Unemployment in Volusia and Flagler counties continues to steadily decline.

Beach Patrol Capt. Mike Berard cruised on the sand in his unmarked F-150. Clusters of tanned teenage Spring Breakers holding red Solo cups stared nervously as the truck passed. Others laid on towels working to get tan before the trip home -- oblivious to the presence of law enforcement.
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The memory of Brandon Vera was on the minds of more than just his father on Friday.

Three weeks before a 14-year-old DeLand girl was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver, motorcycle enthusiast Sabra Vocaturo suffered the same fate as she road her Harley-Davidson along a rural stretch of wet road near New Smyrna Beach.

At a training session for police officers, investigators and social workers on Friday, State Attorney R.J. Larizza spoke candidly about his view of domestic violence.

Halley Frisco, 7, skipped around the circus ring Friday as Val, a 4,500-pound young Asian elephant, trailed behind her.

The frame was stripped and stuffed away in a trailer for years before a friend found it for sale for $900 and got it into Brian Boan's shop. The parts came together slowly -- $120 for a chain here, $3,000 for a belt drive there -- as Boan spent day after 16-hour day creating something out of nothing.
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The Halifax Area Advertising Authority voted unanimously Friday afternoon to make Jeffrey Hentz the new president and CEO of the Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Flagler Beach man shot by his neighbor in a dispute over a barking dog was unarmed and residents nearby reported hearing five shots that were "slow," "methodical" and "evenly-spaced," according to a police report obtained Friday.

A Port Orange man was killed Friday morning when police said he tried to avoid crashing into a car but got run over by the vehicle -- making him the fifth motorcycle-related fatality since Bike Week started just over a week ago.

At around 3:45 p.m. Friday, May 18, the City of DeLand was awaiting an application from Stetson University for permission to demolish Stover Theatre. The application will be considered by the DeLand Historic Preservation Board, which will offer a recommendation to the DeLand City Commission. DeLand ...

A beautiful juvenile red-shouldered hawk intently ate a squirrel as I stood in amazement and watched. With the gusto and enthusiasm of a hungry man eating a juicy steak at a picnic, the hawk quickly ate his meal on a neighbor's lawn. Guess he didn't realize that he was supposed to be wary of me, bec ...

Church gives scholarship New Hope United Church of Christ in DeLand announces the winner of the Barbara Stone Study Tools Scholarship, given to an outstanding high-school senior headed to college. The award focuses on students with an interest in peace and justice issues. Kristen Jones, a graduating ...

Friday, May 18 ‘Evening With the Stars: A Tribute to the Ed Sullivan Show’ 7:30 p.m. at the Athens Theatre, 124 N. Florida Ave., DeLand. Proceeds to benefit the DeLand Family YMCA. Tickets: $20. Call 386-736-1500. The Dining Room 8 p.m. at Shoestring Theatre, 380 S. Goodwin St., Lake Helen. A ...

Disappointed Stetson Hatter baseball fans left Melching Field at Conrad Park at 1 a.m. Friday, May 18, as the locals were unable to hold off the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles in a 6-2 key Atlantic Sun Conference test. Rain and lightning forced a three-hour game delay, with the teams taking th ...

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with the April 16 shooting at Garfield Place Apartments in DeLand. At 3:56 p.m. that Monday, as schoolchildren were walking home to the apartment complex, resident Ranjit Brar was shot near the complex playground. Neighbors reported seeing three black men flee the ...

On the morning of May 7, an unusual vehicle appeared in DeLand. It had a strange contraption on top, and a sign on the side stating “Google maps — Street View.” Google street-view mappers really get around — they travel all over the country and all over the world — mapping and photographin ...

The DeLeon Springs Community Association, which has been striving to improve life for merchants along U.S. Highway 17, has a new feather in its cap — its first grant. The grant isn't huge. Neither is DeLeon Springs, an unincorporated community about five miles north of DeLand. "It's small, but it' ...

After the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, the reopening of Publix at 299 E. International Speedway Blvd. was the first order of business when the DeLand City Commission met May 7. Mayor Bob Apgar opened the meeting by reporting that he had had a call from the Publix in-house construction superv ...

The Deltona City Commission asked for new regulations for business signs, but just before taking action on the proposed law, they put on the brakes. A late-breaking addition — which would require businesses to take down or replace nonconforming signs — was the part of the proposed ordinance that ...

Firefighters responded to four new brush fires in Volusia County May 15, including a 15-acre fire near 4690 W. International Speedway Blvd. east of DeLand. This fire damaged an unoccupied single-wide mobile home and destroyed two sheds that were part of a hunting camp in a wooded area. About 30 fi ...

If the City of DeBary has had a major preoccupation over the years, only one comes to mind: Not former City Manager Maryann Courson, nor the arson at Altman-Long (as in Bill Long) Funeral Home, nor even the proposed horse track and poker room, DeBary Downs. Any of those might come in second, but the ...

The Orange City Council recently unanimously approved a $12,000 contract with the DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce for business retention. City Council Member Gary Blair told Chamber representatives that he came to the meeting pretty much prepared to vote against spending the money, but his mind had ...

Go to the grocery store or fish market, and look at the prices: $10, $12, even $18 per pound for fish. Catfish, at between $5 and $8 per pound, is the exception. Fish raised on farms in Asia or South America, including tilapia and swai, cost about the same as catfish, but many people have concerns ...

Carol Tuck remembers the day she lost her husband, Donald, like it was yesterday. The Tucks are avid campers, and Donald Tuck was playing horseshoes at a campground. A bee landed in the crook of his arm. He didn't notice. When he bent his elbow to throw the horseshoe, the bee stung him. He went in ...