Police were led on a chase from Headland to Dothan, ending in a pit maneuver, according to reports.
Reports indicate a female driver in a truck led Headland Police on a chase into the Dothan city limits before turning onto Ross Clark Circle and driving up Denton Road.
Law enforcement used the pit maneuver to stop the vehicle, and Dothan Police were able to detain the driver.
The chase ended near Catalina Drive in Dothan.
RSN is still working to obtain more information. The chase is under investigation
After a small risk of excessive rainfall on Saturday, temperatures are expected to plummet, and the National Weather Service says there is a chance of wintry precipitation, including snow, sleet, or freezing rain between Tuesday morning and Wednesday night.
It’s still unclear how models will trend in regards to snow, but the region is expecting freezing temperatures and wind chills in the teens next week. Icy roads are also a risk.
Dothan City Schools and Enterprise City Schools said they are monitoring the weather, and there’s a chance they may close.
A warming shelter will open Sunday, Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center behind the main church building at 300 West Main Street. It will remain open until noon Jan. 23. Meals and cots will be provided. The doors will be locked at 9 p.m. each night.
The last time it snowed in Dothan was on February 12, 2010, when a slight dusting covered the area.
Property owners grilled the Early County Board of Education at Thursday’s public hearing on Georgia House Bill 581, also known as the Save Our Homes Act.
HB 581 limits the amount of tax increases allowed on the assessed value of homestead properties to the rate of inflation. The cap on increased taxes was set to begin Jan. 1 unless local governments or school districts choose to take advantage of a one-time chance to opt-out.
It was the opinion of the Early County School System that opting out would allow the district to maintain control over local tax policy, possibly preventing future tax increases. They say since property values in Early County didn’t rise, most wouldn’t see a lower tax rate.
Opting out means the board can keep collecting tax revenue with no caps in place, according to the school system’s website.
The tense meeting was attended by around 75 property owners and citizens.
The opposition
Over 60% of Georgia voters passed the measure in the last election, and Early County voters passed it by 56%.
“I think the issue right now is that citizens just don’t want to keep pouring money into something they see that is deteriorating,” one person in the meeting claimed. “Please understand that the citizens are suffering… We voted for it, and you guys got voted in by the people who voted for it. Please listen to your constituents.”
Another woman directly asked the board and superintendent a question of allegations that teachers were leaving the school system, but the superintendent directed the conversation back to the house bill itself, saying people could submit other questions and issues through a form provided at the meeting.
The woman later got up and left the meeting, calling it “a waste of time.”
“Taxpayers are just financially exhausted… every time we possibly get tax relief, every time we possibly get a break, somebody else is voting to raise the taxes,” one person said.
The state of Georgia passed a law allowing vouchers to send kids to private school, similar to Alabama’s new CHOOSE Act.
One person in the audience related the issue of underperforming schools to bullying and gang violence.
One board member stood to address the issue, saying that part of the issue holding kids back was federal funds being used to prosecute people in the war on drugs instead of funding schools.
One man in the audience piped up:
“But that goes back — you give the government more money, you get no results, period. Y’all are government, plain and simple. You keep feeding the beast, it’s not going to solve it.”
Officials’ opinion
Officials insisted opting out of the tax cap would be better for everyone in the long run.
They said property owners would only get a reduction on homestead taxes if their homes were appraised over the inflationary rate, so there’s a chance nothing could actually change.
“The value of property in Early County didn’t increase over the inflationary rate, so there would be no effect,” said Jennifer Brown, the ECSS superintendent. “Some people think this is automatically a reduction in their taxes, and it’s not.”
Opting out would have no effect on the current senior tax exemption, Brown noted.
School systems are capped at levying a maximum of 20 mills. For 2024, the school system was at 15.9 mills.
Officials said that if they opted in and saw a loss of revenue for schools, the tax burden could be shifted elsewhere, forcing the school system to increase taxes on other properties, such as farmland, businesses or rental properties.
“You’re going to win-win on your house, but you’re going to lose-lose on your farm,” one person said at the meeting.
