Monday's updates

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The Buzz of Northwest Georgia (Please click)

-Gubernatorial Soup: 411 Connector part of spicy week for GOP candidates.

-Cartersville, Bartow voters to hear about education SPLOST 'extension.'

-Floyd Relay for Life going back to basics in 2010.

-Busy weekend ahead in Rome (expo), Cartersville (cowboy gathering).

-Peaks & Valleys: Northern Arc returns; just build it.

Your latest forecast: Storms possible Wednesday.

-Monday: Sunny with a high of 70.

-Monday night: Partly cloudy, low of 38.

-Tuesday: 40% rain chance, high of 63.

-Tuesday night: 40% chance of rain, low of 44.
-Extended forecast> Click  / Regional radar

County school board meets tonight.

Seventh Annual Cowboy Gathering begins Thursday at The Booth.

Bartow Winds begins new season.

Norman Arey's Sports Roundtable> Arey

-Who's got the best chance to win a game in their league tournament, Tech or UGA?

Sports/Rome Braves/State Mutual Stadium> Sports

-Braves announced 2010 promotional schedule.

-Rome Braves launch 'official fan page' on Facebook

-Redneck  Rummage Sale at State Mutual Stadium March 20> Click

Politics

Spicy ingredients for Gubernatorial Soup last week:

-The race for the Republican nomination to be Georgia's next governor is already spicy and last week's events resembled something you expect in the final weeks of the campaign, not four-plus months out. Consider:

-U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, who's district includes part of Gordon County, announces he's resigning from Congress to focus on his statewide campaign. Click. The undercurrent: He's also avoiding a congressional ethics probe. Click.

-GOP hopeful and Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, who's ties to Rome's State Mutual Insurance have kept the AJC's investigative unit in business in recent months, blasts Deal for leaving. Click

-Deal, upon further review and citing an earlier-than-anticipated vote on President Obama's healthcare reform package, changes his exit date to late March. Click

-Karen Handel, former secretary of state and also a GOP gubernatorial hopeful, gets involved in a dust-up involving the Northern Arc highway linking interstates 75 and 85, and clumps the 411 Connector into the mix. Click

-Reports surface about Handel accepting campaign contributions from connector opponents. Wonder who leaked this one? Click

-In an e-mail from his campaign staff, Deal questions the 411 Connector ties and says he'll be the first governor to drive on the long-delayed highway linking 411 to I-75.

-U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, who has championed the 411 Connector, questions Handel's remarks on the 411 Connector. Gingrey earlier endorsed Deal--a fellow congressman--in the GOP gubernatorial primary.

-The bottom line: The Democratic challengers have to be loving this. The top three GOP candidates all have ethics issues in the news now, something that will be classic campaign fodder this fall.

Ruth's Chris Steak House gets a little close to Rome

-The Chastain Road area north of Town Center and Barrett Parkway continues to boom, especially east of the Interstate 75 exit. One of the quiet surprises there is the addition of Ruth's Chris Steak House at Embassy Suites off the northside of Chastain. It is behind Taco Mac and Chick-Fil-A. Ruth's Chris is known for its steaks but also has an excellent selection of select seafood and salads. (Click menu). Likewise, Ruth's Chris is known for its prices. Even the recession hasn't stopped the Oswald/Brooks team from growing; they already had thee other locations in metro Atlanta.

Bartow voters to hear about SPLOST extension

-The Bartow County and city of Cartersville school boards will hold a joint meeting March 15 to announce efforts to extend the current one-cent education SPLOST. A referendum is expected to be placed on the July 20 primary ballot. The current tax--the third passed by voters--started in 2007 and is scheduled to last until 2012. Click History

Events 

Busy weekend ahead in Northwest Georgia:

-In  Rome: 2010 Home & Garden Expo at The Forum, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. $5 for adults; kids under 10,  free. 50-plus vendors> DH

-In Rome: First 2010 downtown merchants sidewalk sale, Saturday.

-In Cartersville: Cowboy Gathering Thursday-Sunday at the Booth. The seventh edition features concerts, exhibits, a chuck wagon cookoff, cowboy church and other events. Booth Western Art Museum. Details: click Booth

2010 Relay for Life has a back-to-the-basics feel as organizers, teams will focus on survivors and fighting cancer's spread

By Natalie Simms

natsimms76@gmail.com

In just one month, hundreds of cancer survivors and supporters will fill Ridge Ferry Park for this year's American Cancer Society Relay for Life. While this year's organizers are no strangers to the event, they are bringing a fresh perspective to invigorate an event that has really been impacted by the economy.

"This year we are looking for a fresh start," says Felicia Rosenberger, co-chair of Floyd County Relay for Life  (pictured to the right with friend Tammy at last year's relay). "The past couple of years, the economy has been bad, participation has been down and the weather has been a problem. This year is a new start … a revamp to bring it back to a celebration of life for survivors, caregivers and friends."

