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| What's On This Page: - Magic, the biggest little equine celebrity in the World, visits Fort White and Lake City on Tuesda - Columbia County Sheriff's Office Report June 21 - Bay scallop season to open 12 days early this year - Alachua County Rollers host their first Roller Derby exhibition bout in Lake City June 26 |
Three Rivers'
ICHETUCKNEE VIEWS
About Fort White and County
| Columbia County Sheriff's Office Report June 21 Lake City Journal Two Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputies are credited with saving a woman who was trapped in her car following a crash Sunday night. At about 10 p.m. Sunday, Deputy Sheriffs Jimmy Watson and Jonathon Rhodes responded to a vehicle crash at County Road 18 and Legree Road in Fort White. The Deputies discovered a heavily damaged Kia in a ditch. A female was found to be partially ejected from the vehicle. Deputy Watson immediately began to assess the patient and found that she was having difficulty breathing due to her position in the car. Deputy Watson advised Columbia County dispatch to expedite Fire/Rescue. While waiting for Fire/Rescue to respond, Deputy Watson crouched next to the vehicle and supported the patient with his body. He was able to support her head in his hands and straighten her body enough that he could hear air entering her lungs, alleviating her breathing difficulties. Deputy Rhodes could smell gasoline and saw smoke coming from the engine compartment. No fire was visible, but Deputy Rhodes stood by as fire watch and handled radio communications so that Deputy Watson could hold the patient without movement. Deputy Rhodes also examined the twisted car for other passengers, finding no other patients. Columbia County Fire/Rescue arrived on scene and began to cut parts of the vehicle away so the patient could be extricated. Deputy Watson, with the assistance of Deputy Randy Dowling, held the patient still and protected her from the extrication process. The patient was taken by ambulance to a helicopter landing zone and flown to an area hospital for treatment. The Florida Highway Patrol took over the crash investigation and is the primary investigative agency. Deputies Watson and Rhodes then made contact with the patient’s husband and advised him on what had occurred and where she was being flown to. The report notes that, “Without regard for their own safety, Deputy Watson and Deputy Rhodes acted swiftly and without hesitation to provide life saving first aid to the patient. Without their intervention, the patient may not have survived the crash.” |
| Bay scallop season to open 12 days early this year Lake City Journal Gov. Charlie Crist has announced that the recreational harvest season for bay scallops in Florida will open 12 days earlier than usual this year. The governor is taking this action to help relieve possible economic hardships on Florida fishing communities that may occur due to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. “Several people and businesses in Northwest Florida and Big Bend coastal regions asked us to please open the popular bay scallop season early this year,” Gov. Crist said. “These folks depend upon the influx of visitors that come to their communities to scallop each summer, and they need a boost right now to help them recover from the mistaken perception that fishing throughout Florida has been affected by the oil spill, which is not the case.” The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has issued an order which states that the recreational bay scallop harvest season in specified areas in Florida shall open on June 19 instead of July 1 this year. The order also says that all other provisions governing the harvest of bay scallops shall remain in effect for the duration of the order. The FWC order, which can be viewed online at MyFWC.com/OilSpill, takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on June 19 and will expire at 12:01 a.m. on July 1. The regular recreational bay scallop harvesting season in Florida occurs from July 1 through September 10 each year. “Gov. Crist’s decision to open scallop season a little early this year will give Florida residents and visitors a chance to enjoy a terrific family experience outdoors,” said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto. “It’s the right thing to do for these fishing communities and further illustrates that Florida is the fishing capital of the world.” Open scalloping areas on Florida’s Gulf coast extend from the west bank of the Mexico Beach Canal in Bay County to the Pasco-Hernando county line near Aripeka. It is legal to take bay scallops only within the allowable harvest areas, and it is illegal to possess bay scallops while you’re in or on state waters outside the open harvest areas, or to land bay scallops outside the open areas. There is a daily limit of 2 gallons of whole bay scallops in the shell or 1 pint of bay scallop meat per person during the open season. In addition, no more than 10 gallons of whole bay scallops