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BEAUFORT, S.C. - Authorities say looters broke into dozens of Beaufort County homes after residents evacuated the area to flee from Hurricane Matthew.
Citing incident reports, The Island Packet of Hilton Head reports that 47 burglary cases were reported to the Sheriff's Office from Oct. 5 through Oct. 11. Eleven of those break-ins were reported on Hilton Head Island, while nine occurred on St. Helena Island.
Bluffton and Beaufort police also received multiple reports of burglaries.

DUNEDIN, Fla. — A Florida man got an unexpected surprise after a 6-foot-long snake popped out of the hood of his car while he was driving along a busy highway.
Tim Mokwa of Clearwater tells news outlets that he was heading home on U.S. Highway 19 in Dunedin when the snake appeared right in front of his windshield.
Mokwa immediately pulled into a Walmart parking lot and recorded video on his phone of the long black snake slithering around on his hood.

MACON - Boeing has announced it is closing its Macon plant by the end of the year, a move that will leave about 120 employees out of work.
News outlets report that the company's Monday announcement came about a year after Boeing had announced it was planning create about 200 more jobs by converting the existing military facility to a commercial airplane manufacturing plant .
Boeing now says the plant will be shutting down in mid-December after about 35 years, citing a reduced demand for large cargo freighters.

The Thomson Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are investigating a shooting that happened Tuesday night around 10 p.m.  in the Springfield Apartment area. 

According to McDuffie County deputy coroner Paul Johnson, the coroner’s office was called to University Hospital McDuffie around 10:30 p.m. Johnson pronounced the shooting victim, 18 year old Brian Tarks, of Lee Drive, Thomson, dead in the emergency room. 

Five men allegedly involved in the sex trafficking of minors were arrested in Athens over the weekend in connection with a nationwide law enforcement action that focused on underage victims of prostitution. 
The action was the 10th iteration of Operation Cross Country, an initiative of the FBI, in partnership with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. 

ATLANTA - A Georgia prisoner who was recently diagnosed with autism should not be put to death, his lawyers argue in court briefs, saying his scheduled execution this week would be unconstitutional.
See photos and information for Georgia's Death Row inmates
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ATLANTA - A federal lawsuit seeks an extension of the voter registration deadline in Georgia's six coastal counties because of disruptions caused by Hurricane Matthew.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit Monday asking a judge to extend the voter registration deadline in Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty and McIntosh counties by six days from a court order. It alleges that by declining to extend the deadline, the state is violating the U.S. Constitution, the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved 15 more counties for individual assistance after Hurricane Matthew.
FEMA said Monday the additional counties are Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper, Lee, Sumter and Williamsburg.
The help can include money for temporary rental assistance and essential home repairs. Low-cost loans are available for uninsured property losses.
Marion and Orangeburg counties were previously approved for individual assistance.

Due to an unexpected technical issue, the launch of the newly redesigned augustachronicle.com will be delayed. The problem was found hours before the website's scheduled launch during a final quality check.
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