MACON, Ga. (AP) — Authorities say a man is dead after he was struck by two motorists while riding a bicycle on along Georgia road. The Bibb County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that one of the drivers fled the scene after hitting the cyclist Saturday morning. The driver of the second vehicle involved remained on the scene as emergency responders arrived. The deadly collision happened in a largely residential area of Macon.

ATLANTA – Georgia House Speaker David Ralston announced Friday he will not seek another term as leader of the legislative chamber in January, citing a health issue.

ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp extended the temporary suspension of the state sales tax on gasoline and other motor fuels Friday, citing a looming diesel fuel shortage. Kemp signed two executive orders, one extending the gas tax suspension through Dec. 11 and the other extending a supply chain state of emergency.

ATLANTA (AP) — A jury has convicted a former county commissioner in suburban Atlanta of extorting contractors seeking county work. Federal jurors convicted Sharon Barnes Sutton of two counts of extortion on Wednesday after a day of deliberations and a one-week trial. Evidence presented at trial indicated that Barnes Sutton accepted $1,000 in bribes from a contractor seeking a sewer contract. Evidence also showed she accepted $5,000 from a confidential FBI informant.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Two escapees from a Georgia jail and a girlfriend wanted for aiding their breakout have been arrested in Florida’s capital city. John Mincey, Meahki Carter and Ezreyah Bragdon were all taken into custody Wednesday in Tallahassee. Mincey and Carter are accused of escaping from the recreation yard of the Tattnall County Jail in Reidsville, Georgia, on Oct. 10. Tattnall County warrants accuse Bragdon of helping plan the escape.

ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr touted their records on crime Thursday, five days before they ask voters to return them to office. The state’s new Gang Prosecution Unit gained 11 indictments of 46 suspected gang members in 13 counties during its first month of operation, Carr said during a news conference at the Georgia Capitol.

WILLACOOCHEE, Ga. (AP) — State officers have arrested a south Georgia police chief who’s accused of burglarizing a home. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Willacoochee Police Chief Anthony Williams and charged him with burglary, an agency news release says. Williams turned himself in Wednesday and was booked into the Atkinson County Jail and was released on bond. A working phone number could not immediately be found for Williams, and it wasn’t clear whether he had an attorney who could comment on his arrest.

ATLANTA – Representatives of convenience stores asked Georgia lawmakers Wednesday to ensure the electric vehicle charging stations they build in the coming years can compete fairly with those owned by utilities. The General Assembly’s Joint Study Committee on the Electrification of Transportation is due by Dec. 1 to recommend legislation to be considered during the 2023 session starting in January.

OAKWOOD, Ga. (AP) — King’s Hawaiian will expand its bakery in Georgia, investing $85 million and hiring more than 160 new employees. The privately owned company based in Los Angeles says the new plant will allow it to increase production “significantly.” The maker of breads, rolls, buns and sauces currently has more than 700 employees in Oakwood, northeast of Atlanta.

ATLANTA (AP) — A second suspect wanted in the shooting and wounding of a police officer in suburban Atlanta is in custody. News outlets report one suspect was arrested soon after the incident, but police said the suspect who allegedly shot the officer was apprehended several hours later. The second suspect faces charges of aggravated assault on a police officer. The Chamblee Police Department says officers spotted a car that was believed to have been used in an armed robbery early Tuesday and tried to stop it.

ATLANTA (AP) — A police officer was shot in suburban Atlanta while chasing two armed robbery suspects. The Chamblee Police Department says officers spotted a car that was believed to have been used in an armed robbery around 12:20 a.m. Tuesday and tried to stop it. The driver sped away, leading officers on a chase that ended with a crash in unincorporated DeKalb County.

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced Monday that he has appointed the city’s interim police chief to fill the position permanently. Darin Schierbaum, who has served as interim chief since June, has been with the Atlanta Police Department for two decades. Dickens said in a news release that Schierbaum shares his vision for public safety in Atlanta and was selected after a national search.

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — A small earthquake shook middle Georgia before dawn Sunday. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that 2.3 magnitude quake struck just north of Milledgeville. The temblor was recorded around 3:30 a.m. Sunday. No damage was reported. The most powerful earthquake to hit Georgia in decades struck in June, a 3.9 magnitude tremor that was centered east of Stillmore, a town between Macon and Savannah.

