Tuesday, January 13th

An Athens-Clarke County Commission work session is set for 5:30 this afternoon at the Government Building on Dougherty Street.

There is an afternoon meeting of the Athens Downtown Development Authority, a 3 o’clock session at Chamber of Commerce headquarters on Hancock Avenue.

The Athens-Clarke County library board meets today, 4 o’clock at the library on Baxter Street.

Not one, but two campus blood drives today: the first starts at 1 in the University of Georgia’s Creswell Hall; the second at 2 o’clock at Brumby.

Today is another open house day in the Clarke County School System: open house for high schools, starting at 9 o’clock this morning.

The Classic Center says tickets are now available for next month’s scheduled performance of the U.S. Navy Concert Band. It’s a free performance, but tickets are required for seating for the show that starts at 7:30 on February 19.  The Navy Concert Band, the premier wind ensemble of the United States Navy, last performed in Athens in 2010.

A 59 year-old Social Circle man faces a burglary charge in Athens: Athens-Clarke County Police arrested Michael Moore after he allegedly broke into a convenience store on North Avenue. Police say he stole about $30 worth of cigarettes.

The Oconee County Board of Tax Assessors meets this morning, 9 o’clock at the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville.

Barrow County Commissioners meet tonight, a 7 o’clock session at the Historic Courthouse in Winder. Commissioners are scheduled to vote on John Skinner’s appointment as director of Barrow County Emergency Services. It’s a post Skinner has been holding on an interim basis since the 2013 resignation of former EMS director Dennis Merrifield.

The Georgia Department of Public Health gives $150,000 to Barrow County as part of the department’s Injury Prevention Program. The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office says the money will be used to purchase car seats that will be distributed throughout the county.

A Hall County man faces several charges after a traffic stop on I-85, speeding and reckless driving among them: the Banks County Sheriff's Office says Andrew Arthur was clocked at 121 miles per hour on the interstate in Banks County. Arthur is 21 years old, from Gillsville.

Gainesville Police release the name of a weekend murder victim: the body of 52 year-old Harmon Lavender was found in an extended stay motel room on Jesse Jewell Parkway in Gainesville. Police say he was stabbed to death. There is, so far, no word on who did it or why. The GBI is in on the ongoing investigation.

City officials in Dacula say their $380,000 city hall expansion will be finished in mid-May. The Dacula city hall project is being funded in part by sales tax dollars. Work began last month.

Bobby Rearden has died, losing his battle with leukemia: the Atlanta businessman was instrumental in bringing the 1996 Summer Olympics to Georgia. Rearden was 73 years old.

Maggie McCollom is out of an Atlanta hospital: the wife of Peachtree City Police Chief Will McCollom was shot and wounded on New Year’s Day, he says accidentally.

Organizers call it a Standing For Faith rally: it's set for 1:30 this afternoon at the state capitol in Atlanta, a show of support for fired Atlanta fire chief Kelvin Cochran. Mayor Kasim Reed fired the firefighter who wrote and distributed a book outlining his Christian values, a book which is, in part, critical of gays and homosexuality.

The Closer Look Christian Academy in McDonough was closed again today: the Henry County school sustained extensive damage in a weekend fire. There were no injuries.

There were Monday funerals in Dallas for Paulding County Sheriff’s Corporal Sam Driskell and three of his family members, victims of last week’s triple murder-suicide, shot and killed by a 21 year-old stepson who then turned his gun on himself.

An execution is scheduled for tonight at the state prison in Jackson: Andrew Brannan is on death row for the 1998 murder of Laurens County Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Dinkheller.

It is still widespread, but the CDC says flu activity has dropped in Georgia, the first decline after five straight weeks of increases in reports of flu cases in the state.

Governor Nathan Deal, Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle, and House Speaker David Ralston are among the featured speakers at this morning’s Eggs and Issues Breakfast, an annual gathering organized and hosted by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. It takes place at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.  Governor Deal began his second term with an inauguration ceremony that was moved inside the state capitol because of Monday’s rainy weather in Atlanta. Georgia lawmakers kicked off the 2015 legislative session Monday beneath the Gold Dome.

Georgia's newest U.S. Senator names his Senate staff: Derrick Dickey will serve as Republican David Perdue's Chief of Staff in Washington; Joyce White is Perdue's state director in Atlanta.