Local children and their parents took the opportunity with a day off school to enjoy sledding on the slope of a hill in front of the entrance to Shorter College today.

Among them was 9-year-old Denton Vargo, who utilized a plastic storage box to ride down the hill along with Claire and Carter Anderson.

At the top of the hill, Denton took a short running start and then took off down the slope on the snow, making it halfway before coming to a stop.

Denton said it was his first time sledding in a box and that he was glad to be out of school for the day.

“I haven’t gotten to build a snowman yet,” he said.

Mary Margaret Wright, 12, had already taken the time to build a few miniature snowmen, and said it was “awesome” to have the day off school. She was enjoying the slope on a ski scooter, pushing off down the hill a few times and enjoying the ride to the bottom.

She and her family were not phased by the cold temperatures and the snow when they took to the hill.

“We go skiing every year, so we’re used to the cold,” she said.

If you see snow, send us your pictures. E-mail EMA: Be cautious when driving; some roads dangerous

Floyd County drivers are urged to use extreme caution this morning as Thursday’s snow followed by freezing temperatures overnight left portions of many roads covered with ice.

“Most of the main roads are OK,” said Floyd County Emergency Management Agency Director Scotty Hancock. “But some of the secondary roads in the county are really slick.”

Click here to see safe driving tips Click here to check roads throughout the state

Roads closed as of 9:20 a.m. were Chulio between Twickenham and Mathis, Mathis Road, Burlington Drove, East 1st Ave from Broad Street to 2nd St. and Calhoun Road near the Bypass.

We're hearing from drivers that main roads like Turner McCall Boulevard, Second Avenue, Kingston Highway, Glenn Milner Boulevard, North Broad Street and U.S. 411 near the interchange are OK to travel. Shorter Avenue, Redmond Circle and Riverside Parkway are also currently good for driving.

Little used roads and steep roadways may have ice, and there may be icy spots even on main roads, so proceed with caution.

Hancock said work crews were up all night salting and sanding bridge overpasses. He was hoping the wind would help dry out some of the roads overnight, but he said it would be impossible to specifically pinpoint dangerous spots. He planned to be up all night and brought a cot into work.

Georgia Power officials said they haven't had to dispatch crews to any problems here, but there are crews working in the Atlanta area.

City Public Works director Jamie McCord said that so far main routes through Rome and connector streets have been well salted, but that crews have just begun to salt residential streets.

"We're trying to get all of the residential streets before the sun goes down," he said. "If we can get to them quickly we might have a chance of clearing the streets for tomorrow."

McCord said crews have been "hitting the streets hard" with a de-icing mixture of rock salt, calcium and gravel since 7 p.m. Thursday, and will continue "around the clock" for the time being.

"We're probably going to deplete our resources by Monday if this weather keeps up," he said.

So far, McCord said 35 loads of material have been spread on city streets as of 2 p.m.

Because of icy roads in the areas, some newspaper carriers may be late delivering the Rome News-Tribune today. Subscribers may access our e-edition free. Simply click on the e-edition icon on the RN-T.com home page or click here. Put in your phone number or e-mail address in the first section. Then your account number or password in the second section and click Login. If you are not a subscriber and would like to buy the edition, on that same page click on the Subscribe Now link. Upcoming forecast

Late Afternoon: A slight chance of flurries. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 27. North wind around 10 mph. Tonight: A slight chance of flurries before 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 14. North wind around 5 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 32. North wind between 5 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 17. North wind around 5 mph.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 35. North wind between 5 and 10 mph. Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 13.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 43. Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 20.

Non-school closings, late openings

The Rome Ballroom Dance Club's January Dance has been canceled.

Bring One For the Chipper, set to start at 8 a.m. Saturday, will continue regardless of the weather, according to organizer Mary Hardin Thornton.

Saturday's Hazardous Household Waste and Electronics Recycling Day has been rescheduled for Saturday, Jan. 23. For more information, please call the Recycling Center at 706-291-5266.

The Floyd County Animal Shelter will be closed today due to Mathis Road being closed from icy conditions. The shelter will reopen Saturday at 1 p.m. pending road opening. For more information, please call the shelter 706-236-4537.

Because of icy roads, the Rome Transit Department said it would not start running its bus lines until 8:30 a.m. today.

The Floyd County Health Department delayed opening until 10 a.m.

County government offices, including court functions, opened at 10 a.m.

The Rome-Floyd County Library and Cave Spring Library will be closed all day. The Rome Library opens at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The YMCA of Rome will be open today, but there will be no classes or youth activities, and the pool is closed.

Most local financial institutions opened late at 10 a.m., including River City Bank, Wachovia, Heritage First Bank, United Community Bank (closes early at 4 p.m.), Regions Bank (closes early at 4 p.m.), River City Bank, Greater Rome Bank and Citizens First Bank. Coosa valley Federal Credit Union is closed. Northwest Georgia Credit Union closes early at 5 p.m.

Downtown restaurants including Schroeders, Great Harvest Bread Co., Harvest Moon, Jefferson's and 333 on Broad all are open.

The Rome-Floyd Parks and Recreation Authority will close today due to road conditions. All Friday sports and programs have been canceled.

School closings Floyd County Schools will not be in session Friday. All buildings in Floyd County Schools will be closed. Wrestling matches scheduled at Gordon Central on Friday have been moved to Saturday. Scheduled Saturday games will not be affected at this time. The Model-Calhoun basketball game has been canceled.

