The suspects stormed into the Aspen Point apartment as a mother and her kids were leaving for school. Police said the hispanic men confronted the family in a hallway outside and tied them up. The children were not hurt but the woman was hit.

"They of course demanded money," Roswell police Lt. James McGee told WSB Radio. "They got some money, jewelry , and the did get a cell phone."

Lt. McGee said the suspects were dressed in all black and planned the home invasion. Police think the family may have been targeted.

ATLANTA (AP) Al Horford said it was no big deal. He was just in the right place at the right time all the time.

Horford had 21 points and a career-high 22 rebounds and Joe Johnson scored 24 points Friday night in helping the Atlanta Hawks to a 91-83 win over the Miami Heat.

``They were all coming my way,'' Horford said of his rebounding. ``I just grabbed them.''

The Hawks, who had lost three straight and four of five on a recent West Coast trip, also got 14 points from Josh Smith, 13 from Marvin Williams and 12 from Flip Murray.

Michael Beasley led Miami with 23 points, 16 in the fourth period, and 21 from Dwyane Wade, who also had 10 assists.

``He was all over the place,'' Beasley said of Horford. ``He's one guy who does all the little things. Everything was working for him.

Horford, a second-year player out of Florida, recorded his 10th double-double of the season. His previous high of 20 rebounds was Feb. 26, 2008, against the Los Angeles Lakers.

``I just realized I had to be a little more aggressive on offense,'' said Horford, who shot 8-of-14. ``I've kind of been coasting throughout the year.''

His numbers don't indicate that. Horford is averaging 10.9 points and 8.8 rebounds a game.

The Hawks (33-25) expanded their lead to 2.5 games over the Heat (30-27) for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

``They (Miami) know what's at stake. They're trying to get that fourth spot and we're trying to hang on to it,'' Atlanta coach Mike Woodson said.

``Coach told us it was a playoff-type game. Miami's just right behind us, so we needed to make a statement. That's the way we have to play from now on,'' Horford said.

Added Wade: ``We'll play them again and it will be the kind of game that goes back and forth. They feel they can beat us and we feel we can beat them. It's one of those teams we feel is a possible first-round matchup in the playoffs, so every game is going to go down like this and be very competitive.''

Atlanta took its biggest lead at 60-46 with 2:09 left in the third period on a pair of free throws by Johnson and led 64-53 entering the fourth quarter.

Beasley got the Heat within 84-80 with a basket with 1:16 left, but Miami never got closer as Johnson added four straight free throws to stretch the lead with 41 seconds left.

The Hawks led 36-32 at intermission as both teams shot poorly from the field. Horford had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta, but the Hawks shot 14-for-39 (36 percent) while the Heat were 15-for-43 (33 percent).

The Hawks' biggest lead of the half was 28-17 before going on a 5.5-minute drought while the Heat went on a 12-0 run for their only lead of the half. A basket by Jermaine O'Neal with 4:15 remaining made it 29-28.

Miami went without a point for five minutes in the opening quarter, but Atlanta couldn't take advantage, leading only 14-10 when Beasley broke the streak with a basket with 3:06 left.

Wade, the NBA's leading scorer, had only six points at the half on 3-of-8 shooting. Johnson, Atlanta's top scorer, had only five on 2-of-7 shooting.
Notes: The Hawks hosted Miami for the first time this season in the third of four games between the teams. They split the first two games in Miami. ... Wade had three steals, giving him 667 for his career, a team record. ``I'm excited to know my name will be in the record book for something other than scoring. I'm very honored to be No. 1 in anything,'' he said. ... Atlanta G Mike Bibby (flulike symptoms) and Smith (family matter) missed the Hawks' last game, a 110-109 loss at Denver. Bibby said he has hardly eaten in the last three days because of the illness. He started, but played only 19 minutes and was 0-for-7 from the field.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

 ATHENS (AP) Georgia freshman Travis Leslie will sit out the rest of the season to concentrate on academics.

Leslie, who had started four games and was averaging 6.3 points, will not participate in practices, the final three regular-season games or the Southeastern Conference tournament.

``I want to apologize to my teammates, my coaches and the Georgia fans that have supported us,'' Leslie said in a statement. ``I just lost focus on my schoolwork, and I hope that I can get back on track as I concentrate all of my time and energy on academics.''

Leslie had played in 26 of Georgia's 28 games, scoring a season-high 23 points against Loyola-Chicago.

``We feel that it is in Travis' best long-term interests that he concentrate fully on his academic work,'' interim coach Pete Herrmann said. ``That's where his focus needs to be for the rest of the basketball season.''

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

PITTSBURG, Texas (AP) Pilgrim's Pride Corp. said Friday that 900 Georgia jobs are among the 3,000 it will cut as it shuts down operations at three of its 32 chicken processing plants.

The closures, including the Douglas plant, will reduce the company's chicken production by roughly 10 percent and its workforce about 7 percent.

The move also affects 430 independent chicken farmers, 140 of them in Georgia, the company said.

The cuts are designed to save the company $110 million a year as part of an ongoing restructuring. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in December under heavy debt.

Pilgrim's Price expects the closures to cost $35 million, not including asset write-downs it may take in the second quarter.

The Douglas plant was run by Gold Kist Inc., acquired by Pilgrim's Pride in 2007 for $1.3 billion.

The plants to close by mid-May also include those in El Dorado, Ark.; and Farmerville, La.

ATLANTA (AP) A former commodities pool operator and his company must pay civil penalties of $5.8 million for a Ponzi scheme in which investors lost more than $21 million.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Friday that U.S. District Court Judge Jack T. Camp also ordered Renaissance Asset Management, through which Anthony M. Ramunno Jr. operated, to repay more than 90 investors $21.2 million.

Ramunno, formerly of Alpharetta and now in prison, pleaded guilty May 1, 2007 to wire and mail fraud. He was sentenced in December 2007 to almost 20 years and to pay restitution of $21.2 million.

In the civil case, Camp's Feb. 13 orders did not include restitution for Ramunno himself because he is already subject to that in the criminal case, the agency said.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP)  Atlanta's Kenshin Kawakami pitched two solid innings in his spring debut, leading the Braves to a 5-2 win over Pittsburgh on Friday.

The 33-year-old right-hander retired six of seven batters he faced, allowing just a single by Adam LaRoche, and struck out one.

``I think it went well for being my first outing,'' Kawakami said, through a translator. ``When I face my own team, I don't have that mentality of being aggressive. But today against the Pirates, I was able to be aggressive.''

Kawakami spent the past 11 seasons with the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Central League. Because of a back injury, he pitched only 110 innings last year.

Meanwhile, Tom Gorzelanny took the first step in putting his disappointing 2008 season behind him.

The Pittsburgh Pirates' left-hander worked out of a jam and tossed two scoreless innings.

``It felt good. I felt strong out there,'' Gorzelanny said. ``I want to prove to everybody that I do belong in this rotation and on this team.''

Last season, Gorzelanny was supposed to be the Pirates' ace. But, overweight and out of shape, he went 6-9 with a 6.67 ERA and spent much of the year at Triple-A Indianapolis.

Gorzelanny's problems last season were mental as well as mechanical.

``Sometimes, I should keep my emotions in check more, especially on the field,'' Gorzelanny said. ``I'm an emotional guy. When I do something wrong, when I give up a stupid hit, I'll get down on myself. You can't do that out there, because it shows (the other team) that they've got me cornered.''

In the second inning Friday, Gorzelanny walked leadoff hitter Brian McCann and Jeff Francoeur on eight pitches. Pitching coach Joe Kerrigan went to the mound, giving Gorzelanny a moment to collect his thoughts.

Matt Diaz worked a full count, then bounced into a double play. Freddie Freeman also grounded out, ending the inning.

Gorzelanny reported to camp 20 pounds lighter, and Pirates manager John Russell believes it's made a difference.

``He worked awfully hard, not only getting his body in shape,'' Russell said. ``The time he spent doing that, the work ethic, it changed his outlook a little bit. ``

Notes: Pedro Alvarez, the Pirates' top draft pick last year, made his first start of the spring. He replaced designated hitter Eric Hinske, who was a late scratch with a left ribcage bruise. Hinske expects to miss up to a week. ... Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning. It was Jones' first game in Bradenton since 1990, when he was in rookie ball. Greg Norton also homered for the Braves. ... Derek Lowe makes his Braves debut Saturday against the Blue Jays

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) The judge presiding over Michael Vick's bankruptcy case insisted Friday that the suspended NFL star testify at a hearing in April, even if his attorneys have to get a court order to bring him from a federal prison in Kansas.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro said he will refuse to approve Vick's Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan if the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback fails to show.

``He is the debtor and he has to testify,'' Santoro said. ``The court must be able to assess his credibility, his demeanor, his good faith.''

Vick's bankruptcy proceedings have gone on largely without him as he serves a 23-month sentence in Leavenworth, Kan., for bankrolling a dogfighting operation. He is scheduled to be released from federal custody July 20.

A government official told The Associated Press this week that Vick has been approved for home confinement as early as May 21 because there isn't enough room at a halfway house. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Santoro mentioned the AP report before demanding Vick's appearance at the April 2 plan confirmation hearing.

One of Vick's bankruptcy attorneys, Michael Blumenthal, called the report ``hearsay'' and said he still expects Vick to be moved soon to a halfway house. He did not explain a reason for that belief, and he and co-counsel Paul Campsen declined to comment further after the hearing.

Santoro made it clear he expects Vick to appear regardless of where he is being held.

``I'll leave how he gets here to you,'' the judge said, adding it would be Vick's attorneys' responsibility to secure a court order to temporarily move him from Leavenworth if necessary.

Santoro also approved Vick's revised disclosure statement, a thick and complicated document that describes Vick's vast holdings and how they will be handled in the bankruptcy plan, after twice rejecting it. Key to that plan is a hope that Vick will return to professional football.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who suspended Vick without pay, has said he will review Vick's status after legal proceedings are completed.

The judge said the statement, while imperfect, provides adequate information to allow creditors to determine whether to vote for or against Vick's bankruptcy plan. Failure of the plan would result in liquidation of Vick's assets.

Vick claims his plan is better for creditors, in part because a portion of his future income would be used to pay them. The plan calls for Vick to keep the first $750,000 of his annual salary, with creditors getting one-fifth to one-third of any income after that.

Allowing Vick to pocket the first $750,000 is intended ``to incentivize Mr. Vick to re-engage in professional football,'' according to the disclosure statement.

One of Vick's biggest creditors, Joel Enterprises Inc., objected to the disclosure statement in part because it does not assess the likelihood that he will successfully resume his career.

