A4 + PLUS >> Man jailed twice in one day, Story below PREVIEW FREE MAGAZINE Oaken Bucket Stay healthy, on tap tonight feel great See Page 1B Inside today’s paper WEEKEND EDITION FRIDAY & SATURDAY, AUGUST 31 & SEPTEMBER 1, 2018 | YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1874 | $1.00 Lake City Reporter LAKECITYREPORTER.COM BLANCHE PROJECT FWHS Teacher Utilities standoff put on Saturday SongFarmers leave The September Gathering won’t be resolved of the SongFarmers of the Suwannee River Valley will be Saturday, September for texts 1, 7-9 p.m., at St. James Episcopal Church, 2423 SW Possible ‘inappropriate’ Bascom Norris Drive, Lake City, Florida 32025. Acoustic messages investigated. jam style format. Musicians, friends and families wel- By CARL MCKINNEY come. No charge. For addi- [email protected] tional information, contact Skip Johns at 386-344-2906 A teacher at Fort White or visit the Suwannee Valley Middle-High School has been SongFarmers Facebook placed on suspension while page at https://www.face- school officials investigate book.com/songfarmersoft- potentially inappropriate text hesuwanneerivervalley/ messages with a student. Columbia County Arts & Crafts Superintendent Lex Carswell The second annual offered few details Thursday Fort White Arts & Crafts afternoon, saying the district’s Festival, with over 100 ven- probe is ongoing and school dors, food, and live music, officials do not believe the will take place Saturday, alleged conduct rises to a crimi- Sept. 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 nal level. Carswell said he could p.m. Free admission, free not publicly confirm the name parking and free kids zone. of the teacher, who teaches The festival is hosted by the at the high-school level in the Fort White Area Chamber of Commerce. Fort White TEXTS continued on 2A Community Center, 17579 FL-47, Fort White. Do you want to rumba? The 2018 fall rumba sea- Two arrests Photos by CARL MCKINNEY/Lake City Reporter son begins on Saturday start- Jacob Bonds, left, and Ben Smollack install pipes for second-floor plumbing at the Blanche Hotel. The Blanche ing at 7 p.m. on the outdoor will probably have to make do with above-ground utilities along Columbia Avenue after the developer in one day stage at Rum 138, located at backed off from trying to get the city to foot the bill for burying power, phone, cable and fiber optic lines. 2070 Southwest County Road for LC man 138 in Fort White. Rumba presents In the Moment as By COREY ARWOOD the host band for this sea- IDP changes story [email protected] son’s kickoff. Bring your instruments and chairs and A Lake City man was arrest- join the party on the deck on verbal contract ed twice in one day for burglary for fabulous music, food and and aggravated assault when he wine slushies and beer. No By CARL MCKINNEY flashed a gun and threatened coolers. Admission is free. [email protected] family mem- bers of the per- Baseball signups The developer behind the Blanche Hotel ren- son whose car Early registration for Fort ovation project has backed off from its claim he had alleged- White Babe Ruth Baseball that the former city manager made a behind-the- ly broken into will be from 10 a.m. to 2 scenes promise to foot the $300,000-plus bill for earlier, law p.m. on Saturday at South burying utility lines along Columbia Avenue. enforcement Columbia Sports Park. Save During a private sit-down last week with said. Dortly $5 by registering early. $50 Valdosta-based Integrity Development Partners, Christopher on Sept. 1, $55 all other days. city officials stood their ground against the valid- Brandon Dortly, 32, of NE Oak Space is limited. First come ity of any handshake agreement from the previ- Forest Glen, was booked into first served. Please see ous administration. IDP’s marketing and oper- Columbia County Detention www.fwbrb.com for details. BLANCHE continued on 2A IDP rep Decker on the grand staircase Thursday. ARRESTS continued on 2A Vol. 143, No. 370 Obituaries . 3A CALL US: TODAY’S WEATHER (386) 752-1293 Opinion . 4A Faith & Values . 5-6A FAITH AND VALUES SUBSCRIBE TO Gay Conversion Therapy and AB 2943, 5A THE REPORTER: 90 70 TV guide . 2B Voice: 755-5445 Chance of storms, 2A Advice & Comics . 