A Northwest Georgia man is being held for authorities in Florida following his arrest on Dean Avenue in Rome earlier this week. According to Floyd County authorities, 37-year-old Mark Kristopher Pegg, of Silver Creek, Georgia, is wanted in Bay County, Florida on warrants charging him with child abuse, homicide, and negligent homicide by vehicle. According to the arrest report, Pegg was picked up by the U.S. Marshals Service Southeast Fugitive Task Force. He remains in the Floyd County Jail on a felony fugitive from justice charge.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Georgia warns shoppers about rising scams this holiday season, with online shopping scams increasing by 125%. Red flags for holiday shoppers include sellers asking for payment through gift cards, offering multiple items for the price of one, and urgent payment demands via Cash App or Venmo. The BBB advises against giving personal information online, especially for deals that seem too good to be true. When buying from new sellers, research thoroughly, check for a BBB profile, and watch for fake gift cards. Additionally, be cautious of porch pirates by ensuring secure delivery methods.
Curative Insurance Company, in partnership with the Health Analytics and Insights Group, published results from a survey highlighting significant issues faced by Georgians with employer-sponsored health insurance. About 55% of people in Georgia get their health benefits from their jobs. The survey of 500 adults in Georgia revealed concerning trends, such as 41% of working Georgians delaying healthcare and 50% not filling prescriptions due to high costs, even though they have insurance.
The Summerville Depot and East Washington streetscape will become a “Winter Wonderland” today from 10:00 a. m. to 3:00 p. m. , featuring over 44 craft and food vendors for the Christmas shopping season and Small Business Saturday. The public can enjoy shopping, dining, children’s activities, and visits with Santa.
Chattooga County Sheriff Mark Schrader announced that Justice Cardoza, a 26-year-old man reported missing from Trion, was located safely on Friday. Cardoza had been missing since Thanksgiving Day, having last been seen on India Drive in Trion. Sheriff Schrader noted that Cardoza is autistic, which heightened concerns for his safety during the search. The sheriff revealed that Cardoza has previously managed to reach Summerville quickly when he had left his home in Trion. The sheriff reported around 11:15 AM that Cordoza had been found safe, but did not reveal where the man was located.
The Trion Bulldogs are in rare air. For the first time since 2015, the Bulldogs are in the quarterfinals of the GHSA state playoffs, better known as the “Elite 8”. Trion made it as far as the quarterfinals in both 2015 and 2012, but as the playoffs were structured at that time, Trion only had to reach the second round in the playoffs to get into the Elite 8. This year, Trion has advanced to the third round of the playoffs and the last time Trion reached the third round of the playoffs was way back in 2003, better know as the “Dome Team”.
The Bulldogs will face a team that have some recent history with in the playoffs in the Irwin County Indians. Tonight will be the 4th meeting between the two teams with all four of those meetings taking place in the playoffs. Trion won the first contest in the series back in 2012 but Irwin County has won two straight lopsided contests against the Bulldogs in 2013 and 2015. Their last meeting in 2015 was a quarterfinal matchup just like tonight that the Indians won 21-0.
There will be something unique about tonight’s game between the two teams. In each of the three previous meetings, Trion has had to make the four and a half hour trip to Ocilla, GA to play the Indians. Tonight will be the first time the Indians will have to travel to Sam R. McCain Stadium. Both Trion and Irwin County are the #3 teams from their respective regions and have had to pull upsets against higher seeded teams in each of the their two playoff victories this postseason. After Trion defeated Telfair County last Friday night, the Bulldogs were pulling hard for Irwin to upset Region 1 Champion Early County because an Irwin win would mean a home playoff game for the Bulldogs. Irwin County did just that by defeating Early County 28-20.
Irwin County is a proud program that has had a lot of success over the past decade. Irwin County has been a region champion in 8 of the last 11 seasons and won back to back state championship in 2019 and 2020. Tonight, Irwin County comes into the game ranked # 3 in the state while Trion is ranked # 7. Irwin County is 11-1 on the season with their only loss coming at the hands of Clinch County 34-28. Clinch County is currently ranked # 2 in the state and will be playing Bowdon tonight. Brooks County, Clinch County and Irwin County all ended up in a three way tie in Region 2-A and Irwin County ended up with the # 3 seed despite defeating the region champion Brooks County 17-14.
The winner of tonight’s game will advance to the Final Four and play the winner of Bowdon vs Clinch County in the semi-finals.
Due to GHSA rules and the fact that Trion High School is an NFHS member school, WZQZ will not be able to video stream tonight’s game from Sam R. McCain Stadium. However we will be audio streaming the game live on the WZQZ Facebook page and on the radio on 99.1 FM and AM 1180. Join WZQZ’s Paul Cavin, Jeremy Burke, cameraman Jim Warnock and engineer Sam Kohler for live coverage tonight beginning at 6:45 pm with kickoff to follow at 7:00 pm.
A 27-year-old man has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies after allegedly using counterfeit currency at Rome-area McDonald’s restaurants. Malik Rayon Morris Baker faces two felony counts of 1st-degree forgery and one misdemeanor count of theft by deception. The charges stem from incidents that took place on November 17, when Baker reportedly used counterfeit $50 bills at McDonald’s locations on Martha Berry Highway and Turner McCall Boulevard. According to arrest warrants and records from the Floyd County Jail, Baker’s actions raised suspicions among restaurant staff, leading to an investigation by local authorities.
The holiday spirit is alive and well at Chattooga Family Connection, as the organization gears up once again to create Christmas stockings for children in the area. Director Maisha Ludy is reaching out to the community, announcing that there are still stockings available for donations, and inviting everyone to get involved in this heartwarming initiative.
Only a few spots are available for the 2024 Chattooga Young Farmers annual Holiday Wreath Class. The event will take place this coming Thursday, December 5th at the Chattooga County Ag Center, located on Middle School Drive in Summerville. The cost is $40 for non-members and $20 for Young Farmer members. The cost of the class includes all the supplies for your holiday wreath and a light supper. For more information, contact Chattooga Young Farmer Director Lauren Jarrett.
