Hospital Plans Expansion

Tanner Health System is planning a $50 million expansion at the Carrollton facility, with work to begin in September. The system plans to add the first floor of a three- to four-story tower to house a new emergency department, expand its parking deck and add space to expand its surgical capability. The expansion will include a new helipad to accommodate the increased number of air transports. The expansion has been on the wish list for some time. The Carrollton facility has seen more and more patients, both in the emergency room and the surgical unit. The hospital started seeing a large increase in visits as it developed its heart program.

(Associated Press)

Search Resumes For Third Plane Crash Victim In West Georgia

Divers will be back in the water of a small lake near Carrollton this morning looking for a third plane crash victim from Sunday. Authorities say three people were aboard a Cessna 182 and believed headed toward the NASCAR race in Hampton when it crashed around 9am Sunday. The bodies of a man and woman were recovered soon after officials arrived on the scene. The search for the third body was suspended about 10 o’clock last night. Divers had recovered a section of one wing and a majority of the fuselage. An FAA spokesperson said the plane left McCollum Field in Kennesaw early Sunday morning but filed no flight plan.

3 Dead in Plane Crash Near Carrollton

The Federal Aviation Administration is reporting that three people died in a plane crash Sunday morning when their small airplane slammed into a pond near Carrollton, after takeoff from a Kennesaw airport.

Carroll County authorities say the crash occurred just before 9 a.m. Sunday. The Cessna 182 apparently was headed toward the Kobalt Tools 500 auto race in Henry County, but the pilot had filed no flight plan.

The victims names were not immediately released.

The plane is submerged in a pond about three miles southwest of the State University of West Georgia in Carrollton, some 40 miles west of Atlanta.

Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
http://www.ajc.com

(AP)

Carrollton losing 150 jobs

Nearly 150 jobs will be lost in Carrollton with the closure of a plant that makes heavy construction equipment. Bobcat will close its west Georgia facility in late November--the reason is the hard-hit construction industry. The Carrollton plant has been making Bobcat attachments since 2005.

Carrolton food initiative wants to feed more

An innovative food initiative in west Georgia looks to expand after its successful trial run over the summer.

Several groups hope to expand the community garden project to provide food for charitable organizations.

Organizer Mike Gilroy is project director for a sustainable-agriculture educational program called The Growers School.

Gilroy and other members of the West Georgia Community Food Initiative worked to create the Buffalo Creek Community Food Project.

By the time all of the summer crops had been harvested, the garden yielded more than 1,000 pounds of fresh produce for the Carroll County Emergency Shelter.

Shelter director Martha Boyce says the fresh produce the shelter received provided great relief over the summer to those in need.

Besides Gilroy, members of the West Georgia Community Food Initiative include representatives from groups such as the Carroll County Cooperative Extension Office, the Carroll County Master Gardeners, the Carroll County Sheriff's Office and others.

(AP)

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Fed money to help public housing computer access

Over $400,000 in federal grant money is on the way to a pair of public housing authorities in Georgia--its aim is to help get better computer and internet access to those residents. Carrollton’s housing authority will get $150,000--an authority in Gainesville $300,000. The funding is part of the federal Public Housing Neighborhood Network Program. The money on the way to Georgia is part of more than 10-million dollars in grants distributed across the country.

Families of crime victims testify before senate c'tee

Family members and crime victim advocates on Thursday testified before the Senate Victim’s Rights Study Committee in Douglas County.

The panel is charged with examining how Georgia’s criminal justice system deals with those left behind when a loved one is the victim of a violent crime.

Heard county resident Kelly Wiggins testified before the panel, which met in the Douglasville County Courthouse.

Wiggins' testifies before the panel: allowing pretaped testimony will allow "closure" for grieving families. (Dave Bender)

Wiggins' sister Marie was shot to death in Douglas County in 2004.

Wiggins implored the panel to consider pretaped video testimony for family members traumatized in court trials:

“…it would give people in the future, and parents the opportunity to say, ‘You know what? That was my right. That’s the only right I have as a victim to speak. And I did it. I couldn’t speak words at the time, but I did it in advance and the jury heard, in my own words, how this crime has affected me.’ It’s really, really important.”

Carrollton Republican Senator Bill Hamrick chairs the five-member committee, which was established in May, 2008. The committee will report its findings to the 2009 General Assembly.

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Sony to layoff 100 workers in Carrollton

100 workers will be out of work at a Sony distribution center in west Georgia. The company says the layoffs are happening at the Carrollton site because of a normal drop-off of order volume. There is also the end of a distribution agreement with a third-party customer. Sony employs 360 people at the center--the facility was opened in 1981.

Georgia sports for Thursday, December 13th

The Atlanta Falcons are moving ahead from the sudden departure of their head coach. One of the assistants on the staff, Emmitt Thomas, will serve as interim head coach for the Falcons' final three games of the season. The team has been hit hard all season long. The punches have included star quarterback Michael Vick landing in prison for a dogfighting conviction, and then the abrupt resignation of coach Bobby Petrino Tuesday night. The Falcons are 3-10.

From the ice, the Atlanta Thrashers suffered the 5-3 loss to the Boston Bruins in action from Atlanta Wednesday night. The Thrashers fell to a record of 14-15.

West Georgia has hired Daryl Dickey as its new head football coach. Dickey comes to Carrollton via Florida State's program, where he served as quarterbacks coach for six seasons. He replaces Mike Ledford, who resigned in November.