A1 + PLUS >> Potash, Agrium merger complete, Story below. NFL COLLEGE HOOPS Jags owner FSU survives backs Bortles in upset See Page 1B See Page 1B WEEKEND EDITION FRIDAY & SATURDAY, JANUARY 5 & 6, 2018 | YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1874 | $1.00 Lake City Reporter LAKECITYREPORTER.COM HOW THE HOMELESS FARED CCSO: Boy made to sleep THE BIG FREEZE outdoors Today SURVIVING AN ARCTIC BLAST Children’s art exhibit in freezing Gateway Art Gallery Some find money invites the community to a for a motel, others reception honoring young temps artists from 5:30 to 7 p.m. just tough it out. The reception will be held CCSO: Mom kicked at the gallery, 168 N. Marion By CARL MCKINNEY 15-year-old out in Ave., Lake City. There will [email protected] 26-degree weather. be light snacks and bever- ages for all attending. Free Michael Woods felt the From staff reports admission. sting of the icicles forming on his clothes Wednesday A Lake City woman, Dinner and dancing afternoon and told himself arrested Wednesday night, Dances are held each to hurry up. faces child neglect charges Friday night from 7 to 10 p.m. He needed to raise $55 after she at The Lifestyle Enrichment dollars before dark for an kicked her Center, 628 SE Allison Court overnight motel room to 15-year-old (behind Baya Pharmacy). $7 escape the cold. So he did son out of admission includes pot luck what many homeless peo- their apart- dinner and music by a pro- ple in Lake City do when ment and fessional DJ. All proceeds they need quick money and the child benefit the center. Call 386- went to Walmart. slept out- Price 755-0235 for more. “I’ll beg, bum, I’ll ask doors — somebody for a job if they’ve under a stairwell — in freez- Singer-songwriter showcase got some work,” he said. ing temperatures Tuesday A gathering featuring local A hard freeze warning night, Lake City Police songwriters will take place went into effect Wednesday Department reports said. at The Emerald Thread night — which had a low Cynthia Rene Price, 36, Listening Room, located at of about 20 degrees — and 3045 SW Windsong Circle, the Downtown Arts Center, lasted until Friday. was charged with child 537 N. Marion Ave., Lake Woods, 55, had been neglect without great harm. City. There is no cover for waiting out Winter Storm She was booked into the the event, but tips for per- Grayson at the Cypress Inn Columbia County Detention formers are appreciated. on West U.S. Highway 90. Center on $5,000 bond. She Doors open for coffee and He has a seasonal job as has since been released. refreshments at 7:30 p.m. a ride operator with a trav- According to police Music starts at 8 p.m. The eling carnival. reports, on Wednesday, an evening will feature song- When the carnival closes officer was dispatched to writers Austin Miller, Kyle for winter, most employees check into a juvenile com- Keller and Rachel Grubb. live on company property plaint and spoke to the in Virginia and get paid $20 child. Saturday a day to get rides ready for The boy told authorities the next year, he said. that he and his mother Farmers market Woods passed on the argued about a cellphone The Lake DeSoto Farmers offer. Instead, he came to and his mother put all his Market is open every Lake City in September or belongings outside their Saturday in the parking lot October with his Belgian at Marion Avenue and Duval shepherd, Sarge. TEEN continued on 3A Street, across from the He has a young daugh- Courthouse Annex. Hours ter in the area, where he’s are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visitors lived off-and-on for about will find vegetables, dairy five years. Potash, products, eggs and baked “I come here when I’m goods. In most cases, pro- out of work,” he said. duce is locally grown in When Winter Storm Agrium small gardens with no pesti- Grayson showered Lake cides or chemical fertilizers. City with ice Wednesday, now one: For more, call 386-719-5766 Woods was wishing he’d or visit market.lcfla.com. stayed in Virginia. Nutrien “It’s way too cold,” he ‘Iche Nippy Dip Day’ said. From staff reports Photos by CARL MCKINNEY/Lake City Reporter Residents and visi- On most nights, Woods TOP: A mattress and blanket lie abandoned on the freezing ground The merger of Potash tors alike can kick off the sets up his sleeping bag behind Walmart, where homeless people frequently set up tents, Corporation of Saskatchewan new year with a dip in the on the patio of a restaurant though most have left for warmer shelter to wait out the cold front. and Agrium is now complete. headspring of Ichetucknee on that recently