Three little girls from Seneca, south Carolina who were abducted Thursday night are safe after being found in Lavonia early Friday morning. An amber alert was issued about midnight Thursday by the South Carolina law enforcement division for 11-year-old Kristen hope carter, 13-year old Jordan Elizabeth carter, and 12-year old Megan Elizabeth tucker. SLED says the girls were taken from their home about 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

Early Friday morning, Lavonia police chief randy Shirley says they found the girls and arrested their abductor. "My officers located the 2003 Mitsubishi Montero parked at the Super 8 Motel in Lavonia," Chief Shirley explained. "Oconee County South Carolina law enforcement, Franklin County Sheriff’s office were contacted and along with my officers confirmed that Cobb was staying in room 105. We obtained a card key and entered the room and discovered the three missing girls and the suspect in room 105," he said.

24-year old Billy Paul Cobb, a family acquaintance, was immediately arrested. The girls were taken into protective custody and were interviewed by authorities. Shirley says Cobb faces multiple charges. "So far, our investigation has revealed that at least one of the girls was sexually molested," noted Shirley. "Cobb has numerous charges against him. The most serious is aggravated sodomy," he said.

Shirley says Cobb has admitted to some of the charges against him. Investigators are spending today combing through the motel room looking for more evidence. Meantime, the girls were brought to a facility here in Toccoa. "The little girls are being taken to the Powerhouse for Kids in Toccoa where they will be interviewed and checked out by a nurse there," Shirley said. The FBI is also involved in this investigation according to Shirley because the abduction crossed state lines.

The makers of Diamond® Pet Food say they will pay the vet bills of any animal diagnosed with illness after eating their foods. Last week, we told you about the recall of Diamond® dog and cat dry foods because of the discovery of the fungus, aflatoxin in the corn used to make the products. Aflatoxin was discovered in their Gastonia, South Carolina plant. One local feed store, Moore’s on West Currahee Street, sells the Diamond® Pet Foods.

Owner Rodney Moore says they did not have a lot of the dog food in stock that was contaminated. "Most of our Diamond® Pet Food comes from a distributor in Alabama," Moore explained. "So we didn’t have much that was contaminated. We haven’t had anyone to call complaining of their dog being sick," he said.

If you think you may have purchased some of the contaminated bags of Diamond® Pet Foods from Moore’s, you can bring it back. "Even if they’ve used some of the bag, they can still bring it back and we’ll give them a refund," Moore said.

Aflatoxin poisoning can be lethal, if not treated immediately. Local veterinarian Dr. Laura Hanson says there are symptoms to watch out for. "Listlessness, lethargy, yellow around the eyes and gums and severe or bloody diarrhea," Hanson said. "We would treat dogs or cats for liver failure because that’s what the toxin affects. It would be supportive treatment for liver failure," she said.

Hanson says the Toccoa Veterinary Hospital has not treated any cases of pet illness related to Diamond Pet Foods, but she says they have received a lot of phone calls and emails concerning the effects of aflatoxin.

More gas drive offs in Stephens County. A clerk at the Royal Foods on Rock Quarry Road told deputies a customer apparently thought he was waving goodbye when she drove off without paying for $24 worth of gas.

The clerk said the woman was having trouble with her credit card going through. She tried the card twice inside the store and a third time at the pump where it allowed the gas to be pumped, but did not process at the counter.

The clerk said he was trying to wave to her to come back into the store, but he thinks she thought he was waving that everything was ok and drove off. Deputies are trying to locate the woman that the clerk said is a regular.

Another drive off, however, was apparently intentional. It happened at the Mountain Mart on West Currahee. The store’s clerk told authorities a white four-door Buick with no tags, driven by a white female drove off without paying. Deputies have a description of the woman and have posted a lookout.

Stephens County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a couple of recent thefts. The first happened at Mega Motorsports on Big A Road.

An employee told deputies someone stole the CD player, hunting camo, and 18 CD’s from his truck.

The truck was parked behind the store. Fingerprints were taken at the scene and a suspect was seen on the store surveillance camera.

A man on Oak Valley Road told deputies someone took his toolbox full of tools from the back of his pick up recently. Elmer Morris, a long-haul trucker, said he had been gone for about three weeks and discovered the missing tools when he returned home.

Neighbors say they did not see anything. The toolbox is red with three black drawers each filled with tools.

Another meeting is planned next month with residents of a section of Toccoa to discuss the city's plans for redeveloping the area. All month long, City of Toccoa and Georgia Mountains Regional Development Center survey crews have been looking at housing conditions in several neighborhoods, including Avon, Edwards, Owens, Vernon, and Springs Streets and the west side of North Broad Street.

They plan to bring the results of those surveys to residents at a meeting January 12. R-D-C Regional Planner Bryan flower tells WNEG the surveys are the first step towards obtaining state and federal funding. From there, they will develop a redevelopment plan for that part of Toccoa.

Last month's meeting was an overview of the project. During next month's meeting, the project will be discussed in detail.

Residents of those neighborhoods are encouraged to attend the meeting at the Boys and Girls Club to find out about the planned improvements.

We all make New Year's resolutions and the City of Toccoa is no different. city Manager Billy Morse recently released two pages of goals for 2006. At the top of the list, as you might expect, is to increase the city's cash reserves. Second on the list, continue to secure funding to remove the downtown mall canopies and re-open Doyle Street.

City Commissioners and staff also hope to partner with the Stephens County Development Authority to redevelop the Elberton Street Industrial area. They also hope to continue replacing the city's aging fleet of vehicles and equipment.

This year, the city agreed to purchase four new police cruisers from a dealership in Augusta. They also purchased a newer garbage truck. Another goal is to upgrade the city water plant using SPLOST funds and replace the Walton Creek Sewer Lift Station on Lover's Lane.

Unemployment was up slightly in Stephens County last month. The State Labor Department says the unemployment rate in November was 5.5%, up from 5.2% in October. Stephens County's labor force was 13,132 in November. Of those, 12, 406 were employed, while 726 were without jobs.

For the Georgia Mountains Region, which includes Stephens County, the unemployment rate last month stood at 4.1%, down from 4.3% in October. Georgia's unemployment rate remained unchanged in November at 5.2%

The state's rate topped the comparable national rate, which stood at 4.8% in November for the seventh consecutive month.

If giving blood in 2005 is still on your "to do" list, you'll have an opportunity this week. Life South's Blood Mobile will be in town Thursday from 7:00am until 4:00pm. The Blood Mobile will be parked at 203 North Alexander Street and everyone is invited to give "the gift of life".

