|
Is DeLand the most patriotic small town in America?
|
|
DELAND - This town is all about the red, white and blue. Mainstreet DeLand just wants other folks to know. "We are in the running for the most patriotic," Naomi Nichols, marketing coordinator, said. Mainstreet DeLand Association recently learned that DeLand was quickly racking up votes for "Most Patrioti...
|
|
|
Stetson grad leaps language barrier to achieve success
|
|
DELTONA - When Alex Sanchez came here from Puerto Rico at 12, English was as far from being his second language as ancient Greek. He remembers riding the bus and staring blankly when anyone would ask him anything. "It really was quite frightening at first," said the 21-year-old who's graduating from Stetson University Saturday. "...
|
|
|
Walk it off
|
|
Over 300 students, family members, faculty and staff of Blue Lake Elementary School, as well as several personalities from the DeLand Community gathered at the Deland Wesleyan Church recently to participate in the school's "Walk to School with the Principal for Safety and FCAT Success." The program, in conjunction ...
|
|
|
Get healthy!
|
|
Kids got a workout with the "Rocks and Ropes" program by rock climbing and maneuvering through a three-story high 'Vehicle for Change' high ropes course during the annual 'Be Brave, Be Healthy' Health and Wellness Fair at Tomoka Elementary School in Ormond Beach recently....
|
|
|
DeLand powwow faithful keep sacred flame alive
|
|
DELAND - Around a makeshift powwow dancing circle, behind a modest home on the outskirts of town, a slowly growing melting pot of American Indian traditions has started to simmer. Some of the two dozen people gathered here last week are dressed in full tribal regalia from any number of tribes; others wear jeans and T-shirts. Many...
|
|
|
Pedicabs, additional parking may make Boardwalk access easier
|
|
|
DAYTONA BEACH - Make way, residents, "pedicabs" may soon ride among us to tow passengers on local streets and up and down the Daytona Beach Boardwalk. According to Deputy City Manager Paul McKitrick, the idea of pedicabs was introduced by the company that owns Joe's Crab Shack, which hopes to have its gra...
|
|
|
Alice, Jr.
|
|
The cast rehearses for Freedom Elementary School's production of Alice in Wonderland Jr. at the Athens Theatre, 124 N. Florida Ave., DeLand. Performances started on Thursday and continue Friday, May 11 (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday, May 12 (2:30 and 7:30 p.m.). Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for children and students....
|
|
|
City gets low offer for historic house
|
|
DELAND - The city just wanted to get mowing costs recouped. It ended up with an historic property worth nearly $100,000 and only a $10,000 offer for it. At its most recent meeting, the DeLand City Commission declined to sell 117 W. Howry Ave. - what's often called "The Buckner Property"- to Mark Shuttlew...
|
|
|
Deltona looking at spay/neuter law
|
|
|
DELTONA - The city pays Halifax Humane Society $160,000 annually to transport, impound and euthanize many of the creatures captured by animal control officers. Last year, that amounted to 505 dogs, 1,266 cats and 128 other animals - with more than half of those being put to sleep, many on the same day they were captured. That's m...
|
|
|
DeBary leaders seek next step in Bayou cleanup
|
|
|
DEBARY - As the city makes headway in correcting flood problems that have been identified after heavy storms over the past two decades or more, another obstacle looms immediately in the distance: How to clean up the stagnant, murky waters of DeBary Bayou. Runoff problems and a reliance on septic systems were identified in a recen...
|
|
|
The school that almost wasn't
|
|
NEW SMYRNA BEACH - A local school that will celebrate its 50th anniversary at a party this week almost wasn't built. Although the land was available, the plans drawn up and the money budgeted by the Volusia County School Board, local residents had to fight o...
|
|
|
Riverboat docking here still has 'even chance'
|
|
|
NEW SMYRNA BEACH - Wayne Heller has gone from feeling "extremely disappointed" two weeks ago to "energized" this week after an outpouring of support from city residents and business people for his proposal to bring the Delta Queen steamboat to the North Causeway. "I'm proceeding with negotiations for ...
|
|
|
Officials look at bringing more residential development to downtown
|
|
|
NEW SMYRNA BEACH - Businesses along Canal Street would greatly benefit if more people - many more - lived within walking distance of the shops, restaurants and offices. But to get those additional residents, New Smyrna Beach officials will have to change some of the regulations governing new construction in the co...
|
|
|
Local woman starts campaign to get Trader Joe's
|
|
ORMOND BEACH - With 35 "likes" so far, Jasmin Bedria's Facebook campaign to bring Trader Joe's to Ormond Beach is under way. Ms. Bedria said she believes the specialty retail grocery store would be a perfect fit for Ormond Beach in the vacant Food Lion building at 101 E. Granada Blvd, beachside. "I'm a certif...
|
|
|
Judge David Beck Receives Schwartz Family Community Service Award
|
|
UCP of East Central Florida recently presented Circuit Court Judge David Beck with the Schwartz Family Community Service Award at Thursday's Life Without Limits Luncheon at the Daytona 500 Club. Judge Beck was honored for his service and dedication to individuals with disabilities through his work with Special Olympics for over two decades. "To b...
|
|
|
Parks department seeks budget increase for new park maintenance
|
|
|
PORT ORANGE - After co-sponsoring a competitive youth baseball program with the Babe Ruth League, city leaders hope one day to develop a baseball field designed for competitive play. While that might be too ambitious a project to pursue right now due to the economy, next year will mark the arrival of a new m...
