100 To Lose Jobs At Middle Georgia Plant

The closing of a middle Georgia plant will leave 100 people without jobs. Rockwell Automation will close the doors of its 30-year-old plant in Dublin next year. Officials with the Milwaukee-based company say operations will be phased-out beginning in October, and ending next July. Rockwell Automation provides industrial automation power, control and information systems to other manufacturers. The company is moving work from the Dublin plant to plants in Ohio and Mexico.

I-16 Re-opens After Truck Damages Bridge

Georgia Department of Transportation crews have reopened Interstate 16 westbound lanes near Dublin, nearly a week after repairs were made to an overpass damaged by a tractor-trailer. The overpass was damaged Tuesday by a tractor-trailer carrying a piece of heavy equipment that was too tall to pass beneath the bridge. The impact sent chunks of concrete raining down onto the interstate. The DOT says the highway between exits 51 and 49 was reopened at 7:35 a.m. on Monday. State officials say a contract will be awarded to make final repairs to the state route 257 bridge.

(Associated Press)

Traffic Advisory: I 16 West Delays and Detour

Expect delays and a detour in Dublin on Interstate 16 West. Westbound lanes are closed as repairs continue on an overpass damaged by a tractor-trailer earlier this week. The Georgia Department of Transportation says bad weather prevented work crews from re-openng the two mile stretch of I-16 West yesterday.

(Associated Press)

Thrift stores thrive in down economy

Georgia's dipping economy is good news for some of the state's thrift shops. The Salvation Army store in Dublin, reports it has had a 50 percent jump in sales. Store operator Gary Spivey says they're also attracting a new class of customer. He says the upscale cars in their parking lot show it's not just the working poor and teens looking for retro-styles who are shopping there.

(Associated Press)

On dead in overnight storms (updated 6PM)

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At least one person died after severe storms cut a swath through Georgia, downing trees and damaging homes and businesses in multiple counties.

Lisa Janak with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said one person died in Laurens, downgrading an earlier report of two fatalities.

Authorities had reported a second fatality in Kite earlier today. The status of the second reported fatality is unclear as of this posting.

Janek said 19 counties were affected, as of Sunday at 1 PM.

Macon Mayor Robert Reichert, declared a state of emergency in the city on Sunday at 09:40, and asked residents to stay home and off the streets. He said the majority of the damage was in the southern and western areas of the city, and asked residents to avoid those areas.

"The federal government will be moving hard to help," President Bush said in response to the storm damage. "I'll be in touch with the governors and offer all of the federal assistance we can."

Click here for more on that story.

The National Weather Service reports numerous cases of damage to homes, business and other structures in several counties from overnight storms. There were many reports of downed power lines and trees, as well.

At least 80,000 residents were without electricity across the state, as of Sunday morning, mostly concentrated in the metro Atlanta area and the Macon area, according to Georgia Power officials.

(with the Associated Press)

After S.C. Loss, Edwards Pushes Ga. Roots

Democratic presidential hopeful, former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., speaks to a crowd of supporters at a campaign rally at a farmers market Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008, in Dublin, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)

Standing next to a patch of collard greens in Dublin, Ga., John Edwards told a crowd of voters Sunday that he is the presidential candidate who best understands them.

A day after his third place finish in the Democratic primary in his home state of South Carolina, the former senator from North Carolina stressed he would continue to run a campaign focused on progress not politics, pointing a finger at his feuding Democratic rivals, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

"I'm about doing the things that need to be done to improve your lives," Edwards said. "I've been watching a lot of time being spent tearing each other down. I'm about building you up."

Edwards also drew applause as he touted his rural and Southern roots, including his two-year stint in small town Georgia.

"I know everything that's happening in your community," he said. "This is where I come from. I understand it and I take it very, very personally. I don't treat Georgia as a place you fly over."

Edwards told the crowd they could continue the legacies of their working class parents by casting a vote for him in the state's Feb. 5 primary. "You can help ignite a wave of change that spreads across this country that is absolutely unstoppable," he said.

Cecil Lowther said Edwards' small town background appealed to him and will be a factor if he decides who will get his vote. "He's got a good feel for what middle and low income people are going through right now," Lowther said.

Ossie O'Neal said he likes Edwards but that Saturday's showing in the South Carolina primary was disappointing. "It kind of put a little doubt there," O'Neal said. "You kind of wonder whether he has the potential to win if he lost in his home state."

Click here for more GPB News presidential primary campaign coverage.

(The Associated Press)

More Georgia communities go wireless

Many small Georgia cities are already going wireless, soon after the state announced public funding. So far the state has announced 5-million dollars is state money. The Georgia Technology Authority says the one-time grants help some areas of Georgia kick-start funding from Internet service providers who otherwise wouldn't invest. So far the cities of Augusta, Decatur, Dublin, Milledgeville and Thomasville have received the grants, as well as Gwinnett County.