Georgia early voting down
Atlanta - Fewer Georgians appear to be taking advantage of early voting in the Nov. 6 election, although the biggest turnout may start today as polls open for a mandatory weekend day.
Voting opportunities will increase starting Monday as counties, especially in metro Atlanta, expand the number of early voting polling sites and extend hours. Early voting ends Friday.
Nearly 690,000 early ballots have been cast so far this election, according to the Georgia Secretary of State's Office.
In Tennessee, state election officials say early voters are continuing a strong turnout.
Figures posted Thursday afternoon on the Division of Elections website said the statewide total of voters who have already cast ballots was just under 731,000.
Tennessee's early voting period ends Thursday.
Deputies seek missing man
FLAT ROCK, Ala. - Authorities in Jackson County, Ala., are looking for a 25-year-old man who was reported missing on Wednesday, a news release states.
Michael Richard Harden Jr., of Scottsboro, Ala., last was seen in the Fabius Coal Mines in Flat Rock during the early morning hours Tuesday.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts may call the Jackson County Sheriff's Office at 256-574-2610 and ask for Sgt. Rick Bremer, Chief Deputy Rocky Harnen or Sheriff Chuck Phillips.
Corps to release lake water
MOBILE, Ala. - The Army Corps of Engineers says it will release more water from Lake Lanier and West Point Lake because of drought conditions in central Georgia, eastern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
Weather forecasts aren't predicting rain in the region over the next two weeks, and more water is needed at Lake Seminole and Walter F. George Lake.
The corps will release more water from northern reservoirs to make up the water flow lost because of the lack of rain.
Driver's ed wreck leaves one dead
GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. - Authorities say a woman was killed in a collision with a driver's education vehicle carrying three students and a teacher from Sardis High School.
The Gadsden Times reports the accident happened around 10:25 a.m. Thursday at an intersection on Highway 431 North in Guntersville.
Police identified the woman as Sarah Moody of Guntersville, who was driving a 1993 Cutlass Sierra.
Guntersville police are investigating.