Federal officials pause plan to rename Georgia’s Lake Lanier

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Federal officials are pausing a proposal to rename Georgia’s Lake Lanier and Buford Dam, both names that come from onetime Confederate soldiers. The pause comes in response to objections by some local residents and officials. Lake Lanier is a massive reservoir impounding the Chattahoochee River and was named for poet Sidney Lanier, who once served as a private in the Confederate army. Buford Dam is named for a railroad president who was a Virginia militia officer in the Civil War. Georgia congressman Austin Scott says officials who chose new names for local military forts didn’t intent to rename the lake and local officials warn new names would be confusing.