South Georgia Flooding and Coming Rains

The last thing Southwest Georgia needs right now is rain, but that's exactly what the National Weather Service is predicting.

Over the next three days the area could see an additional thirteen inches of rain. That's on top of the nearly foot of rain that fell over the weekend in some places.

The ground is already saturated and creeks and streams are at capacity. Scott Bowers is with the Tift County Emergency Management Agency. He says people need to be vigilant.

"People in low-lying areas, people that are, you know, close to bodies of water, they need to have steps in place to evacuate their homes. They need to make sure they are looking out their windows and looking at the levels of the water in the ponds and streams."

Governor Sonny Perdue has declared a State of Emergency in several counties. Emergency officials in Albany are filling and placing sandbags in flood prone areas. Several roads remain closed in the region.

Tifton plant closing

Two hundred employees at the C.O.I. facility in Tifton are losing their jobs. C.O.I. manufactures and distributes food to restaurants in 29 states. The Nashville based company filed for bankruptcy in July. Company officials say a bankruptcy filing by restaurant chain, Roadhouse Grill left them 4-million dollars in debt. The Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce says it will work hard to help employees find new jobs. Some employees will be offered severance packages.

Thieves hit south Georgia storage units

South Georgia authorities are working to solve a string of burglaries. According to the Turner County Sheriff's office, over the past six months thieves have hit storage units in Turner and Tift counties. One tip recently led authorities to the recovery of thousands of dollars in stolen goods. Two people were arrested with additional arrests expected.

Move sought for Tift county murder trial

The attorney for one of four people accused of murdering six Mexican immigrants has asked the judge to move the trial away from the Tift County area saying extensive publicity has made it impossible to seat an impartial jury there.

In the venue change motion, the attorney says media accounts, word-of-mouth publicity and "untruths and misleading information" spread by "law enforcement agents" made moving the trial necessary.

In another motion, the defense sought to bar the prosecution from seeking the death penalty. Another motion seeks to keep the jury from seeing the victims' friends and family in the courthouse.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for two black men accused of killing six Mexican men and injuring atleast six others in 2005.

Media allowed in courtroom during immigrant slayings hearing

A Tift County judge has reversed himself and will allow the media in the courtroom during a controversial pre-trial hearing. The Superior Court judge in Tifton is presiding over the case of one of the four people accused of killing four Mexican immigrants. At first he wanted to keep media out of the pre-trial hearing of Jamie Underwood, who faces the death penalty. But the judge has ruled to allow the media in the courtroom.