North Georgia trucking firm gives bonuses - and more Chattanooga region news

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

North Georgia trucking firm gives bonuses

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. - A North Georgia trucking company is giving away more than $360,000 in bonuses to its employees this holiday season.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Bartow County-based Kennesaw Transportation Co. began the program 15 years ago to reward employees who had been at the company five years or longer with a $10,000 bonus every five years.

Some recipients say they're banking their third bonus.

The 2013 bonus will go to 36 employees, the highest number to date.


Wildlife refuge days announced

ATLANTA - Federal wildlife officials are offering free admission at national wildlife refuges on several holidays next year.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said Monday that free admission is being offered on Martin Luther King Jr. Day; Presidents' Day weekend; National Public Lands Day; Oct. 12 -- the first day of National Wildlife Refuge Week; and on Veterans Day.

There are eight national wildlife refuges in Georgia. The areas are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -- a branch of the Department of the Interior.

Officials say several other federal land management agencies, including the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and others are also offering free admission days in 2014.


Man charged in I-40 deaths

HICKORY, N.C. - The North Carolina Highway Patrol said an Oak Ridge, Tenn., man is charged in the deaths of an Alabama couple killed as they changed a tire on Interstate 40.

WBTV reported the patrol identified the victims as George and Carol Kittle, of Hollytree, Ala. Both were 66.

The patrol said the couple was almost finished changing the tire when a truck crashed into their car Tuesday morning, throwing them 100 feet.

The accident occurred in the westbound lanes of I-40 at the Catawba County line.

Harvey Lee Stevens Jr., of Oak Ridge, told the patrol officers he briefly saw someone in a vest and knew he had hit something. Stevens said after he got out of his truck and walked back, he saw one of the victims and called 911.

Stevens is charged with two counts of misdemeanor death by vehicle.


Former officer charged in sex case

DOTHAN, Ala. - A former Dothan police officer who was stationed at a school is charged with having sex with a student.

WDHN-TV reported 37-year-old Lanice Bonds was indicted on a charge of being a school worker who had sexual relations with a student.

Bonds used to be a resource officer at Dothan High School, but was fired after the allegation surfaced this fall.


Fire consumes funeral home

MEMPHIS - Fire officials said a floor furnace caused a blaze that consumed a Memphis funeral home.

The Memphis Fire Department said crews responded to a fire at Snow Funeral Home at 12:44 a.m. Tuesday. No one was injured. WMC-TV reported firefighters retrieved six bodies from the facility after battling heavy smoke.