Headline Surfer photo by Henry Frederick / Althea Philord, shown here at New Smyrna Beach City Hall commission chambers, is head of the city's nationally-recognized finance department.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The City of New Smyrna Beach Finance Department earned national recognition in June for meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting from the Government Finance Officers Association in Chicago.

"We have received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the current year's budget," said Finance Director Althea Philord. "It is the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting."

The recognition for Philord and her staff comes in at No. 87 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012.

The locator map shows where an elderly Ormond Beach fisherman drowned.

DELAND -- An 81-year-old Ormond Beach man fell into the Norris Dead River, a tributary of the St. Johns River, at the Highland Park Fish Camp and drowned on Feb. 2, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

The tragic death of Richard Bass comes in as No. 88 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012.

A witness called 9-1-1 at 7:07 a.m. to report that Richard Bass had fallen off a dock and disappeared into the water.

Deputies and rescue personnel from Volusia County Fire Services arrived on scene and helped search for the victim who was found at approximately 7:57 a.m.

The elderly man was then transported by EVAC Ambulance to Florida Hospital DeLand where he was pronounced dead at 8:28 a.m.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Fire Chief Dave McCallister was honored by the Volusia League of Cities' Distinguished Service Award for 2012.

This awards were presented to outstanding individuals who have made their community, and Volusia County as a whole, a better place to live. The recipients were honored at a Volusia League of Cities banquet May 24, at the Smyrna Yacht Club in New Smyrna Beach.

Blaine O'Neal Award of Excellence, the top overall award, went to Port Orange City Manager Kenneth Parker.

Report grim: At least 27 confirmed dead

By Darlene Vann

EDGEWATER -- I am in shock and not sure what to even say about the school shooting in Sandy Hook, Ct. I come from Connecticut and lived in Sandy Hook immediately before I moved here in 1968.

Back then, it was then a very small town like Oak Hill. Everyone knew their neighbor and we all went to Newtown to shop and go to church and school since at that time those things did not yet exist in Sandy Hook. I was stunned to hear the news anchor say the shootings were at a Sandy Hook elementary school of all places. 

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- For those of you out there doubting the power of online news and how fast it travels consider this: Headline Surfer's story on the Holly Hill man charged with murder for allegedly gunning down his housemate over a spoiled pork chop, was posted only an hour ago and already is atop the Google News Directories for Daytona Beach and among the top accessed stories trending online at mid-day.

Headline Surfer (via HeadlineSurfer.com) was the fourth-ranked news site nationally on the Google search engines behind the Huffington Post,  Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle.

Prosecutor: Victim killed in 'ambush' shoot-out

Jerry Crew was found guilty of second-degree murder in the April 16, 2011, shooting death of 19-year-old Donnell Ellis Jr., even though he didn't pull the trigger. Ellis was actually killed when he and Crews lured a drug dealer and two associates into a motel room with the intention of robbing them and shots were fired.

DAYTONA BEACH -- After a lasting four days, a Volusia County jury deliberated for three hours Thursday before finding 56-year-old Jerry Roy Crew of Holly Hill guilty of second-degree felony murder and robbery, offenses that could net him a sentence of up to life in prison.

35-year-old killed instantly by two rounds to head from .22-caliber Ruger rifle

HOLLY HILL -- Police Chief Mark Barker shook his head in disgust in describing what set off 55-year-old Thomas Mathew Hahn Jr. to the point where he allegedly retrieved a .22-caliber Ruger rifle and blasted away at housemate Robert Gray until he lay dead in the living room of the residence they shared with two others.

When cops arrived, they found 35-year-old Gray dead on the floor of Hahn's living room in the 800 block of May Avenue just before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday while Hahn sat in a chair near the body.

The Bermuda Estates Apartments in Ormond Beach was the locale of a violent comfrontation between two brothers in their early 30s.

ORMOND BEACH -- An argument between two brothers Thursday turned violent when one stabbed the other in the face and ear, police said.

Here is a synopsios of what happened in the 3:20 p.m. inccident at the Bermuda Estates Apartments, 10,000 St. George Road No. 23, as described by Ormond Beach Police spokesman Lt. Kenny Hayes: Patrol units found 30-year-old Andrew Taylor on the complex grounds bleeding from wounds to the face and ear. Andrew’s brother, 32-year-old Eric Taylor, fled the area on foot prior to police arrival. The younger Taylor who was not cooperating with the investigation was transported to Ormond Memorial Hospital for treatment. Police located Eric Taylor nearby at the Walmart store and apprehended him after a brief foot chase.

Eric Taylor was charged with one count of aggravated battery -- domestic violence.

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES -- On Nov. 6, the American people consigned their future and that of their country, their children and grandchildren to socialist hell.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The Elections have come and gone and many folks are too weary to think about politics. However, one political element that got little attention during the recent elections was the “Tea Party.”