EDITOR'S NOTE: The Valdosta Daily Times is presenting a series of articles on candidates running for Georgia's Senate seat. This is the first in the series.

ATLANTA — Georgia reported an additional 3,709 COVID-19 cases Saturday.

ATLANTA — As the state is gripped with dwindling hospital capacity, Gov. Brian Kemp extended the state of emergency and renewed COVID-19 restrictions.

ATLANTA — Dinosaurs have come back from extinction and taken over the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

ATLANTA — Georgia reported an additional 4,149 COVID-19 cases Friday.

ATLANTA — At 11 a.m. Thursday, church bells across Atlanta rang out for Congressman John Lewis.

ATLANTA — Georgia reported an additional 4,045 COVID-19 cases Thursday.

ATLANTA — While lawmakers greeted the casket carrying the late Congressman John Lewis on the steps of the Georgia State Capitol, hundreds of people lined the sidewalks across the street to say goodbye to a man they considered a friend.

ATLANTA — Georgia reported an additional 3,373 COVID-19 cases Wednesday.

DALTON, Ga. — One man is in the Whitfield County jail and the sheriff's office is looking for three others following a "strong-arm" robbery of a trucker at the Pilot Travel Center at 243 Connector 3, south of Dalton, Tuesday morning.

LIVE OAK, Fla. — A woman last seen in Live Oak, Fla., has been missing for  more than two weeks.

ATLANTA — Georgia reported an additional 4,293 COVID-19 cases Tuesday.

DALTON, Ga. — A week after Dalton Public Schools pushed back the start date for students from early August to the end of that month due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Whitfield County Schools has followed suit, selecting the same start date of Aug. 31.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Colquitt County High School and Cairo High School students virtually attended PCOM South Georgia’s annual Science & Math Summer Academy (SMSA) on July 13-18. SMSA is a summer enrichment program for local high school students that encourages them to pursue a career in the healthcare professions.

ATLANTA — Georgia reported an additional 2,890 new COVID-19 cases Monday.

DALTON, Ga. — When the Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority (JDA) was formed 15 years ago, local officials targeted automotive parts as one of the key industries they hoped to attract to the Greater Dalton area to diversify the economy.

ATLANTA — Georgia reported an additional 2,765 new COVID-19 cases Sunday.

LAKELAND — The suspect in a Wednesday shooting incident in Lanier County, who is also wanted in connection with a Florida homicide case, faces numerous felony charges, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Gov. Brian Kemp needs to let mayors be mayors and run their own cities.

DUNWOODY — A lot of toddlers fall and bump their heads.

ATLANTA – Georgia added nearly 3,800 COVID-19 related cases overnight with 82 more deaths, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health’s daily status report.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — For 42 years the Sunbelt Ag Expo has offered farmers the latest in agricultural technology, but the Expo announced Friday that COVID-19 has canceled the show for this year.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — North America's Premier Farm Show, the Sunbelt Ag Expo, has provided a venue for the agricultural industry to conduct business for 42 years. For the first time, since its beginnings in 1978, the gates at Spence Field will not open the third week in October to welcome farmers, their families, and loyal exhibitors as the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition Board of Directors voted to cancel the 43rd Annual show scheduled for Oct. 20-22, the Expo announced this morning.

ATLANTA — In a rarity under the Gold Dome, lawmakers, lawyers and sheriffs agree that the legislature needs to do something about Georgia’s Civil War-era citizen's arrest law.

ATLANTA — Georgia reported more than 4,200 new COVID-19 cases from Wednesday to Thursday.

LAKELAND — The suspect in a Wednesday shooting incident in Lanier County, who is also wanted in connection with a Florida case, has been named by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

DALTON, Ga. — When Dalton Public Schools students return to school for the 2020-21 academic year, masks will be mandated inside the system's buildings, with some exceptions.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — A committee has been working for almost a year on a plan to consolidate voting precincts in Colquitt County. Tuesday night, the Colquitt County Board of Commissioners saw what their plan will look like.

Story updated at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 22:

ATLANTA — Georgia reported 81 COVID-19-related deaths from Tuesday to Wednesday.

COLQUITT — Robin Rau doesn’t think things will ever go back to the way they were.

DALTON, Ga. — When Dalton Public Schools students return to school for the 2020-21 academic year, masks will be mandated inside the system's buildings, with some exceptions.

ATLANTA — Georgia reported another 3,413 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday.

DALTON, Ga. — The new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted nearly every element of American life, from businesses to schools, and cultural institutions like the Creative Arts Guild have also been affected.

ATLANTA — Georgia reported another 2,452 new COVID-19 cases Monday, with only three more deaths reported since Sunday.

ATLANTA — After a speedy process mandated by state law, Georgia Democrats selected state Sen. Nikema Williams to replace the late John Lewis on the November ballot.

THOMASVILLE — Thomasville Police Chief Troy Rich announced Monday he will retire, effective Oct. 5

ATLANTA — John Lewis is being remembered by Georgia and national leaders as a giant of the civil rights movement. 

DALTON, Ga. — A plan to move the statue of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston from the corner of Hamilton Street and Crawford Street in downtown Dalton, where it has stood since 1912, seems to be coming together. But the players still have to find the money to fund the move.

ATLANTA — COVID-19 cases in Georgia rose by more than 3,200 Sunday while only five related deaths were reported across the state.