Ken Stanford

Gov. Nathan Deal is touting a new ranking that names Georgia as the fourth-best state to do business.

Brenau University senior Heather Hammontree, a psychology major from Buford, is the 2011-12 recipient of a $2,300 scholarship funded by the United Parcel Service Educational Endowment Fund through the Georgia Independent College Association (GICA).

There will be no shortage of ways to celebrate July 4 in the northeast Georgia area.

Some brought a picnic dinner, some a lawn chair or blanket and some reserved a table.

A smattering of summer rain gave a boost to firefighters battling a huge forest fire near Los Alamos, giving authorities enough confidence to allow about 12,000 people to return home for the first time in nearly a week.

A nationwide crackdown is coming for people fraudulently drawing unemployment payments - those who were never eligible and workers who keep getting checks after they return to work - a $17 billion benefits swindle last year alone, say federal officials.

The Spalding County coroner says the county's sheriff has died, likely from complications from injuries suffered in a car accident last month.

Hall County employees will be taking the first of a new round of unpaid furlough days Tuesday to coincide with Monday's July 4 holiday.

A homemade wind chime with the word "Whining" under a red slash is made from metal parts put in his leg after a parachute accident. Every Sunday he trims his crew cut. He didn't join the Army willingly, but as Command Sgt. Maj. Jeff Mellinger prepares to retire, he's grateful he found his calling.

America's longest space-flying streak ends this week with the smallest crew in decades - three men and a woman who were in high school and college when the first space shuttle soared 30 years ago.