Local News Now

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The entire population of the city of Daytona Beach is barely over 61,000. So how does the Daytona Beach News-Journal make such a bold claim that last year's attendance at the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway was at a minimum 60,000 and as high as 80,000?

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- They marched together, held hands, prayed and sang as one -- black and white alike -- during a Monday morning holiday celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Headline Surfer photo / Palmer Wilson, a member of the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority is vehemently opposed to his board giving upwards of $40,000 in bed tax monies for the Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce to serve as a satellite office for tourists.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Newly-elected County Chair Jason Davis said he's surprised the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority is actually entertaining the idea of paying the local chamber $40,000 to serve as a satellite location when its facility has received more than half a million bucks in taxpayer-supported renovations.

"I really don't see the need for the chamber to be charging the ad authority rent if the taxpayers paid all that money for them to have the facility for almost nothing," Davis said. "It sounds like a waste of money."

DAYTONA BEACH -- Headline Surfer's exclusive MLK Day interview with Mayor Derrick Henry was the top story in the Google News Directories for Daytona Beach, Florida, most of Monday evening and atop the search engine giant using keywords: "News for Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry."

DAYTONA BEACH -- The celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. today is more than a national holiday for newly-elected Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry, born May 5, 1969, 13 months after an assassin's bullet cut Dr. King's life short in Memphis, Tenn.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- My mother turned 90 on Sunday, Jan. 20. It was a time for celebration and thankfulness.

'Female' hospitalized with injuries

James Smith was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail early Thursday on aggravated rape charges.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A 34-year-old man apprehended in Daytona Beach was arrested early this morning on rape charges involving violence on a female victim Wednesday night who had to be hospitalized for her injuries.