Lake City News

After the Dec. 30 announcement from auto finance giant GMAC and its former parent General Motors to expand lending by putting monetary jumper cables on a financial engine that was conking out, some Lake City car dealers were approached for their perspectives Saturday morning.

A mother and baby manatee enjoy the relative warmth of water in the main spring at Manatee Springs State Park in Levy County on New Year’s Day. Located next to the Suwannee River downstream from Columbia County, the park is known as a refuge for the big mammals.

MILWAUKEE — Killings dropped by a third here last year, making Wisconsin’s largest city among the nation’s most successful in tackling its 2008 murder rate.

Law enforcement activity in Lake City and Columbia County during 2008 reflected protection and service to the general public by city, county and state police agencies.

Of 20 markets surveyed in Florida, only the Lake City-Live Oak market showed no change in median sales prices for single-family, existing homes in November 2008 compared with November 2007, according to a recent report published in North Florida Forecaster.

Two felony warrants and information about the location of the man for whom they were issued led police to burst into an apartment on Southeast Beech Street on Dec. 31, according to records.

A Lake City rezoning issue on the City Council agenda for final decision Monday night harkens back to a similar question that caused one developer to sue the city.

ST. PETERSBURG — Gov. Charlie Crist appointed Cuban-born lawyer Jorge Labarga to the Florida Supreme Court on Friday.

Florida’s minimum wage employees who were earning $6.79 per hour at the end of 2008, are now earning $7.21 per hour as of Jan. 1, thanks to a constitutional amendment Florida voters approved in 2004 that created a statewide minimum wage increase.

By JEFF M. HARDISON jhardison@lakecityreporter.com

Lake City Code Enforcement Officer Sandra Caslow and other city staff created revisions to help downtown business interests operate within the bounds of the law, while keeping outside seating for diners and certain displays.

Today starts 2009, which offers a chance to look toward the future while reflecting on the past 12 months.

MIAMI — Empty condominiums, stalled construction projects and thousands of families forced to leave their homes in a state hit hard by the housing bust was the top story of 2008, according to Florida newspaper editors.

Worsening budget shortfalls will prompt many state lawmakers to ask a basic question when they return to work in January: What must government provide its citizens?

Kelli Ronsonet searches through a wide selection of Champagnes and wines at the Food Line Supermarket Tuesday afternoon in preparation for New Year’s Day. JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter

The 2008 Fire Services Capital Loan financing proposal was awarded to low bidder Prosperity Bank for its 20-year 4.29 percent fixed rate loan.

The first event to start a year of Lake City celebrating 150 years as a metropolis is still open to all comers, but tickets to the banquet that night are no longer for sale.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel, under international pressure, is considering a 48-hour halt to its punishing four-day air campaign on Hamas targets in Gaza to see if Palestinian militants will stop their rocket attacks on southern Israel, Israeli officials said Tuesday.

A Shands Lake Shore Hospital facilities assessment report has identified more than $8 million worth of needed equipment and facility systems enhancements over the next 17 years to keep the hospital operating at an optimal level, the report says.

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Republican National Committee said Saturday he was “shocked and appalled” that one of his potential successors had sent committee members a CD this Christmas featuring a 2007 song called “Barack the Magic Negro.”