Election set Jan. 7 to fill Rep. Jay Neal's seat
ATLANTA - A special election to fill the Georgia House of Representatives District 2 seat being vacated by Rep. Jay Neal, R-LaFayette, has been set for Jan. 7, 2014, a news release states.
Candidate qualifying for the election will be from Nov. 18 through Nov. 20, Secretary of State Brian Kemp said in the release.
Neal is resigning effective Friday to serve as executive director of the Governor's Office of Transition, Support and Re-Entry, a Georgia Department of Corrections post.
The website Peach Pundit has reported that longtime LaFayette Mayor Neal Florence, who's stepping down, is considering a run for the House seat.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Jan. 7. If needed, a runoff election will be Feb. 4.
Gasoline on slide ignites; girl burned
LOGANVILLE, Ga. - Authorities in Georgia say a 2-year-old girl was severely burned when gasoline sparked a fire on a slide where she and her sister were playing.
Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman says deputies believe one of the girls poured gasoline on the outdoor slide to make it more slippery. Authorities say they believe a spark from static electricity ignited the gas Saturday morning at their father's Loganville-area home.
Chapman said the girl was in a medically induced coma and in critical condition Monday at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that authorities are treating the case as an accident and don't anticipate filing any charges. The girl's 4-year-old sister was not seriously injured.
TVA winds down its campgrounds
KNOXVILLE - The Tennessee Valley Authority says its campgrounds and visitor centers at TVA dams and reservoirs are reducing hours or closing as the 2013 recreation season comes to an end.
TVA campgrounds on Cherokee, Douglas, Melton Hill and Wilson dam reservations will close Monday, as will Foster Falls campground in Marion County, Tenn.
Two campgrounds downstream of Douglas and Pickwick dams will remain open one month longer until Dec. 16.
TVA campgrounds will reopen in mid-March.
TVA's visitor center at Norris Dam will close Nov. 30, while the center at Fontana Dam closed last weekend. The visitor center at Kentucky Reservoir will open under abbreviated hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through April, and the visitor center at Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Plant will remain closed indefinitely during maintenance.
Woman killed in I-40 crash
NASHVILLE - Police say one person is dead and another critically injured after a wrong-way crash on Interstate 40 in Nashville.
Media reported the crash happened early Tuesday near the 201 mile marker as a black Kia SUV was headed east in the westbound lanes.
Police say the woman driving the Kia died at the scene and a man driving the other vehicle was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with critical injuries.
Authorities haven't released any identities.