Local News Now

NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick.

Mark Gajewski, 51, a New York biker, who works at Ground Zero, sports a sticker on the front of his Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic that reads "NEVER FORGET 9/11/01." The photos were taken Sunday afternoon at the Dairy Queen on U.S. 1, where the biker and several of his friends stopped for ice cream.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Mark "Ski" Gajewski, of New York, is here on Bike Week 2010 with a message emblazoned on the front of Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic for the world to see: "NEVER FORGET 9/11/01."

NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick. NSBNEWS.net video by Sera Frederick.

At left, Pub 44 bartender Karen Scarborough, 45, of Edgewater is all smiles Sunday afternoon during Day 3 of the 10-day Bike Week motorcycle rally. The locale was jam-packed with bikers on a much warmer and sunny day compared to the sparse crowds that endured much colder temperatures and rain. In the video, the Orlando-based classic rock band Iced Down performs at Pub 44, the State Road 44 hub for local Bike Week events, across from the NSB Regional Shopping Center.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Pub 44 bartender Karen Scarborough of Edgewater was all smiles Sunday. And why not? With temperatures in the low 50s and sunny skies, Bike Week 2010, made a turn around from the dismal showing of the first two days with day-time temps barely at 40 and sporadic rain.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A woman on the back of a motorcycle whose operator collided with another biker going in the same direction on the beachside's Atlantic Avenue, became the first Bike Week-related fatality.

A woman passenger on the back of a motorcycle was killed when that bike's operator and another motorcycle going in the same direction northbound on South Atlantic, at the intersection with 5th Avenue on the beachside, collided about 4:30 p.m., New Smyrna Beach police said, with the man and woman being thrown from the bike.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Roxanne Reynolds Hicks is a big fan of the Art Walk on Flagler Avenue here on the street that has thousands of daytrippers from across Central Florida enjoying the artistry and craftsmanship on display.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Temperatures barely got above 50 on a mostly-rainy Saturday, making the second of 10 days of Bike Week a washout. On Sunday, however, temperatures are expected to climb to a more seasonable 61 degrees with sunny skies in greater New Smyrna Beach, according to the latest forecast from the National Weather Service in Melbourne.

NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick.

Theresa Perreault, 22, of Edgewater, a bartender at Pub 44, poses with her big sister, April Perreault, 25, also a bartender, at last October's Biketoberfest. In the smaller photo, on top, countless bikes are packed in like sardines in the Pub 44 parking lot.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- They're baaaaack. The Bikers, that is.

Bike Week 2010 gets a roaring start today throughout Volusia County, with the local contingent centered at Pub 44 and Bruce Rossmeyer's NSB Harley-Davidson on State Road 44, axross from the NSB Regional Shopping Center.

Photos and video for NSBNEWS.net by Jeanette DiCara. At left, thick black smoke billows from the woods Sunday afternoon. Below left, an unidentified Edgewater police officer stands by on the perimeter while firefighters with a brush truck tackle the brush fire. A county helicopter, shown in the video, attacks the fire from the air. The smaller photo illustrates the thick underbrush that fueled the fire.

EDGEWATER  -- Sunday afternoon was a busy one for firefighters from Edgewater, New Smyrna Beach and Volusia County, fighting stubborn brush fires, one of which came within several hundred yards of an Edgewater subdivision, threatening at least a half dozen homes, but the fire was kept in check because of canals and a pond  between it and the homes.

Several brush trucks and pumpers were used on the ground to fight the stubborn fire, fueled by thick underbrush while a county helicopter did its work from the air to douse the flames.

 NSBNEWS.net video by Sera Frederick. Flare Elliott of Friends of Historic Canal Street, Inc. speaks to the City Commission earlier this month about the potential for passenger rail service through Florida East Coast tracks.

Editor's Note: The following news blog was written by Flare Elliott of the Friends of Historic Canal Street, Inc. and was sent to NSBNEWS.net by Elliott:

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The Florida Department of Transportation has applied for $268 million dollars in federal stimulus (ARRA) funding to restore Amtrak passenger rail service on the existing 326 miles of FEC railway between Jacksonville and Miami by 2012.

NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick and NSBNEWS.net video by Sera Frederick.
At left, Jeanette Humphrey, an organizer of the annual Slovenian National Benefit Society Polka Festival, shows homemade Klobase (sausage). In the video, people enjoy dancing to the polka music. More than a thousand people were expected by day's end Sunday over the course of the three-day event in Samsula at the SNPJ Lodge. Below, Kara Maruszak, 17, of Cleveland, International Miss SNBJ, was at the festival.

SAMSULA -- Kara Maruszak is the international face of the Slovenian National Benefit Society. The 17-year-old Cleveland girl lit up the dance hall at the annual Polka Festival celebrating the Slovenian heritage with food, music, dancing and great conversation.

Hundreds turned out Saturday at the SNBJ Lodge, 421 North Samsula Road, for the three-day festival that ends Sunday afternoon. Admission is $10 per person and food platters are as low as $6, including sausage and chicken salad sandwiches, salad, sliced fruit and desserts, all homemade.

But the real attraction for the predominantly Slovenian gathering, of course, is the Polka music and the dancing. With banjos, accordions, percussion and vocals, the temptation to get on the floor and dance is overwhelming.

And why not?

EDGEWATER -- The Edgewater Public Library will host a two-part genealogy program for beginners in February and March. The program is for people who want to learn how to research their family roots.