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Temporary closure of Booker Alley begins July 18 for stormwater project

Updated: 31 minutes ago

Temporary closure of Booker Alley begins July 18 for stormwater project

Citizen tip leads to arrest of three juveniles in Valdosta car break-in

Updated: 32 minutes ago

Citizen tip leads to arrest of three juveniles in Valdosta car break-in

Albany mother pleads for answers after bullets pierce home

Updated: 2 hours ago

Officials say they’re unsure if those were entry or exit holes.

Deputies arrest two armed suspects following vehicle break-in attempt

Updated: 2 hours ago

Lee County deputies arrested two suspects over the weekend following a vehicle break-in attempt that led to a foot pursuit and the recovery of stolen property and a firearm.

Bridge replacement leads to 2-week-long road closure in Colquitt County

Updated: 2 hours ago

The closure started on Monday, July 14, and will last for about two weeks, depending on weather conditions, according to a post by BOC.

Bainbridge road near Walmart set to close for resurfacing

Updated: 2 hours ago

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Officials in Albany are pushing back against the Trump administration’s decision to shut down the nationwide Job Corps program.

The program was created during the 1960s and provides low-income students with housing, education and career training.

A statement last week from the U.S. Department of Labor said Job Corps was financially challenged and rife with reports of violence and drug use.

“A startling number of serious incident reports and our in-depth fiscal analysis reveal the program is no longer achieving the intended outcomes that students deserve,” said Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

But Albany Mayor Bo Dorough on Tuesday defended the program, which employs about 500 students and 300 staff members in the Albany area.

Those students and staff, who come from throughout the Southeast, now face the abrupt end of their jobs.

“I see these notices about the problems at the Job Corps facilities throughout the country,” Dorough said. “And you know it’s just a hatchet job because it ignores the thousands, the tens of thousands of success stories.”

He said that students have been told to leave their dormitories by next Friday, a move he called “inhumane.”

Albany City Commissioner Jon Howard, whose ward includes the program’s 128-acre campus just east of downtown, said many of its residents don’t have anywhere else to live.

“It’s time to put personalities to the side and think what is the best for those students that are homeless and where can they go,” Howard said. “There’s a huge liability risk with students or anybody that we have to stay in town.”

Former students and staff members of the Albany complex, which is called Turner Job Corps, have expressed their sadness and disappointment in hundreds of comments on social media.

“It is a tragic, unfortunate and wrong-headed decision to close the facility down,” Dorough said. “The decision was made without any deliberation.”

The closure is another blow for Southwest Georgia, coming weeks after Georgia-Pacific announced that it will close its containerboard mill in Early County, ending about 500 jobs.

A Job Corps center in Brunswick also is slated for closure.

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - An Albany attorney is named in formal complaints by the State Bar of Georgia, alleging probable cause that he committed three separate ethics violations.

WALB has all 145 pages in the three documents filed with the Supreme Court of Georgia, outlining alleged disciplinary violations of Georgia ethical rules of professional conduct by Attorney Joe Durham. Two petitions were filed in November 2024 and another in April 2025.

The first petition, filed on November 15, 2024, alleges Durham sent a letter to a family he was suing for defamation on behalf of his client, who alleges they had they had created a GoFundMe account implying his client had a mental disorder.

The petition states the letter “threatened to publicize scandalous allegations” unless the family paid him $250,000. The petition says the letter stated he had “also filed a Motion to have all of the (family’s) phones and other electronic devices downloaded for the purpose of forensic inspection.” But the petition states Durham had not filed such a motion at that time.

The petition claims Durham falsified two affidavits on behalf of two other clients against the family.

That petition concludes “aggravating factors…that would show the appropriate discipline is disbarment.”

The second petition relates to a viral video that circulated on social media. The petition describes it as showing a confrontation between two men on different boats on Lake Eufaula in March of 2023.

During an argument between the two, one of the men claims to be a professional fisherman.

“You can tell everybody that Ryan Ingram came up on you so you can either leave...”

According to the petition, that is Durham, pretending to be Ryan Ingram. The petition says Durham later posted an apology video online, but also allegedly threatened to initiate legal action against anyone who shared the video.

Durham did file a legal complaint against a man who shared the video but later dropped it.

The petition accuses Durham of “disturbing behavior including profanity and physical threats toward an angler…”

In conclusion the petition states “...the State Bar prays that (Durham) be appropriately disciplined.”

The third petition and the most recent, filed in April 2,2025, pertains to a medical malpractice lawsuit regarding a wrongful death that settled for $1.5 million.

The petition claims Durham “…was ‘kiting’ with that settlement money to pay old obligations, when he should have been holding the other client’s money in trust all along."

WALB did confirm with the Supreme Court of Georgia that these petitions and evidence are still pending and waiting the appointment of a Special Master.

A Special Master is the one who makes a report and recommendation for disciplinary proceedings to the State Supreme Court.

Former Attorney Jo Carol Nesset-Sale served as Special Master in 2024.

