A forty-nine-year-old Rock Spring, Georgia woman has been charged in Hamilton County, Tennessee in connection with a pedestrian fatality that happened last week. Sarah Annette Barrett’s attorney made a statement to the media saying his client thought she had hit a deer. Barrett came forward to police after hearing news that someone had been struck and killed on Shallowford Road. The victim was identified as fifty-five-year-old Paul Thompson.
Here is the latest arrest report from the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office for Friday, September 30, 2022:
News broke on Thursday that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s husband filed for divorce. Greene represents Chattooga County and all of Northwest Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives. Greene purchased a home in Rome after she decided to run for Congress, representing the 14th Congressional District of Georgia.
Rotary Clubs in the North Georgia area have donated $12,000 to help flood victims in Chattooga County. District 6910 of the Rotary Clubs in Georgia consist of local Rotary clubs that stretch from the South Carolina state line to the Tennessee and Alabama border. The presentation of the $12,000 check was made this week during a meeting of the Rome Rotary Club and was donated to Rome GA Cares. Rome GA Cares is a disaster relief organization made up of members of the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office. The check from the Rotary Clubs for Chattooga County was presented to Floyd County Sheriff Dave Roberson and Floyd County Sheriff’s Chaplain David Thorton this week.
A Perennial Springs Road man reported stolen outdoor power equipment to the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office. According to a report released this week, Lightning Croy told a deputy that someone had stolen a Husqvarna hedge trimmer and a Husqvarna back pack leaf blower from 300 Perennial Springs Road in Summerville. Mr. Croy said that the items had come up missing over the past two weeks. The value of the equipment was $1200, according to the complainant. Mr. Croy said that he would provide serial numbers to the sheriff’s department. The incident was turned over to an investigator.
Georgia’s United States Senator John Ossoff (D), introduced legislation this week that calls for more oversight of the federal prison system. The bill is the result of a ten-month investigation into the conditions inside federal prisons. The legislation would require the U.S. Department of Justice’s inspector general to perform comprehensive inspections of the federal prison system’s 122 correctional facilities, assign each a risk score and recommend how to fix problems. Higher-risk facilities would have to be inspected more often. Recommendations from the inspector general would be forwarded to Congress. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons would be required to respond to reports within 60 days with a corrective action plan. The bill appears to have bi-partisan support in Congress.
The Chattooga Planning Committee held a called meeting on Thursday evening at the Chattooga County Civic Center. The purpose of the meeting, according to Chairman Eddy Willingham, was to allow the public an opportunity to “have input” on the ordinance. Willingham said that the committee is looking to hold additional public input meetings about the 83-page ordinance that was hastily adopted by Commissioner Blake Elsberry earlier this year.
For the fifth year in a row, Georgia public-school students outperformed their counterparts in the nation’s public schools on the SAT – specifically, Georgia public-school students recorded a mean score of 1052, 24 points higher than the national average for public-school students of 1028.
Even though it will mean less revenue for the town, the Trion Town Council is looking to leave the millage rate the same for Trion property owners. The move to keep the millage rate the same as last year will result in about $100,000 less in revenue, according to Trion Mayor Lanny Thomas. The town had raised the millage rate in 2020. The council will hold a public meeting on October 10th at 6 PM at Trion Town Hall to set the millage rate. The public is welcome to attend the millage rate meeting.
Appalachia’s gateway communities — towns bordering on publicly owned lands, like national and state parks and forests — often find themselves caught between promotion and preservation. Promoting nature and culture is key for economic growth, especially for areas experiencing economic distress and transition. Too much use, however, impacts the preservation needed to maintain trails, waterways, crafting traditions, and more for future generations.