3-4B Fax: 752-9400 Thank You for your trust and confidence! FREE CONSULTATION 386-752-5222 153 NE Madison St. Across from Courthouse 2A FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2018 D AILY BRIEFING LAKE CITY REPORTER city would honor the exist- work was dropped from anyway, he added, holding BLANCHE ing contracts to the best of the November agree- his thumb and index finger QUICK HITS Continued From 1A our ability,” he said. ment because that por- about two inches apart. He suggested IDP look tion of the project did After taking office, Scripture of the Day ations director, Dennille for additional investors or not get funded through a Helfenberger said he Decker, now blames the apply for a state grant if it Community Development asked City Attorney Fred “And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he dispute on a “miscommu- needs more cash for the Block Grant. Koberlein to look into the said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, nication.” work. When Johnson told IDP it city’s obligations in the I Am hath sent me unto you.” Newly hired City “Because the city didn’t would be covered anyway, it Blanche deal. They found — Exodus 3:14 (KJV) Manager Joe Helfenberger have additional money, was before he learned the no commitment for work on and other officials met with especially in light of our grant only included funding Columbia Avenue, putting a IDP to hash out the city’s budget,” Helfenberger said. for the Veterans Street por- stop to the plan. Thought for Today obligations under a deal it The city has numerous tion, Decker said. Decker said IDP can’t add Sculpture is the best comment that a painter can made with the company last other priorities to address, “I believe that his inten- investors, as Helfenberger make on painting. year. Helfenberger told IDP, tions were to do it, but then suggested, because it — Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish artist The city has to bury including costly repairs to the funding didn’t come already signed a tax cred- power, telephone, fiber structural issues at City through,” she said. it agreement outlining the optic and cable lines on Hall estimated to run as But the city’s utilities structure of the deal. Veterans Street, according high as $1 million. chief, Steve Roberts, pre- At this point in the proj- Winning Lottery Numbers Pick 3: (Wednesday p.m.) 2-4-1 to a November contract “With the City Hall viously told the Lake City ect, a state grant is unlikely, Pick 4: (Wednesday p.m.) 9-4-8-6 with IDP. expenses looming over us Reporter that Johnson gave she said. Fantasy 5: (Wednesday) 6-16-17-19-27 The contract says noth- and the other obligations him “marching orders” to IDP is meeting with mul- ing about Columbia Avenue. the city has, there’s no include Columbia Avenue tiple utility companies next Decker previously asserted money for anything beyond in the cost estimate for the week to get an estimate for See an error? that former City Manager providing our current, exist- utilities work — after the the work, Decker said. But The Lake City Reporter corrects errors of fact in news Wendell Johnson made a ing services,” she said. November agreement was the company doesn’t expect items. If you have a concern, question, or suggestion, verbal agreement with IDP Decker was one of four signed. the price tag to be feasi- please call the editor. Corrections and clarifications will to cover it anyway. IDP representatives at the “He said, ‘all this goes ble and is prepared to leave run in this space. Thanks for reading. The November con- meeting. underground,’” Roberts utilities above ground on tract explicitly forbids “It was really positive,” said. “That’s the instruc- Columbia Avenue. unwritten outside agree- she said. “He gave us his tions I got.” “We still feel like the ments, Helfenberger said support on the project, but Initial estimates put the $300,000 number is high,” Submissions previously. There are unfortunately, the city just all the utilities work at she said. “I think we’ll just The Lake City Reporter accepts photographs and caption information to run at the discretion of the editor. If you would multiple contracts gov- doesn’t have the money.” $750,000, but the price tag have to leave it the way it like to see your organization in the newspaper, send the picture erning the Blanche deal Decker now says there later went down to $529,000 is.” and information to Associate Editor Steve Wilson at — none of which include was a “miscommunication” — more than $300,000 of Johnson could not be [email protected]. Columbia Avenue utili- between IDP and the city which was for Columbia reached for comment. ties work, according to due in part to Johnson’s Avenue. As part of the November the city. retirement. “We realized from talking agreement, the Lake City Lake City Reporter Last week, Helfenberger Decker, who joined IDP to those engineers we didn’t Council gave IDP $1 million HOW TO REACH US BUSINESS.............. 754-0419 told IDP that the city would at the start of August, the have the money,” Roberts and an unsecured, inter- Main number ........ (386) 752-1293 CIRCULATION fulfill its written obligations. same time Helfenberger said.