White County is currently in a Flash Flood Watch. The watch extends throughout all of Northeast Georgia.

Widespread rainfall totals of 2 to 3 inches are being expected, with higher amounts between 4 and 5 inches possible.

These amounts will likely cause minor to moderate flooding on some creeks and rivers, with flash flooding on smaller creeks in the mountainous and urban areas of north Georgia likely.

Parts of northwest Georgia have already received 1 to 2 inches of rain overnight with rain still falling.

With the deadline to qualify for a post on the Board of Education, or the White County Commission, coming to a close, there were 12 who qualified for the Board of Commissioners, and 3 qualified for the Board of Education.

Those who qualified for the District one post on the Board of Commissioners were, Terry Goodger, Rebecca Yarbrough, Jerry Nicholson, and Bobby Adams.

Lyn Holcomb qualified for the County Commission District 2 post on the County Commission.

For District three, Edwin Nix, Steve Hood, Brian Robinson, and Randy Ellis all qualified.

District four saw Craig Bryant, Chris Nonnemaker, and Terry Harris sign up.

For the Board of Education seat for District 2, LaMerle Edwards and Amy Crumley qualified.

Finally, for the Board of Education District 4 seat, Barry Vandiver qualified.

United States Census Workers are now starting to come to the homes of those who didn’t fill out the form and mail it back.

As of April 27, 2010, the last day returned census forms were counted and reported, White County had a participation rate of 73%.  The participation rate for the City of Cleveland was 71% and Helen reported a 66% participation rate.  The State of Georgia participation rate is 70%.

These participation rates are a tremendous improvement over the 2000 Census where the rate for the county was 56%, Cleveland 58% and Helen 43%.

The census workers will have an ID that will show that they work for the U.S. Census Bureau.

By all accounts, the Brantley Gilbert concert that was held on Saturday at the White County Football Stadium was a great success.

The numbers on the final amount of people who went are not available as of yet.

There were no major incidents at the concert, and the heavy rain held off until after the concert was over.

The concert was opened up by “The Other Side of Homer” at 7.  Brantley Gilbert took the stage at around 8:30.  The concert ended near 10:30.

With major Brantley Gilbert concert tomorrow, The White County Sheriff’s Office is ready to handle the security of the event. I spoke with Captain Jim Couch about the steps that they will be taking to keep the concert safe.

“The White County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the White County Chamber of Commerce, regarding the concert that will be scheduled for Saturday, May 1st.  We have put together a coordinated effort with the White County EMS, White County Fire Department, and the White County EMA for doing all the plans and site-work for the security for the event.” Couch says

Couch also says that there will be volunteers to help with the security.

“We have not only Deputies who will be there working traffic and also providing event security, but we will also be working with some volunteers, parents of some of the students there who will be helping with some security and parking vehicles.”

The Sheriff’s Office is considering the concert a major event.

“We have tagged it as a major event, therefore we are planning for the worst, and hoping for the best.  Of course now we’re concerned about the weather issue, but I believe we’ve got a 50-50 chance of rain.  We will be providing plenty of security there, and hopefully it will go good, and everybody will enjoy the concert.”

The concert is taking place in the White County Football Stadium.

The White County Sheriff’s Office was called to investigate a Burglary at Goats on the Roof. Captain Jim Couch with the White County Sheriff’s Office tells WNGA news the information.

“The Sheriff’s Office was called to a new business, Goats on the Roof, on alt. 75 regarding a burglary that occurred.  During the Investigation, it was found that a couple of the cash registers were removed, from the location some currency was removed with the cash registers.  At this point, we do have some suspects in mind, and there is an Investigation continuing on that.”  Couch Says

Couch says that arrests should be coming shortly.

It wasn’t just the students taking turns in the DUI Simulator on North Georgia Technical College’s Clarkesville Campus. As part of a national tour, U.N.I.T.E. International is bringing the Stop Loss DUI Simulator to each of NGTC’s campuses this April.

The simulator gave participants three opportunities to make it home through a small town with a blood alcohol content (BAC) comparable to two to three drinks in an average-size person. For men, the BAC is set to 0.081 and for women it is set to 0.077, which is under the legal limit.
The simulation took place in a blaze-colored Dodge Caliber with participants wearing simulation goggles. Each driver’s progress was simultaneously displayed using a monitor placed on top of the car so that everyone could see their skills.

The general consensus of the steady stream of those who tried and those who looked on was that it was “pretty cool.” Although there were giggles of camaraderie during the invariably failing attempts through the course, all there recognized that this is no laughing matter.

“DUI is a consistent problem regardless of age bracket,” explained DWI Awareness Instructor Bill Taggart. “Most drunk driving accidents occur with a BAC between 0.06 and 0.01. The statistics show that 40% of all traffic fatalities are from alcohol-related accidents.”

The Drunk Driving Simulator allows a driver to operate in a simulated drunk mode. It demonstrates the dangerous effects of DUI/DWI driving, such as delayed response to controls and narrowing of the effective field of view.

“Oh! That is so real,” exclaimed Lynn Ward after her first simulated accident hitting a parked car. “My blood pressure just shot ‘way up,” she said making a hasty exit from the car before the exercise was complete. Nothing could convince her to finish, either.

“We try to bring in a variety of events and programs for the students here,” said Campus Life Director Sherry Seal. “This is the first time we’ve been able to negotiate the costs, but when you think about it, the experience is really priceless.”

The Stop Loss DUI Simulator was held on all three NGTC Campuses during the month of April.

Picture: Student Kenslei Krippner receives instructions before attempting the course in a simulated impaired state.