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Following the Catoosa County Board of Education’s recent unanimous approval of Catoosa Online Academy, that is not only the academy’s slogan, it is a model of education available to all local students.

On Thursday, May 2, the historic Ringgold Depot will once again be the site for the observance of the National Day of Prayer, as the Catoosa County community will come together on the Depot lawn for the fourth consecutive year.

Today's event will mark the 62nd annual nationwide observance of the National Day of Prayer, which was made an official day of observance in 1952. 

The gathering will take place from noon to 1 p.m. today, with the prayer to be moved inside the Depot if inclement weather arises.

The discovery of a suspicious package led to a one-block perimeter of the Walker County courthouse annex building in downtown LaFayette Wednesday morning.

A small blue lunch bag and a sweatshirt were found by a maintenance worker at 11:30 a.m. and belonging to no one in the building.

With the uncertainty of the bag and in light of recent national events, officials exercised caution on the off-chance that an explosive device may have been left.

The Plan B morning-after pill is moving over-the-counter, a decision announced by the Food and Drug Administration just days before a court-imposed deadline.

Tuesday, the FDA lowered to 15 the age at which girls and women can buy the emergency contraceptive without a prescription -- and said it no longer has to be kept behind pharmacy counters.

Instead, the pill can sit on drugstore shelves just like condoms, but that buyers would have to prove their age at the cash register.

There could be a major jobs announcement on the way for Dalton, Georgia.  It's an area that's been plagued by economic devastation, as the carpet manufacturing industry, shrunk over recent  years.
         
Dalton is buzzing after word that a big company could build a new factory. Our affiliate WSB-TV reports a major flooring company plans to build a new factory in Dalton and hire more than 2,000 workers. 

Locals recently had the opportunity to weigh in on a 16-county strategic plan called Thrive 2055 that includes a large portion of Northwest Georgia.

The plan that is under development for the next two and a half years will carry Georgia’s Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Whitfield and Murray counties through the next four decades alongside parts of North Alabama and Tennessee. It has four major focus areas: paths, places, prosperity and people.

Appeal hearings have been scheduled and rescheduled — and now rescheduled again — for former public works director Jeff Long and former police chief David Eubanks, who are both opposing their terminations on March 22.

The most recent hearing, set for April 29, has now been cancelled. The date conflicted with an annual county commission convention, which Jeff Long was previously committed for. 

A bill passed by the Georgia House on March 22, and later by the Senate, grants Catoosa County an additional member on Hutcheson Medical Center’s hospital authority board. This would give Catoosa four members, the same as Walker County.

But, as part of the bill, Dade County is left with a difficult decision: to either pledge financial support and keep its two board members, or drop to one member.

Fort Oglethorpe city leaders have rescheduled the appeal hearings for fired police chief David Eubanks and public works director Jeff Long for Monday, April 29.

The hearings will begin with Long’s appeal to interim city manager Harold Silcox’s decision to terminate him and then follow with the same appeal for Eubanks, according to mayor Lynn Long.

Both former employees have retained attorney McCracken Poston to represent them in the hearing. Poston is working with attorney Stuart James from Chattanooga on these matters, he said.

The board of directors for Hutcheson Medical Center in Fort Oglethorpe and its Hospital Authority announced this week its support of Catoosa and Walker counties’ plans to back financing with a bond for restructuring and consolidating long-term debt from the previous administrations.

As part of the agreement, the counties asked Hutcheson to explore alternative long-term financing strategies, including leasing Hutcheson to another hospital, as a way to minimize taxpayer risk.