TOP STORIES • BREAKING NEWS

June 29, 2009

Will Titusville teen win NBC’s America’s Got Talent?

By Susan Walden
Titusville’s Arcadian Broad is the latest sensation on NBC’s America’s Got Talent and he’s the hottest video on the Internet.
The 13-year-old was the last contestant on the show June 24 and he brought down the house, even making judge David Hasselhoff shed a tear.Echoes from fans of the show write on blogs and other Internet sites that he could go all the way and hope he does.
He endeared the America’s Got Talent fans with his story. CONTINUED

New law: No seatbelt, get a ticket

By Susan Walden
Buckle up, it’s now the law.
The Florida Safety Belt Law changed June 30 to allow police officers to enforce seatbelt violations as a primary offense, meaning officers who notice unbelted drivers or passengers is just cause for law enforcement to pull over vehicles and issue citations.
A seatbelt violation in Brevard County is $104. CONTINUED

Police warn drivers to be sober

By D.D. Remini
Don’t even think about drinking on Fourth of July and driving home.
The Titusville police will be out in full force cracking down night and day on impaired drivers with an aggressive “Drunk Driving Over the Limit/Under Arrest” enforcement blitz. CONTINUED

Brevard schools earn top grades

The Florida Department of Education released the 2008-09 school grades  and Brevard Public Schools continue to perform well. 
Eighty-two out of 84, or 98 percent of Brevard schools received a grade of an A or B – with 72 schools receiving As.  These results contributed to the district receiving a Grade Point Average of 3.8 or an overall grade of A from the DOE for the sixth consecutive year, giving BPS a ranking of third in the state, behind St. John and Gilchrist Counties. CONTINUED

Dinner celebration highlights Apollo astronauts

Forty years ago, the Apollo 11 crew sat down for their pre-launch dinner at Kennedy Space Center, prior to embarking on the mission that landed mankind on the moon.  In keeping with that same tradition, the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation is offering a limited number of devoted fans the chance to dine with Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, and other Apollo astronauts, at an intimate, Apollo 40th Anniversary dinner in Cocoa Beach July 15 – the same date the crew enjoyed their pre-launch meal. CONTINUED

Suspect allegedly lures girls on Internet

A 39-year-old Mims man has been arrested for soliciting teenage girls on MySpace.
Daniel Coyle was charged with two counts of computer solicitation of a minor and is held in the Brevard County Jail on $70,000 bond.
The investigation revealed that Coyle allegedly developed a plan to introduce himself to a young female by using a multiple of fake personas on MySpace in order to make the victim believe he was a teenage girl.
He allegedly contacted the victim on the Internet using the names “Angie” and Lina. CONTINUED

Less invasive colorectal cancer screening available

Parrish Medical Center offers a new colorectal cancer screening that requires no doctor’s orders and costs $20.
 The American Cancer Society reports that excluding skin cancers, colorectal (or colon) cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States. Only 39 percent of the people who should get colon cancer screenings actually get them, while colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers if caught early. CONTINUED

New shoe repair shop good for bad economy

By Susan Walden
Enrique Valvidia can do lots of jobs, but shoe repair is in his soul.
That’s why he’s back in the business of what he does best and has just opened Riverside Shoe Repair – right where an old shoe repair shop used to be in Baldwin Plaza off U.S. 1 in downtown Titusville. CONTINUED