Local

A construction crew takes down the last of the Ken’s Bar-B-Que and Steaks building on U.S. Highway 90 Wednesday afternoon to make way for a new Radiant Credit Union building. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

A construction crew takes down the last of the Ken’s Bar-B-Que and Steaks building on U.S. Highway 90 Wednesday afternoon to make way for a new Radiant Credit Union building. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Ken’s cleared for bank

TONY BRITT
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
A local landmark, the Ken’s Bar-B-Que and Steaks restaurant on U.S. Highway 90, was demolished over the past two days as construction crews began clearing and prepping the property to accommodate a new Radiant Credit Union site.
Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Katina Dicks (left) answers a question from a participant during Tuesday’s Citizen’s Law Enforcement Academy. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)

Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Katina Dicks (left) answers a question from a participant during Tuesday’s Citizen’s Law Enforcement Academy. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)

CCSO kicks off Academy with orientation

MORGAN MCMULLEN
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
A group of 14 individuals are seeing what it takes to be a Columbia County Sheriff’s deputy.
A group of park visitors plays an impromptu game of volleyball Monday afternoon at Ichetucknee Springs State Park. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)

A group of park visitors plays an impromptu game of volleyball Monday afternoon at Ichetucknee Springs State Park. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)

Thousands flock to Ichetucknee Springs for Memorial Day swim

MORGAN MCMULLEN
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
FORT WHITE — Local residents, long-distance tourists and an honest-to-goodness mermaid flocked to Ichetucknee Springs to cool off over Memorial Day weekend. Some waited as long as 20 minutes at the north entrance just for the opportunity to park at Ichetucknee Springs on Monday.
A drone shot of the graduation ceremony held at Tiger Stadium, honoring over 400 Columbia High School students who walked across the stage for their diplomas on Friday. (RAY CARPENTER/Special to the Reporter)

A drone shot of the graduation ceremony held at Tiger Stadium, honoring over 400 Columbia High School students who walked across the stage for their diplomas on Friday. (RAY CARPENTER/Special to the Reporter)

Columbia High graduates 437

TONY BRITT
Friday, May 26, 2023
While dark clouds hovered overhead, more than 100 students milled around the Norman Choice Performing Arts Auditorium late Friday evening, all dressed in purple caps and gowns with gold trim on the sleeves.
Da'niya Fluellen (top left, clockwise), Da'yani Fluellen, Charles Smith, Mikhya Hendon and Lakesia Hendon.

Da'niya Fluellen (top left, clockwise), Da'yani Fluellen, Charles Smith, Mikhya Hendon and Lakesia Hendon.

5 busted for Circle K brawl; officer hit by pepper spray

NEWS STAFF
Friday, May 26, 2023
A fight fueled up at the gas pumps Thursday led to an officer being pepper sprayed. According to a Lake City Police Department release issued Friday morning, a fight broke out at the pumps at the Circle K convenience store at the intersection of Baya Avenue and Duval Street around 4:13 p.m.
Members of the Olivet Missionary Baptist Church military ministry (from left) Thomas Acree, Harold Perry, Sean Dunmore and church pastor Henry Ortiz placed a total of more than 2,000 flags in 17 local cemeteries in honor of veterans on Memorial Day. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Members of the Olivet Missionary Baptist Church military ministry (from left) Thomas Acree, Harold Perry, Sean Dunmore and church pastor Henry Ortiz placed a total of more than 2,000 flags in 17 local cemeteries in honor of veterans on Memorial Day. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Church group honors deceased for Memorial Day

TONY BRITT
Friday, May 26, 2023
During the past few days, members of the Olivet Missionary Baptist Church military ministry, have traversed the county, placing flags in local cemeteries in honor of deceased veterans.
Volunteers Joan Alderman (left) and David Enfinger set up chairs beneath a tent at one of the stages for the Florida Folk Festival on Wednesday. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Volunteers Joan Alderman (left) and David Enfinger set up chairs beneath a tent at one of the stages for the Florida Folk Festival on Wednesday. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Folk Festival featuring fire, Florida

TONY BRITT
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
WHITE SPRINGS — Florida’s music, food, culture and different traditions will be celebrated this weekend. The 71st Florida Folk Festival is taking place Friday through Sunday at the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in White Springs.
This artist sketch depicts the trial of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and four others charged with seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Shown are Thomas Caldwell, seated front row left, Rhodes, seated second left with an eye patch, Jessica Watkins, seated third from right, Kelly Meggs, seated second from right, and Kenneth Harrelson, seated at right. (AP File)

This artist sketch depicts the trial of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and four others charged with seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Shown are Thomas Caldwell, seated front row left, Rhodes, seated second left with an eye patch, Jessica Watkins, seated third from right, Kelly Meggs, seated second from right, and Kenneth Harrelson, seated at right. (AP File)

Lake City car GM faces sentencing for Jan. 6 sedition

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
WASHINGTON — Police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and public servants who fled the mob’s attack told a judge on Wednesday that they are still haunted by what they endured, as the judge prepares to hand down sentences in a landmark Capitol riot case. U.S.
Authorities say it was Alexis Guzman Gomez who smashed out a side window at the Columbia Courthouse Annex on May 12 by throwing a hammer through it. He also broke a window on a county employee’s car with the hammer. (COURTESY)

Authorities say it was Alexis Guzman Gomez who smashed out a side window at the Columbia Courthouse Annex on May 12 by throwing a hammer through it. He also broke a window on a county employee’s car with the hammer. (COURTESY)

Hammer-throwing suspect identified

NEWS STAFF
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Authorities have identified the man who threw a hammer into a window of the Columbia County Tax Collector’s Office earlier this month.