Local News Now

As with 3 of 4 recent drownings, nearby lifeguard tower was unmanned 

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DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. -- An 11-year-old boy visiting from Georgia was struck by lightning Tuesday afternoon while fishing in knee-deep water with his father in Daytona Beach Shores and rendered unconscious. Thankfully however, a nearby surfing instructor came to his rescue and administered CPR.

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DELTONA, Fla. -- A man was killed Sunday night in a shooting incident in a Deltona neighborhood.

Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the scene in the area of 551 N. Floyd Circle near Normandy Boulevard around 9:23 p.m. in response to the shooting.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

"All of the people involved in the shooting are accounted for, and at this time investigators are interviewing them and working to determine the facts and circumstances of the incident," Sheriff's spokesman Andrew Gant told Headline Surfer® just before midnight Sunday.

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NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- The New Smyrna Beach Kite Festival is one of a litany of New Smyrna Beach-area tourism authority events that gives the appearance of drawing overnight hotel guests -- also decribed as "heads in beds." But it falls far short of meeting that definition, masked by a built-in audience: Day-trippers who descend on the beach here from the Orlando metro area in their cars.

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ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- A Ponte Vedra man man was killed on the late afternoon of Sept. 19, after a wheel flew off a tractor-trailer and bounced across the median of Interstate 95, before crashing through his windshield and causing him to wreck, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

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OVIEDO -- Gov. Rick Scott appointed Oviedo resident Richard Hanas to a vacant seat on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission back in June.

Hanas, 65, senior vice president of A. Duda & Sons Inc., filled a vacant seat for a term that ends Aug. 1, 2017.

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DELAND, Fla. -- A 27-year-old sky diver suffered injuries to his head and legs during what was decribed as a "hard fall" Monday morning at DeLand airport, municipal cops said.

The injured jumper in the 11 a.m. incident that brought out police and firefighters was identified as Matthew Serwanski of DeLand.

"The initial information is that Mr. Serwanski made a hard landing and suffered a head injury and injuries to his legs," DeLand PD Sgt. Chris Estes told Headline Surfer®. "He was flown to Halifax in Daytona for treatment."

Two sky divers have died in separate jumps so far this year at the airport where Skydive DeLand is located.

Agency: Office of Beach Safety Ocean Rescue (Former Beach Patrol)
Annual Budget: $7.2 million
No. of Sworn Personnel: 81
No. of Lifeguards:
Age of Lifeguards:
Age 16:
Age 17:
18 and older:
Editor's Note: Waiting on Volusia County government to fill in the blanks

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The last time Scott Dixon captured the pole in 2008, he won the Indianapolis 500. Here in 2015, in the 99th running of the Indy 500, Dixon again has the pole the pole in 2008, Scott Dixon has the pole for Sunday's 99th running of the running of the open-wheel race, the single-greatest racing event globally.

Here is the line-up of the Indy 500 Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with rank, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, time and speed in parentheses:

1. (9) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 02:38.7579 (226.760)

2. (1) Will Power, Chevrolet, 02:39.0458 (226.350)

3. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 02:39.1900 (226.145)

4. (10) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 02:39.6428 (225.503)

5. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 02:39.6439 (225.502)