Local News Now

Photos for Headline Surfer® by Greg Trujillo / The party wasn't as rockin' on New Year's Eve as it was a year ago with a less pronounced crowd, though alcohol sales in the middle of Main Street as shown in the nearer photo was the main attraction of promoter Al Smith's show, supplemented by taxpayer funding from the city of Daytona Beach, the Halifax Area advertising Authority and Volusia County government. 

DAYTONA BEACH -- Promoter Al Smith was less than pleased with the Headline Surfer® preview of his New Year's Eve party on Main Street based on the 24/7 internet newspaper's coverage of last year's event and the raw tone depicted in a series of videos of the decadence and drinking.

University of Central Florida Knights 52, Baylor Bears 42

Photos for Headline Surfer® / Don Burnette, shown at left, is all smiles at the University of Phoenix, who along with his wife and several friends, flew out to Arizona to watch the UCF Knights win big in their first BCS Bowl, 52-42 over the Baylor Bears in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

PORT ORANGE -- What a way for Port Orange City Councilman Don Burnette to kick off the new year.

Burnette was still celebrating his UCF Knights' big win over the Baylor Bears in the New Year's Day Fiesta Bowl hours after the game.

Headline Surfer® graphic / Charles Proudfoot of Osteen was struck and killed late at night while trying to walk across International Speedway Boulevard at the intersection with LPGA Boulevard in Daytona Beach on Nov 26, as shown in this locator map at left.

DAYTONA BEACH — A 69-year-old Osteen man was killed when he was was struck by a car while trying to walk across International Speedway Boulevard at LPGA Boulevard, Daytona Beach cops said.

The accident that led to the death of Charles Proudfoot occurred two days before Thanksgiving.

The tragic accident comes in at No. 90 in the Headline Surfer® countdown of the Top 100 Stories of 2013.

Photo for Headline Surfer® / Ricardo Rodriguez got 25 years behind bars for shooting his younger brother in the leg in a dispute over property. The heavy sentence was the result of Florida's 10-20-life statute.

ORANGE CITY -- An Orange City man was sentenced Oct. 6 in a DeLand courtroom to a minimum mandatory 25 years in prison for shooting his brother. 

LAKE MARY -- The unmistakeable sound of a commercial airliner making its descent over Lake Mary to land at the nearby Sanford Airport is one thing, but the thunderous twirling of the blades of the Seminole County Sheriff's helicopter at 2 in the morning at a low altitude reaches new heights on the noise meter.

Headline Surfer® graphic / For unforeseen emergencies, the town of Ponce Inlet has turned to 'Code Red' to alert citizens and merchants as shown in this snapshot.

PONCE INLET -- The municipality in April instituted a rapid emergency notification service called "CodeRED," which distributes emergency messages via telephone to targeted areas or the entire town at a rate of 1,000 calls per minute, according to a press release on Ponce Inlet's website.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Happy New Year's greater Daytona Beach and all of the visitor's to Headline Surfer® throughout Central Florida, the rest of the Sunshine State, across the USA and around the world. We  love you!

Photo for Headline Surfer® /  John Francis Roach is spending the rest of his life behind bars for his sexual assault on a pre-teen boy.

DELAND --A 60-year-old Deland man was sentenced Aug. 16 to Life in prison without the possibility of parole for sexually battering an 11-year-old boy.

The sentence handed down on John Francis Roach was for a Volusia County jury finding him guilty of one count of sexual battery on a person Less than 12 Years of Age, a capital felony; and one count of lewd and lascivious molestation by a person 18 Years of age or older on a person less than 12 years of age, a life felony.

Photo for Headline Surfer® / Tony Ledbetter, second from left, is shown here in this Dec. 9 photo op. with Gov. Rick Scott, along with Ledbetter's daughter, Kimberly Patterson, Gov. Scott's wife, Ann and then-Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll at the governor's mansion in Tallahassee. 

ORLANDO -- Pledging to his GOP colleagues that he would be a "conservative voice" for the party, Tony Ledbetter, chairman of the Republican Executive Committee of Volusia County, was elected Congressional Dis. 6 chairman for the Republican Party of Florida at its annual meeting the first weekend of January at the Rosen Centre Hotel. 

Photo for Headline Surfer® / New Smyrna Beach PD recruit Shawn Adkins is shown here with his father, NSBPD Investigator David Adkins in this July still image.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Like father, like son: The New Smytrna Beach police Department saw the first-ever father and son duo of police officers with the July 9 hiring of recruit Shawn Adkins.

When deciding which police department he wanted to work for, Adkins, son of New Smyrna Beach PD Investigator David Adkins, said it was an easy decision: “My Dad has been really successful at this agency and I have always felt like it was part of my family.”

The 22-year-old Adkins added, "I know and love this community."