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Pace car catchs fire in 2014 Sprint Cup Unlimited at Daytona / Headline Surfer®

Headline Surfer® YouTube download / Video by Fox Sports /

Chevy SS pace car catches fire with 20 laps to go in in the 2014 Sprint Unlimited at Daytona as shown in screen shot and in the video on Feb. 18.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Maybe it was the full moon. Whatever the reason, one of the most bizarre scenes in the last 20 years took place on the track at Daytona International Speedway during the final stage of the Sprint Unlimited: The pace car caught fire.

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Mori Hosseini: Embry-Riddle 'grateful and indebted' to John Johnson who is retiring after 12 years at the helm

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Photo for Headline Surfer / John Johnson, who is expected to officially retire as president of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University by early summer, if not sooner, poses with one of the planes on the campus, among the best private institutions in the nation for aspiring pilots and aerospace engineers.

By HENRY FREDERICK

Headline Surfer

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66. VCSO: Pot grow operation discovered after Deltona house fire; occupant arrested

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DELTONA, Fla. -- Deltona firefighters and state fire marshals investigating a Dec. 3 house fire in Deltona discovered a marijuana grow operation inside, and the Volusia County Sheriff's Office arrested the man who lives there.

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67. Couple with young children living with woman's corpse in Holly Hill given prison sentences; house demolished

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House of death in Holly Hill / Headline Surfer®

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Nicole Scalise and Todd LaDuke, since sent to prison, squatted in a Holly Hill home for at least a month with their two young boys and the corpse of the homeowner, Tiffany Kain, (shown below) but told law enforcement they didn't know her boy was in a locked bedroom. They were arrested on Halloween 2013, when cops found the body, and the house was torn down in January 2014.

HOLLY HILL, Fla. -- Like a scene out of a horror movie, a Holly Hill married couple raised their 4- and 6-year-old boys in the same house with a corpse until Halloween 2013, when cops moved in with warrants for their arrests on drug charges -- at that time unaware the body was in the residence as well.

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68. Danny Eslick triumphs in Daytona 200 sport bike race

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Dany Eslick, polesitter for 2014 Daytona 200 bike race, interviewed before winning it / Headline Surfer®

Headline Surfer® / YouTube download video by AMA Pro Racing /

Pole-winner Danny Eslick (Riders Discount/Triumph) is interviewed before the 2014 Daytona 200, and then proceeds to go on to race in a dominating way, by winning and giving Triumph its first Daytona 200 victory since Gary Nixon in 1967. Watch the entire race here.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Triumph rider Danny Eslick dominated the 73rd Daytona 200 AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike race at Daytona International Speedway, winning from the pole.

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69. Melbourne teen finishes in top 5 of national spelling bee on ESPN

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Mry Horton of Melbourne finishes in top 5 in spelling bee on ESPN / Headline Surfer®

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Mary Horton of West Melbourne, is interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel for her spelling expertise.

MELBOURNE, Fla. -- Mary Horton, 13, of West Melbourne, spelled her way into the finals of the National Spelling Bee on May 29, in National Harbor, Md., but she finished in a tie for fifth and when all was said and done, among the top 12 contestants overall after flubbing the word "aetites."

Still, though, the Orlando metro newspaper's shining example of smartness showed she could stand up to the pressures of the national spotlight with the spelling bee carried in prime time on ESPN with zany video vignettes of the participants, including Horton showcasing her tiger-striped painted fingernails and her photos of family members, plants and cats.

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As someone threatened on phone with being shot to death - murdered - Sanford cops can't or won't question accused?

Oak Hill Vice Mayor Jeff Bracy accused of making death threats to reporter / Headline Surfer® SANFORD, Fla. -- I was subjected to death threats over the phone from a Volusia County politician 40 miles away who wanted a story I had planned to publish deep-sixed or as he put it, "I'll drive over there to Sanford and hunt your mother (expletive) ass down and I will shoot you until you are no longer breathing -- until you are dead. Don't write that story. I mean it.

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HeadlineSurfer.com Hall of Fame: Former Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach

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HeadlineSurfer.com Hall of Fame

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This is an advance write-up announcing the iduction of Suzanne Kosmas into the Class of 2015 HeadlineSurfer.com Hall of Fame. A formal presentation will be published at a later date. The first official inductee is former Volusia County Chair Frank Bruno of Ponce Inlet. That segment will be published Sunday night.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Though she says her career in elected office is over, Suzanne Kosmas, perhaps the highest ranking Democrat ever from New Smyrna Beach -- first in the Florida Legislature and then Congress -- who could surprise people, if she has one more run in her in 2016, as some have suggested, including this media outlet.

In any event, Suzanne Kosmas, is among the 100 entrants in the inaugural Class of 2015 HeadlineSurfer.com Hall of Fame.

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Republicans have a sense of humor: Just ask Stan Lee

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Republicans like myself battle the stereotype that we have no sense of humor. That we are stuffed shirts.

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Volusia County Council to leave New Smyrna Beach CRAs alone - at least until mid-summer vote on controversial hotel

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Beachside/Flagler Avenue