Dalton's residents bewildered over bombing

Firefighters in Dalton facing smoke and flames from building destroyed in Friday's bombing. (Courtesy)

Barbara Russell's voice almost drops to a whisper as she tries to describe the deadly blast that interrupted her breakfast the other day.

"It was the loudest noise I've ever heard," she says, shaking her head. "You really can't believe it. It really hasn't sunk in "We're all trying to figure this out," says Steve Williams, a senior partner at the firm that was bombed. "It will be a long time before folks come to grips with this. We're just a little town in the Deep South."

The same sentiment kept coming up Sunday at the first town gathering since 78-year-old Lloyd Cantrell died when he bombed a law office that represented his son in a bitter family land dispute. The Friday morning blast killed Cantrell and injured four others at the law firm — and left residents struggling to reconcile how it could happen in their blue-collar town of 30,000.

Cantrell, easily recognized around town clad in bib overalls with a small Chihuahua in his arms, had been embroiled in a dispute with his son, Bruce, since 2006.

Bruce Cantrell had grown fearful of the father and hired a lawyer at McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle & Fordham, to file a lawsuit to keep his dad off the property. The 2006 complaint claimed the elder man stole tools, kicked in a door and threatened to kill himself. Cantrell had given the property to his son.

The Associated Press has been unable to reach Bruce Cantrell for comment.

On Friday, police were called to a disturbance at the firm, housed in a two-story, colonial-style home. An officer saw a man get out of a sport utility vehicle and run behind the building. Seconds later, an explosion tore into the office.

Four were injured, including attorney Jim Phillips, who was described as a longtime friend of Cantrell. Phillips is hospitalized with burns to one-third of his body. He was in critical condition Saturday, and officials didn't immediately return a call Sunday seeking comment on his condition.

Meanwhile, many residents shared a common realization: they simply haven't registered what happened yet.

"Nobody here in this room, nobody in this city was at fault," said Dalton City Police Chief Jason Parker. "I think we accept that. It's time for us as a city, as a community to band together."

The law firm, which has helped produce a generation of local judges and community leaders, was one of the town's "oldest and most important law firms," says Dalton Mayor David Pennington. The city has offered the firm temporary space at city hall, and the firm's lawyers say they're confident they will soon rebuild.

"I will not be run off," says Williams, the firm's partner. "I'm here for the duration." Williams and other residents quietly gathered at Dalton City Hall, talking in hushed tones about what happened — and what could have happened.

"Everybody is just sort of shocked," said Beth Campbell, a local bookkeeper dressed in her Sunday best who showed up at the meeting for some clarity after her pastor announced it at church. "In about two hours time we heard so many stories. You heard so many different things and I still haven't heard what happened."

Kermit McManus, Dalton's district attorney, predicts it could take years for the town to realize the enormity of the attack. He's clearly shaken by the blast, which he called "an attack on the judicial system."

"He was going to blow the whole building up as a result of this legal dispute," he says, shaking his head.

McManus works in a sparkling new county courthouse that fronts a large window. But if he had to build it again, he says, he'd feel safer if his office was built behind thick walls instead of glass.

"It's more devastating than we know," he says."I think it will change the way people think and it's going to change the way people do business."

His voice trails off.

"We don't think in those terms," he says. "Now we will."

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the Dalton bombing.

Explosion Update

At least one person is dead and still on the scene, while four were severely injured after an explosive device was detonated at a local downtown office.

The explosion was set off at 10 a.m. this morning at McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle and Fordham. Local officials are not confirming other media reports that a suspect is in custody, however, Whitfield county official told GPB there’s no need to worry about “a bomber on the loose.”

An employee at the US Post Office next store said the blast rattled the walls, ringing her ears for about fifteen minutes.

The explosion sparked a fire that was extinguished by the afternoon. Three victims were transferred to a Dalton hospital. Two have been released, the third has been admitted and is listed in stable condition. The fourth, told to GPB to be an attorney at the firm, has been flown to the Joseph M. Still burn center in Augusta.

Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms officials are searching the grounds for explosives, with the cooperation of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The agencies prevented Dalton fire crews from responding to the fire. Two bomb squad trucks, along with three fire engines, are still nearby the scene.

The explosion occurred near City Park Elementary in Dalton. The school was briefly on lockdown, before students were evacuated unharmed.

