GBI probes complaint against chief deputy

Warren County's chief sheriff's deputy is being probed by the GBI after someone alleged the officer pointed a firearm at him at a Christmas gathering, the McDuffie Progress reports.

(Editor's note: Warren County Sheriff Joe Peebles is my father. Ninety-nine percent of you reading this blog probably already know that, I know. It's just the principle of the thing.) 

Warrenton Hometown Christmas pictures

WarrenCountyGa.com has some good pictures of the 2014 Hometown Christmas event by Michael Huebener at this link.

Warren wages have risen over the past decade

Some good economic news for Warren County: Average annual pay has increased in Warren County over the past decade, according to federal data analyzed by the Wall Street Journal. 

Wages in Warren County have increased 5.6 percent from 2004 to last year, to slightly more than $34,000 per year, the Journal reports via this interactive map.  The figures were adjusted for inflation.

The statistics are even better in Hancock County, where wages have gone up 11 percent in the past decade, the data show -- though that brings the average annual pay of Hancock Countians to only $31,000 per year.

Taliaferro County average pay has gone up by 3.2 percent over the same time period, the data show.

If Warren, Hancock and Taliferro were winners, then some of their neighbors were losers. Annual wages in Glascock County shrank by a third over the past decade, while wages in Washington County dropped 17 percent, and wages in Jefferson County slipped nine percent.

The Journal says a wages have gone down in a third of all counties in the U.S. over the past decade.

Warren County: Men at work

A greater percentage of men in Warren County have chosen to work than in parts of many surrounding counties — that's according to Census data made public by the New York Times.

The Times has taken an in-depth look at the phenomena of more and more men choosing not to work and the reasons for it: They include both the iffy economy as well as larger societal changes. (Keep in mind, this is different from unemployment, in which a person is capable of working and wants to work but cannot find a job.)

The Times' story comes with an interactive map showing the Census Bureau's estimates of the percentage of men in each Census tract in America who have chosen not to work.

Twenty-eight percent of men in Warren County's smaller Census tract — which includes much of Warrenton and reaches southeast to the Panhandle — have chosen not to work, according to the Census Bureau, while 18 percent of men in the county's larger Census tract have chosen not to work. That works out to almost a third of the men in the smaller tract and nearly one out of every five in the larger tract.

(It bears pointing out that the margin for error of these very small, rural Census tracts is really substantial — plus or minus 12 percentage points for the larger tract, and plus or minus nine percentage points for the smaller tract.)

But the numbers are even more substantial for some of our neighboring counties:
• In McDuffie County, one Census tract has an estimated 47 percent of men who aren't working (margin of error, 11 points)
• In Wilkes County, one tract has an estimated 62 percent not working (margin of error, 11 points)
• In eastern Hancock County, 76 percent of men aren't working (margin of error, six points)
• In one tract in Washington County, 68 percent of men aren't working (margin of error, five points)
• In central Jefferson County, 55 percent of men aren't working (margin of error, nine points).

You can see the complete interactive map for yourself at this link. The data used in it came from the Census' American Community Survey estimates from 2009 to last year.

'I will never forget where I come from': Former Screaming Devil makes her name in Arizona

ArizonaWildcats.com has a profile of Arizona women's basketball star and Warrentonian Candice Warthen:

“I grew up in a small town with not many people,” Warthen says. “I am very family oriented so I think that has a huge impact on how I am today. When it comes to my dad, I didn’t get to know him all too well, but I hear stories about him all of the time. My city and family are things that follow me everywhere I go and I will never forget where I come from.”

Shoulda put a ring on it? Hancock County, Ga., among nation's most-single counties

The folks at FlowingData have mapped some Census data showing relationship status by county, and Hancock County makes the list of counties with the highest proportion of most-single/never married folks.

Warren County writer, blogger Harriette Jacobs killed in apparent homicide, police say

Jacobs, the author of the "South of the Gnat Line" blog, was shot to death last weekend. Her husband has been charged with her death, authorities said.

Sparta man charged with robbing Warrenton's Citizens Bank

From the Augusta Chronicle story by Donna Stillinger:

Warren County Chief Deputy Sammy Purvis said a man entered the bank about 1:20 p.m. and demanded money. As he ran away, a dye pack placed with the cash exploded, leaving a trail for police to follow.

Evidence at the crime scene led the Georgia Bur­eau of Investigation and FBI to Ruff’s home. He was taken to Warren County and charged with armed robbery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.