Local

Echoland canceled for Music Park

NEWS STAFF
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
The inaugural Echoland Music Festival won’t be held this year after all. The festival, which was announced in December for the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, has been canceled by organizers, C3 Presents and Live Nation Florida.
Members of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office K-9 team search a residence near SE McCray Avenue and SE Paxton Place on Monday afternoon as they were looking for a shooting suspect. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Members of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office K-9 team search a residence near SE McCray Avenue and SE Paxton Place on Monday afternoon as they were looking for a shooting suspect. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

‘Our city is reeking of gun violence’

JAMIE WACHTER
Monday, March 6, 2023
As if he needed a reminder of what was at stake, Ronald Williams II heard it loud and clear Sunday morning. As Williams, one of the organizers with the Gateway Ministerial Alliance, was setting up a tent Sunday for a community “stand up to gun violence” rally, gunshots rang out a few blocks away.
LEFT: The current FEMA flood risk map for the Santa Fe Watershed, which shows areas in light blue and dark blue that are in flood zones. RIGHT: The draft preliminary FEMA flood risk map for the Santa Fe Watershed, which is inundated with flood zones throughout the lower half of Columbia County. Comments on the maps is accepted through April 30. (COURTESY GRAPHICS)

LEFT: The current FEMA flood risk map for the Santa Fe Watershed, which shows areas in light blue and dark blue that are in flood zones. RIGHT: The draft preliminary FEMA flood risk map for the Santa Fe Watershed, which is inundated with flood zones throughout the lower half of Columbia County. Comments on the maps is accepted through April 30. (COURTESY GRAPHICS)

County wants to flood FEMA with comments

JAMIE WACHTER
Monday, March 6, 2023
The message was delivered clearly and continuously Monday at a Columbia County Commission workshop: flood the system with comments and concerns over FEMA’s new draft flood risk maps.
The Lake City Council wants to see if a CDBG grant can be modified for other use at Richardson Community Center. (FILE)

The Lake City Council wants to see if a CDBG grant can be modified for other use at Richardson Community Center. (FILE)

City seeks to transfer grant funding

TONY BRITT
Monday, March 6, 2023
Lake City officials want to address drainage and flooding issues at the Richardson Community Center and hope that the government will allow $2 million in CDBG grant funds to cover the project. If not, the city plans to give the funds back to the government.

Teen arrested after shots fired late Monday morning

NEWS STAFF
Monday, March 6, 2023
A Lake City teenager was arrested after shots were fired near downtown Lake City on Monday morning. Kendrick Hill Jr., 18, was found hiding in a house he shared with his girlfriend, the victim and intended target of the shooting, according to a Lake City Police Department release.

Shooting suspect turns himself in

NEWS STAFF
Monday, March 6, 2023
A Lake City man turned himself in Saturday after fleeing the scene of a shooting Friday. According to a Lake City Police Department release, officers responded Friday at 5:40 p.m. to the Stop N Go at 801 NW Lake Jeffrey Road to the report of gunfire.
Lake City Police Chief Gerald Butler speaks Sunday at a rally against gun violence organized by the Gateway Ministerial Alliance. The rally occurred a few hours after and a couple blocks away from an incident where four people were injured by gunfire. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Lake City Police Chief Gerald Butler speaks Sunday at a rally against gun violence organized by the Gateway Ministerial Alliance. The rally occurred a few hours after and a couple blocks away from an incident where four people were injured by gunfire. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Four injured in shooting near rally against gun violence

NEWS STAFF
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Four people were injured Sunday morning in a shooting several hours before a community event against gun violence began. According to a Lake City Police Department release, four people were shot on NW Alma Avenue around 11:05 a.m. Sunday. A community rally against gun violence was held at 3 p.m.
A car crashed through a traffic signal control box before slamming into the traffic signal early Friday morning. A passenger was seriously injured and the roadway was closed for hours. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

A car crashed through a traffic signal control box before slamming into the traffic signal early Friday morning. A passenger was seriously injured and the roadway was closed for hours. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Crash closes Marion: Man faces DUI charge; passenger injured

NEWS STAFF
Friday, March 3, 2023
An early morning crash Friday closed downtown Lake City streets for hours and sent two people to the hospital. A single-vehicle crash occurred around 3:30 a.m. Friday at the intersection of N. Marion Avenue and NE Washington Street.

Zecher tops state’s sales, again

MORGAN MCMULLEN
Friday, March 3, 2023
The hits just keep on coming for Team Zecher. Lake City RE/MAX Agent Missy Zecher took home yet another accolade this week, earning the top spot among the company’s Florida employees in closed transaction for 2022.