Woman, 71, carjacked by 'very polite' men in Rossville - and more Chattanooga region news

Woman, 71, carjacked by 'very polite' men in Rossville

ROSSVILLE - A 71-year-old woman was carjacked Monday afternoon about 2:50 p.m. from the Grocery Shoppe on Wilson Road in Rossville, according to Walker County, Ga., Sheriff Steve Wilson.

The victim was sitting in a parked, silver 2011 Hyundai Tucson with Tennessee license tag number 972 JWX, a news release states. The woman's daughter-in-law was inside the store shopping.

Wilson said two young black males approached the victim with an automatic handgun and asked her to get out of the car. The woman told officers the young men were "very polite," and she was not injured.

The carjackers, both with short hair, medium builds and wearing blue jeans, fled north in the car on Wilson Road toward the Tennessee border.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call Walker County dispatch at 706-375-7810, 911 or leave an anonymous tip at www.walkerso.com.


Interstate lights off around city

ATLANTA - Atlanta officials say budget cuts are the reason nearly half the streetlights have been allowed to go dark on interstate highways within the city limits.

WSB-TV reported city officials said 40 percent of 8,000 streetlights on the city's freeways aren't working. Atlanta is responsible for keeping those lights on, but officials said they haven't had the money because of budget cuts since 2008.

The office of the Atlanta Public Works commissioner said the problem is being fixed.

Officials are proposing $1.5 million in the next city budget to fix more streetlights by the end of 2014.


Ex-UGA coach going on trial

Pretrial proceedings were expected to begin Monday in the trial of former University of Georgia football coach Jim Donnan, who was accused of running a pyramid scheme.

An 85-count federal indictment charged Donnan and Gregory L. Crabtree, of Proctorville, Ohio, with conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud. Prosecutors have said the pair ran the scheme through GLC Limited Inc., a West Virginia-based company that dealt in closeout merchandise.

Authorities have said Donnan convinced high-profile college coaches and former players to invest $80 million in the company.

The Athens Banner-Herald reports Crabtree pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to commit fraud in the sale of a security.

Donnan has denied intentionally misleading investors.


Area men catch two record bass

NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has confirmed a pair of state fishing records, one for a recently caught Alabama bass and another for a spotted bass caught three years ago.

The State Record Fish Program previously considered the Alabama bass to be a subspecies of the spotted bass, the agency stated. But the Alabama bass recently was elevated to species status.

The change means that an Alabama bass caught by Shane McKee, of Cleveland, Tenn., on March 10, now becomes the first record Alabama bass. The bass weighed 6 pounds, 15.5 ounces and was 23 inches long.

A spotted bass landed by Chris Coleman, of Soddy-Daisy, on Feb. 22, 2011, becomes the record spotted bass. It weighed 6 pounds, 1.4 ounces and was 21 inches long.

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