LOCAL Section
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Middle, elementary theme school enrollment open The Newton County Board of Education is accepting applications for the two new theme schools slated to open this fall. A maximum of 725 slots are available at the elementary school, which will be located at Fairview Elementary. A maximum of 850 slots are available at the new middle school, which will be located at Clements Middle. The application deadline is Feb. 6. |
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Naked man arrested at Wal-mart Officers with the Covington Police Department arrested a nude man looking for a fight Sunday at the Wal-Mart on Industrial Boulevard. |
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Porterdale pet owners to face new regulations The Porterdale City Council moved closer to adopting a new, stricter animal ordinance for the city at Monday night’s council meeting. |
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Building hope, one house at a time The city of Covington has decided to partner with a North Carolina nonprofit to redevelop several foreclosed properties in historic neighborhoods as part of the federal government’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program. |
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Council OKs extended parking hours on the Covington square The Covington City Council reversed course Monday night and voted to allow extended parking in the inner loop of the downtown square after hearing from disgruntled attorneys and accountants with businesses on the square. |
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Oxford appoints new member to planning commission The Oxford City Council has appointed Patsy Burke to replace Forrest McCanless on the municipality's planning commission. |
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Buy local...Ludies Est In its fifth year of business, Ludies Est has been personalizing clothing, blankets and commemorative items for Newton County residents for years now. "We do all types of awards, plaques, trophies," said store owner Scott Childers. "We do company shirts. We do school T-shirts. We do embroidery for shoes and just about anything you want." 
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CNN: Gupta approached about surgeon general post WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama has approached CNN's chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta, to be the country's next surgeon general, the cable news network said Tuesday. CNN said it has kept Gupta from reporting on health care policy and other matters involving the incoming Obama administration since learning he was under consideration for the post. |
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Burris denied seat in US Senate to succeed Obama WASHINGTON - Roland Burris failed in his bid to take President-elect Barack Obama's Illinois Senate seat on Tuesday in a scripted piece of political theater staged just before the opening of the 111th Congress. "My credentials were not in order, I will not be accepted, I will not be seated," Burris, 71, told a mob of reporters who had followed him across the street for a news conference in a cold and steady rain outside the Capitol. |
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Law firm: Carter's AG, Bell, dies in Atlanta at 90 ATLANTA - Griffin B. Bell, the shrewd Southern lawyer who grew up with Jimmy Carter and became U.S. attorney general after Carter was elected president, died at an Atlanta hospital Monday. He was 90. Bell died at 9:40 a.m., said Les Zucke, a spokesman for Atlanta law firm King & Spalding where Bell worked as a senior counsel. Piedmont Hospital spokeswoman Diana Lewis said he died of kidney failure. |
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A walk by faith Organizers estimated between 1,500 – 2,000 people turned out on a foggy, damp Saturday morning for the second annual "Walk by Faith" event to raise food donations and funds for Newton and Rockdale charities, including the Covington Food Bank. • Led by an energetic Newton High School Sound Factory Marching Band and the Heritage High School Marine Corps Jr. ROTC carrying the colors, participants went on a mile-long walk that ended with an interdenominational ...
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Social Circle community pillar retires after 30 years After thirty years of service in the hardware industry, Bill Clegg has decided to call it quits. As the owner and operator of the Ace Hardware in Social Circle, Clegg has decided to hand over the reigns to his son Joel Clegg. "I’m leaving the store in good hands," said Clegg. "Of course I will miss the people. A lot of the customers are like family and friends since I have been here so long."
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Inaugural ball in Social Circle If you’re longing to attend an inaugural ball this year but don’t see yourself being able to make it up to Washington, DC, don’t fret – the Walton County Democratic Party has got you covered. |
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Welcome to the world Newton County welcomed its first baby of 2009 Friday morning – Timothy Whitlock – born in the wee hours at 1:13 a.m. at Newton Medical Center.
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Making the shade Winter is the best season to plant trees and some took advantage of their holiday time off work to do so.
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Home invasion thwarted Deputies with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office are investigating an attempted break-in Dec. 28 at a home on Salem Road. |
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Newton County Jail Log - 01/04 n Harold Glenn Aikens, 46, 27 Elm St., Porterdale, Dec. 29. Probation violation. |
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State sees drop in gas sales tax The Georgia Department of Revenue is giving motorists a present at the start of the new year – a drop in motor fuel taxes. |
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New year, new skills My cousin told her 4-year-old daughter, Aley, that she’s becoming a little girl, and she’s not so sure she’s happy about that development. |
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Bring one for the chipper Tree for a tree: Covington resident Eric Spell, left, accepts two free tree seedlings from Home Depot Sales Associate Tamla Nevraumont as he takes part in the Bring one for the Chipper event Saturday. Community members who recycled their Christmas trees at the Home Depot, Oxford’s Maintenance Facility or at any Neighboorhood Recycling Center on Saturday received a nursery seedling as a thank-you gift. The event ...
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Eat your vegetables here’s a song that says Christmas is "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year." You might agree with that, but I don’t. Christmas is indeed fabulous, but I think the most wonderful time comes after the holiday festivities are over. I can hang up my Martha Stewart apron and send her packing ‘til Easter, while I simply rest with nothing pressing on my calendar. |
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Israeli ground forces enter Gaza in escalation GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli tanks and infantry entered Gaza after nightfall Saturday, launching a ground offensive that the military said would be a "lengthy operation" in a widening war on Gaza's Hamas rulers. |
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Buy local...Hammer’s Getaway Hammer’s Getaway has been said to be the best nightlife establishment in Jackson. The half restaurant and half dance club is home to the largest dance floor in the area. |
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Machine catches fire at Porterdale plant Administrators with Specialty Fabrics & Converting, a subsidiary of Goodyear, shut down the manufacturing plant in Porterdale after a machine fire caused employees to evacuate the building Friday morning. According to Newton County Fire Chief Mike Satterfield, around 11 a.m., a machine that applies silicone to yarn used to make fan and pulley belts caught on fire. Officials believe debris may have entered the machine, which can reach temperatures upwards of 500 degrees. The fire was contained ...