The tax cap would require a new property assessment every three years. Selling a home or making significant changes would reset that cap.
While HB 581 said there’s a chance for localities to add a one-cent sales tax, school systems don’t have that ability.
ECSS has seen a lower number of students, but Brown said that wasn’t just a local problem.
“We’ve lost 25 percent of our student population in the past 10 years,” she said. “It’s not an Early County problem, it’s a rural problem.”
Teachers themselves seem to be in favor of the board’s inclination to opt-out, Brown said.
Regarding the rumors of teachers being lost, while some teachers have left or retired, Brown said, “We’re fully staffed right now. All of our classrooms have a teacher.”
Brown attributed low scores to the fact standardized testing doesn’t leave any room for students’ strengths other than in reading and math.
“Just like every school system, we teach by the Georgia standard. We provide a lot of support and interventions,” she said. “If your area of strength is not reading or math, it doesn’t get reflected on the standardized test. We are working to find the area each child is strong in and propel them forward with that strength.”
In 2023, Early County’s graduation rate was 88.41 percent, higher than the Georgia average of 84.4 percent at the time.
Moving forward
The school system said they only have one chance to opt-out, and they can opt-in in the future through local legislation; however, if they opt-in now, it’s currently unclear if they’ll be able to back out.
The board is set to officially vote on whether to opt-in or opt-out at the meeting on Tuesday, January 21 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time at the Early County Administrative and Training Site at 40 Harold Ragan Drive in Blakely. There will be discussion about the measure before the board officially casts their votes. The third and final public hearing begins at 6 p.m. Eastern time.
Brown said she hoped people would understand this isn’t a tax cut, and that it’s a complicated issue.
“The Early County Board of Education as well as myself are all taxpayers ourselves. Our goal is to make the best decisions for what’s in the best interest of the Early County School System,” she said. “We are good stewards of taxpayer money. We don’t anticipate arbitrarily raising taxes, but we do have to operate a school system and educate children.”
UPDATE: The deceased was identified as 62-year-old Dennis Prescott from Arkansas. He was in town visiting a friend.
Rescue units are responding to a wreck on South County Road 21 at Penny Point in Dale County.
Early reports indicate a blue van and gold SUV collided. The extent of injuries is currently unclear, but early reports indicate injuries are possibly serious.
There is a heavy police presence in the area, and County Road 21 at Penny Point is closed.
Dale County Sheriffs and Ozark EMS are on the scene.
Below is a release from the Dothan Police Department:
This week, the Dothan Police Department VICE and Narcotics Division served 10 search warrants on various addresses as the culmination of several investigations into illegal activity in the City of Dothan. During the search warrant execution on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, Investigators were able to recover 15 firearms, three vehicles, 4.5 pounds of marijuana, 15 grams of methamphetamine, 20 grams of crack cocaine, 3 grams of powder cocaine, 12 hydrocodone pills, three morphine pills, and $14,300 in illegal proceeds. Several individuals were taken into custody during this operation, and the investigation is still ongoing with more arrests possible.
On Wednesday, January 15, 2025, Investigators served a search warrant at a residence in Dothan. During this search, investigators located eleven (11) firearms as well as 22 grams of marijuana.
On Thursday, January 16, 2025, Investigators served three search warrants at various addressed in Dothan. During those three searches, investigators seized three (3) firearms, 14 grams of methamphetamine, two pounds of marijuana, and $13,000 cash.
On Friday, January 17, 2025, investigators served six search warrants at various addresses in Dothan. During those searches, investigators seized 20 grams of crack cocaine, over four pounds of marijuana, 3 grams of powder cocaine, 12 hydrocodone pills, 3 morphine pills, 1 gram of methamphetamine, a shotgun, and $1,300 cash.
Through diligent and thorough investigations, investigators have assured these drugs will be off the streets, 15 guns are not being used to commit crimes, and $14,300 cash cannot be used to buy more guns and drugs. The Dothan Police Department is committed to making the City of Dothan as safe as possible through the enforcement of the laws of the State of Alabama.
Due to the sensitive nature of the investigations, no further information can be released.
