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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.
Columbia County Supervisor of Elections Tomi Brown (center) receives a U.S. Election Commission Clearinghouse Award for her office’s ‘Bubble it in’ T-shirt. (COURTESY)

Columbia County Supervisor of Elections Tomi Brown (center) receives a U.S. Election Commission Clearinghouse Award for her office’s ‘Bubble it in’ T-shirt. (COURTESY)

Elections office ‘bubbles in’ honor

TONY BRITT
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Pleas and instructions give by local political candidates at rallies around the county last year provided the fuel for an award-winning concept from the Columbia County Supervisor of Elections Office.
Mollie Burch, the mother of fallen Florida Forest Service Ranger Josh Burch, was escorted by Forest Ranger Ryan Rehberg to place a rose in honor of her son during Tuesday’s Public Safety Memorial service at First Baptist Church. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Mollie Burch, the mother of fallen Florida Forest Service Ranger Josh Burch, was escorted by Forest Ranger Ryan Rehberg to place a rose in honor of her son during Tuesday’s Public Safety Memorial service at First Baptist Church. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Honoring the fallen: Annual service remembers county’s 17 first responders who gave all

NEWS STAFF
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
If there was any confusion as to why First Baptist Church was filled Tuesday night, Wilton Simpson summed it up with one sentence.

CCSO: Kidnapping tied to drugs

NEWS STAFF
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Authorities say an armed kidnapping Sunday in Columbia County was over a drug dispute. Jason Wilson, an 18-year-old Fort White man, was charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, kidnapping/false imprisonment and possession of a bulletproof vest during certain offenses.
Volunteers, with assistance from the Lake City Fire Department, erect the crosses and flags alongside State Road 47 Saturday morning for the America’s Heroes Program. (COURTESY)

Volunteers, with assistance from the Lake City Fire Department, erect the crosses and flags alongside State Road 47 Saturday morning for the America’s Heroes Program. (COURTESY)

Program honors America’s Heroes

TONY BRITT
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Paying homage to veterans and first responders, several area residents donated time this past weekend to erect more than 200 flags and crosses along a section of State Road 47 for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday.
Fort White High graduates toss their caps in the air at the end of Friday’s commencement ceremony at Arrowhead Stadium as Superintendent Lex Carswell (foreground) walks off the field. (RAY CARPENTER/Special to the Reporter)

Fort White High graduates toss their caps in the air at the end of Friday’s commencement ceremony at Arrowhead Stadium as Superintendent Lex Carswell (foreground) walks off the field. (RAY CARPENTER/Special to the Reporter)

Fort White High School sends off talented class

TONY BRITT
Friday, May 19, 2023
FORT WHITE — Individuals and, at times, groups of students entered the Fort White High School cafeteria after giving one another handshakes, hugs and dap on Friday evening. Some of the students were wearing caps and gowns and others carried their gowns draped across their arm.
U.S. Navy Master Chief Damage Controlman Robert Ratliff salutes fellow service members as he “comes ashore” during his retirement ceremony Friday. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)

U.S. Navy Master Chief Damage Controlman Robert Ratliff salutes fellow service members as he “comes ashore” during his retirement ceremony Friday. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)

Ratliff goes ‘ashore’ from Navy

MORGAN MCMULLEN
Friday, May 19, 2023
A Lake City native has retired after 31 years and 11 months in the U.S. Navy. Master Chief Damage Controlman Robert Ratliff had a proper military sendoff Friday afternoon at Olustee Park.