Charges dropped against Berrien County lawyer

Prosecutors decided today to drop charges against a Berrien County lawyer.

George Bessonette agreed to cooperate with officials who are trying to convict his old boss, former Superior Court Judge Brooks Blitch III. Bessonette, who was Blitch's law clerk, was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and lying to a grand jury and the FBI.

Blitch was charged in July with a 19-count indictment. Prosecutors allege Blitch made illegal payments to employees, gave high-paying jobs to friends and fixed cases.


(Associated Press)

Sheriff returned gun to felon

A southwest Georgia sheriff has resigned after pleading guilty to returning a handgun to a felon, who ended up shooting his girlfriend. Jerry Brodgon’s Berrien County Sheriff’s department arrested felon Leonard Gray in 1997 on charges of being in a shootout. Deputies confiscated Gray’s .22-caliber handgun, but then-Sheriff Brodgon returned it when the charge of gun possession was dropped. It’s illegal for a felon to own a gun. In 2003, Gray was arrested for shooting his girlfriend with another gun, but had the .22-caliber in his pocket.

Drought means no hay crop

The drought is a headache for homeowners but it’s jeopardizing business for farmers.

Bone-dry fields can't support hay crops, causing a shortage in Tifton in south Georgia and other Georgia towns. Hay is a key part of Georgia's 50-billion dollar agriculture industry.

One Tifton farmer says he could only scrape up bales of hay to feed his 300 head of cattle this week. A farmer in nearby Berrien County hopes to use a bin of rye seed to feed his 200 cattle.