Local News Now

ORMOND BEACH -- You know Mitt Romney made the right pick for vice president because the liberal left is already going bananas trying to discredit and smear Paul Ryan.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Mitt Romney may try to come off as an average Joe with a jacket and no tie in introducing VP running mate Paul Ryan, with jacket and no tie as well. How boring.

Let us show you how candidates for office In Volusia County go about making an impression. A big impression! With Facebook, anything is possible. 

Take County Council dist. 2 incumbent Joshua Wagner, for example. Why wait for the water to break? After all, the primary is less than 72 hours away.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The Typical Story: Peter is a married, 35-year-old. His wife, Susan, is a sales rep., who spends several days each week on the road. Both report that their sex life was great until just a few years ago, and Peter is not sure what happened.

EDGREWATER -- Have you had to renew your driver’s license lately? If not beware.

Dist. 3 County Council candidate Jim Hathaway, shown far left) has picked up endorsements from Volusia Building Industry Association and the Sierra Club while fellow candidate Deb Denys has won the endorsement of the New Smyrna Beach Board of Realtors. And candidate Justin Kennedy is content with endorsements from the Volusia Sheriff's Deputies Association, Volusia Teachers Organization, Edgewater Professional Firefighters Association and the Daytona Beach Fire/Rescue Association.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- They're not quite Olympic gold medals, but for the three candidates running for Volusia County Council dist. 3 seat in Tuesday's primary, endorsements are golden.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- I am astonished that a statement of personal and religious belief by an executive of an American corporation, in this case Chick-fil-A, is being used as a clarion call to boycott and destroy the business. It is especially troubling that the people who are contesting this individual’s right to religious freedom and to speech based on those beliefs are doing so in the name of their own freedoms of expression and identity.

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES -- Today Mitt Romney nominated Paul Ryan, seven-term Congressman from Wisconsin and Chairman of the House Banking and Finance Committee as his vice-presidential running mate. The decision has its pluses and its minuses.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Lightning from a fast-moving thunderstorm rolling through the city struck a substation transmission line and as a result knocked out power for customers in parts of the city.

The Utilities Commission of New Smyrna Beach posted the following alert on its website about 30 minutes ago:
Lightning strikes during the severe storm that came through about 7:30 pm caused significant outages throughout the UC service area. There are crews working to restore electric service as quickly as possible."

An earlier posting stated: "The Lightning caused an outage in the transmission line between Field Street and Smyrna Substations about 7:30 Saturday night. Crews are working in the problem."

Headline Surfer has not been able to reach anyone from the utilities commission to get a fixed number on how many customers are without power or when power will be fully restored. The 24/7 Internet newspaper is monitoring the situation and will provide updates.