ORMOND BEACH -- America’s collective heart has been broken again. A lunatic with a gun, and in this case several weapons, killed innocent people for no apparent reason. Three men died for their heroic acts in saving their girlfriends at the theater in Aurora, Colo., where “The Dark Knight Rises” was showing.
EDGEWATER -- To say I was stunned when I heard about the tragedy in Colorado is an understatement. You would think that after all that has happened in recent years these things would not shock us so when they happen.
EDGEWATER -- The massacre in Aurora, Colo., with the gunman who killed 12 and wounded dozens of others during the midnight showing of a new Batman movie is tragic and senseless. But it's the person with a cold heart -- not the gun -- that pulls the trigger.
Freddie Lee Giddemns Jr. of Palm Coast will spend the next 25 years in prison for a brutal prescription drug robbery of an Ormond Beach pharmacy last September. The minimum-mandatory sentence handed down would keep him behind bars until the age of 57.
DAYTONA BEACH -- A 32-year-old Palm Coast man convicted at trial in May of sticking a gun in the face of a phamacy tech in Ormond Beach for painkillers and other prescription drugs was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in prison that requires him to serve a mandatory minimum of 25 years behind bars.
It is very satisfying to go against the grain with the truth on one’s side. One might begin humming the “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Slipping into smugness is not recommended, but it’s privately tempting.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- In their only media debate of the Aug. 14 primaries, three candidates running for the City Commission zone 4 seat made the most of the opening session Saturday in a marathon series of debates at the Brannon Center sponsored by Headline Surfer.
The CVS pharmacy on Howland Boulevard in Deltona was the target early Sunday of a cross-dressing robber with a green wig, black lipstick and a handbag.
DELTONA -- A cross-dressing thief claiming to have a bomb failed early this morning morning in an attempt to rob a Deltona drug store of its prescription pills after the pharmacist refused to give him what he craved.
The would-be-robber ran from the CVS pharmacy, 2187 Howland Blvd., empty-handed just before 6 a.m. and managed to get away just prior to the arrival of responding Volusia County Sheriff's deputies.
"Witnesses said the suspect -- they weren't sure if it was a man or a woman -- claimed that their children were being held hostage," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. "The suspect also claimed to have a bomb and threatened to blow up the store if the prescription drugs weren't handed over."
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Kathy Woods Burrows, shown in the inset photo, was Nicole Carni's assistant when they worked at the NSB Visitor's Center.NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Fired Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority Director Nicole Carni and her trusted assistant, Kathy Woods Burrows, were best friends, sisters even. At least that's what people were led to believe.
State Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, and Volusia County Chair Frank Bruno, D-Ponce Inlet, are term-limited in their current seats and so they're vying for the dist. 8 state senate seat in the November elections.PORT ORANGE -- Their State Senate showdown isn't until November, but Republican Dorothy Hukill is chomping at the bit against her Democratic opponent, Frank Bruno: "We just won the West Volusia Regional Chamber straw ballot with over 65% of the vote! Thank you for all your support - onward to November!"
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A mailing by Volusia County Council candidate Deb Denys that dismisses her two opponents as Obama clones, sets the stage for what's expected to be a lively series of debates Saturday in New Smyrna Beach, eight in all, sponsored by Headline Surfer.NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- There's no love lost between the candidates for the Volusia County Council dist. 3 race and that may be just the warm-up for Saturday's big debates at the Brannon Center.
Headline Surfer, the New Smyrna Beach-based 24/7 Internet newspaper, has eight debates set to go from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with citizen participation a key component in holding the candidates accountable to the voters.
