Local

A couple of large logs rest on a pile of debris near a home on SW Oleander Street on Wednesday afternoon. Hurricane Helene lefts various types of organic debris in its wake. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

A couple of large logs rest on a pile of debris near a home on SW Oleander Street on Wednesday afternoon. Hurricane Helene lefts various types of organic debris in its wake. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Tree trimmers’ piles jam county’s good will

TODD WILSON
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Columbia County Commissioners will discuss an updated ordinance Thursday morning that potentially will display stronger, more specific penalties for contractors who cut down trees for profit during storm situations and leave large piles of debris curbside expecting county workers to clean it up on...
Those impacted by Hurricane Helene can seek assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has a Disaster Recovery Center open at the old Lake City Reporter building. (FILE)

Those impacted by Hurricane Helene can seek assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has a Disaster Recovery Center open at the old Lake City Reporter building. (FILE)

Federal assistance declared for Columbia, Suwannee, Hamilton

NEWS STAFF
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
The wait for potential federal assistance in recovering from Hurricane Helene is over. Columbia, Suwannee, Hamilton, Gilchrist and Leon counties were declared eligible for individual assistance from FEMA on Tuesday night.
Columbia County Fire Chief Jeff Crawford (from left), Columbia County Sheriff’s Office employee Hope Crawford and Assistant Fire Chief Lance Hill discuss the rescue of Ken Stapleton, 66, of Fort White, who was pinned in his truck after a tree fell on it during the height of Hurricane Helene early Friday morning. (TODD WILSON/Lake City Reporter)

Columbia County Fire Chief Jeff Crawford (from left), Columbia County Sheriff’s Office employee Hope Crawford and Assistant Fire Chief Lance Hill discuss the rescue of Ken Stapleton, 66, of Fort White, who was pinned in his truck after a tree fell on it during the height of Hurricane Helene early Friday morning. (TODD WILSON/Lake City Reporter)

Columbia chief, firefighters braved 100 mph winds to save trapped man

TODD WILSON
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
The only thing louder than the howling winds of an encroaching Category 4 hurricane eyewall was the rescue tone coming from radio dispatch into the Columbia County Fire Rescue station in Columbia City Thursday night. At 11:42 p.m.
Baya Pharmacy East has added a sterile compounding lab in which it will start producing its own weight-loss drugs for customers. Pictured in front of one of the sterile machines in one of the sterile rooms at the pharmacy are Baya Pharmacy owner Carl Allison (from left), pharmacist AJ Ward, Director of Clinical Sciences Shivani Mehta and pharmacist Danae Ray. Mehta and Ward are certified to operate the sterile compounding lab and hazardous compounding lab. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Baya Pharmacy East has added a sterile compounding lab in which it will start producing its own weight-loss drugs for customers. Pictured in front of one of the sterile machines in one of the sterile rooms at the pharmacy are Baya Pharmacy owner Carl Allison (from left), pharmacist AJ Ward, Director of Clinical Sciences Shivani Mehta and pharmacist Danae Ray. Mehta and Ward are certified to operate the sterile compounding lab and hazardous compounding lab. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Compounding business: Baya Pharmacy ready to produce weight-loss drugs

JAMIE WACHTER
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
As Baya Pharmacy East’s newest addition started taking shape over the past few months, the questions kept coming. “Is that a chicken incubator,” Shivani Mehta, Baya Pharmacy’s director of clinical sciences, said Wednesday about the response of customers.
Linemen work on a power pole on SW Grandview Street in Lake City on Monday as utility crews continue to try to get power back to residents following Hurricane Helene. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Linemen work on a power pole on SW Grandview Street in Lake City on Monday as utility crews continue to try to get power back to residents following Hurricane Helene. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Supply sites condensing in Helene response

NEWS STAFF
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
The response to Hurricane Helene’s devastation will continue to condense today.

Four-vehicle crash on U.S. 90 kills Wellborn man

NEWS STAFF
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
A Wellborn man was killed Monday afternoon in four-vehicle accident on the east side of Lake City. The crash caused major traffic congestion around the U.S. Highway 90 and Interstate 75 interchange for several hours.
Alexander Veiga, co-owner of The Collective, (right) serves up food during Monday’s event. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Alexander Veiga, co-owner of The Collective, (right) serves up food during Monday’s event. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

‘Collective’ effort provides comfort foods

TONY BRITT
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
FORT WHITE — A community grassroots effort to support neighbors struggling to recover from Hurricane Helene unfolded in downtown Fort White Monday evening.
Florida Gateway College’s Olustee campus is housing mobile kitchens, shower facilities and bunks to house more than 900 linemen helping Florida Power & Light restore power in Columbia County and North Florida after Hurricane Helene. (COURTESY FLORIDA GATEWAY COLLEGE)

Florida Gateway College’s Olustee campus is housing mobile kitchens, shower facilities and bunks to house more than 900 linemen helping Florida Power & Light restore power in Columbia County and North Florida after Hurricane Helene. (COURTESY FLORIDA GATEWAY COLLEGE)

FGC hosting FPL base camp

JAMIE WACHTER
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
OLUSTEE — Florida Gateway College’s Olustee campus has taken on a different look this week.
A visitor to the Fort White Community Center on Sunday grabs a bag of ice off the back of a semi truck that was supplying ice to those without power after Hurricane Helene. (STASI WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

A visitor to the Fort White Community Center on Sunday grabs a bag of ice off the back of a semi truck that was supplying ice to those without power after Hurricane Helene. (STASI WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

County closes two distribution points as power restored

TODD WILSON
Monday, September 30, 2024
Columbia County’s emergency operations response to Hurricane Helene will be scaled back on Tuesday as two of the assistance locations will be closed and supplies will be diverted to other locations in the county where they are needed, officials said Monday evening. At 9 p.m.
Red Cross workers unload hot meals out of an American Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle on Monday evening at the Fort White Community Center. Red Cross served Shepherd's Pie and bread prepared by Big D's Barbecue in Tallahassee as dinner to people without power from Hurricane Helene. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Red Cross workers unload hot meals out of an American Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle on Monday evening at the Fort White Community Center. Red Cross served Shepherd's Pie and bread prepared by Big D's Barbecue in Tallahassee as dinner to people without power from Hurricane Helene. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

More than 1,000 pick up hot meals, supplies in Fort White

TONY BRITT
Monday, September 30, 2024
FORT WHITE — A steady stream of vehicles ventured to and from the Fort White Community Center on Monday as U.S. Army National Guard troops and county staff provided food, water, ice and other supplies for more than 1,000 people. The facility began serving residents just after 6 a.m. and by 1 p.m.