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NASCAR's Chase finale leaves out Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano who has most victories

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NASCAR CEO Brian France, son of Bill France Jr, came up with The Chase / Headline Surfer®DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Regardless of who wins the 2015 Sprint Cup Championship, NASCAR CEO Brian France will have egg on his face. Why? Because France's formula for a championship driver is flawed.

It's laughable that at Homestead, in the final race of the 2015 racing season, Joey Logano, NASCAR's winningest driver with six victories -- including the Daytona 500 -- won't be vying for the championship.

VCSO: Two teens killed in crash in Deltona when car strikes tree in median & overturns; third occupant critical

Deltona fatal wreck locator map / Headline Surfer®Wrecked Ford Focus where two teens killed in Deltona / Headline Surfer®Photo for Headline Surfer® /
A 2007 Ford Focus is shown overturned in the median of Providence Boulevard after the driver, Brandon Schmid, 17, apparently hit a tree there after 3:20 a.m. Sunday. He was killed as was a passenger, 16-year-old Jordan Golaszewski. A second passenger, 23-year-old Samuel Bengochea, survived despite being the only one ejected. He's in critical condition at Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford.

DELTONA, Fla. -- Two teens -- 16 and 17 -- were killed and a 23-year-old man critically several hours before dawn Sunday when a compact car driven by the 17-year-old struck a tree in the median of of the 1500 block of Providence Boulevard and overturned, an official with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.

Daytona-Orlando area residents show support for victims of Paris terrorist attacks

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Geraldine Morgan Clinton of Oak Hill, Fl shows suport for Paris with flag on Facebook / Headline Surfer®YouTube downloads by Headline Surfer® / Videos by AP / Raw footage of aftermath of terrorirst attacks Friday in Paris at six venues that left more than 120 people dead people dead and at least eight suspected terrorists killed. 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Geraldine Morgan Clinton used a Facebook app to place her profile photo with a flag of France in the background as a show of "support for the people of Paris" in the wake of Friday's terrorist attacks with ISIS claiming responsibility for six coordinated bombings or gunfire that led to bloodshed. "That was a cold calculated & merciless plan of attack," Clinton, an Oak Hill-area cattle rancher told Headline Surfer®."

38. FDLE: 400-pound Bunnell cop arrested on charges of posing as teen girl on Facebook to hook up with boys

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®

Bunnell cop charged with computer porno / HeadlineSurfer®BUNNELL, Fla. -- Michael Gerard Stavris II, a sergeant with the Bunnell police force who stands 6 foot 3 and weighs in excess of 400 pounds, was arrested on child solicitation charges March 25, 2014, allegedly passing himself of as a provacative under-age teen gal on Facebook to try and hook up with teen boys.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement charged the 30-year-old Palm Coast resident with two counts of computer pornography and child exploitation and one count of criminal use of personal identification information.

Acting on a tip, in December of 2013,  FDLE agents began investigating allegations in December 2013, and soon thereafter gathered evidence they claim showed Stavris created a fraudulent Facebook account posing as a teenage girl.

Drew Bastian seeking re-election for dis 3 seat on Port Orange City Council in 2016 elections

Port Orange City Councilman Drew Bastian seeking re-election / Headline Surfer®PORT ORANGE, Fla. -- Drew Bastian, a retired city firefighter who won election to his district 3 seat in 2012, is seeking a second four-year term on the Port Orange City Council in the 2016 elections.

Bastian pointed out in a Facebook post to Headline Surfer® in response to its exclusive reporting Thursday on fellow City Councilman's Don Burnette's candidacy for mayor, that had him undecided on whether to seek re-election, that in fact, he had decided to do so several weeks ago. This is what Bastian posted:

Veterans Day: Saluting late Buddy Richardson who served in the Army in WW2, Marines in Korea & Navy in Vietnam

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The late Buddy Richardson of New Smyrna Beach / Headline Surfer®The late Buddy Richardson / Headline Surfer®NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- It's not unusual for US military personnel to do several tours of duty in say, Afghanistan. But you'd have to be hard-pressed to find a local who served his country in three separate branches of the military in three distinct wars or conflicts involving US men and women who have been in harm's way in serving our great nation.

One such US hero is the late Boyd "Buddy" Richardson of New Smyrna Beach, who served in three branches of the military during three major wars: the Army during World War II, in the Marines during the Korean War, and in the Navy during the Vietnam War. Richardson died in 2010 at the age of 81.

39. Weekend in August not fun for 400 beach goers stung by jellyfish in Daytona, New Smyrna, Ponce Inlet

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®

Jellyfish abound in Daytona / Headline Surfer®DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Some 400 swimmers were stung by jellyfish over the weekend of Aug 23-24 at the World's Most Famous Beach in Daytona and extending south to Ponce Inlet and New Smyrna Beach.

Fortunately, lifeguards had plenty of vinegar on hand to treat the stings. The stings occurred both Saturday and Sunday according to the Volusia County Lifeguard Corps, which flew purple and yellow "pest" flags to warn swimmers about the presence of jellyfish in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Jellyfish deliver an uncomfortable sting through tiny venomous barbs on their tentacles. The sting often causes burning, itching and swelling around the site of the injury, according to the Mayo Clinic medical website.

40. Daytona cops: Woman stabs friend to death in her North Street home

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®
Brenda Reynolds, charged with 2nd degree murder in Daytona stabbing / Headline Surfer®
Photo and graphic for Headline Surfer® / Brenda Reynolds, shown here at left in a booking mug, was being held without bail at the Volusia County Branch Jail on a second-degree murder charge in connection with the stabbing death of a woman in her residence at 847 North St.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The continuing violence that has gripped this city for the better part of a decade now continued on a hot Friday night in July with a woman plunging a large steak knife into the upper chest of a friend in her bedroom.

Cops who responded to a 9-1-1 call at a residence at 847 North St in the heart of this tourism city that is home to Daytona International Speedway and the "World's Most Famous Beach®" found the deceased 60-year-old woman with the mortal wound clearly visible. She apparently pulled the knife out of her own chest and then died, homicide detectives said of the July 11 killing.

41. Former Florida Gov. Reubin Askew dies at age 85

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®

Reubin Askew, former Florida governor, dead at 85 / Headline SurferDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Reubin Askew, who served as the 37th governor of Florida from 1971 to 1979, died March 13, 2014 with family members by his side at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare. He was 85.

His death was announced to the media by Ron Sachs, a former aide and family spokesman.

The death of former Governor Askew comes in at No. 41 in the HeadlineSurfer.com countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2014.

42. New era in space: Orion lifts off from Cape Canaveral

Top 100 Local Stories of 2014 in Central Florida / Headline Surfer®
Orion blasts ofrf from Cape Canaveral, Fla / Headliune Surfer®

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla -- It's a new era in space flight with the Dec. 5 launch of the Orion spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft launched successfully atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at 7:05 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station here in Central Florida.