NSBNEWS.net: Volusia County / State

DAYTONA BEACH -- Performance artist Dominique Holloway will host a poetry reading and celebration at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, at the Volusia County Library - City Island.

Dr. Jose Carmona, director of the Embry-Riddle Language Institute, will read several of his poems. Spruce Creek High School students who are part of the international baccalaureate program and their teacher, Ligia Cabrera, will read original poems and interpret poetry from the book “Vatos,” a tribute to Latino men.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Passenger traffic at Daytona Beach International Airport (DBIA) decreased 40 percent in January 2009 compared with January 2008.

During January, 28,102 total passengers arrived and departed through the county-operated airport, compared with the 46,777 travelers recorded in January 2008. For the 12-month period ending Jan. 31, 576,196 passengers traveled through DBIA, compared with 695,418 total passengers in 2008 and representing a 17 percent decrease.

ORANGE CITY -- Three people were killed when a sport utility vehicle overturned early Sunday on Carpenrter Avenue, just north of Rhode Island Avenue, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Michelle O'Rourke Fisher, 36, of DeBary, was driving north on Carpenter Avenue, when she lost control of her 1997 Ford Explorer at 12:30 a.m. and the vehicle overturned -- killing her and two passengers -- Christopher Lee Doerr, 27, of Orange City and Marianne Doerr Nipper, 52, of Austell, Ga. None of them were wearing their seatbelts, the highway patrol said.

DELAND -- A DeLand biker was struck and killed early Saturday by a pickup truck going the wrong way on U.S. 17, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The midnight accident north of Old Daytona Road claimed the life of Michael E. Priester, 53, who was riding his 2007 Harley-Davidson on the inside northbound lane, when he was struck by a 2007 Dodge pickup driven by Raymond T. Youngblood, 62, of Seville, the highway patrol said.

The truck then veered onto the east shoulder, across Old Daytona Road, and into a building at 1519 Old Daytona Road.

DELAND -- Fire officials from Volusia County Fire Services are warning the public of telephone solicitors who may be contacting local citizens for donations, said Shelley Szafraniec, Volusia County spokeswoman. Over the past couple of days, fire officials received a call from a citizen asking if a telephone call they received from a “group” in West Palm Beach was legitimate.

“From what we understand, the caller said they were seeking donations on behalf of Volusia County Fire Services,” Volusia County Fire Services Director James Tauber said. “So far, we are not aware of anyone

ORMOND BEACH -- An Ormond Beach motorist who engaged Florida Highway Patrol troopers on a chase at speeds of up to 120, initially south of Edgewater on Interstate 95, was shot and killed in Ormond Beach by four troopers this morning after pointing a gun at them, according to the highway patrol.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The Daytona Beach News-Journal fired nine newsroom employees Tuesday, bringing to total 186 employees let go in the past six months, along with the closings of its bureaus in New Smyrna Beach, DeLand, Deltona and Bunnell.

All are part of cost-cutting measures to get the newspaper ready for sale, though no prospective buyers have been announced since the News-Journal lost a lawsuit to its minority partner, Cox Enterprises.

ORANGE CITY -- A fire Sunday afternoon caused extensive damage to the kitchen of an Orange City restaurant, which was unoccupied.

DELTONA -- The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office is appealing to the public for help in identifying a flasher who has exposed himself to young girls in Deltona three times in the last month.

The first incident occurred on Jan. 6 as a 10-year-old girl was riding her bicycle along Clewiston Street.

DELTONA -- The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is investigating the theft of an ATM from a Deltona convenience store early Wednesday morning.

Deputies arrived at the Kangaroo Express, 400 Welcome Center Drive, at approximately 3:14 a.m. in response to an activated burglar alarm.

"The business' front door frame was found in the parking lot, and an ATM that