Gingrey: I'll 'Stand Strong for Christian, Conservative, Moral Values'

The representative of Georgia’s 11th district discussed the economy, gay marriage, Obamacare and this year’s presidential race Monday night.

On the heels of President Barack Obama's stated support of gay marriage, Congressman Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta, addressed the issue during a town-hall meeting Monday night at Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw. “I don’t like the secularism that’s occurring in this country one bit and I think it is incumbent upon those of us [that] stand strong, to stand very strong, in regard to that and say ‘look, Billy and I believe that marriage is a sacrament,’” Gingrey said. “I’m not ashamed to say that, and I won’t be ashamed to say that, and I hope our nominee on my side of the aisle will not back away from saying that and stand strongly.”  Gingrey, who is up for reelection this fall, said he will continue to “stand strong for Christian, …

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School Jobs Cut; Teens Take Deal; Soldier Returns

Get a recap of all the major headlines we had April 22-28.

The Paulding County School System is set to cut 53 positions for the next fiscal year follow action taken by the school board Tuesday. Paulding students reached for the gold at Thursday’s Special Olympics event held at Hiram High School. See our video highlights of the event here, and then share your photos and videos from the event at this link. Six students from the Paulding area who received scholarships for the 2011-2012 academic year were recently recognized at a scholarship reception hosted by Georgia Highlands College. Today marks your last chance to pay cheaper entry fees in a 5K set to benefit Paulding County Schools. And in even more school-related news, 24 teens are set to avoid court dates after taking a deal from the Paulding …

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Newt Expected To Nix Presidential Bid

The former Georgia-based House Speaker is likely to announce the end of his GOP presidential bid on Tuesday.

Winning his home state might have been the high point of Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign, which hadn’t been able to pick up steam since that victory on Super Tuesday. Now, following a Tuesday where opponent Mitt Romney swept to easy victories in five primary states in the Northeast, the former Georgia congressman is likely to call it quits. Early next week, the former House Speaker is expected to put a formal end to his bid to become the Republican Party nominee. CNN reported that two unnamed sources close to Gingrich said the former East Cobb Congressman would suspend his campaign in Washington on Tuesday. According to Fox News, a campaign source said Gingrich would then endorse former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.  Former …

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Bill Heath Announces Reelection Campaign

The Republican from Bremen would continue to represent Paulding if selected again by the voters.

State Sen. Bill Heath, R-Bremen, announced on Wednesday his intention to seek reelection to the 31st Senate District. “It is a great honor to serve the people of Paulding, Haralson and Polk counties in the State Senate. I have decided to seek re-election because I strongly believe that now, perhaps more than ever before, it is critical that we have rock solid conservatives in our state legislature,” Heath said in a news release. Heath was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 2005 after serving in the House of Representatives. He currently represents the 31st District, which includes Haralson and Polk counties and portions of Bartow and Paulding counties. After the redistricting of 2011, the new 31st District will comprise Haralson, Polk …

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Cobb Accepts Sunday Sales Revote

The elections board's decision means a July 31 referendum is likely, and sales could start Aug. 12.

Paulding Voters Give Gingrich the Green Light

Newt Gingrich took the state Tuesday with the help of local voters, who supported him even more than their fellow Georgians.

Though Paulding County’s election results weren’t completely tabulated until nearly three and a half hours after the polls closed, it didn’t take long to see how county voters were leaning. Throughout the night, each voting precinct’s results showed that more than half of Paulding residents that headed to the polls favored Newt Gingrich in the Republican race for the White House. (See the recap of last night’s live blog from the county’s elections office.) None of the 14 precincts had Gingrich pulling less than 50 percent of their voters. When the final totals were released just before 10:30 p.m., the candidate had earned 7,949 votes—55.4 percent of the ballots that went to GOP candidates. Gingrich has been no stranger to Paulding in …

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Devey Edges Out Brown in Close Race

Thirteen votes separated the two candidates who sought to become Hiram’s mayor.

Both candidates for Hiram’s mayoral race were on hand at the Paulding County elections office Tuesday to see firsthand the results of their race. At nearly 8 p.m., just under an hour since the polls closed, it was Doris Devey that had edged out Don Brown—13 votes made the difference. “Right now, I can tell you I’m very shocked,” Devey said. “It was a great race—Don ran a great race right there along with me—we stood down there today side by side. I think either one of us that would’ve won would do well for the citizens of Hiram.” Devey earned 97 votes to Brown’s 84; three write-in votes were tabulated. Election-day polling favored Brown, as he took 46 votes to Devey’s 37. But the latter was boosted by absentee-in-person and absentee-by-…

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