Henry Frederick's blog

DAYTONA BEACH -- The WWE's John Cena has the perfect tune-up for his April 1 showdown in Miami against The Rock: He'll be the "honorary starter" for Sunday's Daytona 500.

NSBNews.net was the first media outlet to file a story on Mitt Romney's visit to Ormond Beach. We'll have Romney's entire speech for you to see and here in a series of videos this afternoon and we'll have local reaction to what he said and whether it will inspire Republicans to stick with him as the frontrunner or go with conservative Newt Gingwich or Rick Santorum or Ron Paul.

NSBNews.net also has exclusive interviews with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and a whole host of other stories, photos and videos from the Romney rally.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- As hard as I work to get to the truth in reporting I have to realize that I am just one person with so many hours in a given day. I can tell you as of this writing, I am embarrassed and frustrated -- embarrassed to see the big story in the Daytona Beach News-Journal on suspended Southeast Volusia Advertising Director Nicole Carni. Frustrated because had there been a level playing field with the release of her payroll figures -- denied to NSB News -- then I might have had the story today as well, maybe even sooner.

NSBNews.net is proud to announce that New Smyrna Beach Vice Mayor and City Commissioner Jim Hathaway has agreed to write an exclusive weekly blog for us. Hathaway replaces Mayor Adam Barringer who said he couldn't make the commitment anymore.

Hathaway's exclusive blog for NSBNews.net is called "Vice Mayor" and in it, he'll give his take on issues that he feels are important. Hathaway is an announced 2012 candidate for the Volusia County Council district 3 seat held by Joie Alexander, who opted not to seek re-election to that post. Alexander has not ruled out running in a different race.

Anyone who read the glowing story on Kent Sharples plastered Wednesday on the front page of the Daytona Beach News-Journal can relate to steroid slugger Mark McGuire's refrain before Congress in that he's "not here to talk about the past. Certainly, it is not in my place to tell the News-Journal how to report the news, but as someone with a vested interest in the media, as well as being a taxpayer and a family man, I find the print media becoming more and more a marketing arm of the power elite.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Headline Surfer, the 24/7 Internet newspaper here in New Smyrna Beach, is working on an open letter to Mayor Adam Barringer and City Manager Pam Brangaccio that calls for their resignations in the wake of alleged ethics violations and even more allegations of wrongdoing.

Headline Surfer is hoping to publish the open letter within the 9 o'clock hour. To clarify, that's 9 p.m., having given all involved a chance to respond to questions.

DELAND -- Sometimes bad things happen to good people. After all, they say nice guys finish last. With that said, somebody walked off with our video camera and tripod Thursday night outside the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center.

DAYTONA BEACH -- We are 5 years old. In the Internet age, where everything moves at warp speed --technology, software, apps, widgets -- you name it, we have endured. To be honest, I don't know he we made it this far. But we have and hope to continue along the path that was started with our April 7, 2008 launch. Headline Surfer is a player, though the mentality persists that if a story is not in the News-Journal it doesn't exist.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The next use of CRA funds to tackle blight comes with this weekend's Ormond Beach Celtic Festival, promoted, of course in the "Go 386" of the Daytona Beach News-Journal, recipient of advertising dollars to promote such events. We don't yet have the taxpayer amount