The association of Georgia’s community hospitals says it is prepared to fight a push to repeal the state’s certificate of need requirement. Last month, Americans for Prosperity-Georgia announced it plans to push state lawmakers to repeal the state’s CON mandate, saying the requirement limits access to quality care and drives up prices.  Newly elected State Senator Colton Moore, who represents Northwest Georgia in the Georgia Senate is one of the leading voices calling for the repeal of certificates of need.

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Authorities in neighboring Cherokee County, Alabama are looking for a wanted sex offender.  Thirty-nine-year-old Jesse Lee Trotter of Cedar Bluff is wanted for failing to register as a sex offender.  Trotter was convicted of child molestation in 1998.  Anyone with information as to Trotter’s whereabouts should contact the Cherokee County, Alabama Sheriff’s Department at 256-927-9999.

The Summerville City Council will have their regular monthly meeting for January coming up this evening at 5 PM at Summerville City Hall. A question and answer session with the mayor and city council will take place starting at 4:30 PM.  The public is invited to attend.  You can see the complete agenda for tonight’s meeting below:

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While smoking and tobacco use has been on the decline nationwide, and in the state of Georgia in recent years, Northwest Georgia continues to maintain a high rate of adult smokers.  According to U.S. News & World Report’s “Healthiest Communities 2022” numbers, every county in the region has a smoking rate of over 20% of the adult population, with Chattooga County having the highest rate in the region.

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The Mega Millions jackpot has jumped to more than $1 billion after Friday night’s drawing ended without an overall winner. This marks the fourth time in a little over four years that the top prize has exceeded $1 billion, Mega Millions said in a release Friday.

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Here is the latest arrest report from the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office for Sunday, January 8, 2023:

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A forty-four-year-old Summerville man was charged with DUI after a vehicle crash in Walker County in December.  According to a report from the Georgia State Patrol, Travis Ray Campbell of Summerville was involved in a one-vehicle accident on Highway 27 near Davis Lane between Chickamauga and Rossville in Walker County.  Troopers found Campbell and a passenger in the vehicle on foot when they arrived on the scene.  Campbell refused to talk to troopers and Walker County deputies at the scene.  Open containers of alcohol were found in the vehicle that had left the roadway and was stuck in mud about fifty-yards off the roadway at the bottom of a hill.  Campbell was transported to the Walker County Jail, where he still refused to speak.  He was charged with obstruction, DUI refusal, driving too fast for conditions, failure to maintain a single lane and driving without a license on person.

Newly installed Floyd County Juvenile Court Judge Steve Bennett was sworn in this week at Government Plaza and promptly turned around and swore in Rome and Floyd County’s first Black judge, Juvenile Court Associate Judge Deana Perry. Perry, a native Roman, is a Darlington alumna and former president of the Junior Service League of Rome. She graduated from Mercer University in 2006 before graduating from the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law at Faulkner University in 2012. According to Perry, she has worked with Bennett on many cases in front of the juvenile court since she began practicing law. Perry also thanked Tallapoosa Circuit Court Judge Mark Murphy, who presided over many of her cases as well.

WRGA