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Auto Safety
Deaths at Lowest Level Since 1954
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Seat Belt Use Above 80%
The U.S. Transportation Department is saying that highway
deaths in 2009 were the lowest since 1954. Its projects
total traffic deaths in 2009 at 33,963. That is 9% less
than the over 37,000 deaths in 2008.
The number of deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled
fell to 1.15 in 2009. That is the lowest number ever recorded.
The number of highway deaths peaked
in 2005, when an estimated 43,510 people were killed.
Miles driven remained almost flat from 2008 to
2009.
Part of the reason for the fall in deaths is that seatbelt
usage has risen to an estimated 80%. There have
also been a number of safety improvements in vehicles.
Among the improvements are side air bags and
electronic stability control.
Despite the good news, the Obama administration`s top
highway-safety official, David Strickland, is considering
mandating new standards for car brakes, accelerator pedals
and `black boxes` to record crash data.
The administration has already mandated an increase in
mileage standards for beginning with the 2011 model year.
The new standards would require cars to average over
30 mpg while trucks and SUV`s would have to be above
24 mpg.
Administration May Add New Safety Mandates
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- Rome Unemployment Nears 11%
- The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) is reporting that
the preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in metro Rome
rose to 10.9 percent in January, up from a revised 10.4 percent
in December. The rate for Northwest Georgia is much
worse, at 11.6%.
- Polk Schools to Move to 160 Day Calendar
- Polk County Schools will cut its days in the classroom by 20
next school year. The new calendar, which was approved by
the Polk School District Board of Education this week will go to
a 160 day school year starting in August. Officials estimate
that the new schedule will save more than $200,000 in the budget.
- Palko Jr. Named Dir. of Retail Services at Floyd
- Joseph A. Palko Jr. has been named director of Retail Services at
Floyd. Palko will provide consultative support for existing
retail venues, develop plans for the expansion of retail services
and coordinate a range of ventures as planned and budgeted.
- Local Restaurant Donates to YMCA
- Shane`s Rib Shack in Rome donated $1,703.31 to the Rome Floyd YMCA
on Wednesday. Manager Lee Rogers said it was an honor to donate
thirty-five percent of his sales from February 27 to the hometown
organization.
- Soldiers Return Home to Rome and Calhoun
- After months in Afghanistan Rome`s Company A returned home on
Tuesday. The soldiers arrived in Floyd County just after 1:30.
They gathered at Wal-Mart on Hwy 411 and then proceeded en-route
to the National Guard Armory base on Wilshire Road for a
ceremony. Gordon County also held a ceremony for it`s soldiers that
were apart of the Georgia National Guard`s 108th Calvary.
Pictured: Calhoun - top left, Rome - top right, Calhoun - bottom row
- 2nd Arrest Made in Rome Electric Works Fraud Case
- William Hunter Hackworth, 55, of Ringgold, was arrested this week
and charged with felony theft by deception. Hackworth allegedly
took over $100,000 over a two year period from Rome Electric
Motor Works. The warrant said that he facilitated and received
fraudulent payments `for which no goods or services were received.`
- Berry Ranked Tops for `Green` Colleges
- Berry College has been ranked 4th among small college in the
southeast for their `green` programs by Blue Ridge Mountain
Outdoors` magazine. Schools honored on the list included
scholls in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
- Barnsley Gardens GM Wins Top Award
- Barnsley Gardens Resort General Manager Scott Mahr was named an
outstanding general manager by the Georgia Hotel & Lodging
Association during the group’s annual Stars of the Lodging
Industry Awards recently.
- Moon Gallery Host Marty Kahnle Exhibition
- Berry College’s yearlong focus on the artwork of talented alumni
artists continues in March with an exhibit by Marty Kahnle. Moon
Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by
appointment. The exhibition will be displayed through April 2.
Call 706-236-2219 for more details.
- Concert Series to Close with John Howell
- The Berry College Concert Series’ inaugural season will draw to a
close Thursday, March 11, with a 7:30 p.m. performance by
alumnus John Howell in Ford Auditorium. Admission is free and
open to the public. Call 706-236-2289 for more information.
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News - National
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State and Local Pensions - Retirees Growing Rapidly
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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of state and local
pension retirees is growing 5 times faster than the number
of workers paying into those systems.
