SATURDAY/SUNDAY, MARCH 13-14, 2021 | YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1874 | $2 WEEKEND EDITION Lake City Reporter LAKECITYREPORTER.COM + >> PREP SOFTBALL COLLEGE SUNDAY PLUS BASKETBALL FPL files CHS shows Florida falls proposal for improvement to Tennessee base rate in loss to in SEC Gainesville tournament 6C hikes Sean of the South SEE 2A SEE 1B SEE 1B Head over heels for the rodeo COURTESY Florida Gateway College President Larry Barrett speaks Friday at the groundbreaking ceremony for the college’s new STEM building. FGC breaks ground on STEM project Construction on Wearing white hard $12.8M building hats, and using gold shov- to begin Monday. els with white handles, a contingent of college sup- porters, including State By TONY BRITT Rep. Chuck Brannan [email protected] and other FGC Board of Trustee members, as well With the ceremonial as representatives from tossing of a few shovels the City of Lake City and of dirt, Florida Gateway the building’s construc- College officials turned to tion and architectural the next phase of the col- firms tossed the soil to lege’s future: the addition officially begin the project. of the first new building on The $12.8 million proj- campus in a decade. ect is funded by a combi- FGC officials held a nation of state funds and groundbreaking ceremo- donations through the ny Friday morning for Foundation for Florida the school’s new STEM Gateway College. (Science Technology State funding alloca- RAY CARPENTER/Special to the Reporter Engineering and Math) A cowboy attempts to hold on and not fall head over heels during bronc riding Friday night at the Florida Gateway building. FGC continued on 6A Fairgrounds as the 27th annual Florida Gateway Pro Rodeo began. The rodeo continues through Sunday. Council tweaking utility advisory committee again Crapps proposed of selecting, evaluating and Columbia County School and Daniel Crapps. county representatives. with Crapps now added as as group’s outside recommending city utility Board Administrative Mayor Stephen Witt will The makeup of the board an outside business repre- projects, is again changing Complex Auditorium, 372 serve as the ex-officio mem- was proposed as two city sentative. business rep. its formation, after undergo- W. Duval Street. ber of the advisory board. council members, two coun- Under the new resolu- ing several iterations during The resolution proposes In early December the ty commissioners, the city tion, the utility committee By TONY BRITT the past few months. that the city’s utility adviso- city’s utility advisory com- manager, the county man- members’ terms will expire [email protected] The proposed new util- ry committee be composed mittee held its first meeting ager, the county economic midnight on March 1, 2023. ity advisory committee of council members Chris in close to two years. The development director and In other business, the The one constant about appointments are being Greene, as the chairperson, city, which was interested the city utility director. council: Lake City’s utility advisory announced through a new and Todd Sampson. in having a joint city-county However, that iteration of n Is scheduled to hear committee is it’s constanty city resolution which will Non-council members utility advisory committee, the group never met. a presentation from Fred changing. be read during the 6 p.m. will be Paul Dyal, the changed the formation of the At the previous council Handy regarding the use The committee, which City of Lake City council city’s utilities director, City advisory board in January meeting, it settled on the is the braintrust in charge meeting Monday at the Manager Joe Helfenberger by offering two spots for current committee makeup COUNCIL continued on 6A You’re On A Roll Take on project after project with a Home Equity Line of Credit Introductory rate for the first 12 months Current variable rates as low as After introductory period Apply Online at RadiantCU.org *Offer valid as of 3/1/2021 and is a limited time offer that may be canceled at any time without notice. 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Vol. 146, No. 253 CALL US: TODAY’S WEATHER Opinion . 4A (386) 752-1293 Obituaries . 5A SUBSCRIBE TO 82 54 Sports . 1B THE REPORTER: Classifieds . 3B-4B Voice: 755-5445 Fax: 752-9400 Partly cloudy, 2A Business . 