After one burglary earlier this month, a second burglary was possibly averted when a Chattooga County  resident heard a noise on the back porch and looked outside scaring off a possible intruder. Chattooga County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to a Nellie Lane, Trion, address on Thursday, Dec. 13. The resident told them her daughter heard a noise on the back porch and looked outside to see a male wearing a black hoodie. The man reportedly jumped off the porch and fled into the woods when he saw the woman. The residents told Sheriff's Deputies that the home had been broken into on Dec. 11. The woman said she might have recognized the man on the porch and if he is who she thinks he is, he is associated with the suspects in that burglary. Extra patrol was assinged to the area, which has been turned over to investigators.  l

A burglary at a Beavers Road Home was reported on December 14. According to the report, Becky Martin told Chattooga County Sheriff's deputies that she came home and found her front door unlocked. She said when she went inside she noticed papers on the floor and drawers pulled out in the kitchen. Items also were reportedly scattered around the living room and about $75 in change was missing. The basement door had been kicked in with the frame splintered and a concrete block had been thrown in a window, which is how entry reportedly was made, according to the report. In the bedroom, drawers were removed from a dresser and the closet doors in both bedrooms had been removed, though nothing appeared to be missing from the bedrooms. The incident was turned over to investigators.

A Summerville man faces disorderly conduct charges after an incident on December the 10th. According to a report by the Chattooga County Sheriff's Department, deputies were dispatched to a Northern Heights Circle address to find an allegedly intoxicated 30-year-old Douglas Wayne Payne. Payne, of Back Berryton Road, Summerville, reportedly was inside the trailer "very drunk" and  angry. He is alleged to have been causing a disturbance at the residence and began making threats when a call was made to 911. He also reportedly was yelling and using obscene language. 

In light of last week's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connect that took the lives of 26 children and school personnel, Trion Schools is reviewing it's security measures.

School Superintendent Phil Williams says he thinks the school is already doing a good job but certainly they can always do better. First thing Monday morning, Williams met with school administrators and the school resource officer to review security measures. 

From now on, administrators and the resource officer will be more visible in the hallways; individual classroom doors will be locked during the day; all outside doors with the exception of each school's main entrance will be locked; and Trion police will drive through the school grounds on a regular basis. 

Those security measures are just the beginning, according to Williams. He said after the holidays, he will meet again with administrators and resource officers; and Chattooga County Emergency Management Director Eddie Henderson to find out what other measures are feasible. He said he has received some good suggestions from parents, including a siren similar to the Town's emergency siren if there is an emergency, and emergency buttons in certain areas to silently notify emergency personnel if there is an emergency.  He said the bottom line and ultimate determination of what will be done depends on how much money the school system can get from the federal government.

Williams said children are supposed to be safe at school. He said when parents drop their children off in the morning, they need to know they are safe.  Counselors were prepared to speak to classrooms and individual students who were concerned about the Sandy Hook tragedy on Monday.  But interestingly enough, no children seemed to want to speak to a counselor. However, Williams said he received many emails from parents.

WRCB TV News has reported on the alleged inappropriate text messages allegedly sent to female students by the Former Band Director at Lakeview Middle School. A personnel report, obtained by the TV station reveals that Blevins asked students if they were interested in him, repeatedly asked the girls to cuddle, and to take pictures of themselves and send them to him. The band director quit his job when confronted by Catoosa School Officials. Days later he was arrested on child molestation and false imprisonment charges. Those charges involve three of his former students.

Another attempt to get water for Georgia, from the Tennessee River. Georgia House Resolution 4 was filed last week. It addresses Georgia's disputed border with Tennessee, in which an 1818 survey mistake put the state line too far South. The correct State Line would give the Peach State access to the Tennessee River and it's abundant water supply, just North of Dade County. The House Resolution would settle the border claim, if Tennessee would grant Georgia a sliver of land to access the river. In the past, Tennessee officials have refused to consider any change in the state boundary line, or access to river water by the State of Georgia. The measure was filed by State Representative Harry Geisinger of Roswell, in the water-starved Metro Atlanta region.

A survey by the Reuters News Agency indicates that at least 10 percent of the world population is preparing for the "end of time.," According to an interpretation of the ancient Mayan calendar that is this Friday. Russians reportedly are buying up candles and matches, while some in the US are hoarding food and ammunition. In the meantime, NASA scientists say the world will keep spinning right into the next year. In fact, there reportedly are several examples of ancient Mayan calendars still in existance and only one of them ends on December 21, 2012.

Chattooga County's outgoing  Sheriff  and an investigator will be in federal court in Rome on January 14 before Judge Harold Murphy. 

At least five people have received subpoenas in the case, according to Summerville  attorney Bobby Lee Cook, who represents  Mark and Connie Gordon. The Gordons  claim Sheriff' s Department Investigator Kandy Dodd deceived a magistrate judge into signing a warrant to search their house without any probable cause and that  Sheriff John Everett supervised the decision, according to the federal lawsuit filed in Rome. The suit also claims this isn’t the first time Everett has encouraged one of his employees to give false statements to obtain a search warrant.

Filed by Cook, the suit states that, on April 14 2011, Dodd first obtained a search warrant through the magistrate’s office to look through Fleetwood’s Pawn shop, which the Gordons own in Trion. But the lawsuit alleges Dodd then went back to get a second search warrant, telling the judge that the first warrant had an error and needed to be changed. Instead, the lawsuit claims, Dodd had written the Gordons’ home address in the place of the pawn shop address.The warrant claimed that several items from burglaries had been sold through the shop. The suit claims that  several personal items were taken and many haven’t been returned.

Cook told AM1180 he is ready for court.

A Trion man is charged with First Degree Arson stemming from a fire earlier this month at an Old Justice Road house. According to Chattooga County Investigator James Durham, 41-year-old Ricky Allen Sprayberry is additionally charged with burglary, entering an auto, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug related objects. He was initially arrested on December 12th, but all charges weren't lodged until December 13, according to Durham. 

A Chattooga County Sheriff's Department Patrol car responding to a domestic incident that could have involved a weapon was involved in a one-vehicle accident last night.

According to Captain Ken Anderson, the accident occurred at 11 p.m. Monday and was driven by deputy Brock Campbell. Campbell reportedly was running hot with lights and siren activated when he lost control of the vehicle on Highway 337 at Cooper Road. The vehicle reportedly  went into a ditch and hit a mailbox, receiving moderate damage. Though sore on Tuesday, Campbell reported no injuries. The accident is still under investigation by the Georgia State Patrol.

It is the second patrol car wrecked in the past month. Previously School Resource officer Jeremy Reese was involved in a two vehicle accident on Highway 27. Anderson says he thinks the department is still doing well considering the number of vehicles on the roadway and the number of miles put on each vehicle each day.