When I ask people their opinion on Conrad Murray’s innocence or guilt in the case of Michael Jackson’s untimely death, I find very little sympathy for the man as if his guilt is prefigured as a given. It’s something like the Casey Anthony trial where most agreed the defendant did something wrong, but no one could say for sure what that thing was.
ORMOND BEACH -- The old media has jumped all over Herman Cain’s alleged misbehavior 15 years ago when he was president of the National Restaurant Association. Funny they waited almost a year until they “discovered” that John Edwards had an affair while his wife had cancer, fathered a child and blithely used campaign funds in a questionable manner.
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By DOROTHY L. HUKILL PORT ORANGE -- The issue of gambling has recently become a much-discussed issue in our state. While Florida already has dog tracks, card rooms, and slots, the latest craze revolves around the so-called “destination resorts.”
These Vegas-style facilities, such as the proposed $3 billion-plus Genting mega-casino in Miami, have the potential to reshape the face of gambling in our state. New legislation has recently been filed for the 2012 session to allow these facilities to be built in South Florida.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Two young men in Halloween costumes standing on the sidewalk in front of the Om Bar on Flagler Avenue yell out "police brutality" as a cop car heads east toward the beach parking lot. Both are drinking beers purchased from inside the bar.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- For the first time in the history of Florida journalism, an exclusively online newspaper has received an award: The Florida Press Club has named Peter Mallory, co-publisher of NSBNews.net as an award-winning blogger for 2011.
OSTEEN -- The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is on scene in Osteen investigating the
discovery of a body of an adult male with obvious trauma, agency spokesman Brandon Haught said.
The body was discovered in a wooded area near 1699 Osteen Maytown Road by a passerby. The Sheriff's Office was
notified at 5:34 p.m. and it was confirmed at 5:48 p.m. that the victim was dead.
The Sheriff's Office's Major Case unit is investigating this as a suspicious death. More information will be released as it becomes available, Haught said.
DAYTONA BEACH -- Passenger traffic at Daytona Beach International Airport was up 1 percent in September, compared with September of a year ago.
During September, 39,547 passengers flew into and out of Daytona Beach. For the 12 months ending September 30, passenger traffic has increased 13 percent over the prior 12 months -- from 476,288 to 538,572.
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By JIM HATHAWAYNEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The most recent City Commission meetings were substantially about economic development. At a special meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 25, the Commission discussed form-based design guidelines for future development in the City of New Smyrna Beach. After much spirited discussion, the item was tabled until our visioning session in December.
While it is important to streamline the process for responsible development in our city, it is also equally important to make sure we have flexibility in our design standards. It would be an unfortunate turn of events if we made the process too difficult for businesses to want
Photo of Hazel Robbins of DeltonaDELTONA -- Hazel Robbins, the 86-year-old woman with Alheimer's reported missing Wednesday, was found safe several hours later about a half mile from her Deltona home, a Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman said.
A resident on Wakefield Circle, about a half-mile from where Robbins went missing, spotted her in his backyard at 2:25 p.m.
Robbins was reported missing by her son at 10:16 a.m.
According to the son, Robbins -- who suffers from Alzheimer's Disease and congestive heart failure -- was home at 6 a.m., but walked away from their residence at 1107 Hastings Drive sometime afterwards.
The son called the Sheriff's Office after he drove around the neighborhood and couldn't find his mother.
More than a dozen patrol deputies, assisted by a K-9 unit, investigators and Sheriff's Office helicopter, searched for Robbins and checked area businesses, parks and cab companies," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson told NSBNews.net.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The weekly Edgewater Observer's hyped posting of a photo of Mayor Adam Barringer on its Facebook page regarding the tearing down of some dilapidated buildings drew ridicule from citizens who wrote to NSBNews.net and other public forums.
