County Council's Billie Wheeler supports Headline Surfer's standing as working press; condemns Sheriff Mike Chitwood's punishing tactics: removal from email media alerts, denial of press cards, banning from press conferences

By HENRY FREDERICK Headline Surfer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --While saying she cannot tell the sheriff what to do since they are both elected leaders, Volusia County Councilwoman Billie Wheeler nonetheless condemned "how he has treated Headline Surfer" and that she emphatically supports and recognizes the online news outlet as "the press."

"I can't come out and tell Sheriff Chitwood what to do because he is elected and I am elected," Wheeler told the award-winning internet news site, but aded, "It's not right what he has been doing to to you. But I have no control over Chitwood. I just can't come out and tell him what to do.