We are in the 5,000 hits club

I am pleased to announce we have now passed the 5,000 hits mark on NSBNEWS.net since our launch on Tuesday. This is particularly exciting, considering the Web site is not fully built. Still, there is plenty of news to write about and what an active weekend it has been with the tragic passing of a popular NSB Middle School teacher and yet another shark bite, this time involving a 14-year-old NSB girl.
Though the Web site is active, I do not have full control and access until all of the database programs are installed and working, which should be completed this week.

The wire news and weather databases were added to the home page Saturday as was the ESPN feeder for the Sports page. Still to be installed are electronic calendars for the Community and Schools pages as well as a business wire feeder for the Business page.

The Insta Poll will be updated tomorrow, and in the coming days, the photo gallery and video clip will have new content. The Big Story has been folded into a new Sunday In Depth page that will also feature a Video Newsmaker Q&A segment. A database for an archiving system of news content is also being built.

Also look for fresh material from our community columnists over the next several days.

A reporter's notebook will be added to local sports and we'll have lots of Southeast Volusia reaction to the Pennsylvania presidential primary, including the final results of our Insta Poll.

Your patience and loyalty to this emerging Web site is very much appreciated. Because of the complexity of building a daily news Web site, I have received excellent service from the host provider, Utah-based Heritage Web Solutions.

I want to tell you briefly about the Heritage designer assigned to me. His name is Jed Brown. He's 30, an active hiker who enjoys photography, and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints, commonly called Mormons. And yes, he's excellent with building web pages. We've been talking about the polygamy situation in Texas and how Mormons like himself have to overcome negative stereotypes and confusion with groups like this (Mormons have not practiced polygamy in over a hundred years).

It was ironic that I was explaining to him Saturday that New Smyrna Beach has the distinction of being the "shark capital of the world" even without a Jaws attack and then I had the Sunday shark nip of a 14-year-old NSB girl's foot to prove my point. And Sunday at the memorial service for James Disanza, the New Smyrna Beach Middle School teacher, I learned he was a Mormon.

What a small world.