Summerville Police released a report on Monday about an accident that happened on Highway 100 near Chattooga High School last Friday.  According to the report, Jonas Portwood turned out of the school driveway headed eastbound on Highway 100 in a 1999 Nissan Pathfinder.  Police say that Portwood told them he cut across the highway to go into the Summerville Recreation Center parking lot to try to avoid an accident and turned into the path of a 2013 Honda CR-V driven by Rocio Kalnay of Summerville.  The Honda struck the Nissan.  Portwood was cited for failing to drive on the right side of the roadway.  No one was seriously injured in the accident.

Forty-Nine, Chattooga County Junior (7th and 8th Graders) and Senior (9th-12th) 4-H’ers traveled to Rock Eagle 4-H Center in Eatonton, Georgia to participate in District Project Achievement on March 3-5.

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While it portrays its store chain as “America’s neighborhood general store,” Dollar General Corp. and Dolgencorp LLC – one of the nation’s largest discount retailers – continues to expose workers to unsafe conditions, this time at four Florida and Georgia stores.

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Chase Dendy shared this photo of the accident on WZQZ’s Facebook page

New information released by the Georgia State Patrol Post in Rome says that a truck driver involved in a crash in Menlo last Friday had an open container of alcohol at the time of the accident.

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Georgia gas prices increased at the pump compared to a week ago. Georgia drivers are now paying an average price of $3.26 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline (subject to change overnight). Monday’s state average was 12 cents more than a week ago, 1 cent more than a month ago, and $1.03 less than this time last year. It now costs $48.90 to fill a 15-gallon tank of regular gasoline. Drivers are now paying $1.00 less to fill up at the pump compared to a year ago.

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A twenty-seven-year-old Rome man was charged with DUI in Summerville early Sunday morning.  According to reports from Summerville Police, Ifrian Gonzalez was driving on Highway 114 when a Summerville Police officer observed him run off the road and onto the sidewalk near Jim’s Restaurant around 6:15 AM.  After initiating a traffic stop, the officer could smell alcohol on the driver’s person.  Police say that there was a 12-pack of alcohol and two open containers of alcohol in the vehicle.  Gonzalez was charged with failure to maintain a single lane, open container of alcohol and driving under the influence of alcohol.

On Monday evening, in a 3-2 vote, the Summerville City Council voted to hire interim city manager Andrea Surratt to the position of Summerville City Manager. Councilmen Ford, Money and Martin voted in favor.

WHAT: Weather permitting, GDOT Maintenance crews on Tuesday will close the right northbound lane of I-75 near milepost 290 for repairs. The lane closure will not affect the offramp.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 14 from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

WHERE: The right northbound lane of I-75 will be closed near milepost 290.

• Advisory:  Motorists are advised to expect delays, exercise caution, and reduce their speed while traveling through work zones. Before heading out, get real-time information on work status and traffic conditions. Call 511, visit 511ga.org, or download the Georgia 511 app. Our maintenance team members who repair roads and bridges and our project teams who oversee construction projects are continuing their essential work, while following sanitary work practices prescribed by health agencies to protect themselves and the public from the coronavirus, as are most state DOTs in the U.S.

Here is the latest arrest report from the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office; released Monday, March 13 2023:

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