Unemployment Claims Jump Big Over Year's Time

New numbers this morning from the state Labor Department show 96,306 laid-off workers filed first-time claims for unemployment benefits in March. It represents an increase of 126-percent from the same month a year ago.

The metro area with the highest jump in claims was Gainesville, followed by Rome and Brunswick.

Claims filed came from laid-off workers in manufacturing, trade, construction, as well as administrative and support services.

80-Year Old Arrest Warrant Still Valid

An arrest warrant from 1928 has turned up at a coastal police storage room, and now authorities are trying to execute it. The Carter County Sheriff's Department of Tennessee is trying to serve an 80-year-old warrant for the arrest of a man who wrote a $30 bad check, although unsure if he is alive. The warrant, issued in August 1928, calls for the arrest of J.A. Rowland. It says he owes $30 for the bad check, $2 for the arrest fee and 50 cents each for the affidavit and warrant. Clerks at the Glynn County Sheriff's Office in Brunswick, Ga., recently found the warrant buried in a records storage room while cleaning and mailed it to Tennessee.

(Associated Press)

World's Second-Oldest Person Dies

The world's second-oldest person has died on the Georgia coast. The Guinness Book of World Records lists Beatrice Farve of Brunswick as the world's second-oldest person at 113 years old. Her family says she died Monday. Farve was born Beatrice Scarlett in Camden County, Ga. Her family says she sold beauty products until she was 100.

(Associated Press)

New unemployment claims spike by 75-percent

Initial claims for unemployment benefits in Georgia jumped a staggering 75-percent from October of last year.

New numbers from the state Department of Labor show the biggest percentage spikes in claims were felt across different metro areas of the state--from Dalton in northwest Georgia, to Athens in the east, to the coast in Brunswick.

Layoffs continue to be seen across-the-board. Manufacturing, construction and retail-trade sectors are suffering in particular.

The statistics represent a third consecutive month that new unemployment claims rose by more than 70-percent over a year’s time.

U.S. Coast Guard battens down Ga. ports awaiting Hanna

This NOAA graphic shows the expected five-day storm path of tropical storm Hanna on Friday, Sept. 5, 2008. Click graphic for larger image.

The U.S. Coast Guard has closed the ports of Savannah and Brunswick to inbound vessels because of Tropical Storm Hanna.

This infrared satellite image provided by the NOAA show tropical storm Hanna moving over the Bahamas on Friday, Sept. 5, 2008. Click photo for larger image.

The National Weather Service issued tropical storm warnings Friday for the East Coast from Georgia to Virginia. The storm's center was expected to make landfall along the coast of the Carolinas early Saturday morning.

The Coast Guard said in a news release Friday that the ports will be assessed after the storm has passed to determine whether it's safe for traffic to resume.

In South Carolina, the State Ports Authority plans to close the Port of Charleston to land traffic at noon Friday. The Coast Guard has urged all vessels and barges weighing more than 500 gross tons to leave as soon as possible.

This NOAA image shows tropical storm Hanna heading toward the Atlantic coast and hurricane Ike churning further east over the Atlantic Ocean on Friday, Sept. 5, 2008. Click photo for larger image.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of hurricane season.

(The Associated Press)

Accused murderer, molester wants new jury

Lawyers for a man charged with kidnapping, molesting and killing a 6-year-old boy say his charges should be dismissed because the grand jurors who indicted him were not diverse enough. David Edenfield, his wife, Peggy Edenfield and their adult son, George Edenfield, are accused of kidnapping, molesting and strangling Christopher Michael Barrios Jr., who is Hispanic, in 2007 in their trailer at a mobile home park. The lawyers tried to convince the Glynn County Superior Court Judge to dismiss the indictment by arguing Hispanics were underrepresented among potential grand jurors. They also want the trial moved to another county.

Mercedez-Benz breaks ground

Today carmaker Mercedes-Benz broke ground on a new vehicle preparation center in Brunswick. It's at the Georgia Ports Authority's Colonel's Island facility. It should be on line by next summer. Mercedes expects to bring 50,000 more cars through the plant, creating 122 new jobs.

VA to open new outpatient clinics

The Department of Veteran Affairs plans to open four outpatients clinics in Newnan, Brunswick, Milledgeville and Hinesville.

U.S. Senators (R) Saxby Chambliss, and (R) Johnny Isakson, commented on the step, in a statement released by their offices:

“Our veterans deserve access to the very best medical care and services,” said Chambliss, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “The announcement of these new clinics is great news for veterans in our state who have served our nation with honor.”

“This is outstanding news that Georgia will receive four new VA clinics to deliver to our veterans the level of VA care they deserve,” Isakson said. “As a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, one of my top priorities is to make sure America takes care of the veterans who have dedicated their lives to serving our country.”

VA officials say they expect to open the community-based centers over the next 12 months. There are 10 VA outpatient clinics operating in Georgia.

Click here for more information about Georgia VA facilities.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of veterans affairs.

Georgia ports on track for record year

The Georgia Ports Authority is on target to record its most successful year. State officials announced that the ports handled a total of more than 21.4 million tons of cargo for the first 10 months of fiscal year 2008. That represents an increase of over 20-percent for the period from July of last year through this April. The cargo processed includes through the terminal facilities of Bainbridge, Brunswick, Columbus and Savannah. The Port of Savannah now stands as the fourth-busiest and fastest-growing container terminal in the U.S.

