SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012 | YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1874 | $1.00 Lake City Reporter LAKECITYREPORTER.COM Get set for Health Dept. SUNDAY EDITION summertime official to retire camping fun. 1C after 35 years. 1D Murder suspect jailed Second suspect, went to Johnson’s Lake City hope someone with knowl- door. home after obtaining an edge of the case will come Both suspects fled on alleged gunman, arrest warrant but learned forward.” foot. remains at large he was in the Jacksonville On April 27 at 1:36 p.m., Shaw said Grandison is area. Johnson was later officers were notified of a considered armed and dan- From staff reports arrested by agents from robbery at A&M Discount gerous. the FDLE Jacksonville Beverage store at 394 SE Johnson faces charges of A suspect in the April 27 Regional Operations Duval St. Officers arrived first-degree felony murder shooting death of a local Center, Shaw said. at 1:37 p.m. and found the and robbery. convenience store owner Shaw said he could not suspects gone and store A warrant has been was arrested in Jacksonville reveal how officers learned owner Rajni Patel, 55, fatal- issued for the arrest of Saturday, according to the identity of the sus- ly shot. Grandison on the same police. pects. Patel’s wife Daxa was charges, according to James Leonard Johnson, However, he said, “we shot at during the robbery, Shaw. 23, was taken into cus- made leaps and bounds but was unhurt. “Through the untiring tody without incident by Johnson Grandison today (Saturday).” According to police, efforts of the investigators Florida Department of City Police Department. large. He said a $10,000 reward Johnson took money from who have been working Law Enforcement agents A second suspect, Ernest According to Shaw, offi- for information leading to behind the counter and in Jacksonville, according Larry Grandison, has been cers from LCPD, the state the arrest of Grandison Grandison shot Rajni Patel to Steve Shaw of the Lake identified but remains at attorney’s office and FDLE remains in effect and “we as he came through a side MURDER continued on 3A Ruby McCollum story retold in documentary McCollum’s grandson In 1992 McCollum died at the questions the accuracy age of 82, never having lived in Suwannee County again. of the film, however. Johnson, a professor of Motion Picture Arts at Florida State By HANNAH O. BROWN University, began pursuing the [email protected] story in 1994. McCollum’s story has been LIVE OAK-The 1952 first- investigated by noted writers degree murder conviction of Ruby such as Zora Neale Hurston and McCollum, a wealthy black woman William Bradford Huie. in Live Oak, has been further Huie, a well-known investigative explored by filmmaker Claudia journalist at the time, attempted Johnson’s recently released doc- to interview McCollum while she umentary, “The Other Side of was incarcerated, but was barred Silence.” from seeing M c C o l l u m her by Judge was the wife of a ‘A lot of people don’t Hal Adams. Sam McCollum, want to talk out of respect Johnson’s film the reported for their families. It’s not suggests that leader of a bolita that they fear retaliation McCollum was ring, an illegal or fear that somebody is silenced by the lottery game, going to do something to white-domi- in Suwannee them. Most of the time it’s nated power County. She is out of respect.’ structure of HANNAH O. BROWN/Lake City Reporter said to have had S u w a n n e e FAM Fest! an affair with Marlon Ivey County. Runners rush from the starting line at the 5K race during Fam Fest on Saturday. The event featured the race, the man she was Grandson of Ruby McCollum Sam and Ruby along with the Lake DeSoto Farmers Market, an art show, and a concert by “Patchwork,” an all-female bluegrass accused of shoot- McCollum are band. See more FAM Fest photos, Page 6A. ing to death in remembered as his office the morning of Aug. 3, wealthy and well-known members 1952, Dr. Clifford LeRoy Adams, of the community. They lived in a a prominent white physician and two-story Spanish-style home and state senator-elect. McCollum’s drove a new Chrysler. Top candidate for SRWMD story is clouded with rumors of Myster y sur rounds morphine dependency, tampered McCollum’s relationship with Dr. evidence, prison psychosis and a Adams. The film suggests that executive director named mysteriously aborted pregnancy. McCollum and Adams may have From staff reports Her trial was conducted before been in an adulterous relation- The other Protection Branch for the a jury of all white men, half of ship. It goes further to suggest LIVE OAK – Following candidates were Georgia Department of Natural whom were former patients of that the relationship may not intrviews Friday with four