Volusia News Now

Headline Surfer® graphics / Here is a view of the Daytona Beach-area shoreline on this beautiful Sunday morning from the Volusia County cam off the Dunlawton Avenue Approach. In the inset is a summary of current weather conditions just after 9 a.m.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The World's Most Famous Beach received 1.29 inches of rain Saturday, a real good soaking', though it seemed like it was more. Today, there is a zero percent chanced of precipitation with bright skies as far as the eye can see.

The rain put a damper on the New Smyrna Beach Balloon & Skyfest, but today should be a different story. Same with the Spring Turkey Run here in Daytona Beach.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Shane Porter's blog, "Get Psyched," is exclusive to Headline Surfer®.

Will serve New Smyrna Beach and Volusia County as well

Photos for Headline Surfer® / Salvador Leo Cevallos MD (shown in the middle), Shane Porter, LMHC ( shown near left) and Anthony Capozzi MD (not shown), head up the Center for Behavioral Medicine, 1730 Dunlawton Ave., Suite 3, Port Orange, as shown at far left.

PORT ORANGE -- While many Doctors are closing their doors in fear of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, residents of the cities of Port Orange and New Smyrna Beach in Volusia County are excited about a group of prominent community physicians who are taking a bold step forward in opening the Center for Behavioral Medicine as early as Tuesday.

Two Orlando jurists, chief judge in Sanford, also in contention

Photos for Headline Surfer / Terence R. Perkins, shown far left, would join Richard B. Orfinger, shown in the inset, as the second Volusia County jurist on the appellate court, if selected by the governor to fill an impending vacancy.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Terence R. Perkins, chief judge of the 7th judicial circuit that encompasses the courts in Volusia, Flagler, Putnam and St. Johns counties, is among six candidates for a seat on the 5th District Court of Appeal that Gov. Scott will have to choose from to replace the retiring Jacqueline Griffin.

Perkins is among two chief judges seeking the seat. The other is John M. Harris, chief judge of the 18th judicial circuit in nearby Sanford that includes courts in Seminole and Brevard counties.

By MELISSA COLLINS

DELTONA, Fla. -- Are we on the verge of World War III? Is Obama floundering? The answer to the first question is not yet known. The answer to the latter is obvious. And because of the indecisiveness in the White House, Putin is proving to the World that where there is a vacuum it will be filled.

Headline Surfer® graphic / A homeless man known to frequent the area of Deltona Boulevard and Enterprise Road, as shown here in this screenshot, tried to snatch a woman's purse. His description is posted in the story below. If you see him, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office urges you to please call 9-1-1.

DELTONA, Fla. -- When the 36-year-old woman arrived Friday morning at work in Deltona and encountered a man who reeked of alcohol, she didn’t know him by name. But she recognized him as the homeless man who often sleeps on the park bench in front of her business at a plaza on Deltona Boulevard.

When he asked her for money, the woman said she didn’t have any to spare. And that’s when things got physical.

Editor's Note: This brief write-up below by New Smyrna Beach resident Stan Kapp is in response to Headline Surfer® community blogger Darlene Vann's "Musings" column published March 13 and headlined, "Too many old people left to fend for themselves behind the wheel and that's scary." A link to Vann's blog is copied below Kapp's comments, which were verified with Florida authorities. At left are scenes from a fatal crash that occurred Feb. 6 in New Smyrna Beach, in which an elderly woman driver drove into  medical building. A link to rthat story is below as well.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- All the investigating officer has to do is send the driver to be retested. I was hit several years ago in New Smyrna Beach by an elderly driver. The Florida Highway Patrol showed up and said the driver should not be operating a vehicle. And he was on oxygen while driving.

Police Chief Michael Chitwood ramps up rhetoric, with name calling, describing wanted African-American suspected accomplice as 'gun-toting thug'

Photos for Headline Surfer® / Deandre Peterson, shown, in the inset, has been booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail on a murder charge in the shooting death of Quuordre Wiley, 21, and police are looking for Justin Williams, suspected in an earlier related shooting incident.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Violent crime continues unabated in Daytona Beach with no end in sight as witnessed by a cold-blooded murder on a Friday afternoon as gunfire rang out in a salon.

March 21 musical play takes revealing look at taboo family sex abuse

DAYTONA BEACH -- A revealing look at the taboo of family sexual abuse and molestation is highlighted in “She Won’t Tell,” a revealing musical play, written by evangelist Karen Peoples, who herself was the victim of this silent nightmare that plagues so many families.

The play will be held 7 p.m. Friday, March 21, at the Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center.

Legal sources: Clear cut conflict of interest for jurist who may be forced to recuse himself from presiding at trial that begins Tuesday

Photos for Headline Surfer® / The big question heading into the trial for Jim Sotolongo and Ramara Garret, shown in the inset, is whether U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr., shown at far left, will be presiding.

ORLANDO -- Before he was nominated by President Obama and his appointed ratified by the U.S. Senate in 2011 for a federal judgeship in the Middle District of Florida, Roy B. Dalton, Jr.,was a member of the board of trustees for the Orlando-based Seaside National Bank& Trust for four years before laving to assume his position on the bench.