We must tolerate street screechers who yell that we will each wind up somewhere unpleasant. Sidewalks are traditional free-speech forums, whether we agree or not. Personally, I am not planning to follow the street screechers’ travel suggestions.

Lake Helen has a completely charming, if occasionally stressful, way of derailing their City Commission meeting agendas, despite all best efforts.

Recently, I finished a crisis-management course for my MBA. We explored case studies where organizations and government entities were pushed over the edge of chaos into a genuine crisis, full of unknowns.

As America approaches its 245th birthday, people are returning to something close to normal, following the pandemic’s disruption.

After the massacre at Pulse nightclub, the nationwide opinion of the LGBTQ+ community shifted. 

Discussions about costly infrastructure needs, such as improving the road network, are never easy. 

DeLand isn’t the same city it used to be.

SunRail has been a topic of discussion at approximately 30 County Council meetings in the past two years, making it without a doubt one of the most talked about — and challenging — issues since I’ve been on the council. 

Welcome to the point of no return 

Editor’s note: We welcome West Volusia writer Ron Jones, who offers a history of our U.S. Bill of Rights, perfectly timed as we prepare for the July Fourth holiday.

I like talking with my wife. She’s interesting and has cool things to say. A treat for us in the evening is to have a glass of wine or a beer at a table on a sidewalk in Downtown DeLand, watch people stroll by, and chat. Or to stay longer for a nice dinner and ice cream.

Juneteenth is a day that many Floridians find unfamiliar.

The rural communities of Osteen and Enterprise are fairly quiet and laid-back. They do not create a lot of trouble. They have neither riots nor city managers committing felonies. Perhaps because they are not cities, they neither do wild annexations nor rezone for urban sprawl.

We can make a reasonable argument that our entire country is dependent on two interrelated technologies: electricity and the internal-combustion engine. 

I was at a ribbon-cutting recently at the DeBary SunRail station, for a new kiosk featuring maps of bicycle trails and cultural and environmental sites. 

What will you do on Memorial Day?

This coming Sunday, May 16, is the birthday of the Christian Church. 

Does anything taste better than a cool cup of water on a hot dry day?

This is the city. This is a case for Sgt. Friday. Where is he when we need him?

It’s not often that government is able to improve service and efficiency and reduce the cost to taxpayers, all at the same time. But when it comes to public transportation in Northwest Volusia, the county has managed to do just that.

There are two solutions to the ongoing water crisis. One is to continue to conserve, to share, to cut back, and work ever harder paying more and more. 

Editor’s note: Lake Helen and Deltona both recently swapped out their city administrators. Doing so can be a tumultuous process. Columnist Mark Barker explains some of the reasons why.

Gun owners have nothing to fear from laws that enforce responsible ownership 

If there is one thing we can all agree on, it is that we want to see more advertising. Not just on grocery sacks and branded T-shirts, and not just sign spinners, either.

There are many things I could say about motorcycle week. But if I said them, no one could hear me over the sounds of the cycles roaring outside my windows.

West Volusia is blessed with many wonderful treasures. It’s what makes us such a dynamic and vibrant community. If you ask me, one of our most valuable treasures is Joyce Cusack!

Say what you will about tourists, you have to either loathe them or else dislike them intensely. And if it is in fact tourist season, I do not know why we cannot shoot them.

Did you ever hear or read about some government action and say to yourself, “I wish they had asked for my input”?

The interesting thing about what we call nonprofits is that they may very well make a profit. The trick is that there are no stockholders, so they do not have to share the profit. Instead, the loot generally goes to the folks in charge.

For the second consecutive year, Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters (R, Sarasota) is trying to do the right thing for the state of Florida by filing SB 334 — Regulation of Smoking in Public Places. 

Editor’s note: Romila Sitara Shankar-Brown of DeLand wrote this essay for The Beacon for Black History Month. Her brother, Valen Siddhartha Shankar-Brown, also wrote us a Black History Month commentary, which will be published in a future edition.

A dear friend passed away suddenly a few days ago, and the loss I feel is beyond words. Robert Dumas, 90, stopped suffering Feb. 6, at his home in Canterbury, Connecticut. 

The Florida House Finance and Tax Committee wants to replace property taxes by increasing sales tax rates to as much as 13 percent. Presidential candidates Ben Carson, Rand Paul, Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz propose a flat tax to replace the current income-tax system; Mike Huckabee prefers a n…

Recognized every February, Black History Month means different things to different people.

Recently the MainStreet DeLand Association broadcast an online survey to business owners and citizens, seeking their preferences about how to spend city Community Redevelopment Agency monies in the Downtown commercial district.

Normally, I write this screed in the summer. That is when I notice the heat coming off the blacktop. When I am out walking, I really notice the difference between sidewalks and crossing the blacktop.

SunRail has been a topic of discussion at approximately 30 County Council meetings in the past two years, making it, without a doubt, one of the most talked about — and challenging — issues since I’ve been on the council. 

Volusia County was one of the first to install what was called charter government. That means that the county has its own mini-constitution, which in many cases overrides the state constitution.

Freedom without discipline is anarchy.

But now’s not the time to let down our guard

Sure, the title is misleading. On the web, I expect more readers will look at the column due to the interesting title, rather than a great interest in unsavory promotions. 

2021 introduces Sean King as the newly elected president of the West Volusia Branch of the NAACP. 

Editor’s note: These are remarks given by Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower, upon being sworn into office Jan. 7. The written transcript was provided by Brower.

It has been telling us the truth all along

2020 ended with the launch of a really exciting new initiative to bring added focus and attention to the needs in DeLand’s Spring Hill community. It’s called Strive to Thrive, and you’ll be hearing a lot more about it in the weeks and months to come.