DELAND, Fla. -- "I move to hire a special counsel to independently advise the County Council on a process and procedure, pursuant to Section 309 of the Volusia County Charter, in order to make investigation into the affairs of county governmental operations, relating to the Waverly matter, in order to determine whether new legislation is required for purchase or additional ethical standards of conduct for public officials in light of the investigation." And so went the motion by Councilwoman Patricia Northey, which was seconded by Councilman Pat Patterson, that got the ball rolling on partisan bickering.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Volusia County Chair Jason davis has no doubt the dropping of recruitment flyers in New Smyrna Beach's historically African-American Westside community was a deliberate act and as such sees it as a hate crime.

Photos for Headline Surfer® / Large and small planes use Daytona Beach Internatuonal Airport, which has seen passenger service increase by 1 percent in thr past year.

During October, 50,930 incoming and outgoing passengers traveled through the county-operated airport. This compares with 46,704 passengers in October 2012.

And for for the past 12 months, 602,146 travelers have flown in and out of the airport, a 1 percent increase compared to the year.

Mayor Adam Barringer, Councilwoman Deborah Denys remain silent

While the Rev. Lorenzo Laws was praying with his congregation  in the black Westside community of New Smyrna Beach tthat was the target of hate recruitment flyers of the KKK, Mayor Adam Barringer, a member of the all-white, all-male Anglers Club,  and County Councilwoman Deb Denys, remained silent and out of media reach.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Pastor Lorenzo Laws of the Allen Chapel AME Church informed his parishioners in Sunday morning's sermon that he was contacted by a senior staffer in the Miami field office of the U.S. Department of Justice and she's making arrangements to personally pay a visit to the city and "get to the bottom" why blacks got the lion's share of Ku Klux Klan flyers.

Five more staffers canned by Halifax Media 

At far left is a snapshot of the lead story offfered online early Saturday by the Daytona Beach News-Journal. It's got to be tough these days for the editor, Pat Rice, shown in the inset, having to come up with strong centerpiece stories with scores of reporters on the business desk to bang out the pro-chamber and ad authority PR fluff and no full-timers for Port Orange or Edgewater. That's what happens when you have to cut positions like the five this month and having a sixth employee quit. You end up with a headline like the gem next to Rice: 'Cincinnati may get Daytona tourism dollar.'

DAYTONA BEACH -- As if the Daytona Beach tourism glad-handing story on attracting visitors from Ohio in the News-Journal isn't enough, the newspaper has reached even greater heights this morning with a week-old story on an alleged canoe theft as its lead story

Search in vicinity of HE Thomas Jr. Parkway near Sanford border comes up empty

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.

Debra Annette Smith was planning to walk to Sanford

Headline Surfer® graphic / Debra Annette Smith's badly decomposing body was found in an open field off of South Leisure World Drive near Barwick Road, as shown in this locator map. The ME's Office won't have details on the 48-year-old DeBary woman's cause of death until toxicology reports come back in a few weeks.

DEBARY -- A decomposed body found Wednesday in an open field in DeBary Wednesday morning has been identified as that of 48-year-old Debra Annette Smith, last seen alive Nov. 8, when she left her home after getting into a minor verbal dispute with her partner, a Volusia County Sheriff's official said.

Under umbrella of appeals in Daytona Beach

Photo for Headline Surfer® / Judge Donald E. Scaglione, shown here at left, was elevated Friday from Hernando County judge to a judgeship in the 5th judicial circuit that covers Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion, and Sumter counties, with main administrative offices in Tavares. The 5th circuit is part of the 5th District Court of Appeal, which sits in Daytona Beach. 

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Gov. Rick Scott today announced his appointment of Hernando County Judge Donald E. Scaglione to the 5th Judicial Circuit Court.

Scaglione, 54 of Brooksville, has been a Hernando County Judge since 2005. He fills a vacancy created by the retirement Circuit Judge Sandra Edwards-Stephens.

State Attorney's Office not willing to prosecute for domestic violence as a result

Photos for Headline Surfer® / Another chapter in George Zimmerman's life concludes with no charges filed in domestic violence case alleged by his estranged wife, Shellie, shown here in court with him during his murder trial. Later, he's shown cuffed after his wife claimed he displayed a gun (which she later recanted), punched her dad in the nose and shattered her iPad, like the one shown here. 

LAKE MARY -- George Zimmerman won't be arrested on domestic violence charges in connection with a Sept. 9 argument with his estranged wife, Shellie, and her father, David Dean at a home on Sprucewood Court they were living in, during which he she claimed he shattered her iPad, Lake Mary cops announced today.

WESH Orlando's Claire Metz had loaded semi-automatic pointed at her head

Photos for Headline Surfer® / 

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- An off-duty public safety tele-communicator with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office was arrested Tuesday after she pointed a gun at WESH-TV Orlando reporter Clare Metz who had gone to her house to try to interview her for a story involving a medical call where a patient died in September after an ambulance crew was directed to the wrong location.