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NSBNEWS.net video by Sera Frederick. Countless thousands flocked to the 34th annual IMAGES art festival Saturday on Canal Street and Riverside Drive. The two-day festival continues today.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- City Commissioner Jim Hathaway and his wife were among thousands of people to stroll the eastern end of Canal Street and Riverside Drive for the IMAGES art festival, the chief fundraiser for the Atlantic Center for the Arts.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Enjoy a delicious spaghetti dinner and help put a few good kids through college at today's CAPS fundraiser at New Smyrna Beach High School.

Last year's event raised more than $17,000 and organizers are hoping to at least match or even exceed that amount through 1,600 served meals. You can still get tickets at the door for $5 a meal. An awards program begins at 10:30 a.m. Among the honorees are Ron Hanna, John Gilmore, Michelle Zahner, Jack Mitchell, Jane Allen and Harold Nichols.

Courtesy photo. The artwork of Jean Banas is on display at the Arts on Douglas through Saturday in New Smyrna Beach. She will give a talk and demonstration of her unique paintings 1 p.m. Saturday.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Jean Banas's prolific career has spanned over 20 years. Her most recent abstract expressionist work, "The Beat Goes On," is now on display at Arts on Douglas through Saturday.

Here is how Banas describes her work:  "My paintings focus on the expressive qualities of composition using line, shape and form in a dialogue with each other, as actors do on a stage. My works are alive with exhuberance and vitality, and have a sense of mystery that cannot be fully understood or explained."

Contributing photo for NSBNEWS.net by Jeannette DiCara.

A book sale is ongoing through 2 p.m. Saturday at the Edgewater Public Library at great bargain prices, in some cases 50 cents. Hard covers, paperbacks, DVDS, etc: Get yours before they fly off the shelves.The library is located at 103 West Indian River Blvd., Edgewater. Tel: 424-2916

Joseph Feal, 81, of Edgewater, a retired police sergeant for the city of New York, died
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010.

Jim Everhart, 57, of New Smyrna Beach, owner of Attachment Sales, Inc., in DeLand, whose hobbies were trading cars, boating and spending time in the mountains of North Carolina, died Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010.

Marie Therese Burger 88, of Samsula, a Navy wife who raised five children and worked as a switchboard operator at the Apollo Division of General Electric, retiring in 1979, died Monday, January 25, 2010.

Jan. 28, 2010: Scott M. Peace and Jennifer S. St. Germain, New Smyrna Beach.

Jan. 27, 2010: Albert Washington III and Patricia C. Welch, New Smyrna Beach; Herbert A. Regan III and Sabrina D. Beaudin, New Smyrna Beach.

DELAND -- Volusia County government business leaders are encouraging prospective business owners to take advantage of opportunities offered by America’s Recovery Capital Loan Program of the Small Business Administration. It can provide up to $35,000 in short-term relief for viable small businesses facing immediate financial hardship to help ride out the current uncertain economic times and return to profitability. Go to http://tinyurl.com/ohs58m to learn more.

DELAND -- Volusia County business and economic development leaders are encouraging business owners not to miss out on an opportunity for an annual tax credit, as much as $2,500 per student, to pay for college expenses.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, more parents and students will qualify over the next two years for the American Opportunity Credit. For more details, go to http://tinyurl.com/collegetaxcredit.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Florida was again among the 10 fastest-growing states in the nation last year, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Florida added 114,000 new residents between July 2008 and July 2009, ranking fifth despite an exodus of some 32,000 residents who fled to other states.