in the shell or one-half gallon of bay scallop meat may be possessed aboard any vessel at any time. Scallopers are allowed to harvest bay scallops only by hand or with a landing or dip net, and bay scallops may not be harvested for commercial purposes. Unless otherwise exempt, scallopers will need a regular Florida saltwater fishing license when using a boat to harvest scallops. Those who wade from shore will need a regular Florida saltwater fishing license or a resident shore-based license, which is free beginning on July 1. Divers and snorkelers are required to display a “divers-down” flag (red with a white diagonal stripe) while in the water. Boaters must stay at least 100 feet away from a divers-down flag in a river, inlet or channel. In open waters, boaters must stay 300 feet away from a divers-down flag. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission encourages everyone to adhere to scallop fishing regulations and collect only the amount of bay scallops they are willing to clean. More information on bay scallops, including management rules, dive flag regulations and boating safety is available online at MyFWC.com/Rules; click on “Fishing - Saltwater.” |
| Alachua County Rollers host their first Roller Derby exhibition bout in Lake City June 26 An exhibition Roller Derby bout will have a wild-west theme, sheriffs vs. outlaws. (Alachua County Rollers photo) Alachua County’s newest flat-track roller derby team, the Alachua County Rollers, is holding its first home event in Lake City on Saturday, June 26, at the Skate Palace, at 357 N. W. Hall of Fame Drive. “You can expect to see action as hard-hitting as football or rugby,” said Jennifer Davids, better known as Lethal Dose, Vice President of the Alachua County Rollers, “but with much better outfits.” The Alachua County Rollers team, the ACR Honeys, will be teaming up with various men’s and women’s leagues from across the state, and even across the state borders, in a Western themed showdown exposition between sheriffs and outlaws. Some of the named leagues participating in the bout are men’s flat-track roller derby team, the Magic City Misfits, and the Rogue Roller Derby team from Valdosta, Ga. The bout will cost $7 at the door and children under the age of 12 are admitted free. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the bout begins at 7 p.m. To learn more about the Alachua County Rollers, Lake City and Gainesville’s local flat-track roller derby league, please visit www.acrderby.org. |
| Magic, the biggest little equine celebrity in the World, visits Fort White and Lake City on Tuesday Debbie Garcia-Bengochea introduces Magic to Seniors United members in 2009. (LakeCityJournal.com file photo) This is one of many charming and sometimes surprising photos on the Gentle Carousel Web site, http: //www.horse-therapy.org/ By Karl Burkhardt She has inspired thousands of children to read books and brought joy and comfort to patients in hospitals, nursing homes and Haven Hospice. Her name is Magic and she was named the Most Heroic Pet in America last year by AARP. Everyone who sees her immediately smiles. When she nuzzles them, it brings tears of joy to their eyes. Some people hug Magic, some kiss her forehead and some lean forward to touch her head with their head. For those who meet her, it is an experience they will remember for the rest of their lives. Magic visited Seniors United in Lake City a year ago. She went up to each person to greet them and to be petted. Magic, a special breed of horse, is just 26 inches high, one of 28 small horses at Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses in High Springs. Debbie and Jorge Garcia-Bengochea formed Gentle Carousel as a non-profit corporation, a “public charity dedicated to delivering therapeutic visits to children and adults in hospitals, hospice, nursing homes, group homes or confined at home. “Our tiny miniature horses provide the beneficial and therapeutic effects of animal assisted activities with the individuals visited, and enhance their quality of life, “,” they wrote in their mission statement. “Gentle Carousel is also dedicated to helping children in schools and libraries develop the desire and ability to read. “Gentle Carousel is a volunteer-based program that teaches people of all ages the importance of volunteering.” There are no paid staff members at Gentle Carousel. All the work is done by volunteers and Gentle Carousel is supported by donations. Magic and Gentle Carousel have fans all over the world. Benji, the movie star, came to North Florida, with his owner, Joe Camp, and his wife Kathleen. Camp is a film writer, producer, director, bestselling author and man behind the canine superstar. He is the author of “The Soul of a Horse.” The two programs, presented by the Columbia County Public Library on Tuesday, are free and everyone is invited. Magic is scheduled to visit the Fort White Community Center at 11 a.m. and the Main Library in Lake City at 1:30 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.horse-therapy.org/ |
