WHAT: Weather permitting, maintenance crews will resurface a portion of I-75 overnight this week. The work will close the left two northbound lanes of the interstate. Motorists should expect delays during the resurfacing.

WHEN: Tuesday and Wednesday, September 17 and 18, from 7 p.m. until 4 a.m. each night

WHERE: The left two lanes of I-75 north will be closed between mileposts 319 and 321. The exit and entrance ramps will not be affected.

Here is the latest arrest report from the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office for Monday, September 16, 2024:

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz is headed to Georgia on Tuesday to campaign for Kamala Harris, his first solo visit to the critical battleground state since accepting the nomination.

A campaign official said the Minnesota governor will visit Macon and Atlanta on Tuesday for a political event. It’s his second stop in Georgia this campaign cycle, following a late August bus tour with Harris that visited several coastal Georgia stops.

Harris and former President Donald Trump are narrowing their focus on Georgia and a half-dozen other competitive states as the November election nears. U.S. Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running-mate, will headline a conservative gala in Cobb County today.

The visits are part of a blitz of stops in swing states after the debate in Philadelphia, which marks the start of a sprint toward November. Early voting in Georgia starts on Oct. 15, and the rival parties are intensifying their get-out-the-vote efforts.

GNN / AJC

On Thursday of last week, a Summerville resident came to the Summerville Police Department and said that he had been the victim of check fraud.  The complainant told police that he had written a check for over $7,000 to a pharmaceutical supply company and discovered that the name the check had been written to had been changed to “Tanzania Scott”.  The complainant’s bank advised him to get a police report about the fraudulent check.

The Chattooga County Board of Registrars will hold a special called meeting Tuesday afternoon at 3 PM at the Registrars Office, located at 10017 Commerce Street in Summerville.  On the agenda, the board will be accepting or rejecting voters challenges that were received as of September 10, 2024.  You can see an agenda for today’s meeting below: (Note, there is a misprint on the notice that says “October 10, 2024, the Registrars Office says that should read, “September 10, 2024”. )

There was only one health inspection score from the Chattooga County Environmental Health Department for the first half of September.  The new Zaxby’s Restaurant, located off Highway 27 at Hurley’s Crossing, received a score of 99.  Should you ever have any complaint with any food service or tourist accommodation that operates in Chattooga County, you may register that complaint by calling the Chattooga County Environmental Health Department at 706-857-3377.  To learn more about the most recent health inspection click HERE

Chattooga County Tax Commissioner Joy Hampton 2024 tax bills are ready and expected to hit mailboxes in the next couple of weeks. The due date for 2024 tax bills is December 3, 2024. There are close to 300 bills under appeal with the property assessors, and Hampton says temporary 85% bills have been sent out for those. Adjusted bills will be sent once the tax commissioner’s office receives notice that an appeal has been finalized.

Tax Commissioner Hampton told WZQZ News, “In 2023, tax bills with a homestead exemption received a credit from the Governor of up to (approximately) $409.00 for the homestead tax relief grant. Unfortunately, this credit is not available for 2024. While the taxes levied will be less for most residential properties this year, taxpayers may see an increase close to $300 over last year’s bill even if no change was made on the assessment. Homestead exemptions are still applied, but the grant is not going to apply to those bills this year”.

2024 Chattooga County Property Tax bills are due December 3, 2024.

The City of Summerville is reminding motorist and residents in the area that construction will be happening on the Henderson Road side of the Summerville Cemetery for the next couple of weeks. Please use alternate entrances. Crews will be working on construction on the gate.  Motorists should use extra caution in the area.

The United States Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announce its partnerships, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Field Division and DeKalb County, Georgia, to develop a plan to reduce intimate partner firearm violence and to prioritize prosecutions of domestic violence offenders.

“In 1994, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994 to combat crimes against women associated with domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other offenses,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.  “Our close partnerships with law enforcement agencies, local stakeholders, organizations, and others, is critical to combat the scourge of domestic violence to safeguard families and make our communities safer.”