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Man shoots burglar in 2 fingers as perpetrator fled scene A Covington man shot a burglar in his home Dec. 28, sending the perpetrator to the hospital, where officers with the Covington Police Department arrested him. |
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Sen. to introduce sexual offender legislation Sen. John Douglas (R-Social Circle) has pre-filed legislation that would make it illegal for a registered sex offender to run for office on local school boards. |
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Auto break-ins increase over holidays Deputies with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a string of auto break-ins Dec. 24 – 26 in multiple neighborhoods around the county. |
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Buy local...Honda of Conyers Honda of Conyers is the No.1 ranked import dealer in Conyers. With a lot full of new and used cars, Honda of Conyers has more than 350 new cars and 150 plus used cars. The starting price for new cars is $12,000 and reaches a peak of $50,000 with a warranty of three years or 36,000 miles, and an engine power and transmission warranty of five years or 60,000 miles. Used cars range in price from $500 to $30,000 with a warranty on used certified cars of 100,000 miles.
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Oath of office Before a packed courtroom and to rousing applause, the county’s first black sheriff and first female county chair were sworn into office Wednesday afternoon.
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Family fight ends in multiple arrests What should have been a peaceful family gathering Sunday turned into a melee ending with officers with the Covington Police Department arresting a man, his brother-in-law, his wife and her mother. James Cruikshank was charged with obstruction, disorderly conduct and battery; his brother-in-law, Matthew Roberts, was charged wtih obstruction and disorderly conduct; his wife, Gigi Cruikshank, was charged with obstruction and disorderly conduct; and her mother, Peggy Capes, was charged with public drunkenness. Around midnight ... |
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Year in review...Democrats sweep Newton County in general election Election news and stories of the widening and deepening recession dominated the headlines in Newton County much as they did the nation in 2008. |
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Year in review...Newton logs 9 murder cases in 2008, technology improves Though 2008 opened with homicides coming at a breakneck pace, the crime rate leveled off as the year progressed. The county also enacted a long-awaited radio system conversion for all the public safety agencies and passed the baton from one generation of public safety leaders to the next. Murders |
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Year in review...NCSS initially fails AYP, new elementary school opens The year 2008 will go down in history as a year full of highs and lows for the Newton County School System. Although faced with the challenge this year of bringing several schools up to standards after failing Adequate Yearly Progress as a district, NCSS still has much to celebrate, from being named a ‘quality school system' by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI) to approving ... |
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Defiant Ill. governor names Obama replacement CHICAGO - A defiant Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday named a black political trailblazer to Barack Obama's Senate seat, a surprise move that put the governor's opponents in the uncomfortable position of trying to block his choice from becoming the Senate's only black member. Blagojevich's appointment of former state Attorney General Roland Burris injected race into the drama surrounding the embattled governor, who repeatedly sought to distance his selection from charges that he tried to ... |
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Teen charged with arson A Covington teen was arrested and charged with arson after a fire broke out Christmas Eve in a Project Adventure house on Spring Street, causing the evacuation of all the home's residents to another facility. Firefighters received the call of a residential structure fire about 8 p.m. Dec. 24. The fire, which started in an unoccupied bedroom, was put out by the sprinkler system. |
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Newton County Jail Log 12/31 o Anissa Harot Meachum, 38, Sandy Springs, Dec. 22. Deposit account fraud. o William Shane Parham, 33, Social Circle, Dec. 23. Disorderly conduct. o Andrew Christopher Peeples, 48, Powder Springs, Dec. 23. Probation violation. o Cedric O'Neal Perry, 40, 750 Stewart Road, Covington, Dec. 18. Failure to appear, registration and license required. o Barbara Diane Ray, 56, Monticello, Dec. 23. Improper lane usage, DUI. o Andrew Louis Rolley, 24, Jonesboro, Dec. 17. Probation violation. o ... |
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Distinguished Title I schools announced Newton County School System is pleased to announce that seven schools-West Newton Elementary, Ficquett Elementary, Heard?Mixon Elementary, Fairview Elementary, Palmer?Stone Elementary, Rocky Plains Elementary, and Cousins Middle, have been recognized as Georgia Title I Distinguished Schools. "We are very proud for these schools for the significant increase in test scores for students who are |
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NCSS employees give generously to local United Way fund Despite the current economic woes, Newton County School System employees continue to show their generosity and support for our local community by pledging over $150,000 in donations to the United Way in 2009. Although individual schools and employees support many local charitable organizations, for many years the school system has chosen the United Way as its one system?wide cause for fundraising purposes as all donations stay within Newton County. |
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School board approves 2009-10 calendar The Newton County Board of Education approved the 2009?2010 school calendar at the December 9, 2008, combined work session/monthly meeting. The school district will continue to use a balanced calendar in 2009?2010. The school system sought public input on the school calendar and provided four possible calendar options for review, including a balanced calendar, a calendar with a |
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New Year’s celebrations 2009 Sophisticated celebrations R.L.'s off the Square R.L.'s off the Square will open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on New Year's Eve. Fine champagne will be available and the night's special will be pork chops and black eyed peas. Reservations are needed. 1113 Floyd Street N.E., Covington, (770) 385-5045. Michelangelo's Restaurant & Bar Enjoy a meal of fine Italian fare as well as dancing to music performed by the Dr. Cleveland Band and Mary. A ... |
