Listed on the July 23 Arrest report, according to the Chattooga County Jail docket.
Margie Marie Collins, Summerville — No Charges Listed
Brandon Lee Love, Summervile — Sentencrf 6 months, probation detection center
Mindy Lynn Collins, Summerville — No Charges Listed
Brandon Lebron Wells, Lyerly — Probation violation, Superior court, original charge: obstruction, criminal trespass, battery/FVA
Robbie Lee Mitchell, LaFayette — No Charges Listed
A update on LaFayette High student Austin Whitten. Whitten is undergoing therapy at the Shepherd Canter Rehab Hospital in Atlanta.
The family Facebook page reports that Austin has been working very hard in therapy session and has enjoyed some celebrity visitors, like Otis Nixon of the Atlanta Braves.
The three sport athlete injured his neck in a recent swimming accident and was paralyzed from the chest down.
T H
Rome police and the United States Postal Service are warning people about bogus email related to a package delivery.
And the IRS is warning consumers about another scam tricking people into believing they have a lien placed on them by the IRS. The emails contain a link or attachment that can infect a person’s computer with a virus if it is opened.
According to information from the USPS:
The emails claim to be from the U.S. Postal Service and contain fraudulent information about an attempted or intercepted package delivery or online postage charges. The recipient is instructed to click on a link, open the attachment, or print the label.
The link will ask for some personal information, said Lt. Gary Clayton of the Rome Police Department.
Police and postal service officials say if you receive one of the emails, simply delete it.
In the IRS scheme, a letter is sent through the mail telling the recipient they have a lien placed on them by the IRS and they could settle for a certain amount of money.
According to a press release from the IRS, “The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text, and social media — electronic communications to request personal or financial information. Individuals who receive an unexpected tax bill from the IRS, even if it comes in the regular mail, should verify its validity before sending money to settle the alleged debt.”
The U.S. appears headed for its worst year for whooping cough in more than five decades, with the number of cases rising at an epidemic rate that experts say may reflect a problem with the effectiveness of the vaccine.
Nearly 18,000 cases have been reported so far — more than twice the number seen at this point last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
At this pace, the number for the entire year will be the highest since 1959, when 40,000 illnesses were reported.
Nine children have died, and health officials called on adults — especially pregnant women and those who spend time around children — to get a booster shot as soon as possible.
“My biggest concern is for the babies. They’re the ones who get hit the hardest,” said Mary Selecky, chief of the health department in Washington, one of the states with the biggest outbreaks.
Washington and Wisconsin have reported more than 3,000 cases each, and high numbers have been seen in a number of other states, including New York, Minnesota and Arizona.
Whooping cough has generally been increasing for years, but this year’s spike is startling. Health investigators are trying to figure out what’s going on, and theories include better detection and reporting of cases, some sort of evolution in the bacteria that cause the illness, or shortcomings in the vaccine.
The vaccine that had been given to young children for decades was replaced in the late 1990s following concerns about rashes, fevers and other side effects.
While the new version is considered safer, it is possible it isn’t as effective long term, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, who oversees the CDC’s immunization and respiratory disease programs.
Some parents in California and other states have rebelled against vaccinations and gotten their children exempted from rules that require them to get their shots to enroll in school. Washington state has one of the highest exemption rates in the nation. But the CDC said that does not appear to be a major factor in the outbreak, since most of the youngsters who got sick had been vaccinated.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious disease that can strike people of any age but is most dangerous to children. Its name comes from the sound children make as they gasp for breath.
It used to be a common threat, with hundreds of thousands of cases annually. Cases gradually dropped after a vaccine was introduced in the 1940s, and the disease came to be thought of as a relic of another age. For about 25 years, fewer than 5,000 cases were reported annually in the U.S. The numbers started to climb again in the 1990s.
In both 2004 and 2005, cases surpassed 25,000. The numbers dipped for a few years but jumped to more than 27,000 in 2010, the year California saw an especially bad epidemic.
Experts believe whooping cough occurs in cycles and peaks every three to five years. But they have been startled to see peaks this high. Vaccinations are supposed to tamp down the amount of infection in the population and make the valleys in the cycles longer, said Pejman Rohani, a University of Michigan researcher who is co-leader of a federally funded study of whooping cough trends.
