News

More than 225 young farmers and ranchers across the Sunshine State gathered in-person at the Marriott Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa, July 9-11, 2021 for the Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference. The three-day conference provided young agricultural producers between the ages of 18-35 with educational breakouts, motivational speakers and lots of networking opportunities. Conference attendees welcomed keynote speakers Marshal ... Full Story »

By Cindy Jo Ayers If you have been stopped in traffic at the traffic light in Trenton or if you have tried to back out of Akins BBQ in Bell, you have had to wait because of traffic passing through. The amount of traffic on US 129 has increased greatly in the past few years. The cause of increased traffic ... Full Story »

Duke Energy Florida announced that four new solar plants will be built in Florida in 2022. The new solar sites are part of $1-billion statewide solar investment planned for 2022. One of the new sites will be just NE of Chiefland near the Central Florida Electric Coop building. This family farmland property is owned by the Hardee Family which are ... Full Story »

By John Ayers The Trenton City Commission held their final meeting in July on Monday evening as the three members attending approved a tentative millage rate of 2.25 mills for the City of Trenton 2021-2022 fiscal year budget. Commissioner Randy Rutter explained that he wanted to see the City of Trenton millage rate remain at the current rate of 2.25 ... Full Story »

The Gilchrist County School Board Members and Superintendent were recognized for earning the Master Board distinction by the Florida School Boards Association (FSBA) at the Gilchrist County School District office in Trenton, FL Tuesday, July 20, 2021. Tina Pinkoson, Director of Leadership Services for FSBA, presented the award. To earn this distinction, a majority of the district’s board members and ... Full Story »

Chad Thomas of NWTF Heart of Dixie Purrs and Spurs, has been working overtime leading up to the annual Jakes Day. This year’s event is planned for Saturday, August 7 beginning at 8 a.m. Jack and Marsha Cook and their family are hosting the event again this year at their family farm. Jakes Day provides area children a great opportunity ... Full Story »

The Santa Fe River was at 25.87 inches on Friday, July 16. As of Tuesday, July 20, the Santa Fe was at 24.49 feet at Ft. White. The Santa Fe River has also receded at Three Rivers Estates to 18.94 feet on Tuesday. It was at 19.70 feet on Friday, July 16. The Suwannee River at Wilcox was at 8.08 ... Full Story »

The Clemons family has closed the North Florida Livestock Market in Ellisville, near Lake City, FL. The market manager reported that a decline in animals coming to market and a difficult 2020 paved the way for the market closing. The final Cattle Sale was held on June 9, 2021. With a total of 300 Feeder Cattle sold and 45 Slaughter ... Full Story »

County Road 339 was shut down just past the Gilchrist/Levy line on Sunday, morning, July 18. Citizens traveling on County Road 339 were rerouted due to a tragic accident. A well-known Trenton man, Chris Jackson, 48 years old, was traveling north on County Road 339 early Sunday morning when his vehicle went out of control and crashed. Sadly Mr. Jackson ... Full Story »

A Gilchrist County resident addressed the Commission at the beginning of the July 19th meeting to request an update on the $4 to $6 million-dollar grant that was reported by Sen. Bradley that would be received by Gilchrist County from the Florida Legislature. The gentleman explained that the funding was discussed during a previous Legislative Delegation hearing and was identified ... Full Story »