City Council Meeting, Chamber Names President

Weather

A high near 92 and sunny skies will make for another nice day, according to the National Weather Service. Expect a low near 62.

The Hazardous Weather Outlook in effect for some time continues, warning that cloud-to-ground lightning, strong winds and heavy rain are possible with pop-up storms.

Meetings

The Cartersville City Council meets at tonight for a work session at 6 and regular business at 7.

Things You Should Know

• To enable motorists to more easily enjoy Labor Day weekend’s figurative end of summer, the is suspending construction-related lane closures beginning at 5 a.m. Friday and extending until 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Department officials remind travelers to exercise caution nonetheless as heavy holiday traffic is expected throughout the state; crews may be still be working in proximity to highways; and safety concerns may require some long-term lane closures remain in place. Also, incident management or emergency, maintenance-related lane closures could become necessary at any time on any route.

“We’ve averaged nearly 2,000 accidents across our state during recent Labor Day weekends,” said Transportation Commissioner Vance C. Smith Jr. in a press release. “On average, more than 15 people die and more than 900 are injured on Georgia roads each year during this holiday. It should be a time of rest and festivities dedicated to working men and women, not of tragedy and grief. Please be very careful and do not drive distracted or while impaired.”

• Joe Frank Harris Jr. was named president and CEO of the , according to media reports. He had been serving as interim president and CEO since Kay Read stepped down about six months ago.

• ends Friday. In Cartersville, mayor and council ward 2, 4 and 6, along with school board posts 3, 4 and at-large, are up for election.

If you're running for office, send us a photo and information about yourself, as we'd like to provide that to our readers. Email brande.poulnot@patch.com.

The following candidates have qualified:

• Mayor Matt Santini qualified for another term, as did current councilmen Jayce Stepp (Ward 2), Lindsey McDaniel Jr. (Ward 4) and Lori Pruitt (Ward 6).
• Current school board members Linda Benton (at-large) and Pat Broadnax (Post 4) also qualified. Saunders Jones III also will vie for the at-large seat. 
• Hoping to fill the Post 3 school board seat of Tim Chason, who is not running again, Clifton Dempsey and Travis Popham qualified.

What's on the Calendar

Get an early start on planning your week and weekend with a selection of events happening this week:

• , which will include a patriotic halftime show honoring military and emergency services workers

See the full calendar and announcements to keep up with what's going on in town and other important information.

Headlines

Don't miss these local headlines — including links from other local media sources — in addition to our regular features:

• Punter Suspended Following Arrest
• Register Now for Brain Bowl

See other headlines from the local media outlets — for , click here and for , click here.