UNDATED - Here is a summary of northeast Georgia business news for the week of May 8:<br>
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*Dr. Frank A. Kruse III, who practices in Dawsonville, has been selected by the Consumers' Research Council of America as one of the Top Dentists for 2005-2006. The council, a Washington, DC based research organization, provides consumers' information guides for professional services in the United States.<br>
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*Dr. David Finney of Natural Solutions Pain & Allergy Center in Gainesville has been approved for participation in the Preferred Chiropractic Doctor Program. Dr. Finney is a 1981 graduate of Life Chiropractic College.<br>
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*Tyson, the world's largest meat producer has gone public with steps it's taking to avoid bird flu virus contamination. Arkansas-based Tyson says its 6700 contracted poultry farms in the U-S have operating with strict precautions for several months. Those precautions, which it refers to as ``code yellow," include banning nonessential visitors from the farms, disinfecting the wheels of vehicles coming in and out and testing a sample of every flock before they're sent to the slaughter.<br>
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*Going after a big market that's growing larger, two media giants are combining their Web sites targeting Hispanics in the U.S. The joint venture is being mounted by Yahoo and NBC Universal's Telemundo. Their new effort will be called Yahoo! Telemundo. The companies hope to draw users and advertisers with the combination of Telemundo's content and Yahoo's services. Yahoo and Telemundo say they'll merge their staff and share advertising revenue. Neither company will make an equity investment in the other.<br>
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*Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) said Wednesday that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend on the company's common stock of 31.5 cents a share. The indicated annual dividend is $1.26. The dividend will be paid on June 12, 2006, to shareholders of record on May 25, 2006. This is the company's 90th consecutive dividend. Atmos Energy Corporation, headquartered in Dallas, is the country's largest natural gas-only distributor, serving about 3.2 million gas utility customers, including the Gainesville area.<br>
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*Paul Ballew, IT Director with GB&T Bancshares, Inc., recently announced that Sherry Anderson has been promoted to Information Technology Systems Officer. In this new position, Anderson will be responsible for managing and maintaining the Silverlake Loan System, as well as ancillary systems, particularly any changes and conversions with affiliate banks. Anderson joined GB&T in April 1998 as loan operations manager.<br>
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*Gail Callueng, Vice President and Loan Operations Manager at Gainesville Bank & Trust (GB&T), recently announced that Patti Walden has been promoted to Assistant Vice President. Walden joined GB&T in June 2003 and has been involved in the recent development and implementation of the bank's Centralized Doc Prep unit, which she supervises. Her responsibilities include overseeing the preparation of loan documents for all GB&T retail offices, as well as Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) reporting.
