Taylor Johns (from left), Leon Jones and Daniel Dohrn, share a laugh and smile with Ronny Busscher, who they saved with their CPR skills on Christmas Eve after he suffered a heart attack at the McDonald’s drive-through. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Taylor Johns (from left), Leon Jones and Daniel Dohrn, share a laugh and smile with Ronny Busscher, who they saved with their CPR skills on Christmas Eve after he suffered a heart attack at the McDonald’s drive-through. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Life-saving service honored

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Four first responders — three from the Lake City Fire Department as well as a former Lake City Police Department officer — were able to meet and shake the hand of a man they repeatedly saved from death with their CPR skills.

Local

Donna Kite (left) is aided by FPL employee Chi Lui as she gets a bag of hurricane meals while at the Lifestyle Enrichment Center on Wednesday afternoon. FPL provided bags for 153 seniors during the session. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Donna Kite (left) is aided by FPL employee Chi Lui as she gets a bag of hurricane meals while at the Lifestyle Enrichment Center on Wednesday afternoon. FPL provided bags for 153 seniors during the session. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

FPL provides meal kits for storm season

TONY BRITT
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Just a few days into the 2026 hurricane season, more than 100 local senior citizens were given...
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Around Columbia County

Eddie Dixon with Culpepper Construction provides documents to the Lafayette County School Board as he updated them on the status of state funding for a new PK-12 school for the district at Tuesday’s board meeting. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Eddie Dixon with Culpepper Construction provides documents to the Lafayette County School Board as he updated them on the status of state funding for a new PK-12 school for the district at Tuesday’s board meeting. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

New Lafayette school funding delayed a year

TONY BRITT
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
MAYO — State funding that the Lafayette County School District was expecting to receive from the...
Water sits on top of the parking improvements at the Heritage Square redevelopment area on Tuesday after recent rains. The flooding is due to the project not yet being finished, according to city staff. (COURTESY)

Water sits on top of the parking improvements at the Heritage Square redevelopment area on Tuesday after recent rains. The flooding is due to the project not yet being finished, according to city staff. (COURTESY)

Flooded Heritage Square project still not completed

JAMIE WACHTER
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Recent rains, and a not completed project, have turned the Heritage Square parking improvements...
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Sports

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Taylor Johns (from left), Leon Jones and Daniel Dohrn, share a laugh and smile with Ronny Busscher, who they saved with their CPR skills on Christmas Eve after he suffered a heart attack at the McDonald’s drive-through. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Taylor Johns (from left), Leon Jones and Daniel Dohrn, share a laugh and smile with Ronny Busscher, who they saved with their CPR skills on Christmas Eve after he suffered a heart attack at the McDonald’s drive-through. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Life-saving service honored

TONY BRITT
Four first responders — three from the Lake City Fire Department as well as a former Lake City Police Department officer — were able to meet and shake the hand of a man they repeatedly saved from death with their CPR skills.On Christmas Eve last year, Ronny Busscher, a Catholic Charities and…

Lake City police searching for shooting suspect

NEWS STAFF
The Lake City Police Department is searching for a man wanted for a shooting Sunday.According to an LCPD release, a man was shot in the leg Sunday at 11:15 p.m. in the rear parking lot of Gleason Plaza shopping center at 209 NW Hutton Drive. The release said the man had applied a makeshift…
Lafayette state medalist Henry Stewart is the LCR's Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year. (COURTESY)

Lafayette state medalist Henry Stewart is the LCR's Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year. (COURTESY)

SPRING ALL-AREA: Lafayette state medalist Henry Stewart named LCR's Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year

JAMIE WACHTER
MAYO — A year ago, Henry Stewart hoped to head to the Class 1A state track meet.Those dreams, though, were dashed when the Lafayette sophomore was injured in practice just ahead of the district meet. Instead of competing for the chance to head to state, Stewart’s season was over.That heartbreak…
Suwannee state champion Ryleigh Hermanson is the LCR's Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. (COURTESY)

