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Trenton men arrested for armed burglary

Submitted

Two Trenton men were arrested for Armed Burglary and Grand Theft last Thursday after allegedly stealing guns and money from a safe.
Freddy M. Watson, 44, of Trenton and Jerry “Bo” Shepard, 33, also of Trenton reportedly went to a residence at 2:30 a.m. on May 5 and stole a safe while the homeowner was out of town.

Freddy M. Watson
Jerry "Bo" Shepard

The safe contained seven guns and a sum of money. The two men also allegedly stole two televisions and the victim’s vehicle.
Alachua County deputies and Gilchrist County investigators found the two men in a Gainesville hotel. Watson and Shepard came back to Gilchrist County where they were interviewed. During the interview, both men admitted to the theft of the items. None of the stolen items have been recovered. The investigation is ongoing.

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V C Cannon announces candidacy for school board

My name is V C Cannon and I consider it an honor and a privilege to run for the office of School Board, District 3. I was born and raised in Gilchrist County and I can’t think of a better place to grow up. I am married to Lottie Ripley Cannon and together we have two daughters, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Most of which graduated from Bell High School.
It is important to me to have our school system running well so that our children and teachers can benefit from it. I worked for the Department of Transportation for 25 plus years and am now retired which gives me more time to concentrate on the tasks at hand. I am an active member of Mt. Nebo Church, where I’ve served as a deacon for many years.
I enjoy being able to help the people of the community who need it. I drive the county bus the first Friday of every month for the senior citizens to travel to Wal-Mart and have lunch at the Senior Center.
Please feed free to contact me with any questions you may have. I look forward to meeting many of you in the months ahead.

Relay For Life raises $42,000

By Carrie A. Mizell

Cancer survivors were celebrated on Friday night at the Trenton High School track as 30 teams gathered to raise funds for the fight against cancer.
Early estimates show $42,000 was raised through the 2012 Gilchrist-Levy Relay For Life. Kyle Stone, community representative for the American Cancer Society North Central Area, said that the event will not be closed out until August, as contributions will continue coming in over the next several weeks.


Survivors and their caregivers walked the first lap to kick-off the Gilchrist-Levy Relay For Life on Friday.

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Farmer offers $5K reward after vandalism

By Carrie A. Mizell

As area growers begin picking watermelons, one local farmer is trying to find the person(s) responsible for vandalizing a watermelon field in northeast Gilchrist County over the weekend.
Bell farmer Josh Moore is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) involved in vandalizing his equipment. According to Moore, sometime between 1 p.m. on Friday and early Saturday morning, someone entered his watermelon field on 55th Avenue and shot holes in a 1,200 gallon fertilizer tank. The tank was full of fertilizer at the time. Moore said whoever is responsible for the vandalism also ran over four 16-foot access gates on the property.
In all his years of farming in Gilchrist County, Moore said this is the first time he has ever had to deal with vandalism. Moore said he has 400 acres planted in watermelons within a two mile radius of Ginnie Springs. Over the weekend, not one but two fields were targeted. A second field Moore has watermelons planted in, this one at the end of County Road 138, had a port-a-potty shot up.

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