Life South District Director Janice Latoza tells WNEG that every pint that is donated will help save three lives. Donors will receive a recognition item and free cholesterol screening for their support. All donors must be at least 17-years-old, weigh at least 110 pounds and be able to show a valid photo ID.

Now that the gifts are open and the dinner and goodies eaten, many of us start to think about taking down the Christmas decorations, including the Christmas tree. You can put your tree to good use by giving it to the non-profit group, Keep Toccoa-Stephens County Beautiful. The group is holding its 5th annual "Bring One for the Chipper" tree recycling program January 7th at Top Notch Tree Service on Big A Road in Toccoa according to K-T-S-C-B president Becky McGarvey.

You can also drop off your tree at any one of the County Convenience sites where they will also be donated to the "Bring One for the Chipper" program. Anyone who donates a Christmas tree will also receive a free dogwood tree seedling. Another way to dispose of your Christmas tree after the holidays is to donate it to the U.S. Army corps of Engineers at Lake Hartwell. The corps will accept trees for recycling from December 27 until January 9 at the Big Oaks Recreation Area on Highway 29, one mile past the Hartwell Dam in Hart County.

Used Christmas trees are thrown into the lake to provide habitat for fish, particularly juvenile fish and for aquatic insects, which are food for the fish.

A Georgia State Patrol Trooper is recovering after being involved in a bad wreck last week. Sergeant Brent Erickson is an officer with the G-S-P's "SCRT" Division, which stands for "Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team."

Erickson was driving last week off Shiloh road near Georgia Highway 81 in Walton County when the wreck occurred. G-S-P spokesman Trooper Larry Schnall says it's not clear how the accident happened. According to Schnall, Trooper Erickson sustained some cuts and bruises and a small head wound, and is expected to be back at work soon.

Three Toccoa residents are facing drug charges. Stephens County Sheriff’s deputies working with the Piedmont Northern MANS Unit recently arrested 30-year old Gerrice Branch of Brookdale Extension and Regina Bowen of Rumsey Avenue. Both are charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

They are currently being held in the Stephens county jail.

Meantime, 27-year old Brent Dooley of Poplar Street is free on $15,000 bond after being charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of a silencer.

Five Stephens County juveniles are charged in several burglary cases. Stephens County Sheriff Gene Sorrells says the burglaries included three at businesses in Eastanollee and two home break-ins on Yearwood Street and Harbert Valley Road in Toccoa. The teens range in age from 12 to 15.

Three of the teens were involved in the Eastanollee burglaries. Two others are accused in the home break-ins. Sorrells credits good investigative work with their arrests and the recovery of much of the stolen property, which included guns and jewelry. All but one of the teens was released into the custody of their parents. The fifth teen is being housed in the Youth Detentions Center in Gainesville.

It is the end of the year, and the County’s goal of having e-911 in place and running is a ways off yet. While the contracts have been awarded, work on the new dispatch center has not begun and the mapping and renumbering is not complete. Therefore, it will still be at least spring before the post office has Stephens County residents switch over to their new e-911 addresses.

Postmaster Mike Alford says they are still short a few thousand addresses. "There are about 5000 addresses out in the county that we have not received yet," Alford explained. "We’re not going to be able to merge the old and new addresses until we have all of the addresses given to us by the County. It looks like that probably be somewhere around March. Then once we receive all of the new and old addresses it will take us ..well normally, it would take us six months, but the Atlanta district has agreed that we are going to try to get it done within 60 days or so. So, I would say after we receive all of new addresses for the e0911, that we will have about two months to merge all of the old addresses with the new. So it could be somewhere close to somewhere around April or May as far as the postal service recognizing e-911 as an address for the residents here in Stephens County," he said.

At a recent County Commission meeting, e-911 Communications Director Paige Crocker said there were a number of residences that had been overlooked by Flagship GIS and had not received their initial notices.

Crocker said her office continues to work on those addresses as well as assisting citizens with issues of street name changes. No word on when that process will be completed.

City Commissioners want to fix a long-standing ordinance that outlines the process for businesses renewing their license to sell alcoholic beverages. At this week’s City Commission meeting, it was noted that a number of businesses whose licenses were up for renewal had not submitted their renewal applications by the November 15 deadline. Despite that, Commissioners voted to renew licenses in the event their applications come in, according to City manager Billy Morse. "That’s been a long-standing practice," noted Morse.

Right now, only about four businesses have not applied for renewals nor paid their fee. The license fee must be paid by December 31. Meantime, some of the businesses up for license renewal were also involved in the recent police raid of illegal video poker machines. Morse said they would still have their licenses renewed. "They have only been charged at this point," Morse said. "If they are convicted, then they will lose their license to sell alcohol," he said. About eight convenience and game stores were implicated in that sting. Police confiscated around 30 machines.

We have a very wonderful news story today about one of our staff members here at AM 630 WNEG. News Director M.J. Knieser has been named by our company, Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting, as the "News Director of the Year". The Georgia-Carolina Radio family includes stations here in Georgia as well as North and South Carolina.

M.J. was nominated by Phil Hobbs, Station Manager here at WNEG and he had these comments. "M.J. has only been with us a couple of years, but she has done an outstanding job in that time." Hobbs stated. "She many times goes beyond the news story to help people with programs on Radio Forum and her other activities. We’re very proud of what M.J. does for us ,here at WNEG."

M.J.’s colleague in the News Department, Ted Taylor had similar praise for M.J. "Having been in the news business for a number of years, I know personally the hours that M.J. has to put in each and every week. It’s quite a task to keep news going 24 hours a day, seven days a week. She does an outstanding job in a professional manner."

"We jokingly tell people here that WNEG News has a staff of one and half…I’m the half and she is the one… and now she is definitely Number One."

Our congratulations to M.J. Kneiser…the Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting’s News Director of the Year.

State Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin is warning Georgians about a possible danger in a brand of pet food that could be dangerous to your pet. Diamond® Pet Food is removing much of its dog and cat food from sale because it may contain Aflatoxin.

Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring toxic chemical by-product from the growth of the fungus Aspergillus flavus found in corn and other crops. The Company has notified its distributors to hold the sale of all Diamond® Pet Food products formulated with corn that were produced in its Gaston, South Carolina plant.

Georgia is one of the states serviced by the South Carolina facility. Over 50 stores in Georgia sell the Diamond brand, including feed stores in Stephens and Franklin counties.

