Local

The Werner Enterprises Lake City terminal, at 879 NW Bell Street, on the northern outskirts of Lake City opened Thursday morning. The 91,000-square foot building is situated on 36 developed acres and has the latest amenities to enhance the work life of the company’s professional drivers and is the result of a collaboration between the City of Lake City, Columbia County and Werner. The project represents a $30 million capital investment by Werner. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

The Werner Enterprises Lake City terminal, at 879 NW Bell Street, on the northern outskirts of Lake City opened Thursday morning. The 91,000-square foot building is situated on 36 developed acres and has the latest amenities to enhance the work life of the company’s professional drivers and is the result of a collaboration between the City of Lake City, Columbia County and Werner. The project represents a $30 million capital investment by Werner. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Up and trucking': Werner terminal opens on Bell Road

TONY BRITT
Thursday, February 25, 2021
What was once soggy terrain along a dirt road in Columbia County is now a terminal for one of the five largest truckload carriers in the nation. Werner Enterprises recently set up shop in Lake City with plans to add 70 new jobs, including office and maintenance associates.

Nobody hurt in daytime shooting

JAMIE WACHTER
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Shots fired in an apartment complex parking lot in broad daylight Wednesday led to the arrest of a Lake City man. According to the Lake City Police Department, officers responded to the Cedar Park Apartments off of NW Bascom Norris Drive around 3:23 p.m. Wednesday to shots being fired.
Alan Shelby, executive vice president of the Florida Forestry Association, speaks to the Rotary Club of Lake City during a presentation on Thursday. Shelby, and Lake City Rotarian and Florida Forestry Association President Carlton Jones, brought the program to the club. Forestry is a $100 million industry in Columbia County and the county has 700 forestry related jobs. (TODD WILSON/Lake City Reporter)

Alan Shelby, executive vice president of the Florida Forestry Association, speaks to the Rotary Club of Lake City during a presentation on Thursday. Shelby, and Lake City Rotarian and Florida Forestry Association President Carlton Jones, brought the program to the club. Forestry is a $100 million industry in Columbia County and the county has 700 forestry related jobs. (TODD WILSON/Lake City Reporter)

Forestry industry stands tall in Florida

NEWS STAFF
Thursday, February 25, 2021
When longtime Lake City resident Carlton Jones took the helm as president of the Florida Forestry Association in September 2020, it became his mission to share the forestry story across the state.
An artist’s rendering of Florida Gateway College’s new STEM building. Construction will begin on the facility soon with a completion target of the second quarter of 2022. (COURTESY)

An artist’s rendering of Florida Gateway College’s new STEM building. Construction will begin on the facility soon with a completion target of the second quarter of 2022. (COURTESY)

STEM taking root: Construction starting soon on new FGC building

NEWS STAFF
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Florida Gateway College’s new STEM building will soon put down roots. The FGC Board of Trustees unanimously awarded a bid at its Feb. 11 meeting to Culpepper Construction out of Tallahassee for the new building. Construction is set to commence with a groundbreaking ceremony set for March 12.

In-person hearings back on for courts

TONY BRITT
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Columbia County residents can once again see you in court. County courts resumed limited in-person proceedings earlier this week after local courts were shut down more than a month ago when local covid-19 cases began to spike. Mark E.

Local man federally indicted in theft ring

JAMIE WACHTER
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
A crime syndicate revolving around stealing and then selling heavy equipment has led to a federal indictment of one local man with three others connected by local law enforcement. Robert Sanders, a 44-year-old from Lake City, was arrested Feb.
Columbia County school district staffers were honored after they saved maintenance department worker Jim Osburn last year after he fell off a ladder. The brief recognition ceremony took place Tuesday night during the school board meeting. Narrie Smith (front row, from left) Osburn and Keith Hudson. (Back row, from left) Lex Carswell, Stephanie Johns, Phyllisteen Reese, Casey Starling, Sandra Bing, Steve Nelson, Robert Cooper and Dana Brady-Giddens. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Columbia County school district staffers were honored after they saved maintenance department worker Jim Osburn last year after he fell off a ladder. The brief recognition ceremony took place Tuesday night during the school board meeting. Narrie Smith (front row, from left) Osburn and Keith Hudson. (Back row, from left) Lex Carswell, Stephanie Johns, Phyllisteen Reese, Casey Starling, Sandra Bing, Steve Nelson, Robert Cooper and Dana Brady-Giddens. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

School board honors staff for heroic actions

TONY BRITT
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Exactly a year ago, Jim Osburn, was lying on his back fighting for his life while a team of staff members from Lake City Middle School worked feverishly to keep him alive after he was involved in a workplace accident.
A demonstration set up by protesters Tuesday morning at the Suwannee River Water Management District headquarters against Seven Springs Company’s request for a permit renewal to withdraw nearly one million gallons a water a day from Ginnie Springs. (COURTESY)

A demonstration set up by protesters Tuesday morning at the Suwannee River Water Management District headquarters against Seven Springs Company’s request for a permit renewal to withdraw nearly one million gallons a water a day from Ginnie Springs. (COURTESY)

Faucet stays open: Seven Springs granted renewal for Ginnie Springs withdrawal

JAMIE WACHTER
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
LIVE OAK — Oscar Corral wanted to take the Suwannee River Water Management District governing board members on a quick detour away from Ginnie Springs on Tuesday morning.

1 man, 2 arrests, 3 days

NEWS STAFF
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Three days, two counties, two arrests, one local man. After being arrested on a warrant for dealing in stolen property in Suwannee County on Sunday, 40-year-old Tony Richards was arrested Tuesday in Columbia County on an unrelated charge of dealing in stolen property.
Emily-Jane Curtis, a dual-enrolled student at North Florida Community College, plays Civil War-era songs on her viola during Saturday’s ‘Blast Through the Past’ event at the Lake City-Columbia County Historical Museum. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)

Emily-Jane Curtis, a dual-enrolled student at North Florida Community College, plays Civil War-era songs on her viola during Saturday’s ‘Blast Through the Past’ event at the Lake City-Columbia County Historical Museum. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)

Fiddling through history: Museum holds cross-era historical event in place of Olustee Festival

MORGAN MCMULLEN
Monday, February 22, 2021
Rosie the Riveter snapped green beans from her victory garden on her porch overlooking two women — a victorian-garbed laundress and a Civil War widow in black — as the King of Soul himself, Sam Cooke, sang his Civil Rights anthem “A Change Is Gonna Come” around the corner.