Ross Reeves, an attorney for a committee representing most of Vick's other creditors, did not object to the disclosure statement but said he is troubled by the question of whether Vick will play football again.

``Maybe he will, maybe he won't,'' Santoro said. ``We all understand that.''

In response to stern questioning from Santoro, Joel Enterprises attorney Linda Najjoum conceded that her client would vote against Vick's plan regardless of what additional information was added to the disclosure statement. Joel Enterprises, owned by Vick's former agent, obtained a $4.6 million judgment against Vick last April.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) The Baltimore Ravens have agreed to terms with former Atlanta Falcons cornerback Domonique Foxworth on a four-year, $28 million contract that includes $16.5 million in guaranteed money.

The former Maryland player drafted by the Denver Broncos in the third round of the 2005 NFL draft will be introduced at a press conference at the Ravens' training complex Friday afternoon.

A graduate of Western School of Technology in Baltimore, Foxworth was traded to the Falcons for a seventh-round draft pick last year.

According to NFL.com, the 5-foot-11, 180-pounder has 211 career tackles and four interceptions. Meanwhile, the Ravens have cut veteran defensive end Marques Douglas.

Earlier Friday, the Ravens lost free agent linebacker Bart Scott to the New York Jets.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

ATLANTA (AP) Atlanta fire officials say they have found no more bodies in a vacant warehouse leveled by a fire earlier this week.

The fire broke out early Tuesday morning, killing one person who authorities believe was homeless and seeking shelter in the south Atlanta warehouse. The Fulton County Medical Examiner's office has been unable to identify the victim.

Fire department spokesman Capt. Bill May said crews have stopped combing the rubble. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

FAYETTEVILLE (AP) The Fayette County school board has voted to cut employees pay by 4.5 percent this fall.

The board voted unanimously Thursday night to slash salaries to fill a $14.5 million budget hole. The 21,000-student district in suburban Atlanta has also cut more than 150 positions.

The board had also considered asking teachers and other employees to forgo their scheduled 2.5 percent raises for the rest of the year.

School districts across Georgia are laying off staff and scaling back spending as they cope with millions in budget cuts to state funding. State lawmakers are trying to slash $2.6 billion in state spending.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Investigators think someone in a pick-up truck  was speeding down Boulevard Grenada around 7 p.m. Friday when it clipped a Marta bus passing through the intersection at Cascade Rd. The crash caused the truck to go airborne and on top of a car, killing two people inside.

"I just heard a loud noise and boom, I was like 'what was going on" one witness told WSB-TV.

"The car was all smushed in and all nasty down there," said another witness. "Just ugly."

Police have not released an official cause for the crash. The Atlanta police hit-and-run unit is investigating.

About 10 people were on the Marta bus at the time of accident. No one was injured. The truck is totaled. Police have not released the victim's names or the condition of the truck driver.

The two invaders knocked on the door of the home in the 3500 block of Bob Hannah drive around 5:15 p.m Friday. Police said the resident did not know who it was, so he ignored them.

The two then kicked the door down and stormed in. But on the other side, there was a surprise waiting

"The homeowner ended up opening fire on of the subjects, striking one," Gwinnett Police Cpl. Illana Spellman told WSB's Jennifer Griffies.

One suspect was killed. Police used search dogs to find the other suspect but could not locate him.

Right now Cpl. Spellman said incident appears to be self-defense and the home owner probably won't be charged.

(WSB Radio)  By a huge margin, Senators from both parties vote to kill any effort to revive the Fairness Doctrine.

The FCC policy abandoned two decades ago required balanced coverage of issues on public airwaves.  Wednesday's vote in the U. S. Senate was 87-11 against reimposing it. 

President Obama also says he is opposed to the Fairness Doctrine.

Despite the overwhelming bipartisan vote against the Fairness Doctrine, conservatives still warn that liberals want to silence GOP-friendly talk radio with the policy.

The 87-11 vote added the measure as an amendment to a bill giving District of Columbia residents a vote in both chambers of the congress.  The measure now moves to the House.

(WSB Radio)  When it comes to the worst bottlenecks in the country, Atlanta's no longer in the top ten.

Bryan Mistele, with traffic information provider Inrix, says Atlanta has dropped to 12th place, and traffic is easing up a bit in other cities, too.

"Thirty percent drop in congestion across America, and it's primarily driven by two things," says Mistele, "the high spike in fuel prices in the first half of the year, and the downturn in the economy in the second half of the year."

Inrix points to the I-75 southbound interchange with I-675 in Henry County as metro Atlanta's single worst bottleneck.  Inrix rates the Friday afternoon commute there between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. as the single worst hour of traffic congestion per week for Atlanta drivers.

(WSB Radio)  Gwinnett County, Georgia's largest school district, is hiring.

The district has 10 new schools opening in August, and needs hundreds of certified teachers.  It's hosting a job fair Saturday at the Gwinnett Center from 8:00 a. m. to 2:00 p. m.

District spokesman Jorge Quintana says they especially need teachers for math, science and special needs classes.  Starting salaries for first-year teachers are just under $39,000. 

"Most of our teachers in Gwinnett have about 10 years of experience and they have their master's degree as well, and those teachers make an average of mid- to high 50s," Quintana tells WSB.

Applicants need to pre-register on the district's website to reserve an interview.  Walk-ins will not be accepted after 10:00.

ATLANTA (AP) The case against an alleged assisted suicide ring known as the Final Exit Network has revived a long-simmering debate over the right to die.

The network's president, its medical director and two other members are due in court Friday on charges they aided the suicide of a 58-year-old Georgia man who suffered for years from cancer of the throat and mouth.

Voters in Oregon and Washington have legalized doctor-assisted suicide, and a district judge in Montana ruled in December that such suicides are legal there, though the state Supreme Court could overturn that decision.

But most other states have laws that carry stiff penalties for those found guilty of assisting suicide. People convicted of assisting in suicide in Georgia can be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

Advocates of assisted suicide pounced on the arrests, saying they're a signal that there should be renewed dialogue over end-of-life choices.

Barbara Coombs Lee, president of the national advocacy group Compassion and Choices, said lawmakers should consider changes to allow those suffering with terminal illnesses to ``die gracefully.''

``We shouldn't make people feel ashamed for wanting a graceful exit at the end of their valiant fight,'' she said.

Critics, meanwhile, said the arrests highlight the drawbacks of assisted suicide groups.

``How is this not murder?'' asked Stephen Drake of the group Not Dead Yet, an advocacy group for the disabled that opposes assisted suicide and euthanasia.

``This is predatory. These are people who get off on being there for death. They target certain types of people,'' he said. ``And when we make laws, when we talk about people who want to commit suicide, we're getting into very dangerous territory.''

Georgia authorities began investigating the group shortly after John Celmer killed himself in June. Now they say the organization may have been involved in as many as 200 other deaths around the country.

Celmer's mother says he had suffered for years from cancer, but authorities say he had recovered and was embarrassed about his appearance after surgeries when the network helped him take his life.

The group's members bristle at the term assisted suicide, saying they don't actively aid suicides but rather support and guide those who decide to end their lives on their own. Authorities, though, say the group blatantly violated the law.

Thomas E. Goodwin, the group's president, and Claire Blehr were both arrested Wednesday in metro Atlanta. The two are scheduled to appear in court Friday.

Maryland authorities arrested the group's medical director, Dr. Lawrence D. Egbert of Baltimore, and Nicholas Alec Sheridan, a Baltimore man who is a regional coordinator for the group. They were scheduled for an extradition hearing Friday.

According to court documents in the case, Blehr detailed each step of the process to an undercover agent who infiltrated the group claiming to be interested in committing suicide.

Blehr told the agent that he would place the hood on top of his own head, like a shower cap, and then inflate it by turning on the helium tank. After a few breaths, she told him the ``lights would go out.''

The guides would then let the helium tanks run for 20 minutes after they last felt his pulse to make sure he was dead. They would also stand by his side to ensure he didn't pull the bag off his head, according to the documents.

Some legal experts said they hope details of the network's work would help stoke a deeper discussion over assisted suicide. William Colby, an attorney who is a fellow with the Center for Practical Bioethics, said prosecuting the group wouldn't support that goal.

``People are trying to understand how we navigate the end of our lives, and we need to keep talking about it,'' said Colby. ``But trying to round up people in groups on either extreme end of our social spectrum is not necessarily the best way to move public dialogue.''

Georgia prosecutors will seek to prove the four violated the state's 1994 assisted suicide law, which defines assisted suicide as anyone publicly advertising or offering to ``intentionally and actively assist another person'' in ending their life.

To Jerry Dincin, the Final Exit Network's vice president, the prosecution is ``the epitome of stupidity.'' And he said that the group's members didn't actively aid the suicides, but directed members to a manual called ``The Final Exit'' to guide them through the process.

``If this case goes to court, we'll be dealing with the notion of what is 'assistance,''' he said. ``If we point somebody to a book, maybe that's considered assistance in the courts. But we don't think so.''

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

(WSB State Capitol Bureau)  --The State Department of Transportation Board votes to fire Commissioner Gena Evans, 14 months after she takes over the department.

After a two hour closed door meeting, board members returned to make the motion to terminate, approving it with an 8-2 vote.

"We just did not feel like the projects were getting out of the door and getting on the street.  And part of that is a funding problem, but that to me that was the attitude of the board," says board chairman Bill Kuhlke, one of the two opposed to Evans termination.

He says it has nothing to do with legislation backed by Gov. Perdue that would strip the board of its powers over state transportation projects and create a new State Transportation Authority.

In a statement, Perdue called the move a personal vendetta.

"While I am not privileged to the reasons behind their decision, I believe they have fired a competent Commissioner for no reason other than her commitment to put the needs of Georgia's citizens ahead of board members' personal agendas of spending taxpayer dollars on their individual projects," the statement read.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagel was livid.

"I think this was little to do with her performance quite honestly.  I think this board did not want the accountability, they didn't want the sunshine brought to bare of all the corruption that has gone on over there," he told reporters.

He says the senate will vote on SB 200 next week calling board members actions to fire Evans "their last hurrah".

Following the motion to terminate, a second motion was approved by the board to name DOT Chief Engineer Gerald Ross as interim commissioner. Board members say he's been in charge of coordinating transportation projects with the federal stimulus money and will be able to oversee that flawlessly.

Lost in the excitement of the day, the board also voted to furlough state transportation employees three days in an effort to cut the departments budget by $2.4 million.  Employees will be required to take one day off a month for three months without pay.

(WSB Radio) -- Acworth Police are investigating a pharmaceutical identity theft case with two victims.