|
|
|
Public works director's firing prompts changes to department
|
|
|
PORT ORANGE - After upholding his firing of public works director Warren Pike, City Manager Ken Parker said changes to the department Mr. Pike led are underway. While those changes includes improved inventory control procedures and higher security at the department's facilities, the future may also hold a me...
|
|
|
HUM honors Haven Recovery director Randy Croy
|
|
Halifax Urban Ministries presented Randy Croy, executive director of Haven Recovery Center, with the John C. Allen Jr. Humanitarian Service Award at HUM's Annual Blue Diamond Celebration recently at Oceanside Country Club in Ormond Beach. Mr. Croy was honored for his community leadership and humanitarian service that he has pr...
|
|
|
South Daytona allows FPL to keep one of its two substations
|
|
|
SOUTH DAYTONA - The cost of buying Florida Power & Light's electrical distribution system will go down, thanks to an agreement to let FPL keep one of its two substations in the city. Last year, city leaders argued in court that a city-run utility would only need one of FPL's two substations to operate. But F...
|
|
|
Embry-Riddle student team wins EPA Award for solar-powered water purifier
|
|
|
A team of eight engineering students from the Daytona Beach campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University that designed and built a new kind of water purifier has been named one of the 15 winners of the 2012 People, Prosperity and the Planet national competition sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As winners...
|
|
|
Tide and infant formula as payment for drugs? Amazing
|
|
Our modern world never ceases to amaze me. Recently, I heard a news report about drug dealers accepting laundry detergent and infant formula as payment for illegal drugs. Apparently the large bottles of Tide that sell for over $20 each are easy to turn over, as are the six and 12 packs of baby formula. Police are finding...
|
|
|
School lunch prices to go up next year
|
|
|
VOLUSIA SCHOOLS - Kids will have to take extra quarters to school next year. School lunch prices at the elementary schools will go up from $1.75 to $2. At the high schools, lunches will go from $2 to $2.25. The middle schools will continue to charge $2 for lunches. "It'll be a two-fold thing," said Joan ...
|
|
|
Museum of Arts & Sciences announces $13 Million building to house Florida art collection
|
|
|
The Museum of Arts & Sciences, in cooperation with the City of Daytona Beach and the Volusia County Council, announced Monday the donation of a collection of more than 2,600 Florida oil and watercolor paintings from Cici and Hyatt Brown and funds for a building to house them. A $13 million gift for construction and additional ...
|
|
|
Shrine Club still clinging to historic medical mission
|
|
DAYTONA BEACH - While a meeting of the city's Shriners would once have filled a good portion of the Clubhouse Restaurant at the Daytona Beach Golf Club, a recent meeting of a dozen diehards of the Greater Daytona Shrine Club was contained to a single corner of the dining room. Gray-haired men nursed patty melts as a recent golf f...
|
|
|
Local Republican party has new leader
|
|
|
Stanley Escudero was elected Chairman of the Volusia County Republican Executive Committee Tuesday, May 1. He will serve until December, completing the term of office of the departed chairman and directing the affairs of the Republican Party in Volusia County during this election year. Ambassador Escudero was born in Daytona B...
|
|
|
Turtles come early to local seashores
|
|
VOLUSIA COUNTY - The Atlantic waters are warming up, and visitors are hitting the county's beaches. But, not all of them are looking for fun and sun. Some are seeking a bit of nesting - four breeds of sea turtles. They started arriving last month. The first Volusia nest was found on April 3. May is when ...
|
|
|
Patterson back for another run at county council
|
|
VOLUSIA COUNTY - Pat Patterson might be the least exciting political candidate voters have ever met and he's OK with that. Mr. Patterson said ideological firebrands stir emotional pots, but pragmatic moderates get things done. "If you've got a job, just do it," he said. "That's what an elected official d...
|
|
|
Stetson seniors prepare for cross-country bike trip
|
|
DELAND - As a celebration of their friendship and Planet Earth, Stetson University graduating seniors Tyce Herrman and Francis Sams are taking a 3,757-mile bicycle trip this summer with the "Bike & Build" nonprofit organization that supports affordable housing initiatives. The Stetson seniors are now raising money for the caus...
|
|
|
New clinic, trap and release programs should help tame feral cat population
|
|
|
VOLUSIA COUNTY - Cats have an astonishing ability to reproduce, but area residents have growing options to prevent it. Trap-neuter-release, or TNR, is growing increasingly popular throughout the county - sort of. Cities and private groups usually don't claim to have TNR programs, but many offer free and ...
|
|
|
Vandalism increasing in DeLand
|
|
|
DELAND - Vandalism is a cheap thrill for the perpetrator, but an expensive crime for the community. In recent weeks, DeLand has experienced an unusual spike in vandalism. So far, police have made no arrests in the vandalism spree. "I suspect it's juveniles," DeLand Police crime analyst Geoff Byrnes said...
|
|
|
Tomato king
|
|
Around the Gateway Center for the Arts' farmers market Greg Monroe of DeLand is better known as "The Tomato King." He's been around "ever since day one," he said. The market, at 880 North U.S. Highway 17-92, is held on Saturdays, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., except on major holidays. In addition to fresh fruits and vegetable...
|
|