Seaplane pilots aim for Lake Lanier - and more Chattanooga region news

photo A boat passes along Lake Lanier in Buford, Ga.

Seaplane pilots aim for Lanier

GAINESVILLE, Ga. - A group of seaplane pilots is asking federal authorities to allow them to land on Lake Lanier.

The Lanier Seaplane Pilots Association is petitioning the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allow their aircraft to land in the lake northeast of Atlanta.

The pilots started the formal process last year with the corps. The corps is requiring the group to conduct an environmental assessment if they want to continue pursuing the permit.

"This would require them to look at several alternatives -- locations throughout the lake that could meet their needs but generally lack civil infrastructure, such as bridges and transmission lines," said Corps of Engineers spokesman Pat Robbins. After the assessment, the corps would publish a public notice and allow 45 days for public review of the proposal.


City to get new area code

NASHVILLE - A growing population and the explosive expansion of the use of hand-held electronic devices has prompted the creation of a new area code for Nashville.

Tennessee Regulatory Authority spokesman David Foster told WSMV-TV that the 629 area code and 10-digit dialing will go into place Feb. 28, joining the 615 area code in everyday use.

On Friday, regulators are encouraging everyone to begin dialing all 10 digits regardless of location.


photo Lee University

Lee called great place to work

Two Tennessee universities have made the "honor roll" of a publication's 2014 list of "Great Colleges To Work For."

Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., and Austin Peay State University at Clarksville both were cited frequently in numerous recognition categories in the survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

A Delaware management-consulting firm conducted the survey for the Chronicle. The results are based on responses from 43,500 people at 278 institutions. Of those, 92 schools made the list, 42 of which were named to the honor roll.


Tennessee woman remains missing in Maine

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine - It's been one year since a Tennessee woman disappeared while hiking the Appalachian Trail in Maine, and her whereabouts remain a mystery.

Geraldine Largay, 66, was attempting to hike the northernmost 1,000 miles of the trail and was just 200 miles from her goal when she vanished on July 22, 2013, in rural Franklin County.

The Brentwood, Tenn., woman was last seen by a southbound hiker between the trail's Spaulding Mountain and Poplar Ridge lean-tos. She had been meeting her husband at spots along the trail to replenish supplies.

The Maine Warden Service and volunteers have searched for her.

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