Kennesaw State University student Veronica Tirado's name, address, phone number and Social Security number were used by an unidentified woman to purchase 120 OxyContin tablets from the pharmacy at the Wal-Mart in Acworth.

The prescription was written on a pad that may have been stolen from Cobb County orthopedic surgeon Richard Cohen.  It also included the doctor's forged signature.

Dr. Cohen tells Channel 2 Action News he doesn't know how the suspect connected his practice with Ms. Tirado, who is not one of his patients.

Tirado says the ID theft has caused her own pharmacy at a Kroger to flag her account.  She was notified of the bogus prescription when the Wal-Mart pharmacist called her to verify any allergies or other medications that might react adversely with the OxyContin.

Dr. Cohen is not surprised by the crime.  He says OxyContin tablets sell on the street for several hundred dollars apiece.

The Wal-Mart has turned over security video of the suspect to Acworth Police.  Both Tirado and Dr. Cohen say they want the woman prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

(WSB Radio)  -- Four people have been arrested for helping a Cumming man commit suicide.

The GBI's John Bankhead tells WSB they've been investigating this after family members of the 58-year-old man found materials about assisted suicide at his home.

After a lengthy investigation, they determined that a national suicide network, the Final Exit Network, had been involved in the man's death.

"The person pays $50 to join the Final Exit Network, and then there's an application process , and the medical records are checked by a medical person in Baltimore, and he's visited several times by what they refer to as an exit guide," said Bankhead.

The man apparently did not have a fatal disease.

"He did have cancer at one point, but he was cancer free at the time of his death.  He did have some scars on his face from cancer that he had in his jaw, but as far as any life-threatening or terminal illness, there wasn't any," said Bankhead.

After joining the network, the person is asked to buy books and DVD's from this group, and then he will be given the opportunity to be assisted with the suicide.

"They instruct the individual to buy a specific brand of helium, two tanks of helium, and a specific type of hood, called an exit bag," said Bankhead.

They are also told to get rid of any information before the suicide so the group will not be implicated.

Bankhead says it's not just that assisted suicide is illegal in Georgia.

"The difficult thing with this particular issue is that they hold down the person's hands during this process, so if that individual changes his mind, it's too late," said Bankhead.

Following the suicide, the two people who assisted get rid of any evidence.

"The exit guys remove the helium tanks and any other evidence that they might have and they discard those in other locations.  Typically, they'll place the individual in a bed so it'll look like he died from natural causes," said Bankhead.

Now, the question is have there been other assisted suicides in Georgia.

"That's why we're pursuing this investigation.  It's the first case that we know about; but there are search warrants being executed in seven states, and so we're trying to obtain evidence to see if there might be other deaths associated with the Final Exit Network here in Georgia," said Bankhead.

So far, 76-year-old Claire Blehr of Atalnta, 63-year-old Thomas Goodwin of Kennesaw, 81-year-old Dr. Lawrence D. Egbert and 60-year-old Nicholas Alec Sheridan, both of Baltimore, have been arrested.

Washington and Oregon are the only states where assisted suicide is legal. 

If convicted, they could face between one to five years in prison.

(WSB Radio)  Fireworks are possible at today's meeting of the Department of Transportation board.

Some members are said to be staging a coup, in an effort to oust Commissioner Gena Evans.

"I'm going to do my job like I've done for the last 14 months," Evans says, "and that's what I intend to do."

Board members are said to be angry over legislation that would strip the DOT board of its authority over transportation projects.  As such, they may target Evans, who was the choice of Governor Perdue for the position of commissioner.

Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Jeff Mullis says Evans has done a great job at turning the department around. 

"If it wasn't for her putting on the brakes from, apparently, falling off the cliff, we'd be in greater trouble today," he says.

Evans has never received greater than a 7-6 vote in her favor among board members during her time as commissioner.

(WSB Radio)  Cobb County school kids might have something to celebrate soon: a longer summer break.

Cobb County School Board Chairman John Abraham says he's looking at more options for the school calendar and, among those options, is changing the start of the school year.

Currently the schedule calls for the 2009-2010 year to begin August 10.  Abraham and two members of the school board want to move the date to August 17.  They say parents have been asking for more summer break and a later school start date.

But opponents of a chance question how the county would make up the five missing days.

The matter will be up for discussion at tonight's meeting of the school board.

(WSB Radio)  An investigation shows the city of Atlanta financial record keeping is a mess.

A new consultant report on the city's finance department says it's a basket case, unable to provide the most basic reports to other city departments.

About the only function that's worth anything, according to the report, is accounts payable. 

The consultant says finance tends to lurch from one crisis to another, without any plan or expertise.  It also found the city lacks a consistent budgeting approach.

The finance department has had four chief financial officers in the past 6 years.  Council members have repeatedly complained that they cannot trust the city's own financial numbers.

(WSB Radio)  A special task force has been put together to target burglars who are going after flat screen televisions.

Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington says the TVs are like gold to crooks.

"A couple of years ago, people would break into your house and they'd go through your house looking for jewelry," says the chief.  "But, now that doesn't seem to be the trend today.  Today, the trend seems to be flat screen TVs, for some reason."

Atlanta police are being joined by police in East Point and Fulton County, along with the Fulton County Sheriff's office on the task force.

The force is similar to the one that was established last year to go after the so-called "blue jean bandits."

(WSB Radio)  The Atlanta police chief is defending his department, saying there is no rampant misconduct.

Chief Richard Pennington has been trying to improve the image of the APD ever since the infamous Neal Street shooting that killed 92 year old Kathryn Johnston.

Pennington says that was the result of rogue cops who planted drug evidence at the home, then lied to cover it up.

Those cops, Arthur Tesler, Jason Smith and Greg Junnier, were sentenced in federal court this week for their roles in the botched drug raid.

"You start to feel the whole department is like that and we know that it's not," Pennington says.  "

Pennington denies there is an arrest quota for the department, something critics say was in place at the time of the Neal Street raid.

(WSB Radio) Should the suspect in the murder of a prominent cancer researcher have been in jail when the killing took place?

Jamal Thompson had been arrested before, in Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties.  It turns out he was granted first offender status in DeKalb and Gwinnett because few jurisdictions check criminal histories after an arrest.

"Based on this conversation we're going to institute a new policy, at least in this office, that we're going to recheck criminal histories before we dispose of cases," says Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter. 

Porter says Thompson may have been locked away had the courts knows about theft charges in Gwinnett and burglary charges in DeKalb.

Jeanne Calle was beaten to death in her midtown Atlanta penthouse apartment in what police are calling a robbery.

According to homicide detectives, Thompson gained entry by posing as a potential buyer for the apartment.  Once inside, they say, he hit Calle with a blunt object, stole her credit cards and fled, leaving her to die.

Thompson was arrested after trying to use those credit cards at Atlantic Station and Lenox Square Mall.

Calle was recently retired from the American Cancer Society and was world renowned as a cancer researcher.

Thompson is being held, without bond, on charges of murder and robbery.

(WSB Radio)  The GBI is investigating after a Hartwell man says he was beaten up by a police officer.

51-year-old Jimmy Lee Blackwell claims a Hartwell police officer arrived at a home in February to serve a warrant.   He asked to see Blackwell's identification.  Blackwell's daughter Jessica Maddox, tells WSB he was outside and couldn't provide one and that's when things became violent.

"They said he didn't obey what they was telling him to do.  He said he didn't fight or resist arrest or anything, they just started jumping on him," said Maddox.

Hartwell Mayor Matt Beasley tells WSB he has heard a different version of the story.

"An altercation started when Corporal Bobby Mitchell asked for i.d. of Jimmy Lee Blackwell.  Mr. Blackwell continuously struck Corporal Mitchell.  Corporal Mitchell, abiding by policy and procedure, sprayed Mr. Blackwell with pepper spray and then used his baton," said Beasley.

When it was over, Mr. Blackwell lost his left eye and Corporal Mitchell had a concussion.

Maddox says the warrant wasn't even for her father, but for someone else. But, no matter what the circumstances, the situation got way out of hand.

"Even if he was fighting, you don't have to beat someone to that degree just to arrest him," said Maddox.

There have been a couple of community meetings and the family has hired an Atlanta attorney to file a 17-million-dollar lawsuit against several Hart County officials.

Mayor Beasley says the community has been fairly calm.

"We're nervous about it.  There are a lot of good people, there are a lot of calm heads.  The ministers of our community are taking an active role in trying to ask for patience until the GBI's report comes out. But, there are some people that are not wanting to wait for justice," said Beasley.

Blackwell, who was charged with felony obstruction of a law officer and terrorist threats, is out on $10,000 bond.

The GBI is expected to wrap up its investigation by the end of the week.

"My heartfelt sorrow goes out to the Blackwell family and my heartfelt sorrow goes out to that police officer.  This will be certainly, a lifelong impact on both of these individuals and their families," said Beasley.

(WSB Radio) A man accused of trying to hold up a Walgreen's on Austell Road is hospitalized this morning after he led Cobb County police on a high speed chase that ended in southwest Atlanta.

The unidentified suspect was shot in the leg around 1:30 Thursday morning after he wrecked his car and attempted to flee police on foot.

Cobb County police spokesman Nathan McCreary tells Channel 2 Action News officers fired on the man when he pulled a dark object from his pants.  That object turned out to be a vacuum cleaner hose.

No officers were hurt during the incident.  The suspect, who also has outstanding warrants in DeKalb County, is in stable condition at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.

(WSB Radio) Woodstock Police are looking for a man who sexually assaulted a woman in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store.

Detective Paul Brown tells WSB's the 18-year-old woman had gotten off work and decided to do some shopping around 1am on Wednesday at the store on Highway 92.

"She indicated to the police officers that she noticed that there was a man inside the store that seemed to be kind of following her around in the different aisles," said Brown.

When she got to her car, the suspect approached her and tried to start a conversation.

"When he got a little closer to her with her door open, he ended up forcing her inside of her car, got on top of her and touched her on her chest area, and also on her leg, and eventually kissed her on the mouth," said Brown.

When she hit the horn with her knee, the suspect took off.

"She described him as a Caucasian male, said that he was probably of medium build - described between 5'10"-5'11", weighed anywhere from 150 pounds to 170 pounds.  He was wearing dark shoes, dark-colored pants.  He had on a dark-colored long sleeve shirt.  On top of that shirt, he was wearing a short sleeve, light blue button up shirt.  The suspect was also wearing a dark-colored knit cap.  He also had very close-cut facial hair, sort of a beard, but maybe just a few days of beard growth," said Brown.

Police hope that surveillance video caught both inside and outside of the store will lead to an arrest.

They also think this was an isolated incident.

