Regional

Live Oak approves ‘super site’ for election

LIVE OAK — Voters in the City of Live Oak will have just one “super site” to attend for the May election.

Liquor truck, van catch fire in Suwannee crash

DOWLING PARK — You shouldn’t cry over spilt milk, but what about burnt liquor? Nobody was injured late Wednesday morning in a two-vehicle accident in western Suwannee County that involved both vehicles catching fire.

Madeleine Albright, 1st female US secretary of state, dies

WASHINGTON — Madeleine Albright, a child refugee from Nazi- and then Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe who rose to become the first female secretary of state and a mentor to many current and former American statesmen and women, died Wednesday of cancer, her family said. She was 84.

SCOTUS nominee pushes back at GOP critics

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson forcefully defended her record as a federal judge Tuesday, pushing back against Republican assertions that she was soft on crime and declaring she would rule as an “independent jurist” if confirmed as the first Black woman on the high court.

SCSD looks to serve up better food to students

LIVE OAK — Online comments about potential changes to the Suwannee County School District’s food service program has left a sour taste in Ted Roush’s mouth. Suwannee County’s superintendent released a statement Friday to “dispel the social media keyboard warriors and break-room gossipers.

LO qualifying begins Monday

LIVE OAK — Candidates seeking office in the City of Live Oak can qualify this week. The qualifying period for the city, which has four open seats, begins at noon on Monday and runs through noon Friday.

Brannan’s wife up for judicial appointment

MACCLENNY — The wife of Florida’s state representative for District 10 is seeking a judicial appointment. Lorelie Brannan is one of three finalists nominated by the Eighth Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission to fill the vacant Baker County judicial seat.

April 4 jury selection set for Florida school shooter case

Jury selection in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz is on track to begin April 4, the judge said Friday during a status conference with the lawyers.

DeSantis: Don’t celebrate budget projects just yet

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis said the $112.1 billion budget approved Monday by the Legislature might be too generous in some areas and people celebrating getting projects in the spending plan should refrain from “any irrational exuberance.

Absconded sex offender captured

ALACHUA — A sex offender that didn’t return from furlough is now headed back to jail. John Clink, a 33-year-old from Lake City, was arrested Thursday in Alachua on an escape warrant, which was signed after Clink didn’t return from a court-ordered furlough Wednesday.