Graduation Rates Rise •State of Florida—75.57 Percent •Columbia County—65.74 Percent up 1 Percent Here, but Age According to a 65.7 Percent for the Class of 2013
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1 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2013 | YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1874 | 75¢ Lake City Reporter LAKECITYREPORTER.COM COLUMBIA COUNTY BY THE NUMBERS 2012-13 Graduation Rates Graduation rates rise •State of Florida—75.57 percent •Columbia County—65.74 percent Up 1 percent here, but age according to a 65.7 percent for the class of 2013. •CHS—70.04 percent report released by the Despite the improvement, •FWHS—64.53 percent still trail state average. Florida Department Columbia County still trailed the •Alachua County—72.6 percent of Education statewide graduation rate average of •Baker County—68.8 percent By STEVEN RICHMOND Wednesday. 75.6 percent. •Gilchrist County—89.7 percent [email protected] The high school The graduation rate reflected a •Hamilton County—55.5 percent graduation rate for given class, or “cohort,” of students •Suwannee County—59.5 percent Columbia County’s graduation rose Huddleston Columbia County who graduated within four years of •Union County—79.0 percent slightly for the 2012-13 school year, ticked up roughly •Highest rate, Nassau County: 90.9 percent but was still well below the state aver- one percent over last year, reaching GRADUATION continued on 3A •Lowest rate, Jefferson County—35.1 percent ‘Tis the season Resource fair for scheduled for sweaters PCS workers PCS, Workforce erwise known as unem- ployment. Uglyl look to help 350 PCS laid off 250 find new jobs. workers last week and announced 100 other From staff reports workers would be laid off by the second half of A job resource fair has 2014. been scheduled for Potash Head said the resource Corp.-White Springs work- fair would also feature ers who were laid off from resources like represen- their jobs last week. tatives from the Early The resource fair, which Learning Coalition, as was set-up by PCS and well as representatives North Florida Workforce to discuss the Affordable Development Board, will Care Act and insurance take place from 9 a.m. to options. 4 p.m., Dec. 20 at the PCS “We have some VA conference center on PCS resources, and we give grounds. priority of services to vet- “They want to make erans,” Head said. sure their employees are Some local employers taken care of and get the representing local indus- resources they need dur- try may also attend the ing this time,” said Diane resource fair. Head, North Florida “We haven’t confirmed Workforce Board deputy individual employers yet, director. “We will have but several have called resources from training us and are interested in providers like Taylor recruiting during the Technical Institute, fair,” Head said. Photos by JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter Florida Gateway College Of the people laid Sean Adams (top row, from left), Dennille Becker, A.J. Becker, Abbie Chasteen and Bridget Adams joke around as they and others.” off, a majority of them pretend to open up gifts during a Young Emerging Professionals ‘Ugly Sweater Get Together’ at the Lake City Holiday The resource fair will were concentrated in the Inn & Suites on Wednesday. provide the laid-off work- Columbia County area, ers with information as well as Suwannee and History of the ugly about the re-employment Christmas sweater assistance program, oth- FAIR continued on 3A Oversized snowmen, 3-D reindeer noses, jingling bells and sometimes even lights are the telltale signs of the ugly Christmas sweater. But where, and why, did the trend start? Bill Cosby’s character Cliff Huxtable was an icon of ugly sweaters in the ‘80s sitcom. The ‘90s saw them fade away, but in 2001 sweaters re-surfaced and holiday par- ties snowballed from there. Now the tops are big- ger than ever, but in a very JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter hipstery, oh-so-ironic way. Vintage stores, the Salvation Overcoming fear to help others Army, and Goodwill are reap- Columbia High School junior Kelsie Knudsen, 16, laughs ing the benefits of this craze, but the trend has reached as at a joke after LifeSouth mobile team leader Danielle Becky Westberry (from left), Jay Swisher and Kyle Rhodes laugh at their ‘ugly’ sweaters far as fast-fashion shops like Graham sticks her while donating blood at the school on Wednesday. ‘The best art is shopping for the sweater or digging in the closet for one and H&M and high-end retailers Wednesday. ‘It’s a good thing (to save lives). I’m just a hanging with good friends and coworkers,’ Swisher said. such as Nordstrom. helper. I like to help people,’ said Knudsen. ‘I’m afraid of needles, but I really wanted to donate.’ THIS WEEK Affiniti prepares to take over NFBA The Crucible By STEVEN RICHMOND dian of the roughly $30 million of Mayor Walter McKenzie. “We first on expanding anchor institu- The Fort White High School Thespian [email protected] Guild will be performing Arthur Miller’s federal assets under the NFBA just didn’t have somebody out tions the NFBA was connecting historical drama of the Salem witch trials, umbrella. there that was informative and to, like schools, hospitals and The Crucible, on Friday, December 13, at Members of the North Florida The two companies entered thorough and put on a good government entities.” 6:00pm at the Columbia County School Broadband Authority met in an agreement in October follow- public face.” Affiniti and the NFBA will Board auditorium, 372 West Duval Street. Lake City Wednesday to discuss ing an unsuccessful beginning Lain said he was interested in effectively operate as wholesale Admission is free and open to the public. minor administrative tasks as to the federal program designed using the board’s existing com- broadband providers and con- Affiniti positions itself to take to bring broadband Internet to munity relationships and con- nectors, providing public and Breakfast with Santa the reigns of the fledgling broad- underserved rural communities. nections for courting clients in private parties with broadband Holiday Inn & Suites is hosting a Breakfast band service provider. Board members attributed the the future, joking that he didn’t Internet access while also sell- with Santa event on Saturday, Dec. 14 Board members heard a lack of success to “misinforma- want to be seen as a “Yankee ing bandwidth to other internet from 8-11 a.m. Breakfast includes scram- bled eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and report from Affiniti CEO Darol tion” and “bad publicity.” carpetbagger.” service providers. gravy, juice, coffee, hot chocolate and Lain on the various housekeep- “The face that we projected “Our plan right now is still According to Lain, Affiniti a waffle station. Adults: $9.95 +tax, kids ing procedures underway as out in the public might’ve been in the early stages of scouring expects to invest somewhere aged 3-12: $4.95 +tax. Proceeds will ben- the Austin-based broadband and the reason a couple of the coun- these markets and getting to between $3 to $5 million on efit Children’s Medical Services of North communication company pre- ties dropped out,” said board know everybody,” Lain said after Florida. A collection box for unwrapped toys will also be available on site. For more pared to become the legal custo- member and White Springs Vice the meeting. “We’re focusing NFBA continued on 3A information, call 386-754-1411. Vol. 139, No. 222 TODAY’S WEATHER Opinion . 4A CALL US: Cops . 7A SUWANNEE TODAY IN SPORTS (386) 752-1293 MUSIC PARK Indian infighting: Fort SUBSCRIBE TO Obituaries . 5A THE REPORTER: 65 34 Advice & Comics . 3B Weddings Expo White plays host to Voice: 755-5445 Fax: 752-9400 Mostly Cloudy, 2A Puzzles . 4B coming in January, 6A. Keystone Heights, 1B. 2AWEATHER 2A LAKE CITY REPORTER DAILY BRIEFING THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2013 Page Editor: Emily Lawson, 754-0424 Celebrity Birthdays n Bob Barker, former host of n Actress Jennifer Connelly, Wednesday: Wednesday: Tuesday: The Price is Right, is 90. who won Best Supporting Afternoon: 3-6-7 Afternoon: 2-1-0-3 6-8-32-33-36 n Actor Bill Nighy, Davy Actress for “A Beautiful Jones in the second and Mind,” is 43. third “Pirates of the Carib- n Actress Regina Hall PEOPLE IN THE NEWS bean,” is 64. (Scary Movie) is 43. Mandela ceremony interpreter a ‘fake’ Thought for Today “You’re never as good as everyone JOHANNESBURG he sign-language interpreter on tells you when you win, and you’re stage at Nelson Mandela’s glob- never as bad as they say when you T ally broadcast memorial service — Lou Holtz was a faker who was just waving his lose.” arms around meaninglessly, advocates for the deaf said Wednesday. The unidentified man seen around Scripture of the Day the world on television next to lead- ers including United States President “Therefore the Lord himself shall Barack Obama “was moving his hands around but there was no meaning in give you a sign; Behold, a virgin what he used his hands for,” Bruno shall conceive, and bear a son, and Druchen, the federation’s national director, told The Associated Press. shall call his name Immanuel.” The allegation was yet another — Isaiah 7:14 example of bad organization at the historic memorial service Tuesday, which was marred by public trans- portation breakdowns that hindered Lake City Reporter AMANDA WILLIAMSON/Lake City Reporter HOW TO REACH US mourners from getting to the soccer Main number . .(386) 752-1293 BUSINESS stadium venue. In addition a faulty First Federal donates to district Fax number . .752-9400 Controller Sue Brannon. .754-0419 audio system made the remarks of Circulation . .755-5445 ([email protected]) world leaders inaudible for many. First Federal Savings Bank presented $1,000 to the Columbia County School Online .