Suwannee state champion Ryleigh Hermanson is the LCR's Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. (COURTESY)

SPRING ALL-AREA: Suwannee state champion Ryleigh Hermanson named LCR's Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year

JAMIE WACHTER
LIVE OAK — It still hasn’t completely sunk in for Suwannee’s Ryleigh Hermanson.Even five weeks after capturing the Class 2A state title in the 1600m, it still doesn’t always compute that Hermanson is a state champion.“It’s still kind of weird when people congratulate me and I’m like, ‘For what?’”…
Donna Kite (left) is aided by FPL employee Chi Lui as she gets a bag of hurricane meals while at the Lifestyle Enrichment Center on Wednesday afternoon. FPL provided bags for 153 seniors during the session. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Donna Kite (left) is aided by FPL employee Chi Lui as she gets a bag of hurricane meals while at the Lifestyle Enrichment Center on Wednesday afternoon. FPL provided bags for 153 seniors during the session. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

FPL provides meal kits for storm season

TONY BRITT
Just a few days into the 2026 hurricane season, more than 100 local senior citizens were given hurricane meals by Florida Power and Light as area residents prepare for the upcoming storm season.Four FPL employees teamed with a few Life Style Enrichment Center staff members to provide the hurricane…

Suwannee County man arrested after traveling to meet child for sex

NEWS STAFF
A Branford man was nabbed by local authorities last week after traveling to Columbia County to meet with a child for sex.According to a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office release, 28-year-old Justin Hutchings was arrested Friday after communicating over social media with a trained detective who was…

Citrus County man arrested for soliciting children online here

NEWS STAFF
A Citrus County man was arrested last week in Columbia County following a week-long undercover sting operation targeting child sex predators.According to a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office release, 36-year-old Joshua Head was arrested June 9 for using a computer to seduce, lure and solicit children…

Museum hosting Summer Blast for children

TONY BRITT
While it may not be a full ‘Night at the Museum,’ a few hours of fun are scheduled to take place this weekend when the local historical museum holds its annual summer bash for local children.The Lake City-Columbia County Historical Museum’s third annual Summer Blast will take place 10 a.m.-2 p.m.…
Eddie Dixon with Culpepper Construction provides documents to the Lafayette County School Board as he updated them on the status of state funding for a new PK-12 school for the district at Tuesday’s board meeting. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

Eddie Dixon with Culpepper Construction provides documents to the Lafayette County School Board as he updated them on the status of state funding for a new PK-12 school for the district at Tuesday’s board meeting. (TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter)

New Lafayette school funding delayed a year

TONY BRITT
MAYO — State funding that the Lafayette County School District was expecting to receive from the state for construction of a new county school won’t be coming this school year. The Lafayette County School District will have to wait an additional year for its state funding to begin constructing a…
Nick Gerth, a disaster response specialist with IEM, said the transition of emergency management from under the control of the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office to the county shows a program with a ‘strong foundational base.’ (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Nick Gerth, a disaster response specialist with IEM, said the transition of emergency management from under the control of the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office to the county shows a program with a ‘strong foundational base.’ (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)

Suwannee County emergency management transition shows opportunities for improvement

JAMIE WACHTER
Suwannee County’s emergency management department will be in a better place than it was previously.Sharon Hingson, the county’s new emergency management director, made that point when asked by County Commission Chairman Franklin White on the current status of the department, which transitioned from…
Water sits on top of the parking improvements at the Heritage Square redevelopment area on Tuesday after recent rains. The flooding is due to the project not yet being finished, according to city staff. (COURTESY)

Water sits on top of the parking improvements at the Heritage Square redevelopment area on Tuesday after recent rains. The flooding is due to the project not yet being finished, according to city staff. (COURTESY)

Flooded Heritage Square project still not completed

JAMIE WACHTER
Recent rains, and a not completed project, have turned the Heritage Square parking improvements into a small pond.Nicholas Frigiola, the Live Oak Community Redevelopment Agency director, said Wednesday that the puddling is just the result of the project not yet being completed.“It’s a shame that…
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