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Huber Engineered Woods laid off 28 employees at its Commerce oriented strand board (OSB) plant last week. That amounted to about a quarter of the plant’s labor force. “Due to the ongoing worldwide financial crisis and the significant downturn in the U.S. housing market which have adversely affected our business, we have unfortunately had to ... [Full Story »] 

The wait to get state funding for the proposed addition to the Commerce Public Library is expected to inflate its cost by anywhere from 30 to 38 percent. That means local fund-raising efforts to secure the match for the state grant, rather than lacking just $80,000, are $256,000 to $306,000 short of the goal. Alan Harkness, director of the ... [Full Story »] 

The Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce presented awards and celebrated its successes of 2008 at its annual Awards Banquet last Friday night at the Jefferson Civic Center. Keith Ariail of McDonald Hardware, Commerce, was presented the William H. Booth Award for Lifetime Achievement. One of the chamber’s most active volunteers, Ariail ... [Full Story »] 

By Susan Harper I’ve been at it again: trying to do my own taxes. It’s a project filled with obstacles, and by that I mean everything from potholes to detours to boulders — whatever the IRS could think of to throw into the path of the hapless taxpayer. So I guess I love the challenge. I can’t think of any other reason why it should fill ... [Full Story »] 

By Susan Harper I was driving home from work last Thursday evening when I heard that U.S. Airways Flight 1549 had landed in the icy waters of the Hudson River at 3:31 that afternoon, and I felt as if cold fingers had wrapped themselves around my heart. ‘That was two and a half hours ago,’ I thought. Why hadn’t I heard? By the time I did ... [Full Story »] 

The Georgia General Assembly may approve a fourth Superior Court judge for the Piedmont Judicial Circuit, but it’s unlikely to fund the position. “There will be none (funding) this year, but we’re eligible for a judge, so we’re going to go ahead and put in for one so that when funds become available, we’ll be at the top of the ... [Full Story »]