Walker County is going to crack down on the state’s unsecured and uncovered load law this month. The county hopes the move will help curb roadside trash. The state law says that any load moved by a vehicle is to be loaded or covered to prevent any of it’s load from creating a safety hazard or deposing litter on public or private property. Starting yesterday, county code enforcement will be issuing warnings when they encounter unsecured or uncovered loads. Beginning the May 1st citations will be issued with stiffer penalties for repeat offenders. Fines can range from $100 to $1000 and up to 60-days in jail.
The annual audit of Walker County was presented to the Board of Commissioners last week. The audit covers October 1, 2023 to September of 2024. Public safety is the biggest expense for the county. Nearly 19-million dollars went towards law enforcement, fire protection and emergency services. Public Works which includes roads costs more than 13-million dollars. Property taxes and sales taxes generated the most revenue for the county. Both generating more than 18-million dollars. The county completed the fiscal 2024 year with more than 44-million in its fund balance. Nearly 25 million of that is unassigned or savings. Auditors say that would be enough to fund the county government for about 10 months if no additional revenue was generated.
A Tennessee woman has been sentenced to 30-years in jail after trying to attack two Ringgold women with hedge clippers. The incident happened on February 24th. 37-year-old Samantha Hyatte of Dayton Tennessee invaded the home of a 66-and-60-year-old women threatening them with hedge clippers. The District Attorney’s office says that Hyatte opened the front door of the home with the hedge clippers while screaming and threatening the women. She was opening and closing the hedge clippers and demanding that they give Hyatte their car keys. One of the women threw her keys behind Hyatte onto the front porch of the residence. When Hyatte went out to pick up the keys, the woman shoved Hyatte out the front door and quickly locked it behind her. The second woman called police. Hyatte was found shortly after wondering through the victims’ neighborhood without the hedge clippers but carrying a claw hammer. Hyatte did not know the victims and had never been to their residence prior to the date of the crime. Yesterday, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Melissa Hise sentenced Hyatte to 30 years with the first 16 to be served in the Georgia Department of Corrections. Hyatte was charged with two counts of home invasion in the first degree, two counts of aggravated assault and attempted robbery.
The oral rabies vaccine is being distributed this week in Walker County. Airplanes will be dropping the baits this week. Helicopters will be utilized next week. The baits are part of a nationwide effort to prevent the spread of racoon rabies. If you find the baits in areas where children play, use gloves or a towel to price them up and throw them into wooded areas where wild animals are more likely to find it. The baits are not harmful to household pets.
