Volusia News Now

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NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will a $1.2 million beautification of the North Causeway in this picturesque beach-front city of 22,000 residents.

Beautification begins Monday along the North Causeway, from Riverside Drive east to the George E. Musson Bridge. That's the draw bridge, in and of itself a major bummer for motorists, especially when the beach is letting out for the day.

PIERSON, Fla. -- A passenger in a pickup truck pulled over during a traffic stop late Monday night in Barberville was killed after he shot at two Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies and the female driver also was struck by a bullet in the crossfire, an agency spokesman said, adding the deputies weren’t injured.

Here is a synopsis of what happened as decribed by Voluia County Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson to HeadlineSurfer.com: After spotting a burned out tail light, deputies pulled over the GMC truck at 11:29 p.m. as it traveled westbound on S.R. 40 just west of County Road 3.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Melbourne has secured the Formula One Australian Grand Prix until at least 2023, staving off a contentious bid from rival suitor Sydney, with a dose of politically-charged bragging rights thrown in for good measure.

At left is a snapshot of the top portion of the Daytona Beach News-Journal story on the county budget with factually-incorrect reporting in the second paragraph.

DELAND, Fla. -- While County Chair Jason Davis wasn't as demonstrative as colleague Deb Denys was in her "No!" response votes to the county budget in her first year on the dais of the Frank T. Bruno County Council Chambers on Thursday evening for the newest spending plan, Davis was very clear in dissenting against the $807 million proposed budget.

But Davis' repeated "no" votes were apparently lost on the Daytona Beach News-Journal, which reported otherwise in a published story online following the first of two public hearings.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Karen Foxman, one of the top prosecutors in the State Attorney's Office, won big in in her quest for a circuit judgeship in Volusia, Flagler, Putnam and St. Johns counties with two-thirds of the votes in last summer's primary for a circuit judgeship.

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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tragedy struck two Orange County families, each of whom suffered the death of a toddler just 12 hours apart -- a 3-year-old girl run over in a hit-and-run on Sept. 4, 2014, a Friday night, and a 1-year-old boy struck and killed the following Saturday morning by his mother's boyfriend backing out of the driveway, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.

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DELTONA, Fla. -- The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in locating a 17-year-old Deltona girl with a medical condition who ran away on Friday, an agency spokesman said.

"This isn’t the first time that Brandy Sweat has run away," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidon told HeadlineSurfer.com, adding, "She’s considered endangered because Brandy is insulin-dependent and has ended up in the hospital in the past when she failed to take her medication as directed."

The Deltona teen was dropped off at Deltona High School on Friday morning, but failed to return home after school, Davidson said

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DELAND, Fla. -- It started with a date riding on a motorcycle and culminated in marriage for radio personality Leslye Gayle and Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson as the two exchanged nuptials on Sept. 13, 2014.

"I've known Ben for a long time working in the news business and had interviewed him many times, but it wasn't until he was a guest on my show 6 1/2 years ago and I was newly divorced did we start dating," Gayle, co-host of the Magic Morning Show on Magic 107.7 FM for 14 years, and prior to that a news anchor at WKMG Local 6, told HeadlineSurfer.com. “Our first date was a motorcycle ride in and around DeLand and we’ve been together ever since!”