Federal officials have fined Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. – who operate Family Dollar and Dollar Tree Stores – for workplace safety violations in Georgia.  OSHA says that federal workplace safety inspectors have found merchandise blocking emergency exits and stacked unsafely, this time at a Family Dollar store in Richmond Hill. OSHA says that the company has exposed workers to fire, entrapment and struck-by hazards at the Richmond Hill location. OSHA found the company failed to keep exit routes clear of merchandise and boxes.

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There will be plenty of Christmas spirit in downtown Summerville today and tomorrow as Summerville Main Street presents Summerville’s Victorian Christmas.  The event will feature a street vendor market with over 23 craft and food vendors.  Victorian era characters will be around downtown and there will be free kid’s stories and activities.  A $500 drawing will be held during the event with no purchase necessary.  You can find details on the drawing and the Victorian Christmas Event HERE

Governor Brian P. Kemp on Thursday announced that the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) approved grants totaling $6 million in bond funds to establish two new College and Career Academies. TCSG Commissioner Greg Dozier will award two partnerships with grant funds to establish the new College and Career Academies in Dooly and Monroe Counties via a cumulative bond amount of $6 million ($3 million to each) and a cash investment of $200,000 ($100,000 to each).

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Early voting ended on Friday in the runoff election between Democratic incumbent U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker.  Early voting was brisk in Chattooga County according to the Chattooga County Registrars Office.

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Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Ralph VanPelt, a native of Chattooga County, is retiring from the bench.  With over two-decades on the bench in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, VanPelt’s lengthy career as a judge will come to an end.  Prior to serving as a judge, VanPelt was the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney.  In 2018 VanPelt ran for reelection and received 52% of the vote in Walker, Dade, Catoosa and Chattooga Counties.  Earlier this year, Judge VanPelt announced plans to retire from the bench before the end of his term which allowed Governor Brian Kempt to appoint a replacement.  VanPelt has announced plans to continue to practice law in a private legal practice.

Gary Terrell Davis, an associate of the 135 Piru gang responsible for a series of violent acts throughout the Northern District of Georgia, is the last defendant to be sentenced for his role in a federal RICO conspiracy. The main targets in the case, including lead defendant Maurice Antonio Kent, were previously convicted and sentenced for their roles in the execution-style murder of a 17-year-old boy and other offenses.

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WQCH Radio in LaFayette has announced that broadcast operations will end on December 31st of this year.  Rich Gwyn, who has worked at the station his father co-founded for forty years said, “My father Charlie and I both enjoyed our careers, serving the great people of LaFayette and Northwest Georgia”.  Rich Gwyn started working at the station at the age of 15 and later took over from his father and managed the local radio station.  In 2018 WQCH added a FM translator which simulcast along with 1590 AM.  The stations on 1590 AM and 93.7 FM are on the market for sale and the broadcast and online operations will end on December 31st.

A seventy-year-old Silver Creek woman has been charged with misdemeanor homicide by vehicle in the second degree in connection with the death of a twenty-five-year-old Summerville man over Thanksgiving weekend.

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