Local

Guilty plea in Irma fraud case

CARL MCKINNEY
Monday, January 27, 2020
The Suwannee County woman accused of trying to defraud the federal government in a disaster-relief scam centered on Hurricane Irma has pleaded guilty, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.
Among those volunteering to patch the roof of a home hit by a plane Saturday were Bill Brinkley (from left), Alvin Hitson and Mark Nodes. Photo by Robert Bridges/Lake City Reporter

Among those volunteering to patch the roof of a home hit by a plane Saturday were Bill Brinkley (from left), Alvin Hitson and Mark Nodes. Photo by Robert Bridges/Lake City Reporter

Home damaged worse than thought in plane crash

ROBERT BRIDGES
Sunday, January 26, 2020
An Inwood Court home suffered more damage than was first thought when it was struck by a single-engine plane on Saturday, killing the pilot.
First responders are pictured at the scene shortly after a single-engine plane crashed into a Lake City home Saturday morning. (Ray Carpenter Photography)

First responders are pictured at the scene shortly after a single-engine plane crashed into a Lake City home Saturday morning. (Ray Carpenter Photography)

Pilot ID'd as Salena Short of Tyler, Texas

NEWS STAFF
Saturday, January 25, 2020
The pilot of a single-engine plane is dead after crashing into a home on Inwood Court in the Creekside subdivision Saturday morning. The occupants of the home, a woman and her 7-year-old son, were unhurt.
A plane piloted by a Texas woman exploded in flames after crashing into an Inwood Court Saturday morning. The Lake City Reporter has chosen not to identify the woman until next of kin has been notified. (Photo by AMY BROWN via Facebook)

A plane piloted by a Texas woman exploded in flames after crashing into an Inwood Court Saturday morning. The Lake City Reporter has chosen not to identify the woman until next of kin has been notified. (Photo by AMY BROWN via Facebook)

Pilot in fatal crash was Texas woman

MICHAEL PHILIPS
Saturday, January 25, 2020
The female pilot who crashed into a Lake City home on Inwood Court Saturday morning was from Texas, the Reporter has learned. She was visiting her friend Bill Jennings, who is from Indiana and about three months ago purchased a home in the Cannon Creek Airpark.
First responders are pictured at the scene of a plane crash at Cannon Creek Airpark Saturday morning. (ROBERT BRIDGES/Lake City Reporter)

First responders are pictured at the scene of a plane crash at Cannon Creek Airpark Saturday morning. (ROBERT BRIDGES/Lake City Reporter)

'A miracle' that family in home unhurt in plane crash

ROBERT BRIDGES
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Rhonda and Jack Russell of Lake City were on the way to their daughter’s home in the Creekside subdivision to pick up their grandson, who had a basketball game Saturday morning at Parkview Baptist, when they got the call.
A single-engine plane is seen in flames after crashing into a home in Cannon Creek Airpark Saturday morning. (Photo courtesy of AMY BROWN/Facebook)

A single-engine plane is seen in flames after crashing into a home in Cannon Creek Airpark Saturday morning. (Photo courtesy of AMY BROWN/Facebook)

Plane crashes into home

ROBERT BRIDGES
Saturday, January 25, 2020
The pilot of a single-engine plane is dead after crashing into a home on Inwood Court in Cannon Creek Airpark Saturday morning. The occupants of the home, a woman and her son, were unhurt.
Jacquie Hagler (pointing) tells a would-be armed robber to “Get out in the name of Jesus” in this reenactment staged weeks later by The 700 Club for television. (FILE)

Jacquie Hagler (pointing) tells a would-be armed robber to “Get out in the name of Jesus” in this reenactment staged weeks later by The 700 Club for television. (FILE)

Unsolved mystery of ‘Get out in the name of Jesus’

CARL MCKINNEY
Friday, January 24, 2020
Even seven years later, Jacquie Hagler can hardly go a week without thinking about that night. News outlets around the world picked up the story of an attempted jewelry heist in little Lake City, thrusting her into a spotlight she says never went away.

Don’t nix districts, says CRC member

CARL MCKINNEY
Friday, January 24, 2020
A radical shakeup to the way Columbia County officials are elected may be in the works. A member of the board appointed to propose changes to the county charter says the controversial plan will dilute the political power of the black community.

Jasper woman faces charges in car theft case

CARL MCKINNEY
Friday, January 24, 2020
A Jasper woman was arrested for grand theft auto Thursday morning after a vehicle reported stolen from Hamilton County was sighted on Southeast Nettles Drive in Lake City, according to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. Around 10:23 a.m.