Sanford

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.

Debra Annette Smith was planning to walk to Sanford

Headline Surfer® graphic / Debra Annette Smith's badly decomposing body was found in an open field off of South Leisure World Drive near Barwick Road, as shown in this locator map. The ME's Office won't have details on the 48-year-old DeBary woman's cause of death until toxicology reports come back in a few weeks.

DEBARY -- A decomposed body found Wednesday in an open field in DeBary Wednesday morning has been identified as that of 48-year-old Debra Annette Smith, last seen alive Nov. 8, when she left her home after getting into a minor verbal dispute with her partner, a Volusia County Sheriff's official said.

Photo for Headline Surfer / At left is a Florida DOT webcam shot of I-4 at S.R. 46, earlier tonight, where highway construction has now been completed.

SANFORD – A major construction project on Interstate 4 in the Sanford area is now complete.

The project includes a new loop ramp at State Road 46 as well as a 3.5 mile-long section of roadway along the interstate called a collector-distributor, which eliminates weaving among exiting and merging traffic on the interstate itself.

Vehicle found abandoned in Sanford

Headline Surfer graphic / An alert cab driver used a little trickery on Sunday to escape from a gun-toting customers, but had his taxi stolen at the intersection of Volusia and Graves avenues in Orange City 8 a.m. Sunday as shown at left.

ORANGE CITY -- A taxi driver was held up at gunpoint early this morning and ordered to drive a man and woman to Orange city before he escaped at the intersection of Volusia and Graves avenues, A Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman said.

The 2002 Dodge Caravan was later recovered abandoned in Sanford and the duo remain at large.

Headline Surfer, greater Daytona Beach's 24/7 internet newspaper, among 3 dozen media outlets with seating for high profile case

Pool photo by Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel / for Headline Surfer /

SANFORD -- Security will be extremely tight when jury selection gets under way this morning at the Seminole County Courthouse for George Zimmerman, charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin -- the high profile case that galvanized the nation with gun rights advocates on one side and claims of racism on the other side since the victim was a 17-year-old black youth and an arrest wasn't immediately forthcoming leading to nationwide protests.

Promoted in September by Wisconsin parent company Utility Equipment Leasing Corp.

Photo for Headline Surfer / Utility Equipment Leasing Corporation Appoints Ron Starks as Service Mechanic for the Sanford, Florida Service Center Starks brings With more than 25 years of experience in utility equipment maintenance and dedication to customer service, Ron Starks has been promoted to service mechanic for Sanford-based Florida Service Center.

SANFORD -- Meet Ron Starks, promoted last September by the Waukesha, Wisc.-based Utility Equipment Leasing Corp., as service mechanic at its Sanford Service Center, serving the Southeast states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Starks was tasked with providing road service in addition to support at the Sanford Service Center.  He has more than 25 years experience in aerial equipment service throughout the Southeast, the latter 10 years providing primarily road service.

Judge Kenneth LesterJr., is out and Judge Debra Nelson is in as the presiding judge in the State of Florida vs. George Zimmerman, shown below between his attorneys, Mark O'Mara and Don West. 

DAYTONA BEACH -- The presiding judge in the state's case against accused killer George Zimmerman in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin has recused himself following a ruling by the 5th District Court of Appeal in the defendant's favor.

Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester, Jr. executed an order to "disqualify" himself from further proceedings in the State of Florida v. George Zimmerman.

Media pool photos by Orlando Sentinel / Accused killer George Zimmerman and his attorney, Mark O'Mara, are shown here in the June 29 bond hearing at the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford where Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester heard arguments on why he should be granted bail after his truthfulness was called into question about his finances. The judge on July 5 granted $1 million bail. It was comments made by the judge in his bond order that riled Zimmerman's attorneys and prompted them to request he step down.

SANFORD -- The judge in the second-degree murder case against George Zimmerman is standing his own ground by refusing a defense motion to step aside. Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. issued his ruling this morning dismissing the defense request by defense counsel Mark O'Mara who had charged the judge was biased against Zimmerman because of remarks he made at his second bond hearing last month.

EDGEWATER -- A sense of relief came over me with the arrest of George Zimmerman on the charge of second-degree murder in the Sanford shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. As much as the whole state of Florida is a tinderbox of dryness prone to fire, I was more and more feeling that this situation was also a tinderbox that was on the verge of exploding into violence.