Accident fatal for two children and other news from the areas around Chattanooga

Accident fatal for two children

MURRAY COUNTY, Ga. — Two children were killed Friday in a Murray County, Ga., traffic accident.

Their mother and another child were hurt when a GMC Envoy driven by Susan Renee Greene, 39, of Summerville, collided with a tractor-trailer on Georgia 136 near old Highway 411.

Georgia State Patrol spokesman Gordy Wright said Greene's vehicle ran a stop sign and struck the truck on the left side. The impact caused the Envoy to rotate and hit the rear of the truck.

Killed were 12-year-old Mason Greene and 6-year-old Zachary Greene, both of Summerville.

Sign death toll to run Fridays

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Department of Transportation will display the state's highway fatality rate only on Fridays this year after months of running the numbers daily on digital message boards statewide.

State officials started displaying the running daily tally last April after seeing a sharp increase in fatalities in the first quarter of 2012. TDOT Commissioner John Schroer said he believes the public message campaign was successful, although the state still had more than 1,000 deaths on the highways in the past year.

More twisters, fewer deaths

Tennessee had more tornadoes than usual in 2012, but they caused fewer deaths.

Data from the National Weather Service shows 34 recorded tornadoes statewide last year -- 20 of them in March.

Weather Service meteorologist Bobby Boyd in Nashville said the average year brings 21 tornadoes in Tennessee, based on 1981-2010 data. There is an average of five tornado-caused deaths per year. In 2012, three people were killed.

The year with the largest number of tornadoes was 2011 when 113 struck, killing 34 people. The year with the most tornado-related deaths was 1952, when 70 people were killed by 22 twisters.

Ringgold man named as regent

ATLANTA — Gov. Nathan Deal announced that Scott Smith of Ringgold, Ga., president and CEO of Northwest Georgia Bank, is one of four new regents for the University System of Georgia.

Smith is a board member and secretary of Northwest Services Corp., a board member of the Catoosa County Economic Development Authority and past chairman of the board of Junior Achievement of Chattanooga. He has been a trustee for the Dalton State College Foundation and a board member of the Georgia Bankers Association and the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce.