Members of the Georgia General Assembly have voted to approve the state’s $23.7 billion dollar budget and included in the proposal is a pay increase for state employees and a one-time increase for state retirees. According to the press release law state enforcement officers and state nurses will see more of an increase while the majority of workers for the state will receive a 3 percent raise.
Even as the deadline approaches for filing tax returns officials with the Internal Revenue Service a warning citizens about tax scams that they say are worse than ever. The report states that Georgia is 12th in the nation in the number of victims of such crimes and the cost so far to Georgia victims is as much as $700 thousand dollars. Phone and email scammers have advanced their operations into the business sector causing the release of the personal information of employees. Nationally IRS officials put the amount taken by this criminal activity at $29 million dollars.
An inmate who died in the jail in Ben Hill County and Sheriff’s Department officers say that he had allegedly told other inmates that he had swallowed between two and three grams of methamphetamine prior to being arrested. 26 year old Richard Knight reportedly did not tell his jailers about the meth nor did any of his fellow inmates. He reportedly died as the result of an overdose.
William Grace age 31 of Moultrie has been jailed and the charges against him include criminal damage to property and possession of methamphetamine. Grace will also face the charge of first degree arson in the wake of a mobile home fire. No one was home at the time of the incident. The residence was that of his girlfriend and officers say that his actions were retaliatory and that threats against the woman had been made.
Captain Stryde Jones of the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department reports that an exchange zone has been created at the sheriff’s department creating a safe place for the exchange of online purchases and even child custody. The new parking area is under 24 hour video surveillance offering even more protection.
Possession of marijuana past jail guard line, interference with government property, possession of marijuana, no child restraint, suspended license, and giving false name and date of birth to a police officer; those are among the charges filed against Shacoby Stubbins by Colquitt County deputies. According to the report the Thomasville resident also had two active warrants against her in Tift County. A female jail employee discovered that Stubbins had carried a small amount of marijuana in her bra into the jail which is a felony.
