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By Mark Beardsley It’s a revisiting of the 2004 tsunami, just closer to home and more accessible to the media — unimaginable destruction, an incalculable human toll, unfathomable devastation in a country where at the best of times things are very, very bad. Reports from Haiti are never uplifting. The country makes the news only during times ... [Full Story »] 

Commerce High School students will have a new building waiting on them when they return from Christmas break next school year. At least that’s the plan. City Schools superintendent James “Mac” McCoy told the Commerce Board of Education (BOE) that the high school will transition from the old building to the new 136,500-square-foot facility ... [Full Story »] 

The owner of a Commerce convenience store says a local mother and daughter are allegedly each $500,000 richer after winning $1 million Saturday with a Georgia Lottery ticket purchased at Jackson Food Mart. The Georgia Lottery Commission has not released the names nor confirmed the winnings. “It was a mom and daughter playing together,” said ... [Full Story »] 

By Mark Beardsley The General Assembly had not even convened, but the legislation allowing me to carry a pistol to church or to a University of Georgia football game was progressing through the legislature last week. Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica) got his foot — or pistol — in the door last year when the legislature approved his bill ... [Full Story »] 

At his last official Commerce City Council meeting Dec. 14, Ward 2 councilman Donald Wilson, following a 2-vote loss in the Nov. 3 city election, promised: “I’ll be back.” Wilson has bigger plans for his comeback than Ward 2. Wilson plans to run for mayor in the city’s 2011 municipal election. “I probably will if the Lord doesn’t ... [Full Story »] 

Two weeks ago, the Commerce downtown was shocked by the sudden closure of Harmony Grove Grille. Now there is talk of the restaurant opening under new management and yet another restaurant opening just down the street as well. Downtown Development Authority chairman Clark Hill told the DDA last Wednesday that the Harmony Grove Grille will ... [Full Story »] 

A Highland Estates woman surprised a burglar as he attempted to enter her home last week, according to the Commerce Police Department. He may go to jail as a result. The woman entered her house to see a black male standing at a back window holding the window screen. As the homeowner called 911, the man ran off. The same residence had been ... [Full Story »]