Rome City Schools will not have classes Friday.

Darlington School announced around 8 p.m. that Friday classes are canceled, and the varsity basketball games scheduled for Friday have been postponed. The Discover Darlington event planned for this weekend is still being held.

Unity Christian School announced there will be no school Friday.

Berry College Elementary has instructed parents that they will follow what Floyd schools decide, and therefore will be closed Friday.

St. Mary’s School announced there will be no school Friday.

Georgia Northwestern Tech will not hold classes Friday at any of its campuses.

Shorter College is closed at all campuses today.

Cherokee County, Ala., announced it will close the schools Friday.

Polk County Schools closed Friday.

Gordon County Schools will be closed Friday.

Bartow County Schools has canceled classes and extra-curricular activities Friday.

Excel Christian Academy in Cartersville is closed Friday. Staff who can report are asked to do so at 10 a.m.

Calhoun City Schools announced it will be closed Friday.

Fort Payne and DeKalb County (Ala.) classes and school activities are canceled both Friday.

Walker County Schools canceled classes for Friday.

Catoosa County schools canceled classes for Friday.

Trion Schools have announced that they will be closed Friday.

Chattooga County schools will be closed Friday.

Garden Lakes Baptist Preschool will be closed Friday.

Not yet in session Berry College classes are not yet in session after the winter break, but the campus is closed. Only designated emergency staff need to report.

Georgia Highlands College also is not yet in session. All officers are closed and Saturday's orientation is still planned.

Around the region

Local news reports: Summerville News; Calhoun Times; CatWalkChatt.com; Polk Fishwrap; Cherokee County Herald; Dalton Daily Citizen.

Eddie Henderson, the director of Chattooga County 911, said that they've had a number of wrecks in the county since Thursday, with 15 happening at one time at one point.

"There were no injuries and most of the cars right now are in ditches," he said.

Road conditions in Chattooga County are still dangerous, according to Henderson, and he's urging all residents to stay off the roads unless it is absolutely necessary to drive.

"Chattooga County Public Works is out salting and sanding as hard as they can right now," he said. "But most of the roads are still iced over."

Henderson said the only road closed in Chattooga County currently is Little Sand Mountain Road in the Gore area.

Polk 911 officials said there were at least 30 wrecks by 7:30 p.m. Thursday, and traffic conditions around the county were “terrible.”

Floyd County 911 operators were reporting multiple wrecks around the county, but only a few caused injuries, most of them minor.

The bulk of the wrecks appeared to be vehicles sliding off roads.

Snow nationwide

Steadily falling snow blanketed the Midwest on Thursday, part of a vicious cold snap engulfing much of the nation, and a tractor-trailer spun out of control on snowy roads in Ohio, killing four people and injuring seven.

The tractor-trailer jackknifed on Interstate 70, crossed the highway median and swerved into oncoming traffic, colliding with a small bus transporting adult disabled passengers, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.

The victims, all of whom were on the bus, were: Traci Williams, 42; Lonnie Acton, 28; Alonso Ruffin, 37, and Kenny Fry, 61. All were from Springfield. Williams was driving the 17-passenger Chevrolet bus.

With the cold and icy, snow-covered roads responsible for at least 15 deaths this year, officials throughout the U.S. told people to stay home if they could.

Snowfall was heaviest in Minnesota and parts of South Dakota, where blowing winds piled up drifts too big for snowplow drivers to clear. Some parts of southwestern Minnesota received 8.5 inches of snow by Thursday morning.

Nowhere was it colder than in Bismarck, N.D., where wind chills hit a frighteningly frigid 52 below zero and the temperature reached 14 below.

City salting the roads

Jamie McCord, city public works director, said that two shifts worked last night in 12-hour rotations to ensure that main roads, bridges and overpasses are kept safe for motorists.

He said that the city will first be salting bridges and overpasses, then will cover major streets and roadways like Turner McCall Boulevard and Shorter Avenue. Even with all the preparation, McCord said motorists should be prepared for icy conditions.

Georgia DOT will be salting county roadways.

McCord said that motorists should keep their distance from the spreader trucks to avoid damage to their vehicles. He expects it will take a "couple of shifts" before streets are well salted.

The city uses a combination of salt, calcium and gravel when roads get icy, he said.

Georgia DOT dealing with icy roads

The Georgia DOT maintenance crews in District Six in Northwest Georgia gassed up trucks equipped with plows and gravel/salt hopper spreaders in case roads become covered with snow or ice.

“Our district is ready and waiting to make sure the roadways are safe for travel,” said Kent Sager, district engineer at the DOT office in Cartersville. “The safety of all motorists is the number one priority of the Georgia DOT. In the meantime, motorists need to be mindful of our crews working to clear the snow and ice from our interstates and state routes. We urge all motorists to slow down and leave, at least, a ten car length distance between their vehicles and the DOT trucks clearing the roadways,” Sager added

“We have 60 trucks mounted and ready to go,” said Ken Howard, district maintenance engineer. “If the temperatures dip below 25 degrees as predicted tonight, we usually add calcium chloride to the gravel/salt mixture we use for de-icing our roadways.”

Staff Writers Jeff Gable and Kevin Myrick contributed to this report.