A Dalton city police spokesman says they have contacted a person of interest who was on the scene. There was a disturbance at the law firm. Someone in the firm called 911, and when police showed up at the scene a person in an SUV ran out of is car and behind the building. The explosion occurred immediately afterward.

GPB has learned law enforcement officers are executing a search warrant at a residence in Varnell, a small rural area just north of Dalton. A spokeswoman for the county would not confirm or deny whether the search warrant was part of the investigation.

Beaverdale Road and Prater Mill Road near Varnell is going to be closed for an unknown amount of time. GPB has learned the road closing is connected to the bombing investigation, although spokespeople won't officially confirm the connection.

Dalton bombing: officials meet with residents

A Georgia Bureau of Investigation bomb technician works on a a bomb robot near the scene of a bomb blast in Dalton, Ga., Friday, Oct. 17, 2008. Four people were injured when a bomb went off in a law office. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

The Dalton police chief and district attorney are meeting with the public to discuss the Friday bombing of a law firm in the small north Georgia town.

The Sunday meeting is taking place at Dalton High School.

Officials and members of the state's crisis response team are on hand. Organizers are encouraging law enforcement, emergency personnel, counselors and teachers to attend.

An F.B.I. agent searches property belonging to the suspect in the explosion at a small-town law firm in northern Georgia in Dalton, Ga., Friday, Oct. 17, 2008. The suspect died in the blast that also injured four people at the office, authorities said. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

A bitter family dispute over property erupted Friday when 78-year-old Lloyd Cantrell threw an explosive into a law firm that represented his son, causing a blast that killed the father and injured four people in the office. One victim, attorney Jim Phillips, is in critical condition at an Augusta burn center.


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(The Associated Press)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of this story.

Warner Robins wins Little League World Series

Dalton Carriker's game-winning homer.
(Phil Ellsworth for ESPN.com)

Dalton Carriker's homer to right field in the bottom of the eighth inning brought Warner Robins victory against Tokyo 3-2 in Sunday's title game.

The 12-year-old Carriker raised his arms in celebration after hitting a 2-1 pitch from Japan's Junsho Kiuchi over the right-field stands.

"USA! USA!" cried the Georgia-partisan crowd.

The jubilant kids from Warner Robins hugged Carriker as he reached the plate. A relieved manager Mickey Lay lost his hat after joining his team in celebration following a tense game marked by excellent pitching.

The Georgia crowd in the stands included Governor Sonny Perdue, who himself was a Warner Robins little league player growing up. Perdue missed a Southern Governors Association meeting over the weekend to be in Pennsylvania for the game.

This is the third straight Little League World Series championships that the United States has won. Columbus won the crown last year, and Ewa Beach, Hawaii, in 2005.

The previous two Georgia teams to advance to South Williamsport also won the title, including Columbus last year and East Marietta in 1983.

After exchanging handshakes with players from Japan, Georgia players took hold of the championship banner, their proud parents snapping pictures from the stands.

Teammates celebrate with Dalton Carriker, center with helmet on, as he crosses the plate. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

(Associated Press)

Pilgrims Pride to close Dalton plant

In Dalton, a chicken processing plant employing 280 people will close in the next sixty days.

Pilgram's Pride has been having financial difficulties for the past year and even filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in December. And in a statement on Monday, CEO Don Jackson said the Texas based
poultry producer will "continue to look for opportunities to improve our cost structure as we reorganize the company."

Part of that means shutting down the Dalton Plant. Those operations will be consolidated with another plant in Chattanooga. If there's any good news, it's that the comapny's
Cohutta Georgia hatchery will stay open.

Over the past year and a half, the Dalton area has seen a string of plant closings or consolidations. Unemployment in the area is currently at just under twelve percent, according to the state department of labor.

Supect dead, 4 wounded in Dalton bombing

Police say a bomb blew up at the Dalton, Ga., law office of McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle & Fordham today, killing one and injuring four others. (Courtesy WGCL)

Georgia investigators say a 71-year-old man suspected of setting off an explosion at a small-town law office has died.

Four other people were injured in the explosion that blew out the windows at McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle & Fordham around 10 a.m. Friday.

Police say there was some kind of disturbance at the office before the blast. An officer saw someone get out of a sport utility vehicle and run behind the building. Then something exploded.

