Clay school board grapples with union acrimony, buses, start times
Dan Hildebran
March 7, 2026
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Dan@BcTelegraph.com 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 Dan@BcTelegraph.com 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 Dan@BcTelegraph.com 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 Dan@BcTelegraph.com 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 Dan@BcTelegraph.com 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 cliff@bctelegraph.com 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 cliff@bctelegraph.com 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 cliff@bctelegraph.com 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:
Cusson, Ward have best-in-show exhibits in horticulture at Bradford Fair
Cliff Smelley
March 9, 2026
Adult exhibitor Julie Cusson and youth exhibitor Nicholas Ward each earned a best-in-show award in this year’s horticulture show at the Bradford Agricultural Fair. Cusson received her award for a weeping pussy willow and also earned blue ribbons for two orchids. One of the orchids was also named best in...
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Bradford pair participates in equestrian Special Olympics
Dan Hildebran
March 9, 2026
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Dan@BcTelegraph.com Bradford County’s Bret Polk placed fourth in Western Equitation and Working Trails at the Equestrian Special Olympics in Jacksonville on Feb. 28. Starke’s Roger Crews was the lead volunteer for the event, helping with volunteer check-in and handing out awards. Thirty-nine athletes competed in 13 classes...
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Top steers belong to Elixson and Wainwright
Cliff Smelley
March 9, 2026
Chayten Elixson (Bradford County) exhibited this year’s grand champion, while Kate Wainwright (Bradford) showed the reserve grand champion at the Bradford-Union Steer Show, which was held March 4 at the Bradford Agricultural Fair. Elixson’s 1,278-pound animal, which was also the homegrown grand champion, sold fetched $13.50 per pound at the...
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Fischer, Noegel exhibit top pigs
Cliff Smelley
March 9, 2026
Gracelyn Fischer (Union County) and Rylan Noegel (Bradford) exhibited the grand champion and reserve grand champion, respectively, at the Bradford-Union Swine Show on March 3 at the Bradford Agricultural Fair. At the March 6 sale, Fischer’s 273-pound pig sold for $40 per pound. Noegel’s 264-pound animal, which was also the...
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Hendricks, West are tops in poultry, rabbit exhibits at fair
Cliff Smelley
March 9, 2026
Blayne Hendricks exhibited the grand champion in poultry, while Emma West had the grand champion rabbit at the Bradford Agricultural Fair. Hendricks entered two other animals that received blue ribbons, making him one of six poultry/rabbit exhibitors to earn at least three. The reserve grand champion in poultry honor went...
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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 Dan@BcTelegraph.com 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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Crime:
4 from Gainesville arrested after stolen guns found during traffic stop
Dan Hildebran
March 8, 2026
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Dan@BcTelegraph.com 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 Dan@BcTelegraph.com 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
