MainStreetNews

BJC Medical Center’s request for a financial bailout from the Jackson County Board of Commissioners was tabled Monday night. The BOC postponed taking action at its meeting and didn’t give a date as to when the matter might again be on the agenda. At a BOC meeting three weeks ago, Rick Massey, a member of the BJC Medical Center Authority, ... [Full Story »] 

The 1966 addition to the Jackson County Historic Courthouse was torn down Monday afternoon as work began on restoring the building.

The addition had been built for office space, but it never fit the character of the courthouse.

For the complete story, see the May 6 issue of The Jackson Herald.

The red Jeep of alleged murderer George Zinkhan has been located in Northwestern Clarke County near the Jackson County line.

According to media and law enforcement reports, the vehicle was found in a ravine off Cleveland Road, an area that is just south of the Bear Creek Reservoir.

Following the discovery, state law enforcement officials swarmed over the area, including road checks in Jackson County along Hwy. 330. A State Patrol helicopter was also searching the area Friday.

A 911 call to Jackson County Thursday from a motorist on Hwy. 330 said they saw a man on a motorcycle in the area that looked like Zinkhan. Hwy. 330 is just north of the Bear Creek area in South Jackson, not far from where the Jeep was found.

That area of Clarke County is isolated with few major roads or streets. It is near the point where Jackson, Barrow, Clarke and Oconee counties all intersect near Bogart. Zinkhan's home is in the Bogart area.

The former UGA professor is accused of shooting and killing his wife and two others in downtown Athens Saturday morning near a community theater.

Although no cases of the swine flu have been reported in Georgia, Jackson County EMA officials are monitoring reports of the outbreak in other states. Jackson County EMA director Steve Nichols said Monday that local officials were "watching the situation closely" and are incontact with state GEMA officials who are also monitoring state and ... [Full Story »] 

Last year was tough for many Georgia banks as the economic slowdown hammered profits and increased loan losses.

Only five community banks that operate in the four counties covered by MainStreet Newspapers turned a profit in 2008. Perhaps not coincidentally, all five are based farthest away from the high-growth housing bubble corridor that ensnared some other financial institutions in a tide of faltering loans.

Statewide, some 46 percent of banks were unprofitable in 2008, according to the FDIC. A number of banks in the state have been closed by regulators in early 2009, including Freedom Bank, which was based in Commerce and had branches in Jackson, Banks and Barrow counties. Deposits of the closed bank were acquired by Northeast Georgia Bank, which has other branches in the area as well. [Full Story »]