Lab backlog slowing Brunswick beating case

BRUNSWICK - A prosecutor says a backlog at the state crime lab is slowing analysis of evidence collected in the beating deaths of eight people last year at a mobile home in Brunswick. Acting District Attorney David Perry told a judge Thursday that blood, DNA and fiber evidence and surveillance video tapes remain to be analyzed before being turned over to attorneys for Guy Heinze Jr., who is charged with killing his father and seven others.

What effect will oil spill have here?

ATLANTA - Sen. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler, has been appointed to the Senate Special Committee on Coastal Preparedness.

More GOP votes cast than Democrats for first time in Georgia

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia voters cast more Republican than Democratic ballots in Tuesday's primary for the first time in state history, a difference of 285,000 votes. GOP ballots outpaced Democratic ones by a margin of about 3-to-2, according to unofficial returns. (63 percent to 37 percent). Overall, about 1.1 million Georgians - or 22 percent of active registered voters - cast ballots in the gubernatorial contest, which drew the most votes, according to unofficial returns.

Hinesville man killed in Afghanistan

Like many Hinesville families with ties to Fort Stewart, fallen soldier Staff Sgt. Sheldon Tate's parents moved here, moved away and came back again.

Statewide voting results, updated often

Elderly couple die trapped in elevator

ST. SIMONS ISLAND - When the elevator in their home got stuck between floors, Sherwood and Caroline Wadsworth found themselves trapped with no way to call for help as temperatures rose into the 90s. They finally died from heat exhaustion in the closet-sized lift. Autopsies on the elderly couple - he was 90, she was 89 - on Thursday pointed to a tragic end to lives they shared for more than 60 years. Police estimated ...

12-year-old pleads to robbery charge

SAVANNAH - A 12-year-old boy pleaded guilty to armed robbery in the holdup of a Papa John's Pizza delivery man in Savannah. The boy, who entered the guilty plea on Wednesday to the June 30 robbery, will be sentenced by Chatham County Juvenile Court Judge Patricia Stone at a hearing later. For the time being he will be held at the Savannah Regional Youth Detention Center.

Cap on Gulf oil well seems to be holding

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - BP was encouraged early Friday by results from an experimental cap shutting in oil from its busted Gulf of Mexico well, saying everything was holding steady 17 hours into the effort. BP vice president Kent Wells said on a conference call that there was no evidence of a leak in the pipe under the sea floor, one of the main concerns. Wells spoke 17 hours after valves were shut to trap oil inside the cap, a test that could last up to 48 hours.

Poll gives Barnes, Oxendine leads

ATLANTA (AP) - Former governor Roy Barnes holds a big lead in the race for the Democratic nomination for governor of Georgia, while the Republican race is likely headed to a runoff, according to a poll reported Thursday.

Gov. candidate profile Roy Barnes

ATLANTA - Maybe it's a bid for redemption. Or an act of atonement. Or, as former Gov. Roy Barnes says, maybe he is again seeking his old office out of a sense that if he didn't take on Georgia's most pressing problems, no one else would.

Gov. candidate profile Bill Bolton

SAVANNAH - By now, Bill Bolton suspects he won't be the next governor.

Gov. candidate profile Carl Camon

SAVANNAH - Despite a skimpy budget, Democrat Carl Camon has made his bid for governor a statewide effort.

Gov. candidate profile Jeff Chapman

SAVANNAH - Little has changed for Jeff Chapman since last September, when he entered the race for this year's Republican nomination for governor.

Gov. candidate profile Nathan Deal

ATLANTA - Nathan Deal's campaign for governor is not about glamour.

Gov. candidate profile Thurbert Baker

ATLANTA - Thurbert Baker's gubernatorial campaign had just moved into its new rental home last week and was soaking in the atmosphere of worn carpet, bare walls and rooms empty except for desks and laptop computers.

DOT suspends closures for holiday

JESUP - The Georgia Department of Transportation announced Monday that to help travelers during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, construction-related lane closures on all interstate and major state-system highways would be suspended from noon Friday, May 24, to 5 a.m. Tuesday, May 28.

State further restricts groundwater pumping

Effective immediately, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division will prohibit new groundwater withdrawals in the Coastal Georgia counties of Chatham, Bryan, Liberty and the portion of Effingham County south of Highway 119.

Stewart employees preparing for July furloughs

A May 14 Department of Defense news release announced Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's directive that furloughs will begin for DoD civilians after July 8. Fort Stewart Public Affairs Officer Kevin Larson confirmed that civilian personnel managers at Stewart are preparing for the furloughs but noted that details had to be worked out locally.

Pentagon steps closer to civilian furloughs

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2013 - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced today that he has signed a memorandum directing defense managers to prepare to furlough most Defense Department civilian employees for up to 11 days between July 8 and the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.

Jesup man wins $100K in lottery

Leland Smith, a 79-year-old great-grandfather from Jesup, recently won a $100,000 playing the Monopoly Millionaire instant game.