NSBNEWS.net: Volusia County / State

DELTONA -- A 19-year-old man was shot in the foot while standing outside his residence this morning, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office reported.

The Sheriff's Office received a 911 call at about 9:28 a.m. from a woman who said that someone had been shot in the foot at 2870 Chalmer St., but that the victim, Lonnie Solomon, was now at an address on Glenlock Street.

Deputies responded to both addresses and learned that Solomon had been standing in the driveway of his Chalmer Street home when someone shot him. His girlfriend then drove him to his mother's house on Glenlock Street.

ORMOND BEACH -- Leonard Willis, the Jacksonville suspect in multiple bank robberies in Florida and Georgia, has been arrested, Volusia Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson reported.

Law enforcement authorities captured Willis Wednesday morning fleeing from a bank robbery in Georgia," Davidson said.

Willis is being held at the Lamar County Detention Center in Barnesville, Ga., approximately 40 miles northwest of Macon.

ORMOND BEACH -- Law enforcement authorities have identified the suspect believed to be responsible for at least five bank robberies in the past month,
including three in the Ormond Beach area.

Multiple arrest warrants have been issued for 44-year-old Leonard Willis of Jacksonville, but so far he has eluded capture.

DELAND -- David Crider, 32, of DeLand, has been positively identified as the rider of a motorcycle struck and killed a weekago today by a pick-up truck at the intersection of Old Daytona Road and Amelia Avenue, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Crider was driving at a high rate of speed on Old Daytona Road when he made a left turn in front of the truck driven by 30-year-old Kevin Solari the highway patrol reported.

DAYTONA BEACH -- To promote its new beach recycling program, Volusia County will give free recycling tote bags to the first 1,000 beach-goers starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, March 7, and Sunday, March 8, at designated toll booths from Ormond Beach south to Ponce Inlet, county spokeswoman Pat Kuehn said.

So far, two bikers have died since Bike Week got under way Friday, but the Florida Highway Patrol has not yet determined whether these initial fatalities are related to the 10-day motorcycle rally centered in Volusia County.

David Pitt, 61, of Oviedo, was killed Sunday night while riding westbound on Interstate 4 in Volusia County about three miles west of the International Speedway Boulevard exit, when he suddenly fell off his 2006 Harley-Davidson and was run over by a car behind him, the highway patrol said today.

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
200 PM EST SUN MAR 1 2009

...WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA TONIGHT...

COUNTY SPECIFIC MESSAGE:

INLAND VOLUSIA-NORTHERN LAKE-ORANGE-SEMINOLE-SOUTHERN BREVARD- OSCEOLA-INDIAN RIVER-OKEECHOBEE-ST. LUCIE-COASTAL VOLUSIA-
SOUTHERN LAKE-NORTHERN BREVARD- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...DE LAND...LEESBURG...ORLANDO...
SANFORD...MELBOURNE...PALM BAY...KISSIMMEE...ST CLOUD... VERO BEACH...OKEECHOBEE...FORT PIERCE...DAYTONA BEACH... CLERMONT...TITUSVILLE

PORT ORANGE -- State Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, whose district includes Southeast Volusia, has filed legislation in Tallahassee to make the state’s tax system more fair and equitable for all Floridians.

The “Sales Tax Fairness Restoration Act (STAFR)” will put all state sales tax exemptions, except those for necessities, on the path to an automatic and uniform review process by a special legislative body. To ensure that only worthwhile exemptions stay on the books, exemptions will sunset unless determined to be beneficial for the state by an open and accountable review.

DAYTONA BEACH -- There’s a new carrier at Daytona Beach International Airport (DBIA) to bring island lovers to the Bahamas again.

Beginning Thursday, Feb. 26, IslandPass LLC will offer flights from DBIA to Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas’ Abaco Islands Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, and Treasure Cay Wednesdays and Thursdays. The flights depart Daytona Beach at 7:30 a.m. Return flights from the Bahamas leave the islands at 10 a.m. One-way flight time is less than 90 minutes.

DELAND -- Volusia County Government employees gave the Ocean Center food drive a jump start this month, compiling more than 4,100 items, said Vickie Pleus, a county spokeswoman.

That effort was amplified Sunday, Feb. 22, by guests of the Ocean Center grand opening who more than doubled those contributions, bringing the food drive total to 8,740 items.