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ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), along with state and local police are investigating a dangerous, potentially lethal substance contained in street drugs surfacing in central and South Georgia. Dozens of patients have been hospitalized and at least four people are dead. The overdoses have been reported over a 48-hour period in Centerville, Perry, Macon Warner Robins and Albany, but the drugs may also be sold on the street in other areas of the state. Patients reportedly purchased yellow pills alleged to be Percocet, an opioid pain medication.

<p>ATLANTA (AP) — Democrat Jon Ossoff has declined to participate in an Atlanta Press Club debate with Republican Karen Handel that CNN had proposed to broadcast.</p> <p>The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Ossoff declined Sunday to participate in what would have been a nationally televised debate.</p>

Kathy Griffin, Thank you from Karen Handel, The Republican Party, and of course, me!!! Without a long worded ensemble with details, your beheading photo featuring POTUS, Donald J. Trump's beheading by you is a God send to the Republican party and Republican candidate, Karen Handel of the Georgia 6thCD. You most likely have destroyed the political campaign of "Obama's, Jon "Pajama Boy" Ossoff" in his political race to be elected the Congressman of the Georgia, 6CD!! Mr. Ossoff will be handily defeated on June 20th, and the millions of dollars spent by Ossoff & the Democrat Party has gone for...

Financial disclosure shows direct payment from Qatari network to Jon Ossoff Democratic congressional candidate Jon Ossoff has received over $5,000 in compensation from Qatari-owned Al Jazeera since January 2016, according to his recently filed financial disclosure report. Ossoff, who is hoping to win the seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, has taken heat from Republican opponents for his ties to Al Jazeera, which has aired films produced by Ossoff's investigative film company. The London-based company Insight: The World Investigates (Insight TWI) has produced nine films for Al Jazeera since Ossoff joined as managing director and CEO...

WASHINGTON — A Republican Super PAC has found a new way to target Democratic candidates: Kathy Griffin. A new ad uses the controversial comedian to criticize Democrat Jon Ossoff, saying her recent controversial actions are part of a pattern of behavior from “liberal extremists” who now support the House candidate running in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. Griffin drew widespread condemnation this week when she was pictured holding a fake severed head made to look like President Donald Trump. The head was covered in fake blood. “Now a celebrity Jon Ossoff supporter is making jokes about beheading the president of the...

We have won congressional special elections in Kansas & Montana. We have two more coming up on June 20, 2017, Georgia & South Carolina. South Carolina is an assured Republican victory, Georgia is right now, a tight race. We can politically destroy and forever weaken the entire failed Democrat Party, if we win all four races. winning these four political races insures a massive defeat for the Democrat Party, come the Mid-Term elections of 2018. IMHO...we will win in the Georgia, 6th CD...if all the registered Republicans, Conservatives and Independents turnout on election day and cast their votes for Republican,...

More than half of food stamp recipients in 21 Georgia counties have been dropped from the program after the state instituted work requirements. State figures released this week revealed that 11,779 people considered able-bodied without children were required to find work by April 1 to continue receiving food stamps, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Sixty-two percent were dropped after the deadline, whittling the number of recipients to 4,528. State officials began enforcing the work mandate in 2016, and plan to expand work requirements to all 159 counties by 2019. About 1.6 million Georgia residents use food stamps, which are funded with...

Nextran Corporation has opened a new 55,000-square-foot facility at 1735 Breckinridge Plaza, near Interstate 85 and Highway 316 in unincorporated Duluth. The company, which operates full-service medium- and heavy-duty truck centers in the Southeast, will create 80 new jobs at this location. The new store will serve as a flagship location for Nextran on a 9.5 acre parcel with 29 service bays....

HALL COUNTY, Ga. - Court documents reveal evidence that church and Boy Scout leaders knew about a sexual abuser and not only allowed him to continue working, but also promoted him. Fleming Weaver would go on to meet victims who eventually came forward with rape accusations last year. This is a case that spans several decades in Hall County. It’s a case that accuses the Boy Scouts, a Gainesville church and its leaders of lying to keep a horrific secret. Documents obtained by Channel 2 Action News include a file that Boy Scouts handed over just last week after a...

CATOOSA COUNTY, Ga. — A dispute over a Ringgold veteran's funeral has gotten the attention of thousands on social media. Family members of George Taylor shared pictures of the veteran's body displayed on a gurney with a flag draped on top. There was no coffin for the visitation that happened at Heritage Funeral Home on Battlefield Parkway. As of 1 p.m. on Friday, Ella Moss's post about this on Facebook has been shared more than 1800 times.

