We are waking up to temperatures in the low 40’s across the area and the National Weather Service says that we will see an increased chance for rain as we move into the mid-week.  We are going to have abnormally high temperatures and a lot of moisture as we head towards the weekend.  As of this morning, they are predicting anywhere from 2.5 – 5 inches of rain between Wednesday and Sunday.  With the ground still saturated, there could be some flooding issues.  Here are some of the stories we are talking about in the news on the radio today and that you can find on our website at www.chattoogainfo.com :

• A thirty-one-year-old corrections officer was arrested earlier this month and charged with attempting to smuggle drugs and cell phones into Hays State Prison in Chattooga County. Nicholas Matthew Grindle worked at the prison in Trion and was arrested by Georgia Department of Corrections authorities on January 7th after prison officials found twelve packages wrapped up in black electrical tape inside Grindle’s locker at the prison.
• The number of first-time unemployment claims in Chattooga County dropped drastically for the month of December, according to numbers released by the Georgia Department of Labor last week. There were 161 unemployment claims in Chattooga County for December of 2023.  That was down from 340 in November.
• Twenty-one Republican Senators in Georgia have introduced a bill to make guns, gun safes, accessories and ammunition tax free for eleven days each year.  Senate Bill 344  would make firearms, ammunition, gun safes and related accessories exempt from state sales and use taxes from the second Friday of October to the fourth Monday of October each year.
• Chattooga County Tax Commissioner Joy Hampton has cautioned the county government and board of education about making premature assumptions concerning the final numbers because of the ongoing tax appeals.