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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

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

The response to Hurricane Helene’s devastation will continue to condense today.

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

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

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

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

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

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.
Storm debris is piled up alongside SW McFarlane Avenue in Lake City on Monday afternoon. Cleanup crews will now begin the process of picking up the debris alongside streets and roadways in both the City of Lake City and Columbia County. (JACK WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Storm debris is piled up alongside SW McFarlane Avenue in Lake City on Monday afternoon. Cleanup crews will now begin the process of picking up the debris alongside streets and roadways in both the City of Lake City and Columbia County. (JACK WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Storm debris almost cleared from Columbia roadways

Lake City churned back to life Monday as most business corridors saw power returned after more than three days in the dark and retail stores opened their doors to customers. Traffic was steady most of the day on U.S.
Columbia County Schools will be back open Tuesday. (FILE)

Columbia County Schools will be back open Tuesday. (FILE)

Columbia schools re-opening Tuesday

Columbia County Schools will be back in session Tuesday. The district announced late Monday morning that all the school facilities in the district have power and are safe for the return of both students and staff.