Local

Melrose Park Elementary School student Aylin Alvarez (left) reacts after smearing Assistant Principal Stephen Smithy with a whipped cream pie. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Melrose Park students get payback as reward for reading program

TONY BRITT

Monday, March 28, 2022

Pie wasn’t on the menu at Melrose Park Elementary Monday afternoon. But for two school administrators and the school resource deputy, they got more than their fair share — in their faces, hair and head.

Paul Dyal has resigned as Lake City’s interim manager for casting a ‘negative light’ on the city with recent actions. (FILE)

Dyal leaves interim post

JAMIE WACHTER

Monday, March 28, 2022

The third time wasn’t the charm for the City of Lake City and interim managers. Paul Dyal, the city’s executive director of utilities, resigned as the city’s interim manager Sunday afternoon in a letter to Mayor Stephen Witt and the City Council. Dyal had been in the post since Jan. 1.

Columbia County Fire Rescue employees Cody Bertram (from left), Arness Thomas, Assistant Chief Lance Hill, Collin Redish, Brian King and Chief Jeff Crawford pose in front of the department’s new tanker trunk. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

CCFR adds tanker to fleet

TONY BRITT

Monday, March 28, 2022

Columbia County Fire Rescue’s newest member joined the service Monday morning. A new tanker truck arrived about a month ago and is finally ready to help douse flames.

Rhys Evans (clockwise from left), Kenzie Dungan, Cayden Hall and Lena Deese, members of the Columbia High School FFA veterinary skills team, work on labeling the body parts of a cow as they prepare for today’s state competition. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

CHS FFA preps for state competition in Plant City

TONY BRITT

Friday, March 25, 2022

The last few days of spring break weren’t all fun in the sun for a quartet of Columbia High School FFA students.

Hudson meets his match: term limits

TONY BRITT

Friday, March 25, 2022

It appears that a new law is going to be able to successfully do what no political opponent had done against Keith Hudson in the past 40-plus — unseat him as a Columbia County School board member. On Friday afternoon, Gov.

Suspect arrested after shots fired early Sunday

NEWS STAFF

Friday, March 25, 2022

Another night, another shooting. The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office arrested Sebastian Elias Ortiz, 18, on Thursday evening following reports of gunshots last Sunday. According to a release, officers responded to the scene of the gunfire around 3:15 a.m. Sunday morning.

Senators Chuck Brannon (above) and Jennifer Bradley pose with Columbia County Sheriff Mark Hunter as he presents them with a “Friend of the Sheriff” award on Friday. (COURTESY PHOTOS)

Bradley, Brannan honored by FSA

NEWS STAFF

Friday, March 25, 2022

Garnering the attention of law enforcement isn’t bad when you’re a state legislator providing support. Sen. Jennifer Bradley (R-Fleming Island) and Rep.

LC pedestrian killed after van crash

NEWS STAFF

Friday, March 25, 2022

A Lake City woman was killed Thursday evening after a vehicle crashed into her. The 61-year-old woman, whose identity has not been released, was in the travel lane on the right side of U.S. Highway 90 around 8:35 p.m.

LCPD spokesperson Greg Burnsed said authorities were unaware of an intended targets in a Wednesday shooting incident.

Gunfire still ringing out in LC

TONY BRITT

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Six months into Operation Cease-Fire and shots are still ringing out across Lake City. The Lake City Police Department responded again Wednesday night to reports of gunfire in the area, marking the sixth incident of gun violence in March. There have been 31 incidents of gun violence so far in 2022.

LC cyclist dies in car crash

NEWS STAFF

Thursday, March 24, 2022

A cyclist was killed during an overnight incident on the south end of Lake City. A release from the Florida Highway Patrol said a sedan was traveling south on U.S. Highway 441 at 12:15 a.m. Thursday when it hit a cyclist near SE Sundial Place, just south of County Road 252.