Volusia News Now

Stetson ranked 9th nationally in collegiate beach volleyball

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Stetson's Samantha Harris has Stetson volleyball ranked 9th / Headline Surfer®DELAND, Fla. -- The Stetson beach volleyball team, led by Samantha Harris, is ranked 9th in the nation in this week's AVCA Top 10 coaches poll. Stetson (18-6, 5-1 A-Sun) will visit Mercer (8-9, 2-4) today for its final two Atlantic Sun Conference dual matches of the season.

If the Hatters sweep, they will clinch a share of the regular season conference title and earn the No. 1 seed for the conference championship, April 22-24 in Emerson, Ga.

Big 3 of Hope Place: Mark Geallis, executive director of Halifax Urban Ministries

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Daytona homeless family shelter / Jim Dinneen, Forough Hosseini, Mark Geallis / Headline Surfer®
First of three sidebars included in 2nd of 10-part investigative reporting series that takes the public into the plight of homeless families with children and of teens living on their own (at least 18 & in school living either apart from parents or with none at all) in greater Daytona Beach and throughout Volusia County); and the big three leaders who did something about it by Pushing for Hope Place -- Mark Geallis, executive director of Halifax Urban Ministries; Forough Hosseini, vice president of ICI Homes & and a community entrepreneur; and Jim Dinneen, Volusia County manager. These are their stories...
 
Mark Geallis of Halifax Urban Ministries, among big 3 behind Hope Place / Headline Surfer®Photos for Headline Surfer® /
Mark Geallis, executive director of Halifax Urban Ministries in Daytona Beach, Florida, is shown here at left.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- At one time, Mark Geallis made sandwiches in Chicago, - a job he didn't find all too fulfilling.

Public invited to April 20 Environmental Justice Conference in New Smyrna Beach

Donna Gray Banks coordinating justice seminar in New Smyrna Beach / Headline Surfer®
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Donna Gray-Banks, shown here at left, will lead a free workshop on environmental justice from 9 a.m. to noon, Wednesday, April 20, at the Alonzo ‘Babe’ James Community Center, 201 N. Myrtle Ave., New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- The public is invited to an April 20 Environmental Justice Conference in New Smyrna Beach, overseen by Donna Gray-Banks, the municipality's community resource coordinator. Here are the details:

What: Environmental Justice Conference geared toward non-profit organizations, governments, community stakeholders, students, scholars, artists and environmental health professionals. Dr. Deanna Wathington, Bethune-Cookman University College of Health Sciences executive dean, will discuss how the environment affects health. Environmental engineers and community redevelopment staff will define brownfields and environmental justice and discuss community perspectives.

Who should attend: Scholars, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, community stakeholders, students, environmental health professionals and artists.

Blood drive at NSB library April 15

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- OneBlood’s Big Red Bus is seeking blood donations 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 15, at the New Smyrna Beach Regional Library parking lot, 1001 S. Dixie Freeway. Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are strongly encouraged. They can be made online at www.oneblood.org.

No April Fool's joke: City of DeLand firefighters rescue 'Sammie' the cat from drain

DELAND, Fla. -- They say cats have nine lives. At 14, Sammie the Cat may have squeezed out his final lifeline with a little help from his new-found friends: DeLand firefighters who rescued the furry creature from a drain on this April Fools Friday morning. No fooling, though. The cat's out of the beg, err, drain.

Sammie was located by its owner in a street drain on Main Street after its cries were heard, DeLand spokesman Chris Graham said.

FHP: Efforts being made to ID dead motorcyclist after Harley strikes pole near New Smyrna Beach

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Biker killed in NSB / Headline Surfer®Headline Surfer® graphic /
Here is the location where a lone motorcycle rider was killed near New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on Wednesday,  causing traffic to be halted on both directions in the vicinity of 1700 South Glencoe Road so emergency vehicles could get to the crash scene.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- A motorcyclist was killed Wednesday afternoon after crashing his Harley-Davidson into a utility pole while southbound in the 1700 block of Glencoe Road, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The fatal crash occurred at 1:40 p.m., when the biker, who was wearing a helmet, apparently "failed to negotiate a curve" and left the roadway before striking the pole and causing him to be thrown from the bike.

Gov. Rick Scott appoints Daytona's Morteza 'Mori' Hosseini to University of Florida Board of Trustees

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Gov. Rick Scott announced the appointment of Morteza “Mori” Hosseini Wednesday to the University of Florida Board of Trustees.