The Gaston facility date codes are unique from other Diamond facility codes in that either the eleventh or twelfth character in the date code will be a capital “G” (in reference to Gaston). The range of date codes being reviewed are “Best By 01-March-07” through “Best By 10-June-07”. Diamond’s quantitative analysis records substantiate that its corn shipments were definitively clear of aflatoxin after December 10. As such, “Best By 11-June-07” date codes or later are not affected by this notice. Gaston facility products removed from sale are:

Diamond Low Fat Dog Food

Diamond Hi-Energy Dog Food

Diamond Maintenance Dog Food

Diamond Performance Dog Food

Diamond Premium Adult Dog Food

Diamond Puppy Food

Diamond Maintenance Cat Food

Diamond Professional Cat Food

Country Value Puppy

Country Value Adult Dog

Country Value High Energy Dog

Country Value Adult Cat Food

Professional Chicken & Rice Senior Dog Food

Professional Reduced Fat Chicken & Rice Dog Food

Professional Adult Dog Food

Professional Large-Breed Puppy Food

Professional Puppy Food

Professional Reduced Fat Cat Food

Professional Adult Cat Food

Irvin advises pet owners who feed Diamond® Pet foods to contact their veterinarian immediately if they notice their pet is sluggish, is reluctant to eat, has a yellowish tint to the eyes or gums or severe diarrhea.

We now know the identities of two people killed in Wednesday’s motorcycle accident west of Cleveland.

Georgia State Patrol identifies the victims as Ziyang Zhu of Lilburn and his passenger, 17-year old Chunxiao Huang also of Lilburn. Zhu was lifeflighted to Greenville Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Huang died at the scene.

The driver and passenger of the second motorcycle are identified as 20-year old Hfin Chen of Lilburn.

Chen is currently in the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in very serious condition. His passenger, christen chang, age unknown, was transferred to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee where her condition is listed as serious.

Georgia Power and Hart EMC are still calculating the damage and the costs associated with last week’s ice storm. Both utilities say the storm was the worst in recent memory. Georgia Power spokesman Cam Parker says over 5,000 Stephens County customers lost power last week. Georgia Power called in over 100 crews from as far away as southern Alabama to help repair lines in Northeast Georgia.

It was much the same for Hart EMC last week. The figures are very preliminary, according to spokesman Keith Brown, but he says in Stephens County alone, the non-profit utility lost at least $100,000.

At least 15 of their power poles in Stephens County snapped during the ice storm. And both Parker and Brown say they are still receiving calls of downed poles or damage so severe to homes that special crews need to be sent out. Parker says repair crews are now going out as damage reports come in. According to Brown, repair calls are coming in primarily from lake homeowners who do not live at the house full time.

State Senator Nancy Schaefer says parents should have to "opt in" their children before they can join clubs at school. Last year, Schaefer introduced SB149, which calls for written consent from parents before students can participate in school extra curricular activities. The bill ended up being tabled in the Education and Youth Committee. Now Schaefer says she plans to bring SB149 up again next month.

This past summer, the State Board of Education tried several times to submit their own version of the bill, but none of the versions held up legally.

A local company has restored a British flag stolen from the Stephens County Historical Society. The flag was donated to the Society in October during a dedication of a stable the 506^th paratroopers used during World War Two.

A week later, someone stole the flag from its pole at the new military museum. Society president Brenda Owens said recently, British company Dewtex, Inc., which has a plant in Toccoa, donated their Union Jack to the Society.

Owens says this flag will not be flown except on special occasions or when someone is at the museum.

Dewtex plant manager, Paul Cooper who was involved in the donation of the new flag, could not be reached for comment. Cooper and his family have since moved back to the U.K.

Caught on tape. That is what happened to a Toccoa man who did not know he was on surveillance camera when he allegedly stole a jacket. It happened Saturday at Mega Motor Sports on Big A Road. Store manager Russell Brock showed deputies a video in which the suspect tries on a jacket and then puts his own jacket over it and leaves the store. The suspect was identified as Bruce Smith of Easy Street in Toccoa.

Deputies went to Smith’s home and were given permission to search the house. Deputies say they found the stolen jacket hanging in Smith’s bedroom closet. He was arrested and charged with one count each of shoplifting and theft.

No one likes to think about paying their taxes this time of year, but the Internal Revenue Services is reminding taxpayers that the end of the year is near and now is a good time to begin getting those receipts organized.

Hurricane season this year presented a whole new set of problems for Katrina and Rita storm victims who are now living in other states, such as here in Georgia. Eric Erickson says the IRS plans to give those victims who lost everything special help, but it is still good to try to recover what receipts and checks you can.

New this year, donors can deduct charitable contributions equal to 100% of their adjusted gross income if these cash contributions were made to charities between August 28 and the end of the year. That also bodes well for anyone who housed Katrina storm victims. According to Erickson, they get to take a special deduction. "Not many people know that if you had Katrina victims staying with you in your home, you can take a $500 for each person up to four people," Erickson said. "That’s up to a $2,000 deduction," he said.

The IRS has established a toll-free hotline for Katrina and Rita victims to get information on available tax relief. That number is 1-866-562-5227.

AM630 WNEG received phone calls from cheering students last week when they learned the ice storm had cancelled classes and added two days to their Christmas vacation. But there will likely be few cheers when those same students face having to take their mid-term exams two weeks late.

School is back in session on Wednesday, January 4. High school students are instructed to go to their homeroom class to receive their schedules for the Spring 2006 semester. They will then report to their third and fourth period classes from their Fall 2005 semester.

During that time, high school students will turn in books from the previous semester and receive instructions concerning final testing procedures in those particular classes. High school administration says all students should be attendance on the fourth and those needing to take final exams should be prepared to do so.

All testing and subsequent grades for the Fall 2005 semester will be finalized by the end of the day on Friday, January 6^th, according to the high school administration.

A Toccoa man’s elderly father is the apparent victim of check forgery. Melvin McFarlin told police he recently received a cancelled check from an account held by his father that was closed six years ago.

The check, in the amount of $158, was passed at Quality Foods in Toccoa. McFarlin says he has no idea how anyone could have gotten hold of his father’s old checks.

The driver of a shuttle bus told police someone broke into the bus and stole $50 from a hidden lock box.

Paul Rahindranauth told Toccoa police he parks the van every day in the Sav-a-Lot parking lot. He made the discovery last Friday. The suspect not only stole the money, but also took the time to relock the doors to the van.

