Credit still hard to get for retailers
If one goal of the federal government's $700 billion emergency economic aid package passed in October was to restore access to credit, local retailers are not feeling an improvement.
Related story:
· Diversity helps small retail business survive
Special Report:
· Beyond the Bailout

Early holiday cheer masks fear
Deck the halls with -- trick-or-treaters? If you think yuletide trappings have come out earlier this year, even as Halloween's pumpkins were carved, you're not imagining things.
What do you think?
· Vote in our Instapoll

Crist proposes
tuition hike
Change would
require state OK
Trying to inject more money into the higher-education system, Gov. Charlie Crist and state university officials proposed a major overhaul Thursday that could lead to tuition increases of as much as 15 percent a year.

Man convicted as teen locked up again
More than four years have passed since James J. Watson was released from a 10-month sentence in juvenile detention for beating a younger boy to death at a New Smyrna Beach skate park. On Thursday, it came as no surprise to the mother of the slain boy to hear Watson is again locked up, this time facing a felony charge at the Volusia County Branch Jail.

Deltona residents seek flooding answers
How do you know if you live in a flood zone? Many Deltona residents sought an answer to that question in the weeks and months after Tropical Storm Fay.
More information:
· Flood zone maps