Volusia News Now

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Every American has seen the film classic "Animal House" depicting life in a college fraternity.

The fraternity brothers were depicted as being totally without any redeeming qualities. They were totally lazy, irresponsible, undisciplined, destructive and any academic achievement was accidental and discouraged by the fraternity.

Nobody took the movie too seriously. However there has always been the lingering fear that there is a little bit of animal house in all fraternities. Over the years a few mishaps occurred which gave fraternities a bad name at MIT.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- I felt very sad producing a tribute video in honor of Peter Mallory, who died Friday.

Photo from Daytona Beach city website / Daytona Beach's eight-year city manager is not leaving the World's Most Famous Beach, at least not for Sarasota, where he was among the top 3 vying for the same post there.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Jim Chisholm, Daytona Beach's city manager since 2004, may have made the final round of three for the same post in Sarasota, but after he failed to garner more than one vote Monday by that commission, he was no longer in the running. 

Sarasota officials are now looking to re-start their search process, seemingly uninpressed with the final big 3. Neither Chisholm nor the other two finalsts wowed the city commission there. The Sarasota Herald Tribune led off its online story after Monday's meeting making it clear officials there were far from wowed: "The City of Sarasota is desperate. But not that desperate."

The Sarasota newspaper quoted City Commissioner Shannon Snyder as saying of the choices, "I'm not voting for any of them."

Headline Surfer photos by Sera Frederick and Henry Frederick / Here are video highlights from the 2011 Fourth of July fireworks show in Edgewater. More videos inside.

EDGEWATER -- For the fifth year in a row, Headline Surfer, will bring you the spectacular Fourth of July fireworks show from George R. Kennedy Park, which is expected to draw more than 20,000-plus proud Americans, city officials said. The fireworks will get under way at dusk and the 24/7 Internet newspaper will be there to capture all of the festivities, culminating in the night sky explosions.

The green arrow in the graphic shows where a 28-year-old motorist lost his life overnight Saturday in a horrific crash, the first of two fatal accidents resulting in three deaths in Seminole County.

APOPKA -- A 28-year-old Fern Park man was killed overnight Saturday on Bear Lake Road in nearby Seminole County when his Ford Escape left the road and struck a number of objects before overturning, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Henry Coleman Jr., was southbound on Bear Lake Road at Bear Lake Circle when he "drifted onto the west shoulder of the roadway, struck a signpost, a fire hydrant, a rock wall, two mailboxes and a tree before overturning," FHP spokeswoman Sgt. KJim Montes said of the 3 a.m. fatality.

The driver was not wearing his seatbelt and was pronounced dead at the scene. This crash remains under investigation, she said, including whether he had been drinking.

A head-on crash early Sunday claimed the lives of two women in a Ford Mustang in Seminole County as shown in this graphic.

WINTER PARK -- Two people in a Mustang were killed early this morning in a head-on collision on Dodd Road near Kinsley the driver crossed over a raised median and directly into the path of another car before flipping over, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

For yet unknown reasons, the 2008 Ford Mustang, driven by 48-year-old Christine Matthews of San Antonio, Texas, "failed to negotiate a curve" in the road while heading north and slammed head-on into a 2004 4-door Volvo driven by Kimberly Pisarski, who was southbound on Dodd. The collision caused the Mustang to overturn, FHP spokesman Sgt. Kim Montes said.

OAK HILL -- The rains have made everything in Oak Hill look green and luscious, and the danger of wildfires has subsided so what am I thinking? Yep, fireworks and the 4th of July. We are so fortunate to live in a beautiful land where we are free and can celebrate our nation's independence any way we choose.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Peter Mallory, co-founder of NSBNews.net and a longtime New Smyrna Beach resident, died Thursday at an Orlando hospital. Known for his conservative political views, his award-winning weekly blog was aptly called "The Right Side."

ORMOND BEACH -- In an unprecedented vote, a divided U.S. Supreme Court upheld Obamacare, the abomination that deprives Americans of individual liberty. The 5-4 vote reflects deep divisions in a country struggling to hold onto democracy because of the failed policies of a president who sees socialism as a means to an end.