A Toccoa woman says she was almost the victim of a telemarketing scam. The woman told police she recently received a call from someone calling himself Josh Black of Winter Park, Florida. Black asked her for her checking account number so he could withdraw $42. In return, he promised to deposit $12,500 into her savings account.

She told police that when she began asking him questions, the suspect told her he would not call her back.

In addition, there are some other items that stand out, according to Morse such as the renovation of the train depot and annexing Wal-Mart. "The Wal-Mart development," Morse explained. "We worked with those folks to annex that property into the City so it's taxable property. In return, we are providing sewer service to them. We were also able to lower the millage rate and keep the taxes at the same level as they were last year. And we've acquired some funding already for taking down the canopies and re-opening Doyle Street. So, I think that’s a real good sign that maybe some of the other funding we've requested will come about," he said.

Also on the list this year, working with the County to use the touch-screen voting machines for municipal elections, cleaning up Emory Johnson Park and making it safe once again for children and families, and making improvements at Henderson Falls Park.

Lavonia Police and the GBI are looking for two men in connection with the armed robbery of the Dollar General Store there. It happened Saturday afternoon at about 1:30 p.m. Police Chief Randy Shirley tells WNEG that two black men entered the store and acted like they were buying merchandise. Instead, one of the men pulled a gun on the cashier and demanded all the money.

This morning, Shirley said they are waiting for agents with the GBI to come to Lavonia tomorrow to help with the investigation and provide sketches of the suspects. "We have good descriptions of them," Shirley said. "This was a very dangerous armed robbery. When an individual comes into the store with the gun cocked and a finger on the trigger, making vile threats, this is very serious. We will do everything in our power to apprehend those who committed this armed robbery," he said.

Witnesses told police one of the suspects became impatient and threatened to shoot the cashier at the count of three if she did not move faster. After getting the store’s money, the suspects then went to the other counter, pointed a cocked gun at a customer and ordered the victim to hand over his wallet or be killed. As they ran out the store, they grabbed another woman’s purse from her buggy. The pair fled in what witnesses said looked like a champagne-colored Honda Accord.

Meantime, a similar armed robbery took place Saturday at the Dollar General in Hartwell. However, Shirley does not believe the two robberies are related. " Those men were white and our suspects are black. Therefore, they have been ruled out. It’s very possible that these two are from the Northeast Georgia area, but we're just not sure," Shirley explained.

One of the suspects in the Lavonia robbery is described as a tall, light-skinned black male about 6’5", between 30 and 40 years old. He was wearing blue sweat pants and a multicolored jacked with blue stripes down the arms. The second suspect is described as a short black male, heavy set, and about 30 – 40 years old.

Anyone who has seen these men or knows of their whereabouts is asked to call Lavonia Police at 356-4848.

A $500 reward is being offered for their capture.

Two newly elected City Commissioners are anxious to get down to business in 2006. Monday night, Billy Chism and Andrew Pavliscsak took the oath of office before Judge Robert Struble during the regular City Commission meeting.

The pair has been regular fixtures at the last several City Commission meetings since being elected in November. Both Chism and Pavliscsak say they do not have specific issues to address next year, but plan to take each issue as it comes up. The new Commissioners begin work officially on January 9.

City Manager Billy Morse is asking for the public’s patience in cleaning up the debris left from last week’s ice storm. At last night’s City Commission meeting, Morse said there is an enormous amount of debris to be cleaned up and it will take some time to get it all.

Over the next several weeks, Toccoa’s Public Works Department will be focusing its efforts in picking up the fallen tree limbs and other debris, but it is a big job. In addition, because of the debris pick up, public works will not be running its leaf vacuum truck until mid-January.

Anyone with storm debris to be picked up is asked to leave it at the curbside. If you have any kind of special needs, you are asked to call Janet, the City’s Public Works Assistant at 282-3297.

Listeners of WNEG Radio Station in Toccoa will be able to receive the station much clearer if the station's request to the Federal Communications Commission to increase its transmitting power is approved.

Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting Company, LLC, licensee of WNEG, the only commercial radio station in Stephens County, has filed an application with the FCC to increase the daytime transmitting power of the station from 500 watts to 5000 watts. The power increase will expand the population covered by the station's protected contour service area from 297,285 persons to 1,086,164 persons across Northeast Georgia, northwestern South Carolina, and the southern border of western North Carolina. WNEG's predicted primary signal will stretch from Sylva, NC to Washington, GA and from near Greenville, SC to Gwinnett County, GA.

The distance AM radio station signals travel is determined not only by the transmitting power of the station but also by the frequency an AM station operates. "WNEG is very fortunate to operate at 630 on the AM dial because stations at the low end of the dial travel much greater distances than those at the high end of the dial," explained Phil Hobbs, Vice-President/General Manager of WNEG Radio. "For instance, WNEG's present 500 watts of power equaled the coverage of WLET when it operated at 5000 watts on 1420. Our 5000 watt signal will cover more distance than many 50,000 watt AM stations which operate higher on the dial. For example, WNEG will cover 14,750 square miles. 50,000 watt WGUN in Atlanta, which operates on 1010 AM, covers only 13,133 square miles," he concluded.

WNEG's transmitter and 300-ft. broadcast tower are located on Collins Road in Toccoa and will continue to be located there when the expected power increase is placed into operation sometime in mid 2006. The station began operations in 1956 with 1000 watts on 1320 AM. It moved to 630 in 1960. Hobbs said the power increase is being obtained as part of the station's planned 50th anniversary activities next year.

The Stephens County Historical Society offices are now officially moved in to their new location at the renovated train depot. While the museum is not yet open, the offices and their store are, according to society president Brenda Owens. "The museum will not be open at this time, because it’s not yet completed," Owens explained. " However we are happy to be at this new location and invite the public to come any time and visit our office and gift shop until we are in a position to open the museum," she said.

The Society is still selling brick pavers for the walk outside and swords says they are popular Christmas gifts this year. Also available as unique Christmas gift is something you cannot buy anywhere else.

"Camp Toccoa t-shirts, both summer and long-sleeve winter t-shirts are on sale now," Board member Betty Swords said. "These are exact replicas of the original 1940s Camp Toccoa T’s. The Historical Society holds the copyright on these shirts and you cannot buy them anywhere else," she said.

