A handwritten note was found this morning at Leroy Massey Elementary School that implied a shooting. School officials and law enforcement have deemed the threat to be not credible, but the school will remain on a soft lockdown for the remainder of the day. Chattooga County School Supt. Michelle Helie issued the following statement:
Here is the latest arrest report from the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office for Friday, September 13, 2024:
Both of our local teams are undefeated heading into week 5 of the regular season. To continue their winning ways, both teams will have to pick up victories on the road tonight. Chattooga, who is 3-0 on the season, will go on the road for the first time this year after three straight home games. Tonight is also the start of region play for Chattooga. The Indians will head to Gordon County to take on the Gordon Central Warriors. Gordon Central is off to a 2-1 start this season which is their best start to a season in twelve years. The Warriors are fresh off a 37-0 road victory at Josey last week. Gordon Central opened the season with a 62-0 win over Southeast Whitfield. Their lone loss on the season came in week 2 against Butler where the Warriors lost 24-6. Gordon Central has been prolific on offense this year, scoring an average of 35 points per game. Something will have to give as Chattooga has been stellar on defense giving up an average of only 6 points per game. Chattooga opened the season with two straight shutouts and allowed only 20 points last week to Mount Zion in a 45-20 win.
The 4-0 Trion Bulldogs continued their winning ways last week with a 22-12 victory over Model at home. The Bulldogs are currently ranked #8 in the state according to the AJC poll. Trion will go on the road for the second time this season to face an old rival in the Lafayette Ramblers. Trion has dominated the series with Lafayette winning 16 of the last 18 contests dating back to 1993. The Bulldogs have also won 8 in a row over the Ramblers with Lafayette’s last victory in the series coming at Trion back in 2011. The Ramblers are off to a rough start this year under new head coach Ethan Thompson. Lafayette is 0-3 losing to Chattoga, Gordon Lee and last week to Dade County. Lafayette has been shutout twice this year to Chattooga and Dade County. Their only points scored this season came against Gordon Lee in week 2 when they lost 28-23. That’s not good news for Lafayette as Trion comes into tonight’s game scoring an average of 31 points per game on offense and only give up an average of 15 points per game on defense.
You can listen to all of the action tonight here on WZQZ. Both games will be video streamed live on the WZQZ Facebook page. The Trion vs Lafayette game will also be broadcast on 99.1 FM and AM 1180. Join Paul Cavin, Jeremy Burke and cameraman Jim Warnock for the Trion game tonight. Chris “Bubba” Wilson, Steiner Davis and cameraman Mason Gilreath will bring you the action from the Chattooga vs Gordon Central game. Join each crew for the pregame show at around 7:15 pm with kickoff to follow at 7:30 pm.
Across Georgia, law enforcement has continued to deal with threats to schools after what is now being considered the most deadly school shooting in Georgia history that happened last week in Barrow County. The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice calls it “unprecedented”, saying they have dealt with dozens of youths who have been arrested for threats against school systems across the Peach State.
Presidential candidates Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz are disqualified from running for president in Georgia, two Georgia superior court judges ruled Wednesday, saying that their electors didn’t file the proper paperwork.
The City of Menlo will have two contested races this November. On Thursday, qualifying ended for city elections. Jerry Morris was the only candidate to qualify for Seat Three on the Menlo City Council. Seat Four will see a race between Patti Settoon and Courtney Willingham and Seat Five will be a contested race between Linda Wilson and Amanda Swords. The election will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
The Salvation Army of Rome, GA is pleased to announce that the registration dates for the 2024 Angel Tree program are set. The Salvation Army of Rome serves residents in Floyd, Polk and Chattooga Counties.
On Monday, September 16th there will be free food distribution at Summerville Middle School. Anyone in need of food is welcome to come by between the hours of 2 PM and 4 PM. The food will be distributed first come, first serve, while supplies last.
A Rome man has been arrested and charged in a crash that claimed the lives of two people early Saturday morning on Turner McCall Boulevard.
A man from Rainsville, Alabama in neighboring DeKalb County, was sentenced to life in prison for the attempted murder of his parents. Ballard Pennington Jr. entered a guilty plea to two counts of attempted murder, and was sentenced to life in prison by Circuit Judge Jeremy Taylor, September 10, 2024. The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a stabbing report in Rainsville January 7, 2024. A deputy located Pennington walking down the road close to the residence deputies were dispatched to. The deputy noticed blood on Pennington’s hands with him stating, “I think I killed my mom and dad”. The deputy then went into the residence where an elderly male and female were located with multiple stab wounds. Both victims were transported to a local hospital.
