News Nearby: Police Find Decapitated Goat Bodies Near School

– Athens Patch

 on Sunday found the decapitated bodies of several goats and fowl near  after nearby residents complained.

According to an ACC Police incident report, people living in adjacent Dogwood Apartments told officers there were some headless animals on the path linking the apartment complex and Stroud. The person who contacted police didn’t know if the dead animals were deer or goats.

The responding officer walked through the gate at the back of the school, and found a headless goat. The head had been placed under the goat's body, near the animal’s sex organs, the report says.

A little further from the gate were a dead black rooster, decapitated, on the left side of the path, and across from it, a headless white chicken on the right side.

Visit for more details.

- Smyrna-Vinings Patch

A Smyrna mother was arrested Friday for allowing her home on Gray Road to become infested with roaches, mold and raw sewage, Cobb police said.

Shannon Lynn Byers, 42, of Smyrna was charged with three misdemeanor counts of contributing to the deprivation of a minor.

Sgt. Dana Pierce, Cobb County Police Department’s public information officer, said police initially responded to the scene at the request of the property’s landlord because Byers had not paid rent.

Read more at .

- Canton-Sixes Patch

Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison is in hot water after nearly 30-year-old photos surfaced of the sheriff and a friend in the white supremacist terrorist group, Ku Klux Klan, "costumes." Garrison sat down with Canton Patch and apologized for the photo.

Garrison said he and a friend donned the KKK hood and robe as a Halloween costume. He said they decided to dress as characters from Blazing Saddles, a film from the 1970s, he said.

"Those pictures do not represent the Roger Garrison of today or of that time," Cherokee Sheriff Roger Garrison said. "It was a stupid mistake made by a 21-year-old."

Check out the videos of Garrison's explanation at .

Is wearing a KKK hood and robe just a "stupid mistake?" What do you think about the decapitated animals being found in Athens? With the addition of the Smyrna children being found in a roach-infested home, does it seem that child abuse and neglect is on the rise in our area? Tell us your take in the comments below.