Nesset-Sale said, “We better have the objective of keeping the legal system filled with attorneys who have integrity, who have competence, who have the best interest of clients at heart. Because if not and a complaint is made. We will find you, we will gather the evidence to show these violations of rules that you have and we will hold you accountable. Even at times taking the very license that you worked hard to get.”

WALB did receive a statement from Joe Durham’s attorney Lester Tate. It reads in full:

“Joe Durham Junior has been a member in good standing of the State Bar of Georgia for over 20 years. During that time he has faithfully and effectively represented his clients and served his community. It costs nothing to file a Bar complaint. Even individuals who have no connection to a lawyer or a case in which the lawyer is involved can file a complaint. That doesn’t mean those complaints have merit or are truthful. Lawyers are frequent targets of such allegations because any case that is tried has a winner and a loser. Fortunately, the State Bar has a process for hearing and deciding complaints. We look forward to defending against those claims in that forum, instead of through news or social media.”

Lester Tate, Joe Durham’s attorney

Durham is able to continue practicing law, as the judicial process could take longer than a year.

WALB will continue to follow this process and report updates on air and online.

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Let us know. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

To stay up to date on all the latest news as it develops, follow WALB on Facebook and X (Twitter). For more South Georgia news, download the WALB News app from the Apple Store or Google Play.

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ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - At least 24 people were assisted by the American Red Cross after a major apartment fire at the Whispering Pines Apartments in Albany on Saturday, June 7.

The Red Cross arrived at the scene to assist those impacted after the Albany Fire Department (AFD) contained the blaze.

Story continues below video:

According to the Red Cross, at least 13 units were affected. By Sunday afternoon, the Red Cross had helped 15 adults and nine children. The Red Cross said that this number could grow.

“This is the worst day in some people’s lives,” said Jay Lawrence with the American Red Cross.

The Red Cross said that volunteers were on the scene to help coordinate emergency aid to those affected.

“So, volunteers show up. They provide direct financial assistance. It’s not a lot of money, but it’s enough to get them by for the next 48 hours. They can use it for whatever they need,” Lawrence said.

The Red Cross provided comfort kits, direct client assistance, and recovery planning to the families to meet their disaster-caused needs.

Within the next 48 hours, each household affected by the fire will receive a call from a Red Cross case worker to discuss a recovery plan.

“So, that means working with them to call all the people they need, call the utility companies, things like that. And also referring them to other agencies that can help them. They provide clothing, furniture, whatever they need,” Lawrence said.

“Every eight minutes, the Red Cross responds to a disaster, the majority of which are home fires. That’s why the American Red Cross launched the nationwide Home Fire Campaign in 2014, which aims to reduce home fire deaths and injuries by 25 percent,” said the Red Cross in the release.

According to the Red Cross, since October 2014, the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign with community partners has saved at least 2,393 lives, including 255 in Georgia, by educating families about fire safety, helping them create escape plans, and installing free smoke alarms in high-risk areas across the country.

To learn more about the campaign and how to get involved, click here.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

We have reached out to the AFD to learn more. Stay with us.

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Let us know. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

To stay up to date on all the latest news as it develops, follow WALB on Facebook and X (Twitter). For more South Georgia news, download the WALB News app from the Apple Store or Google Play.

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Hundreds of students and employees at Albany’s Turner Job Corps Center will be forced to move on. The transition is part of recent cutbacks by the Trump administration.

On Thursday, May 29, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that they will begin a “phased pause” of operations at some Job Corps centers across the country.

Job Corps Centers provide residents with job training and pathways to success. The Turner Job Corps Center here in Albany is one of the facilities impacted by President Trump’s budget proposal.

|READ MORE: Turner Job Corps Center to close following Dept. of Labor announcement|

“Many of these kids have been in foster care, many have been high school dropouts, and many are trying to get their lives together. But this takes that away. Turner Job Center was one of those places that helped them move forward,” said King Randall, a former Turner Job Corps volunteer.

WALB has learned that the 510 students currently enrolled at Turner will have to vacate the center as early as next week. Nearly 20% of those 510 students are homeless. Additionally, 271 employees at Turner Job Corps Center will be without a job by June 30. Job Corps closings will impact over 12,500 employees nationwide.

“The city will probably find housing for some of them to go in,” said City Commissioner Jon Howard. “Then, we have a lot of jobs in the city and in the county. We can absorb some of those individuals. You know, they can go through some training. If they have administrative experience, anything like that, we can help a few of them.”

The Albany Area Chamber of Commerce and the Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission issued a joint statement on how they plan to help those impacted by this closure. The statement reads in part:

“In preparation for potential changes to operations, the Albany Area Chamber and the EDC are working collaboratively to compile a list of local resources for current students and staff who may remain in the Albany area beyond the June 30th transition. These resources will include job placement support, opportunities for resume and interview assistance, mental health service options, and other forms of community-based aid.”

The Albany Area Chamber of Commerce and the EDC

WALB has reached out to Turner Job Corps for an interview. They declined stating that all media requests are being deferred to the Office of Public Affairs with the Department of Labor.

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Let us know. Please include the article’s headline in your message.