Q: Allatoona Dam stopped producing power years ago due to a fire. In a time that free, clean energy is such a big deal, I was wondering why repairs are taking so long?
—Bo Kattner, Acworth
A: Cleanup lasted several months before officials could begin to assess the "extensive damage" to equipment caused by the May 2014 fire at Lake Allatoona dam.
Repairs to the equipment are being made, an U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman told Q&A on the News in an email.
“The small unit is expected to be back on line in May of 2017 with the first full generation unit scheduled to come back on line in October of 2017,” he wrote.
The fire occurred in the dam’s powerhouse. The dam wasn’t damaged.
Q: One night during the week of Dec. 13, I went to the Alpharetta Walmart on Windward Parkway. In front of the store was a line of police cars, along with some fire trucks. Most of the cars had their blue lights on. It looked liked something drastic had happened. Do you know what was going on there?
—Ben Wiechman, Alpharetta
A: Alpharetta's Department of Public Safety and the Alpharetta Police Athletic League held their annual "Shop With a Cop" night at that store on Dec. 13.
The department bought toys for about 100 children, a city spokesman told Q&A on the News in an email.
Several police and fire departments participated in this year’s event, he wrote.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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