uumtann


Serving Suwannee County since 1884


 CC ~ i
 ASTOR

Scr~r:i A' ~i~. -not
sox AW


Midweek Edition July 26, 2006


,em ntrrat


121st YEAR, NO. 80


Look for these special


sections inside


SPORTS



 Football practice

 starts July 31

 -.Page 1B


Two die in CR 49 crash


 2006

 Alex Sink

 visits Live Oak

 Vanessa Fultz
 Democrat Reporter


 a Democrat
 who is run-
 ning for
 Florida chief
 financial of-
 ficer, visited .
 Live Oak
 July 20 to
 talk with cit- Alex Sink
 izens about
 her financial goals for Florida.
 Sink's first stop was at the
 law offices of Rod Bowdoin
 where about 20 community
 leaders and citizens gathered.
 Sink said 95 percent of the
 people in Florida do not know
 much about the chief financial
 officer's job. She explained
 SEE ALEX, PAGE 9A

 Live Oak Police
 Department plans
 open house
 I he Li e Oak Police Depart-
ment cordially im\ ite, the citi-
zens of Live Oak to attend its
open house celebrating
LOPD's new location Please
come join us at 205 SE \White
Ave, right next to Ci -lHall
July 27 from 9 a.m. noon.

THRU Sunday!
Continues July 26-30
Florida sales
tax holiday
 Florida sales ta\ holiday \\ ill
continue Wednesda-y-Sunda\.
July 26-30. Under the siales-ta\
holiday law, no state or local
sales tax will be charged on
clothes, footwear, books and
certain accessories sellin~ for
$50 or less. School supplies
selling for $10 or less will also
be tax-exempt. Iinfo: toll-free'
800-352-3671 or w ,.v.mvflori-
da.com/dor.




A glimpse of
scores regionally

 Vanessa Fultz
 Democrat Reporter
 Suwannee County Schools
made gains in Florida Compre-
hensive Assessment Test (FCAT)
scores this year, including one
school earning an A and another
coming within one point of an A.
But how did our students fair


SEE FCAT, PAGE 7A


 Susan K. Lamb
 Democrat Managing Editor
 A Suwannee.County
man and woman died as
the result of a single car
roll-over July 21 near
the home of the woman.
 Angel Piet Grant, 3'1,
died at Shands at Live
Oak a short time after *
the accident of her in-
juries, according to the


Florida Highway Patrol
report by Cpt. Joseph P.
Sumner. Grant, the
mother of four children,
was a passenger in the
SUV driven by Chritto-
pher Daniel "Chris"
Gaylord, 29.
 FHP said the two were
northbound at about 9:55
p.m. on CR 49 just a
half mile south of US- 90
when the 1997 Che% rolet
SUV went into the


southbound lane, left the
roadway and went onto
the. grassy portion of the
road, continued a north-
west pattern of travel
until it hit a board fence,
Sspun around, rolled over
twice and came to a fi-
nal rest on its right side..
 Ga\lord died at the
 scene. FHP said. Grant
 was, transported by
 Suwannee County
Fire/Rescue to Shands at


Live Oak.where she died
a short time later, ac-
cording to FHP.
.According to FHP, al-
cohol may have been a
factor in the fatal crash.
"The accident is.possi-
bly alcohol related .due
to the e\ idence at the
scene," said FHP Lt.
Mike Burroughs. Bur-
roughs said the blood al-'
cohol analysis will be
back in about four weeks


and'will confirm or deny
whether alcohol was -in-
volved., Burroughs said
neither was wearing a
seat belt and neither
were thrown out.
 Grant was the manager,
.of the. S & S at Ellisville'
for two years and was a
member of St. Francis
Xavier Catholic
.. Gaylord was employed


SEE TWO, PAGE 7A


Horse fights for his


life, beats the odds


ABOVE: FULL
RECOVERY: The horse,
Joe, runs with a free
spirit after a full
recovery. Joe has
been treated 't the
animal shelter since
April after almost
starving to death.
-'Photo: Submitted

LEFT: HORSE
FIGHTS FOR LIFE:
The horse Joe feeds
on a high fat and
protein diet while being
held up in a walking
sling after almost
starving to death,
allegedly by his owner.
The horse has been
treated at Suwannee
County Animal Control.
- Pholo: Vanessa Fulut


