Ken Stanford

Congressional Republicans swiftly and sharply rejected President Barack Obama's vow to act on his own if lawmakers won't help him create jobs and narrow the nation's yawning income gap, insisting he'll accomplish little in a divided government without them.

Southern Co. says fourth-quarter earnings rose 8 percent as the result of economic growth in the Southeast and a return to more normal seasonal weather.

After a rare snowstorm stopped Atlanta-area commuters in their tracks - forcing many to hunker down in their cars overnight or seek other shelter - the National Guard was sending military Humvees onto the city's snarled freeway system Wednesday in an attempt to move stranded school buses and get food and water to students on them.

Hall County 911 had handled about 900 calls as of 4:30 this morning in the 15 hours since the snow storm struck the Gainesville area.

Students camped out with teachers in school gyms or on buses and commuters abandoned cars along the highway to seek shelter in churches, fire stations - even grocery stores - after a rare snowstorm left thousands of unaccustomed Southerners frozen in their tracks.

Gov. Nathan Deal says state troopers are being sent to schools where students are stranded because they could not make it home on clogged roads caused by Tuesday's snowstorm.

"Extremely dangerous driving conditions exist throughout most of north and central Georgia." That's the way the 9:00 advisory from Hall County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) began and GDOT officials are reminding motorists that as night falls, hazards increase in this kind of weather.

Law enforcement agencies throughout Georgia responded to hundreds of crashes in north Georgia Tuesday and Tuesday night as snow fell throughout the region and many metro Atlanta commuters spent hours struggling through commutes that would typically take minutes.

Seeking to energize his sluggish second term, President Barack Obama vowed Tuesday night in his State of the Union address to sidestep Congress "whenever and wherever" necessary to narrow economic disparities between America's rich and poor.

Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner Ralph Hudgens is offering Georgians tips to deal with problems associated with severe winter weather.