Darlington’s 14-game win streak and flawless region record were both ended Monday with a seventh-inning rally that put Trion over the edge, 5-3.

The Tigers looked poised to notch their 15th straight win going into the seventh inning, as they built a 3-0 lead in the fifth and sixth innings off of a walk and a two-run double by David Grindstaff, but the Bulldogs pulled off a five-run game-winning rally, scoring their winning runs with two outs.

Trion’s Ethan Young delivered the first run of the rally, and the next Bulldog run was walked in by Darlington pitcher Burton Dulaney.

With bases loaded, Trion drove in another run to tie the game with two outs on the inning.

A two-run left-field hit for the Bulldogs put them over the edge and secured them a lead that Darlington would not be able to counter in the bottom of the seventh.

“Hats off to Trion tonight,” said Darlington coach Kent Harrison. “They played a great game and showed a lot of fight. They were a well-prepared team.”

Harrison said his team will use this loss as a “learning experience”, and that he still likes their chances at winning the division.

“We will get better from this,” he added. “I can’t wait to get back on the field tomorrow.”

Young earned the win for Trion, as he pitched six innings, had eight strikeouts and three earned runs.

Grindstaff led the Tigers from the plate in the loss with his two RBIs.

A Chattooga County couple were charged with criminal trespass after refusing to vacate a Trion residence on April 10.

According to the Chattooga County Sheriff's Department report, officers received information that 52-year-old Jeffery Hines, of a Washington Street, Summerville address, was staying at an Elm Street, Trion address, even though he had been told to vacate the property due to ownership by Chattooga County.

When officers arrived they found Hines and 57-year-old Charlotte Brown inside  the residence. Both Hines and Brown were arrested.    

The Chattooga County Sheriff's Department received a call on an abandoned horse on Tuesday, April 16.

According to the report, deputies met with a woman on Forestry Road, around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Susan Moore told them a friend call her about a horse on the road that appeared to be injured and abandoned. She said, she and her husband got their horse trailer and drove over in their truck to find the horse barely able to walk and appearing to be extremely malnourished with a blind eye.

The report indicated that the horse did appear to have been mistreated. Moore was advised to take the horse to her home and call Animal Control the next morning. 

An empty rental house was recently burglarized and damaged.

According to the report by the Chattooga County Sheriff's Department, the incident was reported on Tuesday, April 16.

The report indicates that the  wiring, plumbing pipes and fixtures were taken from the brick house on Trion Teloga Road. Entry reportedly was gained through a kitchen window. Estimated damage is unknown. The burglary was turned over to investigators.  

A Chattooga County man was arrested almost immediately when Chattooga County Sheriff's Deputies arrived at a Dry Creek Road residence on April 6. Ashton Hooper is facing several charges.

Officers arrived just after 11 a.m. and  were greeted by two men in the front yard and two on the front porch  Hooper told them they weren't going to arrest him, because they were trespassing. Hooper reportedly smelled of alcohol. He was told to calm down or he would be arrested. According to the report, Hooper continued acting aggressively.

It was also indicated on the report that Hooper had a knife on his side and a knife on his key ring.

Officers put handcuffs on 24-year-old Hooper and that is when he resisted arrest, according to the report. Hooper is alleged to have kicked the deputy's legs while he was getting him on the ground and he would not give his hands to the deputy when he was cuffing him. He reportedly told the officer he wasn't going anywhere. 

  It was then that the officer pepper sprayed the man and, according to the report, the spray had no affect on him. It was at that point that Hooper appeared that he might go for his knife. One of the men on the scene reportedly grabbed one of Hooper's hands while the deputy grabbed the other and put him in handcuffs. When walking Hooper to the patrol vehicle, Hooper reportedly fell to the ground and said he wasn't going anywhere.  It was then that the deputy picked him and carried him to the patrol car.

According to the report, the original call came because William Hughes said he got home and Hooper was inside his house, looking for his guns, that had been taken away because Hooper had threatened to kill himself. Hooper reportedly had been drinking all night and morning, according to Hughes.

