Senior winners .Columbi division sc L 000023 120110 ****3-DIGIT 32 LIB OF FLORIDA HISTORY PO BOX 117007 205 SMA UNIV OF FLORIDA GAINESVILLE FL 32611-1943 All-Star 'A^ )overcomes lin, penalties nag win. rts, I B Scam alert? Money flowing into Wyclef Jean's Haitian charity raises doubt. People, 2A Lake City Reporter Sunday, January 17, 2010 www.lakecityreporter.com Vol. 135, No. 313 3$1.00 Police tie 3rd suspect to shooting Third arrest in drive-by incident pending review. From staff reports A third suspect has been connected to a recent drive- by shooting, a Lake City Police Department official said on Saturday. The shooting occurred about 3:30 p.m. Friday, according to Lake City Police Department reports. Officers were called at that time to investigate shots being fired near Dade and Avalon streets. Three white males were reported, by witnesses as being seen firing a gun out of a black Dodge Charger. No one was injured during the incident. At least one shot was fired by a rifle during the incident, said Sgt. John Blanchard, Lake City Police Department public informa- tion officer. Jeb Stuart Johns was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a firearm and improper exhibition of a firearm. James Thomas Alford II was charged with aggra- vated assault with a fire- arm, improper exhibition of firearm and discharging a firearm in public, according to reports. A third suspect was not one of the armed subjects, LCPD continued on 3A HEALTHY DOWNTOWN Plan would change face, and health care options of Lake City medical complex Is JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter A Lake Shore Hospital Authority Board plan to add doctor offices, clinics and pharmacies on current land holdings in down- town Lake City could mean more choices and convenience for residents and patients, board members say. The expansion could call for two or three additional medical buildings on North Marion Street. By TONY BRITT tbritt@lakecityreporter.com he complexion of down- S1 *town Lake City could Change in a few months if the Lake Shore Hospital Authority Board's plan to add doctor offices and clinics becomes a reality. The Lake Shore Hospital Authority Board voted Monday in favor of tak- ing Request For Proposals which . would allow engineering, architec- tural work and all necessary permit- ting by a construction firm to add buildings to the Hospital Authority's downtown property. Chairman of the Lake Shore Hospital Authority Board Marc Vann said officials hope to start construc- tion on the buildings within the next three to four months. "We would like to have the build- ings ready to move into by the fall," he said. "If the economics play out and it makes sense to do it, the board is going to be moving for- ward." At December's meeting, board members authorized a request for the possible construction and devel- op on Hospital Authority property on the block Marion Street between Leon and Franklin streets. "The board authQrized it with the possibility of building two or three medical office buildings for about a total of 10,000-square-feet of medical office space that would be on North Marion Street for what we're look- ing at to be the main entrance down into the hospital," Vann said. "At this stage we've been approached by several doctors interested in possibly locating in that direction." Vann declined to elaborate on the specifics, but noted Hospital Authority officials were negotiating costs and other details associated with the project. "I've been contacted by a couple of pharmacists with the idea of maybe locating another drug store on North Marion Street, so we've got several different options," he said. The move to revitalize and improve the area leading onto the Hospital Authority's property began about four years ago when the Hospital Authority Board began pur- chasing contiguous tracts of property adjacent to the hospital. Robin Hall was the board's chairman at the beginning of the property acquisi- tion phase and the plan continued when Jack Berry served as the board chairman. During the property purchases, the Hospital Authority Board accumulated several pieces BOARD continued on 3A ANTONIA ROBINSON/ Lake City Reporter Willie Palmer, (left) of Hamilton County, is guarded by Marvin Gamble, of Columbia County during the Special Olympics Florida Area 4 Basketball Championships Saturday at Columbia High School. 'The best' play the court at Olympic event Special Olympics' winners will go to state games. By ANTONIA ROBINSON arobinson@lakecityreporter.com More than 160 young athletes showed their skills on the court at the Special Olympics Florida 'Area 4 Basketball Championship Saturday. Games were held at Columbia High School and Richardson Middle School. Alachua, Columbia, Hamilton and Marion coun- ties make up the region, said Jon Brown, competi- tion director. There were several categories of play: traditional five-on-five bas- ketball; unified sport, where Special Olympics athletes play with non-Special Olympic athletes; and team skills where players rotate shooting the ball. The basketball champion- ship has been held annually for 32 years, Brown said. The location rotates to each of the four counties for two years. Columbia County will again host the champi- onship in 2011. Each team participat- ing previously played two county games, Brown said. From the area champion- ship, teams will go on to state games. State competition for Columbia County is Feb. 5 and 6 in Fort Walton Beach. Brown said 25 volunteers assisted with the local com- petition to help coach, pre- pare lunch and chaperone OLYMPICS continued on 3A City eyes forming new charter review board Board must be selected at least every 10 years. By ANTONIA ROBINSON arobinson@lakecityreporter.comrn Forming a charter review board is one item the City of Lake City Council will explore during its meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall. Under the city's charter, a review board is established every 10 years. Each council member will nominate a represen- tative for the board, said Wendell Johnson, city man- CITY continued on 3A New MRI open to patient care Machine can accommodate larger patients. By TONY BRITT tbritt@lakecityreporter. corn Lake City VA Medical Center patients who need to have magnetic reso- 1 1 1 11 ' CALL US: (386) 752 1293 SUBSCRIBE TO THE REPORTER: Voice. 755-5445 Fax. 752.9400 nance imaging now have an option of using an open MRI machine. Friday afternoon Lake City VA Medical Center officials held a ribbon cut- ting and tour of the facil- ity which houses the new imaging machine. '"The open MRI will be used to image larger-sized 7042 Showers WEATHER, 6A patients who are unable to be scanned in a traditional magnet, and patients that are difficult to position that can't lay flat and patients who are claustrophobic," said VA Medical Center MRI technologist Renee Todd. MRI continued on 3A TONY BRITT/Lake City Reporter Opinion . . Business Obituaries ..... Advice Puzzles . .. S 4A IC 3A S3D 2B TODAY IN BUSINESS eh;= t L3n-r,, Lake City VA Medical Center MRI tech- nologist Tim Morgan (from left), radiologist Kenneth Kellam and technologist Renee Todd review equip- ment for the facility's high field open MRI.on Friday. Facility officials held a ribbon cutting and facility tour Friday which drew about 20 people. TODAY IN LIFE Hc.nc.rilr, the past: Clujee prle. i?.'..