Georgia

ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is considering shortening deer hunting season to respond to a decline in the state's deer population.

Morris News Service reports the Department of Natural Resource has learned longer deer hunting seasons have led to a significant drop in the deer population within the past decade. Officials say the deer population has dropped from about 1.4 million to less than 1 million.

The unemployment rate in the northwest Georgia region rose to 9 percent in December, up six-tenths of a percentage point from 8.4 percent in November. The rate was 9.5 percent in December 2011.

The rate rose because of a combination of factors – a slight increase in initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits and an increase in the labor force, as more people began searching for work.

Bring your family and friends to the annual Grape Stomp at the Georgia Winery on Oct. 6th from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. 

For centuries, grapes were handpicked and placed into a large vat where people climbed in and crushed the grapes with their bare feet, according to a media release from the winery. This method of extracting juice from the grape, called grape stomping, is the original form of winemaking and can be traced back to Rome in 200 B.C. 

State labor commissioner Mark Butler announced Sept. 14 that the Top of Georgia Employer Committee has won the Georgia Employer Committee’s Spirit Award for 2012. Commissioner Butler presented the award on behalf of the state committee at its annual conference held recently in Savannah.

Many of the heated North Georgia races for sheriff, district attorney, clerk of court and state Legislature could be decided today in the primary on the predominantly GOP ballot.

The Catoosa County sheriff's race, the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit district attorney race, and Whitfield and Catoosa County Clerk of Court races are a few of the contests with multiple candidates, all running on a Republican ticket.

Georgia police officers, sheriff’s deputies and troopers from all over the state will be on the lookout for impaired driving during what has become one of the deadliest holidays of the year, according to the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS).