Sirens Herad in Cartersville

From John Sepulvado: Sirens just blared throughout Cartersville a few minutes ago as dark clouds moved into the area. We'll update ASAP on whether those were, in fact, tornado sirens.

UPDATE: Locals say they were sirens, no word yet from local officials. The thunder sounds like the sky is breaking.

UPDATE 2: In Floyd, tornado warning in effect with reported funnel cloud in Menlo.

Here's some of the reports.

Landmark exhibit set to open

The untold story of blacks in the American West will be on display at the Booth Western Art Museum beginning this weekend. "The Black West: Buffalo Soldiers, Black Cowboys and Untold Stories" will feature 65 works of art by 16 contemporary black artists. Also running with the Cartersville exhibit is "Bronze Buckaroos: Mythic Images of the Black West," which features 25 movie posters of Hollywood's portrayals of the black Western experience. Exhibit organizers say it is the largest of its kind ever assembled and highlights black explorers, lawmen, rodeo stars, outlaws and women.

(Associated Press)

Office Depot to Close Cartersville Store

Georgia is only losing one of it's 50 Office Depot stores. The Florida based company announced it is closing over 130 stores over the next year due to revenue declines. The Cartersville store will be closed in the next three months. The move will cut about 20 jobs.

New science museum to open

A new $20 million science museum is opening in north Georgia. The Tellus Northwest Georgia Science Museum will open a new 120,000-square-foot facility in Cartersville next January. The museum will include a 120-seat planetarium and an observatory with a 20-inch telescope. Exhibits will include an 80-foot-long Apatosaurus, a replica Wright flyer, a mineral gallery and a vintage car display.

Ga. museum features Native Americans arts

Evening Solitude, 2003 ©. Click on the image for more information. (Courtesy)

An elegant museum in Cartersville's modest downtown has become a surprising sanctuary for Western art collectors.

The Booth Western Art Museum is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a display of 37 pieces of Western art called Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line II.

Executive director Seth Hopkins said the idea is to show seldom-seen Western art from around the South. The exhibit includes works from from 74 private collectors, museums and galleries around the region.

Several other Western art collections are based at the museum, which was founded by an anonymous family to showcase the unique art.

"Wouldn't it be cool to collect a lot of Western things together and show the public that there are a lot of people in the South who are interested in Western art and collect it?" said Hopkins, summing up the idea behind the collection.

The 35,000 square foot exhibition spans 150 years of history and a stylistic range of art.

In one display, two neon-color cowboys sit on blue and red horses outlined in pink, before a backdrop of purple mountains. In another, a black and gray solemn Native American stares into the horizon. Bronze men are frozen mid-air during a Cherokee ball game.

"It is always a struggle to convince people that is it worth the drive to come see this place," said Hopkins. "But this kind of show, I think, is the one that nobody can come and be disappointed."

He calls the Sweet Tea exhibit the museum's most ambitious show to date.

In 2005, the museum held a similar show displaying art mostly from Georgia collectors and museums. This year's collection includes renderings from Russian, German and Canadian artists.

The exhibit also happens to be a nice mixer for Western art collectors in the South.

Bill Brogdon, 66, said he had no idea two other collectors lived within a mile of his suburban Atlanta home until Hopkins organized an art tour of the three collections.

"It is a little bit unusual in this part of the country to collect Western art," Brogdon said.

Now Brogdon's Earl Biss oil painting joins the other vivid landscapes on display for Sweet Tea, which is on display until Nov. 30.

About 40,000 people view the museum's art work annually, but marketing director Kathy Lyles said she hopes a new gallery will bring more visitors to see the art — and kindles greater friendships among collectors and artists.

"We have wonderful relationships with the artists in our museum and the collectors," Lyles said. "And plenty more to come."

(The Associated Press)

State Patrol leads motorist crackdown in north Georgia

Starting today, the Georgia State Patrol will be joined by other state and local agencies to begin a 90-day crackdown on speeders and intoxicated drivers. The launch of "Operation Rolling Thunder" this morning involves a rolling roadblock in Bartow County--between the Red Top Mountain exit on Interstate-75, north past the Cartersville Main street exit. There will be day and night traffic stops during the 90-day period for seat belt checks as well. The crackdown is targeted for Bartow and Paulding counties, as officials say they are two of the deadliest in the state for traffic accidents.

Cartersville beer maker enacts conservation measures

Cartersville is home to the fourth largest Anheuser-Busch beer production plant in the country. Anheuser-Busch officials are trying to figure out how to conserve more water and have spent the past five months trying to come up with a plan--one that still hasn't been decided upon.

As of now, the company is re-using rinse water for heating and cooling, and asking their some 600 employees to conserve water at home.

Bartow County Chamber of Commerce President Kay Read says if jobs at Anheuser-Busch are affected by the drought, Bartow won't be the only county to suffer.

"The tax revenues come to us, they also go to the state, but they also go to other counties where people travel here to be employed".

Bartow County houses two major water users: Anheuser-Busch and Georgia Power's Plant Bowen--both consume water from the Etowah River.

Lake Allatoona to Release Less Water

This week, in response to Georgia’s worsening drought, officials are cutting the amount of water released from Allatoona Lake by a third. Less water flowing out of Lake Allatoona, located 30 miles north of Atlanta, means less water for communities primarily in North West GA, like Rome, and Cartersville.

Joe Cook, with the Coosa River Basin Initiative in Rome says officials are sacrificing these communities to help metro Atlanta.

“We are concerned about having adequate flows to protect out economy and our ecology in N W GA. They are holding back water in Lake Allatoona primarily to preserve water supplies for communities in metro Atlanta.”

Cook says holding back water will also affect the Coosa River’s wildlife. He says that because water from the river is used to cool Georgia Power’s Plant Hammond the, rivers temperature is elevated. And with less water flowing downstream, the river may get too hot.

Fireworks ban in northwest Georgia city

Another Georgia city will institute a ban on fireworks today, with another possibly to follow. The city of Cartersville, east of Rome, will have their ban in place starting at midnight tonight within the city limits. The ban includes all commercial and public use of fireworks. It will stay in place until the designation of the extreme drought warning is lifted by the National Weather Service.

The city of Roswell in metro Atlanta might put a ban in place later today. Fire officials will give their recommendation to the mayor and City Council this evening. On Friday, Roswell fire officials tested some fireworks to determine its' effect on the grass. At issue is the city's July 4th fireworks display.