Regional

Cops: LO man sexually assaulted toddler

NEWS STAFF
Friday, September 10, 2021
LIVE OAK — A Live Oak man was arrested Thursday for a sexual assault on a small child in July. According to the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office, 71-year-old Pascual Colon Pacheco was watching a movie with a 4-year-old in a residence in western Suwannee County alone on the night of July 4.
A parade float rolls down the street at last December’s Christmas on the Square in Live Oak. (FILE)

A parade float rolls down the street at last December’s Christmas on the Square in Live Oak. (FILE)

Suwannee Chamber Gala off

JAMIE WACHTER
Thursday, September 9, 2021
LIVE OAK — There will be no Gala this year. After being postponed from its normal February date to October, the Suwannee County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors announced Tuesday that it is off for the year. The annual Gala will now be scheduled for February 2022.
Suwannee County Property Appraiser Ricky Gamble told legislators Jennifer Bradley and Chuck Brannan that he may sue the Department of Revenue over a change to the ‘Save our Homes’ exemption. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Suwannee County Property Appraiser Ricky Gamble told legislators Jennifer Bradley and Chuck Brannan that he may sue the Department of Revenue over a change to the ‘Save our Homes’ exemption. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Gamble ready to battle state over exemption

JAMIE WACHTER
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
LIVE OAK — It really wasn’t a request made of Suwannee County’s state legislators. Rather, Property Appraiser Ricky Gamble just wanted to give Sen. Jennifer Bradley (R-Fleming Island) and Rep. Chuck Brannan (R-Macclenny) a heads up.

Taliban stop planes, evacuees from leaving

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Monday, September 6, 2021
KABUL, Afghanistan — At least four planes chartered to evacuate several hundred people seeking to escape the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan have been unable to leave the country for days, officials said Sunday, with conflicting accounts emerging about why the flights weren’t able to take off as...

State moves ahead with vax campaign

NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
Monday, September 6, 2021
Even as there are signs that the latest round of covid-19 infections may have finally peaked, Florida is pushing ahead with a plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the months ahead to pay for testing, medical staff support and a media campaign to encourage vaccinations.

Johns reappointed to water management district board

NEWS STAFF
Monday, September 6, 2021
LIVE OAK — Virginia Johns will remain on the Suwannee River Water Management District’s governing board. Johns, of Gainesville, was reappointed to the board by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday. She was first appointed to the district’s governing board in 2012.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on Afghanistan in the East Room of The White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 16. Biden has moved to declassify documents around the Sept. 11 attacks. (OLIVER CONTRERAS/AbacaPress.com/TNS)

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on Afghanistan in the East Room of The White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 16. Biden has moved to declassify documents around the Sept. 11 attacks. (OLIVER CONTRERAS/AbacaPress.com/TNS)

Biden moves to declassify 9/11 documents

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friday, September 3, 2021
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday directed the declassification of certain documents related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a supportive gesture to victims’ families who have long sought the records in hopes of implicating the Saudi government.

Florida school mask debate headed for appeals court

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friday, September 3, 2021
ST. PETERSBURG — The battle over mask requirements to guard against coronavirus in Florida schools headed for a new legal phase Friday following an appeal by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of a judge’s ruling that a blanket ban on mask mandates exceeds the state government’s authority.