Man pleads guilty in $1.4 million scheme to defraud Staples
BOSTON (AP) - A Georgia man faces prison after admitting to his role in a scheme to defraud Massachusetts-based Staples Inc. out of more than $1.4 million.
Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame to induct 17 veterans
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Seventeen veterans are to be inducted into the 2017 Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame next month.
Knoxville Police: Derailment sends cars into building
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Authorities in Tennessee say a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Knoxville, sending rail cars carrying shipping containers off the tracks, with some of them plowing into buildings. No one was injured.
7 more indicted on federal food program fraud charges
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Prosecutors say seven more people face indictments in a Tennessee conspiracy to defraud a federally funded food program.
Experts: Opioid crisis is hitting Georgia especially hard
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Experts say the nation's deepening opioid epidemic is hitting Georgia harder than most states.
Man charged with killing 92-year-old woman in home invasion
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A suspect has been arrested in connection with the home invasion and slaying of a 92-year-old Alabama woman.
Georgia lawmaker asks about quarantining HIV patients
ATLANTA (AP) - A Georgia state lawmaker and wife of former U.S. Health Secretary Tom Price asked during a legislative committee meeting about the possibility of quarantining people with HIV.
TBI issues drug alert on cocaine laced with fentanyl
"To be blunt: What you might buy and use, thinking it’s a good time, could cost you your life.”
Alabama inmate defiant before his execution for killing cop
By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press ATMORE, Ala. (AP) - A convicted cop killer who sued Alabama over its lethal injection method was put to death, but not before he cursed at the state and said: "I hate you." As the…
Emails: Protests spur college officials to talk with players
ATLANTA (AP) - Some college and university officials are having talks with student-athletes and consulting each other amid concerns that demonstrations over racial injustice like the ones roiling pro sports will spread to college athletics. That's what athletic officials from…
Shia LaBeouf pleads guilty to misdemeanor charge in Georgia
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Shia LaBeouf will spend the next year on probation after the "Transformers" actor pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction stemming from a public outburst in Georgia. LaBeouf appeared before a Recorder's Court judge Thursday…
Teacher resigns over 'Make America Great Again' T-shirts
ATLANTA (AP) - A Georgia teacher surrounded by controversy over students wearing "Make America Great Again" T-shirts has given her resignation to school officials. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Lyn Orletsky sent her resignation to the Cherokee County school board,…
Officers serving drug indictments find more drugs at Sand Mountain home
SECTION, Alabama (WDEF) - A Sand Mountain woman was indicted on charges of possession and burglary. But her case got worse when officers served the papers. Jackson County Lt. Craig Holcomb delivered the indictments to the home of Katherine Michelle…
'Murder insurance' or protection in self-defense cases?
By LISA MARIE PANE Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) - The National Rifle Association has launched a new insurance program for people who shoot someone. And it's stirring criticism from gun-control advocates who say it could foster more violence and give…
Nashville airport authority fires CEO after medical leave
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority has fired Rob Wigington as its president and CEO. The airport's board of commissioners voted unanimously to remove Wigington, citing a "a fiduciary duty to do what is best for the…
Dolly Parton Announces Hurricane Relief Efforts
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (WDEF) - Dolly Parton will assist with the ongoing relief efforts around the United States and its territories by making a contribution to the One America Appeal for Hurricane Relief to assist with immediate life sustaining needs…
Guilty plea but no jail for jewel thief Doris Payne, 87
Judge Angela Duncan told her "Don't come back." "I won't" said Payne.
Relatives: Zell Miller no longer making public appearances to battle Parkinson's
he is experiencing "the cognitive symptoms that are associated with this type of Parkinson's."
Alabama inmate captured in Georgia after 2-state search
CENTRE, Ala. (AP) - Authorities say a work-release inmate who left a job site in Alabama has been recaptured in Georgia. Al.com reports that 40-year-old Jimmy Wayne Blair Jr. walked away from a construction site about 10:30 a.m. Monday in…
Georgia lawmaker says mascot shouldn't join Kennesaw State cheerleader protest
KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia lawmaker says Scrappy the Owl, the mascot at the university where five cheerleaders have been kneeling during the national anthem, had no business leading students in a march through campus to support the cheerleaders.…
Pilot Flying J agreed to pay legal costs of former staffers
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The truck stop chain controlled by the family of Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has publicly distanced itself from former employees charged with defrauding customers. But court records show the board…
$12M parking, shopping renovations for Grand Ole Opry House
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The iconic Grand Ole Opry House in Tennessee's capital city will undergo a $12 million expansion to add parking, larger retail space and an enhanced area for backstage tours. The Tennessean quotes Ryman Hospitality CEO Colin…
Georgia cheerleaders to protest anthem in stadium tunnel
KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) - A group of Georgia cheerleaders say they'll take a knee in the stadium tunnel when the national anthem is played at Saturday's homecoming game since their university moved them off the field after an earlier demonstration.…
Thousands of state assessment tests scored incorrectly
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee education officials believe nearly 10,000 assessment tests across the state were scored incorrectly. The Commercial Appeal reports that about 9,400 of the approximately 600,000 TNReady tests that were taken in the last school year were…