School system receives $3.1 million grant

TIFTON — Sen. Greg Kirk and Rep. Clay Pirkle joined Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle along with local school officials from Tift County for a check presentation highlighting the $3.1 million grant the system received to create the Tift College and Career Academy. The construction project at Tift County High School will add a healthcare science suite which will include five classrooms and two laboratories. One lab will be set up like hospital rooms while the second lab will be multipurpose for pharmacy, sports medicine and emergency responder pathways. The agriculture programs will get two new classrooms and two new labs, while the mechatronic area also expands. The expansion will also allow for better space for the current cosmetology program and the beginning of new computer science, engineering design and AV production pathways. There will be equipment upgrades to match industry standards in mechatronics, metals/construction and business labs.

 

Metro Dalton’s unemployment rate jumps to 7.1 percent

DALTON, Ga. — Metro Dalton’s unemployment rate in January was 7.1 percent, up from 6 percent in December, according to the Georgia Department of Labor. In January 2016, the rate was also 7.1 percent. Metro Dalton is Whitfield and Murray counties. The department said the rate increased “as the number of jobs declined, while the number of new layoffs increased. These are normal seasonal fluctuations for January.” Metro Gainesville and the Georgia Mountains region had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.8 percent, while the Three Rivers region had the highest at 7.4 percent. Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for January was 5.5 percent, the same as a revised 5.5 percent in December. It was 5.6 percent in January 2016.