Procter and Gamble Job Losses in Albany

Proctor and Gamble is asking 300 employees in Southwest Georgia to retire early from their paper products plant in Albany.
This is the second major economic setback in Albany this year. Back in March, Cooper Tire announced it was shutting down its plant there. By the end of the year, 14-hundred people will have lost their jobs.
Now one of the city's other largest employers, Proctor and Gamble, says it's cutting 300 employees through what the company is calling, "voluntary separations."
Employees will be offered a severance package according to Vince Falcione with Proctor and Gamble.

"It will include severance pay. It will include an extension of employee benefits. It will also include career counseling and assistance."

The Georgia Department of Labor stresses that voluntary separations are different from layoffs, and because of that unemployment benefits are determined on a case-by-case basis.

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.

Albany: applicants swamp job fair

Turnout at an Albany job fair for a Marine Corps contractor on Friday was so great that the contractor, AECOM, says they canceled about 200 interviews that were scheduled for Sunday.

“AECOM has told us that they have so many applications, they will not be honoring those interviews,” Kari Finley, media and events manager for Goodwill Industries of the Southern Rivers and the fair’s host told the Albany Herald newspaper.

More than 1,500 registered for 125 positions, according to the report. The contractor interviewed some 450 applicants.

The more than 10 to one rush for spots comes in the wake of the announcement by the city's Cooper Tire plant that it was shuttering its doors in '09, a move that will put more than 2,000 people out of work.

Georgia unemployment is at a 25-year high.

Click here for more GPB News reports about unemployment.

Cooper Tire Plant closing in Albany

More than 2-thousand full and part time workers in Albany are losing their jobs at the Cooper Tire plant.
The news came in a phone call. Cooper Tire CEO Roy Armes called Governor Sonny Perdue, then notified Albany officials. The plant was selected from four U.S. based Cooper plants to shut down.
The decision came following a two month study that looked at each facility. During that time residents hung 1-thousand blue and white bows to show their appreciation for one of the areas largest employers. Barbara Holmes is with the Albany-Dougherty County Economic Development Commission.

"The most important thing is not just that we're losing these jobs, but these are families that will be affected."

Holmes says the economic impact to southwest Georgia is around 500-million dollars. Cooper blames the closure on higher costs and shrinking demand in the automobile business.

Albany: protesters outnumber Klan at rally

An anti-immigration rally held by about 20 members of the Ku Klux Klan outside the Seminole County Courthouse on Saturday drew some 100 protesters.

The event was held under heavy police security.

Sheriff Dale Swanner said the rally by the Georgia Knight Riders ended without incident. He described the Klan participants as "outsiders that chose to come into our county."

It was held on the same day as this town of about 2,700 held its annual Harvest Festival, which was moved from its site in the heart of town to just south of the Seminole County High School football stadium.

The local NAACP chapter held a "Not In My Town" counter-rally at Macedonia Baptist Church.

Information from: The Albany Herald, http://albanyherald.net

(The Associated Press)

Southwest GA officials: extend I-185

Chamber of Commerce, local and county officials from Albany and surrounding areas say they want the state to extend I-185 down to I-10 in Florida, and route it through their area.

They met on Monday in Albany with Georgia Department of Transportation officials to discuss the proposal, which includes a 32-county area.

I-185 now runs from Lagrange to Columbus. The proposed extension would add about 180 miles to the route and take it all the way to Tallahassee.

Dan Bollinger, director of the Southwest Georgia Regional Development Center says a projected population of over a million people by 2040 makes the highway essential:

“If we have expanded transportation capabilities, I think it would enhance our ability to attract new industry to this area, and really maintain and enhance our growth rates in the future.”

Bollinger says the road would also serve Homeland Security needs, since there are several military installation along the way.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of transportation issues in Georgia.

Soldier surrenders in Albany; faces charges in NC

A member of the U.S. Army soldier sought on sex-related offenses in North Carolina has turned himself in to Albany police. Forty-five old Laurence Clifton surrendered Wednesday and is being held in the Dougherty County Jail where he awaits extradition. According to authorities, Clifton faces 40 counts of sex charges involving a minor in North Carolina, related to child pornography.

Suspected serial robber caught

Police in Albany think they have a serial robber in custody. Authorities said the so-called "Bandana Bandit" was responsible for at least ten armed holdups in the city starting in June. Albany Police officers arrested 29-year-old Jerome Lowe Thursday afternoon shortly after a business was robbed.

Teen admits to courthouse bomb threats

A teenage boy in Albany is facing a felony charge after authorities say he phoned in a bomb threat to the Dougherty County Courthouse. Around 11 a.m. a series of hang-up and prank phone calls came into the courthouse. The 16-year-old says he thought he was pulling a prank and police say he confessed to making the phone calls.

Military dog gets new family

Today a Georgia-based military dog wounded in Iraq found a new home with the family of his former handler. 8-year-old German Shepherd Lex was adopted by the family of Marine Corporal Dustin Lee. Lee was killed last March. Lex was wounded in the same blast. The U.S. military agreed to release Lex from active duty at a Marine Logistics Center in Albany to be adopted by Lee’s family from Mississippi.

Slain soldier's family adopts his military dog

The Marine Corps announced today a Georgia-based military dog whose handler was killed in Iraq will be adopted by the soldier’s family. The 8-year-old German shepherd named Lex will join the family of fallen Marine Corporal Dustin Jerome Lee. Lex was wounded in the same explosion March 21st that killed Lee. This marks the first time the U.S. military has granted early retirement to a working dog so it could live with a former handler's family. Lee's family from Quitman, Missississippi, is scheduled to pick up Lex from the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany on December 21st.