Chatham County | featured news

Road improvements, local cost for the two-lane Effingham Parkway and the second half of the central recreation complex top the draft wish list for county commissioners in a new round of penny-per-dollar sales tax.

LOS ANGELES — The government has been adamant for weeks: FBI investigators need to unlock an encrypted iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers, and Apple Inc. was the only one that could do it.
In a stunning reversal on Monday, federal prosecutors asked a judge to halt a much-anticipated hearing on their efforts to force Apple to unlock the phone. The FBI may have found another way, and Apple’s cooperation may no longer be needed, according to court papers filed late Monday, less than 24 hours before Tuesday’s hearing.

“We stress the need for screenings for under-served women in our community because early detection saves lives’’

Sarah Denmark, Susan G. Komen Coastal Georgia Affiliate board president

BRUSSELS — More than two dozen people were killed Tuesday when bombs explo

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration stepped up security at major transit hubs across the country after Tuesday’s airport and subway bombings in Brussels, as top U.S. intelligence officials warned of the risk for copycat attacks at home.

Legislature passes pair of pro-military bills

ATLANTA — The House and Senate each passed separate bills unanimously Monday designed to benefit members of the military.
The House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 18, which enables the Technical College System of Georgia to grant academic credit to veterans for training received in the military as long as it’s relevant to the degree sought.
“This is just another avenue we can use to help our soldiers,” said House sponsor Rep. Richard Smith, R-Columbus.

ATLANTA — The state budget approved by a conference committee Monday has money for local projects as well as pay raises for state workers and teachers.
The committee capped days of negotiations Monday morning, and the House and Senate voted on the agreement in the evening on the 39th of the 40 days in the legislative session.
Among the local projects getting funding in the fiscal year that begins July 1 are:
• $2 million for a renovation and expansion of the library at the College of Coastal Georgia

WASHINGTON — Long lines and high interest marked primary contests in three Western states on Tuesday as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton fought to extend their delegate leads in a fresh round of voting for would-be commanders in chief.
The elections in Arizona, Utah and Idaho were largely an afterthought for much of the day as the world grappled with a new wave of bloody attacks in Europe. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a series of blasts in Brussels that left dozens dead and many more wounded.

STOCKHOLM —
Paris, Copenhagen, Brussels. In just over a year three European capitals have been ravaged by bombs and gunfire.
After each attack life slowly returns to normal. But it’s a new normal for Europe, where terror alerts are always on high and where people in cities so far spared major violence assume it’s a matter of when, not if.