Firefighters are still battling a small blaze that flared up after in initial blast.

The suspect's body is still in the building in Dalton, about 25 miles southeast of Chattanooga, Tenn.

Two of the injured were treated at a hospital and released, one was admitted and a fourth was taken to a burn center.

Officials said in a statement that:

“Dalton police received a 911 call regarding a disturbance at the law firm. The first police officer, to arrive on the scene spotted a person in a small SUV. When this person saw the officer, he jumped out of the SUV and ran behind the law firm, at which time the explosion occurred. The police officer was not injured. One fatality has been reported and is still at the scene.

Police Lt. Bruce Frazier said the blast was caused by some type of explosive device. Investigators were looking into a person of interest in the case, but no one had been arrested, he said. He declined to provide more details.

Bomb squads were checking for sweeping the premises for other explosives, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said.

Four people hurt in the explosion were in stable condition at Hamilton Medical Center, spokeswoman Emily Michael said. One of the four was being taken to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, spokeswoman Beth Frits said.

The eight-lawyer firm, founded in 1932, works out of a two-story, colonial-style house. Police cordoned off the block and shut down a post office near the law firm, which specializes in personal injury and wrongful death cases, according to its Web site. An elementary school across the street was locked down, though it wasn't damaged.

State and federal investigators were assisting local authorities.

(The Associated Press)

Dalton to Change Housing Laws

The City of Dalton wants to cap the number of unrelated people living in the same household to two, and each other resident would then need about four hundred feet of living space; the same goes for vehicles parked outside.

Dalton’s Mayor David Pennington said those changes would help support sagging property values.

"We got beighborhood with single family home with eight, nine, cars parked outside. If you have multiple adults living in one house, that's not a single family,” said Pennington.

But local Hispanic advocates said the code changes mainly affect Latino families. They say some renters go overboard renting to individual, immigrant workers, but with families, it’s a part of the culture.

Bobby Womack, from Latino's for Justice and Education, says its not fair for immigrants.

"Our orginization- we believe in individual human dignity and the attacks on the immigrant is very upsetting. Its just sad, " said Womack.

Pennington disagrees; he says it’s a universal matter of economics.

Dalton Smoke Free

The City of Dalton has given its some 450 employees over a year to quit smoking. And, in three months, time will be up. All city buildings will be tobacco free.

In a last ditch effort to help employees quit, the City will pay half of the $350 it costs for nicotine shots.

Dalton's Director of Human Resources, Greg Batts, said employees who kick the habit help themselves, and the cities health care budget.

"We want our employees to be healthier. We want them to have more productive lives and live longer and hopefully, as a side benefit, it will reduce out long term health plan costs as well," said Batts.

Employees who continue to smoke after January 1st will have to pay higher health care premiums and take their smoke break off city property.

Blaze at Dalton mosque site termed 'suspicious'

A fire that destroyed a mosque under construction in Dalton is under investigation by authorities. The blaze is being called "suspicious" by officials. Fire officials say graffiti with expletives was found inside the burned-out shell of the three bedroom brick house that was to be the future home of the Dalton Islamic Center. Construction on the facility began in early December, even with opposition from local residents concerned the mosque would bring traffic problems. 80 people currently attend sevices at a smaller facility.

Dalton man facing long recovery after bombing

The pastor of a lawyer badly burned in a bombing at a north Georgia law firm says the lawyer will remain in the hospital for at least a month.

Jim Phillips, of Calhoun, was taken to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta after a bomb exploded Friday at the Dalton law firm where he worked.

Rev. Billy Beard, assistant pastor of the church attended by Phillips, said the 79-year-old lawyer is in good spirits. Phillips was still in critical condition Sunday evening.

Dalton police spokesman Bruce Frazier said Sunday investigators are working ot determine why 78-year-old Lloyd Cantrell of Varnell threw a bomb into the McCamy, Phillips Tuggle and Fordham law firm.

Cantrell died in the blast.

(The Associated Press)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of this story.

Out-of-state tuition for undocumented immigrants?

A forum at Dalton State College Tuesday brought members of the community out to address representatives of the Board of Regents. At issue is whether colleges will still be able to grant so-called "presidential waivers" after the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act of 2006 goes into effect July first.

