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A statewide tornado drill will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 4, as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week. The week — Feb. 1-7 — will include “Family Preparedness Day” on Sunday, “NOAA Alert Radio Day” on Monday, “Thunderstorm Safety” on Tuesday, “Lighting Safety” on Thursday and “Flooding” on Friday, which is also a backup ...

A developer is seeking buffer and parking space variances for a proposed commercial development on the Jefferson bypass. The Gipson/Loggins Company is asking for the variances for a 9.41-acre tract on the northwest corner of U.S. Hwy. 129 and the Old Pendergrass Road. Jay Gipson presented the requests to the Quad Cities Planning Commission last ... [Full Story »] 

Dear Editor: My name is Danny Kofke and I am a special education teacher at Gum Springs Elementary School in Jackson County and an author. I enjoyed reading Mike Buffington’s column, “Seeing clearly in economic storm.” I believe that we (as a country) lived way above our means and that this current economic situation might be a good thing ... [Full Story »] 

A Jefferson man died Jan. 14 after a tree fell on him on the Brockton Road. Charles Daniels, 77, Jefferson, was cutting trees when the wind blew one of the trees on top of him. His cousin was able to cut the tree off of him and run to the road for help. Daniels was transported to an Athens hospital where he died later that day.

Forty-six years ago, the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stood at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and told the nation he had a dream. Tuesday, some residents of Barrow, Jackson, Madison and Athens-Clarke counties witnessed that dream unfold with Barack Hussein Obama’s inauguration as the first black President of the United States. ... [Full Story »]