The City of Summerville has advertised the prices for qualification for the election to be held in November of this year.  The office of Mayor and City Council Seats Number 1 and 2 will be on this years ballot.

Qualifying fee for the Mayor’s seat is $216 and for City Council the qualifying fee is $108. 

Qualifying for the open positions does not begin until September.

If you have questions concerning the eligibility to become a candidate you can contact City Clerk Jill Durham at City Hall from 9 AM until 5 PM at 706-859-0900.

Residents of Trion voted and approved a referendum in 1999 concerning local school tax exemptions.  To qualify for the exemption you must be 70 years of age or older by January 1st and your household income can not be more that $20,000.

Qualified applicants must reside on the property that they are claiming exemption for and you must have a birth certificate and social security number.  The deadline to register for the exemption is April 1st.  The Town of Trion Business office has the necessary forms and will assist residents with filling out the application.

The Chattooga County Board of Education will meet in their regular monthly session this evening at the Chattooga Education Center located at the old Pennville School Building.  The meeting gets underway at 7 this evening.  AM 1180 Chattooga County Radio will have a complete report on Tuesday.

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin is alerting consumers to the recall of wafer rolls that may be contaminated with melamine.

National Brands, Inc., Spring Valley, NY, is recalling four flavors of its 4.76-ounce (135gm) and 12.3-ounce (350gm) cans of Topaz brand Wafer Rolls. 

These products are being recalled:

•         Topaz Wafer Rolls with Chocolate Flavored Cream Filling; Lot numbers L8085A, L8219A, L8245A

•         Topaz Wafer Rolls with Hazelnut Chocolate Flavored Cream Filling; Lot numbers L8085D, L8219D, L8245D

•         Topaz Wafer Rolls with Vanilla Flavored Cream Filling; Lot numbers L8085B, L8219B, L8245B

•         Topaz Wafer Rolls with Mocha Cappuccino Flavored Cream Filling; Lot numbers L8085C, L8219C, L8245C

The wafer rolls were distributed nationally through retail stores.

Consumers who have these products should stop using them and return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.  Those with questions should call National Brands at 1-866-238-5201.

Dalton Police Department officials have identified the officer who is believed to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Saturday morning as Robert Paul Sparks.

Sparks, 54, who had worked for the department for 10 years, apparently took his own life around 5:40 a.m. at the Dalton Police Service Center on Jones Street, according to a news release from the police department on Sunday.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death as “a matter of protocol,” police chief Jason Parker said Saturday.

“The Dalton Police Department’s thoughts and prayers are with his family,” the release states. Police chaplains have been placed on call for other officers.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced as of Sunday afternoon.

Dalton Daily Citizen

Darrell Alan McGuire of Trion, Charged with Open Container

Terry Raymond Williamson of Trion, Charged with DUI and Open Container

William Hugh Barbee of Summerville, Charged with Disorderly Conduct

Janet Marie Brandenstein of Trion, Charged with DUI / Alcohol and Failure to Maintain Single Lane

Dakota David Dodd of Lyerly, Charged with Driving Unsafe or Improperly Equiped Vehicle and Suspended License

Erasmel Ochoa Mal-Donado of Trion, Charged with DUI, Driving Without License, Stop Sign Violation and DUI Endangerment of a Child

Benny James Matney of Trion, Charged with Failure to Sign Citation and Open Container

Dee Anna Ward of Rome, Charged with Possession of Dangerous Drugs in Public and DUI / Alcohol

There are currently 65 inmates housed in the Chattooga County Jail and 28 housed in Floyd County, 1 Housed in Dade County and 1 at the RYDC for a total of 95 inmates in the custody of the Chattooga County Sheriffs Department.

Georgia’s Secretary of State said Sunday she wants to replace Gov. Sonny Perdue when his second term expires in 2010.

"I am running for governor," Karen Handel told The Associated Press at the annual Wild Hog Supper, held on the eve of the legislative session’s first day.

A former chairwoman of the Fulton County Commission, she enters what is shaping up as a crowded Republican field.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine are also running and have already begun assembling sizable campaign war chests with some 18 months to go until a primary.

AM 1180 Chattooga County Radio spoke with newly appointed Georgia Commisisoner of Corrections Brian Owens in Atlanta.

Commissioner Owens said that former escaped inmate Johnny Mac Brown is still in a "hi-max" security prison and will not be returned to Hays State Prison in Pennville for "a very long time."

Brown will be facing charges in Chattooga County for escape and for the kidnapping of local resident Kellie Durden.  Brown also faces additional charges in Franklin County Georgia where he was recaptured by Lavonia Police.

Commissioner Owens praised State Representative Barbara Massey Reece for her work in communicating the needs of Hays State Prison.  Owens stated that he had talked with Representative Reece at length on Friday in Atlanta.  Owens also stated that Hays Prison was a priority and that he would be keeping a close eye on the situation at the prison.

Representative Reece told AM 1180 Chattooga County Radio earlier last week that she would be expressing her concerns about moral and security at Hays Prison to the newly appointed commissioner. 

During the prison break, then assisistant-commmissioner Owens was extremely forthcoming with information and stated that he planned to remain accessible as Commissioner of Corrections.

A fire at a Summerville home yesterday evening  is believed to have been caused by food left on the stove.  Summerville, Trion and Hays State Prison Fire Departments responded to the scene of the fire on Hilltop Drive yesterday evening around 6:15 PM.  According to reports, the fire was extinguished fairly quickly.

The Chattooga County man arrested on child molestation charges in Floyd County after he alledgedly tried to endtice a minor has been released from the Floyd County Jail on bail.

According to reports, 21 year old Jonathan Tyrone Wooten of a Rocky Hollow Road address in the Pennville Community was arrested early Saturday morning on charges of felony child molestation after an incident that is alledged to have occured on Friday evening around 6:30 PM.

Wooten was released on Saturday from the Floyd County Jail on $6,150 bond.