Since Julio Rangel came to the United States from Mexico almost seven years ago, there only have been two periods when finding work was almost impossible: After 9/11 and in 2007.

DALTON, Ga. — Towering American Chestnut trees once covered 200 million acres of eastern forests in the United States, according to the American Chestnut Foundation, feeding humans and animals year-round with their tasty nuts.

DALTON, Ga. — The Whitfield County Sheriff’s Department is one of the latest additions to the federal program that trains local officers to enforce immigration law.

Amid the mayor’s crusade to cut taxes, the City Council here voted to hold a November referendum giving voters the chance to eliminate a special property tax dedicated to city recreation.

A 3-year-old boy found alone in rural Whitfield County waited for two hours in a tiny restaurant Monday while authorities searched for his parents.

Last week, 17-year-old Manuel Montelongo volunteered for the first time. He worked in a food pantry, played with children at a nonprofit daycare, and toiled in the mud to build a Habitat for Humanity house.

The three Mexican nationals arrested in Whitfield County as part of a statewide sweep led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, belonged to the Fifth Avenue gang and Tiny Winos gang, federal agents said.

When Francisco Palacios first came to the United States from Mexico, he said he was offended if an American business owner said to him, “Thank you for your business.”

Recently, Gov. Sonny Perdue blocked a scheduled jump in the state sales tax charged on motor fuel.

DALTON, Ga. — Since 1992, Sheriff Scott Chitwood, a Democrat, has held the sheriff’s office here.