Top 100 Stories

The real impacts of Common Core to Volusia County schools and why News-Journal should have looked further before promoting it

Create: Tue, 06/18/2013 - 10:57
Author: Robert Littleton

DAYTONA BEACH -- It would be nice to know the truth on a matter of such importance as education. Unfortunately, anyone who read a recent Daytona News-Journal article, "Local educators embrace Common Core standards," would have been disappointed.

Beach Patrol Jeep eye candy on hard sands

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Beach Patrol Jeep on NSB / Headline SurferNew Beach Patrol Jeep in NSB / Headline SurferHeadline Surfer photos / The Beach Patrol's new Jeeps, though few and far between, are eye catchers as shown here south of the Flagler beach ramp in New Smyrna Beach.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The bright red Jeep Wrangler 4 x 4 driven by a Beach Patrol cop was like eye candy with its sleek features as it drove up and down the beach Saturday in the vicinity of the Flagler Boardwalk and beach ramp.

Gone, at least for the day, were the bigger white pick-up trucks as the sporty Jeep made its presence felt on the packed beach, one of only three such vehicles in the fleet, each at a cost of $27,100 purchased last year.

Still, this particular Jeep got the attention of beach goers.

495. Biketoberfest 2011 in New Smyrna Beach a bust

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Headline Surfer Top 500 Stories anniversary banner / Headline Surfer

Mike Catchings of Lake Mary at Biketoberfest 2011 in New Smyrna Beach / Headline SurferHeadline Surfer videos  / Mike Catchings of Lake Mary was the lone biker in the empty lot at Pub 44 as opening night of Biketoberfest 2011 came to a sad conclusion. The local Cheapthrills Band plays a Chris Isaak '80s classic, "Wicked Game," to a handful of bikers earlier in the evening at the bar.
 

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Biketoberfest 2011 was quieter than a lawn mower on the first night of the four-day weekend at what was soon to be an extinct Pub 44. Just after midnight there were three Harleys in the parking lot and one bicycle.

2010's Biketoberfest recession was 2011's depression, at least through the first 24 hours at what for the last couple of decades or so has been the ground zero in Southeast Volusia for bikers, babes and booze.

496. Topless woman holds up DeLand traffic

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Headline Surfer Top 500 Stories anniversary banner / Headline Surfer

Locator map of topless woman in DeLand / Headline SurferHeadline Surfer graphic / A topless woman interrupting traffic at the intersection of South Orange and West Euclid avenues, as shown here at left in this snapshot locator map, was taken into custody in the bizarre incident back in April 2008.

DeLAND -- Motorists in the vicinity of a well-travelled certainly got an eyeful on a mid-April morning five years ago, when traffic flow was interrupted by a woman walking around topless, DeLand cops said.

Police received a number of calls about the 30-year-old woman's state of undress at the intersection South Orange and West Euclid avenues during the mid-morning hours of April 18, 2008. 

Police received a number of calls about the 30-year-old woman's state of undress at the intersection South Orange and West Euclid avenues during the mid-morning hours of April 18, 2008. 

Father's Day bittersweet for New Smyrna Beach cop with son's birth only to endure his passing 21 months later

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Mark Severance's son, Kyle, killed at a young age on Father's Day / Headline SurferMark Severance and wife, Denise / Headline SurferPhotos for Headline Surfer /
Kyle David Severance, born on Father's Day in 1986 and son of New Smyrna Beach police officer Mark Severance and Denise Lambert Severance, was killed in a motor vehicle accident three months shy of his second birthday. Had circumstances been different, Mark Severance's Father's Day would have had the added bonus of celebrating his son's 27th birthday.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Father's Day is bittersweet for Mark Severance, a New Smyrna Beach police officer and retired Marine.

"Father's Day (June 15,1986) our son, 'Kyle David Severance,' was born at the Naval Hospital, Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, NC," the elder Severance wrote on his Facebook page.

State Rep. Dwayne Taylor receives 'Legislator of the Year' award during firefighter conference in Daytona Beach

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DAYTONA BEACH. Fla. -- Dist. 26 State Rep. Dwayne Taylor, D-Daytona Beach, received the Florida Professional Firefighters 2013 "Legislator of the Year" award during the 69th annual conference for professional firefighters at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort.

Chamber-friendly New Smyrna Beach Observer returns as free monthly print paper

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The Observer is printing a monthly edition / Headline SurferHeadline Surfer videos / Michele & Robert Lott, former owners of the Observer filed bankruptcy to stave off creditors. Realtor Tom Alcorn is bringing the paper back in print as a monthly, having languished with an online version for 9 months.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A year after Tom Alcorn bought the defunct weekly Observer newspaper off the scrap heat of federal bankruptcy for $2,500 after then-owners Michele and Robert Lott sought protection from creditors owed half a million, the real estate broker has opted to bring it back as a free monthly print publication.

VCSO: Deputies searching for Deltona mom who fled with her 3 young kids rather than relinquish them to state

Whereabouts unknown since Monday

Missing Deltona mom Tonia Schurman / Headline SurferMiising Deltona kids / Headline SurferMissing Deltona kids with fleeing mom / Headline SurferPhotos for Headline Surfer / Be on the lookout: If you see this Deltona woman, Tonia Schurman, or her three young children, an 8-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl, all shown here, or her youngest, a 4-month-old baby girl, then please call Volusia County Sheriff's deputies at 386-736-5999. If you can't remember the number, then dial 9-1-1. The mother is believed to be traveling in a black, 2003 Isuzu Ascender SUV, with Florida tag BKM195. 

DELTONA -- A 27-year-old Deltona mother who was court-ordered to relinquish parental rights to her three small children -- ages 8, 6 and 4 months -- and hand them over to DCF, instead has fled and Volusia County Sheriff's deputies are asking for the public's help in finding her and her kids, an agency official said this afternoon.

Trayvon Martin's father prior to Zimmerman jury selection: 'We place our faith in the justice system'

In Session/CNN pool video feed / Headline Surfer video reproduction / Tracy Martin, shown here in a tan suit, and father of slain 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, spoke briefly at a mid-morning press conference from the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford, FL, to viewers around the world watching the live video feed before the start of jury selection in the George Zimmerman murder trial. 

SANFORD -- Before jury selection was scheduled to get under way today for George Zimmerman, who stands accused of murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, Tracy Martin, father of the shooting victim, addressed the media, saying he and the boy's mother were "relieved" the trial is now a reality.

National media gearing up for Zimmerman jury selection this morning in Sanford

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National coverage of Zimmerman trial / Headline SurferJust after 7:15 a.m. today, Headline Surfer, by far smallest of the 400-plus media outlets with a lone staffer, was atop Google News Directories' national coverage of the coverage of the George Zimmerman trial with the Los Angeles Times second and CBS News third. 

SANFORD -- Between 6 and 7 o'clock this morning, more than 400 media outlets had filed stories on the George Zimmerman murder trial with the focus squarely on jury selection expected to get under way today at the Seminole County Courthouse.