Clay school board grapples with union acrimony, buses, start times
Dan Hildebran
March 7, 2026
BY DAN HILDEBRAN [email protected] The Clay County School Board opened its March 5 meeting with a round of recognitions, state champion cheerleaders, weightlifting titlists, top student artists and composers, before pivoting to heated public comment over teacher union legislation, school bus routes, and school start times. Public comments: unions and...
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Union officials confront courthouse construction problems, animal control complaints, commercial garbage rates
Dan Hildebran
March 5, 2026
BY DAN HILDEBRAN [email protected] The Union County Board of County Commissioners met on Monday, March 2 and worked through an agenda that included troubled courthouse renovations, allegations against the animal control department, a new state grant for communications towers, and a widening debate over how much commercial businesses should pay...
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Advocates Seek State Investigation of Union County Animal Control
Dan Hildebran
March 5, 2026
BY DAN HILDEBRAN [email protected] More than 60 animal welfare advocates, rescue volunteers and concerned citizens have formally requested that state officials investigate Union County Animal Control, alleging a pattern of animal cruelty, statutory violations and leadership failures at the Lake Butler facility. The Feb. 16 letter, addressed to Gov. Ron...
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Local loggers, mill workers squeezed by poor housing affordability
Dan Hildebran
March 5, 2026
BY DAN HILDEBRAN [email protected] North Florida’s timber industry is reeling from a cascade of mill closures and hurricane damage that has left local loggers with fewer outlets to sell their wood and no clear end in sight, according to industry sources and state and university forestry data. In a region...
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Airport appointments, developments take center stage at council meeting
Dan Hildebran
March 4, 2026
BY DAN HILDEBRAN [email protected] The Keystone Heights City Council met Monday, March 2, for a wide-ranging session that included a unanimous vote to ban smoking and vaping in city parks, the appointment of two new members to the airport authority, and a presentation previewing a potential multibillion-dollar aerospace development at...
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Sports:
UCHS’ Halfacre wins 2 events at Chiefland meet
Cliff Smelley
March 3, 2026
BY CLIFF SMELLEY [email protected] Union County High School competed in a track and field meet hosted by Chiefland on March 2, with Holly Halfacre placing first in two events. Halfacre’s wins occurred in the long jump with a distance of 14 feet, 2.25 inches, and in the triple jump with...
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BHS’ Lawrence earns top-3 finishes at SF track meet
Cliff Smelley
March 3, 2026
BY CLIFF SMELLEY [email protected] Bradford High School’s Elijah Lawrence had a pair of standout performances in sprint events and also helped a relay team place in the top five at the Feb. 28 Santa Fe Raiders Invitational. Lawrence was the runner-up in the 200m with a time of 23.20 seconds...
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Parks earns a 2nd-place finish for Keystone at Providence Invitational
Cliff Smelley
March 3, 2026
BY CLIFF SMELLEY [email protected] Keystone Heights High School’s Kaylee Parks was a runner-up in one event, while the two boys relay teams top four finishes at the Feb. 27 Providence Invitational. Parks took second in the 100m hurdles with a time of 16.81 seconds. She also teamed up with Olivia...
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Features:
CSI: unlike anything you’ve seen on TV – Clay County Sheriff’s Crime Scene Unit Dispels TV Myths, Describes Demanding Path to the Job
Dan Hildebran
March 8, 2026
BY DAN HILDEBRAN [email protected] The two sergeants who oversee the Clay County Sheriff’s Office crime scene technician unit share a first name, a decade of working side by side, and a message for anyone who thinks the job looks like a prime-time television drama: it does not. Sgt. Tiffany Thibideau...
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Bradford, Union each have a 1st-place team in livestock judging
Cliff Smelley
March 6, 2026
Bradford County’s senior 4-H team and Union County’s junior 4-H “A” team earned first-place finishes at the March 5 livestock-judging event held at the Bradford Agricultural Fair. The Bradford team of Maddison Lee, Ella Norris, Madison Stein and Ansley Ward compiled 1,421 points in the senior division, while the local...
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Box, Wainwright, Ward show grand champs at goat show
Cliff Smelley
March 3, 2026
Grace Box, Kate Wainwright and Nicholas Ward exhibited the overall grand champions at the Bradford-Union Goat Show, which was held Feb. 28 at the Bradford Agricultural Fair. Box’s Class 5 goat in the Meat Breeding Doe category earned her a grand championship for the second straight year. Jacee Box’s Class...
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Young Gardeners Dig In at 8th Junior Plant Day
Dan Hildebran
March 3, 2026
BY JENN SAMSEL [email protected] Children were excited to explore the wonders of nature as they learned, planted, and crafted during the eighth Junior Plant Day. On Saturday, February 28, the Garden Club of the Lakes hosted Junior Plant Day at Bryan's Ace Hardware in Keystone Heights. The East Walker Street...
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Crime:
4 from Gainesville arrested after stolen guns found during traffic stop
Dan Hildebran
March 8, 2026
BY DAN HILDEBRAN [email protected] A routine traffic stop on U.S. Highway 301 late Friday night led to the arrest of four Gainesville men, including two juveniles, after deputies discovered three stolen firearms in the vehicle, including two that the occupants had stolen just before the stop, the Bradford County Sheriff’s...
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2 arrested for having shotgun at high school
Dan Hildebran
March 8, 2026
BY DAN HILDEBRAN [email protected] Two men from outside Bradford County were arrested on Friday, March 6 after a school district employee spotted them exchanging a shotgun in a parking area adjacent to Bradford High School, prompting a temporary shelter-in-place order, the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office reported. Deputies responded at approximately...
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Obituaries:
Obituaries — March 3, 2026
Cliff Smelley
March 3, 2026
Wayne Alvarez Stanley Wayne Alvarez, known fondly as Wayne to those who had the pleasure of knowing him, passed away quietly at his beloved farm in Bradford County on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, at the age of 78. Born Nov. 2, 1947 in Bradford County, to the late Donald and...
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Obituaries — Feb. 24, 2026
Cliff Smelley
February 24, 2026
Erin Brewer Erin E. Brewer of Lake Butler died unexpectedly on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. She was born in Gainesville in 1977, residing in her lifetime in the Florida counties of Alachua, Bradford and Union and in San Diego, California. She graduated from Union County High School and attended Lake...
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Editorial:
Public deserves better notice
Mark J. Crawford
January 20, 2026
Dear Editor: Whether for or against an issue, don't we all want officials to follow the law? This past week, the Bradford County Commission voted on a controversial issue to convert the old Douglas Warehouse into a 3,000-bed ICE/DHS detention center. The agenda was only published to the county website...
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Historic loss for community
Mark J. Crawford
January 20, 2026
Dear Editor: Within the next few weeks, the community of Melrose will lose one of its most precious, historic buildings; the Mediterranean Revival Historic School House that sits on the corner of 26 and 21. This building has stood as a reminder of the importance of education and historic pride...
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POSTED 5/12/2022: CLICK HERE to download the BC Personal Taxes Display & Notice
