Local News Now

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Hey Orlando Magic fans, you can rejoice: Dwight Howard and the Houston Rockets were a bust in the NBA playoffs back in May.

Howard and the Rockets, the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference with a 54-28 regular season record, were bounced out of the first round in just six games by the Portland Trailblazers, 99-98 on a Friday night.

Howard and his Rockets' quick exit from the NBA playoffs comes in at No. 84 in the HeadlineSurfer.com recep of the top 100 local stories of 2014.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Alex Cobb is trading in his fastball for the fast lane to serve as the honorary starter for the 2015 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the season-opening Verizon IndyCar Series race, which begins at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 29.

OAK HILL, Fla. -- Volusia County's smallest coastal municipality on the southern rural frontier has struggled for decades with trying to come of age from its orange-grove roots where modern amenities like water and sewer are non-existent -- save for a stretch of River Road -- in this rural outpost of 1,737 residents.

Evidence room scandal leads to revolving door of top brass before positive changes take hold in municipal force

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NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- After a tough five months in leading the New Smyrna Beach police force as interim police chief, Donna Lavallee has reason to smile with pride and a sense of real achievement as she gives way to new top cop Mike Coffin on Tuesday.

DAYTONA BEACH -- A pace car from the 500 made a pit stop at the 2014 Turkey Run at Bellair Plaza, the last of the big annual special tourism events that is held during the extended Thanksgiving weekend.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — A woman wanted in Florida for a fatal DUI was arrested in Indiana on Sept. 24, local authorities said.

Kimberly Ann Yurchison was allegedly under the influence of cocaine and prescription narcotics back on March 17 when she struck and killed 82-year-old John Curtin in the 4000 block of South Atlantic Avenue in New Smyrna Beach, police said. Curtin was crossing the street when when he was struck and killed, but was not in a designated crosswalk.

The apprehension of Yurchison comes in at No. 86 in the HeadlineSurfer.com countdown of the top 100 stories of 2014.

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DELTONA, Fla. -- The Deltona man shot in the face by a Volusia County Sheriff's deputy while serving a drug warrant at a residence in Deltona this morning has died, an agency spokesman said. Derek Cruice, 26, was pronounced dead on arrival at Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City where he was transported after he was shot by a SWAT deputy just after 6:30 a.m.

"(The victim) was one of six adults who were at the house this morning -- four men and two women," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson told Headline Surfer. "Deputies were there to serve a narcotics search warrant."

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 DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Say it ain't so! Volusia County Councilman Joshua J. Wagner and power attorney Ted Doran have gotten a divorce of sorts. Wagner left Doran's larger law firm earlier this month to partner up with veteran personal injury attorney Steven Vasilaros.