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Dianna Swisher, the director of the Columbia County Public Schools Foundation, speaks at a previous year’s Teacher of the Year banquet. (FILE)

Dianna Swisher, the director of the Columbia County Public Schools Foundation, speaks at a previous year’s Teacher of the Year banquet. (FILE)

District to honor best teachers, employees

JAMIE WACHTER
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
The Columbia County Public Schools Foundation’s biggest night has gotten even bigger. The foundation is hosting its Excellence in Education banquet today at 5:30 p.m. at The Blanche Hotel, 212 N. Marion Avenue, to honors its best teachers, staff members and principals and assistant principals.
Lake City Police Chief Gerald Butler talks to residents during Tuesday evening’s ‘Breakfast with the Chief’ event at Southside Baptist Church. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)

Lake City Police Chief Gerald Butler talks to residents during Tuesday evening’s ‘Breakfast with the Chief’ event at Southside Baptist Church. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)

Butler shows off LCPD’s new gear over breakfast

MORGAN MCMULLEN
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Any time’s a good time for breakfast. A handful of Lake City Police officials and roughly 40 residents enjoyed breakfast casserole and coffee Tuesday during a nighttime edition of Breakfast with the Chief.

Lake City car GM guilty of sedition

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
WASHINGTON — Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was convicted Tuesday of seditious conspiracy for a violent plot to overturn President Joe Biden’s election, handing the Justice Department a major victory in its massive prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. A Washington, D.C.
HCA Florida Lake City Hospital CEO Jill Adams announces the $88 million expansion project Tuesday prior to a ceremonial groundbreaking. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

HCA Florida Lake City Hospital CEO Jill Adams announces the $88 million expansion project Tuesday prior to a ceremonial groundbreaking. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Hospital breaks ground on $88M tower expansion

JAMIE WACHTER
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
HCA Florida Lake City Hospital officials traded out their surgical masks for hard hats and their scalpels for golden shovels on Tuesday morning.
A portion of the natural gas line that was ruptured Monday afternoon, after if its was replaced. The line blew, allowing natural gas to flow unchecked for roughly an hour before crews sealed the lines off to make permanent repairs. (COURTESY/Lake City Fire Department)

A portion of the natural gas line that was ruptured Monday afternoon, after if its was replaced. The line blew, allowing natural gas to flow unchecked for roughly an hour before crews sealed the lines off to make permanent repairs. (COURTESY/Lake City Fire Department)

Gas leak forces shelter order

TONY BRITT
Monday, November 28, 2022
A Lake City neighborhood was barricaded and cordoned off from motorists for about three hours Monday evening as city employees addressed a natural gas leak in the Cypress Landing subdivision.

Saint Leo collecting items for senior citizens

NEWS STAFF
Monday, November 28, 2022
Saint Leo University’s Lake City Education Center is looking for help in providing comfort and joy this holiday season. The center is inviting the public to take part in its “Comfort and Joy: A Holiday Drive” to collect items for Columbia County’s senior citizens.
Brewington

Brewington

CCSO employee dies in UTV crash

NEWS STAFF
Sunday, November 27, 2022
FORT WHITE – A captain with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office died when his utility terrain vehicle (UTV) crashed late Saturday night. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the UTV was headed eastbound on SW Illinois Street in Fort White around 10:30 p.m.

State moves to revoke Hutto’s bond

JAMIE WACHTER
Friday, November 25, 2022
A Wellborn manslaughter suspect may soon find himself behind bars. The state has filed a motion to revoke bond on Michael Troy Hutto, the 56-year-old millionaire who lives in Wellborn and is facing a manslaughter charge in the October 2020 shooting death of Lake City teen Grace Duncan.

Child killed in I-10 wreck

NEWS STAFF
Friday, November 25, 2022
A small child was killed following an accident on Interstate 10 on Thanksgiving night. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a pair of sedans were headed east on I-10 when one began passing the other around 7:41 p.m.