Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger sets Presidential Preference Primary Date as Tuesday, March 24. Presidential candidates: Trump announces re-election in Orlando Tuesday night. The Floyd County Republican Party held a watch party at Moe’s barbecue to watch the announcement from Orlando. Around 40 people attended, says Mickey Tuck (also sent the photo). The Georgia… Read more
Rome’s upcoming City Commission elections — already forecast to be the most competitive we’ve seen in years — are a little bit clearer this morning. But maybe not for long. City Commissioner Evie McNiece had a decision to make about seeking a fourth four-year term on the board. First elected in 2007 to represent… Read more
SUNDAY UPDATES Citizens ask to address City Commission on Monday: At least one person has requested five minutes to speak before the Rome City Commission at Monday evening’s meeting. Downtown businessman Jay Shell — who opened 333 on Broad a decade ago, moved to Brewhouse Music & Grill and now with partner Dr. Trent Pault has… Read more
In context: The race for the next opening on Floyd County’s superior court bench has its first declared candidate. Bryan Johnson, a partner in Cox, Byington, Twyman & Johnson and incumbent municipal judge, announces his candidacy to fill the seat J. Bryant Durham will retire from in December 2020. Durham last week announced he won’t see a… Read more
By Natalie Simms nsimmshh@att.net Much like college football, its always election season in Northwest Georgia. Within the next 12 months, we’ll see a Rome City Commission election, the presidential primary and then the local/state primary — all by May 19, 2020. Even closer — three months away — is the deadline for qualifying for the… Read more
In context: J. Bryant Durham, currently the longest tenured superior court judge in the Rome Judicial Circuit, is not seeking a new term next year and plans to retire as the current term ends. Voters will select the new superior court judge in the 2020 elections. Media release: Chief Judge J. Bryant Durham Jr., Superior… Read more
Floyd GOP’s Diane Lewis named ‘Rising Star.’ Diane Lewis of Lewis Chemical and the newly installed chair of the Floyd County Republican Party has also been honored with the “Rising Star Award” presented during Saturday’s 14th Congressional District Convention held in Dalton. How to assemble for an early showing of Avengers: Endgame? Here’s how:… Read more
Rome City Commissioner Wendy Davis, an expert on politics on all levels, provides perhaps the clearest explanation we’ve yet to hear on what’s on the municipal ballot this fall. Davis, who joined Dr. Jon Hershey on this week’s edition of Georgia Highlands’ Community Watch program, broke out what’s becoming her best prop yet in diagramming… Read more
Cave Spring voters approved all three issues on the ballot Tuesday: We don’t have totals, but the city of Cave Spring website has this update on Tuesday’s vote: March 19 City Distilled Alcohol Sales Vote Passed on all questions. Those questions were: Whether to permit and regulate Sunday sales of distilled spirits or alcoholic beverages for… Read more
Story lines: Drew Haynes won’t continue the battle to open The Love Library Express on Tribune Street, citing city’s rush of new ordinances to prevent its opening. Another location for the Express is being scouted in North Georgia. The original store on Shorter Avenue remains in full service. Media release: The Love Library Express,… Read more
Reminder: Vote today in Cave Spring: The special vote, for registered voters in the city only, asks these questions: Whether to authorize the city issue licenses for the package sale of distilled spirits. Whether to permit and regulate Sunday sales of distilled spirits or alcoholic beverages for beverage purposes by the drink. Whether to permit and… Read more
From the Associated Press: “In a stunning rebuke, the Republican-controlled Senate has voted to terminate President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Senate voted 59-41 for a resolution to halt Trump’s emergency order. Trump has promised to veto it, and it is unlikely that Congress will have the votes to… Read more
By a 7-1 vote that technically is in our history book as a 7-2 decision, the Rome City Commission on Monday agreed to an 11-year pact with Floyd County and the Rome Floyd Development Authority to oversee future industrial growth in the community. All three are pledging $450,000 each over three years — a… Read more
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, was honored on Wednesday by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States with its top legislative honor, the 2019 VFW Congressional Award. Isakson was selected as this year’s recipient for his efforts to help secure the passage of numerous VFW… Read more
The Floyd County Democratic Party will hold its annual membership party on Thursday, March 7, at 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express off U.S. 411. Entrance is $10. New and renewing members can also pay their $10 annual dues at the event. The party’s keynote speaker will be former Columbus mayor, Teresa Tomlinson. After… Read more
TUESDAY From WRGA: By a unanimous vote, the Rome City Commission has approved the adult business ordinance. The measure approved at Tuesday’s called meeting forces sexually oriented businesses and their employees to obtain a special license, similar to a liquor license. It also forces businesses to close from midnight until 6 a.m.; and limits their locations to more than 750… Read more
Friday morning, Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 25 – his first as Georgia’s 83rd governor – into immediate effect to improve school bus safety for families and children across the Peach State. Says state Schools Superintendent Richard Woods: “I have been concerned about our students’ safety since House Bill 978, which addressed passing a stopped school… Read more
An addition to the 31-month-old Rome Tennis Center at Berry College to house six indoor, temperature controlled courts already is being called “one of the largest in the nation.” But with a price tag now set at $5 million — nearly half the $11.4 million voters agreed to tax themselves to fund the original 60-court… Read more
Thursday morning, Gov. Brian Kemp, First Lady Marty Kemp and state officials announced a new mobile application to support the Georgia Crisis and Access Line, a 24/7 hotline offering free and confidential access to services for mental illness, substance use disorders, and intellectual and developmental disabilities. “Traveling across the state, Marty and I have heard firsthand from parents,… Read more