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From the early morning hours on March 19, city hall in Fort Oglethorpe was open for citizens to elect a new council member for the ward five seat.

When the clock struck 7 p.m. there was an air of urgency as election workers shouted out the door that the polls were now closed.

The polling stations were rearranged and set on tables and quickly set to printing out the ballot summaries.

With election day underway, voter turnout is light in Ringgold, with only 446 people casting ballots — including 23 cast today as of 10:15 a.m. Polls close at 7 p.m.

The Ringgold Catoosa Hall precinct at 7658 Nashville Street has 6,738 of the county’s 41,806 registered voters.

According to elections official Tonya Moore, 423 ballots were cast at the precinct during early voting, which took place from Feb. 25 to March 15. Today, as of 10:15 a.m., an additional 23 ballots had been cast.

“We also mailed out an additional 30 ballots,” Moore said.

The Battlefield Civitan Club is concerned with giving back to the community. So the club has organized the first annual diaper drive.

At the meeting March 13, the Battlefield Civitan Club kicked off the drive by bringing hundreds of diapers to donate to the Catoosa County Department of Family and Children Services as well as North Georgia Community Action. Both facilities assist families in need. 

The Chickamauga-based Old Mill Kettle Corn company began a few friends mixing recipes by hand in a tiny storefront kitchen. 

Now, a few short years later, the brand has earned wide acclaim for the taste and appeal of its all-natural products, and as of Friday, March 8, the company signed a distribution deal with granola conglomerate Heartland Brands.

Mike Proctor, CEO of Old Mill Kettle Corn, was thrilled at the national recognition, and hopes that the locally-made products will someday be available in all corners of the country. 

A joint agreement to fund a new intersection on Battlefield Parkway received final approval by the Catoosa County Development Authority on Tuesday, March 12.

The city of Fort Oglethorpe is the other party agreeing to fund the proposed intersection and site development. The city approved the agreement at the February 25 meeting.

County commissioners support the agreement, but are not a party in the development and therefore are not voting, Catoosa County commission attorney Chad Young said during the development authority board meeting.

The Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office, during Feb. 22-28, answered 1,350 calls, including 65 that were booked on a total of 130 counts. The violations included both misdemeanor and felony charges and were as follows:

Arrests

Shilo Shantell Brown, 27, of 2300 Wilson St., Chattanooga, Tenn., was arrested Feb. 22 for probation violation.

Kimberly Kay Campbell, 30, of 3009 E 41st St., Chattanooga, Tenn., was arrested Feb. 22 for probation violation.

Brian Mitchell Herndon, 26, of 1105 Oleander St., Englewood, Fla., was arrested Feb. 22 for probation violation, battery under the family violence act and cruelty to children third degree.

Dawn Elizabeth Nation, 30, of 200 Eveningside Drive, Soddy Daisy, Tenn., was arrested Feb. 22 for probation violation.

Jason Fuller Waldon, 37, of 20 Deakin Road, Ringgold, was arrested Feb. 23 for interference with government property, terroristic threats and acts, three counts of obstruction or hindering law enforcement officers, battery under the family violence act, simple battery under the family violence act and simple battery. Bond has been set at $28,000.

James Brian Middleton, 44, of 836 Pine Grove Road, Ringgold, was arrested Feb. 24 for probation violation.

PIGEON FORGE, TN (News Sentinel) --  At least 30 cabins in a Sevier County resort area were damaged by a 200-acre wildfire Sunday evening, authorities said.

Nathan Waters, a spokesman with the Tennessee Division of Forestry, said late Sunday night that the fire had jumped Lost Branch Road and was threatening more cabins.

"There's hundreds of cabins and rentals up here," Waters said. "They are so close together they are going up like dominoes. Just one after the other."

Netflix Super HD service is now available and included free with your netflix account.  Your ISP needs to support the service thru the Netflix open connect network.  To see if your ISP supports super HD, simply go to this page.
Basically, Super HD is 1080p as opposed to 720p or 1080i.  More pixels and higher streaming bit rates.  For example, a typical Netflix stream requires 2-3Mb/s but Super HD requires 5-7Mb/s.  More data means better picture quality.  Not all titles are in Super HD yet but more are coming.

Ringgold City Council agreed Monday night to install Wi-Fi at two downtown sites, with hopes that the feature will create more of an appeal at the locations for both locals and tourists.

The old American Legion building on Emberson Drive and the city pool a few yards away on Cotter Street are the two locations where the new wireless internet feed will be installed.

In August the council discussed and came close to installing Wi-Fi at the Little General Children’s Park, but ultimately decided against the endeavor following citizens’ concerns.

Eight local high school students were able to brighten the day and ease some of the worry of a Rossville family on Tuesday, March 12, as the teens built a wheelchair ramp for the family’s 12-year-old son.

Members of the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School construction class, under the tutelage of their teacher Mike Mayfield and with the assistance of the Modern Woodman of America, were able to construct a 24-foot ramp in anticipation of Phillip Griffin’s return home from the hospital next week.