McRAE-HELENA, Ga. (AP) — Someone using a magnet to fish for metal objects in a Georgia creek pulled up a rifle as well as some lost belongings of a couple found slain in the same area more than nine years ago.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says driver’s licenses, credit cards and other items dragged from Horse Creek in rural Telfair County are “new evidence” in a murder case that’s still awaiting trial.

A citizen who was magnet fishing in the creek on April 14 discovered a .22-caliber rifle, the GBI said in a news release Monday. The unnamed person returned to the same spot two days later and made another find: A bag containing a cellphone, a pair of driver’s licenses and credit cards.

The agency says the licenses and credit cards belonged to Bud and June Runion. The couple was robbed and fatally shot before their bodies were discovered off a county road in January 2015.

Authorities say the couple, from Marietta north of Atlanta, made the three-hour drive to Telfair County to meet someone offering to sell Bud Runion a 1966 Mustang.

A few days later, investigators arrested Ronnie Adrian “Jay” Towns on charges of armed robbery and murder. They said Towns lured the couple to Telfair County by replying to an online ad that the 69-year-old Bud Runion had posted seeking a classic car, though Towns didn’t own such a vehicle.

Towns is tentatively scheduled to stand trial in August, more than nine years after his arrest, according to the GBI. His defense attorney, Franklin Hogue, did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment Tuesday.

The items found in the creek led investigators to obtain warrants to search a Telfair County home where they recovered additional evidence, the GBI’s statement said. The agency gave no further details.

Georgia courts threw out Towns’ first indictment over problems with how the grand jury was selected — a prolonged legal battle that concluded in 2019. Towns was indicted for a second time in the killings in 2020, and the case was delayed again by the COVID-19 pandemic. He has pleaded not guilty.

Court proceedings have also likely been slowed by prosecutors’ decision to seek the death penalty, which requires extra pretrial legal steps.

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The Georgia Foundation for Agriculture, Georgia Farm Bureau, and Georgia Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) are jointly promoting agricultural literacy by donating copies of the children’s book “My Grandpa, My Tree and Me” to nearly 400 libraries in the Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS).

The Georgia Foundation for Agriculture (GFA) and Georgia EMC have given each county Farm Bureau in Georgia enough books for every public library in the county. Bulloch County Farm Bureau and Excelsior EMC delivered a copy of the book to the Statesboro Regional Library on Friday, April 19, 2024.

“My Grandpa, My Tree and Me,” written by Roxanne Troup and illustrated by Kendra Binney, tells the story of a grandfather planting a pecan tree for his granddaughter on the day she was born. As the tree and the little girl grow, the grandfather teaches her how to care for the tree year-round to have a bountiful harvest of nuts in the fall. The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture selected the book as its 2024 Book of the Year for its accurate and positive portrayal of agriculture.

The GFA is thrilled to partner with Georgia EMC and Georgia Farm Bureau to donate the book. The GFA began donating accurate books about agriculture to each public library in Georgia in 2016. Georgia EMC joined the foundation as a sponsor of this endeavor in 2018.

ABOUT THE GEORGIA FOUNDATION FOR AGRICULTURE

The GFA is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to preparing the next generation of leaders for success in Georgia agriculture. The GFA works with Georgia Farm Bureau and other Georgia agricultural and educational organizations to achieve its mission. The foundation offers scholarships to students pursuing agricultural careers, funds leadership development programs and projects that increase the public’s understanding of agriculture. The recently launched Georgia Ag Experience, a mobile classroom that introduces third through fifth graders to Georgia’s top crops. To make a tax-deductible donation or learn more about the foundation, visit www.gafoundationag.org or contact GFA Executive Director Lily Baucom at 478-405-3461 or [email protected].

ABOUT THE GEORGIA ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORPORATION

Georgia EMC is the statewide trade association that represents the 41 electric cooperatives across Georgia, Oglethorpe Power Corp., Georgia Transmission Corp. and Georgia System Operations Corp. Collectively these customer-owned co-ops provide electricity and related services to 4.4 million people across 73% of the state’s land area. Visit www.georgiaemc.com to learn more about Georgia EMC.

A bill regulating hemp products, licensing and restricting their purchase to customers 21 and older awaits its fate on Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk after state lawmakers successfully passed it during this year’s legislative session. 

The bill, related to “The Georgia Hemp Farming Act” and sponsored by Republican Moultrie Sen. Sam Watson, would require testing for all hemp-derived products, including CBD and Delta-8 edibles and drinks, and prohibit sales to minors. The senate sent the bill to the governor on April 4, who has until May 7 to sign it, veto it or allow it to become law without taking action. 

“Once the General Assembly adjourns, the Governor has 40 days to act on legislation. During that time, all bills that reached final passage undergo a thorough review process,” the governor’s spokesperson Garrison Douglas said in a statement.

Watson says the bill is a step forward in consumer protection, treating hemp products the same as any other food product in the state.

“We regulate tobacco, we regulate alcohol, we regulate food, yet we’ve got a ton of these products out there now that we’re not regulating as a state to protect the people of our state,” he said. 

The new age restrictions will help protect children from accidentally consuming marijuana products, Watson said.

“Kids go into these gas stations and buy gas and this stuff is being sold and nobody knows what’s in it and nobody’s checking it and that’s just scary,” Watson added.

Opponents of the bill are urging Gov. Kemp to stop it from becoming law.

Dr. Gaylord Lopez, Executive Director of the Georgia Poison Center, said that in the past three years, the center has received more than 260 calls from children falling ill from Delta-8.

“I’m really disappointed in where this bill ended up going,” he said. “What our legislators have done is basically legalize the sale of marijuana.”

While the bill prohibits sales to Georgians under 21 and requires better labeling, it does not prevent the synthetic manipulation of hemp that creates derivatives such as Delta-8 or Delta-10, Lopez said, citing language in the bill that allows for the sale of hemp derivatives including flowers or leaves.

“This is not a bill that helps protect consumers. This continues to allow dangerous products that contain THC, that cause psychoactive effects, and are causing children to be poisoned,” Lopez added.

From the cannabis industry itself, organizations like Georgia Medical Cannabis Society are also asking Kemp to veto the bill. Yolanda Bennett, co-founder of the society, said that increased cannabis regulation and testing will shut down mom and pop shops. 

“Consumers won’t be able to afford it, retailers won’t be able to afford to eat the product on shelves, processors [will] be run out of business and farmers will end up growing other crops and leave the hemp,” she said.

The bill would also close the so-called THCA loophole by including it in testing, which would limit the medical marijuana industry.

Opponents also worry about law enforcement’s reaction to the bill if the governor signs it.

Tom Church, an Atlanta criminal defense attorney who represents hemp vendors, says one concern about the bill is that sheriffs will go rogue and prosecute legal CBD sellers like back alley drug dealers.

“I’m tired of seeing normal business folks, law abiding citizens charged and treated like marijuana dealers under the law,” Church said. 

Watson said that the bill is just the first step in legislation regulating hemp in Georgia.

Meanwhile, Lopez urges the Legislature to close loopholes allowing hemp derivatives to hit the market.

“Our legislators are our ardent fans of not legalizing marijuana. Well, when you tell them hemp can be converted into marijuana, no one seems to be listening,” Lopez said. “We need to get them more aware. Poisonings will continue to happen.”