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March 15, 2005 -. _.C
Lake City, Florida


Mayor's race tightens; Bowden qualifes
Those without To qualify by petition qualify to run for the office work required of all candi- James L. "Skipper" Hair II,
petitions must pay the method, those intending to must now pay a fee of dates, such as a statement of Margaret Wuest and Debbi
 run for the office had to get at $1034.34 (6 percent of the financial interest and loyalty Myer Friedman.
registration fee. least 292 cards signed by reg- salary for mayor) next week oath. In order to qualify next
 l d -+ is.-., xa th ffin] i lif ina Citv Clerk Audrev Sikes week each will have to pay


By JUSTIN LANG
jlang@lakecityreporter.com
 Only one hopeful candidate
for Mayor of Lake City turned
in petition cards by the Friday
deadline as a way to qualify to
run in the May 10 special elec-
tion.


sIere U voteL Wrs within city lm-
its.
 But when it came time to
turn in the cards Friday,
Glenel Bowden was the only
person to do so, taking 305 to
the Columbia County
Supervisor of Elections Office
for validation.
 Anyone else who wants to


UU nlg iLie o ca iit quail ying
period, which runs from noon
Monday to noon Friday
(March 21-25).
 To officially be included on
the May 10 ballot, Bowden
will have to turn in his valida-
tion certificate from the elec-
tions office to the City Clerk
next week along with paper-


said as of Monday three other
people in addition to Bowden
have turned in a "statement of
candidate," announcing their
intent to run and have opened
campaign treasury accounts,
as well as assigned a cam-
paign treasurer.
 They include city residents


the qualifying fee out of their
campaign treasury accounts,
as the fee cannot be paid from
a personal account.
 However, a person can con-
tribute unlimited funds from
 MAYOR
 Continued on Page 9A


Sink


No. 5


opens


Another sinkhole found
near troubled site
along Pinemount Road.


'Envirothon'



to challenge



local students


The competition tests
knowledge of the
environment.
By ASHLEY CISNEROS
acisneros@lakecityreporter.com
 WHITE SPRINGS -
Students from across north
Florida will meet at Stephen
Foster Folk Culture Center
State Park Thursday to test
their knowledge on environ-
mental subjects.
 The Santa Fe Soil and
Water Conservation District
and the Regional Envirothon
Steering Committee will host
the Suwannee Regional
Envirothon at the park at 9
a.m., Thursday.
 Students in grades nine
through 12 from counties
including Suwannee,


Columbia and Madison will
test their knowledge on sub-
jects including soils, wildlife,
aquatics, current environmen-
tal issues and forestry.
 "Some of the tests are writ-
ten and some are hands-on,"
said Bernice Brickles, region-
al Envirothon coordinator.
"The students will also eat
lunch at the park before
awards are given out."
 The students are active in
environmental clubs on cam-.
pus.
 The competition has been
going on for more than 10
years.
 Students who win at the
regional level may have the
opportunity to compete at
the Florida Envirothon in
Tampa on April 2 at
Hillsborough River State
Park.


Lawmakers propose
new law protecting
disabled woman.
By SAMANTHA GROSS
Associated Press Writer
 TALLAHASSEE -
Lawmakers proposed a meas-
ure Monday that would block
doctors from .denying food or
water to someone in a persist-
ent vegetative state with the
intention of causing death,
setting the stage to prevent


the removal of Terri Schiavo's
feeding tube on Friday.
 The House Judiciary
Committee voted 8-3 approv-
ing the new measure, which
would make exceptions for liv-
ing wills and' specific verbal
instructions. The bills, if put
on an expedited path, could
come up for final votes in the
House and Senate as early as
Thursday.
 Schiavo, 41, is severely
 SCHIAVO
 Continued on Page 9A


How?


 ASSOCIATED PRESS
Murder suspect Brian Nichols is led away by federal agents following his capture
Saturday. Nichols is accused of overpowering a courthouse escort officer, and killing
a judge, another officer and a court clerk during a rampage Friday morning in Atlanta.
Officials now are trying to answer the big question: How did this happen?


