The Walker County School System's Planetarium will be open to the public today (Sunday) at 2:30. It's at 409 Pond Springs Road, Just south of Chickamauga. Admission is free.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture has put out a notice to horse owners about a Florida outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus. Several houses tested positive at the Horse Shows in the Sun in Ocala, Florida recently.
The Georgia Ag Department recommends that all horses taken to the Ocala show not be transported to additional shows for the next 21 days, and that any horse in contact with a horse that was at the show be included in the isolation. If there is evidence of fever or illness, a vet should be contacted. For more information contact the Dept. of Agriculture at 404-656-3671.
The president of Georgia Northwestern Technical College is leaving for a new job. Dr. Craig McDaniel will be working for the Technical College System's International Center. The acting president at GNTC will be Pete McDonald, until a permanent replacement is chosen. McDonald has been serving has been serving as vice president of Economic Development at the technical college.
At the request of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, State Representative Jay Neal, of Lafayette, has introduced a bill to close a loophole in sex laws involving children.
House Bill 156 would make it unlawful for a person to contact the parents of a child for the purpose of molestation or other sexually-related offenses, using an on-line service. The current law makes it unlawful only to solicit the child, or someone the person believes is the child.
Neal said, the law has to be adjusted." The bill provides penalties including up to 25 years in prison and fines up to 25-thousand dollars. The bill has passed the House Judiciary Committee and is now in the rules committee for consideration.
A former gymnastics coach for the Rome-Floyd Parks and Recreation Authority who was acquitted of theft charges by a jury has filed a federal lawsuit against the authority, Executive Director Richard Garland, the City of Rome and Floyd County for malicious prosecution.
In her lawsuit — filed in U.S. District Court in Rome on Friday — Karen Armstrong said Garland and others acting his behalf “made statements to authorities that were knowingly false or, in the alternative, were made with a reckless disregard to the truth or falsity of the statements.”
Armstrong was acquitted of theft charges after a weeklong trial in March 2012.
According to her lawsuit, Armstrong, a coach for more than 30 years, began working for the RFPRA in December 2007.
She collected money from parents for a separate team, called the “Flip City” team, and deposited the funds into her account to pay for team expenses.
Garland reported to Rome police that Armstrong had misappropriated funds from parents by personally accepting money instead of running it through the RFPRA books.
Armstrong said in her suit that, despite the fact she accounted for all of the money, Garland manipulated the investigation by withholding information and evidence.
Catoosa County sheriff Gary Sisk said Wednesday he won’t oblige a Ringgold attorney’s request for an investigation into whether deputies in his office looked the other way or failed to report traffic stops involving an FBI agent suspected of drinking and driving.
On Friday, Feb. 22, attorney McCracken Poston of Ringgold sent a letter to Sisk requesting that he ask the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in to evaluate whether deputies gave special treatment or made exceptions for FBI agent Ken Hillman during the past year and a half.
According to Poston, Hillman has abused his authority as an FBI agent to get out of possible DUIs.
Hillman, who is being investigated by the FBI for his actions, has been head of the Northwest Georgia Crimes Against Children Task Force for the past few years.
The task force consists of undercover officers who communicate with people online through chat rooms and ads looking to weed out those looking arrange meetings for underage sex.
In his letter, Poston alleges that agent Hillman was pulled over at least twice by Catoosa County sheriff’s deputies under suspicion of drinking and driving, but was either allowed to call a friend to come and get him, or was allowed to go completely.
A Trion man reported that someone entered his McCollum Street, Trion, workshop and stole his wallet on Thursday.
According to the Sheriff's Department report, the wallet was later found by a neighbor on Reed Street. Missing from the wallet was $200 cash. A debit card that had been in the wallet also was reportedly used to make an unauthorized purchase at Walmart totaling for just more than $340. The investigation reportedly is ongoing.
A Chattooga County woman reported on Friday that a trailer from stolen from her Dry Creek Road, Summerville, property.
Lori Pilcher told deputies that she was leaving for work that morning when she realized her 5X8, Kevco trailer had been removed from her yard. She said the last time she remembered seeing the black trailer was at 5 p.m. on Thursday. The trailer had a flat tire on the right side and is valued at about $575, according to the report.
According to the report, it appeared that someone had removed two screws from the rear door of a building next to where the trailer was originally located. The incident was turned over to investigators.
The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) is teaming with Mohawk Industries to help fill job vacancies for experienced twisting operators at its manufacturing facility in Calhoun.
Recruitments will be held at two GDOL career centers from 8 a.m. until 12 noon on Wednesday, March 6, and Monday, March 11. Company representatives will be available at the GDOL’s Rome Career Center, located at 462 Riverside Parkway. They will also be at the GDOL’s Dalton Career Center, located at 1406 Chattanooga Avenue.
Applicants should bring copies of their resume and be prepared to interview. The company requires a minimum of six months manufacturing/tufting machine experience.
Applicants must be at least 18 years of age due to U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. They must also have a high school diploma or a General Education Diploma (GED) and bring two forms of identification.
Mohawk offers a number of benefits, including health, dental, and vision insurance, competitive salaries, healthy life centers, and a 401k plan.
For more information on the Mohawk recruiting events, contact Kelly Gribble at the Rome Career Center at (706) 295-6051 or kelly.gribble@gdol.ga.gov, or Jackie Goolsby at the Dalton Career Center at (706) 272-2301 or Jackie.goolsby@gdol.ga.gov
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The Georgia Department of Labor’s (GDOL) LaFayette Career Center will help Hays State Prison fill about 45 jobs for correctional officers at the prison in Trion.
There will be two recruitments. The first will be held Tuesday, March 12, from 2-6 p.m. at the Chattooga County Civic Center, located at 44 Highway 48, across the street from the BB&T Bank, in Summerville. The second recruitment will be held Wednesday, March 13, from 12:30-4:30 p.m. in the community room at the LaFayette Housing Authority, located at 300 South Oak St. in LaFayette.
While experience as a correctional officer is not necessary, applicants must be at least 18 years old and bring to the recruitments a high school diploma or a General Education Diploma (GED), along with their COMPASS, ASSET, SAT, or ACT test scores. Also, they must bring a driver’s license, U.S. Social Security Card, birth certificate, or Selective Service Card, if they are between the ages of 18 and 25 years old. Those with prior military experience should bring copies of their Department of Defense (DD 214 member 4 Form).
The starting salary for correctional officers at the prison is $26,754, plus as much as 10 percent more for those with prior military service.
For additional information about the recruitments, contact Cathy Toles at the LaFayette Career Center at (706) 638-5525, or e-mail cathy.toles@gdol.ga.gov
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