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Ringgold is ready to kick off the summertime with its annual Memorial Day festivities, which includes the 1890s Day Jamboree and the bi-annual Festival of Flags.

For the two weeks each year that surround the Memorial and Veterans Days, the city erects commemorative American flags to honor deceased military personnel from Catoosa County.

The flags line the streets of Ringgold and are held in place by wooden crosses donning the name of a gone, but not forgotten, veteran.

This year will mark the 38th annual 1890s Day Jamboree, which is an admission-free event. 

About 50 acres of Catoosa County-owned property will soon become home for a Georgia Northwestern Technical Community College satellite campus as well as a mixed-use commercial development.

County attorney Chad Young reported during the Tuesday, May 21, county commission meeting that the property’s sale had been approved and recommended the previous week by the Catoosa County Economic Development Authority.

In just a few days, Ringgold High School senior Brenna Schroder will graduate with highest honors, one of which is being named the STAR student. Each year, the student with the highest SAT score receives the title of STAR student along with a $500.00 scholarship. 

Catoosa County commissioners on Tuesday heard an appeal by former Lookout Mountain Drug Task Force commander Larry Black, who has filed a grievance against sheriff Gary Sisk.

County attorney Skip Patty said an action by the sheriff prompted the appeal, but since the sheriff holds a constitutional office, whatever decision the commissioners reach can only be considered as a advisory.

Black’s grievance concerns his losing status as a sworn officer of the law, as well as the loss of benefits and financial compensation.

First responders are in a race against time in the search for any survivors of a devastating tornado that ripped through Moore, Okla., while the medical examiner's office has revised the death toll from 51 to 24, including nine children.

Oklahoma medical examiner spokeswoman Amy Elliot said this morning that she believes some victims were counted twice in the early chaos of the storm. The original death toll included 20 children.

Photo Credit: DVIDSHUB via Compfight cc
 
The massive tornado that devastated an area near Oklahoma City injured 237 people and the number of dead may rise beyond the current official count of 24, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said today.

"We don't have any firm numbers on the numbers of deaths that have been experienced," Fallin said during a news conference. "There may have been bodies that may have been taken to local funeral homes."
 
Officials said today that nine of the 24 people confirmed to have been killed in Moore, Okla., on Monday were children.
 
Seven children died at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which took a direct hit, but many more survived unhurt.

Lake Winnepesaukah is putting the final touches on its new water park SoakYa in time for a Memorial Day (Monday, May 27) opening at 1 p.m.

The park was originally scheduled to open Friday, May 24.

Since amusement park owners broke ground earlier this year on a five-acre water park addition, massive changes have been made to the once-overflow parking area, where the water park is located.

The American Junior Golf Association will partner with the Evitt Foundation and the Ringgold Telephone Company for the 11th consecutive year as 96 of the nation’s top junior golfers compete in the Evitt Foundation RTC Junior All-Star, June 3-6, at Windstone Golf Club in Ringgold.

In 2012, the Evitt Foundation RTC Junior All-Star was recognized as the Junior All-Star of the Year, an award given annually honoring the best Junior All-Star event on the AJGA schedule.

At least one person died after a series of tornadoes ripped across the Midwest Sunday, injuring dozens while leaving a path of devastation in a region that is expected to see more severe weather later today.

A 79-year-old man died near a mobile home park in Shawnee, Okla., which was reduced to rubble after one of many Midwest twisters ripped through the area, according to Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth. At least 21 others in Oklahoma were taken to local hospitals to be treated for injuries.

Interested in becoming a Ringgold Market vendor? We are looking for more North Georgia famers and artisans! If you make it, grow it or even sew it yourself, we'd love to have you apply! Visit http://vendors.chattanoogamarket.com/ for an application.