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NSBNEWS.net video by Jeanette DiCara.

Some 20,000 people flocked to the New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport over the weekend for the three-day Seaside Balloon Fest, which began Friday night with two dozen hot air balloons on display, as well as airplane and helicopter rides, plus live music, food and refreshments.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH --Balloons bring out the child in all of us. Just ask 55-year-old Arlen Stauffer.

Courtesy photo.

The following is Gov. Charlie Crist's weekly  newsletter,  Notes from the Capitol:

Dear Friends,

Nothing is more important to the quality of life for Floridians than the safety our people, which is why we must do everything in our power to safeguard our children and our neighborhoods.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The Children and Families Advisory Board’s Request for Proposal Subcommittee will conduct a workshop for providers of disabilities services at 9 a.m. Tuesda in room 516-C of the Volusia County Health Department, 1845 Holsonback Drive.

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Arnold Brown, 50, who was living on a boat in the Intracoastal Waterway was found floating unconscious by a person who pulled him to shore as paramedics arrived to a 9-1-1 call and perrformed CPR before transporting him to Bert Fish Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Why 50-year-old Arnold Brown was floating in the Intracoastal Waterway has yet to be dertimined in the wake of his death Wednesday morning when he was pulled ashore unconscious by a bystander as reponding paramedics tried to revive him.

There were no signs of foul play, said Cmdr. Bill Drossman of the incident just north of the North Causeway Bridge in the 100 block of North Peninsula.

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, after a Florida Congressional Delegation meeting on the status of the Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico oil spill with Rear Admiral Paul F. Zukunft, director of response policy for the U.S. Coast Guard, Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach (FL-24), issued the following statement:

"Though the oil spill has not reached Florida, the Coast Guard has made it clear that the flow of oil has intersected the Loop Current and tar balls and other remnants could reach the Straits of Florida in about a week. From there, the possibility exists that communities on the East Coast could be hit.

DELAND -- Volusia County’s Purchasing and Contracts Division will hold two workshops in June for vendors wanting to learn more about how to do business with the county.

Courtesy photo.

Five undergraduates from Stetson University are among the 515 graduate and under-graduate classes to receive degrees. At left, Stetson President Wendy Libby President Wendy B. Libby gives the "charge" to graduates May 8 in the university's Edmunds Center.

DELAND – Stetson University awarded degrees to 515 students, including five from Southeast Volusia, during two Spring Commencement ceremonies.

The local under-graduates were Christopher Gebhardt, Edgewater - majoring in both American Studies and English; Kristen Cass, New Smyrna Beach - General Business Administration; Kayla Renfroe, Oak Hill - Accounting; Pamela Peterson, New Smyrna Beach - Finance; and Jordan Slingo, New Smyrna Beach - Finance.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The development of the new car for the NASCAR Nationwide Series took another important step on Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway.

More than 20 drivers kicked off a two-day NASCAR Nationwide Series test with the new car that will make its competition debut in the Subway Jalapeno 250 Powered By Coca-Cola on Friday night, July 2, part of the Coke Zero 400 Weekend Powered By Coca-Cola.

NSBNEWS.net photo by Sera Frederick.

Richard J. Rodi, who was paid $150,000 by the New Smyrna Beach Utilities Commission after announcing in March that he was resigning May 24, will be succeeded on an interim basis from within after the utility board balked at the $250,000 salary demand of its top candidate.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The New Smyrna Beach Utilitities Commission is looking within - at least for now - in selecting a chief opetarating officer after the top candidate sought $250,000 in salary plus $90,000 in moving expenses.