The Department of Justice utilized data to identify DeKalb County and other communities throughout the United States that could benefit from increased focus on intimate partner violence resources. Our office had previously implemented a domestic violence firearm case referral program with the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office.  In 2018, our offices launched this partnership to identify individuals for federal prosecution who possess a firearm following a conviction for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

This referral protocol resulted from the development of an innovative framework, by the District Attorney’s Office, for identifying such cases within their office, involving the input of felony and misdemeanor prosecutors, probation officers, and victim advocates. (See e.g. DeKalb County criminal justice partners set out to save lives with a firearm reduction initiative, https://www.preventdvgunviolence.org/community-spotlight/spotlight-dekalb-county-ga.html.)  In September 2019, our partnership was highlighted in a workshop at the Georgia Commission on Family Violence’s Annual Conference.  Through this strategic enforcement initiative, we expect to continue to identify and prosecute the most serious perpetrators of domestic violence – including offenders who use and possess firearms, which greatly increases the risk of serious injury or death to the victim.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.

Here is the latest arrest report from the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office for Sunday, September 15, 2024:

A fifty-two-year-old Summerville woman was charged with drug possession after a traffic stop on Bellah Avenue in Summerville last week.  Summerville Police say that Tina Joann Hughes was a passenger inside the vehicle that was stopped after an officer observed that the occupants were not wearing their seat belts.  Officers noticed a faint smell of marijuana inside the vehicle and asked the driver and two passengers to step outside the car.  Drugs were found inside a pocketbook that was sitting on the seat inside the vehicle.  Hughes admitted that the pocketbook was hers.  Hughes was charged with drug possession and was booked into the Chattooga County Jail on Wednesday.

A joint, student-led event between the Chattooga and Trion chapters of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes will take place at Sam R. McCain Stadium in Trion on Wednesday, September 25th at 6:30 PM.  Michael Lee will be leading music and Jordan Teems will be the guest speaker.  All churches, youth groups and individuals are welcome and encouraged to attend.

A former supervisor Georgia county Public Works Supervisor has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud.

William Richards, 51, of Brunswick also was ordered to pay more than $420,000 in restitution of funds he illegally gained from fraudulent charges to government purchasing cards.

Richards, who began working for the public works department in 2010, was responsible for coding and reconciling purchases made with the department’s purchasing cards. The Glynn County Police Department and the FBI began investigating his activities last year when another agency employee noticed suspicious charges on his county purchasing card.

According to court records and testimony, Richards had been making fraudulent purchases with his card and those of other employees for more than two years by issuing payments to a fictitious company he created and then transferring the money to his own bank account.

“Taxpayers rightly expect employees of their government agencies to handle public money responsibly,” U.S. Attorney Jill Steinberg said Monday. “William Richards did the opposite by defrauding taxpayers and enriching himself at their expense, and he is being held accountable for his crime.”

Besides the prison sentence and restitution, U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood also sentenced Richards to serve three years of supervised release after he completes his prison term.

U.S. Dept. of Justice

The deadline is approaching for registration for the Georgia Northwestern Technical College fall mini-mester term.  The admissions deadline is Monday, September 23rd.  Classes start on October 14th.  The GNTC Admissions Office is available at their call center at (866) 983-4682, or you may visit one of their campuses Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. or you can email Admissions.  More below:

How to Apply

1. Apply Online to the Admissions office and pay a $25 non-refundable application fee.
2. Submit an official copy of a high school transcript or GED® transcript. An unofficial copy will be accepted until the official copy can be obtained.
3. Students must register online to attend the required New Student Orientation. Details will be emailed once accepted.

Where Do You Start?

For more detailed instructions, please view our Academic Plan Where Do You Start?.

You may also want to Request a Campus Visit or Request Program Information.

