Rome Police Report Homicide at Reservation Street

May 21st, 2022 – 3:45 pm Rome Police Department – At approximately 12:50 AM on Saturday, Rome Police officers received a call of shots fired on Reservation Street.  Upon officers arrival and checking the area, no evidence of a shooting had taken place.  At 2:09 AM, officers received another call of a fight on Perkins…

Secretary of State Secures $400,000 in Maintenance for StoneMor Cemeteries

May 20th, 2022 – 11:30 AM GA Secretary of State Press Release – Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger secured $400,000 in additional investment in care and maintenance by StoneMor Inc, a company that operates several cemeteries around Georgia, to better protect and honor Georgia’s deceased loved ones. After receiving complaints about several of StoneMor’s…

Lewis back in State Senate race

May 19, 2022–4:56 p.m. WBHF RADIO/STAFF REPORTS Jeff Lewis is back in the contest for State Senate. Late last week, Georgia Administrative Court Judge Charles R Beaudrot recommended Lewis’s candidacy be invalidated. Beaudrot wrote that Lewis had not made the correct filings with respect to his campaign finances by the required deadline The Secretary of…

Gordon Sheriff recognizes Good Samaritan Citizen

May 19th, 2022 – 4:20 PM Gordon Sheriff’s Office – On Wednesday (May 18), Sheriff Mitch Ralston recognized a Lindale resident who is employed herein Gordon County, for locating a lost/runaway child. On May 11, shortly after midnight, Ms. Daria Escutia-Hernandez was driving west on State Route 53 toward her home in Lindale, Georgia. Along…

[PODCAST] WRGA’s First News: Dr. Tyler Barnes talks Baby Formula Shortage

May 19th, 2022 – 1:45 PM First News with Tony McIntosh – On this WRGA News Podcast of First News with Tony McIntosh, Dr. Tyler Barnes of Atrium Health Floyd talks about the national baby formula shortage and advises parents on what they can do to avoid running out.

DPH urges parents to talk to their pediatricians for guidance during baby formula shortage

May 19, 2022–7:53 a.m. GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is urging parents unable to find baby formula typically used for their child to contact their pediatrician about appropriate nutritional and safe feeding alternatives. Georgia WIC is working with WIC agencies statewide, local grocers and retailers, and formula manufacturers…

Shots fired on Billy Pyle Road Tuesday night, a house and a car were struck

May 18, 2022–6:21 p.m. ROME POLICE REPORT Rome Police responded to a residence on Billy Pyle Road Tuesday night after there were reports of multiple shots fired. According to the Rome Police report, a man at the residence told officers that a Volkswagen Jetta, with three or four males inside, began to follow his vehicle…

Dr. Mike Hobbs Named President of Georgia Highlands College

May 18th, 2022 – 5:10 PM GHC Press Release – The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) today named Dr. Mike Hobbs president of Georgia Highlands College (GHC), effective July 1, 2022. Hobbs currently serves as vice president for student affairs and athletic director at Jefferson State Community College in Birmingham,…

[VIDEO] NWGA Elder Abuse Task Force holds Symposium at Rome Civic Center

May 18th, 2022 – 4:30 PM Ethan Garrett – WRGA Digital News Editor & Video Reporter – The Northwest Georgia Elder Abuse Task Force held a symposium on Wednesday morning at the Rome Civic Center. A panel of experts from various agencies was present to speak to the community on topics such as scams that…

Local law enforcement participates in HIDTA training

May 18, 2022–8:31 a.m. NEWS RELEASE On April 26, 2022, a delegation of senior law enforcement officials traveled to El Paso, Texas, for two full days of training with law enforcement on the U.S. and Mexico border. The delegation included representatives from city, county, and state agencies in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The…

Man charged in an assault with a baseball bat

May 17, 2022–5:30 p.m. FLOYD COUNTY JAIL RECORDS A 44-year-old Rome man is accused of assaulting another man with a baseball bat. The victim also sustained an injury to his arm during the attack that occurred on May 4 on Morrison Campground Road. According to the arrest warrant, James John Duncan Jr. struck the victim…

Governor Brian Kemp Visits Downtown Rome on Tuesday

May 17th, 2022 – 4:40 PM Staff Reports – On Tuesday morning Georgia Governor Brian Kemp came to Downtown Rome, at the town green in front of the Forum. The small event was part of a Campaign stop for the Governor as part of his Peach State tour to encourage locals to get out and…

[VIDEO] Civil Rights action filed against Floyd County Schools

May 17, 2022–4:12 p.m. STAFF REPORTS The plaintiffs in a civil rights action filed against the Floyd County School System held a news conference across the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in Downtown Rome Tuesday. The action, filed by five African-American students at Coosa High Schools, and their mothers, allege the school system ignored complaints…

[VIDEO] 2nd Annual Public Safety Expo planned for Saturday

May 17th, 2022 – 12:55 PM Staff Reports – The second annual Public Safety Expo is scheduled for this Saturday at the Coosa Valley Fairgrounds between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The public is invited to come out to see how their tax money is being invested and what local public safety has to offer…

GA Attorney General Warns of Price Gouging/Scams During Baby Formula Shortage

May 17th, 2022 – 11:50 AM Georgia Attorney General’s – Attorney General Chris Carr is warning Georgia consumers to beware of price gouging and other scams in response to the nationwide baby formula shortage. “With skyrocketing inflation, record-high gas prices, and now an unprecedented shortage of baby formula made worse by the increasingly dire situation…

Georgia gas prices up 15-cents since last week

May 16, 2022–5:40 p.m. AAA SOUTH Georgia gas prices jumped 15-cents a gallon in one week. Georgia motorists are now paying an average price of $3.98 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline. Monday’s state average is 27 cents more than last month and $1.01 more than this time last year. It now costs motorists $59.70 to fill a 15-gallon tank of…

Record-Breaking Early voting in Georgia Continues

May 16th, 2022 – 5:25 PM Georgia Secretary of State’s Office – Through Sunday, May 15th, over 380,000 people have early voted in Georgia—a 217% increase from the same point in the early voting period in the 2018 primary election and a 155% increase from the same point in the early voting period in the…

Floyd Board of Elections meets Tuesday

May 16, 2022–5:19 p.m. STAFF REPORTS The Floyd County Board of Elections is expected to get several updates ahead of the May 24 primary when they meet Tuesday. Those updates include the status of poll worker training, the Election Day planning schedule, and precinct check. The board is also expected to discuss the Election Board…

Man arrested following “soft” lockdown at Model schools

May 16, 2022–5:12 p.m. FLOYD COUNTY JAIL RECORDS A 28-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a domestic incident Monday morning that caused a “soft” lockdown at Model Elementary, Model Middle, and Model High Schools. According to Floyd County Jail records, Tyler Joshua Locklear threatened to shoot a woman if she picked up her…

Lewis disqualified from State Senate race

May 16, 2022–7:22 a.m. WBHF RADIO One of the candidates in the Republican Primary for Georgia State Senate in District 52 is being disqualified. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has moved to disqualify District 52 State Senate candidate Jeff Lewis from the race. The decision came less than 24 hours after Georgia Administrative Court Judge…