Presidential waivers can be granted to any out-of-state or international student at the university's discretion, as long as the student meets admission requirements for the college. They can also allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition, as they are ineligible for state or federal financial aid.

According to the Board of Regents' lawyers, the bill prevents the university system from granting the waivers to undocumented immigrants. But other lawyers say the issue is murky.

Over 40 people spoke at the Dalton forum, the large majority of who were in favor of keeping the option for waivers alive.

Some Dalton State students who spoke admitted to being undocumented. Others, including a group of students from Kennesaw State, spoke behalf of their undocumented friends.
Three more forums are scheduled in Clarkston, Tifton and Gainesville.

Property Crime Up Where the Economy is Down

Property crime in two economically troubled Northwest Georgia cities is on the rise, according to data compiled by the Dalton and Rome police departments.

In Rome, crime statistics show an increase of about 30 more burglaries and property theft cases since this time last year. In February, there were over 100 of these cases. Similar crimes in Dalton rose about ten percent during the same time period. Both rates are higher than the national average.

The two towns are entering recession, and a Rome police department spokesman told GPB "anytime there’s tough times economically there’s some increase" in property crimes.

The statistics also show an increase of DUI, and domestic disturbances in Dalton.

The overall crime rate, including violent offenses, is down.

Dalton Carpet Industry: Bye, Bye PFOA

The Carpet and Rug Institute told GPB Wednesday that the chemical PFOA has "a cloud of suspicion" hanging over it's head.

The lobbying group also announced the carpet industry in Dalton no longer uses the chemistry that produces the chemical.

This announcement is a reversal of CRI's position, as stated to GPB last year.

PFOA is a likely carcinogen, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. It is found in high amounts in NW Georgia's Conasauga River.

The river is a source of drinking water for the towns of Calhoun and Rome.

The chemical is emitted into the river by Dalton's carpet industry.

In a yet to be aired interview with WSB TV in Atlanta, CRI said the industry stopped using C-8 chemistry in January. They say PFOA is produced by this chemistry.

In essence what they are saying, is that PFOA is no longer being emitted.

Werner Braun is the head of the CRI.

"The message that this industry is that we have done the responsibly right thing to get out of these chemistry's because there is a cloud of suspicion hanging over C-8chemistry's."

One of Braun's assistants said the CRI did not publicize the decision because, "at the levels it [PFOA] was at, it's not a big deal." Yet, James Beach also went on to say "I wouldn't want this stuff [bio-accumulating] in my body."

11th Hour PFOA Advisory Issued by Bush Administration

Before leaving office, Bush administration officials issued a first-ever advisory on how much PFOA, a likely carcinogen, should be in drinking water.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says drinking water should contain only .4 parts per-billion of PFOA.The likely carcinogen has been found in concentrations as high as five-parts per-billion in Northwest Georgia's Conasauga River, a drinking water source to Rome and other communities.

The chemical compound gets in the river from a spray field operated by energy provider Dalton Utilities.The advisory, however, is not mandatory and Dalton Utilities says, it won't take any action on it until told to do so by the company's permitting authority, the state Environmental Protection Division.

So far, the EPD hasn't commented on the federal advisory, a first of its kind. Other states, including Minnesota, have put even stricter limits on PFOA, measuring its acceptable levles in parts per trillion.

For all of GPB's coverage of PFOA in the Conasauga, log onto:
http://www.gpb.org/georgiagazette/conasauga

Decatur PFOA Find Could Lead to Regulations

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials are investigating how record amounts of PFOA and other Perfluorinated Compounds (PFCs) turned up in Decatur, Alabama sludge.

The investigation could eventually lead to regulated PFOA standards in sewage treatment, officials say, although much more data and studies would need to be completed before making such a determination. Already, the high levels in Decatur prompted an EPA drinking water advisory for PFOA and PFOS.

The question investigators have is whether Decatur is a unique case.

PFOA is classified by the EPA as a “likely carcinogen,” and numerous studies have linked it to various cancers. It is often described as a byproduct of making stain resistant carpet, and an ingredient in manufacturing non-stick surfaces such as Teflon.

Any new standards could impact a wastewater treatment plant in Whitfield County operated by Dalton Utilities that releases PFOA and other PFCs that eventually end up in the Conasauga River, a source of drinking water for several Northwest Georgia Communities.

