Georgia loses six Sears, KMart stores

Say goodbye to six Sears and KMart stores throughout Georgia to welcome 2012.  They're among the 79 stores that the Sears Holding Corporation plans to close as a result of poor sales during the recently completed Christmas holiday shopping season.  Of the six stores in the Peach State that are targeted for closure, five of them are KMart's, while one Sears store in Macon will close its doors for good.  The Chicago-based corporations eventually plans to close up to 120 establishments.

Click the links below for a summary of the Sears, KMart closings

Albany Herald 

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Augusta Chronicle


Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Macon Telegraph

Times-Georgian (Carrollton)

GNB is online at georgianewsbeat.blogspot.com, on Twitter at twitter.com/georgianewsbeat, on Facebook, and can be contacted via e-mail at georgianewsbeat@gmail.com.

Happy New Year from the Georgia News Beat!

Albany, Savannah elect first female mayors

Two Georgia cities made history in separate elections earlier this week.  Dorothy Hubbard garnered 53 percent to become the first woman mayor of Albany, while Edna Jackson became the first female chief executive in Savannah on Tuesday.  Both women will be sworn into office in January


Albany Herald

Savannah Morning News

GNB is online at georgianewsbeat.blogspot.com, on Twitter at twitter.com/georgianewsbeat, on Facebook, and can be contacted via e-mail at georgianewsbeat@gmail.com.

Albany Chamber CEO steps down

The Albany Area Chamber of Commerce must find a new CEO.  The Albany Herald reports that Catherine Glover is leaving the top job to take an executive vice president's position with a local chemical company.  Her last day at the chamber is on January 4.

Click here for the full story, courtesy of the Albany Herald.

GNB is online at georgianewsbeat.blogspot.com, on Twitter at twitter.com/georgianewsbeat, on Facebook, and can be contacted via e-mail at georgianewsbeat@gmail.com.

Championships could help Cobb economy

Kennesaw State University will play host to the 2011 NCAA Division I Women's College Cup this weekend.  Tourism officials in Cobb County expect the women's soccer national championship to have a huge impact on the local economy.  Click the link below to find out how much money will be made from the festivities.

Click here for the full article, courtesy of the Marietta Daily Journal

GNB is online at georgianewsbeat.blogspot.com, on Twitter at twitter.com/georgianewsbeat, on Facebook, and can be contacted via e-mail at georgianewsbeat@gmail.com.

GHSA OK's reclassification (Update)

After at least two delays dating back to mid-October, the Georgia High School Association finally set the six classifications for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years at a committee meeting in Thomaston on Monday.  Click the following links below for complete coverage.

Click here for the full list, courtesy of the GHSA

Access North Georgia

Albany Herald 

Atlanta Journal-Constitution


Augusta Chronicle/Columbia County News-Times

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer 

Coosa Valley News

Dalton Daily Citizen 


Macon Telegraph


The Times (Gainesville)

Thomasville Times-Enterprise 

GNB is online at georgianewsbeat.blogspot.com, on Twitter at twitter.com/georgianewsbeat, on Facebook, and can be contacted via e-mail at georgianewsbeat@gmail.com.

USG mulls mergers

Some of Georgia's 35 public colleges and universities could soon merge.  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the University System of Georgia is considering how close some of the institutions are to each other, as well as whether those schools have duplicate programs.  There's no word on which colleges might be targeted for consolidation at this time.

Click here for the full story, courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

GNB is online at georgianewsbeat.blogspot.com, on Twitter at twitter.com/georgianewsbeat, on Facebook, and can be contacted via e-mail at georgianewsbeat@gmail.com.

Multiple Georgia cities among the nation's "brokest"

TheDailyBeast.com has released its list of the "brokest" cities in the U.S. And unfortunately, several Georgia cities are among them. 

The website reports that Columbus topped the overall list at No. 1, while Augusta came at No. 10, followed by Macon at No. 14, at Savannah at No. 25.

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer and Macon Telegraph have more in these stories below.

Click here for the Columbus article, and here for Macon.

Click here for the complete list, courtesy of TheDailyBeast.com

GNB is online at georgianewsbeat.blogspot.com, on Twitter at twitter.com/georgianewsbeat, on Facebook, and can be contacted via e-mail at georgianewsbeat@gmail.com.