Other items for sale at the store include books by World War Two veterans, George Hitt’s silhouette print of The Paratrooper on Currahee Mountain, a collections of old postcards and calendars from Stephens County over the past 100 years. The store will be open everyday this week from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Two new Toccoa City Commissioners will be sworn in tonight at City Hall. Once Toccoa municipal election results are formally certified during tonight’s regular City commission meeting, Judge Robert Struble will administer the oath of office to commissioners-elect Billy Chism and Andrew J. Pavliscsak.

Chism will replace outgoing commissioner Claude Smith. Pavliscsak will take over the Post Two seats from current mayor Ken Davis. Chism and Pavliscsak will assume their duties as City commissioners on January 9.

In other business tonight, City commissioners hold two public hearings on annexation requests and one public hearing on a building setback variance.

They will also consider ratifying an agreement with the Stephens County Friends of the Shelter. Among other things, the auxiliary plans to institute an adoption program, do fundraising, and maintain a Web site.

Finally, tonight, the City will discuss designating areas of the new historic depot in honor of Aldbourne, England and Angoville an Plan, France. Tonight’s meeting begins at 5 p.m. in City Hall.

Seneca fire officials are reviewing surveillance tape this morning to try to determine what caused a fire yesterday that gutted the Captain D’s restaurant on Highway 123. It happened late Saturday night about 10:30 p.m.

Seneca fire chief Shane Phillips tells WNEG when firefighters arrived, smoke was billowing out of the kitchen, roof and eaves of the building. When they entered the building, firefighters found the kitchen engulfed in flames. No customers were in the restaurant at the time of the fire.

Three employees were in the building, and told firefighters the blaze started behind one of the cookers.

One employee was rushed to Oconee County Medical Center and treated for smoke inhalation.

You would think one arrest on drug possession charges would be enough. However, authorities say a Toccoa couple was right back in the drug business after being released on bond two weeks ago. 19-year old Mekell Tukes and Becky Teasley are back behind bars.

Tukes and Teasley were arrested the first time on December 3 after Toccoa Police and the Piedmont Northern MANS Unit searched Teasley’s home on Pond Street. They allegedly found cocaine, marijuana, and smoking pipes. The pair were arrested on drug possession charges and later posted bond.

Then last Wednesday, authorities again searched Teasley's home on Pond Street and again found cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia. This time, the couple is being held without bond in the Stephens County jail.

A nearly three-year lobbying campaign to address America’s criminal alien crisis won a big victory Friday night in the U.S. House of Representatives with passage of the major provisions of the CLEAR Act. Sponsored by U.S. Representative Charlie Norwood (R-GA), House Resolution 3137 is amendment 65 to the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005.

The amendment passed by a 237-180 bipartisan margin late Friday.  Norwood’s "CLEAR Act" allows local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration law during the course of routine duties. That means, illegal aliens caught breaking the law can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The resolution will provide full federal funding for immigration law enforcement training.

And it increases existing federal funding for local enforcement costs in dealing with criminal illegal immigrants, and mandates that information on criminal aliens be placed in the national criminal information center database.

It also requires all states to comply with the institutional removal program to automatically deport illegal aliens convicted of crimes following their jail terms. The overall bill, HR 4437, is expected to be sent to conference with Senate Immigration Reform Legislation. If the two Houses agree to a final bill, the CLEAR ACT provisions could become law sometime next year.

During a gathering of Democratic officials in Lavonia last week, several candidates for statewide offices were on hand to introduce themselves and tell the Franklin County voters about themselves.

Jim Martin is an 18 year veteran of the Georgia House of Representatives and a former Lieutenant in the US Army in Viet Nam. He is now a candidate for Lt. Governor in 2006.

The former Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, Martin thinks that the state should do more to protect small businesses, from the educational of students to providing health care. "One of the three top issues that people expressed to me when I travel around the state is keeping their jobs," Martin told the group. " Most of the expanding businesses in the state come from small business and the state should make sure that these businesses get health care. If more small businesses could provide health care, they would hire more workers and thus expand the job market."

Many people statewide have complained about school taxes being too high. And the reason they are so high, according to Martin, is the fact that the state has not adequately funded local school districts. He said one of his methods of tax reform is seeing that the state provides more money for education and lessens the burden on local residents.

"One of the ways we can achieve tax reform, in my mind, is to make sure the state funds the educational programs in the state," he declared. " Over the past several years, the state has under-funded state education by one point two billion dollars. And that results in local school boards having to raise local taxes."

Martin served in the Georgia House of representatives from 1983 until 2001 and served as chairman of the of the Judicial Committee and the Human Services Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.

Some of us have not put our Christmas trees up yet, but already one group in town is planning what to do with them once they come down. The non-profit group, Keep Toccoa-Stephens County Beautiful is holding its annual "Bring One for the Chipper" tree recycling program January 7^th according to KTSCB president Becky McGarvey.

Last week, County commissioners voted to allow convenience sites to also accept discarded Christmas trees for the "Bring One for the Chipper" program. Anyone who brings their Christmas tree will also receive a free Dogwood tree seedling.

Another way to dispose of your Christmas tree after the holidays will be to take it to donate it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Lake Hartwell. The Corps will be accepting trees for recycling from December 27 to January 9 at the Big Oaks Recreation area on Highway 29 – one-mile past the Hartwell Dam in Hart County.

Used Christmas trees are thrown into the lake to provide habitat for fish, particularly juvenile fish and for aquatic insects, which are food for the fish.

A Toccoa woman is charged in South Carolina with two counts of identity theft. 24-year old Heather Michelle Pruitt was indicted by a federal grand jury in Oconee County, SC last week with using another person’s identification with the intent to commit a felony under South Carolina law.

Thousands of Stephens County residents are still without power and it will likely be tonight or tomorrow before all damage caused by the ice storm is repaired. Georgia Power reported 43,000 customers in Northeast Georgia lost power yesterday when ice-laden trees fell on power lines.

AM630 WNEG was one of those customers – knocked off the air about 7 a.m. By last night representative Cam Parker reported about 4,100 customers in Toccoa still in the dark.

Meantime, over 15,000 Hart EMC customers lost their electricity yesterday. Hart EMC spokesman Keith Brown says that number has been slowly whittled down by crews overnight. Brown says dozens of extra sub-contract crews from other associations are in Stephens County and Northeast Georgia to assist their workers with a seemingly overwhelming task. Because of the widespread outages, hart EMC is not giving any sort of timetable for when all of the power will be restored. Brown is asking all Hart EMC customers to be patient.

Another problem for motorists this morning was black ice. Temperatures dipping into the 20s overnight turned wet roads into skating rinks in some areas. As the ice melts those slippery spots on Stephens County roads are drying up slowly.

