NSBNEWS.net: Volusia County / State

ORMOND BEACH -- A motorcyclist was clinging to life today and his passenger killed when he struck a guardrail and then a tree while trying to turn onto Fluhart Drive from Riverside Drive, police said.

The passenger, Michael Leveille, 29, of Paltkawas pronounced dead at the scene of the 3:40 a.m. accident, police said.

Steven Row, 25, of Ormond Beach, was transported by EVAC to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach with life threatening injuries.

Neither man was wearing a helmet, police said. The force of the crash split the sport bike in half, police said.

CAPE CANAVERAL -- Hatches between space shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station were opened at 1:28 p.m. EST, signifying an end after 80 days to Nicole Stott’s time as an Expedition 20/21 flight engineer.

Now an STS-129 mission specialist, Stott will have spent a total of 91 days in space if Atlantis lands, as planned, on Nov. 27. She is the last station crew member to return to Earth on the space shuttle; Soyuz spacecraft will be used for future station crew launches and landings.

ORMOND-by-the-SEA -- The bodies of two men found in a home in a home Sunday in Ormond-by-the-Sea have been identified through autopsies, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.

Autopsies were required in order to positively identify the victims and determine how they died because of decomposition. Based on
the findings of Monday's autopsies by the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office, the Sheriff's Office has officially classified the

CAPE CANAVERAL -- Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew of six astronauts are headed for space, ready to begin their 11-day mission to the International Space Station. The climb to orbit takes about 8 1/2 minutes.

Following a smooth countdown, with no technical issues and weather that steadily improved throughout the afternoon, the shuttle lifted off on time from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:28 p.m. EST.

DELAND -- The Volusia County Health Department will conduct a free H1N1 swine flu vaccination clinic Saturday in the Tommy Lawrence Arena of the Volusia County Fairgrounds, 3150 E. New York Ave., DeLand. The vaccination clinic will take place between the hours of 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. or until the vaccine supply has been exhausted.

The vaccination clinic is for people who are in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended priority groups to get the H1N1 swine flu vaccine and include:

● People 25 years through 64 years who have health complications

DELTONA -- Native American culture will take center stage at the Deltona Amphitheater from 10 a.m. - noon Saturday, Nov. 21, as Jim Sawgrass guides participants on a journey through the past with tribal dances and storytelling.

Sawgrass, a native Floridian, has been interpreting the history and culture of southeastern Native Americans for many years.

The amphitheater is adjacent to the Deltona Regional Library, 2150 Eustace Ave. Program admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children.

CAPE CANAVERAL -- Earlier this morning, the Mission Management Team met and gave the "go" for loading space shuttle Atlantis' external tank with 500,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, which began at 5:03 a.m. EST.

The three-hour fueling process will provide the fuel and oxidizer Atlantis' three main engines require for the 8 1/2 minute trip to orbit.

Weather forecast is now at a 70-percent chance of favorable weather for an on-time liftoff at 2:28 p.m. this afternoon.

ORMOND-by-the-SEA -- Volusia County Sheriff's investigators were at the scene of a residence in Ormond-by-the-Sea, where the bodies of two adult men were located inside the home on Sunday afternoon.

Deputies were dispatched to 58 Alamanda Drive after a woman and her boyfriend drove to the house because the woman had been unable to contact her adult son.

ORANGE CITY — City officials have vote to spend $21,000 to hire a consultant to help find a new city manager.

The City Council, in a 4-3 vote, opted to hire Colin Baenzinger. City Manager John McCue left in September 2008, with a severance package totalling $375,000, including benefits. Chester Murray, the city's director of development services, has filed in, but plans on retiring once a replacement has been hired in March or April.

ORLANDO -- A used-car dealer was found guilty of purposely making deposits of less than $10,000 at a time to avoid reporting transactions from sales to the government, a federal jury determined Friday. With guilty verdicts in hand, he now faces up to 515 years in prison.

U.S. prosecuting attorney A. Brian Albritton said Lucio Ramirez, 45, of Colma Auto Sales, 202 N. Spring Garden Ave., made bank deposits of between $9,000 and $9,900 on car sales to avoid submitting "currecy transaction reports."

The currency reports are mandated by the government to deal with money laundering issues.