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Editor's Note: The following was written by Florida Avenue resident Deborah Dugas who lives behind the proposed Hampton Inn & Suites on Flaglar Avenue and is opposed to it:

NSBNEWS.net photo by Henry Frederick. Florida Avenue resident Deborah Dugas, shown at right, is opposed to the proposed Hampton Inn & Suites.

Commissioners & Mayor (Adam) Barringer:

I will be out of town and unable to attend the final reading for the rezoning/hotel proposal at the next commission meeting. I really wanted to address some NEW issues as they appear in the Gladding Jackson report. The CRA paid thousands of dollars for this report and I cannot believe the commission is not addressing/discussing the issues and information in that report before passing the ordinance for the rezoning/hotel proposal on Flagler Avenue.

NSBNEWS.net videos by Sera Frederick. The final vote on land-use changes needed for the proposed 112-room Hampton Inn & Suites on Flagler Avenue will be voted on by the New Smyrna Beach City Commission following a public hearing at City Hall Commission Chambers, 210 Sams Ave. The meeting begins 6 p.m.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- David Swentor of Premier Development Corp. breathed a sigh of relief after the City Commission voted 4-1 to approve on first reading land-use changes that would pave way for the 112-room Hampton Inn & Suites on Flagler Avenue. That was two weeks ago. Perhaps tonight, he'll have reason to smile.

We are anxiously anticipating the Mayor’s 100 day plan in the next few days. We hope what we see is what is necessary. It will be conventional to only include those long needed and ambitious improvements to the tourist and hospitality sectors, mixed with some modicum of light research and development of “green” manufacturing as goals.

Passenger traffic at Daytona Beach International Airport increased 23 percent in January compared to January of the previous year, Volusia County officials said.

Hello to all! This is Cheyenne Drews, a newcomer to the NSBNEWS.net. I'm currently an 8th grader at New Smyrna Beach Middle School, home of the No. 1 Stingrays. I'm a straight-A student with an open mind about the future.

I learned an interesting thing recently that I bet most of you didn’t know either. My friend has a new grand-baby so I asked my yard-saler Mom to be on the lookout for a car seat for her.

As I was driving down the now-heavily trafficked streets of New Smyrna Beach, I could not help but turn on the radio to aleve me of the stress of 10 cars in front of me at the light when I heard the ostentatious commentary of our local neighbors yapping about the gift Sean ‘P.Diddy’ Combs gave his son for his 16th birthday. It sounded like the case of the broke-a-naires once again not understanding economics.

After vacationing with my parents in Florida as a child, one of my goals was to eventually live here. My dream became a reality in 1995. I sold my businesses in Ohio, all my real estate, and moved to sunny New Smyrna Beach. I was thrilled, ecstatic, and embarked on a new business and a life in the sun. I felt that I was truly living my dream in paradise.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- More than a dozen accused street dealers were rounded up Thursday during a sweeping narcotics operation targeting illegal drug activity in the New Smyrna Beach and Edgewater area, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.

BARBERVILLE -- A young motorcyclist killed Tuesday after hitting a Jeep Cherokee head-on after passing another vehicle on State Road 15 near Barberville, has been identified as 18-year-old James M. Haskins of DeLeon Springs, the Florida Highway Patrol said.