John McCann Maria Padilla Mark Silva Mike Thomas

TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Supreme Court released a decision Thursday upholding the death penalty of Roy Clifton Swafford, convicted of raping and killing an Ormond Beach gas station clerk on Valentine's Day 1982.

Swafford of Nashville, Tenn., was sentenced to death in 1985 for the murder of Brenda Meadows Rucker.

He has gone through numerous appeals. In 1996, the Supreme Court ordered a trial court to review claims by Swafford's attorneys that there was new evidence that someone else killed Rucker. The circuit court decided not to consider the new evidence, an affidavit by an Illinois man about the suspicious behavior of another suspect.

Thursday's Supreme Court decision upheld that decision, which was appealed in 1997.

Swafford also was convicted for escaping from an inmate delivery van and holding people hostage at a DeLand hospital before surrendering.

Shark bites surfer, 28, at North Jetty

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A 28-year-old surfer became the third person in Volusia County to be bitten by a shark this year, and the fifth in the state.

Nolan Sutliff of Port Orange was surfing about 11:15 a.m. Thursday near the North Jetty of New Smyrna Beach when a shark bit his left foot, said Beach Patrol spokesman Rob Horster. Sutliff suffered a deep cut on the top of the foot and several punctures to the underside, Horster said.

EVAC Ambulance spokesman Mark O'Keefe called the wound "pretty serious" but not life-threatening. Sutliff was rushed to Bert Fish Medical Center in New Smyrna Beach for treatment.

Volusia County traditionally has the highest number of reported shark attacks in the nation.

Sign up soon for summer youth programs

DELTONA -- Deadlines are approaching for the city's summer youth programs. Parents must enroll their 7- to 16-year-olds on May 20 for the 65 slots at the Deltona Tennis Association. May 26 is the last day to sign up for summer programs at the Deltona YMCA, which has 91 slots for children in prekindergarten to second grade and 141 slots for third- through eighth-graders.

There is no firm deadline for the 140 slots at the New Hope Summer Recreation Program, but parents are encouraged to enroll their 6- to 15-year-olds before the June 3 starting date. These programs range in price from $45 to $75 a week. Scholarships are available to children whose parents cannot afford to pay.

For information, call 386-532-9622 for the YMCA; 386-532-8291 for New Hope; and 386-216-3620 for the Deltona Tennis Association.

Compiled from staff reports.