Photo Credit: The Calhoun Times
A Gordon County man has been arrested after an accident with a fire truck on Monday of this week. The Calhoun Times reported that forty-three-year-old Christopher Morris Hutchins of Calhoun was charged with DUI, hit and run, failure to yield and an outstanding felony warrant after the accident on Highway 41 around 3 PM Monday. Calhoun Police and the Georgia State Patrol say that Hutchins pulled into the path of the fire engine. The fire engine overturned as a result of the actions of Hutchins. The driver of the fire truck was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Hutchins fled the scene but was later arrested by Georgia State Troopers.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will soon begin returning artifacts to culturally affiliated tribes from Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site in Cartersville. Repatriation is mandated by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a federal law enacted in 1990.
Groundbreaking at new freestanding Atrium Health Floyd Emergency Room in Trion earlier this year
Americans for Prosperity-Georgia, a conservative political action group, is calling for an end to the Certificate of Need program in Georgia that requires healthcare providers to apply with the state and prove need before being granted permission to build a healthcare facility like the freestanding emergency room planned for Chattooga County.
Georgia’s new work-based Medicare plan will go into place in 2023. The program will expand Medicaid to some not currently eligible for the program but requires recipients to be working, going to school, or volunteering. To stay eligible for the program, beneficiaries must continue to spend at least 80 hours per month working, volunteering, or going to school
Chattooga County Commissioner Blake Elsberry plans to adopt a $16 million budget for the county at a meeting to be held this Friday at his office on Commerce Street in Summerville.
Georgia’s U.S. Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff have secured $5.1 million for the development of the former Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital site in Rome. Plans are to turn the expansive property into an industrial park. Warnock said, “I came to Washington to deliver for Georgia, and the annual government funding package is a major win for Georgians in every corner of the state. These federal investments will expand health care access, address our housing needs, revitalize our neighborhoods, support workers and bolster our national security.” Warnock announced on Friday the funding made it into the final bill, which President Joe Biden has said he will sign.
WZQZ News reported that the unemployment rate in Chattooga County was down slightly for the month of November from 3.9% in October to 3.7% last month. The Georgia Department of Labor says that the entire Northwest Georgia region is seeing lower unemployment rates.
Radix Broadcasting in LaFayette reported that radio station WQCH has been sold to a new owner and will continue to offer local programming on 1590 AM and 93.7 FM. The agreement is still subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission, but the new staff will take over operations January 1st and keep the stations on the air without interruption. Radix Broadcasting President Rich Gwyn said “The new owners will keep LaFayette radio LOCAL… and they have plans to add programs that I believe the station’s listeners will really enjoy.” Gwyn announced his retirement from the radio business at the end of the year, following 40 years as Station Manager. The name of the new owners has not been released, but Gwyn says they are “an experienced broadcast group from the Tri-State area”.
WQCH
According to a report from the Georgia State Patrol, the body of a twenty-eight-year-old missing Floyd County man was discovered in Polk County. Polk County Police asked the Georgia State Patrol for help in the investigation after the body of Sharad Robinson was found on Monday on the shoulder of Georgia 1 (Highway 27). According to a statement released by state troopers, Robinson was struck by a vehicle that fled from the scene. Robinson was reported missing from Floyd County on December 18th. It is believed that Robinson was walking to Cedartown. Troopers believe that his body had been on the roadside since the day he was reported missing. Robinson’s body was identified by next of kin.