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Officials: Project won't hinder track from being race ready for Rolex 24 

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DAYTONA BEACH – Officials at Daytona International Speedway said they are confident enough of the preliminary work has been completed in the mammoth renovation and upgrade of the word-famous track that it will be "race ready" for the fans and their love of restrictor-plate racing in the Daytona 500.

Photo for Headline Surfer / Then only five-months old, the Emergency Operations and Sheriff's Communications Center on Tiger Bay Road had issues with its E911 system back in September.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Volusia County experienced intermittent problems throughout the area with its emergency 9-1-1 system for the better part of the day on Sept. 25, a Sheriff's Office official said.

"Because of the problems, some callers have been unable to reach 9-1-1 and are receiving a recording," agency spokesman Gary Davidson told Headline Surfer®. "The situation appears to be affecting both landline and cell phones," Davidson said.

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ORLANDO -- In celebration of the Magic's 25th anniversary season, the team will don the original signature-black, pin-striped jersey with throwback team logos worn through the 1989-94 seasons, starting with tonight's matchup with the Miami Heat.

Photo for Headline Surfer® / Dustin Vann, 27, could be locked up until 2047 for a slew of felonies that he was adjudicated guilty of committing including an armed robbery of an elderly woman after having been released from prison less than four months earlier.

ST. AUGUSTINE -- A 27-year-old St. Augustine man was sentenced in October to a total of 35 years in prison for his role in an attempted robbery and related charges involving an elderly woman hat occurred in St. Augustine in 2012.

Assistant State Attorney Chris Ferebee prosecuted Dustin Vann and said that the defendant tried to rob the victim woman when he pulled out an air pistol and threatened to kill her and her dog.

Photo for Headline Surfer® / On-air personality Tracy Dillion brings sunshine to WROD, Daytona's oldest radio station,  which celebrated 66 years of on-the-air play in November.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The Friday morniong afet Thanksgiving WROD morning cruise host Tracy Dillon broadcasted live at Bellair Lanes, 2575 N. Atlantic Avenue, to strike out hunger. Listeners were asked to bring a canned good or non-perishable item to be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank.

Dillon also was celebrating the 66th anniversary of WROD-FM 104.7 dubbed "Hot Rod Radio," throughout the month of November. It is the oldest surviving Daytona Beach radio station, first launched in 1947, and featuring classics like "The Bob Hope Show" and  "The Firestone Hour."

The Dillon food drive spotlight comes in at No. 86 on the Headline Surfer® countdown of the Top 100 Stories of 201`3.

Headline Surfer  photo / Nearly five dozen handguns have been taken off the streets of Volusia County in the 2013 Kicks 4 Guns program and that's exciting news to Sheriff Ben Johnson.

DELAND -- One of the handguns that had been reported stolen to a local police department in 2011, turned up in an annual turn-in-your-gun program with no questions asked.

And that was all Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson had to hear to make his day on Aug. 22, when 58 guns were voluntarily turned in to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office in the annual Kicks 4 Guns crime-fighting program, which encourages citizens to turn in unwanted guns to law enforcement for safe and proper disposal with no questions asked.

Photos for Headline Surfer® by Greg Trujillo / The party wasn't as rockin' on New Year's Eve as it was a year ago with a less pronounced crowd, though alcohol sales in the middle of Main Street as shown in the nearer photo was the main attraction of promoter Al Smith's show, supplemented by taxpayer funding from the city of Daytona Beach, the Halifax Area advertising Authority and Volusia County government. 

DAYTONA BEACH -- Promoter Al Smith was less than pleased with the Headline Surfer® preview of his New Year's Eve party on Main Street based on the 24/7 internet newspaper's coverage of last year's event and the raw tone depicted in a series of videos of the decadence and drinking.

University of Central Florida Knights 52, Baylor Bears 42

Photos for Headline Surfer® / Don Burnette, shown at left, is all smiles at the University of Phoenix, who along with his wife and several friends, flew out to Arizona to watch the UCF Knights win big in their first BCS Bowl, 52-42 over the Baylor Bears in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

PORT ORANGE -- What a way for Port Orange City Councilman Don Burnette to kick off the new year.

Burnette was still celebrating his UCF Knights' big win over the Baylor Bears in the New Year's Day Fiesta Bowl hours after the game.