Chattooga County has had a blast of artic weather for the past several days that included some snow and bittlerly cold temperatures.
For the past several years the area has experienced rather mild winters, but that trend seems to be broken with the 2009-2010 winter season. Both area schools were dismissed early on Thursday of this week as snow began to fall and Friday saw slippery roads around Chattooga County.
Temperatures are expected to moderate and by mid – week we should see highs back in the 50’s.
Here’s the weather for today:
Mainly sunny. Cold. High 34F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Jan 10 Sunday Night
Clear skies. Cold. Low 12F. Winds light and variable.
The Summerville City Council will hold their regular monthly meeting and work session coming up tommorrow evening, Monday January 11 at Summerville City Hall.
The council is expected to elect a new mayor pro – tem at the meeting. Also the council is looking to aprove a new $450,000 line of credit that will be repaid by SPLOST’s funds. The council will also take up the issue of two beer & wine license renewals from The Smoke Shop and Melanie Inn.
The council is also expected to discuss and make recomendations regarding an appointment to fill a Library Board Vacancy.
The 2010 Census is looking for hundreds of thousands of temporary, part-time census taker jobs. The jobs will be created across the U.S. to assist with this years census reporting. Folks can apply for jobs now, but most hirings will take place during the spring. Census takers usually work in their own communities, going door-to-door, conducting brief interviews with households that did not return their questionnaire. Census takers work approximately 20 to 40 hours per week, primarily in the evenings and on weekends and are paid weekly.
An applicant`s chances of getting a job with the Census depend on many factors, such as the availability of work in his or her community, test score results, number of hours he or she is available to work and being able to speak a second language.
While some analysts had hoped that the nation would regard an up month, December unemployment numbers, released by the Commerce Department on Friday, showed a further 85,000 jobs were lost. The unemployment rate, which is measured by a different survey, remained unchanged at 10%.
The number of initial unemployment claims and layoffs have been falling. The four week average of initial unemployment claims is down to around 450,000.
For job growth to take place, actual hiring needs to exceed the number of layoffs and job losses. So far that hasn`t taken place. A good example is United Parcel Service (UPS). On Friday the shipping company announced improved shipping volumes and profits at the same time it layed off an additional 1,800 management and administrative workers.
Another factor is that people who can`t find a job and stop looking are not longer counted as unemployed. Once the economy picks up enough to make finding a job more realistic, those people will resume looking for work, which will either cause unemployment numbers to rise or at least slow their fall.
Overall, the economy has lost over 8 million jobs since the beginning of the recession. Typically between one and 1.2 million net new workers join the labor per year. So it takes 100,000 new jobs per month just to stay even.
In the calendar year 2009, unemployment benefit payments were $140 billion. In December, the payments were $14.7 billion which is roughly the same amount the Federal government pays in salaries in a month.
The 209th Broadcast Public Affaris Detachment of the Army Reserve based in Rome will be shipping out ot Iraq for a year this weekend. The group is charged with operating radio and the Armed Forces Network that not only informs but entertains troups. The 27 man unit conist of 16 locals living around Floyd County.
The unit is set to depart from its Thomas H. Glenn Army Reserve Center office on Redmond Circle Saturday at 7 am with a police escort.
The unit was previously deployed to Iraq in Sept. 2004 and returned a year later in 2005
Carlton Ervin Johnson, 47, of 100 Summerville Gardens in Summerville, was arrested at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday by the Rome Police Department and was charged with probation violation. He remained in jail Thursday morning.
From left: Matthew Korakoth Sithimolada, Alexander Cole Butler and Steven Brien Heberer
Authorities have arrested two more teens in connection with last week’s theft of four vehicles from Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge dealership in Ringgold.
Arrested were Matthew Korakoth Sithimolada, 18, and Alexander Cole Butler, 17. A third suspect, 19-year-old Steven Brien Heberer, was arrested Dec. 29.
The 2009 Viper and the Jeep were recovered the night of the incident, but were “totaled.” The 2004 Viper and Dodge Charger were recovered undamaged.
Dealership owner Mike Robbins said that police, on the night of the theft, spotted a driver spinning tires. A chase ensued and the driver, Heberer, wrecked into a telephone pole, Robbins said. The vehicle turned out to be the 2009 Dodge Viper, valued at $107,000, he said.
Heberer has been charged with theft by receiving stolen property, driving on the wrong side of the road, failure to notify, and striking a fixed object.
“We believe that someone snuck into the (dealership’s) parts department and hid until everybody left,” Robbins said. “They stole the keys, petty cash which was five-hundred dollars, and a handgun that was in my desk.”
Sithimolada and Heberer have been released on bond. Butler remained Monday in jail.
Ringgold police detective Patrick Mason, who is in charge of the investigation, and Catoosa County sheriff Phil Summers could not be reached Monday for more details.
Catoosa County saw bids on Thursday for clearing the land located off I-75 at Cloud Springs and Scruggs Roads currently known as “Project Hilltop.”
A warehouse retailer is rumored to be built on the land and expects to employ about 125 people in the first year and about 200 the second year. About half the jobs will be full-time.
The lowest bid came from Wright Brothers at $4.5 million and the highest was from Brown Brothers at $6.6 million.
The bids will be considered then voted on during Tuesday’s Catoosa County Development Authority.
The Catoosa County Board of Commissioners will then vote to approve or deny the selected bid during their Tuesday, Jan. 19 meeting.
Cursty Lynn Greer – State Court Probation Violation
David Tyrone Mathis – Hold for Greene County
Kimberly Joyce Perry – SPD City Court Probation Violation
Edward Henderson Smith – Weekends/Superior Court Sentenced
Michael Tommy Tucker – Weekends/Superior Court Sentenced
Bryant Paul Ward – Passing in a no passing zone, certificate of registration replacement of lost registration certificate, windshields and windshield wipers (oversized sticker in rear window), possession of schedule III drug hydrocodone, drugs to be kept in original container.
A LaFayette man suspected of multiple thefts in Whitfield County has been arrested after eluding authorities for several days.
Danny Wayne Bramlett, 47, of 99 First Ave., is charged with four counts of theft of motor vehicles, two counts of burglary, obstruction of an officer, theft by taking, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and several traffic charges. He is also wanted in Catoosa, Chattooga, Gordon, Murray and Walker counties for various crimes, according to a press release from the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the press release:
On Tuesday at about 1 p.m., a Dalton man returning to his home noticed a white Honda parked next to his residence. As the man approached his home, he saw a white male walking across his yard carrying two of his rifles. The man ran, got into a Honda and fled. A short time later, a deputy with the sheriff’s office saw the Honda and tried to stop it.
The driver sped and attempted to elude officers. The Honda pulled behind a building on Old Grade Road where both occupants got out and ran. A female was captured and the firearms were recovered in the vehicle. The driver, Bramlett, eluded officers. The woman, Cynthia Hawkins, 45, was arrested and is being held at the Whitfield County jail.
On Wednesday at about 1:25 p.m., the Murray County Sheriff’s Office notified the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office that they had a patrol unit following a 1993 GMC truck that had been reported stolen to the Dalton Police Department. Whitfield and Murray County Sheriff’s Office patrol units tried to stop the vehicle on Keith Mill Road. The suspect in the truck attempted to elude officers by speeding. The suspect turned onto Bramblett Road, driving through yards in an attempt to elude officers. He drove into the yard of one home and hit a birdbath and tree.
The suspect, Bramlett, then exited the vehicle and ran. When he was caught, he attempted to fight with the Whitfield and Murray officers. He was restrained and taken into custody. The truck was recovered.
Bramlett remained in the Whitfield County jail Thursday evening.
