Local

Voting rights at risk, board told

CARL MCKINNEY
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Talk of an attempt to overhaul the way county officials are elected came to a head Thursday night, when several dissenters and a few supporters assembled to speak their minds at a charter review board meeting.
Jeff Siegmeister addresses county commissioners in August 2017 during a discussion on the legality of internet cafes. (FILE)

Jeff Siegmeister addresses county commissioners in August 2017 during a discussion on the legality of internet cafes. (FILE)

Siegmeister under investigation by feds

ROBERT BRIDGES
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Former Third Circuit State Attorney Jeff Siegmeister, who resigned last month citing the pressures of an impending divorce, has been under investigation by federal law enforcement agents since at least May, the Lake City Reporter has confirmed.

Third solar plant in the works

CARL MCKINNEY
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
The solar revolution shows no signs of slowing down in Columbia County.  A new solar farm is coming to Columbia County, Duke Energy announced this week. It will be Duke’s second solar facility in the county, and the third in all.
A worker installs netting around City Hall on North Marion Avenue to keep bricks from falling onto pedestrians in this November 2018 file photo. (FILE)

A worker installs netting around City Hall on North Marion Avenue to keep bricks from falling onto pedestrians in this November 2018 file photo. (FILE)

If new bill become state law, council members could be packin' heat at City Hall

CARL MCKINNEY
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
A bill that would allow elected officials to carry guns to their public meetings if they have a concealed carry permit passed a subcommittee in the state legislature this week.  The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee approved the measure, House Bill 183, on Tuesday.

Murder suspect to judge: Can I go now?

CARL MCKINNEY
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Weeks after being deemed mentally fit to stand trial, the North Carolina woman accused of carrying out a deadly 2016 shooting at a Lake City motel wrote a letter from jail to her new pen pal — the judge overseeing her case.
Fire engulfs the fuselage of a Piper PA32 shortly after 9:30 a.m. on Saturday on Inwood Court. The pilot, Salena Short of Tyler, Texas, perished. (AMY CREAMER BROWN/Special to the Reporter)

Fire engulfs the fuselage of a Piper PA32 shortly after 9:30 a.m. on Saturday on Inwood Court. The pilot, Salena Short of Tyler, Texas, perished. (AMY CREAMER BROWN/Special to the Reporter)

Boy, 7, coping in wake of plane crash

CARL MCKINNEY
Monday, January 27, 2020
The plane crash made their home unlivable. The house reeks of smoke and fuel, and a tarp covers the hole left in the roof.  Shane Thomson and her 7-year-old son, Ethan, lived together on Inwood Court in the Creekside subdivision, near Cannon Creek Airpark.

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.