Augusta Chronicle, The

Family Y Opens Larger Evans Location Gym has More Space, Equipment for Members

A new and much larger J.H. and Katherine Marshall Family Y is now open in Lenox Plaza shopping center on Washington Road in Evans. The nearly 12,000-square-foot facility is three times larger than the former Family Y facility in the Eagle Pointe shopping center, said Donna Waite, a family services coordinator for the Y. Employees closed the former operation Nov. 17 and spent three days moving workout equipment and office materials in preparation for the Nov. 20 grand opening.

Season Begins at New Home Tree-Lighting to Be at Amphitheater

A festivity marking the official beginning of the Christmas season in Columbia County has a new home and a new symbol. The county's sixth annual Christmas in America tree-lighting ceremony Saturday will feature a new Carolina sapphire cypress tree donated by Four Seasons Landscaping in Grovetown. The ceremony's new location is the amphitheater and Memorial Gardens next to the Columbia County Library in Evans.

Marshall Shines in Upset Over Elite Team

I know that I just gave readers an update on former Greenbrier basketball star Eric Marshall, but he and his teammates had a recent accomplishment that deserves recognition. Marshall, a senior guard at Wofford, led his Terrier squad in a win over one of the nation's elite basketball programs last weekend. Marshall poured in a game-high 27 points as Wofford beat hoops power Cincinnati 91-90. It is a signature win for a program that is definitely on the rise.

Pelosi Passes Over Candidate to Lead Panel

WASHINGTON - In a decision that could roil Democratic unity in the new House, Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi passed over Rep. Alcee Hastings on Tuesday for the chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee. Mr. Hastings, currently the No. 2 Democrat on the panel, had been aggressively making a case for the top position, supported by members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Festival Will Have Songs, Vendors

McDuffie County will hold a weekend of Christmas events starting with the annual tree-lighting ceremony Friday as Thomson's Festival off Main begins. The evening begins at the Depot, off the city's Main Street, with groups from each local elementary school singing at 6:15 p.m. The arrival of Santa and lighting of the tree will immediately follow.

Community Is Asked to Read

Columbia County officials plan to launch a community reading program at a celebration and ribbon-cutting. One Book, One Community is a reading and discussion program that officials hope will encourage county residents to read.

Six, Including Infant, Killed in Gunbattle

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. soldiers fought with suspected insurgents using a building as a safe house in Ramadi on Tuesday, killing one Iraqi man and five females, ranging in age from an infant to teenagers, the U.S. military said. Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, has been the scene of some of Iraq's fiercest fighting between U.S. forces and Sunni insurgents. It is the capital of Anbar province, where many Iraqi insurgents are based.

Arson Suspicions Fade in Blaze at Group Home

ANDERSON, Mo. - Investigators expect to rule out arson as the cause of a fire that killed 10 people at a group home for the elderly and mentally ill, a police spokesman said Tuesday. Sgt. Jason Clark of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said investigators didn't have any suspects or persons of interest in the blaze, which authorities had previously described as suspicious.

Ethics Reform, Stem Cells On Reid's Agenda

WASHINGTON - Ethics reform, a higher minimum wage and more money for stem cell research are the top items on the Senate agenda next year, incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press. Mr. Reid said he will tackle those priorities after cleaning up the "financial mess" the outgoing Republican leadership has left. He was referring to nine long overdue appropriations bills covering 13 Cabinet departments for the budget year that began Oct. 1.

Death of Elderly Woman Mourned

EAST POINT, Ga. - Friends and family Tuesday mourned the death of an elderly woman shot and killed during a shootout with plainsclothes narcotics officers who broke down the door of her home. Kathryn Johnston was killed during the Nov. 21 incident after she shot at and wounded three officers who entered her home looking for cocaine based on tips from an informant, according to the police search warrant.

Relatives of Victim Meet Bloomberg

NEW YORK - Mayor Michael Bloomberg met Tuesday with the family of a man killed outside a strip club on his wedding day by a barrage of police gunfire, the second day in a row he has reachedout to angry community members. The 50-bullet police volley - likened to a "firing squad" by the Rev.Al Sharpton - killed 23-year-old Sean Bell after his bachelor party, hurt two of his friends and ignited concerns over police tactics. The three men were unarmed. Mr. Bloomberg went to the family's chur...