One bad spot this morning was on Highway 17 North near the park. By 7 a.m. police had closed Falls Road North from Hanson Road because of downed trees and a power line. All of that has now been moved off and Falls Road is now open.

Slick roads may have also played a role in two bad wrecks on Highway 145 this morning. Both happened within a few yards of each other on 145 at the old Gilbert Bennett building at the railroad tracks. At least one person was injured. For the remainder of the day, motorists should continue to use caution, as there may still be icy spots in shaded areas.

Ice-laden trees are also being blamed for two sanitary sewer spills on Thursday. Trees falling on power lines in the early morning hours yesterday knocked out power to the Walton Creek lift station and the Ward Creek lift station. That shut their pumps down. Up until then, the pumps had been able to keep up with the heavy rainfall, according to Water/wastewater Director Don Dye.

Service was restored to the Walton Creek lift station by 6 p.m. last night, but by 10 a.m. this morning, Ward Creek was still offline due to no power. Chief wastewater plant operator Jim Crenshaw estimates about 10,000 gallons of water has flowed into Ward Creek so far. Ward Creek is a tributary of the Tugalo River and Lake Hartwell.

A Lavonia store faces a State hearing after an agriculture inspector found rodents nesting in food. Department of Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin tells WNEG an inspector made the discovery last week at Fred’s on Augusta Road. "It was disgusting what they found," noted Irvin. "There were droppings everywhere and dead mice and rats. It was deplorable the condition that store was in," he said.

According to the inspection report and photographs taken at the scene, there were numerous places discovered in the building where the rodents were able to get into the store. "You’re supposed to make sure all entry ways a rodent might use to get in are blocked in some way," Irvin said. "But the inspector found cracks in the walls and in the floors where the mice and the rats could just go and come," he said.

The inspector also allegedly found evidence that the mice and rats had been living in the store and nesting packages of food for a long time. Mice were found in and around dry goods, such as cereal, rice, flour, and pet foods. Irvin says store employees had to have known about the problem, but did apparently nothing about it, and continued to sell that food to the public.

Over $20,000 worth of food had to be destroyed. Fred’s voluntarily agreed to the destruction of the food and stopped selling any food while the damage was being assessed. Irvin says anyone who recently bought food at the Lavonia Fred’s should throw it out or return it immediately for a refund as it may carry disease.

Fred’s will now have to go before an administrative hearing in Atlanta. If they fail to clean up their act, the store could lose its business license. Irvin says all the Fred’s stores, including the one in Toccoa, will now be inspected for similar problems.

One of the lesser known candidates for a state wide office next year is Carlotta Harrell.

Ms Harrell, a candidate for State School Superintendent, was in Lavonia this week at a meeting of the Franklin County Democratic Party.

There has been a lot of media attention to SAT scores and other test scores of students in Georgia and how those scores rank nationally.

Ms. Harrell said that a test score should not determine the fate of a student. "Basically, I believe that test scores are a measure of where a student stands," Ms. Harrell stated. "But I don’t think that those test scores should determine the fate of a student as to whether he or she passes or fails."

There were two other issues that Ms.Harrell said were going to be of utmost importance to the voters in Georgia next year. "One of those issued is addressing and dealing with early education." she said. "The other very important issue is dealing with the state’s high dropout rate. Georgia is in the top ten across the country in the drop-out rate. We had over 150,000 students drop out of school last year. We have to try and figure out what we will do with these students as far as a career path is concerned."

Ms. Harrell said she wanted to bring the ABC’s of education back to the state. The A being academic excellence. The B meaning. .bringing integrity and accountability back to leadership…and C a commitment to teachers, parents and teachers for a safe environment.

State Senator Nancy Schaefer plans to introduce legislation next month that will require parents give their permission before their children undergo any sort of mental health evaluation. A new federal regulation allows schools and other institutions to conduct the evaluations, but Schaefer says parents should be informed.

Recently, Schaefer wrote an article about the overuse of certain medications in children and their effects.

The article appeared in the Washington times and on their website. Schaefer says she received hundreds of emails from parents outlining their experiences. "I have received emails from parents from all across the country and around the world," Schaefer said. "They told me about the horrible experiences they have had with their children being on these drugs; suicides, some turning to crime. It’s terrible what these drugs have done to our children," she said.

Under her bill, parents would have to be informed in writing of the school’s intent to do the evaluations. They would also have to give written permission before any such evaluation could be done.

A month-long investigation by the Toccoa Police Department resulted in a massive video poker bust yesterday. According to Toccoa Police Captain Butch Newkirk, the raids came after police received numerous complaints from citizens and patrons of the stores involved. "There was an operation where an undercover officer went in and played the machines on numerous occasions at each business and received some type of payout, whether it be money sometimes or merchandise or whatever it may be, which is the same thing as giving money by the state statute," Newkirk explained. "After we completed all the stores inside the city that had the machines it culminated yesterday with search warrants where we into each business and took all the machines," he said.

In all, 32 video poker machines were confiscated in eight businesses. Those businesses include The Game Room, the Mountain Mart on Big A Road and Currahee Street, RK Foods on W. Currahee Street, Mahadav Express on S. Pond Street, Mountain Express on Highway 123, Quick Stop and Shop on Broad and Currahee Street, the Royal Foods on Highway 145 and the Quick Mart on Mize Road.

Newkirk says employees of those businesses face felony illegal gambling and one business owner faces one count of operating a gambling house.

We all know about fast-food drive-thru’s. Now there is fast "flu" drive-thru’s. This Saturday, the Toccoa Clinic will be offering drive-through flu shots from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Shots will be given under the covered drive-through area at the Clinic’s entrance to Internal Medicine next to the Clinic Pharmacy.

The cost of the flu shots is $25.00 and no appointments are needed. Medicare will also be accepted for established Toccoa Clinic patients.

Toccoa’s financial picture is a little brighter this month. That is according to City Finance Director Emory Stephens. In his monthly report to City commissioners this week, Stephens credited fiscal responsibility with the surplus in funds. "Based upon the budget we made for this year I just did not see any way there could be any improvement; did not see any change," Stephens noted. "Therefore, I was predicting about the same scenario for this year as for last year. But as we look at it, revenues are running ahead of where we were last year and expenses are running a little behind and so that's two pluses. Additionally, the tax bills went out December 2. Last year we collected the bulk of our taxes in November and December and this year we collected no taxes in November because the bills had not gone out. Yet, we still ended the month with a little more money that we had a year ago," he concluded.

