Local News Now

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- After reading reports of comments from a debate among challengers to his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Tom Feeney said from his Washington office that the only candidate worthy of mention was Gaurav Bhola, an Orlando resident, running as an independent candidate.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- From a distance to swimmers, surfers and sunbathers, the mammoth wet dirt spewing from a large piece of machinery looks like an oil well run amok, but it's really wet sand being pumped from the Intracoastal Waterway several miles away through a piping network snaking along the edge of the sand dunes.

OAK HILL -- Volusia County Sheriff's deputies seized eight malnourished horses from a pasture in
near Mims on the Brevard County line in Mims earlier today after receiving an anonymous complaint that the animals were underweight and not being properly cared for.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- What better way to celebrate the culinary delights of an oceanfront community than with a street festival? The merchants of Flagler Avenue plan to do just that with the inaugural New Smyrna Beach Shrimp & Seafood Festival on Thursday, Aug. 14.

The 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. event will b hosted by the Merchants of Flagler Avenue Hospitality Group.

"The event promises to be the largest seafood festival in Volusia County," said Adele Aletti, owner of Gone Bonkers and an organizer. "During the event Flagler Avenue will be open only to pedestrian traffic."

DAYTONA BEACH -- Virginia Larzelere, the condemned mastermind behind the 1991 shotgun slaying of her Edgewater dentist-husband for a $2.1 million life insurance payout was all smiles Friday at the Justice Center because even though she was sentenced to life in prison, the death penaty was no longer at play.

As if that was not reason enough to smile, Larzelere, now 55, could get out of prison in eight years or even sooner because of gain time under the old Florida sentencing guidelines that were in effect at the time of her conviction.