New outlet mall locks up traffic and other news from areas around Chattanooga

New outlet mall locks up traffic

WOODSTOCK, Ga. - A new outlet mall northwest of Atlanta is creating traffic gridlock on a nearby interstate.

The 370,000-square-foot Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta opened Thursday off Interstate 575 in Woodstock. WSB-TV reported motorists were stuck in a traffic jam on I-575 for more than a mile.

Woodstock Police Department Chief Calvin Moss told CBS Atlanta that police are working closely with the mall's management, as they have for months, to prepare for this week's grand opening.

Developers say the mall will generate more than $130 million in annual sales and $3 million in property taxes for Woodstock, with an additional $34 million in taxes for the city, Cherokee County and its school district over the next 10 years.


Arkansas-LSU Live Blog

3 still in hospital after bus crash

CHATSWORTH, Ga. - Young people involved in a youth ministry program in the North Georgia mountains are recovering at their camp after a bus crashed on Fort Mountain, sending 17 people to hospitals with mostly minor injuries.

The wreck happened Wednesday as a bus was taking a group of campers and supervisors back to dorms at the Global Youth Ministry Camp Fort Mountain in Murray County, WRCB-TV reported.

Authorities said the bus crashed into trees, but camp officials said it could have been worse.

Roger Glidewell, Global Youth Ministry executive director, said the trees caught the bus and kept it from going down an embankment.

Authorities said all but three of the injured were back at the camp by Thursday evening.


16 meth labs found in trailer

MARYVILLE, Tenn. - Blount County authorities say they found 16 methamphetamine labs at one mobile home as an outgrowth of the "Cash for Cooks" program.

Four adults and a 17-year-old girl were taken into custody Thursday night after the sheriff's office got a tip about someone cooking meth in Maryville. Two other people fled from the trailer on foot. Charges were pending. Officers said the meth was being made using the "one pot" method.

An Alcoa billboard promoting the "Cash for Cooks" tip line advertises rewards for turning in suspected meth-making operations. Another billboard will go up soon.


Sex assault case suspect arrested

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Authorities have arrested one of Tennessee's most wanted suspects in North Alabama.

Police arrested 24-year-old Anthony Dean Blackwell, of Huntsville, early Friday on charges of sexually assaulting a 4-month-old baby.

Blackwell is charged with rape and was being held without bond. He was on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's "most wanted" list.

Investigators say the man is accused of sexually assaulting a child he was babysitting in Pulaski, Tenn., on June 9.

The victim underwent surgery to repair injuries suffered in the assault.

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