CONYERS, Ga. (AP) — More than 90,000 residents in a county east of Atlanta were told to keep sheltering in place before the order was lifted Monday night, and businesses were told to stay closed a day after a chemical plant fire sent a massive plume of dark smoke high into the sky that could been seen for miles.

CONYERS, Ga. (AP) — Some residents east of Atlanta were evacuated while others were told to shelter in place Sunday to avoid contaminants from a chemical plant fire that sent a massive plume of dark smoke high into the sky that could be seen from miles away.

SMYRNA, Ga. (AP) — Two Georgia police officers were wounded and a man was killed during a shooting inside a suburban Atlanta retailer.

The damage caused by Hurricane Helene when it tore through southern Georgia early Friday morning was widespread and indiscriminate. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said that the death toll in the state stands at 11, with one of those being a first responder. Dozens more are still trapped, he said, and millions are without power.

A TV weather reporter in Atlanta interrupted his live shot about Hurricane Helene Friday to rescue a woman from a vehicle stranded by rising floodwaters.

ATLANTA — Georgia Power’s response to Hurricane Helene continued through the day Friday with teams working safely and quickly to restore power to more than 250,000 customers since the beginning of the storm. As of 7 PM on Friday, approximately 620,000 customers remain impacted due to the storm.

ATLANTA — As Hurricane Helene approaches the coast of Florida, Georgia Power is making its final preparations to respond to anticipated widespread damage and potential for extended power outages across the state.

ATLANTA – The U.S. Commerce Department gave initial approval on Thursday to more than $1.3 billion in federal funding to expand broadband connectivity in Georgia.

ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency in Georgia Tuesday with Tropical Storm Helene expected to make landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane Thursday night.

ATLANTA – For the seventh year in a row, Georgia public school students outperformed their counterparts in the nation’s public schools on the SAT, the state Department of Education reported Wednesday. Georgia public school students recorded a mean score of 1030, 35 points higher than the national average for public school students of 995.

WINDER, Ga. (AP) — Students poured into Apalachee High School on Tuesday for their first day of class after a student killed two of their peers and two teachers and injured nine other people almost three weeks ago at the campus northeast of Atlanta.

ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate rose in August for the fourth month in a row, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. The state’s jobless rate of 3.6% last month was up two-tenths from July’s 3.4% but still six-tenths lower than the national unemployment rate. However, Georgia continued to set workforce records in August.

NEW YORK (AP) — Less than two weeks before his 100th birthday, former President Jimmy Carter is receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation, which has set aside its longstanding rule that the winner accept the honor in person.

ATLANTA — Georgia’s mental health agency is partnering with the University System of Georgia to place decals listing the 988 suicide and crisis hotline number in the dorm rooms of every public college and university campus.

ATLANTA — Georgia colleges and universities may directly compensate student-athletes for the use of their name, image, and likeness under an executive order Gov. Brian Kemp issued Tuesday.

ATLANTA – Georgia broke tourism records last year for the second year in a row, setting an all-time high for visitors, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Tuesday.

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical storm conditions were expected along a stretch of the southeastern U.S. coast with a system bringing gusty winds, heavy rain and potential flooding, forecasters said Monday. The storm system was expected to reach the South Carolina coast Monday afternoon and then move inland across the Carolinas from Monday night through Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons hosted the football team from Apalachee High School a week after a shooting left two students and two teachers dead.

ATLANTA (AP) — The student accused of killing four people in a Georgia high school shooting rode the school bus that morning with a semiautomatic rifle concealed in his backpack, investigators confirmed Thursday.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri's Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday over whether an abortion-rights amendment should go before voters this year. No injuries were reported and Delta said passengers would be rebooked on other flights.

WINDER, Ga. (AP) — Many students in Georgia's Barrow County headed back to class Tuesday, six days after a student killed two teachers and two students at the school district's Apalachee High School northeast of Atlanta.

ATLANTA – A former supervisor in the Glynn County Department of Public Works has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud. William Richards, 51, of Brunswick also was ordered to pay more than $420,000 in restitution of funds he illegally gained from fraudulent charges to government purchasing cards.

ATLANTA – Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Monday predicted smooth elections in the Peach State this year despite rules changes being imposed by a State Election Board he called “a mess.” Raffensperger told members of the Atlanta Rotary Club that reforms his office and the General Assembly have made since the last presidential election in 2020 should give voters confidence that the voting process is fair and honest.

VOLGA, S.D. (AP) — Two people have died in an accident at a farm silo in South Dakota. The Brookings County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post that the accident happened just before noon Saturday on a farm near Volga in eastern South Dakota.

ATLANTA (AP) — The mother of a student in class with the boy accused of killing four people in a Georgia high school shooting says information that school officials were warned that the boy was having a crisis shows the shooting could have been prevented.