Hooper was taken to the Chattooga County Jail charged with felony obstruction of officers. public drunkenness. misdemeanor obstruction of officers and disorderly conduct.

While being transported to jail, Hooper is alleged to have tried to open the patrol car door. He also was uncooperative and used profanity, according to the report.

The Miss Chattooga County Beauty Pageant will be held at Chattooga High School on May 4th at 6 p.m. Those interested in participating should pick up an entry form in the main office of any Chattooga County School.  Entry fees and forms are due to the CHS Main Office by 4 p.m. on May 1st. Participants will compete in various categories depending on their age from 0 – 19 years old.

Listed on the April 18 Arrest Report are:

Lucinda Michelle Easterwood — Theft by shoplifting

Haley Jordan Elrod — Probation violation (two counts)

Cody Ray Harmon — VGCSA/Possession of meth

Alicia Ann Hayes — Failure to appear

Hoyt Murrele Marks — Simple Battery

John Wesley Martin Jr. — Willful obstruction of law enforcement officers; failure to obey traffic control device; possession/use of drug related objects; VGCSA/ possession of schedule II drug

Kayla Marie Rogers — VGCSA/ possession of meth

Tracy Leann Terry — Theft by shoplifting

Terry Wayne McWhorter — VGCSA/ possession of schedule III drug; VGCSA/ possession of schedule IV drug; Possession of drug related objects; possession of less than one ounce of marijuana

Jonathan Eric Mitchell — Hold for Walker County

Jonathan Lawrence Wright — Weekender

Chattooga FFA’s horticulture program will be holding a plant sale April 17 – 19, 23, and 30 – May 3rd from 8am -12 noon and 4pm – 6pm at Chattooga High School’s greenhouses. Items being sold include hanging baskets of spider plants, geraniums, and ferns. Vegetables including tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers. Annual bedding plant trays and potted annuals and perennials, sun plants, and shade plants.

Come down and take a look at what we have, all at wholesale prices with the proceeds benefiting the FFA horticulture program in our county.

The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dipped to 8.4 percent in March, the lowest rate since December 2008. The rate was down two-tenths of a percentage point from 8.6 percent in February and seven-tenths of a percentage point from 9.1 percent in March a year ago.

The rate declined because of an increase in the number of jobs and fewer new layoffs.

“Georgia employers created 23,700 jobs last month, which is one of the best job growth numbers we’ve had in March for almost a decade,” said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “The growth was in several industries, led by leisure and hospitality and professional and business services.”

Additional growth came in trade, transportation and warehousing, 4,400; construction, 2,300; and local government, 1,800. The March growth pushed the number of jobs to 3,997,100, up from 3,973,400 in February.

Butler said there was also strong over-the-year job growth, as Georgia employers added 75,500 jobs, or 1.9 percent, since March 2012. Again the growth was in several sectors: professional and business services, 29,800; trade, transportation, and warehousing, 13,000; manufacturing, 4,300; information services, 4,100; financial activities, 2,400; and construction, 200.

The number of new layoffs, represented by new claims for unemployment insurance benefits, decreased by 1,713 from 38,696 in February to 36,983 in March, the lowest for any month since September 2007. The decreases came mostly in construction, wholesale trade, transportation, and warehousing, administrative and support services, accommodations and food services, other personal services, and real estate, rental, and leasing. And, the number of initial claims was down over-the-year by 5,693, or 13.3 percent, from 42,676 in March 2012. Most of the over-the-year declines came in the same industries as the monthly declines.

The number of long-term unemployed workers declined for the 11th consecutive month. It fell 6,500 to 181,100 in March, its lowest level since January 2010. The long-term unemployed—those out of work for more than 26 weeks—make up 44.5 percent of those unemployed in Georgia.

And, the state’s labor force, those working or actively seeking employment, declined to 4,821,591, down 18,241 from 4,839,832 in February. It was 4,797,535 in March 2012.