff on Wall Street.

Madoff’s scheme is alleged to have bilked many big time financial players such as Real Estate magnate Mort Zuckerman and Foundation for Humanity director Ellie Wiesel.

For those not familiar with a Ponzi scheme, it consists of an organized plan that promises to pay unusually large “dividends.”