Their opponents have tried to sway the rural 60 percent of the state's registered voters by contending that the Atlantans' economic vision was limited to the nine-county metropolitan area.

To be eligible for an award, books must be about the region (defined as a nine-county area) but need not be written by local authors.

Private-practice physicians in the nine-county area covered by Bassett Healthcare also grumble about being frozen out of a system that keeps all of its physicians on salary.

The Authority " ... serves as a centrally located food distribution center for a nine-county area in Western New York.

Currently, there are 253 branches divided into four regions in the nine-county area.

Jasper was a Confederate Army headquarters for a nine-county area.

It encompasses a nine-county area.

Dr. Brimah is the only AIDS specialist in a nine-county area.

This nine-county area sprawls over 4.5 million acres, 3.7 million of which are open space.

In a nine-county area around Albany, about 50,000 people were reported without electricity, as the heavy snow snapped tree limbs, which in turn fell on power lines.