(GA. NEWS NETWORK UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE)
*Insurance claims involving hail are proving to be costly in Georgia. Officials with State Farm Insurance say the company paid nearly $110 million in hail damage claims in Georgia in last year, with an average payment of $17,000 per customer. Nationally, Athens CEO.com reports the company paid over $5.6 billion in hail-related claims, with Texas leading at $1.4 billion. To protect your home, officials urge you to know your roof’s condition, work with your insurance agent, avoid contractor scams, and consider impact-resistant materials.
*(FROM THE AJC) – “Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea,” sang Flatt and Scruggs in the theme song to the Beverly Hillbillies TV show. Does some lie beneath Georgia soil? There are no records of oil or gas extraction ever in the state, according to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GEPD). But a Texas-based company is interested in seeing if it can change that. Pilot Exploration has asked GEPD for permission to drill two wells in southwest Georgia’s sparsely populated Quitman County near the county line with Randolph County to see if oil and gas is there.
*A Douglas County teacher is facing charges for allegedly having sex with a student twice – once in a closet. 25-year-old Maris Nichols was booked into county jail last Friday. The first of the two incidents reportedly happened on April 23 in a closet at Alexander High School and the second incident, less than two weeks later in an SUV outside a Douglasville home. The school district has launched its own investigation into the matter.