"We haven't really had anything similar to this.  This is kind of unusual for us.  Of course, our concern with his demeanor inside the store and following her, we're just a little concerned that this might be a sexual predator who might strike or attack someone else again," said Brown.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  -- Gov. SonnyPerdue says now that the state has its first installment of the federal stimulus money, he's not sure how much more Georgia will be able to take advantage of.

He says the $339 million for Medicaid is now in the bank. But $220 million for Georgia's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund is still in question because the state may have to pay more in the long run.

"If somebody offered to give me 50 cents and they said 'I'll give you 50 cents if you give me a dollar', I'd have to think about that... and that's exactly what we're doing here," Perdue says.

He says while $1.1 billion is earmarked for education, he may also apply for a competitive grant of $4.3 billion for innovative education programs such as one he's proposed for hiring more math and science teachers.

Perdue told agency heads that many of the rules and requirements to receive the stimulus money are still being written and it's unclear right now how much more will be offered to the state.  But he cautioned that every dollar must be accounted for or the feds could ask for it back.

He says a state website will be created with a link to the federal one explaining where exactly the money is being spent.

(WSB Radio) -- Pop quiz: when was the last time it rained where you are? If you're having trouble remembering, don't feel bad. WSB's Pete Combs reports the drought that has gripped much of Georgia for the past three years is only getting worse.

Georgia Climatologist David Stooksbury has been looking at this winter's rainfall... and he doesn't like what he sees.

"Unfortunately," he tells WSB's Pete Combs, "the drought has actually intensified."

Stooksbury says Atlanta has been bone-dry lately -- and that's not helping the drought situation at all.

"In Atlanta, over the last 30 days," he says, "we've only received 22-percent of normal rainfall."

If this continues, Stooksbury worries the summer will be even worse than we've seen the past two years. Look for more water restrictions, he warns, and more fights over what little water there is.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  The House Appropriations Committee has approved a $18.9 billion midyear budget.

Chairman Rep. Ben Harbin (R-Evans) tells WSB's Sandra Parrish that thanks to the federal stimulus money they were able to avoid deeper spending cuts.

"I'm not going to sit here and chastise the federal government... is it the right thing to do long term, I don't know, I'm not going to answer that. But that money has helped us to soften some of the blows and the cuts that are immediately affecting Georgians," he says.

Harbin says $145 million in federal money will go towards education where more cuts had been proposed.

He says the $465 million in Medicaid funding will allow the state to not only fund the Homeowner Tax Relief Grants but also hire three new food safety inspectors and a food safety specialist come April.

"There's enough money to get them on board... we will fully fund those in 2010.  I think the peanut scare has shown us all that we're understaffed in those positions," Harbin says.

He says the midyear budget also calls for no new furloughs of state employees although departments aren't prohibited from carrying through with those already in place.

The budget is expected to be voted on by the full House on Thursday.

In his report, Dhawan says the stimulus plan, "is not the cure for treating our economic woes as we probably won't see any positive impact until mid-2010 and 2011."

In order for the stimulus plan to work, Dhawan says, "we first need to clear the banking system of toxic debt which is the only thing that will encourage credit to flow and corporate America to start investing again."

According to Dhawan, corporate leaders have stepped back and are taking a deep look at all aspects of their operations.

"This reset is far from a simple matter of flipping a switch on the circuit breaker," he says. "Rather, it is a mindset that takes time and improvements in credit availability to change."

Dhawan's annual report includes:

• Real GDP will decline at a 3.0% rate in 2009, and will decline again, albeit at a milder rate of 0.2% in 2010. In 2011, real GDP will grow by a subpar 1.8%. Growth will not be anywhere close to the 3.0% trend line until after 2012.

• Consumption will decline by 2.2% in 2009 but recover only mildly to a positive 0.2% growth in 2010. Thus, consumption in this recession will decline for six consecutive quarters.

• In the first half of 2009, the economy will continue to shed almost half a million jobs per month. This job loss rate will moderate to 250,000 per month in the second half of 2009. In 2010, the economy will finally show signs of recovery with monthly gains of 15,000 jobs. This rate will improve substantially to 75,000 jobs per month in 2011.

• The peak unemployment rate in this recession will be at 10.3%, with total job losses of more than 4.5 million jobs since December 2007.

  As for Atlanta and Georgia, the outlook is more grim.

  Dhawan says a sharp rise in unemployment and foreclosures, an increase in bank failures and a plunge in the housing market has bled Georgia's economy dry. But, Dhawan says, things will get worse before they get better, "as the reset in the corporate sector will deepen Georgia's recession and delay any significant job recovery until 2011."

  He says that one of the state's biggest problems is that bank balance sheets in Georgia are becoming more fragile.

  Adding to the area's troubles are the number of banks in Georgia that are failing.

  Six banks already have failed in the state in the past 12 months, and others have cease-and-desist orders issued against them by the FDIC. Dhawan says this is why Georgians should pay close attention to the Treasury's plan for solving the banking issue. In addition, the state continues to see an increase in foreclosures and a decline in tax revenue.

  "The finances of state and local governments are taking a big hit with the double whammy of falling retail sales and property tax collections which has led to layoff announcements from various municipal entities and school boards, " says Dhawan. "Unfortunately, the portion of the recently approved stimulus bill directed towards bolstering state finances will temper but not eliminate this decline.

  "The trouble is even more severe at the city and county government levels as property tax revenues will decline sharply in the coming years," he says. "The stimulus proposal offers nothing to alleviate the declining revenue situation which is already leading to cutbacks."

  Overall, Dhawan says, the prognosis for Georgia's growth in the coming 12 to 18 months is "bleak."

  Dhawan's report on Georgia and Atlanta shows:

• Georgia's employment growth will be negative for the next two years. After losing 89,600 in calendar year 2008, Georgia will lose another 143,100 jobs (54,000 premium job losses) in 2009. In calendar year 2010, the state will lose another 24,400 jobs (17,100 premium jobs losses). The recovery will be modest in 2011 when 44,200 jobs will be created (7,100 premium job gains).

• Georgia's unemployment rate will significantly increase to 9.0% in 2009 from 6.8% in 2008. In 2010, it will increase further to 10.3% and then slightly rise to 10.5% in 2011.

• Atlanta's employment growth will remain negative for a total loss of 92,200 jobs in calendar year 2009 (37,600 premium job losses). In the first half of 2010, 10,200 job losses are expected with a mild recovery happening during the second half of 2010 when 400 jobs will be created. In all, 2010 will post 9,800 job losses [8,600 premium job losses].The recovery will strengthen somewhat in 2011 when 34,000 jobs are created (with 6,000 premium job gains.)

• Atlanta's total housing permits will plummet again in 2009 by 37.4% after a 57.6% decline in 2008. Permit activity will experience a boost in 2010, posting a 7.1% increase. It will again increase by 17.7% in 2011.

  "The recovery will begin in 2011 as stimulus programs and credit repairs undertaken by the government kick in," Dhawan says. "But the recovery will be somewhat tepid as credit market operations continue to remain well below their highs."

(WSB Radio)  Fire recovery teams will resume their search for victims of a warehouse fire in Atlanta's West End.

Cadaver dogs, sniffing through the rubble of the vacant warehouse on Whitehall Street, alerted on the presence of a body.

At about 6 o'clock Tuesday evening, the remains of one person were pulled from the burned out building .

Investigators have not yet identified the victim.  They have not even been able to determine a gender.

Fire officials do not know if the dogs were alerted by the scent of just one body or if there may be other victims.

"There's always the possibility that there are people inside of vacant buildings," says Atlanta Fire Captain Bill May,"and, due to the conditions, it  was just not safe for us to go in and take a look."

The Atlanta police have joined in the investigation of the fire.

The two alarm fire was reported just after 1 o'clock Tuesday morning.  About 60 firefighters were called in.

(WSB Radio)  An assistant principal at a Clayton County high school is appealing her suspension over a halftime show at a basketball game.

Sandra Nicholson was given three days off, without pay, after the show put on by the dance team at Jonesboro High School.

Nicholson appealed and Clayton County School Superintendent John Thompson made it five days without pay.

The matter is now scheduled to go before a school tribunal on March 6.

Back on January 14, a performance by the 8 cheerleaders of the dance team featured tiny skirts and tight tops.  The dance team was later disbanded and the coach was relieved of his duties.

ATLANTA (AP) The Georgia Board of Regents is expected to name University of Colorado at Boulder Chancellor G.P. ``Bud'' Peterson as the next president of Georgia Tech.

The board is scheduled to vote on Peterson at a specially called meeting Wednesday at 9 a.m. The 55-year-old Peterson is the only finalist from a national search to replace longtime President G. Wayne Clough, who left in June to lead the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., after serving since 1994.

Peterson, who has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, is a former NASA researcher who has headed the flagship campus of the University of Colorado system since 2006.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

(WSB Radio)  He was once a member of a popular R&B group.  Now he's on the run from the law.

Gwinnett police are hunting for Brian Dalrymple on charges of identity theft.

"There was a victim in California who actually contacted us," says Major Don Woodruff.  "They noticed a lot of charges had been made here, in Duluth, on their accounts, and so we looked further into it."

Police say the victims of the identity theft stretch from Georgia to California.

"145 victims within our jurisdiction," Woodruff says, "several of them businesses and another 115 victims in other jurisdictions."

Police have arrested one suspect, Laborah Crawford.  Woodruff says Dalrymple picked up his infant son and fled.

Dalrymple was a member of the R&B group "Soul For Real."  They had one hit, Candy Rain.

(WSB)--With money so tight and tax time looming many Georgians are worried about how to pay the taxes they owe.

Flinging out the plastic may have crossed your mind but is it a good idea?  Clearly, charging your taxes is convenient. And with the right card, you can even rack up some extra frequent-flier miles or other goodies to boot. So what's the problem?

WSB Consumer  expert Clark Howard says you never want to use your credit card to pay taxes. "I know its tempting but it's not a good plan " says Howard.

You may qualify to set up an installment-payment plan with the government.  You'll be charged a $52 setup fee and then a monthly interest rate on the outstanding balance. Currently, that interest rate is 0.667% per month (which equates to 8% annually). However, the interest rate is subject to change every quarter. File IRS Form 9465 to get that ball rolling.

Mark Green with the IRS says if you owe the IRS and are concerned about being able to pay it contact the IRS. He says they will work with you on setting up a payment plan.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  A state lawmaker wants to preserve the right of Georgia workers to vote by secret ballot whether to unionize.

Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) is sponsoring a constitutional amendment aimed at thwarting a national attempt to end the use of the secret ballot called The Employee Free Choice Act.

