2011 Top Stories

Photos for Headline Surfer® / 

DELAND, Fla. -- There's nothing worse for a child than Christmas without a present. Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson and his deputies won't let a single child go without a toy of some kind for the holidays anywhere in this county of half a million residents when made aware of such despair.

Photo for Headline Surfer® /

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- A Ponte Vedra man man was killed on the late afternoon of Sept. 19, after a wheel flew off a tractor-trailer and bounced across the median of Interstate 95, before crashing through his windshield and causing him to wreck, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Photo for Headline Surfer® /

OVIEDO -- Gov. Rick Scott appointed Oviedo resident Richard Hanas to a vacant seat on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission back in June.

Hanas, 65, senior vice president of A. Duda & Sons Inc., filled a vacant seat for a term that ends Aug. 1, 2017.

Photo for Headline Surfer® /

DELAND, Fla. -- The way Pat Johnson saw it, the Daytona Beach News-Journal's incessant use of a black and white photo of him in casual dress was indicative of the negative image the print newspaper was creating to protect the interests of the entrenched incumbent, Bob Apgar, in the weeks leading up to the Aug. 26 primary.

Headline Surfer® graphic /

ORMOND BEACH -- The Volusia County Sheriff's Office's Major Case Unit has said definitively that the early Easter Sunday morning shooing death of a 55-year-old man in Ormond-by-the-Sea was by his own hand and not accidentally by his wife as she told a neighbor.

The clarification into the death at 7 Seabreeze Drive after receiving a call at 2:52 a.m. about a shooting that had happened. When they arrived on scene, deputies discovered he had been shot to death.

Photos for Headline Surfer® / Janet Spurgeon is transported to Bert Fish Medical Center with minor injuries after backing her car into the medical building at 600 Palmetto Ave. A patient inside was killed and two others injured.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Police remain baffled as to why a 78-year-old woman backed her Chevy Malibu 40 feet into a medical buildingthe afternoon of Feb. 5, killing one man and injuring two others.

"It's bizarre," then-police spokesman Sgt. Eugene Griffith told Headline Surfer®. "We're still trying to determine exactly what happened. Apparently, she hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, but it remains under investigation as to why."

Photo for Headline Surfer® /

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. -- Traffic homicide investigators to this day aren't sure why a St. Augustine motorist was driving at speeds of up to 110 mph on April 25, when he crashed his Toyota hatchback leading to a fiery explosion and his death.

The driver crossed into the northbound lanes, struck a curb and became airborne -- then collided with a light pole 13 feet above ground. This led to a fiery explosion with the driver inside.

Photos for Headline Surfer® /

DELTONA, Fla. -- Deputies gave an assist to investigators in Hillsborough County two days before Thanksgiving after a group of theft suspects drove a stolen U-Haul truck full of stolen appliances from Tampa to a residence in Deltona, according to a spokesman for Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson.

Hillsborough deputies investigating a break-in at 13523 Staghorn Road near Citrus Park determined that appliances taken from the home had been moved to Avon Park in a stolen U-Haul truck.

Photos for Headline Surfer® /

ORANGE CITY, Fla. -- A 70-year-old pro-life supporter from Deltona was reportedly kicked out of the Planet Fitness in Orange City twice for wearing T-shirts with anti-abortion messages that drew complaints from several other patrons, according to a story published in November by WFTV in Orlando.

Among the slogans on the T-shirts worn by Mike Amoroso and deemed offensive by some at the workout facility: "Abortion Stops a Beating Heart" and "Pray to End Abortion."

Photo for Headline Surfer® /

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Orlando Magic signed free agent guard Ben Gordon, General Manager Rob Hennigan announced July 11, and per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Ben (Gordon) brings valuable experience to our team,” Hennigan said of the signing. “His competitiveness and ability to score and stretch the floor adds versatility to our backcourt and overall roster. We are excited to welcome Ben to the Orlando Magic family.”