The Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office was called to Stoleman Road last week concerning a tractor-trailer that had struck an homemade race car.  According to the report from the sheriff’s office, released on Tuesday of this week, the driver of the tractor trailer was using Stoleman Road because his GPS routed him that way and said it was as the shortest distance to a trash-dump site.  While negotiating a curve, the driver of the tractor trailer, identified as Christopher Lee Griggs, struck a homemade race car sitting in the driveway of Laney Morgan at 185 Stoleman Road and then got the tractor-trailer stuck in a ditch.  Mr. Laney told the responding deputy that he had already gotten in touch with the owner of the tractor-trailer to report the damage.

The Georgia General Assembly returned to the State Capitol for the final two days of the 2023 legislative session on Monday, March 27. Then, on Wednesday, March 29, the session came to an end as the House and Senate completed Legislative Day 40, which is also known as “Sine Die,” a Latin term meaning “without assigning a day for further meeting.” During these two eventful days, my colleagues and I worked late into the night to vote on legislation that will impact communities across our state. I will share some of the bills that we voted on from the Rules calendars, as well as highlight a few House bills that received final passage this week. Now, all of the bills that received final passage before we adjourned Sine Die will go to Governor Brian Kemp for his final consideration.

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Submariners make up only 10 percent of the U.S. Navy’s personnel, but they play a critical role in carrying out one of the Defense Department’s most important missions: strategic deterrence. Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Knepper, a native of Ringgold, Georgia, is one of the sailors continuing a 123-year tradition of service under the sea to help ensure American’s safety.

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Chattooga County Tax Commissioner Joy Hampton says that her office will be closed for employee training in May.  The dates for the training are Tuesday May 9 – Thursday May 11.  The tax commissioner says that the training is necessary for her employees so that they can be up-to-date on the latest laws and information.

According to a report released yesterday, on March 30th, Summerville Police responded to a domestic dispute on Curran Street involving a woman who refused to leave the residence. The woman had been ordered by the owner of the house to leave when she locked him out of the house. When they arrived on the scene, they spoke with the woman who, according to the police report, was heavily intoxicated.  While speaking to the woman about leaving and not going to jail, she climbed into bed and told the police officers to “hush”.  Forty-four-year-old Maranda Jo Nelms was arrested for criminal trespass and booked into the Chattooga County Jail.

The Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the theft of radio equipment belonging to the Lyerly Fire Department that was in the possession of a volunteer firefighter.  According to a report from the sheriff’s office, the radio was stolen from a home on Smith Street in Summerville.  The volunteer firefighter told a responding deputy that someone had crawled under the house and up through a bathroom floor that was being renovated and stolen the radio.  The sheriff’s department followed several leads with suspects, but was unable to locate the stolen fire department dispatch radio.  The equipment is valued at $1800, according to the fire chief with the Lyerly Fire Department.  The theft was reported last week, according to a report released by the sheriff’s department that was released on Tuesday.

A hiring event for the new O’Reilly Auto Parts store in Summerville will be held Thursday at the Chattooga County Ag Center, located on Middle School Drive in Summerville.  O’Reilly is hiring for counter positions and parts delivery.  The hiring event will take place from 4 PM -7 PM.  Scan the QR code below for more information and an application. (Note the advertisement from O’Reilly has the School Superintendent’s Office address, but the event is at the Ag Building).

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Rome police believe a shooting at Truett’s Chick-fil-A on Shorter Avenue Wednesday morning was a murder-suicide, involving a thirty-nine-year-old woman and a fifty-six-year-old man who had been in a previous relationship.  Floyd County Deputy Coroner Chris Giles says Cassie Davis, who just turned 39, was shot three times from a revolver. Giles identified the assailant as Anthony Wayne Green, 56. Both were pronounced dead at the scene and families have been notified, Giles says. The couple had a prior relationship, he adds.  The incident is still under investigation.

There were no arrests to report from the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office for Wednesday, April 5, 2023.