He says it would implement a practice known as "card check" where workers are encouraged to sign a membership card which then serves as a favorable vote for unionizing. Once a union organizer has enough cards signed by the majority of workers, an employer is required to recognize all employees as a union.

"This is targeted at a state like Georgia, so by putting the right to a secret ballot in the state constitution it would preempt federal law," Johnson tells WSB's Sandra Parrish.

A similar measure is also in the State House.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  Georgia will get it's first installment of the federal stimulus money today.  Gov. Perdue will get a check for $340 million for Medicaid.

"That money comes in and replaces state money that we had identified to go towards Medicaid so that helps us to meet what continues to be a lagging revenue problem we have," Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley says.

After additional Medicaid funds comes in, Georgia will receive a total of $465 million for the program.  The money will allow the state to fund the Homeowner Tax Relief Grants promised to local governments.

Brantley says Perdue will be meeting with state agency heads later today to discuss the stimulus money and his weekend meeting with President Obama.

(WSB Radio)  Powder Springs police are investigating an attack off of the Silver Comet Trail.

Detective Kelly Gobely tells WSB the 24-year-old white man was walking along the Wild Horse Trail, which branches off of the Silver Comet Trail Monday night, when he was approached by four black men and one light-skinned black or Hispanic man.

"One displayed a handgun.  For one reason or another, I don't have any words that were exchanged or anything, and they just commenced to beating up on this victim," said Gobely.

Gobely says they're baffled as to a motive in the case.

"Kind of random.  I don't have a motive at this point.  They didn't take any money - nothin'," said Gobely.

She says they have stepped up patrols in the area and hope that surveillance video that was taken at a nearby convenience store where the suspects were spotted, will lead to an arrest.

The suspects, between 18-30, are believed to be driving a white Chevrolet Caprice with a driveout tag.

In the summer of 2006, Jennifer Ewing was raped and beaten to death while riding her bicycle on the Silver Comet Trail.

Remarks of President Barack Obama - As Prepared for Delivery

Address to Joint Session of Congress

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Madame Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, and the First Lady of the United States:

I've come here tonight not only to address the distinguished men and women in this great chamber, but to speak frankly and directly to the men and women who sent us here. 

I know that for many Americans watching right now, the state of our economy is a concern that rises above all others.  And rightly so.  If you haven't been personally affected by this recession, you probably know someone who has - a friend; a neighbor; a member of your family.  You don't need to hear another list of statistics to know that our economy is in crisis, because you live it every day.  It's the worry you wake up with and the source of sleepless nights.  It's the job you thought you'd retire from but now have lost; the business you built your dreams upon that's now hanging by a thread; the college acceptance letter your child had to put back in the envelope.  The impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere.   

But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this:

We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before. 

The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation.  The answers to our problems don't lie beyond our reach.  They exist in our laboratories and universities; in our fields and our factories; in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth.  Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still possess in ample measure.  What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more.

Now, if we're honest with ourselves, we'll admit that for too long, we have not always met these responsibilities - as a government or as a people.  I say this not to lay blame or look backwards, but because it is only by understanding how we arrived at this moment that we'll be able to lift ourselves out of this predicament. 

The fact is, our economy did not fall into decline overnight.  Nor did all of our problems begin when the housing market collapsed or the stock market sank.  We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy.  Yet we import more oil today than ever before.  The cost of health care eats up more and more of our savings each year, yet we keep delaying reform.  Our children will compete for jobs in a global economy that too many of our schools do not prepare them for.  And though all these challenges went unsolved, we still managed to spend more money and pile up more debt, both as individuals and through our government, than ever before.

In other words, we have lived through an era where too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity; where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election.  A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future.  Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market.  People bought homes they knew they couldn't afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway.  And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day. 

Well that day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here.

Now is the time to act boldly and wisely - to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity.  Now is the time to jumpstart job creation, re-start lending, and invest in areas like energy, health care, and education that will grow our economy, even as we make hard choices to bring our deficit down.  That is what my economic agenda is designed to do, and that's what I'd like to talk to you about tonight. 

It's an agenda that begins with jobs. 

As soon as I took office, I asked this Congress to send me a recovery plan by President's Day that would put people back to work and put money in their pockets.  Not because I believe in bigger government - I don't.  Not because I'm not mindful of the massive debt we've inherited - I am.  I called for action because the failure to do so would have cost more jobs and caused more hardships.  In fact, a failure to act would have worsened our long-term deficit by assuring weak economic growth for years.  That's why I pushed for quick action.  And tonight, I am grateful that this Congress delivered, and pleased to say that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is now law.   

Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs.  More than 90% of these jobs will be in the private sector - jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges; constructing wind turbines and solar panels; laying broadband and expanding mass transit.

Because of this plan, there are teachers who can now keep their jobs and educate our kids.  Health care professionals can continue caring for our sick.  There are 57 police officers who are still on the streets of Minneapolis tonight because this plan prevented the layoffs their department was about to make. 

Because of this plan, 95% of the working households in America will receive a tax cut - a tax cut that you will see in your paychecks beginning on April 1st.

Because of this plan, families who are struggling to pay tuition costs will receive a $2,500 tax credit for all four years of college.  And Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession will be able to receive extended unemployment benefits and continued health care coverage to help them weather this storm. 

I know there are some in this chamber and watching at home who are skeptical of whether this plan will work.  I understand that skepticism.  Here in Washington, we've all seen how quickly good intentions can turn into broken promises and wasteful spending.  And with a plan of this scale comes enormous responsibility to get it right.

That is why I have asked Vice President Biden to lead a tough, unprecedented oversight effort - because nobody messes with Joe.  I have told each member of my Cabinet as well as mayors and governors across the country that they will be held accountable by me and the American people for every dollar they spend.  I have appointed a proven and aggressive Inspector General to ferret out any and all cases of waste and fraud.  And we have created a new website called recovery.gov so that every American can find out how and where their money is being spent. 

So the recovery plan we passed is the first step in getting our economy back on track.  But it is just the first step.  Because even if we manage this plan flawlessly, there will be no real recovery unless we clean up the credit crisis that has severely weakened our financial system.

I want to speak plainly and candidly about this issue tonight, because every American should know that it directly affects you and your family's well-being.  You should also know that the money you've deposited in banks across the country is safe; your insurance is secure; and you can rely on the continued operation of our financial system.  That is not the source of concern.

The concern is that if we do not re-start lending in this country, our recovery will be choked off before it even begins. 

You see, the flow of credit is the lifeblood of our economy.  The ability to get a loan is how you finance the purchase of everything from a home to a car to a college education; how stores stock their shelves, farms buy equipment, and businesses make payroll.

But credit has stopped flowing the way it should.  Too many bad loans from the housing crisis have made their way onto the books of too many banks.  With so much debt and so little confidence, these banks are now fearful of lending out any more money to households, to businesses, or to each other.  When there is no lending, families can't afford to buy homes or cars.  So businesses are forced to make layoffs.  Our economy suffers even more, and credit dries up even further. 

That is why this administration is moving swiftly and aggressively to break this destructive cycle, restore confidence, and re-start lending.

We will do so in several ways.  First, we are creating a new lending fund that represents the largest effort ever to help provide auto loans, college loans, and small business loans to the consumers and entrepreneurs who keep this economy running.  

Second, we have launched a housing plan that will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly payments and re-finance their mortgages.  It's a plan that won't help speculators or that neighbor down the street who bought a house he could never hope to afford, but it will help millions of Americans who are struggling with declining home values - Americans who will now be able to take advantage of the lower interest rates that this plan has already helped bring about.  In fact, the average family who re-finances today can save nearly $2000 per year on their mortgage.  

Third, we will act with the full force of the federal government to ensure that the major banks that Americans depend on have enough confidence and enough money to lend even in more difficult times.  And when we learn that a major bank has serious problems, we will hold accountable those responsible, force the necessary adjustments, provide the support to clean up their balance sheets, and assure the continuity of a strong, viable institution that can serve our people and our economy.

I understand that on any given day, Wall Street may be more comforted by an approach that gives banks bailouts with no strings attached, and that holds nobody accountable for their reckless decisions.  But such an approach won't solve the problem.  And our goal is to quicken the day when we re-start lending to the American people and American business and end this crisis once and for all.

I intend to hold these banks fully accountable for the assistance they receive, and this time, they will have to clearly demonstrate how taxpayer dollars result in more lending for the American taxpayer.  This time, CEOs won't be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet.  Those days are over. 

Still, this plan will require significant resources from the federal government - and yes, probably more than we've already set aside.  But while the cost of action will be great, I can assure you that the cost of inaction will be far greater, for it could result in an economy that sputters along for not months or years, but perhaps a decade.  That would be worse for our deficit, worse for business, worse for you, and worse for the next generation.  And I refuse to let that happen.    

I understand that when the last administration asked this Congress to provide assistance for struggling banks, Democrats and Republicans alike were infuriated by the mismanagement and results that followed.  So were the American taxpayers.  So was I. 

So I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now, especially when everyone is suffering in part from their bad decisions.  I promise you - I get it. 

But I also know that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment.  My job - our job - is to solve the problem.  Our job is to govern with a sense of responsibility.  I will not spend a single penny for the purpose of rewarding a single Wall Street executive, but I will do whatever it takes to help the small business that can't pay its workers or the family that has saved and still can't get a mortgage. 

That's what this is about.  It's not about helping banks - it's about helping people.  Because when credit is available again, that young family can finally buy a new home.  And then some company will hire workers to build it.  And then those workers will have money to spend, and if they can get a loan too, maybe they'll finally buy that car, or open their own business.  Investors will return to the market, and American families will see their retirement secured once more.  Slowly, but surely, confidence will return, and our economy will recover.    

So I ask this Congress to join me in doing whatever proves necessary.  Because we cannot consign our nation to an open-ended recession.  And to ensure that a crisis of this magnitude never happens again, I ask Congress to move quickly on legislation that will finally reform our outdated regulatory system.  It is time to put in place tough, new common-sense rules of the road so that our financial market rewards drive and innovation, and punishes short-cuts and abuse. 

The recovery plan and the financial stability plan are the immediate steps we're taking to revive our economy in the short-term.  But the only way to fully restore America's economic strength is to make the long-term investments that will lead to new jobs, new industries, and a renewed ability to compete with the rest of the world. The only way this century will be another American century is if we confront at last the price of our dependence on oil and the high cost of health care; the schools that aren't preparing our children and the mountain of debt they stand to inherit.  That is our responsibility.

In the next few days, I will submit a budget to Congress.  So often, we have come to view these documents as simply numbers on a page or laundry lists of programs.  I see this document differently.  I see it as a vision for America - as a blueprint for our future.

