Veterans office closing for a week for training

ATLANTA — Offices of the Georgia Department of Veterans Service will be closed for several days this month.

Agency officials say staff will participate in annual training from Monday through Friday. They say the closure includes all veterans field service offices. The offices will reopen July 24. Georgia Department of Veterans Service Commissioner Mike Roby calls the training “the most thorough and intense” the department has held. He says it will include experts with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Officials: Suspect in Georgia deputy’s shooting kills self

CUMMING — A man suspected of shooting and wounding a Georgia sheriff’s deputy killed himself after an armed standoff with officers, authorities said Sunday.

The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement released Sunday night on its Facebook page that “the situation has been resolved,” and that the suspect had taken his own life. The statement said no additional deputies or other people had been injured.

Area news media reported the deputy was shot in a subdivision in the northern part of the county, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta.

The deputy suffered leg wounds and was taken to a local hospital where he was being treated for “non-life threatening injuries,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

The deputy was investigating a report of a domestic disturbance when he was shot, the sheriff’s office statement said.

“Upon arrival, deputies were attempting to get the subject to come outside to speak with them when they came under significant gunfire from the residence. Deputies returned the gunfire,” the statement said.

The shooting triggered an hours-long standoff.

The sheriff’s office said its negotiators and SWAT team members converged on the scene, along with officers from neighboring counties, and the house was surrounded.

Officials encouraged area residents to stay in their homes until the incident was resolved.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was also called in to assist.

Honeymooning Ga. couple accused of kidnapping, raping woman

HIALEAH, Fla. — Authorities say a Georgia couple honeymooning in south Florida have been charged with kidnapping and raping a woman.

Rashada Hurley and Timothy Lowe are jailed in Miami-Dade County on kidnapping, carjacking, robbery and sexual battery charges. The 32-year old Hurley and 37-year old Lowe have been denied bond on the kidnapping charges and are awaiting trial.

Police say the newlyweds beat and kidnapped a woman at a Hialeah, Florida, supermarket parking lot, drove her to a motel and raped her. The Miami Herald reports the next day the couple entered a convenience store naked and grabbed a couple of sodas without paying. Police arrested the naked couple a block away from the store. Jail records do not list a Georgia hometown for either Hurley or Lowe.

Georgia’s largest public beach considers limits to fireworks

TYBEE ISLAND — City officials of Georgia’s largest public beach are considering new fireworks restrictions after being bombarded with complaints during the Fourth of July holiday.

The Savannah Morning News reports the city council on Tybee Island is considering a ban on people shooting fireworks from the beach, island parks and other city-owned property without a $100 special use permit. The proposed ordinance wouldn’t affect the island’s professional fireworks display that draws big crowds to the beach every July 4.

Council member Barry Brown says he’s worried about residents and visitors setting homes ablaze with fireworks. Brown says his phone rang throughout the night this past holiday with residents complaining about noise.