1. Three men were apprehended Sunday after they allegedly robbed two men at knifepoint Sunday night.

Jose Hernandez, 28, of 15 27th Ave. N.W., Marcelino Cerrano, 24, of 15 Rolling Hills Road in Morven, and Francisco De La Cruz, 21, of 1514 Rolling Hills Road in Morven, were each charged with armed robbery and possession of marijuana less than one ounce.

Moultrie police officers were called to a house on First Street Northwest at 9:03 p.m. Sunday about a person bleeding. They met with Rene Ortiz there, who walked the officers to his house, where they met with Wilmer Castro, police reports stated. They stated three Hispanic men, identified as Hernandez, Cerrano and Cruz, came into the house and demanded money.

Ortiz stated Hernandez had a knife in his hand, and he allegedly slashed Ortiz with the knife then stuck it to his throat demanding money. Ortiz and Castro stated they were also beaten by the three men as they allegedly searched the house, throwing things everywhere before finding $200 cash and leaving the scene on foot, the reports further stated. Read more details about this incident in Tuesday's Moultrie Observer.

2. Peanut acreage could drop this year by a third or more after the legume’s reputation was besmirched by tainted products and a large supply in the pipeline due to a bumper crop in 2008.

Georgia, the largest peanut grower in the nation, produced 2.3 billion pounds last year, up from 1.6 billion pounds the previous year. It was the second-largest crop on record in the state, and national production was the largest in history.

The large supply coupled with a drop in demand following the high-profile salmonella outbreak and subsequent recall of more than 400 peanut products means less peanuts will be purchased this year.

“It’ll depend on a number of things,” Colquitt County Extension Director Scott Brown said of the decrease in peanut acreage. “I’d say it’s somewhere between 25, and maybe 33 percent. It has to do with a national record yield, record acreage. Then there’s the food scare.”

Colquitt County growers planted about 22,000 acres of peanuts in 2008.

Brown estimated that that amount will be reduced to about 15,000 acres this year. Read more about the Colquitt County farm scene in Tuesday's Moultrie Observer.