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Columbia County Schools

Columbia County schools, FGC closed for two weeks

TONY BRITT
Friday, March 13, 2020
Columbia County students will get an extra week for spring break after the Florida Department of Education mandated all state schools be closed for two weeks. Florida Gateway College has also extended its spring break for an additional week.
Scharlotte Stewart, Eastside Elementary School head custodian, disinfects a kindergarten classroom door on Thursday morning. The school district will have some of its employees clean and disinfect classrooms for two days next week while students and teachers are on spring break. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Scharlotte Stewart, Eastside Elementary School head custodian, disinfects a kindergarten classroom door on Thursday morning. The school district will have some of its employees clean and disinfect classrooms for two days next week while students and teachers are on spring break. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

As coronavirus concerns grow, district's spring break couldn’t come at a better time

TONY BRITT
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Spring break couldn’t start a better time for the local school district and Florida Gateway College. As concerns and fears about coronavirus, COVID-19, continue to grow, local education officials are implementing new strategies to address the wellbeing of students.

Schools ban out-of-state travel for March

TONY BRITT
Thursday, March 12, 2020
The school district implemented an out-of-state travel ban Thursday because of concerns associated with coronavirus, COVID-19. The ban will be in effect until at least March 31, but could be extended. The travel ban includes all school-sponsored athletic and extra-curricular events.

‘Dry Streets’ starts today

CARL MCKINNEY
Thursday, March 12, 2020
The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, Lake City Police Department and Florida Highway Patrol are teaming up for an initiative targeting impaired drivers. “Operation Dry Streets” will see those three agencies aggressively target those who drive under the influence, according to an LCPD statement.

‘Just shoot me,’ woman yells

CARL MCKINNEY
Thursday, March 12, 2020
A drunk and disorderly woman disturbed the residents of a local neighborhood when she trespassed onto a man’s property — despite repeated warnings not to — and demanded that he shoot her, according to a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office report.

Landlord jailed for tossing tenant’s things

CARL MCKINNEY
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
A landlord and former County Commission candidate abruptly kicked out one of his tenants over the weekend, then tried to hold her possessions hostage in exchange for unpaid rent, according to the Lake City Police Department. State law has a name for that, officers told the landlord — grand theft.
This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January shows the novel coronavirus. (TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE)

This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January shows the novel coronavirus. (TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE)

Georgia woman in Alachua County has novel coronavirus

CARL MCKINNEY
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Now officially a global pandemic, the novel coronavirus outbreak is hitting closer to home. In Alachua County, a 68-year-old woman visiting from Georgia has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, health officials there confirmed.

City charter board to be named Monday

CARL MCKINNEY
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Once every decade, Lake City Hall tasks a small group of local residents with helping to update the city’s foundational charter, opening the door for essentially any tweaks and reforms that don’t conflict with existing state or federal law.

Accident- prone are in CRC’s spotlight

CARL MCKINNEY
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
A single county employee was disciplined five separate times over a two-year period for mishaps involving county-owned vehicles or equipment, but still kept his job — and the county’s charter review board says that’s just the tip of the iceberg.