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A volunteer readies to make blueberry pancakes at last year’s Wellborn Blueberry Festival. (FILE)

A volunteer readies to make blueberry pancakes at last year’s Wellborn Blueberry Festival. (FILE)

Wellborn set for 30th Blueberry Festival

MORGAN MCMULLEN
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
WELLBORN — Craft vendors, live music and more than 10,000 pounds of blueberries are ready to return for one of the area’s longest-running community events. The 30th annual Wellborn Blueberry Festival will kick off this Saturday, June 1, at Andrews Square in Wellborn. The event runs from 7 a.m.-4 p.
A Battlefield cross sits in the Veterans Memorial section of the Live Oak Cemetery during the Memorial Day service Monday as flags adorn the graves of the veterans buried there. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

A Battlefield cross sits in the Veterans Memorial section of the Live Oak Cemetery during the Memorial Day service Monday as flags adorn the graves of the veterans buried there. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Fletcher: Memorial Day about recalling fallen heroes

JAMIE WACHTER
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
LIVE OAK — During his career in the U.S. Air Force, Jeff Fletcher was tasked with keeping others safe as a security specialist. That included two missions with Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf to Central America, including a peacekeeping mission prior to the start of the Gulf War.

Fort White graduating more than 150

TONY BRITT
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
FORT WHITE — Exactly one week after the 2024 school year ended, more than 150 Fort White High School seniors will get their moment to shine when the school holds its commencement exercise this week. The FWHS graduation ceremony will take place 8 p.m.
Ansley Williams (from left) adjusts Elle Grecian’s cap as Kansas Schrader also makes last minutes adjustments to Grecian’s outfit in the minutes leading up to Friday evening’s graduation at Columbia High School. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Ansley Williams (from left) adjusts Elle Grecian’s cap as Kansas Schrader also makes last minutes adjustments to Grecian’s outfit in the minutes leading up to Friday evening’s graduation at Columbia High School. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Columbia High School graduates nearly 400 students

TONY BRITT
Friday, May 24, 2024
Nearly 400 Columbia High School students were expected to be poised and confident for their graduation Friday evening, capping-off their high school careers. However, in the final moments that they waited to take the field for the ceremony, their emotions betrayed them.
AgroLiquid adminstrators David Gilliam (from left), Gerrit Bancroft, Nick Bancroft, Alan Kennedy and Todd Cressman toss dirt from their shovels during a March groundbreaking ceremony for the company’s new plant at the North Florida Mega Industrial Park. (FILE)

AgroLiquid adminstrators David Gilliam (from left), Gerrit Bancroft, Nick Bancroft, Alan Kennedy and Todd Cressman toss dirt from their shovels during a March groundbreaking ceremony for the company’s new plant at the North Florida Mega Industrial Park. (FILE)

USDA funds $4M to mega site project

JAMIE WACHTER
Friday, May 24, 2024
Business for the first tenants at the North Florida Mega Industrial Park may sprout quicker thanks to some federal funding. As part of $83 million in U.S.
Makeba Murphy, Niblack Elementary School principal, hugs students on the final day of school before they board their buses. The Niblack school building is scheduled to be demolished in a few weeks and a new school building erected on the site. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Makeba Murphy, Niblack Elementary School principal, hugs students on the final day of school before they board their buses. The Niblack school building is scheduled to be demolished in a few weeks and a new school building erected on the site. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

End of year ‘bittersweet’ at Niblack Elementary

TONY BRITT
Friday, May 24, 2024
When school let out at Niblack Elementary School at 2:15 p.m. Friday, it wasn’t just for the students, faculty and staff. The bell rang on the school building itself as well, since the facility is set for demolition in a few weeks.
A Columbia County school bus sits on U.S. Highway 90 after it was rear-ended by a car Wednesday afternoon. No students were on board the bus at the time. (TODD WILSON/Lake City Reporter)

A Columbia County school bus sits on U.S. Highway 90 after it was rear-ended by a car Wednesday afternoon. No students were on board the bus at the time. (TODD WILSON/Lake City Reporter)

School bus hit with no students on board

JAMIE WACHTER
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
No students were injured in a Wednesday afternoon crash involving a Columbia County School District bus. The school bus was stopped at a red light on U.S. Highway 90 between Commerce Drive and Interstate 75 when it was rear-ended by a car at 3:25 p.m. Wednesday.