My budget does not attempt to solve every problem or address every issue.  It reflects the stark reality of what we've inherited - a trillion dollar deficit, a financial crisis, and a costly recession. 

Given these realities, everyone in this chamber - Democrats and Republicans - will have to sacrifice some worthy priorities for which there are no dollars.  And that includes me. 

But that does not mean we can afford to ignore our long-term challenges.  I reject the view that says our problems will simply take care of themselves; that says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity.

For history tells a different story.  History reminds us that at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas.  In the midst of civil war, we laid railroad tracks from one coast to another that spurred commerce and industry.  From the turmoil of the Industrial Revolution came a system of public high schools that prepared our citizens for a new age.  In the wake of war and depression, the GI Bill sent a generation to college and created the largest middle-class in history.  And a twilight struggle for freedom led to a nation of highways, an American on the moon, and an explosion of technology that still shapes our world. 

In each case, government didn't supplant private enterprise; it catalyzed private enterprise.  It created the conditions for thousands of entrepreneurs and new businesses to adapt and to thrive. 

We are a nation that has seen promise amid peril, and claimed opportunity from ordeal.  Now we must be that nation again.  That is why, even as it cuts back on the programs we don't need, the budget I submit will invest in the three areas that are absolutely critical to our economic future:  energy, health care, and education. 

It begins with energy. 

We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century.  And yet, it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their economy energy efficient.  We invented solar technology, but we've fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it.  New plug-in hybrids roll off our assembly lines, but they will run on batteries made in Korea. 

Well I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders - and I know you don't either.  It is time for America to lead again. 

Thanks to our recovery plan, we will double this nation's supply of renewable energy in the next three years.  We have also made the largest investment in basic research funding in American history - an investment that will spur not only new discoveries in energy, but breakthroughs in medicine, science, and technology. 

We will soon lay down thousands of miles of power lines that can carry new energy to cities and towns across this country.  And we will put Americans to work making our homes and buildings more efficient so that we can save billions of dollars on our energy bills. 

But to truly transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy.  So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America.  And to support that innovation, we will invest fifteen billion dollars a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks built right here in America.

As for our auto industry, everyone recognizes that years of bad decision-making and a global recession have pushed our automakers to the brink.  We should not, and will not, protect them from their own bad practices.  But we are committed to the goal of a re-tooled, re-imagined auto industry that can compete and win.  Millions of jobs depend on it.  Scores of communities depend on it.  And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it. 

None of this will come without cost, nor will it be easy.  But this is America.  We don't do what's easy.  We do what is necessary to move this country forward.

For that same reason, we must also address the crushing cost of health care.  

This is a cost that now causes a bankruptcy in America every thirty seconds.  By the end of the year, it could cause 1.5 million Americans to lose their homes.  In the last eight years, premiums have grown four times faster than wages.  And in each of these years, one million more Americans have lost their health insurance.  It is one of the major reasons why small businesses close their doors and corporations ship jobs overseas.  And it's one of the largest and fastest-growing parts of our budget. 

Given these facts, we can no longer afford to put health care reform on hold.

Already, we have done more to advance the cause of health care reform in the last thirty days than we have in the last decade.  When it was days old, this Congress passed a law to provide and protect health insurance for eleven million American children whose parents work full-time.  Our recovery plan will invest in electronic health records and new technology that will reduce errors, bring down costs, ensure privacy, and save lives.  It will launch a new effort to conquer a disease that has touched the life of nearly every American by seeking a cure for cancer in our time.  And it makes the largest investment ever in preventive care, because that is one of the best ways to keep our people healthy and our costs under control. 

This budget builds on these reforms.  It includes an historic commitment to comprehensive health care reform - a down-payment on the principle that we must have quality, affordable health care for every American.  It's a commitment that's paid for in part by efficiencies in our system that are long overdue.  And it's a step we must take if we hope to bring down our deficit in the years to come. 

Now, there will be many different opinions and ideas about how to achieve reform, and that is why I'm bringing together businesses and workers, doctors and health care providers, Democrats and Republicans to begin work on this issue next week. 

I suffer no illusions that this will be an easy process.  It will be hard.  But I also know that nearly a century after Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform, the cost of our health care has weighed down our economy and the conscience of our nation long enough.  So let there be no doubt: health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year.    

The third challenge we must address is the urgent need to expand the promise of education in America.  

In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity - it is a pre-requisite.   

Right now, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require more than a high school diploma.  And yet, just over half of our citizens have that level of education.  We have one of the highest high school dropout rates of any industrialized nation.  And half of the students who begin college never finish. 

This is a prescription for economic decline, because we know the countries that out-teach us today will out-compete us tomorrow.  That is why it will be the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education - from the day they are born to the day they begin a career. 

Already, we have made an historic investment in education through the economic recovery plan.  We have dramatically expanded early childhood education and will continue to improve its quality, because we know that the most formative learning comes in those first years of life.  We have made college affordable for nearly seven million more students.  And we have provided the resources necessary to prevent painful cuts and teacher layoffs that would set back our children's progress. 

But we know that our schools don't just need more resources.  They need more reform.  That is why this budget creates new incentives for teacher performance; pathways for advancement, and rewards for success.  We'll invest in innovative programs that are already helping schools meet high standards and close achievement gaps.  And we will expand our commitment to charter schools.  

It is our responsibility as lawmakers and educators to make this system work.  But it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in it.  And so tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training.  This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship.  But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma.  And dropping out of high school is no longer an option.  It's not just quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country - and this country needs and values the talents of every American.  That is why we will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new goal:  by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.  

I know that the price of tuition is higher than ever, which is why if you are willing to volunteer in your neighborhood or give back to your community or serve your country, we will make sure that you can afford a higher education.  And to encourage a renewed spirit of national service for this and future generations, I ask this Congress to send me the bipartisan legislation that bears the name of Senator Orrin Hatch as well as an American who has never stopped asking what he can do for his country - Senator Edward Kennedy. 

These education policies will open the doors of opportunity for our children.  But it is up to us to ensure they walk through them.  In the end, there is no program or policy that can substitute for a mother or father who will attend those parent/teacher conferences, or help with homework after dinner, or turn off the TV, put away the video games, and read to their child.  I speak to you not just as a President, but as a father when I say that responsibility for our children's education must begin at home. 

There is, of course, another responsibility we have to our children.  And that is the responsibility to ensure that we do not pass on to them a debt they cannot pay.  With the deficit we inherited, the cost of the crisis we face, and the long-term challenges we must meet, it has never been more important to ensure that as our economy recovers, we do what it takes to bring this deficit down.

I'm proud that we passed the recovery plan free of earmarks, and I want to pass a budget next year that ensures that each dollar we spend reflects only our most important national priorities. 

Yesterday, I held a fiscal summit where I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office.  My administration has also begun to go line by line through the federal budget in order to eliminate wasteful and ineffective programs.  As you can imagine, this is a process that will take some time.  But we're starting with the biggest lines.  We have already identified two trillion dollars in savings over the next decade.

In this budget, we will end education programs that don't work and end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don't need them.  We'll eliminate the no-bid contracts that have wasted billions in Iraq, and reform our defense budget so that we're not paying for Cold War-era weapons systems we don't use.  We will root out the waste, fraud, and abuse in our Medicare program that doesn't make our seniors any healthier, and we will restore a sense of fairness and balance to our tax code by finally ending the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas. 

In order to save our children from a future of debt, we will also end the tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% of Americans.  But let me perfectly clear, because I know you'll hear the same old claims that rolling back these tax breaks means a massive tax increase on the American people:  if your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime.  I repeat: not one single dime.  In fact, the recovery plan provides a tax cut - that's right, a tax cut - for 95% of working families.  And these checks are on the way.   

To preserve our long-term fiscal health, we must also address the growing costs in Medicare and Social Security.  Comprehensive health care reform is the best way to strengthen Medicare for years to come.  And we must also begin a conversation on how to do the same for Social Security, while creating tax-free universal savings accounts for all Americans.

Finally, because we're also suffering from a deficit of trust, I am committed to restoring a sense of honesty and accountability to our budget.  That is why this budget looks ahead ten years and accounts for spending that was left out under the old rules - and for the first time, that includes the full cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.  For seven years, we have been a nation at war.  No longer will we hide its price.

We are now carefully reviewing our policies in both wars, and I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war. 

And with our friends and allies, we will forge a new and comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to defeat al Qaeda and combat extremism.  Because I will not allow terrorists to plot against the American people from safe havens half a world away. 

As we meet here tonight, our men and women in uniform stand watch abroad and more are readying to deploy. To each and every one of them, and to the families who bear the quiet burden of their absence, Americans are united in sending one message: we honor your service, we are inspired by your sacrifice, and you have our unyielding support.  To relieve the strain on our forces, my budget increases the number of our soldiers and Marines. And to keep our sacred trust with those who serve, we will raise their pay, and give our veterans the expanded health care and benefits that they have earned. 

To overcome extremism, we must also be vigilant in upholding the values our troops defend - because there is no force in the world more powerful than the example of America. That is why I have ordered the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and will seek swift and certain justice for captured terrorists - because living our values doesn't make us weaker, it makes us safer and it makes us stronger.  And that is why I can stand here tonight and say without exception or equivocation that the United States of America does not torture.

In words and deeds, we are showing the world that a new era of engagement has begun.  For we know that America cannot meet the threats of this century alone, but the world cannot meet them without America.  We cannot shun the negotiating table, nor ignore the foes or forces that could do us harm.  We are instead called to move forward with the sense of confidence and candor that serious times demand.

To seek progress toward a secure and lasting peace between Israel and her neighbors, we have appointed an envoy to sustain our effort.  To meet the challenges of the 21st century - from terrorism to nuclear proliferation; from pandemic disease to cyber threats to crushing poverty - we will strengthen old alliances, forge new ones, and use all elements of our national power. 

And to respond to an economic crisis that is global in scope, we are working with the nations of the G-20 to restore confidence in our financial system, avoid the possibility of escalating protectionism, and spur demand for American goods in markets across the globe.  For the world depends on us to have a strong economy, just as our economy depends on the strength of the world's. 

As we stand at this crossroads of history, the eyes of all people in all nations are once again upon us - watching to see what we do with this moment; waiting for us to lead.    

Those of us gathered here tonight have been called to govern in extraordinary times.  It is a tremendous burden, but also a great privilege - one that has been entrusted to few generations of Americans.  For in our hands lies the ability to shape our world for good or for ill. 

I know that it is easy to lose sight of this truth - to become cynical and doubtful; consumed with the petty and the trivial. 

But in my life, I have also learned that hope is found in unlikely places; that inspiration often comes not from those with the most power or celebrity, but from the dreams and aspirations of Americans who are anything but ordinary. 

