A forty-seven-year-old Rome woman was charged with animal cruelty this past week after authorities found that she had a five-year-old dog that was neglected.  Officials say that the dog had not been fed and needed medical condition.  They also said that the do was living in unsanitary conditions and was tethered to a tree at the woman’s home in Garden Lakes. The suspect said that the dog suffered from a medical condition that makes it difficult to gain weight.  Evelyn Michelle Moore was arrested and booked into the Floyd County Jail on animal cruelty charges.

Compiled Reports

The National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia says that Chattooga County and Northwest Georgia will have a taste of winter-weather as we head into this week.  For Martin Luther King, Jr. Day tomorrow, we will see cloudy skies with highs in the 40’s and a chance of snow showers or a wintry mix in the afternoon.  Monday night, there is a chance of snow showers with a low in the low 30’s and Tuesday, partly sunny with a high of only 35 degrees.  While significant, accumulating snowfall is not expected, the real story is Tuesday night when low temperatures will drop to around 10 degrees.  Wind chills will be in the negative values to single digits.  Now is the time to prepare for sub-freezing temperatures by checking exposed water pipes and making sure pets and livestock are properly cared for.

The City of Summerville is accepting bids for two 54″ zero turn mowers.  In a post about the bids, the city states, “Sealed bids will be received by the City of Summerville, 120 Georgia Ave., Summerville, Georgia 30747 until 2:00 p.m. on 01/24/2024 for two (2) 54” Commercial Zero Turn Mowers. Bids must be submitted in sealed envelopes with “RFB-2024-Zero Turn Mower” clearly marked on the outside of the envelope for easy identification by the City of Summerville. Please visit summervillega.org for a complete packet.”

A record number of Chattooga County property owners appealed their taxes in 2023 and that caused a delay in property tax bills being sent out.  The property tax due date is normally the first of December, but this time, the tax due date had to be pushed back to March 1, 2024.  The county’s board of assessors continues to work through the massive amount of appeals that they have received.

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Georgia School Supt. Richard Woods has issued a statement in response to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s plan to provide bonuses to teachers and invest more state money in school transportation and school safety.

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Here is the latest arrest report from the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office for Saturday, January 13, 2024:

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Local attorney Melissa Hise is seeking the superior court judge’s position that will be up for election this year.  Superior Court Judge Kristina Cook Graham has announced her retirement after serving on the bench for thirty-two years.  Judge Graham was appointed by former Georgia Governor Zell Miller to fill the unexpired term of of Judge Jon Woods in 1992.  In January of 2022, Hise announced that she would be running for the position being vacated by Judge Ralph Van Pelt.  Van Pelt resigned before the end of his last term and Governor Brian Kemp appointed former District Attorney Chris Arnt.  Before that, Hise had an unsuccessful bid for the bench when she ran against Judge Van Pelt in 2018.  Van Pelt won that race with 52% of the vote.  Hise is planning a campaign event in Summerville on Friday, January 19 from 5 PM – 8 PM at the Historic Summerville Depot.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp laid out his goals for the 2024 legislative session Thursday during his annual State of the State address.

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The Walker County Board of Commissioners acted on several housekeeping items at their first meeting of the New Year, which was held this week.  They started by electing a new vice chair and revising their meeting schedule. The Board unanimously selected District 2 Commissioner Mark Askew to serve as vice chair for 2024. Askew previously served in this position in 2021. The vice chair presides at meetings of the board in the absence of Chairman Shannon Whitfield.

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