The 2009 event originally was planned for April but because of heavy rain, Ridge Ferry Park was flooded and the event was moved to June. The summer date really impacted turnout for the event.

"When we had to move the date, a lot of teams didn't return," says Gretchen Barkley, ACS representative. "Our fund-raising goal this year is $190,000 since we raised about $178,000 last year. The economy has definitely been a factor."

Before the recession, Floyd County's Relay for Life raised upwards of $250,000 or more.

"We're definitely bringing it back to the community with a focus on why are we doing it…we're fighting against cancer," says Barkley.

Fighting against cancer is exactly what co-chairs Rosenberger and Betty Rochester have been doing themselves. Both cancer survivors, they are putting their passion into organizing this year's event.

"I really wanted a way to give back to the organization that had done so much for me," Rosenberger says.

A two-year survivor of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Rosenberger participated in the ACS's Look Good, Feel Better program as well as received helpful information from their toll-free call center and Web site (www.cancer.org).

"My doctor was awesome but when you're going through it, there are just lots of questions that come up later," she says. "My doctors helped me survive but couldn't do much to help me mentally. I was going through all kinds of changes from losing my hair, my eyebrows and my body changes. Look Good, Feel Better had other women that helped me because they had been there."

Look Good, Feel Better is just one of the many programs funded through ACS. Funds raised during the Relay for Life event are used for local cancer programs, as well as funding research in the fight against cancer.

Participants in this year's event will gather "Under the Big Top" on Friday, April 9 with the Survivor Dinner at 5 p.m. and first lap at 6 p.m. A special Luminary Ceremony will take place at 10 p.m.

"We're bringing lots of excitement, lots of color, cheer and activity. That's why we chose Under the Big Top for our theme," says Rosenberger.

Teams will decorate their campsites with a circus theme. To date, there are 53 teams registered with a goal of 65 teams. Teams can register online at www.floydrelayforlife.org.

The event will honor cancer survivors who are members of various Floyd County Emergency Response Services such as EMS, police departments, fire department and sheriff's office. Barkley says they have at least 12 honorees but are still looking for more.

Survivors can register online at www.floydrelayforlife.org or call Betty Rochester at 706-346-3846 for information.

>The next Team Captain's meeting will be held on March 22 at 6 p.m. at Redmond Regional Medical Center's Classroom B.

>Bank Day for the event will be April 6 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at River City Bank, Second Avenue and West Third Street in Rome.

Ways you can help:
-Donations can be made directly via credit card to teams or team members online at www.floydrelayforlife.org.
-Purchase a Smoked Boston Butt from the Georgia Power team. Tickets are $25 and the meat will be ready for pick up on Saturday, April 3, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Contact Kim Moon at 706-296-3444 or e-mail klmoon@southernco.com.

-Come to the Relay for Life on April 9 for lots of fund-raising activities. There will be lots of kids' activities, plus lots of food for purchase. Different teams will have various on-site fund-raisers going on.
-Heritage First Bank will have a Dunking Tank with dunkees Bill Shiflett, Harry Brock, Larry Martin, Barry Hurley, Ronnie Wallace, Reed Biggers, Ryan Earnest and Josh Walton. Cost will be $5 for 3 chances.

PEAKS & VALLEYS: The highs, lows of Northwest Georgia

Valley to those stalling the critically needed Northern Arc: The gubernatorial race dragged the 411 Connector and Northern Arc into the mud last week. Opponents to the 1990s-era Arc plan and Republican hopeful Karen Handel decided to really muck things up and, in turn, got flagged by U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey and others in the process (point of order: Gingrey has endorsed Handel opponent, fellow Congressman Nathan Deal). But let's beeline to the real issue here: Which candidates support the Northern Arc? Millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs have been funneled away from our region because of short-sighted transportation planning. An arc of some sort is vital to Northwest Georgia's future. It is time for proponents in the northeast and northwest parts of the state to unite and get this job down. And its time for some politicians to get a "Handel" on economic realities of North Georgia.

Peak to Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond: It is wonderful to see someone in Atlanta actually get it right. Thurmond continues to point to boosting small business as a way to get us out of the recession via job creation. To which we say amen. We love the Kias and VWs of the world but we also need--as Thurmond says--a united local, state and federal push behind the very heart of economy: small business.

Peak to South 107 and station fans for Country Cares fund-raiser: $20,000-plus was pledged during Friday's all-day radiothon on South 107 to the annual effort to help St. Jude's. That is excellent, especially in these tough times. Randy Owen, founder of Country Cares, will be on the air Monday afternoon with Kevin Daniels