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A crowd, including a number of HAECO employees, attended the Lake City Council’s special meeting Wednesday to consider a long-term lease with the aerospace company at Florida Gateway Airport. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)

A crowd, including a number of HAECO employees, attended the Lake City Council’s special meeting Wednesday to consider a long-term lease with the aerospace company at Florida Gateway Airport. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)

Lake City Council: No deal on HAECO

MORGAN MCMULLEN
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
Restart the countdown clock on negotiations between Lake City and HAECO. The Lake City Council voted Wednesday to extend HAECO’s lease at Florida Gateway Airport by a year, punting on the issue of a new lease while simultaneously keeping the old one on tap for the next 365 days.
Kenzie Dungan, a Columbia High School FFA member, places pricing stickers on firework displays in the Columbia High School FFA fireworks tent on Tuesday afternoon. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Kenzie Dungan, a Columbia High School FFA member, places pricing stickers on firework displays in the Columbia High School FFA fireworks tent on Tuesday afternoon. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Columbia FFA opens up annual fireworks stand

TONY BRITT
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
Columbia High FFA students and alumni are hoping to end 2022 with a financial “bang” through firework sales. The group has set up a fireworks tent on the southeastern end of the Walmart parking lot where FFA students, with the aid of program alumni, will be selling fireworks.
The Lake City Council is slated to talk over a proposed 20-year lease for HAECO at tonight’s meeting. (FILE)

The Lake City Council is slated to talk over a proposed 20-year lease for HAECO at tonight’s meeting. (FILE)

Council divided on HAECO

TONY BRITT
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
A long-term lease extension between the City of Lake City and HAECO Americas is making its final approach. The Lake City Council and representatives from HAECO are scheduled to discuss a proposed 20-year lease at the Florida Gateway Airport during a 6 p.m. special meeting today at City Hall, 205 N.
Emergency Management Director Shayne Morgan (left) and county spokeswoman Paula Vann converse at the county’s Combined Communications Center during Hurricane Ian’s landfall in September. Morgan will now be part of the team managing logistics for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ inauguration ceremony next week. (FILE)

Emergency Management Director Shayne Morgan (left) and county spokeswoman Paula Vann converse at the county’s Combined Communications Center during Hurricane Ian’s landfall in September. Morgan will now be part of the team managing logistics for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ inauguration ceremony next week. (FILE)

Morgan set to manage logistics of DeSantis inauguration

MORGAN MCMULLEN
Monday, December 26, 2022
Shayne Morgan seems like he’s everywhere these days. The director of the Columbia County Emergency Management team has most recently been leading the response to frigid temperatures in North Florida this week. But next week, Morgan will have a new role. At least for a day or so.
Proximity to springs, like Ichetucknee Springs, is one of the reasons Lake City was named one of the best places to live in Florida by Travel+Leisure Magazine. (COURTESY)

Proximity to springs, like Ichetucknee Springs, is one of the reasons Lake City was named one of the best places to live in Florida by Travel+Leisure Magazine. (COURTESY)

BEST PLACES TO LIVE: Lake City makes the list

TONY BRITT
Friday, December 23, 2022
Lake City unwrapped an early Christmas present Wednesday. That’s when a Travel+Leisure Magazine article was published that named Lake City among the top nine places to live in Florida.
Santa Claus ‘exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist,’ according to the classic 1897 New York Sun letter and response. (COURTESY)

Santa Claus ‘exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist,’ according to the classic 1897 New York Sun letter and response. (COURTESY)

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

NEWS STAFF
Friday, December 23, 2022
Dear Editor — I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? Virginia O’Hanlon 115 West Ninety Fifth Street   Virginia, your little friends are wrong.

Woman killed in head-on crash

NEWS STAFF
Friday, December 23, 2022
A head-on collision involving a parked SUV ended with one person killed Wednesday evening. The crash occurred around 7 p.m. at the intersection of SW County Road 240 and SW Little Road.

Traffic stop leads to human trafficking arrests

NEWS STAFF
Friday, December 23, 2022
Ten illegal immigrants from Guatemala, including a 16-year-old boy, were detained and a Memphis, Tenn., couple was arrested for human smuggling Tuesday following a Florida Highway Patrol traffic stop in Columbia County.
Santa Claus wishes readers of the Lake City Reporter a ‘merrie, merrie Christmas’ in 1926. (COURTESY)

Santa Claus wishes readers of the Lake City Reporter a ‘merrie, merrie Christmas’ in 1926. (COURTESY)

Esing: Christmas in Columbia County in the 1920s

(not verified)
Friday, December 23, 2022
As Florida and Lake City grew during the real-estate boom of the 1920s, the people of the community maintained much of their small-town charm and friendliness.
Hard freezes are expected through the Christmas weekend for North Florida. (NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE)

Hard freezes are expected through the Christmas weekend for North Florida. (NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE)

NWS: Weather outside will be frightful

NEWS STAFF
Friday, December 23, 2022
Christmas is bringing something different to North Florida this year: “dangerously cold” weather through Monday, according to the National Weather Service.