Region Digest: Man shot in back by robbers

Friday, January 1, 1904

Arkansas-North Carolina Live Blog

ATHENS, Tenn.

Man shot in back by robbers

A man was shot in the back Tuesday night in an apartment complex in Athens, Tenn.

Kendall Mooney was rushed by ambulance to the Athens Regional Medical Center, where he is in stable condition, Athens police said.

Mooney was at the Clem Jones Heights apartments Tuesday when two men, carrying pistols, told him to empty his pockets, police were told. He did so, and one of the men struck his face with a pistol, police said.

Mooney tried to run away, and the two men fired several shots at him. One shot struck him in the back.

No arrests have been reported.

photo Troy Keeler, 34, is already a registered sex offender for his two convictions for enticing a child for indecent purposes and child molestation.

DALTON, Ga.

Sex offender charged again

A man released from prison on Aug. 26 after serving time on two sexual abuse convictions from 1998 has been charged by Dalton police with three counts each of child molestation and indecent exposure.

Troy Keeler, 34, has been a registered sex offender after his two convictions for enticing a child for indecent purposes and child molestation, records show.

On Sept. 20, three teenage girls were walking along Underwood Street when, near Frederick Street, a man pulled up in a Green Oldsmobile Intrigue, according to a news release. The girls reported that he exposed and touched himself.

The girls gave police a partial license plate number that matched Keeler's, Dalton police spokesman Bruce Frazier wrote in the release. Also, Frazier said that GPS data from Keeler's ankle bracelet confirmed he was in the area on Sept. 20.

ATLANTA

Technical colleges' enrollment dips

Georgia's technical colleges are seeing a dip in enrollment after years of record-breaking admissions.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that enrollment at the 25 campuses is down by more than 12,000 after the state cut HOPE scholarship awards for students who once had their entire tuitions covered. Technical colleges charge $75 per credit, with HOPE covering $60.75 of that, a small difference that can mean big debt for the working adults with families who fill technical college classes.

Ron Jackson, commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia, said the 12 percent drop also likely is because the economy is improving. Enrollment at technical colleges rises during a weak economy because the unemployed return to school for new skills and careers.

Enrollment has grown by about one-third since 2008.

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