Henry Frederick's blog

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Don't think anyone is reading us? Well, think again! At 5:14 this morning, we had 121 people on Headline Surfer at the same time. Until a few days ago, we'd typically have 8-10 on same time his early in the morning accessing our 24/7 Internet newspaper. 

I have been walking a proverbial tightrope for the past several days, hoping and praying our online crashes will end with adjustments we've had to make to our servers. Believe it or not, that's a good thing. 

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- We've had major server issues over the last three days, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we're back to business as usual.

There is a positive to this, however. Headline Surfer, the 24/7 Internet newspaper has seen a tremendous increase in visitors cross Volusia County, especially in Daytona Beach, Port Orange and Deltona.

Then again, we remain the only venue that doesn't require a paid subscription, unlike the print media newspapers in Daytona and Orlando.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Print media wants to have its cake and eat it too at your expense. The Daytona Beach News-Journal is now forcing online readers to pay a subscription to access its online content, following the lead of the Orlando Sentinel locally. That means Headline Surfer, the true 24/7 Internet newspaper, stands alone as the only online source in Volusia County to provide free access to all of its content around the clock.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- There is a lot that is good about the elections process and things that are not so good.
You would think that in the 21st century -- the digital age -- finding a listing of candidates for every race in Volusia County would be a snap -- easily accessible by Internet search. So unless I'm completely clueless, could somebody please tell me where I could find such a listing?

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- I've started dressing for success and it is paying dividends. Most of my reporting life, I've dressed blue collar with the exception of funerals, a formal dinner or covering a high profile case in court. Those days are over.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- This may be going against the grain, but Michelle Coats, chosen by the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority's to lead the tourism agency, deserves more than the $65,000 the governing board decided Tuesday to pay her.

Most people would say that's more than enough, and they would be right on the surface. But this is no ordinary job. When asked during an interview last week what she would like to be paid, she said the mid-range -- roughly $80,000.

We can't forget. We can never forget the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

DELAND -- "You can't record that." That was what Circuit Judge Terence Perkins said in barring Headline Surfer from videotaping a hearing Thursday in his courtroom at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand.

We are in the process of working on and uploading a series of new stories, blogs, photos and videos on this Labor Day holiday.

We hope that everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather on this extended holiday weekend.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- We have a family emergency we're dealing with.

We will try and update the news of the day within a few hours. We apologize for the delay and the inconvenience this is causing.