 Vanessa Fultz
 Democrat Reporter
 :;Three horses would have
 starved to death had it not been
 for the intervention of Suwan-'
nee County Animal Shelter and.
someone who reported an al-
leged animal abuse incident.
One horse fought for his life
and has been recovering at the
animal shelter since April.
 The horses' owner has been


charged with cruelty to animals.
The case will go to trial inAu-
*gust. .
 Animal Control Director Ja-
 nis Hunter said two adult horses
 and a colt were living in a rela-
 ri\ el small area and were
 stan ing at a residence just out-,
 side of Live Oak.
 "There was no grass or leaves
 left on the ground at all and all
'the greener\ on surrounding


SEE HORSE, PAGE 7A


Q alifyings ends, race

to victory under way

Five re-elected without opposition


 The race is on for. local
 candidates who hope td win
 election Sept. 5 to various of-
 fices while some will win a
 .slot on the Nov. 5 ballot in
 the general election and face
 opposition from another po-
 litical pa-rty candidate.
 Local elections officials
 said there were no surprises
 when final qualifying ended
 at noon July.21. Everyone'
 who had initially filed their
intent t' run-qualified and no
one missed the deadline.
 '


Some have in the past and
went away very unhappy
over their own mistakes.
 Three circuit judges -
James Roy Bean. Perry; E.
Vernon Douglas, Lake City
and David W. Fina, Live Oak,
received no opposition. Judge
Fina was appointed to his po-
sition as a Third Circuit judge
in March of 2005 and will
now have the satisfaction of
knowing he will serve six

 SEE QUALIFYING, PAGE 3A


Lowe's opening its

doors in Live Oak


 Lowe's is announcing the
opening of its newest store
 Sept. I in
Employees Live Oak
 Accord-
now ing to
 S' Loi e's. the
stocking doors \\ ll
more than open to the
 public Sept.
32,000 1 with
items grand open-
 ing fesin\i-
 ties Sept. 6
 The store, located at 208
72nd Trace of US 129 north, is
a superstore with 94,000 square
feet of retail sales space with an
adjacent garden center. The.
store will stock 32,000 different


items to help customers build.
improve and begun ful their
Homes. Lo%\e's said. According
to Lot\e's. a store this size rep-
resents an a\ erage in estment
for the conmpan. ofS12 million
and creates tip to 120 ne\% jobs
 \\'ith fiscal eam 2(.i05 sales of
$43 2 billion. Lo, e's Compa-
nies. Inc. is a FORTULNE.E 50
company that ser es appro\i-
matel\ 12 million customers a
\\eek at more than 1.250 home
unpro\ ement stores n 149
states. Based m Mooresville,
N.C., the 60-year old company
is the second-largest home im-
provement retailer in the world.
For more information, visit
Lowes.com.


'06 Silverado 2500 HD l .
 4x4, Auto. Cruise, "L
 CD, Ext. Cab


 lfti l -"Aner ReDdlte
WES HANEY AMEGWN REvoWW.
 SS .Family Owned & Operated Since 1967
 Just East Of Downtown. 362-2976 Live Oak. FL F---F


LUCKY DIVER SURVIVES AFTER VEHICLE FLIPS: One lucky diver survived this one-vehicle crash
Sunday, July 23 on US 129.south just south of Angela's convenience store. According to the Flori-
da Highway Patrol, Jeffrey Sands, 16, was northbound on US 129 when the vehicle left the roadway
onto the.east shoulder, the driver overcorrected and the vehicle left the roadway again onto the.west
shoulder where it struck a culvert and overturned twice before landing upright across the ditch.
Scuba gear inside the vehicle was thrown into the roadway and picked up by passersby who stopped
 to assist.. Witnesses said the.
 Driver's father was driving
 TODAY'S uwaee County should see variable clouds with scattered ahea of him but was no .in
 ATY showers and thunderstorms, mainly in the afternoon. High today vhed ihemacide bt a not.
 WEATHER around 95F. For up to the minute weather information go to voved intheeaccident Sands,
 wtw.suwanneedemocrat.com of Ponte Vedra, was taken by
 Suwannee County Fire/Rescue
 INDEX A REA DEATHS to Shands at Live Oak for treat-
 ment of his injuries, FHP said.
 Classifieds 1-5D Annell C. Backus, 65 Crescent City Trooper K. F. Brookins investi-
 Sports 1-6 Angel Piet Grant, 31, Live Oakgatd th accident and
 S Suwannee Living ..........................4-5Aated the accident an
 Viewpoint 6A Christopher D. "Chris" Gaylord, 29, Live Oak charged Sands with careless
 Legal Notices '5B Margaret Ruth Burllson, 80, Live Oak .driving. Photo: Susan K. Lamb
 Roy Koon, 88, Lake City
 OBITUARIES ON PAGE 9A


www.suwanneedem.ocrat.corn


50 CENTS


r
n
('





h CZ