LYERLY, Ga. (AP) — Three high school football players are among four people who died early Sunday after a car rolled over in northwest Georgia. The Georgia State Patrol says the crash happened just after midnight on Georgia 114 near Lyerly. Chattooga County Superintendent Jared Hosmer says three of the dead were students at Chattooga High School. The school’s football team posted on social media that those three boys had all been football players. A fourth male also died, while a female was hospitalized in critical condition.

EAST DUBLIN, Ga. (AP) — Georgia authorities on Saturday may have found the remains of a man missing a year. Laurens County Sheriff Larry Dean says a deer hunter late Friday found a vehicle registered to Don Hightower off a highway between East Dublin and Wrightsville. Officials found human remains on Saturday after a search. The remains were taken to the state crime lab for identification. Dean says deputies are still investigating.

ATLANTA (AP) — The parents of a 23-year-old Georgia man who died after using kratom have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against about a dozen people, companies and organizations connected to the manufacturing, marketing and sale of the herbal supplement. Extracted from a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia, kratom is used to make capsules, powders and liquids and is marketed as an aid for pain, anxiety and drug dependence.

Authorities say a boy found dead inside a suitcase last spring in rural southern Indiana has been identified as a 5-year-old from Georgia, and the child’s mother and another woman are suspects in his death. Indiana State Police Sgt. Carey Huls said Wednesday the boy was identified as Cairo Ammar Jordan of Atlanta, Georgia. Huls says the boy’s mother, 37-year-old Dejaune Ludie Anderson, and the other woman, 40-year-old Dawn Elaine Coleman, are charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death and obstruction of justice in his death.

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal jury has returned a guilty verdict on six of seven charges against a suspended Georgia sheriff accused of violating the constitutional rights of people in his custody by unnecessarily strapping them into restraint chairs. Victor Hill had been suspended as Clayton County sheriff after his indictment last year. Prosecutors said he had detainees strapped into restraint chairs for hours even though they posed no threat and complied with deputies’ instructions.

ATLANTA – Georgia school systems will receive $51.1 million in federal grants for the purchase of electric school buses, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday. The Clean School Bus Program, announced last May, is aimed at accelerating the nation’s transition to zero-emission vehicles and producing cleaner air in and around schools and their communities.

ATLANTA – Georgia political and business leaders joined with their Korean counterparts Tuesday to break ground on the largest economic development project in the state’s history. Hyundai Motor Group is about to begin construction on a $5.5 billion electric vehicle and battery manufacturing plant in Bryan County expected to create 8,100 jobs when fully built out.

MCDONOUGH, Ga. (AP) — A Dutch company says it will invest $333 million to build a cold storage warehouse in McDonough, Georgia, with plans to hire 170 people. The automated facility planned by NewCold would serve food clients. State officials say it would be the largest single capital investment ever made in Henry County by a business. NewCold has facilities Europe, Australia and the United States.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The mother of a Georgia toddler presumed dead by police says she still hopes he will be found “happy and alive” nearly three weeks after she reported the child missing. Leilani Simon told WTOC-TV she's hopeful someone is taking care of her 20-month-old son, Quinton. Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley has said investigators believe the boy is dead. He also named Simon as the sole suspect in her son's death and disappearance, though she has not been charged.

ATLANTA – Runoff from a growing number of giant solar farms polluting rivers and streams in rural South Georgia is becoming a major concern, an official with the state Environmental Protection Division said Monday. Huge solar farms of up to 1,000 acres are being built on the region’s sandy soil, which is particularly vulnerable to erosion of sediment caused by runoff from solar panels, James Cooley, the EPD’s director of division operations, told members of the Georgia House Rural Development Council meeting in Americus.

ATLANTA – New results from “the nation’s report card” show that Georgia fourth and eighth graders stand about on par with their pre-pandemic performance in reading, but eighth-grade math scores dropped from pre-pandemic levels.  

ATLANTA – Early voting turnout continued to set records in Georgia during the first week of the early voting period. More than 18,100 voters cast early ballots on Sunday, when early voting was only offered in some counties. The Sunday total soared 211% above the early voting mark set on the first day of Sunday early voting ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.