Henry headlines, school news, photos

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The single-engine plane that crashed in Texas and killed five family members was flying through rain and lightning at the time. But investigators said Tuesday the cause of the crash had not been determined. The five family members, including four from Henry County, were killed instantly Monday night when the plane went down near Waco, Texas, investigators said.

A woman and her daughter were arrested Monday in connection with the Memorial Day shooting death of a Paulding County man. The victim, Lennis Donovan Jones, was shot in the head last May at his home on Fernwick Court in Dallas, according to Paulding sheriff's spokesman Ashley Henson.

A Butts County sheriff’s deputy was killed overnight responding to a call, Channel 2 Action News is reporting. Around 10:30 p.m., Saturday, Deputy Ronnie Eugene Smith, 49, was en route to a report of a fight when his car went off Biles Road near Four Points Road and hit two trees.

Those who want to learn about a HOT lane project on I-75 in Henry and Clayton counties can attend public meetings Tuesday and Thursday in McDonough. The state Department of Transportation is providing information and accepting comment on the project, including on where interchanges might go on the optional toll lanes.

Henry County has christened its airport with a new name and is moving forward with plans to expand the runway and improve the facility. Tara Field is now known as Atlanta South Regional Airport. Henry commissioners recently approved contracts with two engineering firms to finish numerous improvement projects over the next five years.

Friday mornings in Superior Court Judge Brian Amero’s courtroom are as much about dispensing life lessons as exacting justice. Recently, the Henry County judge met with four drug addicts taking part in an innovative rehabilitation program created by Amero to get them well while saving taxpayers money.

Henry County police are looking for a man accused of stealing more than $6,000 in cash and cigarettes from a Stockbridge convenience store. Video surveillance shows a man break out the windows on Oct. 30, of the Shell gas station on 1150 Jodeco Road, according to police.

Two court employees in Henry County have been arrested and charged with allegedly dealing marijuana on courthouse property in McDonough, Channel 2 Action News reports. Kimmie Elliott of Stockbridge allegedly sold marijuana to Lisa Anthony. Elliott, 45, works in the Henry County Solicitor General’s office and was charged with felony drug dealing.

This burglary suspect may be relatively easy to spot. Henry County police are looking for two men -- one is an amputee -- who allegedly stole two air conditioner units from property at 140 Saddle View Lane in Ellenwood. Police said the theft happened at about 3 p.

An overnight SWAT incident at a home in Henry County ended when officers entered the house to find it empty. Around 7 p.m., a resident in the 200 block of Darwish Drive in McDonough called 911 and reported hearing screams and what sounded like gunshots from next door, Henry police Major Jason Bolton told the AJC.

Atlanta's gas prices continue to slowly spiral downward, dropping a nickel a gallon since last Monday. The metro area's average price for a gallon of regular unleaded early Monday was $3.30, although some stations were selling gas for a dime or more cheaper per gallon, according to atlantagasprices.

A Henry County kennel that advertised it provided purebred dogs to top entertainers has been put out of business by animal control authorities. The Department of Agriculture has given Premier K-9 until the end of the month to return to their owners dogs in its care, according to Channel 2 Action News.

Friday mornings in Superior Court Judge Brian Amero’s courtroom are as much about dispensing life lessons as exacting justice. Last week, the Henry County judge met with four drug addicts taking part in an innovative rehabilitation program created by Amero to get them well while saving taxpayers money.

A woman allegedly duped a Stockbridge Dollar General store out of $530.92 after claiming she had been the victim of racial profiling at another Dollar General in Jonesboro, according to police. Christopher Allen Brooks, the manager of the Stockbridge Dollar General, told police a woman calling herself "Ms.

A Henry County resident died in a home fire early Sunday morning, fire officials said. Firefighters responding to a blaze in the 2000 block of Old Jackson Road in Locust Grove found a one-story home heavily involved in flame, said Henry County fire Capt.

Investigators have uncovered 19 cases of people who allegedly were duped into leasing homes from a man who had no right to rent them out, and there could be hundreds of victims in the metro Atlanta area, Channel 2 Action News reports. John Eugene Harris is being held in Cobb County Jail on $200,000 bond on burglary, theft by deception and forgery charges.

You might call it "As the (Political) World Turns," because some municipal races on the Southside of metro Atlanta seem to be following soap opera story lines. Political observers are seeing intrigue, brushes with the law and jealousy leading up to the Nov.

A former bank president has pleaded guilty in federal court in Atlanta to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Mark A. Conner, former president of FirstCity Bank of Stockbridge, pleaded guilty Friday. The charges stem from misconduct at FirstCity in the years before state and federal authorities seized the bank in March 2009.

The Falcons and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are playing on the road this weekend, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of football happening this weekend in Atlanta. The Georgia State Panthers take on the University of South Alabama at 3 p.m. Saturday in GSU’s homecoming game at the Georgia Dome.

A trucker escaped injury early Thursday when his stalled tractor-trailer was struck by a freight train in Henry County, police said. Henry police Major Jason Bolton told the AJC that around 7:35 a.m., the "landing gear" of the truck became stuck on the tracks at Nolan and North Berry streets in Stockbridge.

A Henry County woman and an Atlanta man are each a half-million dollars richer after recent Georgia Lottery wins. Ladies first: Bonnie Dennis of Stockbridge won $500,000 playing the instant game Jumbo Jumbo Bucks. She bought her ticket at Eagles Landing Food Mart, 105 Eagles Landing Parkway in Stockbridge, on her way to visit a friend in Stone Mountain.

A longtime Stockbridge city councilman has pulled out of the Nov. 8 city election, citing problems with the city's new health insurance plan that he says is causing him financial hardship. Fred Evans, a self-employed electrician, said Friday that the council's vote earlier this year to switch its insurance plan from Blue Cross/Blue Shield to Coventry is costing him so much money he said "I'll be honest I can't pay county taxes.

Suburban school districts, such as in Cherokee, Douglas and Henry counties, are seeking voter approval this November to renew their penny sales tax for education. In Forsyth County, voters already renewed a SPLOST, but some residents remain upset that the county school board also increased its levy.

A Henry County student won't be expelled for giving a counterfeit $10 bill to a teacher selling candy for a fund-raiser. Tierra Payton, a junior at Dutchtown High School in Hampton, was suspended for a week and faced possible expulsion for passing along the counterfeit bill at school last Tuesday.

The policy under which a Henry County high school student was suspended for passing a counterfeit $10 bill is apparently stricter than federal law. Tierra Payton, 17, a junior at Dutchtown High School in Hampton was suspended -- and could have been expelled -- after she used a bogus $10 bill to buy candy at a school fund-raiser.