With Thanksgiving celebrations winding down, food safety experts at the University of Georgia are reminding families to handle their holiday leftovers carefully to avoid illness. UGA Extension specialists say the clock starts ticking as soon as the meal is served, and any perishable food should be refrigerated within two hours.
A 35-year-old man was arrested in Chattooga County after deputies recovered methamphetamine, marijuana, and drug-related objects during a vehicle stop connected to a pursuit that began in Cherokee County.
Summerville Main Street is inviting families to climb aboard The Summerville Santa Special this December for a festive 75-minute train ride departing from the Historic Summerville Depot. The holiday excursions run December 6th and 7th, and again December 13th and 14th, with four departures each Saturday and three each Sunday.
A report released Tuesday by the Summerville Police Department reveals new details about a power outage that forced several residents from their homes earlier this month. The incident happened on November 20, 2025, when a large tree fell onto power lines along Hill Street, pulling electric meters and service equipment away from two homes.
Nearly nine years after a death first ruled a suicide, a Walker County jury has convicted Marshall Payne of malice and felony murder in the 2016 shooting of Donald Edward Fickey Jr. Investigators originally accepted Payne’s account that the shotgun discharged accidentally, but the case was reopened in 2023 after a medical examiner reversed the ruling. New witness statements, evidence of violence, and testimony about tensions between Payne and the victim led prosecutors to pursue charges. After a week-long trial, jurors deliberated less than an hour before returning guilty verdicts. Payne has now been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
The Georgia Department of Public Health has been awarded nearly $2.9 million from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to support programs aimed at reducing traffic injuries and fatalities across the state. The grants, funded through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, will help expand child safety initiatives, improve data reporting systems, and strengthen injury-prevention programs.
Here is the latest arrest report from the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office for Wednesday, November 26, 2025:
Northwest Georgia, including Chattooga County, is heading into a calm and comfortable Thanksgiving after Tuesday’s active weather. Skies will continue clearing through the day, and conditions will turn noticeably cooler and drier.
As Thanksgiving travel ramps up, drivers across Georgia are seeing a slight increase in gas prices heading into the holiday week. According to AAA, the statewide average now stands at $2.87 per gallon, driven by a modest rise in crude oil prices and growing travel demand. Prices are six cents higher than last week, nine cents higher than last month, but still six cents lower than this time last year. Filling up a standard 15-gallon tank now costs about $43.95.
Chattooga High School standout Kadin Fife, one of Georgia’s top rising defensive linemen, has announced his commitment to the University of Tennessee. Fife, a senior for the Indians, made his decision public on Friday, November 21st, marking a major milestone in his recruitment and adding to Tennessee’s growing pipeline of talent from Northwest Georgia.