There are already 8 million retirees and only 19 million
workers or a little over 2 workers per retiree. Annual contributions
from employees and employers are around $65 billion
per year less than the benefit payments to retirees ($110
billion vs $175 billion).
With the funds short an estimated $3 trillion and
state and local governments already running massive
budget deficits, pension administrators are under
significant pressure to make risky investments
that might fix the system problems.
According to the New York Times, while private companies
are moving their pension investments out of stocks,
states are trying to get higher returns for their pension funds
to make up for their estimated $1 trillion in losses
over the last couple of years.
The Times quotes Frederick E. Rowe, a Dallas investor and the former chairman of
the Texas Pension Review Board as saying, `In effect,
they’re going to Las Vegas. Double up to catch up.`
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News - Entertainment
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Entertainment Guru - Movie Review
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So I, the Entertainment Guru, would like to try and keep this
review to a minimum because quite frankly, `Shutter Island` is
hard to review without some spoilers.
First off, I will start out by saying that this movie was simply
AMAZING. It will keep you on your toes and send chills down your
spine. And just when you think you realize what it going on, you
are left in the dust. Now on to the review.... Leonardo DiCaprio
play US Marshall Teddy Daniels who is assigned alongside his new
partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) to investigate the
disappearance of a patient of a mental hospital on Shutter
Island.
Daniels soon realizes that maybe there is more than meets the
eye with what is actually going on in the hospital and soon
starts to try and get to the bottom of everything. Martin
Scorsese does a great job in keeping the audience pulled in
through the entire duration of this film.
By adding suspense and drama through every scene. And he scores
big by wants again casting such (in my opinion) phenomenal actors
once again. The musical score in this film was like nothing I
have ever heard in a thriller before which fits well into the
style the film was shot in. Overall the dialogue of the film
flows perfectly and the actors pulled in the emotions quite well.
Now the only problem with this film I felt was that some of the
shots felt a little out of place and out of focus.
Overall, this film was simply stunning and left me in my seat
well through the credits, just hoping for a little bit more.
Scorsese and DiCaprio once again make a great team and I am
looking forward to the next movie this two get together on.
Shutter Island is most definitely a movie that you need to make
time to go see and when you do. Make sure you pay attention to
all the little details that this movie has to offer.
9 out of 10 popcorns.
Now Playing at the Movies at Mount Berry
- Fri 4:20 | 7:00 | 9:35
- Sat-Sun 1:30 | 4:20 | 7:00 | 9:35
- Mon-Thu 4:20 | 7:00
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Lady Hawks in NAIA - Earn At-Large Berth
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The Shorter Lady Hawks are part of the National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) 32-team tournament field for
the 2010 Division I Women`s Basketball National Championship to
be held March 17-23 at Oman Arena in Jackson, Tenn.
Shorter` 22 victories are the program`s most since the
1999-2000 season, earned an at-large bid and is the third
team representing the Southern States Athletic Conference
in this year`s national tournament.
The Lady Hawks are embarking on their second trip to the Big Dance having last qualified for the field in 2001-02. Shorter heads to Jackson on the heels of its third consecutive 20-win season, a feat that had never been accomplished in the program`s 37-year history.
Shorter certainly made a strong case for an at-large berth.
The Lady Hawks played arguably the toughest non-conference schedule in the country, welcoming the likes of defending NAIA national champion and top-ranked Union University (Tenn.) and then No. 12-ranked and eventual Mid-South Tournament champion University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) to the Winthrop-King Centre.
Of Shorter`s nine losses, seven came to ranked opponents. The Lady Hawks dropped a pair of close decisions to Lee and lost their two regular season tilts with Southern Poly by a combined four points - the last of which came by one in overtime in Marietta.
Shorter lost in the SSAC Tournament semifinals to Poly, but was the only team in the SSAC to sweep every team below them in the standings. The Lady Hawks finished 12-4 in a league that is sending three teams to Jackson.
Shorter features a talented trio of athletes in its starting lineup, one that has helped replace the likes of post Nicole Frechette and wing Katarina Martinovic, who last season earned the SSAC`s Defensive Player of the Year and Player of the Year honors, respectively.
Senior Holly Bawden, who transferred from Mercer University over the season, was an All-SSAC performer this season and is averaging 9.6 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game. She has posted six double-doubles and despite being a post player, leads the team in three-point percentage at 42 percent.
