1A SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2012 | YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1874 | $1.00 Lake City Reporter LAKECITYREPORTER.COM Gators hold Remembering SUNDAY EDITION on for big 9/11: An airman’s SEC win. 1B account of attack. 1D Rain’s silver lining: Fire danger zero igation specialist and public information on a regular basis. Drought a distant officer, said according to the U.S. Drought “This year it was like when they turned memory after 90 monitor, there is currently no drought in on the water tap, they turned off the tap Florida. that had us running on fires,” Wisner days of steady rains. Florida Forest Service data indicates said. there has been 35-50 inches of rainfall in According to information from the By TONY BRITT the area since June. Suwannee Forestry Center, during August [email protected] “That’s about 200 percent of our normal wildland firefighters only conducted sup- JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter rainfall,” he said. “Our (rainfall) deficit pression operations on a total of three Hundreds of acres of timber still remain Drought conditions that have plagued going into June was about 15 inches.” fires, which burned a total of 23 acres. flooded in North Florida, as seen in this the area for close to five or more years are A direct correlation to the excessive There was only one reported wildfire in aerial photo. Tropical summer rains erased a distant memory now that the area has rainfall is a reduction in the amount of for- Columbia County in August, which burned received an abundance of rainfall during est fire activity in the area. The peak of fire five acres. a drought deficit and the region’s surface the past 90 days. season usually ends in June or July, when fire danger. Kurt Wisner, Florida Forest Service mit- summer afternoon thundershowers occur RAIN continued on 7A No room for bullying LAURA HAMPSON/LAKE CITY REPORTER Photographer John Moran speaks Friday evening during the Our Water, Our Future presentation at Florida Gateway College. “Water is at the heart of the Florida experience,” he said. Water meeting outlines troubles facing springs Photographer says changes must be made. By LAURA HAMPSON [email protected] For a first-time visitor, North Florida’s springs are scenic retreats of cool, refreshing water hidden among native oaks and pines. However, for those who have long-studied the state’s natural gems, today’s Bellamy Beaver springs are mere shadows sandy environment. JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter of the vitality and beauty Moran illustrated the dif- David Milligan, Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputy and school resource officer at Lake City Middle School, discusses they once held. ference with a 1995 picture student-drawn posters with LCMS teacher Denise Nash. Nash teaches a personal and school development class More than 300 people of Devil’s Eye Spring at which touches on bullying. ‘This class will do the footwork to educate everybody about bullying,’ Nash said. Bullying gathered Friday night for Ichetucknee Springs State can include teasing, circulating rumors, hitting, kicking, social exclusion and cyber bullying in order to show dominance Our Water, Our Future, an Park and a more recent, yet over another person. educational, multi-media very different, photo from event in the Alfonso Levy the same spot. Comparing Performing Arts Center at the two is how people will Florida Gateway College. understand the damage Prevention key to curtail The event was sponsored already done, he said. by FGC and the Lake City/ Moran said his collection Columbia County Chamber of springs photography is growing, nationwide problem of Commerce. becoming “less a reflection Photographer John of the real Florida than a Twenty eight percent issues associated with bullying. offers a $2,000 grand prize. Moran displayed the beau- catalog of what once was.” At Lake City Middle School, School resource officers and ty and declining quality of “Folks, we need a new of students say they students are using T-shirts and a posters stress the different kinds springs with a slideshow way of thinking about water national video contest to spread the of bullying and what to do as a of images that drew gasps here in Florida,” he said. have been bullied. anti-bullying message. bystander and a victim, Nash said. from the crowd. Dr. Robert “If a foreign power did About 120 students in Teacher “We want them to feel there’s L. Knight, director of the what we have managed to By LAURA HAMPSON Denise Nash’s personal and school help available,” she said. H.T. Odum Florida Springs do to our water, we’d be up [email protected] development class designed T- Sometimes children don’t want Institute, explained