At the end of November, the city’s operation balance was negative $72,573. However, there was $331,150 in the general reserve fund, another $600,000 in the capital outlay reserve fund, $1,800 in petty cash, and $15,500 in the cemetery reserve fund. That brought the total cash fund to $875,877 with assets totaling $117,617,115. In addition to decreased spending, Stephens cited other reasons for being optimistic this month. "Practically all expenses in are under budget. Most departments are also under budget, which is one thing. Another thing is that gas sales are up. We have sold roughly 20,000 more decatherms than we did this time last year. So, that has a bearing on it. That is probably two of the bigger ones," Stephens said.

Stephens said he has not been this optimistic about city finances in at least 18 months, and he said he expects to end the fiscal year with $200,000 to $300,000 more than the City started with.

Stephens County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating two home burglaries in which tools were taken.

In the first, two tool sets were stolen from a home on Brookhaven Circle over the weekend.

David Tugman told deputies someone broke into his home and utility building and had taken a complete Dewalt cordless drill set. The set includes a drill, skill saw, sander, saws all, and flashlight. Also missing was a complete Black and Decker cordless tool set. That set includes a skill saw, drill, saws all, flashlight, stud finder, and charger. Total value of both drill sets is just over $500.

In the second burglary, Edward Williams of Coker Road told deputies a large quantity of tools had been stolen from his workshop sometime last week. The missing items include assorted chrome tools, wrenches, and sockets totaling $1,500, as well as an air wrench, Poulan chain saw, and 20 orange drop chords.

Williams said the thieves pried off the lock to the shop door to gain entry. Total value of the stolen tools is just over $1,600. Extra watches were placed on Williams’ home.

Not everyone with an opinion about development around Lake Toccoa made it to the City commission meeting this week. And not every aspect of the land surrounding the lake was considered, according to John Sosebee who lives on Black Mountain Road. Most who offered public opinions Monday night said they were concerned about the purity of the City’s watershed if development around the lake occurs.

But Sosebee says there is something else to be considered, namely two Civil War era cemeteries located just north of Lake Toccoa on City owned land. "There are two cemeteries up there," Sosebee explained. "One is a family cemetery with some Smiths on it. The other is where some confederate soldiers are buried. If anybody decided to develop that land, that development will go right through the middle of it," he said.

Sosebee says none of the historic graves should be disturbed any further. State law requires adequate buffers be built around those cemetery sites if development of any kind takes place on that land.

Toccoa City mayor Ken Davis says there is no proposal to develop Lake Toccoa is on the table at present. Davis made that comment last night shortly before allowing citizens to offer their comments on a proposal by two Atlanta developers to build a resort community around the lake. Despite Davis’ assertion, everyone who spoke exhorted commissioners to be very careful with the City’s only source of water. Here are some of the comments:

Theresa Kelly: "That land is priceless to me. I do not want a gated community up there. Every time I come down 365 when I see Currahee Mountain, I can just see the Indians running through that valley here. I think none of the land should be sold at any time," Kelly said.

Keith Canup: "Have foresight in what you're doing concerning this watershed lake, this reservoir, the water supply for Stephens County. It’s very important that we not be unaware that there are people who will come in for the sake of money try to make worse."

John Hall: "Make sure that if a developer did come in, and Mr. Morgan has addressed this, I feel like he'd protect the long-term use of the water. I feel like if something went awry with the development of this property, that the money would be in place to develop this watershed."

Elliot Caudell: "I'm a developer, and I'm not against development, but I do not want to see that area damaged to where that lake could be filled up."

Developers Alan Nix and Sean Harrington have approached the City about the idea of building over 400 upscale homes, town homes and condos next to the lake. Under their proposal, the City would retain ownership of the land, which the developers would lease. The plan also calls for an expanded public golf course and community center.

Stephens County continues to build its capital reserves and stay out of the red. That’s the assessment of the accounting firm hired to do the Fiscal 2005 audit. Last night, Meredith Lipson, partner with the firm of Mauldin & Jenkins gave the County high marks for continuing its upward financial path. "The County did very well this year. Their revenues came in better than they budgeted. I the end, they added a much-needed layer to their fund balance amounts," Lipson said. As of June 30, 2005, the County’s fund balance was a positive $2.5 million dollars. Fund balance is the difference between assets and liabilities, only a portion of which is cash available to be spent.

Lipson cited two issues of noncompliance in her report, including a lack of an annual budget for special revenue funds and debt service fund. In addition, she noted instances of overlapping duties with regard to day-to-day activities of employees. Finally, Lipson made a number of recommendations on streamlining certain procedures. "Several of the recommendations included trying to segregate some of the duties that are out there," Lipson explained. "It's a very difficult thing to do when you're limited in personnel as most governments are. Basically, to segregate the assets is a very important thing. Some of the other recommendations we made included just pertain to the day-to-day operation, such as petty cash and things of that nature," she concluded.

Other recommendations included keeping a general ledger for agency funds, and more accurate documentation of disbursements.

As far as the Franklin County Democratic Party is concerned, it’s already 2006 and the race is on for political spots in the Lt. Governor’s race and the race for State School Superintendent.

The Franklin County Democratic Party held a meeting Monday night at La Cabana Restaurant in Lavonia with a room full of people interested in what the candidates had to say.

Patty Payne is the Chairman of the Franklin County Democratic Party. She said that the party has made great strides in the past year and is looking forward to 2006.

"We’ve been working really hard to get the party to where it is now," she said. "In the coming year, we hope to have candidates visit each month so that the voters know who they are and what they stand for. We also have a website ,which is franklindemocrats.org or folks can call me direct at 356-2253".

The special guest speaker was State Representative Jeanette Jamieson, who told the audience that the Democratic Party is more representative of the people of Franklin County than the other party…

"I think the message is obvious ,when you look at the tremendous turnout for an event like this tonight," Mrs. Jamieson stated. " As I stated last year, I doubt very seriously just a short time ago that you could have gathered this many people together who admitted they were members of the Democratic party. I think it’s time we stopped polarizing areas by parties and start addressing the issues that need to be addressed."

Also in attendance at Monday night’s meeting were Jim Martin and Greg Hecht, candidates for Lt. Governor in 2006 and Carlotta Harrell, a candidate for State School Superintendent.

We’ll be hearing from these candidates this week, so stay tuned to AM 630 WNEG for their interviews and statements.

