Free Republic

Matt McEnany, president of Keiser University's Daytona Beach campus, was carjacked Sunday night during what authorities believe was an attempted sexual rendevouz. The school has suspended McEnany "pending a thorough and comprehensive investigation." ... The 60-year-old McEnany told police that he was meeting his friends “Luscious” and “Brittany,” both reported to be in the early 20’s, in order to give them a ride from their grandmothers’ houses. “I had two supposedly [sic] friends of mine needed a ride,” he explained during the call. “I pulled up here and I got out of the car and some black guy jumps me....

A Florida teen who was pummeled by an enraged father after he was caught sexually abusing the man's 11-year-old son was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Raymond Frolander, 18, pleaded no contest to lewd and lascivious molestation of a child in Volusia County court on Thursday. With the plea deal, Frolander avoided a life sentence but will be electronically monitored and go on the sex offender list after he gets out of prison, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported. “He’s going to learn in the next 25 years why I let him live,” the father told the newspaper following...

DeLand, FL - A 27-year-old Mexican man is locked up after police charge him with raping a woman who cannot hear or speak. Juan Corona-Martinez (picture courtesy Volusia County Jail) of Becca Lane in DeLand is held on $50,000 bond following his arrest on Friday. The DeLand Police Department says they were called out to Florida Hospital DeLand on November 19th when a 37-year-old woman told a friend she had been raped by Corona-Martinez. That woman – who was not identified in the arrest report – claims she had met Corona-Martinez at a birthday party on the night of November...

Daytona Beach, Florida – With a major referendum on public sector unions Tuesday in Ohio, three of the four candidates appearing in the Florida Tea Party Convention Debate Sunday indicated that the very existence of public sector unions is a flawed system that should be ended while the fourth, front runner Herman Cain, said a Cain Presidency would not cater to the union minority over the non union majority. The union question was posed by moderator C. Edmund Wright, an American Thinker columnist and tea party speaker who has written and spoken extensively on government union problems. Former Senator Rick...

A Daytona Beach man said Tuesday his two dogs were shot in cold blood six times in his own back yard. **** "They said my two dogs attacked their K-9," Estep said. Daytona Beach police said they were chasing two car thieves who wrecked the car and bailed. The officers called in their K-9 named Blaze, and he led them to Estep's backyard. The police report said two pit bulls in the yard attacked the K-9 and wouldn't let go -- not even when the officer sprayed them with pepper spray. That's when the officer said he fired six shots...

NEW YORK — November 2 is not here yet, but polling problems have begun. From possibly malfunctioning ballot gear to potential fraud, the 2010 mid-term vote is marred even before Election Day has dawned. •Like jurors who deliberate before a trial concludes, some Nevadans who have tried voting early for Republican Senate nominee Sharron Angle instead have seen Democrat Harry Reid’s name appear on their electronic voting machines. Some voters have complained about this apparent glitch, but how many others unwittingly have miscast their ballots? Intriguingly, these machines are maintained in Las Vegas by members of the Service Employees International...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Daytona Beach City Commissioner Derrick Henry and his campaign manager, Genesis Robinson, were arrested Wednesday, charged with committing absentee ballot fraud during Henry’s 2010 re-election campaign, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said. Henry is nonpartisan, which means he has no party affiliation. The arrest of Henry and Robinson comes a little more than two months after Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall requested an investigation into irregularities in absentee ballot requests coming into her office. McFall brought her concerns to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office in August, prompting the Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney’s...

DAYTONA BEACH -- It began before dawn. They started lining up at 5 a.m. Friday outside the Books-A-Million at the Volusia Mall to make sure they were the first 900 people to get wrist bands to come back for Sarah Palin's book signing Monday. In the crowd, a 15-year-old Spruce Creek student who skipped school by herself made friends. "I just think she's a strong Godly woman and I think she has great morals, and she's an intelligent individual and I think she has a lot to offer," said Rayane Escudero, a student. "I wish I would have had a...

"She has her own set of rules," Sabato said. "We all know that." Palin will make three appearances in Daytona Beach this weekend. She’ll attend the Daytona 500 on Sunday, sit for an afternoon book signing at the Volusia Mall and finish with a speech to the sold-out Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner. On Tuesday, Palin is booked for a similar event in Little Rock, Ark. Her March 12 appearance at the Rosen Shingle Creek resort in Orlando also offers a $1,000-per-person private reception and photo with Palin. Oliver said up to 3,000 could attend the Orlando event,...

Despite mounting corruption complaints against the Daytona Beach City Commission, including a failing grade in a state audit that revealed multiple ethics violations and widespread misuse of taxpayers funds, Commissioner Dwayne Taylor is running for election to the Florida House of Representatives. Taylor's record at the City Commission is abysmal, he has approved every measure that raised the tax burden of Daytona Beach citizens while awarding millions of dollars to multi-millionaire campaign contributors and friends to fund various pet projects and personal hobbies. This waste is one of the main reasons for the current financial crisis the city is undergoing....