Some samples gathered by the EPA in the Conasauga's surface water have shown 12.5 times the advisable amount for drinking water.

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division tested the Conasaugua for PFOA and PFCs, but are still evaluating the results from that summer survey.

Dalton Utilities says they need more guidance from permitting authorities, and will not change operations until then.

In an effort to find the sources of PFOA in Decatur, EPA officials have requested information from fourteen companies with Alabama operations, including 3M, Japanese based chemical manufacturer Daikin, and Toray Flurofibers. According to EPA officials, all three chemical companies have been cooperative and are not suspected of any wrongdoing or law violations.

The EPA is also looking into privately held Alabama waste company, Biological Processors of Alabama, Inc, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

According to several EPA workers, the Decatur case has prompted renewed interest in studying PFOA and other related compounds as a matter of public health. As recently as last year, the EPA was criticized by some chemical makers for devoting resources towards studying PFOA, which is scheduled to be phased out by 2015.

Board of Regents discuss immigrants’ student status

Members of the Board of Regents will visit Dalton today to discuss the effects of a new law on immigrants’ student status at state schools.
The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act of 2006 goes into effect July first. The bill is meant to crack down on illegal and undocumented immigrants.
According to the Board of Regents’ lawyers, the bill also prevents any Georgia resident without documented legal status from receiving in-state tuition. This means for many students college tuition could triple, even if they graduated from a Georgia high school.
The Board of Regents has scheduled four forums in areas with large Latino populations to address concerns about the changes and to take public comments. In addition to today’s meeting in Dalton, forums will be held in Clarkston, Tifton and Gainesville.

Dalton plant fined for safety violations

Dalton manufacturer Columbia Recycling might have to pay more than $41,000 after federal officials found 11 serious safety violations.

"We found that the employer was not enforcing safety rules which could save lives," said Andre Richards, director of the local branch of the US Labor Department Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

In January, a fire at the company killed one employee and injured two others.

Inspectors say the company had blocked access to fire exits, left electrical wiring exposed, and left liquid propane gas tanks in areas where they could be struck by vehicles. In addition, the inspectors say, employees without formal training were operating forklifts, and the company had no written emergency plan.

The fine is just a proposal. Columbia Recycling has 15 days to contest it.

The company makes conveyor belt material from recycled textiles.

EPA Looking For Likely Carcinogen in NW Georgia Drinking Water

GPB has learned the Environmental Protection Agency tested drinking water supplies for a likely carcinogen in the Rome and Dalton areas earlier this year.

Samples were collected at the end of March. The agency tested for PFOA, and for other similar compounds. That’s according to internal EPA documents obtained by GPB.

According to preliminary results, the EPA found the likely carcinogen in the drinking water supply at one part per billion. Federal officials say that’s an acceptable level, however, that level is at least twice as high as what’s allowed in other states, such as Minnesota and New Jersey.

Those states are concerned about the health risks of exposure to PFOA and other similar compounds. PFOA has been linked to infertility, birth defects, various types of cancers, dementia and stroke. The chemical is believed to come from the carpet industry in Dalton, where it’s been used as a stain guard. The EPA expects the final results to come in by the end of the summer. No public health advisories have been issued, or are expected to be issued, based on the preliminary results.

Unemployment Rising in North West Georgia

Statewide, unemployment claims have risen almost 40 percent from last year, and more than doubled in North West Georgia.

Unemployment is up 65 percent in Whitfield County, and almost 25 percent in neighboring Gordon County.

Sam Hall, from Georgia's Department of Labor said he is concerned about the recent job loss in the region.

"The bulk of the layoffs in the Dalton and Gordon County area have been in carpet and other manufacturing industries. These layoffs are the reason North Georgia is the region with the largest amount of claims," said Hall.

Hall said last year, Dalton's unemployment rate was lower than the State's average. But, because of the housing slump, the region is expected to have stagnant job growth for the rest of the year.

Mohawk to cut 200 jobs

Up to 200 jobs in northwest Georgia are in jeopardy. The Dalton Daily Citizen reports that flooring supplier Mohawk Industries is closing two plants. The Mohawk Home plants are in Dalton and Calhoun. The world’s largest flooring manufacturer says it’s closing the facilities as it gets out of the woven pillow and bedspread business.