The Elbert County Sheriff's Office is investigating an accident with injuries on highway 17 just outside of Bowman. One vehicle on its side. More details as soon as they are released by the Elbert County Sheriff's Department

The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) announced today the Northeast Georgia area’ unemployment rate in January was 5.2 percent, up two-tenths of a percentage point from 5 percent in December. In January 2016, the rate was 4.9 percent.

The rate rose as the number of jobs declined, while new layoffs increased. These are normal seasonal fluctuations for January.

The number of jobs decreased by 200, or 0.2 percent, to 93,700. Job losses came mostly in local government.

However, over the year, 1,600 jobs were added, a 1.7 percent growth rate, up from 92,100 in January 2016. Most of the job growth came in the service industries, including retail trade, leisure and hospitality, along with state government.

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance, a measure of new layoffs, rose by 275, or 63.8 percent, to 706. Most of the increase came in administrative and support services, along with trade, transportation and warehousing. However, over the year, claims were down by 15, or 2.1 percent, from 721 in January 2016.

The labor force, which consists of employed residents and those who are unemployed, but actively looking for jobs, declined by 999 to 97,571. The number of unemployed residents rose by 221 to 5,065, while the number of employed residents increased by 778 to 92,506. Over the year, the number of people in the labor force increased by 2,224, as the number of employed grew by 1,851 and the number of unemployed increased by 373.

Mrs. Ima Nell Owen Hufstetler

, 92, of E. Tate Street, Elberton, wife of 45 years to the late Loy Leander Hufstetler, entered into rest on Monday, March 13, 2017, at her residence.

Mrs. Hufstetler was born in Elbert County on September 18, 1924, daughter of the late John Shannon Owen, Sr. and Iva Druecilla McGee Owen. She was a graduate of Reinhardt College and worked as a teacher at Rock Branch Elementary School. She was a homemaker, was a seamstress having worked at Elberton Manufacturing Company, and later in life was a substitute teacher for Elbert County School System. She was a member of Francis Asbury United Methodist Church and was an avid quilter, gardener, and piano player.

Left to cherish her memories are her children and their spouses: Janel Thomas of Pomaria, SC, Sarah and Will Schuler of Blackshear, Mary Guest of Elberton, and John and Lynn Hufstetler of Elberton; daughter-in-law, Kay Hufstetler of Elberton; brother, John S., Jr. and Lula Bell Owen of Elberton; twelve grandchildren; fifteen great-grandchildren; six great-great-grandchildren; and a host of other relatives and friends.