Application

• Apply Online

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp says that he wants to see the state provide funds to ensure that there is a school resource officer (SRO) in every public school in the state.  The governor’s call for more school security comes at the same time Georgia’s House Speaker Jon Burns is calling for new mental health policies and weapons detection for school districts.  The school shooting in Barrow County that killed four people has sparked a rash of hoax threats that have kept local law enforcement and the GBI busy since the tragedy, including threats at Trion High School in Chattooga County on Wednesday of this past week and a hoax threat at Leroy Massey Elementary on Friday.  Some Democratic lawmakers are saying that the Republican majority in the state legislature is not proposing enough and that there needs to be stiffer penalties for parents of students who gain access to guns and for universal background checks for gun purchases.  At least one Republican legislator is also calling for universal background checks.   Rep. Deborah Silcox of Sandy Springs, said in a statement Thursday that she would join Democrats in backing stiffer gun laws.

Chattooga Democrats will hold a meeting coming up tomorrow evening, Monday, September 16th at 6 PM a Chattooga Nutrition – formerly known as the Chattooga Senior Center, located at 184 Senior Drive in Summerville. Local Democrats will be writing postcards in support of U.S. Congressional candidate Shawn Harris.  Also they will discuss future events and yard signs will be available at the meeting.

Ga State Parks Chief of Administrative Services Katherine Darsey, DNR Deputy Commissioner Thomas Barnard, Ga State Parks Director Angie Johnson, DNR Commissioner Walter Rabon, Ga State Parks Chief of Resource Management Ellen Graham, and Ga State Parks Assistant Director Ray Smith.

All-terrain wheelchairs, ADA accessible kayak launches and accessible fishing docks are among the many offerings in Georgia’s State Park system that helped earn the state a national award yesterday. In recognition of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) new accessibility initiative, Outdoors Beyond Barriers, the National Association of State Parks Directors (NASPD) presented DNR’s State Parks and Historic Sites Division with its Innovation Award. It was accepted by Georgia State Parks Director Angie Johnson at the annual conference on Thursday.

The award recipient best exemplifies innovation in our nation’s state parks by creating a best practice, demonstrating exceptional problem solving, improving outdoor recreation opportunities, or enhancing cultural resources.

“I am honored to represent the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in accepting this recognition,” said Johnson. “We strive to make outdoor recreation accessible to every person, at all ability levels.”

Launched in March 2024, Outdoors Beyond Barriers highlights Georgia DNR’s commitment to encourage and empower those with mobility impairments to connect with nature by providing ways to enjoy paddling, hiking, fishing, camping, hunting and other outdoor recreational opportunities. In the 2024 fiscal year, more $2.4 million was invested toward improvements.

Two years ago, the agency partnered with the Aimee Copeland Foundation’s All Terrain Georgia to acquire all-terrain wheelchairs. The specialized chairs are available for free at 20 state parks and historic sites, and in 2023, more than 250 reservations had been made. NASPD’s Bronco Wild Fund grant will purchase all-terrain GRIT chairs to be placed at a few more parks next summer. These require more upper body movement than Action Trackchairs, but are thinner and able to navigate more narrow trails.

Other accessibility improvements include funding for an accessible kayak launch, parking area, boat rental dock and pathway at Jack Hill State Park in Reidsville. A new ADA picnic shelter at High Falls State Park in Jackson was just completed, and an ADA kayak launch is already placed at Hard Labor Creek State Park in Rutledge. Legislative funding has been secured to build a new accessible waterfront area at Tallulah Gorge State Park, which will include ADA parking, an accessible bathroom, pathways and an accessible kayak launch which enables the park to provide paddling programs for people at all ability levels. Dozens of ADA campsites, cottages, yurts, picnic shelters and playgrounds are available as well.

To learn more about these offerings in Georgia’s State Parks and Historic Sites, visit GaStateParks.org.

The Atrium Health Floyd-Polk Foundation awarded more than $1.3 million in grants to Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center and Atrium Health Floyd Polk Medical Center which will be used to support 33 community agencies as part of their inaugural Community Impact Grant cycle for 2024, including $65,000 to Chattooga County agencies. The awards were announced Wednesday, Sept. 11, at an event at Coosa Country Club.  The Chattooga Boys & Girls Club received a $10,000 grant for the local unit’s Project Learn Campaign. The support will help the Chattooga Boys & Girls Club to continue to provide needed program supplies and activity support for educational games, interactive technology, educational trips and more.