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Courtesy photo / Volusia County. A Votran bus heads west on Canal Street in New Smyrna Beach in this photo. The county came up with a "flex" schedule to lessen the blow of some routes eliminated for greater New Smyrna Beach resulting from budget cuts.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Votran’s new flex service will hit the roads in Southeast Volusia beginning Oct. 4. To ensure riders are prepared for the new “call-first” curb-to-curb, flexible transportation service, staff is hosting a rider orientation open house 1 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Brannon Center.

As the budget process proceeds to its climatic end on Sept. 28, I thought about how we got to the mess we are in. In my opinion, it boils down to a failure of the City and the City Commission to hold the line on costs while continuing to spend with abandon on non-essential programs in the face of a recession and dwindling income.

EDGEWATER -- The Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce continues its "Lunch and Learn Series: Doing Business in Southeast Volusia" with a presentation Wednesday by Rick Fraser of the Center for Business Excellence.

The CBE is designed to be the premier organization for employment and training solutions to the businesses and workforce of Volusia and Flagler Counties.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The Cudas football team (1-0) travels to Ormond Beach Friday to play Seabreeze. The game starts at 7 p.m.

The Cudas opened the 2010 season last Friday with a 21-0 win on the road against Pine Ridge in Deltona. Pine Ridge never got its offense rolling when it counted, with two costly turnovers, including a fumble on the Cudas' goal line in the second half.

Courtesy photo.

Tara Jean Yunker, 16, of 2233 Juanita Drive, New Smyrna Beach, is missing and known to have abused prescription pills and alcohol, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is seeking the public's help in locating a 16-year-old girl who has been missing since Friday. Tara Jean Yunker is not believed to be endangered, but is known to have abused prescription pills and alcohol, an agency spokesman said.

Yunker was discovered missing 6 p.m. Friday when a note left by her at her home at 2233 Juanita Drive, New Smyrna Beach indicated that she had run away.

Aug. 18, 1927 - Sept. 5, 2010

Dr. Bill Epps, age 83, of New Smyrna Beach, died Sunday at Hospice Care Center, Port Orange. Born in Sanford, Dr. Epps was a graduate of Georgia Military Academy, Stetson University, and Emory University Dental School. He practiced dentistry in both Sanford and Edgewater.

Courtesy photo/VCBJ mug.

John Maronto, 68, head coach of the Mainland High School football team and former head coach for New Smyrna Beach High School in the mid 1990s,  was charged with solicitation to commit prostitution, during a Labor Day weekend crackdown on prostitution by Daytona Beach police. According to an arrest charging affidavit released by police Monday, Maronto, also a gym teacher at Mainland, told the undercover cop while seated in his vehicle at the corner of International Speedway Boulevard and A1A just after midnight Saturday that he wanted "sex" and offered $50 to pay for it. He was among six men caught up in the police sting. He and three others were arrested on the prostitution charge and two others on related drug charges.

Please click the attachment to read the police report (Editor's Warning: subject matter not suitable for minors):

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The arrest of Mainland High School head football coach John Maronto on a charge of soliciting a prostitute over the Labor Day weekend, has not gone unnoticed by the candidates for the district 3 School Board seat .

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NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick.

Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas, D-NSB, greets Sue Schouten, owner of Sonkran Thai Cuisine restaurant in South Daytona, at the NSB Farmers Market on Saturday in New Smyrna Beach. At left, Kosmas greets Schouten's children, Alexandra, 14, and Thomas, 11.

Kosmas' Republican challenger, Sandy Adams, wasn't there, but several of her campaign staffers were, all wearing T-shirts with her name on them.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- She wasn't sporting a campaign button or wearing a T-shirt with her name emblazoned on it. She wasn't even wearing a name tag. Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas doesn't need any of that.

Her face is well known in the 24th district that encompasses parts of Volusia, Brevard, Seminole and Orange counties. And she certainly needs no introduction in New Smyrna Beach, where she is a native daughter.