Again, "Smart Growth" is a hot topic. This week Volusia County and most of its cities agreed to start yet another plan for "smart growth" by controlling future growth to certain areas in the county and limiting environmental impact in others. Monday, July 14, 2008 13 Central Florida News DELAND -- Volusia County and most of its cities have agreed to start a plan for "smart growth," limiting growth to certain areas in the county, and limiting the environmental impact to several building corridors. Forget sprawling homesteads. Your neighbors will be closer. That is just one change in how communities...

Daytona Beach is dying a slow death due to widespread corruption and abuses in City Hall. When will this stop? The State Attorney, who shares a lot of the same campaign contributors that have caused many of the abuses, refuses to instigate an investigation in spite of the overwhelming evidence and multiple criminal complaints from citizens. The Daytona Post

Therese DoanMultimillionairess Therese Doan, a well known political supporter and key campaign financer in Daytona Beach sold a 20-foot strip of land to the city for $320,955. The City Commission's unanimous approval of the purchase was not done at a public meeting; it was adopted quickly through the consent agenda on 5/7/08 without public discussion after Commissioner Dwayne Taylor made the Motion to Approve which Commissioner Rob Gilliland seconded. Items on the consent agenda are not discussed nor open for public comment and are regularly adopted in group. This method of effecting substantial expenditures by the City Commission has been...

In a highly controversial move, Daytona Beach Mayor Glenn Ritchey decided to promote Assistant City Attorney Marie Hartman to the position of City Attorney. The action was recommended by Mayor Ritchey at the end of a City Commission public meeting on May 7th, but the subject was not on the agenda nor was publicly noticed. The City Commission agreed in unison, and the surprise measure passed with no discussion nor consideration on whether to conduct a proper search or consider alternate candidates. Mayor Ritchey indicated that "It was legal". We can't help but remember some famous words: You know your...

During the June 4th Public Hearing, the Daytona Beach City Commission voted for a cost of living amendment to the police and fire pension plan (Ordinance No. 03-129). Commissioners Rick Shiver and Dwayne Taylor both have a vested interest but failed to abstain from voting on the amendment. Both Taylor and Shiver are retired firemen employees of the city and will obtain personal benefit from the measure they voted on. This conduct seems to be in violation of ethics rules and state-mandated open government laws.

The GMA (Florida Growth Management Act, Fla. Stat. ch. 163.3161) establishes procedures for any changes that affect land uses in our State. These procedures establish proper-noticed public hearings whether it’s for a Comprehensive Plan amendment or a change in the Land Development Regulations (LDR’s) such as zoning. During these hearings, affected parties present their arguments in favor or opposition to a given project in front of the public officials presiding over the hearing (County Council, City Commission, etc.) who then decide whether to approve or deny the requested amendment. Abuses occur when decisions are made on the basis of political...

The FBI and Homeland Security agents are investigating several incidents of laser beams being shined into cockpits of landing planes in Central Florida. Investigators said pilots have reported a thin beam of light being targeted into the cockpits of their planes near the Daytona Beach Airport. One of the planes was attempting to land at the airport when it was targeted. "These are sensitive times and pointing anything at a flying aircraft, even from a distraction standpoint is still a safety risk," Embry Riddle Aeronautical School representative Frank Ayers said. During one of the incidents, the pilot maneuvered away from...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Dana Wassum and Mary Jane Jackson brought their bikinis all the way from Maryland's Towson University to party and soak up spring break sun. So far, they've been disappointed. "I kind of thought it would be more crazy," the 21-year-old Wassum said. "Like wet T-shirt contests. We wanted to enter one but couldn't find any." Three years after Daytona Beach stopped advertising aimed at pulling in the lucrative but sometimes rowdy spring break crowd, the number of students coming here has dropped from 400,000 to a trickle. MTV is no longer welcome to film its...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- NASCAR has narrowed the possible sites for its first official Hall of Fame to Atlanta, Charlotte or Daytona Beach, Fla., and expects to pick a winning city by the end of March. ``Based upon the proposals that we have reviewed internally for the past several months, we believe these three cities provide us with the best opportunity to build and develop a world-class NASCAR Hall of Fame for our millions of loyal fans,'' Mark Dyer, NASCAR's vice president for licensing, said Thursday in a statement. The decision eliminates Richmond, Va., and Kansas City., Kan. from consideration....

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A landmark decision has been made in the fight for the Daytona Beach boardwalk. Late Friday afternoon, a judge ruled that the city had the right to take away property from three business owners. They were holding out from a developer that wants to turn the area into condos and hotels. However, the judge also decided that the developer will have to pay two or three times the amount he originally offered for the properties. The judge believes tearing down the old properties and redeveloping falls under the area of "public use."