Residents criticize Bonnaroo work
TULLAHOMA, Tenn. - A $250,000 project to widen a bridge and improve roads near the site of the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is drawing criticism from some people who live near the Manchester, Tenn., site.
The Tullahoma News reports that some who attended a public hearing on the project raised concerns that the changes would increase traffic during the Coffee County event.
Festival organizers agreed to spend the money for the work to accommodate heavier loads on a bridge along a route used for loading and unloading at the site. The project also would pave and widen two roads.
This year's Bonnaroo festival is scheduled for June 12-15. The event, first held in 2002, has grown into a festival attended by more than 80,000 fans.
State primary moves to May 20
ATLANTA - Georgia lawmakers have agreed to move up the state primary to May 20, and the bill now heads to the governor for his signature.
Friday's vote by the House followed action earlier this week by the Senate. The move was expected after a federal judge's ruling last year moved up Georgia's federal primary to allow for more time for military and overseas ballots in runoff situations.
Under the changes, any runoff would be set for July 22. In addition, the bill sets candidate qualifying for March 3 through March 7.
It would also require candidates to file a new campaign finance report on March 31 in election years.
Rapist arrested after manhunt
TURTLETOWN, Tenn. - A North Carolina man convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl has been arrested in Polk County, Tenn., on charges of failing to register as a sex offender.
A news release from the U.S. Marshals Service said Adam Taylor was the subject of a multistate manhunt. Eventually, he was located living in Turtletown, Tenn.
Marshals teamed with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee Highway Patrol to arrest Taylor in the parking lot of a Turtletown convenience store.
Chambliss named to Peanut Hall
TIFTON, Ga. - U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., was inducted Thursday into the Peanut Hall of Fame by the Georgia Peanut Commission, according to a news release.
Chambliss was selected by the Georgia Peanut Commission for his lifelong contributions to Georgia's peanut industry and agriculture. Induction in the Peanut Hall of Fame is the highest recognition from the growers in the state of Georgia.
The senator is the fifth inductee into the Peanut Hall of Fame. The others are former President Jimmy Carter, Georgia House Agriculture Committee Chairman Henry Reeves, former U.S. Sen. Herman Talmadge and Professor J. Frank McGill.
Two restaurants hit by burglars
DeKALB COUNTY, Ala. - Two restaurants in DeKalb County, Ala., were burglarized Tuesday, Sheriff Jimmy Harris said in a news release.
Sixteen dollars was taken from Stacie's restaurant in Kilpatrick and $375 in property was stolen from Dallas' Place in Crossville, he said.
Harris said multiple investigators are working with other agencies on similar burglaries and pursuing leads.