Top 100 SE Volusia County Stories of 2009

23. City Commission adopts fiscal 2010 budget with raiding of reserves

Originally posted Wed, 2009-09-30 23:29
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The City Commission approved its own spending plan tonight for fiscal 2010 by raiding the reserves of $969,000 from the city's $10 million reserves to support the proposed $21 million budget.

24. Grand jury indicts Edgewater man in hog-tie killing of roommate

Originally posted Wed, 2009-08-26 20:52

Courtesy photo/Volusia Jail mug. A Volusia County grand jury handed up an indictmentin August charging Joseph Edward Jordan, 39, with first-degree murder and robbery in the June 29, hog-tied beating death of his Edgewater roommate, 50-year-old Keith Cope. 

EDGEWATER -- He was hogtied and left for dead. And that's exactly what happened to 50-year-old Keith Cope. He died two weeks later at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. A Volusia Grand jury earlier today returned an indictment of first-degree murder and robbery against his roommate, 39-year-old Joseph Edward Jordan, said Assistant State Attorney Christopher Kelly on behalf of State Attorney R.J. Larizza.

25. Kosmas explains her vote against Obama's health-care plan

Editor's note: Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas received criticism from supporters and foes alike for her vote against health-care legislation pushed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who supported such negative votes for those in swing districts because she had enough secured votes to secure passage. Kosmas later defended her vote in an op-ed piece in Florida Today.

Originally posted Sat, 2009-11-07 23:39

Washington, DC -- After carefully reviewing the House health care reform bill, HR 3962, Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, issued the following statement:

26. Accused killer of elderly NSB woman ruled competent to stand trial 7 years later

Posted Thu, 2009-07-02 03:57
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.

27. NSB man dies in mobile-home fire (and fatal fire earlier in the year in Edgewater; NSB woman rescued by firefighters)

Originally posted Sun, 2009-08-09 10:53

NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick. Robert Schaedel, 68, of 2864 Red Oak Circle in the Redlands retirement mobile home community, off U.S. in New Smyrna Beach, was killed Saturday when his residence caught fire.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A 68-year-old resident of the Redlands senior mobile-home park off U.S. 1, died Saturday in a blaze that fully engulfed his residence, officials said. Robert Schaedel died in the 3:11 p.m. fire, but his wife, Mildred, who escaped the flames after trying to fight the fire, was treated at the scene for minor unspecified injuries.

28. Sexual predator arrested after hanging around for two days at Chisholm Elementary with a gun claiming to be a DEA agent

Originally posted Fri, 2009-09-11 00:24

Courtesy photo/NSB police. Kareen Walshaed McNeal, 28, of New Smyrna Beach, a registered sexual predator, was arrested Thursday on charges of imperonating a law enforcement officer and carring a firearm on school property after he was seen the last couple of days at Chisholm Elementary School carrying a handgun and claiming to be a federal drug agent, police said.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A tip led to the arrest Thursday of a 28-year-old registered sexual predator seen hanging around the Chisholm Elementary School on Ronnoc Lane and armed with what appeared to be a handgun and claiming to be a federal drug enforcement agent, New Smyrna Beach police said.

29. NSB City Commission approves funding for conversion of old high school into Mosquito Lagoon Marine Enhancement Center

Originally posted Wed, 2009-11-25 00:24 NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Two major things were accomplished tonight with a unanimous vote by the City Commission to spend $130,000: All but two of the buildings that housed the former high school could be razed and at least two community groups could have a new home.

30. Bike Week 2009: Third fatality reported near Oak Hill

Originally posted Tue, 2009-03-03 09:22

NSBNWEWs.net video by Sera Frederick. Bike Week 2009 had one local biker fatality during the motorcycle rally. Check out our video introducing Bike Week.

OAK HILL -- A dead biker was found just before 6 a.m. in a wooded area just south of the Oak Hill city limits, according to the authorities.

31. Biketoberfest 2009 recipe for bucks: Bikers, babes and beer

Originally posted Mon, 2009-10-19 02:21

NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick. April Perreault, 25, and her kid sister, Theresa, 22, seasonal bartenders at Pub 44, strike a pose for Biketoberfest 2009.  In the smaller photos, countless bikes are packed in like sardines in the Pub 44 parking lot. Above, a live rock and roll band performs with large Budweiser ads in the forefront.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Pub 44 bartenders April Perreault, 25, and her sister, Thesersa, 22, Theresa Perreault, 22, were asked to pose for cameras by bikers more than twice their age almost as much as they were passing out bottles of Buds for the green stuff. Welcome to Biketoberfest, Pub 44 style, where bikers, babes and booze, are a winning combination, especially in these trying economic times.