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Five-time world barbecue champion Myron Mixon will be among the dozens of teams competing at the inaugural Downtown Barbecue Showdown in Lake City. (COURTESY)

Five-time world barbecue champion Myron Mixon will be among the dozens of teams competing at the inaugural Downtown Barbecue Showdown in Lake City. (COURTESY)

BBQ contest set to bring heat to Lake City

TONY BRITT
Monday, March 20, 2023
Fire up the smokers and let the cooking begin. Competitive barbecue cooking teams from across the country are heading to Columbia County next month as Lake City hosts its inaugural Downtown Barbecue Showdown.

Jacksonville man arrested for soliciting minor

NEWS STAFF
Monday, March 20, 2023
A Jacksonville man was arrested Friday evening after authorities say he traveled to Lake City to meet with a teenage girl for sex. Instead of a 14-year-old girl, though, 35-year-old Selwyn Yomar Diaz Diaz’s date was with Columbia County Sheriff’s Office detectives.

Biker killed in Fort White crash

NEWS STAFF
Monday, March 20, 2023
FORT WHITE — A biker was killed Friday afternoon when his motorcycle collided with a pickup truck in southwestern Columbia County. A Florida Highway Patrol report states the biker, a 20-year-old Fort White man, passed a pickup around 2 p.m. Friday on SW Wilson Springs Road heading west.
Selwyn Yomar Diaz Diaz was arrested Friday evening by the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office when he arrived in Lake City to meet with teen. (COURTESY)

Selwyn Yomar Diaz Diaz was arrested Friday evening by the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office when he arrived in Lake City to meet with teen. (COURTESY)

Jacksonville man arrested for soliciting minor

NEWS STAFF
Friday, March 17, 2023
A Jacksonville man was arrested Friday evening after authorities say he traveled to Lake City to meet with a teenage girl for sex. Instead of a 14-year-old girl, though, 35-year-old Selwyn Yomar Diaz Diaz’s date was with Columbia County Sheriff’s Office detectives.
Brannan

Brannan

Brannan silent on proposed free-speech limits bill

JAMIE WACHTER
Friday, March 17, 2023
A bill designed to protect public officials from criticism is receiving blistering reviews as it moves through the Florida Legislature. House Bill 991 passed through the Civil Justice Subcommittee on Tuesday and now sits before the House Judiciary Committee.
Cars sit at the intersection of Sisters Welcome Road and Bascom Norris Drive on Friday. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Cars sit at the intersection of Sisters Welcome Road and Bascom Norris Drive on Friday. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Traffic impact studied by county

TONY BRITT
Friday, March 17, 2023
A planned 300-unit single-family residential development, along with a separate apartment complex in the planning stages, is expected to significantly increase the traffic volume along Bascom Norris Drive near the Southside Sports Complex.

Juvenile arrested after tossing gun during chase

NEWS STAFF
Friday, March 17, 2023
A juvenile is in custody after a brief chase led to them allegedly throwing a gun to the ground. According to a Lake City Police Department release, investigators in unmarked vehicles were conducting patrols near NE Martin Luther King Jr. Street on Friday at 1:25 p.m.