I think about Leonard Abess, the bank president from Miami who reportedly cashed out of his company, took a $60 million bonus, and gave it out to all 399 people who worked for him, plus another 72 who used to work for him.  He didn't tell anyone, but when the local newspaper found out, he simply said, ''I knew some of these people since I was 7 years old.  I didn't feel right getting the money myself."

I think about Greensburg, Kansas, a town that was completely destroyed by a tornado, but is being rebuilt by its residents as a global example of how clean energy can power an entire community - how it can bring jobs and businesses to a place where piles of bricks and rubble once lay.  "The tragedy was terrible," said one of the men who helped them rebuild.  "But the folks here know that it also provided an incredible opportunity."    

And I think about Ty'Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina - a place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom.  She has been told that her school is hopeless, but the other day after class she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this room.  She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp.  The letter asks us for help, and says, "We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world.  We are not quitters." 

We are not quitters. 

These words and these stories tell us something about the spirit of the people who sent us here.  They tell us that even in the most trying times, amid the most difficult circumstances, there is a generosity, a resilience, a decency, and a determination that perseveres; a willingness to take responsibility for our future and for posterity.

Their resolve must be our inspiration.  Their concerns must be our cause.  And we must show them and all our people that we are equal to the task before us. 

I know that we haven't agreed on every issue thus far, and there are surely times in the future when we will part ways.  But I also know that every American who is sitting here tonight loves this country and wants it to succeed.  That must be the starting point for every debate we have in the coming months, and where we return after those debates are done.  That is the foundation on which the American people expect us to build common ground.

And if we do - if we come together and lift this nation from the depths of this crisis; if we put our people back to work and restart the engine of our prosperity; if we confront without fear the challenges of our time and summon that enduring spirit of an America that does not quit, then someday years from now our children can tell their children that this was the time when we performed, in the words that are carved into this very chamber, "something worthy to be remembered."  Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

WASHINGTON (AP) Standing before a nation on an economic precipice, President Barack Obama aimed to balance candor with can-do Tuesday night in his first address to a joint session of Congress. Millions more anxious Americans were tuning in on TV.

Obama was arguing that his still-unfolding economic revival plan has room for even demands a broader agenda including dramatic increases in health care coverage and wiser, ``greener'' fuel use. He was addressing an ebullient Democratic congressional majority and an embattled but reinvigorated GOP minority as well as worried viewers at home.

Just five weeks after his inauguration, Obama wasn't charged with producing a formal State of the Union status report. But for all intents and purposes, that's what it was: a night for the president to sketch out his priorities in a setting unmatched the rest of the year.

He enters the chamber to lawmakers of both parties hanging into the aisle for a chance to shake his hand or exchange a word. The gallery is filled, including a special section hosted by first lady Michelle Obama in which guests are selected to serve as living symbols of the president's goals. Cramming the floor are the leaders of the federal government: Supreme Court justices, all but one Cabinet member held away in case disaster strikes and nearly every member of Congress.

Pre-speech, the White House blitzed the airwaves, talking up Obama's plans but tamping down any expectations of high-flying rhetoric, splashy headlines or fancy new initiatives.

Wall Street was in a better mood than it had been in for days: Stocks were up after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the recession might end this year.

Comments on Obama's address came in early from Republicans, many hours before he had uttered a word.

``House Republicans stand united in willingness to work with this president to try and tackle the very tough economic situation that is facing our families, to try and make some of the tough decisions together,'' said House GOP Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia. But Republicans would stick to their principles, he said: ``One is that Washington shouldn't be spending money that we don't have. And two, we shouldn't be raising taxes on businesses and families that can't afford to pay them.''

The young, charismatic governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, was chosen to deliver the televised GOP response to the Democratic president. Considered a likely presidential contender in 2012, Jindal has been an outspoken critic of what many Republicans call the wasteful spending in Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package, even raising the possibility of rejecting some of the money designated for his state. But he also has praised Obama for reaching out to his party.

In contrast to many State of the Union addresses by George W. Bush, Obama was not expected to emphasize foreign policy.

He planned to touch on his intention to chart new strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan and to forge a new image for the U.S. around the world even as he keeps up the fight against terrorism.

But with the economy in a recession that already has lasted longer than any other in a quarter-century, that was the dominant topic.

The president aimed to drive home several points:

He inherited the mess, and a quick turnaround is unlikely. Not only did the recession emerge on Bush's watch, the Bush approach wasn't the right one.

He's tackling the situation on multiple fronts. Already done: the massive stimulus plan, an overhaul of the separate $700 billion bailout for the financial sector, and a $275 billion rescue for struggling homeowners. On the way: decisions about limping U.S. automakers, a move to broadly rewrite financial industry regulations and perhaps more money aimed at propping up banks.

Thinking short-term won't do the trick. Focusing even amid the crisis on longer-term goals such as helping the millions without health insurance and switching the U.S. to greater dependence on alternative energy sources is crucial to the nation's economic well-being.

Also crucial is bringing down the estimated $1.3 trillion budget deficit that is ballooning as Washington pours money into the economic recovery. Obama was to declare that the budget request he sends to Congress on Thursday will slash the deficit by at least half by the end of his term in 2013, in large part by ending U.S. combat in Iraq and eliminating some of Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy.

He was also expected to talk of a continuing need to reach across ideological boundaries, and for him to connect with the everyday Americans dealing with hard times. Obama hoped to hit just the right note with this address: grim enough to be honest but optimistic enough to be inspiring.

New polls showed how the political climate can be as precarious as the economic one.

While a new Washington Post-ABC News survey found 68 percent of the public approves of Obama's job performance, a Gallup poll also out Tuesday showed his approval rating falling to 59 percent.

WASHINGTON (AP) The economy is suffering a ``severe contraction,'' Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Tuesday. But he planted a glimmer of hope that the recession might end this year if the government managed to prop up the shaky banking system, and Wall Street rallied.

Bernanke said the economy is likely to keep shrinking in the first six months of this year after posting its worst slide in a quarter-century at the end of 2008.

Bernanke said he hoped the recession will end this year, but that there were significant risks to that forecast. Any economic turnaround will hinge on the success of the Fed and the Obama administration in getting credit and financial markets to operate more normally again.

``Only if that is the case, in my view there is a reasonable prospect that the current recession will end in 2009 and that 2010 will be a year of recovery,'' Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee.

That along with the Fed chief's remarks that regulators don't intend to nationalize banks was enough to buoy Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrials added more than 236 points and the Standard Poor's 500 index also rose, a day after both hit their lowest levels since 1997.

Among the risks to any recovery are if economic and financial troubles in other countries turn out to be worse than anticipated, which would hurt U.S. exports and further aggravate already fragile financial conditions in the United States.

Another concern is that the Fed and other Washington policymakers won't be able to break a vicious cycle where disappearing jobs, tanking home values and shrinking nest eggs are forcing consumers to cut back sharply, worsening the economy's tailspin. In turn, battered companies lay off more people and cut back in other ways.

``To break that adverse feedback loop, it is essential that we continue to complement fiscal stimulus with strong government action to stabilize financial institutions and financial markets,'' Bernanke said.

In an effort to revive the economy, the Fed has slashed a key interest rate to an all-time low and Obama recently signed a $787 billion stimulus package of increased government spending and tax cuts.

In addition, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has revamped a controversial $700 billion bank bailout program to include steps to partner with the private sector to buy rotten assets held by banks as well as expand government ownership stakes in them all with the hopes of freeing up lending. The Obama administration also will spend $75 billion to stem home foreclosures.

Those and other bold steps including a soon-to-be-operational program to boost the availability of consumer loans for autos, education, credit cards and other things should over time provide relief and promote an economic recovery, Bernanke said. That program is ``about to open,'' he told lawmakers, without providing an exact date.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the panel, and other senators suggested expanding that program overseen by the Fed and Treasury, to help squeezed local governments.

Radical actions by the government since last fall when the financial crisis intensified have relieved some credit and financial strains, Bernanke said.

``Nevertheless, despite these favorable developments, significant stresses persist in many markets,'' he said.

Although Bernanke didn't mention any financial institutions by name, Citigroup Inc. the industry's troubled titan apparently is in line for additional government help.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., worried the government was ``creeping'' toward bank nationalization through a new option announced by the administration Monday. The new plan allows the government to greatly expand its ownership in a bank by converting preferred shares into common shares.

``It is not nationalization,'' Bernanke said.

Looking ahead, Corker was skeptical about the effectiveness of bank-rescue efforts saying he saw a continuation of ``sort of dead-man walking, zombie bank.''

Critics worry the Fed's actions have the potential to put ever-more taxpayers' dollars at risk and encourage ``moral hazard,'' where companies feel more comfortable making high-stakes gambles because the government will rescue them.

The public's anger over the government's bailout efforts is understandable, the Fed chief said. ``A lot of this goes against American values of self reliance and responsibility,'' Bernanke said.

Stress tests on the nation's biggest banks, which regulators will start conducting Wednesday, are designed to give regulators a better idea of how much additional capital and the type needed for banks to lend if the crisis were to grow worse than anticipated, Bernanke said. Regulators will assess banks' capital needs over a two-year horizon.

``The outcome of the stress test is not going to be fail or pass,'' he said, stressing that the goal is to return banks to health not take them over.

``We've always worked with banks to make sure that they're healthy and stable, and we're going to work with them. I don't see any reason to destroy the franchise value or to create the huge legal uncertainties of trying to formally nationalize the bank when it just isn't necessary,'' he said.

Separately Tuesday, the Fed issued a guidance letter that said banks need to be careful when they decide to pay dividends to shareholders that could raise ``safety and soundness concerns.''

The new guidance was intended for all banks the Fed regulates but was particularly aimed at banks ``experiencing financial difficulties and/or receiving public funds.'' The letter said the bank holding company should inform the Fed if it is planning to pay a dividend that exceeds earnings for a given quarter or that could effect's the bank's capital position in an adverse way.

All the negative forces have battered consumers and businesses. ``The economy is undergoing a severe contraction,'' Bernanke said.

The nation's unemployment rate is now at 7.6 percent, the highest in more than 16 years, and it will climb higher even in the best-case scenario that an economic recovery happens next year.

The Fed expects the jobless rate to rise to close to 9 percent this year, and probably remain above normal levels of around 5 percent into 2011. The recession, which started in December 2007, already has killed a net total of 3.6 million jobs.

Fed policymakers think that a ``full recovery'' of the economy is likely to take more than two or three years, Bernanke said.

To brace the economy, many analysts predict the Fed will leave its key rate at record lows through the rest of this year.

