Local News Now

Port Orange cops: Man who allegedly robbed Sun Trust bank 2 days before Christmas in Santa get-up arrested

Port Orange cops arrest man who robbed bank dressed as Santa 2 days before Christmas / Headline Surfer®Photos for Headline Surfer® / Accused bank robber Michael N. London, 63, is shown in a police mugshot on Friday, a far cry from the Santa Claus get-up shown at far left in a surveillance video still from Monday's armed robbery of the Port Orange Sun Trust branch on Nova Road.

PORT ORANGE -- If you thought the man dressed in the Santa outfit who held up the Sun Trust Bank two days before Christmas was having a bad hair day, imagine what an eye opener he was to Port Orange cops who nabbed him outside his residence earlier today, sans the holiday get-up.

Daytona Chamber of Commerce raffling $35,000 flashy Harley-Davidson for Bike Week 2014

Maximum of 4,500 tickets printed

Custom-built $35,000 Harley being raffled by DaytonaChamber for Bike Week 2014 / Headline Surfer®DAYTONA BEACH -- Your odds of being struck by lightning in a given year is one in 750,000. The odds of winning Powerball are one in 175,223,510. So the odds are definitely more in your favor in if you purchase a $50 ticket for a drawing in mid-March for a custom-built 2013 Harley Davidson Street Glide valued at $35,000, in the Daytona Chamber of Commerce's drawing of the "Official Bike Week Motorcycle." Oh, and as for the odds of winning the flashy Harley, it's one in 4,500.

Daytona Beach mayor gives keys to city to X-Factor winners Alex & Sierra

Photo for Headline Surfer® / Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry posted the above photo on his Facebook page Thursday after giving keys to the city to Alex and Sierra, winners of the X-Factor season 3 finale on Dec. 19 as shown in the YouTube video upload.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Though neither is from Daytona Beach, that didn't stop Mayor Derrick Henry from capitalizing on the PR that comes with welcoming new-found celebrities Alex and Sierra of the X-Factor reality show with keys to the city during a performance Thursday night at the bandshell on the "world's most famous beach."

Thankful during the holidays for being at home with family in a free state

Jeff Brower of DeLeon Springs / Volusia County, FL / guest blogger / Headline Surfer®By Jeff Brower
Guest blog
for Headline Surfer®
 

DAYTONA BEACH -- It is Christmas Eve and I am thankful for the freedom and liberty God has given our family by placing us in a free state. Yet, I can not dismiss the concern I feel each day for the very present reality of our God given liberties being stripped from our daily lives by a few compromised men and women who seek to increase their own power, privilege, and position.

I am regularly criticized for regularly criticizing "our" side in the battle to restore liberty. The truth is I no longer have a side in politics. Neither of the two controlling parties represent constitutional restraint, love of individual freedom, minimal government intrusion, or minding our own business.

En español, también...

VCSO: Deltona man, 69, shot and killed Christmas morning in own backyard

Homicide may be result of stray bullet; investigators interviewing possible gunman

Fatal shooting scene in Deltona on Christmas 2013 / Headline Surfer®Headline Surfer® locator / 3220 Cadehill Drive in Deltona as shown in this snapshot graphic is the locale of a fatal shooting this Wednesday morning.

DELTONA -- The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after gunfire this Christmas morning that claimed the life of a 69-year-old man shot in the chest. His name has not been released.

"Deputies are investigating to determine whether a stray bullet may have caused the death," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson told Headline Surfer®.

Deputies were dispatched to 3220 Cadehill Drive after the Sheriff’s Office’s Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call at 10:02 a.m. that a man had been shot.

En Español, también...

Port Orange cops: Fake Santa robs Sun Trust bank branch two days before Christmas

Robber dressed as Santa robs Port Orange bank / Headline Surfer®Photo for Headline Surfer® / At left is a snapshot from surveillance video inside the Sun Trust Bank branch, 3865 Nova Road, showing a man in a Santa Claus get-up on Monday afternoon robbing the bank while displaying a wrapped package he insinuated was harmful, as in an explosive. The fake Santa left the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash. The package turned out not to be harmful.

