Regional

Eastside Parents, students and staff spent hours wrapping tape around what became the heaviest known ball of tape in the world. Beneath the masking tape and duct tape, wide swaths of roofing tape can be seen covering the ball. (AMY HIETT/Special to the Reporter)

Eastside Parents, students and staff spent hours wrapping tape around what became the heaviest known ball of tape in the world. Beneath the masking tape and duct tape, wide swaths of roofing tape can be seen covering the ball. (AMY HIETT/Special to the Reporter)

A world record at Eastside: Heaviest ball of tape ever

AMY HIETT
Monday, March 9, 2020
Eastside Elementary stuck together Saturday and set a world record. Students, parents, and staff spent the morning wrapping tape around a huge ball they started Friday. By 3 p.m., their ball of tape weighed 2,268 lbs.
U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn chats with Rebecca Presnell, who, at 14, has already started the process of meeting admission requirements of the U..S Naval Academy. (AMY HIETT/Special to the Reporter)

U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn chats with Rebecca Presnell, who, at 14, has already started the process of meeting admission requirements of the U..S Naval Academy. (AMY HIETT/Special to the Reporter)

US Rep. Dunn touts military academies at FGC

AMY HIETT
Monday, March 9, 2020
Information and introductions filled the Wilson S. Rivers Library at Florida Gateway College Saturday morning. High school students from Columbia, Suwanee, and other area counties met with Congressman Neal Dunn to discuss their interest in attending military academies.
Pamela Hartopp, the Eastside Elementary paraprofessional who spearheaded the effort, poses for a picture with a 1,310 lb. ball of tape. That’s 690 pounds short of the current world record, so they’ll get back at it Saturday. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Pamela Hartopp, the Eastside Elementary paraprofessional who spearheaded the effort, poses for a picture with a 1,310 lb. ball of tape. That’s 690 pounds short of the current world record, so they’ll get back at it Saturday. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

World record try for biggest ball of tape to continue at Eastside Elementary

TONY BRITT
Friday, March 6, 2020
You’ve got to have some stick-to-itiveness to break a world record — especially when you’re trying to make the world’s biggest ball of tape.
Lake City Reporter editor Robert Bridges speaks at a previous forum. (FILE)

Lake City Reporter editor Robert Bridges speaks at a previous forum. (FILE)

Lake City Reporter Candidates Forum has new venue, new format

NEWS STAFF
Friday, March 6, 2020
The Lake City Reporter Candidates Forum, which was streamed live from the newspaper’s downtown office in 2018, will broadcast from the studios of Florida Gateway College this fall with a new format, Publisher Todd Wilson announced.
Columbia County Bank has been sold. (FILE)

Columbia County Bank has been sold. (FILE)

Columbia Bank sold, name will change to Millennium

CARL MCKINNEY
Friday, March 6, 2020
After more than a century, the name Columbia Bank will soon be no more due to a looming buyout.  Columbia Bank, a longstanding community institution founded in 1912, is being purchased by Millennium Bank, headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Tori Jackson Tyler and her husband, Mason, stand amidst debris in front of their home — damaged but still left standing by a tornado early Tuesday. (COURTESY)

Tori Jackson Tyler and her husband, Mason, stand amidst debris in front of their home — damaged but still left standing by a tornado early Tuesday. (COURTESY)

Lake City native Tori Jackson Tyler takes in neighbors after Nashville tornado

TONY BRITT
Friday, March 6, 2020
Life can be a whirlwind for an aspiring singer/songwriter in Nashville, but nothing like this. Tori Jackson Tyler left Lake City eight months ago to pursue a career in the music industry.

Public notice bill passes House

CARL MCKINNEY
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
A bill that threatens to undermine the public’s right to know what their local officials are up to has been passed by the Florida House, but sister legislation in the state Senate has stalled out for now.
North Florida Ghostbusters Whitney Katz, Mike Vanderburg and Nick Vitale take a quick break from vanquishing the spirits of the Robert B. Harkness National Guard Armory to pose for a photo at last year’s Infinity Con. (FILE)

North Florida Ghostbusters Whitney Katz, Mike Vanderburg and Nick Vitale take a quick break from vanquishing the spirits of the Robert B. Harkness National Guard Armory to pose for a photo at last year’s Infinity Con. (FILE)

Infinity Con returns to Lake City

CARL MCKINNEY
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
One of North Florida’s biggest gatherings of all things geek is coming to town this weekend. Back for its seventh year, Infinity Con, a two-day event featuring comic books, collectibles, cosplay contests and more, is set to kick off Saturday at the National Guard Armory off Lake Jeffery Road.

Home-rule survives the latest threat

CARL MCKINNEY
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
An anti-home-rule bill in Tallahassee, which would have made it harder for local officials to regulate things such as noise and occupancy when dealing with Airbnb-style short term rentals, appears to be stalling out in the state Legislature. Senate Bill 1128, sponsored by Republican state Sen.
Robotics action Saturday in Jacksonville.The Columbia City Elementary robotics team won and is now headed to an international championship in Texas. (TRAVIS MEDEIROS/Special to the Reporter)

Robotics action Saturday in Jacksonville.The Columbia City Elementary robotics team won and is now headed to an international championship in Texas. (TRAVIS MEDEIROS/Special to the Reporter)

Columbia City Elementary’s Bolt Bots Robotics Team qualifies for international competition

CARL MCKINNEY
Monday, March 2, 2020
The lesser awards were all handed out, leaving only the first-place trophy up for grabs. No way a group of fourth and fifth graders were going to take the top spot in a robotics competition against middle schoolers, the team thought. Guess again.