Medical Marijuana New Market for Bank
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A3 SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2019 | YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1874 | $2 Lake City Reporter LAKECITYREPORTER.COM >> SUNDAY + PLUS Hold your COOL tongue with TIGERS RIDES AT telephone POST 57 scam artists CRUISE 1D 6A TASTE BUDDIES Opinion/4A SPORTS/1B LOCAL TRUCK HOLDUP BUSINESS Eli and Conan Burke, ages 5 and 6, hold up a pickup truck with their amaz- ing strength. They don’t really have superpowers, Medical but the Kiwanis Kids Day at the Columbia County Fairgrounds on Saturday morning let them pretend marijuana they did. More photos, 3A. new market Right on INMATES GET COLLEGE DEGREES cue, gas for bank First Federal looks to add stability to a tax talk legal but mostly cash-based industry. By CARL MCKINNEY surfaces [email protected] Marijuana is expected to become a $21 bil- Always a topic this lion industry in Florida in the coming years, time of year at BOCC; and a Lake City-based bank is capitalizing on never gains traction. the coming green rush. First Federal Bank, found- By CARL MCKINNEY ed in Live Oak and now [email protected] headquartered in Columbia County, started doing busi- While Columbia County ness with the cannabis sec- commissioners say they tor in January. The bank is remain committed to cut- one of about 400 institutions ting prop- Medina in the country that does erty taxes business with the marijuana this coming market as a whole, and one of about 60 that budget cycle, deals directly with producers and retailers a proposal of legalized medical cannabis, said First to raise gas Federal President John Medina. taxes has “This industry is still very much in the Williams resurfaced infancy stage,” Medina said. right on cue The decision to enter the marijuana indus- — though the idea appears to try came around the same time Medina be dead in the water for now. took on his current position, but there was a As is usually the case when lengthy research process beforehand. the county moves through the “We finally felt that not only was there a budget process for the upcom- need in the marketplace, but that we could TAXES continued on 2A BANK continued on 3A Photos by MICHAEL PHILIPS/Lake City Reporter Inmate John Wise, who was chosen to be the student speaker, hugs his grandmother Shirley Wise after receiving his diploma on Friday at Columbia Texting Correctional Institution. BOTTOM: Graduates file in before the ceremony. Social Security law gets scam has local the OK State partners with FGC 48 prisoners graduated with folks fretting By BRENDAN FARRINGTON associate’s degrees on Friday. Associated Press By CARL MCKINNEY By MICHAEL PHILIPS [email protected] TALLAHASSEE — Florida [email protected] will become one of the last Philip Crenshaw could smell the bovine states to make texting while Over the past several years, the U.S., Florida droppings immediately, though he used driving a primary traffic in particular, has done some soul searching in different words. offense under a bill signed by regard to how it treats its ex-felons. The recorded voice purported to be from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis Yeah, they did the crime, but they also did the Social Security Administration, and it on Friday. the time. What’s next? was urgent. Crenshaw’s Social Security The new law will also ban Many can’t find gainful employment. And account was put on hold, the caller said, the use of any handheld wire- most of the jobs they can get are of the and he needed to — less communications devices in low-paying, dead-end sort, making it hard Click. school and construction zones. for those released to make real efforts to “Oh yeah, you’re full of s***,” Crenshaw TEXTING continued on 3A INMATES continued on 2A SCAM continued on 5A Vol. 145, No. 47 CALL US: TODAY’S WEATHER Opinion . 4A (386) 752-1293 Sports . 1B TOP HONORS SUBSCRIBE TO Puzzles . 2-3B THE REPORTER: 89 67 Community Hospice recognized, 1C Voice: 755-5445 Life . 1D Fax: 752-9400 Partly cloudy, 2A Our Cleaning Solution Is Cleaner Carpet Cleaning Special and Safer for You and Your Pets. CARPET | TILE & GROUT | HARDWOOD | UPHOLSTERY 3 ROOMS ONLY 386-755-1992 $99 PROMO CODE: PET Cleaning Completed by 5/31/19. Must present coupon at time of cleaning. Residential only; cannot be used for water restoration services. Must present promo code at time of service. Valid at participating locations only. Combined living areas, Must meet minimum charge, residential only. L-shaped rooms and rooms over 300 sq. ft. are considered 2 areas. Baths, halls, large walk-in closets and area rugs are priced separately. Offer does not include protector. 