The government recommends that children get vaccinated in five doses, with the first shot at age 2 months and the final one between 4 and 6 years. A booster shot is recommended around 11 or 12.
Vaccination rates for young children are good — about 84 percent of 3-year-olds have gotten the recommended number of shots. But fewer than 70 percent of adolescents have gotten all their shots. Most states require pertussis vaccinations for school attendance.
In a possible indicator of a problem with the vaccine, investigators in Washington state were
shootings in Colorado early Friday morning prompted Warner Brothers to cancel a premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Paris.
So how are nearby theatres handling the situation?
As chaos broke out in that Aurora, Colorado theater, more than 3,600 movie-goers were just leaving the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" in East Ridge.
On Saturday news of the shootings didn’t seem to be keeping anyone away and could be the reason so many are turning out. In fact, many lined up an hour in advance for showings. The topic of most conversations while waiting? The shootings.
The phones continued ringing throughout the day at most theatres with people asking if showings were canceled, and were pleased to hear they weren't.
Many said while they're shaken by what happened in Colorado, it wasn't stopping them from seeing the movie in theaters on Friday night..
Managers at the Rave and Carmike theaters say their usual security measures are in place, but neither have plans to increase security.
Both Rave and Carmike theaters had security guards on duty throughout the weekend and constantly had employees check the exits for anyone trying to get in undetected.
Some other cities, including New York City, had extra officers at theaters Friday night in an effort to protect against copy cats.
— The NAACP has developed a manual to help the leaders of black churches to talk to their congregations about HIV and AIDS. It's a recognition of the impact the disease has on black Americans.
The nation's largest civil rights organization released the manual and 61-page activity guide at its July convention in Texas.
The national health director for NAACP, who helped oversee the creation of the manual, says it makes sense for the NAACP to be involved in the discussion of HIV and AIDS.
Religious leaders who helped write the manual say black churches have been reluctant to talk about HIV and AIDS despite the fact black communities have been disproportionately affected by the disease.
As the July 31st Primary gets closer, Chattooga Countians are deciding for whom they will vote for sheriff of Chattooga County. AM1180 recently spoke to candidate Jud Westbrook. Westbrook said he thinks the most important issue facing the Sheriff’s Department is the budget. Westbrook said he wants to continue the patrol work the current sheriff is doing. He said he would prefer to approach drug enforcement in a different way.
Westbrook is running as a Democrat. Other Democrats running in the Sheriff’s race are Mark Schraeder, incumbent Sheriff John Everetre, and Floyd County Police Officer Jesse Adams. Jamie Dawson is running as the sole Republican candidate in the race.
AM1180 recently spoke to the City of Summeville’s new Public Service Director on his recent appointment.
Stan Mosley explained that he never plans on picking up a fire hose, that his position is purely administrative. He said one of the reasons for the move was it was cheaper than hiring a full-time fire chief.
The city’s fire department is made up largely of volunteers with only 5 full-time non-volunteer firemen..
A Floyd County Jail inmate was pronounced dead at Floyd Medical Center on Saturday afternoon after hanging himself with sheets in his cellblock around 4:45 p.m., jail officials said.
Zechariah Alexander Vest, 30, was being housed in the O-block at the jail, which is where mental health inmates are kept, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. He was in a cell alone with the door locked, said Chief Deputy Tom Caldwell.
Vest had attempted suicide twice previously at the jail — once when he was in the jail in 2009 and another time in May of this year when deputies noticed scratches on his neck, according Caldwell.
A jailer was able to get Vest down quickly Saturday. The jailer used a restraint cutter that is now carried by all deputies since the 2011 suicide of an- other inmate who died after hanging himself with sheets. Jail staff attempted CPR, but Vest was pronounced dead at the hospital at 5:10 p.m., according to jail officials.
Vest had been in jail since May 6, 2011, on charges of probation violation, stalking, interference with government property and first-degree criminal damage to property.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called in to conduct an outside investigation, which is standard procedure when there is an in-custody death.
A coroner’s inquest is planned at a later date, which is also standard procedure.
Today's Birthday and Anniversary Club Winner is Hazel Hartline
Hazel gets dinner for two at Bonnie's Family Restaurant in Menlo and a birthday cake from Lucky's in Menlo.
