Legislative preview planned by GOP
DALTON, Ga. - The public is invited to join Whitfield County Republicans on Tuesday for a peek ahead to the upcoming session of the Georgia General Assembly.
Guest speakers will be state Sen. Charlie Bethel and state Reps. Tom Dickson and Bruce Broadrick, according to a news release.
The meeting is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Dalton Community Center, 214 Fredrick St.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/events/17418745944348.
Vanderbilt cuts med school numbers
NASHVILLE - Vanderbilt University Medical Center is cutting the number of incoming medical and doctoral students for next year by 10 percent.
The Tennessean reported the decision is part of the university's continuing cost-cutting efforts, according to a blog posting by the medical center CEO Jeffrey Balser.
"Our priority must be quality, not quantity," Balser wrote. "So, in many cases we are capping the number of trainees in our residency and fellowship programs to assure we can continue to provide the meaningful research and scholarship training experiences that are signatures of the nation's leading clinical training programs."
In September, the university filed a notice with state and local government officials that the medical center would reduce its staff by 1,033 people by the end of the year, as part of an overall effort to cut its operating budget by $250 million over the next two fiscal years.
Horse stabbing suspect sought
HAYNEVILLE, Ala. - Lowndes County sheriff's officials say they're looking for information leading to the suspect accused of stabbing a horse eight times in the neck and cutting off part of its mane.
Sheriff's investigators said the attack happened at a family's small farm in mid-October; officials are unsure of the motive behind the attack.
Coral Frazier told the Montgomery Advertiser the horse, named Ruby, belongs to her 13-year-old daughter and is one of 10 horses the family owns.
The horse was taken to Greenville for treatment and spent nearly two weeks recovering under the care of a veterinarian.
Cotton harvest starting late
VIENNA, Ga. - An unusually wet and cool summer has delayed the cotton harvesting period, farmers in Middle Georgia have said.
Dooly County farmer Eddie Green told the Telegraph of Macon he hasn't started harvesting any of his 320 acres of cotton, and this year's harvesting period will get off to its latest start in 20 years.
About 64,000 acres of cotton were planted in Dooly County last year, according to the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service. Colquitt, Worth, Mitchell and Brooks counties round out the state's top five cotton-producing counties.
Usually 80 percent of cotton crops are harvested by mid-November, but only about 35 to 40 percent of cotton in Middle and South Georgia had been harvested as of last week, said Jeremy Kichler, a UGA extension service coordinator in Macon County.