Henry Frederick's blog

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- She was the first female gymnast to win a gold medal in the uneven parallel bars at the World Championships in Strasbourg, France in 1978. But for Marcia Frederick, who turns 51 today, her dreams of Olympic gold were dashed when President Carter announced the U.S. was boycotting the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

LAKE MARY -- Dealing with lots of stories here on the home front in Lake Mary on this Sunday evening. Not a lot of time for a full-fledged blog so here again is my favorite holiday video, "Do They Know It's Christmas," by Band Aid. Enjoy and stay with Headline Surfer® for the latest breaking news and investigative reporting throughout Central Florida.

DAYTONA BEACH -- There is no song I know of that quite hits home as a college kid from the Big '80s than Band-Aid's "Do They Know it's Christmas" with its refrain, "Feed the World." As we wind down the year and look ahead to 2014, this 30-year-old song resonates as strongly today as it did then.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Why wait until our year-end Top 100 stories to find out what No. 1 is? Let's get right to it: 2013 will go down in Volusia County as the "Year of the Rat." This was the definitive year for corruption of the public officials in Volusia county and municipal governments.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Dave Byron, the mouthpiece of Volusia County, is typical of the arrogance of government that has lost touch on holding the line on spending, and who like so many others, forgets that he works for us -- not the other way around. With a base salary of $123,165, Byron enjoys a comfortable position of 20-plus years as County Manager Jim Dinneen's hatchet man.

Headline Surfer® snapshot graphic / Crime mapping shows Daytona Beach overrun by crime, especially the heart of the tourism -- the beachside as shown in this image from crimes plotted Jan. 1 through 5 p.m. today, Sunday, Dec. 8.

DAYTONA BEACH -- It seems weekly, the three-year owners of the Daytona Beach News-Journal put out glad-handing stories about tourism and the new hotel rooms that will bring nirvana.

This is the same tired theme we heard a decade ago when the Volusia County Council took the cars off the core-tourism section of the beach so that the developers and marketers of the Ocean Walk and former Adams Mark -- now Daytona Beach Resorts -- could sell prospective time share visitors on having their own private beach.

LAKE MARY -- From what I've seen of politics in Central Florida, especially in Volusia County since the mid-1990s, I am happy to be living in Lake Mary, though I miss New Smyrna Beach and the rental home that we loved in Sugar Mill with the daily laps in the community pool and our frequent trips to the beach. 

DAYTONA BEACH -- Headline Surfer® did a video interview earlier today with its choice for "Politician of the Year for Central Florida," an inaugural award of distinction in the greater Daytona Beach-Orlando metro area that the 24/7 internet newspaper will announce publicly on Thanksgiving Day.

The winner will be recognized with an award posted online, along with the video interview and a full profile/bio. Headline Surfer® is confident its loyal online visitors will be supportive of the honored elected official for this special recognition.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Bravo State Sen. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, on your Facebook announcement of your prestigious award from MADD, but let's not forget the first responders who put their lives on the line around the clock -- the state troopers and cops, paramedics and firefighters -- when it comes to dealing with drunken driving.

LAKE MARY, FL -- My father called me at mid-day Monday to let me know "my college is in lockdown." He sounded pretty upset, describing the intense breaking news footage listing them individually: Hartford TV stations WFSB channel 3 and WTIC channel 61; New Britain's WVIT channel 30 and New Haven's WTNH channel 8.