Atlanta officials try to calculate

what went wrong with security


Review of s(
tapes shows
agonizing ev
By DANIEL YEE
Associated Press V
 ATLANTA
deputy, a


purityy woman just 5 feet tall, was
 simply no match for the
 inmate she was escorting
mentS. to the courtroom, a 6-foot-i,
 200-pound former college
 linebacker on trial for rape.
Writer Authorities. say Brian
 Nichols overpowered
 The deputy Cynthia Hall, took
 51-year-old her gun, and easily gained


access to the courtroom,
where he went on to kill the
judge and a court reporter.
Security cameras captured
images of him overpower-
ing the deputy, but no one,
it turned out, was watching
 SECURITY
 Continued on Page 9A


By JASMINE RANGEL
jrangel@lakecityreporter. corn
 Another sinkhole has
opened along Pinemount
Road, raising the total num-
ber of sinks along the west-
ern Columbia County road to
five.
 The newest sinkhole is in
Pueschel's Pond, the body of
water that had been draining
into Mimi's Sink, the first and
now largest of a series of
sinks. The new hole, not visi-
ble from the road, is about 25
to 30 feet across, said Harvey
Campbell, spokesman for
Columbia County Emergency
Management.
 Red and Susie Roberts, the
homeowners of the land
N-,o i;nlr ienn diSqcnvered
 day
 offi-
 l in
TVlini'sSink -nfacr xrrupped
about five feet overnight and
informed the Robertses, who
investigated and heard the
sound of water rushing into
the new sinkhole.
 Pueschel's Pond began
 draining into Mimi's Sink on
 March 1, but was then
 stopped by sandbags put in
 place by the Lake City Fire
 Department and inmates from
 Columbia Correctional
 Institute. Campbell said the
 new sinkhole' is near where
 the sandbags were placed and
 is quickly taking on water.
 "There is a substantial
 amount of water running into
 that hole," Campbell said.
 The Columbia County
 Health Department also con-
 tinues a boil-water notice,
 from a one-mile radius south
 and southwest of Mimi's Sink.
 Campbell said it may take
 weeks before the notice is offi-
 cially lifted. Health depart-
 ment officials were unavail-
 able for comment Monday.
 Laurie Windham, spokes-
 woman of the Columbia
 County Sheriff's Office, said
 there are no plans as of yet to
 shut down Pinemount Road,
 first closed when Mimi's Sink
 first formed.


SCommunity send-off planned

 for local National Guard troops
 fK-ws"'-~~~~~ local Nat* ^aa^:^fSsBa.M


 TODD WILSON/Lake City Reporter
Lake City Reporter Publisher Michael Leonard (from left) talks with Columbia County
Commission Vice Chairman Ron Williams and Army National Guard Lt. Col. Dennis Roberts
about a community send-off for members of the Florida National Guard's 153rd Engineer
Company, based in Lake City, during a meeting Monday. The local guardsmen could begin
their deployment for an overseas mission by month's end.


Local unit set to leave
on active duty later
this month.
By TONY BRITT
tbritt@lakecityreporter.com
 A community send-off befit-
ting heroes is being planned
for members of the Florida
National Guard's 153rd
Engineer Company, based in
Lake City, as they prepare for
deployment.
 The 153rd Engineer


Company is part of the 53rd
Infantry Brigade headquar-
tered in Tampa, a combat
engineer company that is
scheduled to be deployed
overseas toward the end of
the month as part of the
brigade going to full-time sta-
tus.
 A five-member committee
headed by Columbia County
commissioners, Ron Williams
and Dewey Weaver, met with
Army National Guard Lt. Col.
Dennis Roberts and Lake City

Reporter Publisher Michael


Leonard and Editor Todd
Wilson on Monday. The
group discussed preliminary
plans for a community send-
off for the local guardsmen
who are being called to active-
duty status.
 Early plans for the commu-
nity send-off call for an appre-
ciation cookout for guard
members and their families.
 '"This is strictly for National
Guard (troops) and local dig-
nitaries," said Williams, who
 GUARD
 Continued on Page 9A


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 752-1293
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TODAY


Classified


. . .1C


Comics ........ .4C


Local .......... 3A
Money Report .5A


Obituaries ...... .6A
Opinion ........ 4A


Puzzles ........ 1C
Scoreboard ..... .2B


Nation ......... 7A
Weather ........ 2A


Legislature moving

to stop Schiavo death


I I I I H" I', 1111. 11, 11, 1111111111 H I'll- I