Daytona Beach | featured news

 As a difficult as it is to think about school in July, Livia Gifford, assistant community health nursing director for clinical services, Florida Department of Health Volusia County, said this is a good time to get the kids vaccinated for school. Adults should think about shots for their health, too.Gifford spoke to The News-Journal about the importance of vaccinations.Why is July a good time for vaccinations?Parents should get shots for their children as soon as possible. Don't wait for the back to school rush in August. On the Friday before school starts on Monday (Aug.

ADA celebrates 25th anniversaryA 25th anniversary celebration of the Americans with Disabilities Act will be held Wednesday in various area locations throughout the day.The celebration begins at 10 a.m. at the University of Central Florida, Building 150 and auditorium on the Daytona State College campus then moves to the landing in front of the campus cafeteria from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., celebrants will gather at the Volusia County Courthouse Annex on City Island.Featured speakers include Representative Dwayne Taylor and Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood and others.

Creative ideas for fun on a budgetInserting active play into your family’s summer fun doesn’t have to be expensive. Here are a few creative and cost-effective ways to inspire play in your family this season:Create your own field day tournament: Rather than spending money on pricey sports equipment, reuse household items to create your own competitive events for your family. For example, set up a field hockey game using brooms as sticks and a tennis ball as a puck.

In the Daytona Beach area, visits to the emergency room for asthma attacks are about 26 percent higher than the national average, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, which tracked data from Medicare and Medicaid reports.Ralph McGhee, 56, a former truck driver living in DeLand, was one of the more frequent visitors to the ER.A severe asthmatic, McGhee said he was going to the hospital as often as four to five times a week. "I couldn't breathe," he said. "My chest was so tight."McGhee was afraid for his life.

PALM COAST — An announcement is forthcoming about the reopening of Palm Coast's largest retail center — and there is still plenty of space available for future tenants.A spokeswoman with the Shopping Center Group, a commercial real estate advisory group, said Friday she couldn't disclose any new information until next week. Meanwhile, city officials confirmed that the utility work related to the Island Walk at Palm Coast renovation is 90 percent complete. Branch Properties of Atlanta is the plaza's developer.The first overhaul is scheduled to conclude this fall.

A Port Orange man was arrested on a warrant Thursday charging him with sexually molesting two girls, Port Orange police said.Shane Floyd, 28, was booked Thursday into the Volusia County Branch Jail, where he was being held Friday without bail, on two counts of lewd/lascivious molestation by a person 18 years of age or older on a victim less than 12 years of age, according to a police charging affidavit.Floyd's ex-wife contacted police in January upon learning about the sexual abuse allegations, according to the affidavit.

DAYTONA BEACH - Daytona State College will hold information sessions early next month on a "fast-track" program it is offering to those interested in a career in manufacturing.The informational meetings on the Florida TRADE Manufacturing Program will be on Aug. 3 and 6, 5:30 p.m. both days in room 137 at DSC's Advanced Technology College, 1770 Technology Blvd. (off Williamson Boulevard, one mile north of LPGA Boulevard).The 12-week course, which starts Sept.

DAYTONA BEACH - The lawyer for a man charged in a fatal Daytona Beach shooting says his client acted in self-defense, making the shooting justified.James Valerino filed a motion to dismiss on behalf of his client DeAndre Peterson, who has been in the Volusia County Branch Jail since his arrest on March 14, 2014, when police say Peterson killed 21-year-old Quor'dre Wiley and wounded Wiley's aunt.Peterson, 26, is charged with second-degree murder with a firearm, attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon causing bodily harm, possession of a firearm

DAYTONA BEACH - The Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce is encouraging members and their families to attend the Daytona Tortugas baseball game at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, across the street from the chamber building, on Aug.

PALM COAST — Palm Coast Data employees were back at work today following an evacuation Thursday after a suspicious white powder was discovered on the premises.The substance was found leaking from an inbound piece of mail Thursday in the company’s administrative building at 2 Commerce Blvd., Palm Coast. Once workers detected the powder, the mail was quarantined.Public health officials from Jacksonville, the St.