There’s a lot going on at the senior center today. In addition to this morning’s safety seminar, senior center director says seniors will also have a chance to speak directly with people from the social security administration regarding the new prescription drug plans. "Medicare is starting the Medicare Part B Prescription Drug Program where people are going to have to choose a prescription plan," Knight explained. "So, people from the Social Security Administration in Toccoa are going to be here to give information about that and hopefully help people pick the right plan that's going to benefit them the most," she said.

Christmas can be a difficult time emotionally for many people – especially if they have recently experienced the loss of loved one. That’s one reason Knight says they will also be offering a grief support class this evening. "Around the holidays people experience so many issues, especially if they've lost loved ones," Knight said . so tonight from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. hospice of northeast Georgia is going to be here to offer a bereavement seminar for anyone who's experienced the loss of a close personal friend or a loved one. It's just coming up on the time where people are trying to cope with that grief during the holiday season," she said. All of today’s seminars are free of charge.

Three people are behind bars in Stephens County after a two drugs raids last week. Conducted by the Toccoa Police and the Piedmont Northern MANS Unit, the arrests happened last Thursday. In the first, officers searched an apartment on Pond Street and then arrested 26-year old Natasha Rucker and 19-year old Mekell Tukes. Rucker was charged with felony possession of cocaine with intent to sell. Tukes is charged with possession of marijuana of less than an ounce.

Later on Thursday, officers searched a home on Skyview Lane where they arrested 42-year old John McCollum. McCollum is charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell and marijuana possession.

Just a reminder that tomorrow, Azuza Street Mission will be handing out boxes of food to needy families, and the Mission still needs donations of food to help feed some up to 500 people, many of whom are children.

Pastor Lenny Cannon says the food boxes are not just a holiday treat for the families on their list, but for many it means their very survival during the holidays. Since children will be home from school for over two weeks because of the Christmas holidays, many will not be able to take advantage of the free school breakfast and lunch program.

That means, those families must have extra food on hand to feed their children. So far, Cannon says only two people have called or come by with food to donate. In addition, students from Stephens County Middle School have been collecting food and will be bringing it over today.

However, Cannon says they still need donations of just about every kind of grocery item, including meat and dairy products. Now if you have food you would like to donate or you need to speak with Pastor Cannon, you may call him at 491-8964.

Just a reminder from Stephens County clerk of court that there is no jury duty this week. All jurors called for duty this week have been excused. All court dates set for this week have been cancelled. Again, jurors do not need to report.

The County has approved a request from the Stephens County Emergency Management Agency to move its offices into the new e-911 dispatch center. For the past month, the EMA has been looking at several rooms in old middle school main classroom building and have been working to get estimates on the cost of renovation. "They had been looking at a couple of classrooms in the main classroom building," noted Hampton. "Now, they are looking at moving into the basement area. So what we’re doing is getting estimates on the cost of renovation for that area," he said.

Now, however, County administrator Darrell Hampton says they are looking at moving into the basement of the classroom building. The new EMA location will house several offices plus a meeting room and sleeping area for emergency workers.

State Representative Jeanette Jamieson will be speaking tonight in Lavonia at the Franklin County Democratic Party Christmas event. Two candidates for Lieutenant Governor in 2006 – Jim Martin and Greg Hecht, will join Jamieson.

Franklin County Democratic Party chairperson Patty Payne says her chapter wanted to celebrate the holidays by hearing from their candidates. "This will give people an opportunity to actually meet the candidates in person and ask them questions," Payne said.

The party takes place at the La Cabana Mexican Restaurant on Ross Place in Lavonia and begins at 7 p.m.

Payne says the public is invited to attend.

Citizens from both Toccoa and Stephens County will have an opportunity tonight to voice their opinions on a proposed resort subdivision next to Toccoa Lake. Atlanta developers Sean Harrington and Alan Nix want to build over 400 upscale homes, town homes and condos next to the lake and around the Pines Golf Course.

The clock has been turned back to the 1850’s at Traveler’s Rest Historic Site near Jarrett Manor.

The former stagecoach stop has been decorated with Christmas decorations from the time period, candles, boughs of holly and rooms warmed by fires in many of the fireplaces in the two-story wooden structure.

Guests came strolling through the doors Sunday as the Holiday season was ushered in by the park ranger and interpreter Raymond Anderson.

Anderson said that Traveler’s Rest was an important stop on the way to Atlanta for weary travelers over 100 years ago…

"This was a cross roads between the nation’s highway and the Unicoi Turnpike," Anderson explained. "It was a very busy crossroads here at the plantation house belonging to Devereaux Jarrett and James Wiley from the 1815 era. They used it as a stagecoach house, a boarding house and plantation home."

There are a couple of other buildings of interest besides the main structure…

"We have just a few outbuildings on the grounds," Anderson said, " We have a Nanny’s cabin, the original site of the well and a few farm implements."

Guests Sunday were treated to hot soup from the kitchen, hot apple cider and some music by Ken Bryson and the Strings of Praise.

Traveler’s Rest is open Thursday through Saturday from 9-5 and on Sunday from 2-5;30PM.

County commissioners will be interviewing applicants Wednesday for the position of County clerk. Former clerk Nancy Downs held the position for almost 30 years before resigning last summer. Her last day was August 31^st.

Last week, County administrator Darrell Hampton told commissioners he had received eight resumes for the position, but recommended interviewing only three. The interviews will take place tomorrow, December 13 in the Courthouse Annex.

A request by a children’s advocacy group for funding from the County has been tabled until next fiscal year. CASA, which stands for "Court Appointed Special Advocates" is sponsored by the Georgia Mountain Judicial Circuit, and is funded by the counties in the Circuit.

President Kristen Johnson recently asked to be included in Fiscal 2006 funding distribution through the Victims Assistance Program. However, County administrator Darrell Hampton told commissioners those monies have already been divided for this fiscal year between three other agencies. Commissioners then voted to include CASA in the next fiscal year’s budget allocations.

Senior citizens in Stephens County can learn how to stay safe during the holidays by attending a seminar today at the Senior Center. Sponsored by Currahee Security, the class is designed to teach seniors how to avoid being taken advantage of or even robbed during the holidays, according to Company owner Jay Fatihah.

The seminar today begins at 11:15 a.m. at the Senior Center and is free. This time of year, thieves, and scam artists are out in force along with the shoppers. Fatihah offers a few safety tips when doing your Christmas shopping, including parking where it is well lit and not carrying large amounts of cash with you. Fatihah says it is better to use checks or credit cards for your holiday purchases.