News from Barrow News-Journal

Northeast Georgia Health System announced Friday the completion of its acquisition of Barrow Regional Medical Center in Winder and its assets, and the hospital will officially be renamed Northeast Georgia Medical Center Barrow beginning Sunday. The transfer will be effective as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday. The agreement was first announced in ... [Full Story »] 

Kelly Pickens of Atlanta, one of the critics who are seeking the firing of Statham police officer Marc Lofton, was charged with disruption of a public meeting and disorderly conduct after the Statham City Council meeting last week. The charges are expected to go before Statham municipal court. Pickens was one of several people who attended the ... [Full Story »] 

A burglary of the Target store in Bethlehem this week is "consistent with" other burglaries committed in middle Georgia, West Virginia and Tennessee, according to investigators. The store was broken into about 1:50 a.m. Tuesday when two suspects entered by cutting through the roof and dropping down into a restroom area. The suspects broke into ... [Full Story »] 

Winder native Shane Whelchel realizes he has a blessed and fortunate life today, but that was not always the case. He battled the demons of drug addiction that he says drove him to virtual homelessness, conquered them through his new-found Christian faith, got ordained and became a successful businessman as owner of Agape Ink Tattoos on Atlanta ... [Full Story »] 

Reading the news coverage over the past week of the federal trial of Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who senselessly gunned down nine black people during Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, has brought back memories from when I had an up-close view of people affected by the massacre. On the evening of June 17, 2015, I was ... [Full Story »]