Job seekers will be able to apply for work at some 30 area employers Thursday during a job fair from 3-7 p.m. at Walker County Civic Center, 10052 U.S. Highway 27. The job fair is co-sponsored by the Georgia Department of Labor along with the Chattooga, Dade and Walker counties chambers of commerce. Employers who have registered and offer a variety of jobs include: Amedisys Home Health and Hospice Care, Audia Plastics, Clumpies Ice Cream, Coca Cola, Dixie Collision, Dollar General, EnviroGuard, Hammer Down OC, Hayes State Prison, Jimmy Simpson Foundation, Komatsu America Corporation, Lake Winnepesaukah and Lookout Mountain Community...

Well, maybe. Democrats for some reason bragged about an internal poll in Georgia’s 6th Congressional district runoff election last week which showed their candidate, Jon Ossoff, picking up absolutely no more support than the 48% he got in the all-in primary. Instead, Republican Karen Handel jumped from 19% to 47% in a week. When Ossoff declared on Twitter that “this is what momentum looks like!”, one could be forgiven for wondering just who he meant to promote. Last night, a new poll from WSB and Landmark Communications showed Handel with slightly more momentum, if it can be called that, narrowly...

ALBANY — Hamilton Relay, a national leader in telecommunications relay and captioned telephone services, has finished rebuilding its Albany call center, which was heavily damaged during the Jan. 2 storm that hit Albany. According to Hamilton officials, the rebuild has added an additional 2,400 square feet of space to its Dawson Road location, and the company is now seeking to expand its work force. Founded in 1901, Hamilton Telecommunications encompasses eight primary company divisions that allow Hamilton to operate locally, regionally and nationally. Hamilton has been providing telecommunication relay services for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing and speech...

Investigators who nicknamed the street mixture have detected it or recorded overdoses blamed on it in Alabama, Georgia and Ohio. The drug looks like concrete mix and varies in consistency from a hard, chunky material to a fine powder. The substance is a combination of several opioids blamed for thousands of fatal overdoses nationally, including heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil — sometimes used to tranquilize large animals like elephants — and a synthetic opioid called U-47700. ... Last year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration listed U-47700 in the category of the most dangerous drugs it regulates, saying it was associated with dozens...

ATLANTA | Gov. Nathan Deal signed legislation Thursday allowing people with permits to carry concealed handguns on public college campuses, praising GOP leaders for making the changes he demanded when he vetoed a previous campus-carry bill last year.

FULL TITLE: Peace be with you: Mass brawl breaks out at Georgia church during vote over whether controversial pastor should be fired A massive brawl broke out during a meeting at a Georgia baptist church during a vote on whether its controversial pastor should be fired. Punches were thrown, church goers were shoved to the ground, and chairs were launched across the room after a fight erupted at Greater Bellevue Baptist Church in Macon on Monday. Local county deputies were forced to call for back up after the two cops were overwhelmed by the brawl. Scroll down for video

After another successful year of economic development in the county, three large corporations are soon set to open in Cherokee 75 Corporate Park along Highway 92, offering hundreds of jobs and investing $60 million in facilities. Papa John’s Quality Control Center, Jaipur Living Global Headquarters and the Adidas SPEEDFACTORY are all set to open late spring or summer, according to Cherokee Office of Economic Development President Misti Martin. The more than 74,000-square-foot Adidas factory is targeting production of 50,000 pairs in 2017, with an eventual annual production of about half a million pairs of shoes for running and other uses,...

Michale Bloomberg's purchased gun control groups Mom's Demand Action and Everytown promised to "confront" the National Rifle Association in Atlanta (GA) during the NRA's Annual Meetings and Exhibits. It was a less than impressive event. According to an officer providing security at the event, Mom's Demand and Everytown brought just 75-100 people to Woodruff Park to "confront" the NRA, at a venue 7/10ths of a mile away from the Annual Meetings. The twinned gun control groups appear to have attempted to pad their numbers by handing out tee shirts to the many homeless people inhabiting the park, though most...

Georgia Rep. John Lewis will join protesters outside of the National Rifle Association's convention in Atlanta on Saturday. Several hundred gun control advocates are expected to gather ahead of President Trump's speech to the annual convention, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report. In January, Trump criticized Lewis on Twitter, saying the civil rights icon is "All talk, talk, talk — no action or results." Lewis did not attend the inauguration and said he did not see Trump as a "legitimate president." More than 80,000 people are expected at the NRA convention. Several hundred people have also RSVP'ed to protests organized...

It’s been at least two weeks since a massive fire caused a section of I-85 to collapse, throwing metro Atlanta traffic into gridlock and leaving many wondering who exactly was to blame. » The latest: Man charged with I-85 bridge fire pleads not guilty, to be released on bond Here’s what we know so far: Who’s at fault? Basil Eleby, 39, was charged with starting the fire. On Tuesday, April 18, Eleby pleaded not guilty to arson and criminal trespass charges and is expected to be released on a $10,000 signature bond. According to AJC’s Rhonda Cook, Fulton County Superior...