Sophomore Kelly Ellison, who came to Shorter from Stetson University, has been the Lady Hawks` top all-around performer from her guard position.
Ellison, also an All-SSAC selection, leads Shorter in scoring (10.7), assists (4.6) and steals (1.6). She ranks second in the league in helpers and averaged over 12 points, five rebounds and four assists in her four regular season games against Lee and Southern Poly this season. She also dished out 10 assists against Union.
Freshman post Shelby Farrer has served as that pivotal third scorer for head coach Vic Mitchell. Farrer, a local Rome product out of Model High School, was named the SSAC Freshman of the Year after putting up 9.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
The wiry, 6-foot-2 Farrer was inserted into the Lady Hawks` starting lineup on Jan. 14 and has produced well since, averaging over 12 points per game over that 16-game span.
Still, the true meddle of a tournament team is measured in its senior leadership, and the Lady Hawks boast a pair of four-year players that serve as their heart and soul.
Wing Tamara Weatherby, who missed significant time this season after a torrid start that saw her lead the Lady Hawks in scoring, has battled through injuries to both ankles and feet to bring toughness to the Shorter lineup.
Weatherby, who opened the year by scoring in double figures in eight of her first 11 outings - including a 17-point effort against Union and 15 points against Cumberlands - continues to serve as one of the Lady Hawks` top defenders late in the year with the emergence of Bawden, Ellison and Farrer offensively.
Point guard Whitni Tucker, one of the most decorated student-athletes to go through the Lady Hawks` program - she is a perennial NAIA Scholar-Athlete and SSAC All-Academic honoree and the winner of the 2008-09 NAIA Emil S. Liston Award - has increased her role statistically in Shorter`s last few outings.
Tucker, who averages just over four points per game, went on a scoring binge in the Lady Hawks` final five games of the year, scoring in double figures in three of those games - including a career-high 13 points on Senior Day in a win over Brenau University - and averaging nine points per game in the SSAC Tournament. She is shooting 10-for-19 from three over that five-game span.
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- Braves Edge Mets
- While the Braves won on Wednesday, the victory may have been
costly as starter Derek Lowe had to leave the game with a
blister.
- Phillies Top Braves
- Philadelphia`s new star, Roy Halladay, pitched three shutout
innings and struck out five as the Phillies topped the
Braves 7-4 on Tuesday.
- Shorter Gym Set for Face Lift
- When it was built in 1993, the Winthrop-King Centre was the pride
and joy of Shorter College`s athletic department. As the new
home for the college`s basketball teams, the spacious facility
easily became the epicenter of sports for Shorter`s program, one
that included six teams. But since Winthrop-King first opened its
doors 17 years ago, Shorter`s number of sports teams has more
than tripled. Space, to say the least, has become a premium
commodity and nearly every inch of the structure has been
utilized.
The `grand old lady,` however, has proven that she can adapt and
over the next several months will undergo another change for an
ever-growing athletic program as the College moves to expand its
department offices.
`When they built Winthrop-King, they certainly didn`t anticipate
21 sports,` Shorter Athletic Director Bill Peterson said about
the upcoming renovation that will use one of the two classrooms
on the facility`s third and top floor for six badly needed
offices. `Somehow this facility has handled it and handled it
well. This is an amazing facility in that it`s handled the
growth and at the same time still looks good.`
Click for more.
- Football Drills Bring Smiles to Shorter Coach
- The tone of his voice gave testimony to how he felt as his
players gather around him. Phil Jones was ecstatic.
The Shorter College head football coach had just watched his
Hawks complete the second week of their annual spring drills
with a physical and upbeat scrimmage at Ben Brady Field on a
beautiful fall-like Saturday morning.
`Great job! Great job men!` Jones told the players. `That is the
kind of effort we`re looking for.`
Click for more.
- Nashville Extends Thrashers Slide
- The Nasvhille Predators extended Atlanta`s losing streak
to three as they edged the Thrashers 2-1 on Tuesday.
- Lady Hawks Place 7th at NAIA Indoor Nationals
- One universal goal shared by all athletic teams is to constantly
improve both individually and collectively. The Shorter College
men and women`s track and field teams continue to attain that
goal with each successive outing - the latest coming at the NAIA
National Indoor Track and Field Championships at East Tennessee
State University in Johnson City, Tenn., over the weekend.