Ex-Guards Charged in Boot Camp Death

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Seven former juvenile boot camp guards were charged with aggravated manslaughter Tuesday over their videotaped manhandling of a 14-year-old boy who later died, a case that led to the dismantling of the state's military-style detention system for young offenders. Also charged was a nurse who can be seen watching on the tape as the men repeatedly knee and hit Martin Lee Anderson, who had collapsed while doing group exercises at the Bay County sheriff's camp in Panama City on ...

Doctors Call Face Surgery a Success

PARIS - A year after a Frenchwoman received the world's first partial face transplant, doctors say the operation was a success and she is gaining more and more sensitivity and facial mobility. As British and American doctors work on plans for a first full- face transplant, the medical team at the hospital in Amiens in northern France issued a new photo and a statement Monday, exactly a year after they transplanted the lips, nose and chin of a brain- dead woman onto Isabelle Dinoire.

Universities to Do Some Recruiting During Classic

What do the University of Indiana, Stanford, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Nevada, Clemson and South Carolina have in common? They all are recruiting high school basketball players who will be in town this weekend for the Garden City Classic.

Pontiff Talks Outreach On Turkish Trip

ANKARA, Turkey - Pope Benedict XVI urged leaders of all religions Tuesday to "utterly refuse" to support any form of violence in the name of faith, and Turkey's top Muslim cleric complained to the pontiff of growing "Islamophobia" in the world. As he began his first visit to a Muslim country - a trip that drew extraordinary security but few onlookers - Benedict sought a careful balance as he extended friendship and brotherhood to Muslims, hoping to end the outcry from many Muslims over his r...

Much of U.S. Oil, Gas Off Limits, Study Says

WASHINGTON - About half the oil and more than a quarter of the natural gas inventoried on 99 million acres of federal land are off limits to drilling because of significant environmental and other restrictions, the government said Tuesday in a new report the energy industry sought as part of a campaign to win access to it. Only 3 percent of the oil and 13 percent of gas under federal lands is accessible under standard lease terms requiring only basic protections for the environment and cu...

Critics Say Study On Future of Fish Is Flawed

MONTEREY, Calif. - The sky isn't falling and the fish will still be around in midcentury, according to fishermen and critics of a recent article that forecast a bleak future for the fishing industry. The article, published Nov. 3 in the magazine Science, predicted the collapse of all of the world's fisheries by 2048, based on declining fish harvest numbers and other research.

Evans Middle School Honor Roll

First Nine Weeks Sixth Grade A Honor Roll Miranda Albert, Kayla Anderson, Ryan Baker, Scott Baker, Richard Barden, Annsley Boulineau, Lacy Bracci, William Bruss, Corey Burke, Johnnie Burkett, Britton Carter, Michael Clancy, Christy Cockerham, Ciara Cosby, Denou Dixon, Caroline Edmonds, Courtney Farmer- Angermeier, Carly Flores, Joshua Gilmartin, Savanna Gladue, Amber Greenway, Brittany Hartman, Jaron Hasty, Alex Hutchinson, Angel Johnson, Alexis Kenny, Catherine Kenyon, Brijuanna Key, Moll...

City Hit with Bird Flu Begins Animal Slaughters

IKSAN, South Korea - A 2-year-old dachshund barked chained to its dingy, wooden house Tuesday, unaware of its fate as South Korea began slaughtering hundreds of dogs, cats and pigs in an effort to stem the spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. The dog's owner, Im Soon-duck - like many villagers - was more concerned about losing her three pigs than the dog, which was a present from her daughter.

Movies for the Military Woman Ships Off Donated Dvds Overseas

Spurred by the request of her brother serving in the Army in Iraq, a Thomson woman has come up with a way to help ease the tension of deployed service men and women. Melissa Threlkeld, a member of Columbia County Memorial Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6445 in Harlem, has started a drive to collect DVDs and DVD players to send to deployed troops.