Holiday lights will fill downtown Lake City and there will be music, entertainment, Santa in Olustee Park and a Christmas Parade.

The lighting ceremony in Olustee Park is scheduled for Saturday, November 27, at 6:30 p.m., followed by Santa Photo Night from 7 to 9 p.m.

This year, the main event will be Saturday, December 11, from 9 a.m. through 10 p.m. The Christmas Parade, organized by the Rotary Club of Lake City, will begin at 6 p.m.

After the parade, the community will be invited back downtown to enjoy more entertainment in Olustee Park by Starlight Rhythm Section, and food.

When County Commissioners discovered that a key element was missing from the SouthSide Recreation Center, Herb Sellers stepped in with a generous offer.

The 146-acre baseball-softball-soccer complex is so large that visiting teams complain about the distance they have to carry equipment for tournaments.

Sellers, owner of Century Ambulance Service, ordered a specially built nine-passenger tram and a large ATV, locally called a Gator, to tow it.

The T.J. Maxx sign is on the front of the Lake City Mall building and the grand opening of the store is scheduled for 8 a.m. Sunday, September 26.

Janice Dorminey, Operations and Marketing Manager of the Lake City Mall, said the Sunday grand openings are a T.J. Maxx tradition.

LIVE OAK  – Trustees of the Suwannee River Water Management District do not expect to raise taxes this year to fund its minimum flows and levels (MFLs) program, Governing Board Chairman Donald Quincey said today.

“The Governor’s Office has helped us identify additional funding sources to help pay for our MFLs program, and we’ve also been able to reduce our operating budget slightly, so we don’t anticipate having to raise taxes this year after all,” Quincey explained during a governing board teleconference.

At its July meeting, the board had proposed increasing the millage rate to raise additional revenue to pay for the MFLs program, which helps determine how much water is available for issuing water use permits.

The Mercy Mountain Boys present their Great American Veterans Tour on Saturday, September 11, at the Columbia County Fairgrounds.

Admission is free, the gates open at 2 p.m. and the entertainment starts at 3 p.m.

The event includes a flag ceremony, special veteran guest speakers, and a tribute to Firefighters, Rescue and Emergency workers.

TALLAHASSEE – Governor Charlie Crist is encouraging Floridians to learn how to receive a Florida ENERGY STAR® Residential HVAC rebate by visiting www.rebates.com/floridahvac.

Beginning Monday, August 30, 2010, Florida homeowners who upgrade their air conditioning systems can qualify to receive a $1,500 rebate. The program will end on Friday, December 31, 2010, or when the $15 million in rebate funds are depleted. These purchases are expected to increase employment in the air conditioning industry and to create new green jobs for home energy efficiency raters.

With the shelves at the Food Bank empty, Kiwanis members organized a month-long food drive to help children and families in Columbia County. More than 40 members of Kiwanis Club of Lake City gathered at Publix supermarket to kick off the event on Saturday.

By 2 p.m. they collected 1,817 pounds of food for the Food Bank of Suwannee County.

At the Food Bank, “We have given out double the amount of food this summer,” said Suzanne Edwards, Executive Director of Catholic Charities. The economy is down, unemployment is still high and children who get free lunches at school during the school year were at home for the summer.

NOTICE OF INTENT BY THE SCHOOL BOARD OF COLUMBIA COUNTY

TO ADOPT RULE AND SET PUBLIC HEARING

FORT WHITE -- For the second consecutive year, Columbia County's two public high schools have squared off on the grid iron to open the varsity football season.  Fort White High hosted Columbia High on Friday night with both teams vying for the bragging rights of the county for at least the next 365 days.

The Indians won the opening coin toss and deferred their option until the second half of the football game.

The Tigers came out running the ball behind senior Timmy Jernigan. He led the game off with a 12-yard run and also a 22-yard run. 

FORT WHITE -- Only twenty four hours before the two schools will see their football teams square off in a kickoff classic in Fort White, the volleyball teams of Fort White High and Columbia High squared off in their own pre-season classic. 

The four matches that make up this classic were played in the gymnasium on the campus of Fort White High School. Four teams were involved, The Cornerstone Academy Cougars (from Gainesville), the Union County Tigers (Lake Butler), Columbia High Tigers (Lake City) and Fort White Indians. Each team played two games, and the game format was the best 2 out of 3 sets.

CINCINNATI -- The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) (NYSE:PG) is voluntarily expanding its recall to include veterinary and some specialized dry pet food as a precautionary measure because it has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. No salmonella-related illnesses have been reported.

The following products are included: Iams Veterinary Dry Formulas, Eukanuba Naturally Wild, Eukanuba Pure and Eukanuba Custom Care Sensitive Skin. They are recalling all sizes and all lot numbers.

A full listing of UPC codes can be found at www.iams.com