can- Steve Minnis, Resources: Environmental the deceased doctor. She was sen- have been consensual. McCollum didates for executive director director of Protection Division. tenced to death by electric chair. is rumored to have given birth to of the Suwannee River Water Gover nmental The selection committee Her conviction and sentence one child of Adams and to have Management District, a dis- Af fairs for is made up of five SRWMD were overturned and McCollum been pregnant with a second at trict selection committee chose the water dis- Governing Board members – was given a second trial. She the time of the shooting. Ann Shortelle, director of the trict; Chuck Shortelle Don Quincey Jr., Heath Davis, was deemed mentally incompe- “She was actually silenced,” Office of Water Policy for Florida Walter, direc- George Cole, Donald “Ray” tent and spent the next 20 years said former Suwannee County Department of Environmental tor of Science and Information Curtis III, and Carl Meece. at the Florida State Hospital in Protection, as its top candidate. for Applied Sciences Consulting Earlier this month, the commit- Chattahoochee. Shortelle will go before the full Inc.; and Cliff Lewis, assis- tee had narrowed the list of 17 FILM continued on 3A governing board June 12. tant branch chief of the Water candidates to four. Niblack Elementary School shines on the FCAT By LAURA HAMPSON graders passed by scoring a level 3 and etary rewards while schools deemed fail- Initially, the State Board of Education [email protected] above on the writing portion of the new, ing can face sanctions that include staff, had increased the cut-off for a passing more rigorous Florida Comprehensive faculty and student transfers and even score from 3.5 to 4 while also making Columbia County schools were saved by Assessment Test 2.0. Last year 97 percent closure. the test tougher by increasing emphasis the Florida Department of Education from of students in the county passed the test, Across the state 81 percent of fourth- on such skills as spelling, punctuation an upsurge of failing writing scores this although a different version. graders passed, which is about the same and capitalization as well as the quality year, although scores are lower than last FCAT scores are the primary factor in as last year. The state also released scores year, according to results released Friday. determining A-to-F grades for schools. for eighth and tenth-grade writing tests, Across the county, 85 percent of fourth- Those that get high grades can earn mon- and ninth and tenth grade reading tests. FCAT continued on 3A Vol. 138, No. 83 Opinion . 4A CALL US: TODAY IN COMING (386) 752-1293 Business . 1C5A 9186 6458 Obituaries . 5A PEOPLE TUESDAY SUBSCRIBE TO T-StormMostly ChanceSunny Obituaries . 6A THE REPORTER: Advice.Advice & . .Comics . .. 5D8B Loretta Lynn Local news Voice: 755-5445 Puzzles . 5B Fax: 752-9400 WEATHER, 2A8A Puzzles . 2B 80, not 77. roundup. 2A 2A LAKE CITY REPORTER SUNDAY REPORT SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012 Page Editor: Rick Burnham, 754-0424 Friday: Friday: Saturday: Saturday: Saturday: Saturday: 2-16-23-33 15 7-20-24-32-34 Afternoon: 2-8-9 Afternoon: 5-3-4-0 Not Available Not Available Evening: Not Available Evening: Not Available AROUND FLORIDA Gov. Scott heading to Spain to tout Florida TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Canada, Brazil and Israel. wheel fell off during take- Terminal two, which Despite ongoing economic Enterprise Florida is pay- off arrived safely in central includes the Delta Air Lines upheaval in Spain, Florida ing for Scott and his wife’s Florida. concourse, was evacuated Gov. Rick Scott is heading expenses with money from WFTV TV is report- for about two hours Friday to the European country private donations. ing the Icelandair flight as hazardous materials for a four-day trip where arrived at Orlando-Sanford technicians investigated. he will tout the Sunshine International Airport early Five people were sent to the State as a good place to do Saturday morning. hospital with respiratory business. FHP: Toddler The flight had to turn complaints, including three The governor is also killed in crash around and made an emer- Transportation Security expected to cement cul- gency landing late Friday Administration agents and tural ties in advance of next CLEWISTON — The after a wheel fell off during two passengers. year’s 500th anniversary Florida Highway Patrol is takeoff. The plane and its of Juan Ponce de Leon’s asking the public for infor- 200 passengers had to fly arrival on the state’s east mation regarding a crash around for hours to burn Symposium coast and he will meet with that killed a 2-year-old boy off fuel before landing at praises Truman King Juan Carlos.