Shorter`s Lady Hawks, powered by a near third individual national
championship from sophomore sensation Justyna Mudy, placed
seventh as a team while the Hawks just missed out on a second
consecutive top 10 finish, ending the meet in 11th position.
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News - Sports
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The Madd Man - Mark Miller
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Spring training baseball arrives. It is a sure sign that a brutal winter (global warming my butt) is about to come to an end. It tells us that spring has officially arrived regardless of what that fat rodent in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania says. And it tells us that the time has come to renew our hopes.
Our hopes of pennants and October baseball. Hopes of homeruns, stolen bases and diving catches. It is the time of year when we all believe that our boys of summer have a chance to make a little magic.
The hometown favorites, the Atlanta Braves, have bolstered their lineup some during the offseason. The Braves added former Yankee outfielder Melky Cabrera and first baseman Troy Glaus. They also added closer Billy Wagner.
Gone are very capable but oft injured co-closers Mike Gonzales and Rafael Soriano. Wagner when healthy has been one of the best closers of all time. The question for the Braves will be whether he can stay healthy.
Glaus and Cabrera add veteran hitters to a lineup that was inconsistent most of last season. Phenom minor league prospect Jason Heyward is expected to make the team during spring training and will probably start in right field. Heyward is considered the top prospect in all of baseball.
If the bats can find some consistency and score runs the Braves should fare quite well. The Braves starting rotation consists of Derek Lowe, Tim Hudson, Jair Jurrjens, Kenshin Kawakami and last year`s minor league phenom Tommy Hanson. That might just be the best starting rotation in the Major Leagues.
The Braves will once again be chasing the Philadelphia Phillies for their division. The Phillies added one of the best pitchers in baseball in Roy Halladay. They also lost one of the best in Cliff Lee. More importantly, the Phillies field perhaps the most potent starting lineup in the Major Leagues and surely the best in the National League.
It will take some luck for the Braves to beat the Phillies for the division title. Wagner will need to be healthy. McCann and Chipper Jones will need to stay healthy. And I think that Heyward will need to be the second coming of the Albert Pujols.
But it is possible. Bobby Cox will manage his last season with the Braves this year. That will almost certainly add a little fuel to the fire of this team. The players all love Bobby. They all want to send him out a winner. Let`s play ball.
Mark Miller
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News - Health
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Too Little Sleep - What it can Result in
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Lots of homework, lots of after-school activities, a job, keeping
up with friends, being a teenager these days is more than a
full-time job. And this may be why a survey that looked at sleep
finds high school students aren’t getting enough of it.
Danice Eaton of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
examined data on how much high school students say they slept:
Eaton said, `Biological evidence indicates that adolescent
functioning is optimized when they have 9 or more hours of sleep
per night. Unfortunately, most adolescents fall short of this
recommendation.’
About 8 percent reported enough sleep. The rest were borderline
or insufficient. Eaton says this puts them at risk of poor
performance in school, depressed mood and drowsy driving.
The study is in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
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- Today
- Coming Soon
- AARP Driver Safety Program
- Georgia Northwestern Technical College hosts the AARP Driver Safety Program Thursday and Friday, March 11-12, from 8:45am until 12:45pm on the Floyd County campus.
- 2010 Wine Dinner Series
- Barnsley Gardens Resorts in Adairville continues the 2010 Wine Dinner Series Saturday, March 13.
- Rome Floyd County Cert Class
- The Rome Floyd County Emergency Response Team holds the next free cert class Saturday, March 13 and 20, at the Floyd County Health Department from 9am-4pm.
- Red Cross Hosts Souper Supper
- THe Red Cross sponsors a Souper Supper Saturday, March 13, at 4pm at the Gadsden State Arena in Cherokee County AL.
- Behind the Ropes Tours
- Guided tours take guests beyond the velvet ropes and into the private life of Martha Berry at the Martha Berry Musuem in Rome March 1-31.
- 7th Annual Southeastern Cowboy Gathering
- The 7th annual Southeastern Cowboy Gathering, a four day celebration of the West, is Thursday through Sunday, March 11-14 at the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville.
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