Local News Now

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A 35-year-old was struck on the head with a gun during a robbery attempt early Friday morning in the 500 block of Brooks Street, police said.

No injury information was released on the victim, Frederick Payne, who lives in the vicinity. A neighbor came to his aid during the 2 a.m. robbery attempt, when the victim was approached by a gunman who demanded his wallet. When the victim refused to hand it over, the gunman struck him in the head with the weapon before running off after the neighbor intervened, New Smyrna Beach police Sgt. Valerie Joyce said.

Laurel Artis Shaffer, 56, of New Smyrna Beach, a clinical researcher for the pharmaceutical industry, died Thursday, July 2, 2009.

Ambers Crum, no age given, of New Smyrna Beach, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II and is survived by his wife of 62 years, Ada, died Wednesday, July 1, 2009.

William Hall J., 53, of Edgewater, a native of San Antonio, died Monday, July 31, 2009.

July 3, 2009: Jerome L. C. Rucquoy and Michelle P. Schmotzer, New Smyrna Beach.

Courtesy photos/Volusia Jail booking mugs. Roy Deion Fudge Jr., 20, was arrested Thursday by Daytona Beach police on outstanding warrants out of New Smyrna Beach charging him with attempted murder in the shooting of a New Smyrna Beach man in May.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A 20-year-old New Smyrna Beach man was apprehended Thursday by Daytona Beach police and taken into custody without incident on outstanding warrants charging him with attempted murder in the shooting of a city resident in mid-May.

The following was written by Robert Lott, president of the Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce.

Thursday night (June 25), I tuned in to get my nightly news fix. All major networks, including cable news stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, FOX News,etc.) were providing nothing but celebrity death coverage (Michael Jackson)!

Non-stop, repetitive, no-news speculation. I went online to BBC to find out what happened in the world that day.

Courtesy photo/Booking mug Volusia Branch Jail. George Fred Heise, 77, of New Smyrna Beach, a member of the Kiwanis Club of Southeast Volusia and a former member of the New Smyrna Beach Utilities Commission was arrested last night on charges of prowling and peeking through a neighbor's bushes to look at her in her nightgown, according to a New Smyrna Beach police report.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A prominent 77-year-old New Smyrna Beach man was arrested last night on charges of prowling, including allegations he hid in bushes and watched a woman dressed in her nightgown in her home, before he was caught by police after trying to run off when they responded.

George Fred Heise, of 105 Cunningham Drive, a member of the Kiwanis Club of Southeast Volusia and a former member of the Utlilities Commission of New Smyrna Beach, was charged with loitering and prowling, as well as resisting an officer without violence, in the 10:04 p.m. incident at the house next door to his.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Sharon Hanson has waited seven long years for her mother's accused killer to stand trial, and thanks to a circuit judge's ruling Wednesday that the accused is now competent to stand trial, that could happen as early as next month.

"Our loved one is gone, yet we have no closure to this senseless crime," Hanson wrote to Judge J. David Walsh regarding the Feb. 6, 2002, shooting death of her 75-year-old mother, Rose Crank.

July 2, 2009: William W. Duke and Alicia M. Kaminski, of New Smyrna Beach.

Holly A. Haeger, 59, of Edgewater, a legal secretary, died Tuesday, July 30, 2009.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Volusia County Marine Science Center rehabilitation team members are planning the release of a sub-adult loggerhead sea turtle, called Cluster, at 11 a.m. Tuesday, weather permitting. The beachside release will be at Canaveral National Seashore, 7611 S. Atlantic Ave., New Smyrna Beach.

Parking is available by the administration building. The release will be on the beach beyond the boardwalk.