the frag- in arms,” Moran said. shirts with a stop bullying mes- to get involved in other people’s ile science behind water “Water is at the heart of Nationwide, 28 percent of stu- sage. The winning design will be situations, she said. “We are trying resources. the Florida experience,” he dents in middle and high school unveiled soon with a flash mob dur- to get them past that,” Nash said. Moran began capturing said. “We must clean up experienced bullying, according to ing the school’s lunches, she said. “I think we are doing a pretty the pristine beauty of springs our water. It can be done,” a federal study. The goal is to give every stu- good job educating them about the and rivers more than 30 Moran said. “It can be very damaging to dent and staff member a shirt, different forms and stepping up,” years ago. “Pictures have a “Any water we pump and a child,” said Gloria Spivey, safe although the school is still looking Nash said. way of reaching people that use is less water for our school coordinator for the Columbia for a sponsor, she said. Richardson “We know it’s an issue. We know words can’t,” he said. springs,” said Knight, who County School District. Middle is also going to participate it’s there,” she said. Increased demand and is also a professor at the Florida law requires schools in the campaign, Nash said. Schools can teach bullying pre- pollution has turned once University of Florida. to teach bullying prevention and Students are also creating a 30 vention differently, such as with crystal-clear springs into Plants and animals Columbia County schools are step- to 60 second video that explains morning announcements, Spivey dark, murky pools, he said. depend on flows from the ping up to make sure students how kids can be more than just said. Bullying is mostly seen in Grass and vegetation that springs, which in turn are not faced with the negative a bystander for the national Stop once danced along the bot- physical, school and mental health Bullying Video Challenge, which BULLYING continued on 7A tom, is reduced to a brown, WATER continued on 7A Vol. 138, No. 163 Opinion . 4A CALL US: TODAY IN COMING (386) 752-1293 Business . 1C5A 9187 6468 Obituaries . 5A STATE TUESDAY SUBSCRIBE TO ChanceT-Storm of Chance T-Storms Obituaries . 6A THE REPORTER: Advice.Advice & . .Comics . .. 5D8B Obama on Local news Voice: 755-5445 Puzzles . 5D Fax: 752-9400 WEATHER, 2A8A Puzzles . 2B campaign trail. roundup. 2A 2A LAKE CITY REPORTER SUNDAY REPORT SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2012 Page Editor: Rick Burnham, 754-0424 Friday: Friday: Saturday: Saturday: Saturday: Saturday: 5-34-35-38 11 14-22-28-32-34 Afternoon: 2-5-9 Afternoon: 9-4-9-6 N/A N/A Evening: N/A Evening: N/A AROUND FLORIDA Gov. Scott plans tour of Florida schools TALLAHASSEE — Gov. back to shore. of keeping human remains Rick Scott will be touring Birchall says the shark in a rented storage unit in schools across Florida to left behind a tooth in the the Florida Panhandle. talk to teachers, students wound. Dr. Michael Berkland and parents about improv- St. Johns County Fire was arrested Friday on ing education. Rescue paramedics took charges of improper stor- The tour begins Monday. Birchall to a hospital where age of hazardous waste, Scott will visit different he had surgery to repair keeping a public nuisance schools each day next torn tendons. and driving with a suspend- week. ed license. He was released A blog about the tour from jail on $10,000 bail. will be posted online, at Sand covers Berkland’s attorney says http://www.flgov.com/edu- Panhandle park he’ll start preparing his cation . A student film crew defense next week. also will be shadowing the PENSACOLA BEACH More than 100 crudely governor. — Florida Panhandle offi- preserved brains, hearts Scott said Saturday that cials are still clearing mas- and lungs were discovered the tour will help generate sive piles of sand pushed in a Pensacola storage unit ideas “to strengthen our ashore by Hurricane Isaac last month. Authorities say education system to better over roads through Gulf the organs were kept in prepare students for col- Islands National Seashore. soda cups and plastic food lege and careers.” Officials had hoped containers. Last month, Scott to reopen the Pensacola The director of the medi- released television ads in Beach park this weekend. ASSOCIATED PRESS cal examiner’s office in which he said the state The sand cleared so far has Campaign stop Pensacola says about 10 created a canyon of sand 8 needs a better measure of President Barack Obama is silhouetted as he speaks during a campaign event at a campaign families have been notified student progress. He said to 10 feet high. that their relatives’ remains Park Superintendent Dan rally St.