Q&A on the News

Q: The Kmart in Mableton is going to close. What is going to take its place? — Mila Waters, Mableton

A: The Kmart store on 5590 Mableton Parkway is among 28 Kmart stores nationwide closing in 2017, according to Sears Holding Corp., which owns Kmart. The company said the store will close in mid-November.

Ross Cavitt, communications director for Cobb County, told Q&A on the News via email that the county’s community development department “has received no plans or requests regarding development of that property.”

Q: What’s the latest news on Jeff Payne, the Salt Lake City police officer who arrested a nurse? — Ronald Green, Newnan

A: Payne, an officer with the Salt Lake City Police Department who arrested a hospital nurse after she refused to draw blood from an unconscious patient, was fired on Oct. 10, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Payne was placed on administrative leave in September during an internal affairs investigation. The incident garnered national media attention after Alex Wubbels, the nurse who Payne arrested, claimed she had been assaulted and arrested without cause. Hospital and bodycam footage shows Payne grabbing and handcuffing Wubbels, who told him it would be illegal for her to draw blood from an unconscious patient unless they were under arrest.

Payne, who worked in the department for 27 years, wants his job back and has appealed the firing, his attorney, Greg Skordas, told the Tribune.

Fast Copy News Service wrote this column; Maggie Scruggs and Dillon Thompson contributed. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).

Jeff Payne