2A SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2019 LOCAL LAKE CITY REPORTER CCI inmates earn FGC degrees QUICK HITS Scripture of the Day INMATES “For the day of the Lord is near upon all the Continued From 1A heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine rejoin society. It also causes strained relationships with own head.” — Obadiah 1:15 (KJV) those closest to them. This often leads to Thought for Today recidivism. Of the inmates released from a Florida pris- A tomb now suffices him for whom the whole on, 33% will return with- world was not sufficient. in three years. That figure — Alexander the Great, 356 BC - 323 BC, jumps to 65% after five Macedonian military genius years. According to a 2013 RAND Corp. study, incarcer- Winning Lottery Numbers ated individuals who partic- Pick 3: (Friday p.m.) 6-1-1 ipated in correctional edu- Pick 4: (Friday p.m.) 2-7-4-6 cation were 43% less likely Fantasy 5: (Friday) 5-7-8-24-27 to return to prison within three years than prisoners who did not participate. See an error? Armed with this study, The Lake City Reporter corrects errors of fact in news items. If you have a concern, question, or suggestion, in 2015, then-President MICHAEL PHILIPS/Lake City Reporter Barack Obama introduced Secretary of Corrections Mark S. Inch addreses inmates during a graduation cere- please call the editor. Corrections and clarifications will the Second Chance Pell mony at Columbia Correctional Institution on Friday. run in this space. Thanks for reading. Pilot Program to allow incarcerated Americans to technology degree. John Wise, who is serv- to thank the Department receive Pell Grants and pur- Not only was the grad- ing 22 years for second-de- of Corrections and Florida Submissions The Lake City Reporter accepts photographs and caption sue a postsecondary educa- uation rate stellar, the gree murder, earned an AA Gateway College and the information to run at the discretion of the editor. If you would tion with the goal of helping inmates’ grades were as with highest praise. He was “amazing professors” for like to see your organization in the newspaper, send the picture them get jobs, support their well. As Secretary of the chosen to be the student making this happen. and information to [email protected]. families, and turn their lives Department of Corrections speaker and talked about After speaking to report- around. Mark S. Inch said during time missed with families ers, Wise joined the rest In June 2016, Florida his commencement while locked up, of the of the graduates and their Gateway College was one address, “The GPAs were hardships endured, and of families for some cake and Lake City Reporter of 67 postsecondary institu- off the charts,” as 45 gradu- why some of the inmates punch. Wise’s grandma and HOW TO REACH US BUSINESS ........... 754-0419 Main number ....... (386) 752-1293 tions chosen to participate ated magna or summa cum chose to pursue a degree. mom would soon have to say CIRCULATION in the pilot program, with laude (with great or highest “We want our families to goodbye to him until the next Fax number ............ 752-9400 Circulation............. 755-5445 Home delivery of the Lake City Reporter 50 inmates at Columbia praise). be proud of us. We want time they can visit. And Wise Online .... www.lakecityreporter.com should be completed by 6:30 a.m. Correctional Institution Terrell Blount, of the to be the fathers our kids would soon return to his cell, The Lake City Reporter, an affiliate Tuesday through Friday, and by 7:30 a.m. on Sunday. selected for inclusion. VERA Institute of Justice, need and the fathers they and the rest of the day would of Community Newspapers Inc., is published Tuesday through Friday and Please call 386-755-5445 to report any Inmates were chosen based told the graduates bluntly deserve,” Wise said. proceed like any other 24 Sunday at 180 E. Duval St., Lake City, problems with your delivery service. FL 32055. Periodical postage paid at on their release date, skill that many people believe After the ceremony, Wise hours in prison. But he now Lake City, FL, Member Audit Bureau of In Columbia County, customers should sets and interest. they “don’t deserve” the told reporters what he was feels like he has a future, if Circulation and The Associated Press. call before 10:30 a.m. to report a Classes began in the right to earn a degree. feeling. he’s allowed to pursue it. All material herein is property of the service error for same day re-delivery. Lake City Reporter. Reproduction in After 10:30 a.m., next day re-delivery spring of 2017, culminating But he encouraged them “I’m on top of the world. “You have done your whole or in part is forbidden without or service related credits will be issued.