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Suwannee County Fire Rescue purchased 26 body armor vests with grant funding. (COURTESY/Suwannee County Fire Rescue)

Suwannee County Fire Rescue purchased 26 body armor vests with grant funding. (COURTESY/Suwannee County Fire Rescue)

SCFR ‘granted’ body armor vests

LIVE OAK — Grant funding recently added another tool to help keep Suwannee County first responders safe. Suwannee County Fire Rescue obtained a grant from the North Central Florida Health Care Coalition that allowed for the purchase of 26 body armor vests.
The new Ichetucknee Alliance website includes several interactive features, including a virtual 'story map' tour of the Ichetucknee Springshed and Ichetucknee Trace. (COURTESY)

The new Ichetucknee Alliance website includes several interactive features, including a virtual 'story map' tour of the Ichetucknee Springshed and Ichetucknee Trace. (COURTESY)

‘Beloved Blue River’ website launched

The Ichetucknee Alliance has launched a new website, “Ichetucknee: Beloved Blue River,” that documents what the springs and river have meant to people over the years. The site may be viewed at: https://belovedblueriver.org/.

St. John: UCR ‘not a true number’

LIVE OAK — Crime went up last year in Suwannee County and the rate of clearing those crimes fell. That’s at least what the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Uniform Crime Report released Monday states. Suwannee County Sheriff Sam St. John, though, said that isn’t really the case.

LO man faces child sex abuse charges

A Live Oak man was arrested on child molestation charges after a Sunday incident. According to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, multiple witnesses met officers outside a residence Sunday evening afraid that 59-year-old Wesley Putnel had inappropriately touched an 8-year-old child.