PORT ORANGE -- Just two days before Christmas, a man in a Santa get-up with stocking hat, fake white hair and beard, robbed the Sun Trust bank branch, after placing a package on the counter while standing in front of a teller and passed her a note demanding cash and insinuating the package was harmful.

"An undisclosed amount of US currency was given to the male, who left the package on the counter prior to exiting the bank," Port Orange Police Lt. John Jakovenko told Headline Surfer® on the 3:13 p.m. robbery at the SunTrust, 3865 Nova Road.

Gov Scott: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Floridians

Newspaper Section
 Gov. Scot Christmas wishes to Floridians / Headline Surfer®Photo for Headline Surfer® / Shown at left is Gov. Scott's annual family Christmas card to Florida residents.

ORLANDO -- Gov. Rick Scott has a holiday message he wants to share with Floridians through media outlets like Headline Surfer®.

"Ann and I wish every family a very Merry Christmas," the governor said on behalf of his wife, in an e-mail Christmas card sent to daily media outlets throughout the Sunshine State on this Christmas Eve.

"We are most excited to spend our Christmas as the proud grandparents of three grandsons- two of which will be celebrating their very first Christmas this year. We wish you every joy this Christmas and the many blessings of family, friends, health and peace in the new year."

Coming today: SVAA board member Gene Sheldon explains why he asked: 'Who is the rat?'

Newspaper Section

SVAA board member Gene Sheldon in New Smyrna Beach / Headline Surfer®Headline Surfer® photo / Gene Sheldon poses in the backyard of his New Smyrna Beach residence with his dog.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The newest member of the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority explains his e-mail question to his colleagues, "Who is the rat?" in an exclusive video interview inside his New Smyrna Beach residence.

The video shoot, along with an update on the growing controversies in the tourism agency, will be published today, exclusively on Headline Surfer.com. 

Sheldon makes no bones about his role and standing on the tourism board and community as a whole and his perspective on at-Large County Councilwoman Joyce Cusack who recommended his appointment, what he has to say of his predecessor, Palmer Wilson, and what he thinks of things like policies and procedures and Government in the Sunshine.

Kissimmee cops: Public's help sought to ID bank robbery suspect

City
Newspaper Section
Kissimmee cops trying to ID man who robbed the Chase branch bank / Headline Surfer®Photo for Headline Surfer® / If you know this suspected robber seen in this snapshot from surveillance video Saturday inside the Chase Bank, 3711 W. Vine St., Kissimmee police want to hear from you.

KISSIMMEE -- A man wearing a ball cap and jacket walked into the Chase Bank at 12:50 p.m. today, approached the teller, removed a folded nylon bag from his pocked and ordered the her to fill it with cash.

No weapon was displayed or implied and nobody was hurt in the hold-up, Kissimmee police spokeswomamn Stacie Miller told Headline Surfer®.

Passenger traffic at Daytona Beach International Airport up 3 percent in November

Rick Karl of Daytona Int'l Airport / Headline Surfer®Photo for Headline Surfer® / Rick Karl, director Dytona International Airport, tells the 24/7 internet newspaper he is uplifted by healthy passenger traffic counts.

DAYTONA -- Passenger traffic at Daytona Beach International Airport increased 3 percent in November compared to the previous November, Volusia County officials said.

Last month, 44,939 passengers arrived and departed through the county-operated airport. This compares with the 43,666 travelers recorded last November.

And for the 12 months ending Nov. 30, there were 603,419 passengers tracked through the airport, compared with 583,142 recorded for the prior 12 months, a 3 percent increase.

“We are very pleased with the latest monthly traffic increase,” Rick Karl, the airport’s director, told Headline Surfer®.