Across Georgia

Hot-weather bacteria halt oyster harvesting

BRUNSWICK --- Oyster harvesting on Georgia's coast is off limits for three months to protect people eating the shellfish from bacteria sometimes found in warm summer waters.

The state Department of Natural Resources says the ban on commercial and recreational harvesting started Friday and continues until October.

Dominic Guadagnoli, the DNR's shellfish program manager, says Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) bacteria is found in filter-feeding shellfish when estuarine water temperatures exceed 81 degrees.

Summer is spawning season, and the combination of reproduction and warm water makes oyster flesh less desirable.

May through September accounts for less than 2 percent of Georgia's annual harvest. Mr. Guadagnoli says commercial oystermen have long been aware of the Vp threat and fully support the closure.

Storm in Savannah is confirmed as tornado

SAVANNAH --- Weather officials have confirmed that a tornado hit Savannah last week, damaging a fire station and snapping trees.

Joe Calderone with the National Weather Service in Charleston, S.C., says the twister cut a mile-long swath through the south side of the city on Thursday, spinning winds up to 100 mph. It was part of a storm system that sent trees crashing through three mobile homes and blew the steeple off a church.

The storm left 31,000 homes and businesses without power.

Mr. Calderone says the majority of the damage in the city was caused by strong straight-line winds and not the tornado. No injuries were reported.

Husband held in death of wife, her roommate

DECATUR --- Someone shot and killed two women in their home Sunday, sending their six terrified children fleeing to nearby houses.

The husband of one woman was charged with the killings, what investigators believe culminated a domestic dispute.

Police responding to a 911 call from neighbors after 5 a.m. found the door ajar and the victims inside, shot several times.

The children -- ranging from an infant to 11 years old -- were unharmed.

The women were identified as Victoria Renfroe, 24, and Andrea Smith, 27, DeKalb County Police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said.

Ms. Renfroe's husband, Demetrius Russell, 34, was picked up hours after the shooting and charged Sunday night with two counts of murder.

Ms. Parish could not say whether the children witnessed the shooting.