went out The new company is called CENTER: A tent sits empty, after the occupant either left it to seek Springs during the annual of business. The electricity Nutrien Ltd. food from a nearby outreach center or went out seeking a more “Iche Nippy Dip Day.” First While both companies COLD continued on 3A weather-worthy place to stay. BOTTOM: A fire pit near the camp. dip is at 10 a.m. There will are Canadian-based agri- be a campfire, s’mores, hot cultural nutrient providers chocolate and Branford’s focused on feeding the Relay for Life team, the County delays action on architect world, the merger of PCS Buccaneers, will hold a chili and Agrium to form Nutrien cook-off from 11 a.m. to 1 By CARL MCKINNEY which chose “[I’m] trying to figure out who is will bring synergies that p.m. (or until all the chili is [email protected] to delay action doing what, when they’re going to will make Nutrien a leader gone). Donations will ben- until the next do it, and what it’s going to cost us,” in global agriculture, a com- efit Friends of Ichetucknee It’s a little too early to approve a meeting after DePratter said. pany spokesperson said. Springs and Relay for Life. $2.2 million architectural contract Commissioner County Attorney Joel Foreman, Nutrien now has “the larg- Admission is free with reg- for the project to build a new county Rusty DePratter who agreed to research the matter est crop nutrient production ular park admission. For jail, the County Commission decid- expressed con- for the board, said after the meeting portfolio combined with an more, call 386-497-4690 or ed Thursday. DePratter cerns over the that the questions pertain to minor unparalleled global retail visit www.floridastatepark. An agreement with Dewberry timeline, scope of org. Architects went before the board, work and price tag. COUNTY continued on 2A MERGER continued on 3A Vol. 143, No. 200 CALL US: TODAY’S WEATHER Opinion . 4A (386) 752-1293 Faith & Values . 5-6A FAITH AND VALUES SUBSCRIBE TO TV guide . 2B THE REPORTER: 41 23 Holding dead weight in our hearts, 5A. Voice: 755-5445 Mostly sunny, 2A Advice & Comics . 3-4B Fax: 752-9400 2A FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 2018 FLORIDA BRIEFING LAKE CITY REPORTER STATE POLITICS QUICK HITS Scripture of the Day “For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” Five legal issues — Psalm 1:6 (KJV) Thought for Today It’s easier to resist at the beginning than at the end. to watch in 2018 — Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Italian artist and inventor By JIM SAUNDERS FIRST AMENDMENT 100.” But the Florida amendment by passing a The News Service of Florida Supreme Court will hear measure that bars smok- Each year, the U.S. arguments Feb. 7 in an ing medical marijuana. A Winning Lottery Numbers TALLAHASSEE — Supreme Court receives appeal by Dante Martin, a Leon County circuit judge Pick 3: (Wednesday p.m.) 6-7-0 From the U.S. Supreme 7,000 to 8,000 appeals and band member who was sent is scheduled to hear argu- Pick 4: (Wednesday p.m.) 3-8-0-7 Court in Washington to a agrees to hear roughly 80 to prison in Champion’s ments Jan. 25 about wheth- Fantasy 5: (Wednesday) 6-9-13-16-23 Tallahassee courthouse, cases. But Palm Beach death. Martin, who was er she should dismiss Florida’s high-profile legal County government critic found guilty of manslaugh- Morgan’s lawsuit. Other battles in 2018 will focus on Fane Lozman beat those ter, felony hazing resulting pending cases involve See an error? issues ranging from a water long odds, as the Supreme in death and two counts of issues such as the constitu- The Lake City Reporter corrects errors of fact in news war to medical marijuana. Court will hear argu- misdemeanor hazing, con- tionality of a law that calls items. If you have a concern, question, or suggestion, With thousands of law- ments Feb. 27 in a First tends the state’s hazing for issuing a highly covet- please call the editor. Corrections and clarications will suits moving through Amendment case that law is unconstitutional, at ed marijuana license to a run in this space. Thanks for reading. state and federal courts, stems from least in part black farmer. Another case it’s impossible to list — or Lozman’s because challenges the constitution- foresee — all the major arrest as More than a year it is over- ality of a preference for the legal disputes that that he spoke ly broad. citrus industry in awarding Submissions later, legal battles The Lake City Reporter accepts photographs and caption will play out in the new during a continue about Champion marijuana licenses.