1C 2A SATURDAY/SUNDAY, MARCH 13-14, 2021 LOCAL LAKE CITY REPORTER QUICK HITS CCSO: Shopping spree Scripture of the Day “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be backed by stolen checks partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” — 2 Peter 1:4 (KJV) O’Brien man that checks were used from obtained video footage of the ed on an unrelated charge their account. The victim purchase, according to the of grand theft auto after a arrested earlier said they report. Officers were able to CCSO officer noticed Paul for stolen vehicle. observed identify Paul by matching up was driving a vehicle that a $100 pay- the tattoos of the customer matched the description of Thought for Today Staff report ment to in the surveillance footage, a stolen blue-green Saturn. Fortune favors the prepared mind. AT&T on who was seen buying, among Officers confiscated Paul’s — Louis Pasteur, 1822-1895, French scientist An O’Brien man who was Feb.1 that other items, a cell phone. phone at the time of his recently arrested is now fac- they didn’t Investigators also noticed arrest. The CCSO later con- ing more charges. Paul authorize, that the Walmart receipts firmed the cell phone on According to a Columbia followed showed the customer pre- Paul’s person matched seri- Winning Lottery Numbers County Sheriff’s Office by a $1,000 check cashed sented a drivers license on al numbers with the phone Pick 3: (Thursday p.m.) 1-1-3 report, Jason Lee Paul, 25, through Discover Bank and both checks that belonged purchased at Walmart on Pick 4: (Thursday p.m.) 4-4-1-2 is facing an even stronger two charges totaling $674.66 to a third party. That per- the security footage. Fantasy 5: (Thursday) 15-17-22-29-33 case against him after offi- at the Lake City Walmart. son confirmed to authori- In addition to Paul’s cers say he used stolen The victim also said items ties that they never gave charges of grand theft auto See an error? identities for purchases and missing from their storage permission to anyone to and driving while license The Lake City Reporter corrects errors of fact in news bank withdrawals. unit totaled around $130 use their ID. Paul was also suspended, he’s now being items. If you have a concern, question, or suggestion, On Feb. 19, a victim and included some pocket found to be in possession charged with two counts please call the editor. Corrections and clarifications will claimed their storage unit knives and an old computer. of credit cards and IDs each of forgery, uttering run in this space. Thanks for reading. was burglarized around The charges at Walmart from multiple other people, forged bills and criminal Feb. 8. The victim said they were able to be traced to according to the report. use of personal identifica- Submissions didn’t know exactly what Paul, who was arrested Earlier this month, on tion information, and one The Lake City Reporter accepts photographs and caption was missing at the time but Thursday, after officers March 2, Paul was arrest- count of petit theft. information to run at the discretion of the editor. If you would like to see your organization in the newspaper, send the picture and information to [email protected]. Lake City Reporter High speed chase leads to arrest HOW TO REACH US ADVERTISING Main number .......(386) 752-1293 Director Chris Ratliff ting into the emergency fic for another 10 miles. cle. The report states that the Fax number ............752-9400 (386) 754-0417 Cops: Man topped 110 Circulation.............755-5445 ([email protected]) lane where he continued at The report states Bernier driver’s speeds on the bike Online ....www.lakecityreporter.com mph, hit power pole CLASSIFIED such speeds. then pulled a U-turn and path caused the SUV to get The Lake City Reporter, an affiliate before stopping. of Community Newspapers Inc., Kym Harrison This continued for rough- drove back in the correct airborne after traveling over is published Tuesday through (386) 755-5440 Staff report Saturday/Sunday at 180 E. Duval ([email protected]) ly 10 miles before Bernier southbound lanes, exceed- some of its bumps before St., Lake City, FL 32055. Periodical suddenly ing 100 mph toward the finally getting back on the postage paid at Lake City, Florida, BUSINESS OFFICE Member of The Associated Press Vickie Busscher A high speed chase into braked and Ellisville exit at mile mark- road and continuing east.