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34. New Smyrna Beach Observer ceases publication for good -- again!
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The NSB Observer lasted 18 monthly issues under its latest owner, Tom Alcorn, who operated from an office complex in nearby Edgewater as shown in the locator map.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Realtor Tom Alcorn bought the New Smyrna Beach Observer off the scrap heap of federal bankruptcy for $2,500 and re-opened it as a monthly, publishing 18 issues, but as the year 2014 drew to a close, the paper was dead again.
Alcorn hired Tiffany Evers, who studied journalism in college as his editor, but the Observer never really got on track in terms of substantive reporting and lacked a credible distribution network. As a result, it officially ceased operations on Dec. 31, 2014.
Headline Surfer® had written to Evers after receiving calls on Christmas Eve that the paper was about to close up shop for good. Evers confirmed the obvious in a Facebook message exchange the day after Christmas.
"The official close date is DEC 31, however I am no longer an employee," Evers wrote back.
Alcorn didn't return calls for messages. He continues posting calendar items and submitted community press releases and pictures on a Facebook page in hopes of finding a buyer and recouping his investment, but has not found any suitors.
Headline Surfer® had written to Evers after receiving calls on Christmas Eve that the paper was about to close up shop for good. Evers confirmed the obvious in a Facebook message exchange the day aftter Christmas. "The official close date is DEC 31, however I am no longer an employee," Evers wrote back.
Alcorn didn't retun calls for messages. He continues posting calandar items and submitted community press releases and pictures on a Facebook page in hopes of finding a buyer and recouping his investment, but has not found any suitors.
It was three years ago that then-owners Michele and Robert Lott, turned to federal bankruptcy court after ceasing publication of the then-weekly weekly Observer newspaper in November 2011, after a 3 1/2-year run. The Lotts had moved the newspaper from Canal Street to Robert Lott's former financial consulting services office on Flagler Avenue and then to the married couple's former home in Edgewater.
The Lotts had purchased the Observer from Horizon Publications, an Illinois company in August 2008, two months after it ceased operations.
NSBNews.net was launched in New Smyrna Beach on April 7, 2008. Four years later, NSBNews.net became HeadlineSurfer.com and has continually covered news out of New Smyrna Beach, Volusia County and across several Central Florida counties for seven-plus years now. And along the way, Headline Surfer® has earned a dozen journalism awards from the Florida Press Club since 2011, while amassing in excess of 5 million visitors worldwide.
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Michele & Robert Lott, former owners of the weekly Observer filed bankruptcy in 2012 to stave off creditors. Realtor Tom Alcorn purchased the Observer for $2,500 and published 18 monthly editions before ceasing operations for good on Dec 31, 2014.
The ceasing of operations of the NSB Observer comes in at No. 34 in the HeadlineSurfer.com countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2014.
The Headline Surfer® Countdown of the Top 100 Stories of 2014, is sponsored by Edgewater Towing & Myron's Auto Service of Edgewater, FL.
Myron Hammond has been an anchor advertiser with HeadlineSurfer.com since 2011. Click the display ad below which will take you to Hammond's website for all of your towing & auto service needs.
Photos for Headline Surfer® /Headline Surfer® had written to Evers after receiving calls on Christmas Eve that the paper was about to close up shop for good. Evers confirmed the obvious in a Facebook message exchange the day aftter Christmas. "The official close date is DEC 31, however I am no longer an employee," Evers wrote back.
Alcorn didn't retun calls for messages. He continues posting calandar items and submitted community press releases and pictures on a Facebook page in hopes of finding a buyer and recouping his investment, but has not found any suitors.
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The Headline Surfer® Countdown of the Top 100 Stories of 2014, is sponsored by Edgewater Towing & Myron's Auto Service of Edgewater, FL. 