Local

The Columbia County Disaster Recovery Center in the old Lake City Reporter building is closing Wednesday. It is currently open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (FILE)

The Columbia County Disaster Recovery Center in the old Lake City Reporter building is closing Wednesday. It is currently open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (FILE)

Columbia, Hamilton Disaster Recovery Centers closing

NEWS STAFF
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Disaster Recovery Centers in Columbia and Hamilton counties will soon close their doors. The Hamilton County Disaster Recovery Center, located at the Courthouse Annex, 1153 NW U.S. Hwy. 41 in Jasper, is closing permanently on Friday. The site is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Lake City Councilman Jake Hill Jr. voted against a grant to help HAECO, saying the company always wants help and never works with the city. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Lake City Councilman Jake Hill Jr. voted against a grant to help HAECO, saying the company always wants help and never works with the city. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

City nixes 100-job grant

JAMIE WACHTER
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
One hundred new jobs and $5 million worth of improvements to city property will have to wait. At a special meeting Tuesday night, the Lake City Council voted against applying for a $4.85 million Rural Infrastructure Fund grant from the state’s Department of Commerce by a 3-2 vote.
Xzailia Keown (from left), 8, checks her bag of candy as her sister, Nevaeh Keown, 9, gets candy from the DOT’s Crash Test Smarties during Tuesday night’s DOT Trunk or Treat event. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Xzailia Keown (from left), 8, checks her bag of candy as her sister, Nevaeh Keown, 9, gets candy from the DOT’s Crash Test Smarties during Tuesday night’s DOT Trunk or Treat event. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

DOT preaches safety to hundreds at ‘Trunk or Treat’

TONY BRITT
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
The Florida Department of Transportation office took on a rather strange look, feeling and atmosphere Tuesday evening.

Machete mauler captured following attack

NEWS STAFF
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Asked to clean up and move out of a northwest Lake City residence, authorities say a woman instead grabbed a machete and went on the attack. Alyssa Williams, 28, was arrested Monday evening for attempted murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon following a Sunday night attack.

FGC Foundation unveils Giving Day Campaign

NEWS STAFF
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
The Foundation for Florida Gateway College is getting a jump start on Giving Day. The foundation’s Giving Day Campaign runs through Nov. 14 with the goal of raising a “significant” amount of $100,001 by that date.

County introducing lone TDC director finalist

JAMIE WACHTER
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Columbia County’s search for new tourism head is down to one. The sole finalist for Columbia County’s Tourism Development Council executive director, Konnie Patke, will be selling herself to local officials and stakeholders today.

Employees swipe furniture rather than return it

NEWS STAFF
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
An alleged furniture theft scheme has ended with one man in custody and another with a warrant out for his arrest. According to a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office report, the owner of Morrell’s Furniture & Mattresses located at 461 SW Deputy J Davis Ln.
Stephen Bullard was arrested Monday wearing a Lake City firefighter’s uniform shirt that he had stolen from a vehicle that morning. (COURTESY)

Stephen Bullard was arrested Monday wearing a Lake City firefighter’s uniform shirt that he had stolen from a vehicle that morning. (COURTESY)

Sleeping man nabbed in firefighter uni

NEWS STAFF
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
A Lake City man didn’t quite look the part of a firefighter, even after allegedly taking a Lake City Fire Department uniform. According to a Lake City Police Department release, officers were dispatched to Lake City Fire Station #2 around 7:35 a.m. Monday to the report of a vehicle burglary.
Bowen

Bowen

Man charged in teen's death

NEWS STAFF
Monday, October 30, 2023
ELLISVILLE — A person of interest in a teen’s murder in September is now officially a murder suspect. The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday that John Leonard Bowen, a 47-year-old from Lake City, was charged with in the murder of Coyoete Turner.

Warren requests to be called ‘god’

JAMIE WACHTER
Saturday, October 28, 2023
An outspoken Lake City man is seeking a new identity. Sylvester Warren III filed a petition Wednesday to change his name to “god,” according to Columbia County civil court documents.