Fugitive sex offender caught

A fugitive sex offender from Georgia has been captured. U.S. Marshals say they captured 27-year-old John Cunningham in New York. Cunningham, also known as "J Roc", is from Brunswick. He had been wanted for failing to register as a sex offender and for violating probation.

Brunswick jury convicts in double murder trial

A jury in Brunswick late yesterday afternoon returned a verdict of guilty against Stacey Humphreys, convicting him of the 2003 murders of two Cobb County real estate agents. The jury of ten women and two men needed about four-and-a-half hours in deliberations to reach the verdict. Jurors will begin the sentencing phase of the trial today. Humphreys faces the death penalty in the killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams, and 21-year-old Lori Brown.

Testimony wraps in Humphreys trial

Testimony has wrapped up in the trial of the man charged with killing two real estate agents in 2003. The lawyer for Stacey Ian Humphreys rested without calling any defense witnesses in the trial being staged on the coast in Brunswick. The defendant Humphreys told the judge he did not want to testify. Closing arguments are set for this morning. Humphreys faces the death penalty in the killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams, and 21-year-old Lori Brown. They were found shot to death in their Cobb County model home real estate office.

Juror bounced from Brunswick murder trial

Only a couple of days into the double-murder trial of Stacey Ian Humphreys in Brunswick, a juror has been dismissed.

Authorities say one of three men on the jury flashed a thumbs-up sign to deputies as they were escorting the defendant. Typically, jurors are prevented from seeing defendants bound in handcuffs or chains because it might create the presumption of guilt.

Humphreys faces the death penalty if convicted of the murders of two real estate agents in Cobb County in 2003. The trial is in Brunswick because of pre-trial publicity in the metro-Atlanta area.

Death penalty trial opens in Brunswick

Opening statements are set for this morning in Brunswick, in the death penalty trial of Stacey Ian Humpherys. He is charged in the 2003 murders of two Cobb County real estate agents. Lori Brown and Cyndi Williams were allegedly shot and killed by Humpherys in the model home sales office where they worked. The trial has been moved to the Georgia coast because of pre-trial publicity.

Brunswick family identified in VA plane crash

A couple from Georgia and their teenage daughter have been identified as the victims of a single-engine plane crash just outside the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia in Thursday.

Authorities identified the dead as 46-year-old pilot Lawrence Frederick Chapman the Third, of Brunswick, Ga.; his wife, 45-year-old Robin Dee Chapman; and 16-year-old daughter Katie M- Chapman.

The 1964 Piper fixed-wing plane departed from Georgia bound for Winchester and went down in a wooded area near Syria, which is about 15 miles west of Culpeper, Virginia. The plane was registered out of Florida.

State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said on Saturday that authorities were still removing the wreckage from the remote area.

Police said Federal Aviation Administration authorities called state police after they lost contact with the aircraft at 9 pm. Thursday.

The Civil Air Patrol joined state police searching for the plane. Officials detected the aircraft's emergency location transmitter at 10 am Friday and discovered the wreckage about two hours later.

The National Transportation Safety Board and state police are investigating the cause of the crash.
(Associated Press)

Police: shooter won't face charges

Brunswick police say a man who shot and killed a robbery suspect and injured another yesterday won’t face charges. Investigators say two men entered a home around 1:30 yesterday morning. They say at the time, about a dozen people were gathered inside the home, and one of them pulled out a handgun and began firing at the suspects. One suspect was killed, the other is in critical condition. Under Georgia law, a person can use deadly force in self defense if they are in fear of great bodily harm or death.

Death penalty trial begins in Brunswick

Southeast Georgia will be the site for the death penalty trial of a man accused of killing two Cobb County real estate agents four years ago--proceedings begin today with the start of jury selection. The murder trial of Stacey Ian Humphreys has been moved to Brunswick because of pre-trial publicity. He is charged in the killings of Lori Brown and Cyndi Williams--their bodies were found in a model home in a west Cobb County subdivision in 2003.

Beware the heat

The heat and humidity are shattering records.

In Brunswick, the heat index hit 126 degrees today.

At Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, the temperature hit 103 for the first time.

Needless to say, the National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning for parts of Central and South Georgia.

There is a heat advisory everywhere else, except in the northeast mountains.

President speaks on immigration in Brunswick

President George Bush was in coastal Georgia Tuesday to push for an immigration bill that many in his own party are divided on. The President spoke in Brunswick at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, which trains border patrol and immigration agents, among other federal officers. Bush directly addressed his G-O-P critics, saying the bill currently before Congress is tough on illegal immigrants--requiring fines, back taxes and other provisions before they gain legal status.

"This is not an amnesty bill" Bush said. "If you want to scare the American people, what you say is, the bill's an amnesty bill. That's empty political rhetoric trying to frighten our fellow citizens".

Bush noted Georgia agriculture as one aspect of the economy which depends on a steady supply of immigrant workers. He said sending 12-million illegal immigrants back home is not an option.

Concerning the wildfires in southern Georgia and northern Florida, Bush pledged federal aid to help battle the blazes. So far, it has cost over 45-million dollars to fight the fires. The blazes have charred over 580-thousand acres in Georgia and Florida since starting in mid-April.

President Bush in Georgia

President Bush will be in Georgia this morning, as Air Force One will touch down in Brunswick. His schedule includes a tour of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and then making comments on immigration reform. The measure being pushed by the administration and with support of key Democrats and Republicans, has been met with public backlash. The President says this bill is the nation's best chance to reform the immigration system.