Daytona Beach

Ebony Wilkerson, 32 and pregnant, is shown here at first apperance Saturday at the Volusia County Branch Jail courtroom in Daytona Beach before County Judge Shirley Green where she was ordered held on $1.2 million bail on three counts of attempted first-degree murder of her three children, ages 3, 9, & 10, after purposey driving her minivan into the Daytona  surf.

DAYTONA BEACH -- As she drove her minivan into the rough ocean surf at Daytona Beach, 32-year-old Ebony Wilkerson locked the doors of her 2012 Honda Odyssey, put up the windows and told her three frightened children --ages 3,9, & 10 -- to close their eyes and go to sleep.

Headline Surfer® celebrating 5th anniversary by recognizing outstanding individuals

Photo for Headline Surfer® /

DAYTONA BEACH -- Bike Week starts Friday and what better way to introduce the nation's largest motorcycle rally than recognizing Michael Politis, selected as one of the Headline Surfer® recipients of a lifetime achievement award for service to greater Daytona Beach for his motorcycle safety advocacy and biker rights.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.  -- The future is now at Daytona International Speedway, thanks to two historic votes in less than 24 hours involving municipal and county governments.

YouTube upload / Video by Simon Besmer / Volusia County Beach Patrol rescues occupants of this motor vehicle, swept into the surf in Daytona Beach on Tuesday afternoon near the Silver Beach Approach. A rescuer carries two of the children to shore in the snapshot at left.

DAYTONA BEACH -- A South Carolina woman drove her van into the surf with her three children inside just south of Silver Beach, before all were rescued and the vehicle became completed submerged.

One of the children reportedly told rescuers, "Our mommy's trying to kill us, please help."

Photo for Headline Surfer® / The largest proposed residential-commercial development in the history of Daytona Beach, the so-called Russian Towers, approved by the city last year for location at water's edge east of the Seabreeze Boulevard Bridge, already is six months past a scheduled groundbreaking and may be on shaky financial ground.

DAYTONA BEACH -- With an August groundbreaking that came and went with no dirt moved and growing whispers in recent days that the $150 million Russian Towers condo-hotel development may prove to be a bust rather than the economic boom propagated ad nausea in the News-Journal.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Governor Rick Scott today announced the appointments of Stanley Escudero and Garry Lubi to the Daytona State College Board of Trustees.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Bike Week starts March 7-17, and is second only to Speedweeks and the Daytona 500 in importance as a special tourism event in greater Daytona Beach, typically drawing upwards of half a million bikers.

Getty Images/NASCAR /

DAYTONA BEACH -- Running on only one hour of sleep, now two-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt, Jr. embarked on his week-long whirlwind media tour Monday morning after installing his No. 88 National Guard Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet inside the Daytona International Speedway Ticket and Tours Building.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Regan Smith got “redemption,” today by edging out last year's winner Brad Keselowski by .013 seconds for the green-white-checkered win in Saturday’s DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway.

DAYTONA BEACH -- This certainly wasn't one of my finest moments in a long, distinguished journalism career, but it's better to be honest than to pretend otherwise: Fresh off his thrilling victory in the Nationwide race earlier today at Daytona International Speedway, I asked Regan Smith how he liked his chances for a repeat in Sunday's Daytona 500 as one of 43 drivers in the field.