Around the Region - Dec. 4

COMMUNITY

Firefighters battle greenhouse blaze

Firefighters from Alachua County, Melrose and Windsor battled a blaze that burned an abandoned greenhouse off County Road 1474 Wednesday afternoon.

The fire burned about three acres and the 3,000-square-foot building, said Alachua County Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Carol Davis.

Firefighters were called to the blaze at 13500 CR 1474 at about 1:40 a.m.

The blaze posed a danger of spreading and becoming a brush fire, Davis said.

A burn ban in the county was lifted Monday, but conditions have been so dry recently, in spite of a storm front that dropped almost 1.5 inches of rain Sunday, that fire officials warn fires can easily spread.

— Lise Fisher

Department plans 4-day work weeks

Alachua County's Department of Public Safety is going to a four-day work week on Monday.

Department employees will begin working four 10-hour days, giving them a three-day weekend each week. The new hours will not affect the schedules of fire and emergency medical workers.

County officials said they expect to realize a significant savings on energy costs by closing the department's headquarters building and Emergency Operations Center on Fridays.

Beginning Monday, the department will be open to the public Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

— Staff report

Budget tight for state agency

Florida's budget cutbacks are forcing state agencies to adjust their plans, including the Department of Transportation.

Over the next two weeks, transportation officials will hold three public hearings in North Florida to discuss what projects the department can afford to complete over the next five years. The meetings will begin at 5:30 p.m.

-- Monday at the FDOT District Office, 1109 S. Marion Ave. in Lake City (U.S. 441), to discuss the projects in Levy, Dixie, Gilchrist, Alachua, Bradford, Union and Columbia counties (in that order).

Monday, Dec. 15, at the Suwannee River Water Management District headquarters, 9225 County Road 49, (east of Live Oak, just south of U.S. 90), to discuss the counties of Taylor, Madison, Lafayette, Hamilton and Suwannee (in that order).

Tuesday, Dec. 16, at the FDOT Training Center, 2198 Edison Ave., in Jacksonville (off I-10 at the Stockton Street exit), to focus on the projects in Baker, Putnam, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau and Duval counties (in that order).

— Staff report

POLICE BEAT

Live Oak man faces sex charges

A Live Oak man was being held at the Suwannee County jail Wednesday after he was accused of dating and having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

James Robert Sapp, 36, is facing 10 counts of lewd and lascivious battery and 10 counts of lewd and lascivious molestation, according to the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office. He was booked into the county jail on Sunday.

A deputy spoke to the teenager, who said she had been dating Sapp since late May and that she had consensual sex with Sapp.

Sapp denied the allegations, saying he and the girl were "only friends."

— Lise Fisher

Suspect bundles up for robbery

A night of freezing temperatures didn't stop a robber from holding up a convenience store in southern Alachua County early Wednesday.

Dressed in a red, white and blue flannel jacket, jeans, yellow work gloves and a light blue mask, the man used a knife to rob the Kangaroo Express Station at 17030 SE County Road 234 off Interstate 75, the Alachua County Sheriff's Office reported.

A clerk was working and stocking shelves when he heard the front door open at about 3:40 a.m., said Sheriff's Office spokesman Art Forgey. A man, bundled up and with his face covered by a mask, walked up to the employee. He was armed with a knife and demanded "all the money," he said.

The robber escaped with an undetermined amount of cash from the store's cash register stuffed into a greenish-looking bag, according to deputies.

The suspect, who appeared to have a large build and had a hunched back, was last seen walking away north from the business.

Forgey said officers were planning to review surveillance video of the hold-up.

— Lise Fisher

Police searching for store robber

Live Oak Police are searching for a man who robbed a local store after threatening an employee with a gun Sunday night.

A 17-year-old clerk at the Lareyna Store, 221 W. Howard St., said a man entered the business as he was closing the store at about 9:20 p.m. The suspect had a gun and told the teenager, "I'm robbing you," police reported.

The robber was last seen heading in an easterly direction on W. Howard Street.

The man was wearing a black ski mask, a black or dark gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and black gloves. The clerk described the gun as dark-colored and possibly a semi-automatic.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Detective Justin Bates at (386) 362-7463 or Crime Stoppers at (386) 208-8477.

— Lise Fisher