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Koberlein and McKellum

Koberlein and McKellum

Ethics board clears Koberlein, McKellum

JAMIE WACHTER
Thursday, December 8, 2022
The City of Lake City’s former attorney, as well as an advisory board member to the city, have been cleared of wrongdoing by the state. In a hearing Saturday, the Florida Ethics Commission found no probable cause of misdeeds by either Fred Koberlein or Lester McKellum.
Columbia County Sheriff Mark Hunter (from left) stands with other sheriff’s office employees Paige Milligan, Sarah Wheeler, and Sgt. Chris Parker as they show toys that were purchased and donated from the agency’s inaugural ‘Deputy Clause for a Cause’ program. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Columbia County Sheriff Mark Hunter (from left) stands with other sheriff’s office employees Paige Milligan, Sarah Wheeler, and Sgt. Chris Parker as they show toys that were purchased and donated from the agency’s inaugural ‘Deputy Clause for a Cause’ program. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

CCSO ready for toy drive with ‘Deputy Clause’ program

TONY BRITT
Thursday, December 8, 2022
It looks like Santa Claus has enlisted the aid of a team of new elves to help spread Christmas joy - and toys - to local children. But these are no traditional elves.
Aubree Craig enjoys a candy cane as she looks through decorative door hanger signs at the P.S. We’re Crafty Door Hanger booth at the Holiday Market craft festival in December 2020. (FILE)

Aubree Craig enjoys a candy cane as she looks through decorative door hanger signs at the P.S. We’re Crafty Door Hanger booth at the Holiday Market craft festival in December 2020. (FILE)

Lake City Holiday Market set for opening

JAMIE WACHTER
Thursday, December 8, 2022
Downtown Lake City is about to turn into a winter wonderland. On Saturday, the Christmas in Columbia Holiday Market, combined with the City of Lake City’s Holiday Market, will take over Olustee Park and Wilson Park from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Ronnie Collins (from left), Columbia’s Top Talent competition founder and sponsor, talks to contestants Di’Amee Reese, AJ Busscher, Omarion Howard, Michelle Burch, Omarion Udell, Jacqueline Wiley, Ash Esposito and Jaleiah Burch as they prepare to compete in the first round of competition on Friday night at the Norman Choice Performing Arts Auditorium on the Columbia High School campus. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Ronnie Collins (from left), Columbia’s Top Talent competition founder and sponsor, talks to contestants Di’Amee Reese, AJ Busscher, Omarion Howard, Michelle Burch, Omarion Udell, Jacqueline Wiley, Ash Esposito and Jaleiah Burch as they prepare to compete in the first round of competition on Friday night at the Norman Choice Performing Arts Auditorium on the Columbia High School campus. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

CHS to host 19th annual Columbia’s Top Talent event

TONY BRITT
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Whether it be romantic ballads, Country-Western classics, classic Motown hits or modern hip-hop tunes, a dozen local high school students plan to put their unique twists on songs in the first round of Columbia’s Top Talent competition.
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

OUR OPINION: Pearl Harbor memory must be preserved

NEWS STAFF
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Today is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, December 7, a day set aside to remember the “day that will live in infamy,” as President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his radio address to our shaken country on December 7, 1941.

Fort White man ejected from truck, killed

NEWS STAFF
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
HIGH SPRINGS — A Fort White man was killed Tuesday when he was thrown from his pickup in a crash in High Springs. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the 71-year-old from Fort White attempted to cross U.S. Highway 441 on NW 239 Street in his pickup around 6:20 p.m.
A Columbia County firefighter extinguishes the flames from the motorcycle Tuesday afternoon. (MATTHEW GLOVER/Special to the Reporter)

A Columbia County firefighter extinguishes the flames from the motorcycle Tuesday afternoon. (MATTHEW GLOVER/Special to the Reporter)

Bike torched; minor injuries from crash

NEWS STAFF
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Trying to avoid a crash, a Lake City man was thrown from his motorcycle Tuesday before it burst into flames. The 75-year-old motorcyclist suffered minor injuries in the accident at the intersection of SW Birley Avenue and SW Pinemount Road around 2 p.m., a Florida Highway Patrol release states.
Santa Claus waves atop a firetruck during last year’s Fort White Christmas parade. (FILE)

Santa Claus waves atop a firetruck during last year’s Fort White Christmas parade. (FILE)

Fort White Christmas parade rolls out Saturday

JAMIE WACHTER
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
FORT WHITE — The Fort White Christmas parade is rolling back through southern Columbia County this weekend. The parade is slated for a noon start at Fort White High School, 17828 State Road 47, with lineup beginning at 10 a.m.

Melbourne man killed exiting I-10

NEWS STAFF
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
A Melbourne man was killed Monday night when he ran into a tree exiting Interstate 10. A Florida Highway Patrol release states that the 61-year-old man was headed west on I-10 when he pulled off at the U.S. Highway 41 exit around 8:50 p.m.