ATLANTA (AP) Three former Atlanta police officers who each pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge in connection with the death of an elderly woman during a botched drug raid were sentenced Tuesday to federal prison.

Jason R. Smith, Gregg Junnier and Arthur Tesler received sentences ranging from five years to 10. Kathryn Johnston, 92, was killed by police gunfire during the 2006 raid at her home.

Police used a ``no-knock'' warrant to enter Johnston's house to look for drugs. But prosecutors say officers found none and tried to cover up the mistake by planting baggies of marijuana.

U.S. District Judge Julie E. Carnes on Tuesday sentenced Smith to 10 years in federal prison. She sentenced Junnier to six years and Tesler to five.

Prosecutors earlier lowered their recommended sentences for Junnier and Smith. They asked for about 10 years for Smith and roughly five years for Junnier because they said the men cooperated with authorities. Tesler's recommended sentence was not lowered, and was about 10 years.

But the judge said Tuesday Tesler was a ``minor participant overall'' and lowered the sentence to five years. She said the government's recommendations were ``unduly harsh.''

All the men will get three years supervised release after they serve their sentences.

The Rev. Market Hutchins, spokesman for Johnston's family, spoke by telephone to her niece and closest living relative, Sarah Dozier, 76, of Atlanta after the sentencing. ``She certainly breathed a sigh of relief that there is nearly some resolution, particularly with regard to these officers,'' he said.

Hutchins said Dozier was sympathetic to the officers' families because she believes they were victims as well. ``Her aspiration has always been justice and not a sense of revenge,'' he said.

The three men earlier had each pleaded guilty to the federal charge of violating Johnston's civil rights.

Smith and Junnier also pleaded guilty to state charges, including manslaughter. They are set to be sentenced on those charges next month. Under their plea agreements, their state sentences will be served concurrently with their federal punishment, said Buddy Parker, Junnier's lawyer.

Tesler was sentenced in May to four and a half years in prison on a state charge for lying to FBI agents, but that conviction was overturned on appeal last month.

Johnston was killed by a barrage of bullets fired by officers who stormed into her home on Nov. 21, 2006, with a special ``no-knock'' warrant to search for drugs.

Tesler, who did not fire a shot, was in Johnston's back yard when plainclothes officers burst in through the front door. Johnston fired a single shot from a rusty revolver at the intruders, but hit no one, and officers fired 39 bullets, hitting the woman five or six times, prosecutors said.

Lawyers for Smith and Tesler said they had hoped for lesser sentences but praised the judge for weighing the facts in the case. ``There are no winners in this case,'' said Smith's attorney, John Garland. ``There are only losers.''

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Police say an infant and four other people have been injured in a shooting along a Mardi Gras parade route.

New Orleans police spokesman Bob Young says the shootings were reported near the Garden District about 1:40 p.m. after the last major parade of the celebration had ended. Truck floats that follow the Rex parade were going by when gunfire broke out.

Two suspects are in custody and three weapons believed used in the shooting have been recovered.

The victims were taken to local hospitals. Young says the infant was grazed by a bullet and not seriously hurt.

(WSB Radio)  Colonial Pipeline is indefinitely postponing plans to expand its pipeline from the Gulf Coast to Atlanta.

The Alpharetta-based company says there is not enough demand at this time to justify the investment.

Colonial had planned to start construction on the $3 billion pipeline in 2011.

Colonial spokesman Sam Whitehead says the timeline now is uncertain.

Colonial first announced plans to build a third, 460-mile pipeline next to its two existing pipelines in 2006. The pipes run underground from Houston to the New York harbor and transport about 70 percent of the petroleum used in Georgia, including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

It was just six months ago that Atlantans could not find gas during a massive shortage. 

Colonial pipes in 70% of the petroleum used in Georgia, including gas, diesel and jet fuel.

(WSB Radio)  Gwinnett County property owners won't like it, but they may have to pay higher taxes to balance the county budget.

County leaders say they have no plans to dip into the county's rainy day fund to balance the books and hire more police and firefighters.  So, they say, property taxes may be going up.

The county commission will vote on their budget next week.

It's about $10 million higher than the interim budget that was passed just two months ago.

The commission is hoping for new revenue to make up the $65 million budget gap.  They say that, if revenues don't reach expectations, then some "adjustment" to the millage rate may be necessary.

(WSB Radio)  The former chairman of the MARTA board faces trial next month on charges stemming from his arrest in a men's room at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Edmund Wall was taken into custody in March of 2007 on charges of public indecency.  Police say Wall and another man were engaging in sex in the airport bathroom. 

Wall was fired last week as Clayton County's financial advisor.  At the time of his arrest, Wall was chairman of the MARTA board.  He resigned that post, but remains a board member.

Wall is due to be arraigned in the Clayton County court on March 24.  He's requested a jury trial.

The man arrested with him, Michael Pettry, of Indianapolis, pleaded no contest to charges of public indecency last week.  He was sentenced to one year's probation.

(WSB Radio)  The most outspoken member of the Clayton County school board claims his rights were violated when he was escorted out of last night's board meeting by police.

Michael King says he'll appeal his removal and plans to sue the police for violating the federal Voting Rights Act.

Two weeks ago, the board's ethics commission voted unanimously to remove King, claiming he violated their conflict of interest policy.  Before his election to the board King, who's an attorney, had represented a former teacher who sued the district.

At the time of the ethics commission vote, it was believed the action was just a recommendation and King had 15 days to file an appeal.

However, on Monday, it was determined that the policy was not interpreted properly and the ethics commission's vote was for King's immediate removal.

That led to a police officer escorting King out of last night's meeting.

(WSB Radio)  A former Walton County jailer is accused of torturing her own 12 year old son.

The Bogart woman and her husband, the boy's step-father, allegedly locked him in a closet, shot him with a pellet gun and starved him.

The boy's younger brother told teachers who then contacted DFacs. 

Both children are now in foster care.

An Oconee County grand jury indicted the couple on charges of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and child cruelty.

The mother has lost her job with the Walton County Sheriff's Department.

(WSB Radio)  The Clayton County school board says no to bus drivers' pants.

The board has balked at buying bus drivers new pants, despite agreeing to buy the drivers shirts.

The county wants to outfit the drivers in uniforms to thwart terrorism.  The shirts have cost the county $18,000 and estimates are that pants and jackets will cost thousands more.

School board member Mary Baker doesn't think it's too much to ask drivers to buy their own pair of brown slacks.

School Superintendent John Thompson says he'll now rethink the uniform plan.

(WSB Radio)  The nation's in recession, but one metro Atlanta county is getting a lift.

An 800,000 square foot shopping facility, Canton Marketplace, will soon be opening in Cherokee County. 

"I'm right now at the point where we're just going month to month on our bills," says developer Paul Eifler.  "When we get a job like this, which is a commercial job, you've got something."

Some businesses will open as soon as this weekend.  Most others will begin operating in March and April.

The shopping center will include such businesses as Bed Bath and Beyond, Best Buy, Books-A-Million, Dick's Sporting Goods, Kirkland's, Kohl's, Lowe's, Off Broadway, Office Max, PetsMart, Rack Room, SuperTarget, T.J. Maxx, and ULTA.

In addition to the national stores, smaller tenants include Canton Jewelry, Cheeseburger Bobby's, Famous Hair, Game Stop, La Parilla, Mattress Firm, Oriental Cuisine, Rue 21, Serenity Nails, Subway, Taco Mac and Vision Works.

Canton Marketplace is expected to employ 1,200.

(WSB Radio)  Georgia's labor commissioner says the state needs money from President Obama's stimulus package, and needs it desperately.

"If we don't take the money, it becomes a real possibility that Georgia employees will have to pay more in 2010," says Commissioner Michael Thurmond.

He warns the state's unemployment trust fund could run out of money by next January, necessitating an increase in contributions from payroll checks.

"We're in a dire situation in terms of unemployment in this state," Thurmond says.  "The money is much needed.  I'm hopeful the Governor will decide it's in the best interest of Georgia to receive the additional funding."

The state stands to get about $200 million from the stimulus plan that would go directly to shoring up the unemployment trust fund.

The Governor has not said no to taking the money from the plan.  He says he's looking over the entire stimulus package to make sure it doesn't cost Georgians in the long run.

(WSB)--Your job could be making you fat.

According to  a Statistics Canada study obesity rates are higher among blue- collar workers and those who work shifts and long hours than among white collar workers and those with regular hours and shorter hours.

Two national surveys conducted in 2005 found that men working more than 40 hours a week were more likely to be obese than those who worked 30 to 40 hours a week, and that male and female shift workers were more likely to be obese than those with regularly scheduled work hours.

Stress caused by long and irregular work hours may be one cause of the higher obesity levels, said study author Jungwee Park, who added that irregular work schedules may also make it more difficult for people to eat a healthy diet.

The study also found that overall rates of obesity are increasing.

(WSB Radio)  Three former Atlanta cops will be back in federal court today for their sentencing in connection with the Neal Street shooting.

92 year old Kathryn Johnston was killed during a botched raid just before Thanksgiving 2006.

Of the three, Arthur Tesler claims the least amount of responsibility, saying he never fired a shot and was only following orders during the subsequent cover up.

"Mr. Tesler is very disturbing," says Georgia State Senator Vincent Fort, "trying to minimize his role and evade responsibility."

Tesler, Jason Smith and Greg Junnier all face sentencing on charges of conspiracy to violate civil rights that resulted in a death.

Smith admits his moral compass "wandered off course," while Junnier says he made mistakes but says he's "no monster."

Prosecutors are seeking 12 1/2 years in prison for Smith and are asking the judge to sentence Tesler and Junnier to ten years each for their role in the shooting.

The U.S. Attorney's office says Junnier and Smith should get reduced sentences because they have cooperated with authorities during the investigation of the case.

(WSB Radio) Terrell Bolton is out of a job.

The now former DeKalb County police chief was fired Monday by county CEO Burrell Ellis, who made good on a promise.

Bolton had sent a letter to Ellis earlier on Monday, claiming that he was on medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.  It cautioned Ellis against taking any action regarding Bolton's employment status until after he came back to work.

But Ellis wasted no time.

"We've taken action to terminate the employment of Chief Bolton today," Ellis says.  " He did respond as we requested.  He did not refute the charges that we raised in our pre-termination letter."

In that letter, and in a subsequent news conference, the CEO laid out the reasons why he wanted Bolton gone, accusing the chief of insubordination, misusing county property and inappropriate use of comp time.

Bolton's attorney says the dismissal may violate federal law because Bolton is on medical leave.

(WSB Radio) A $14.5 million dollar budget shortfall could force the Fayette County Board of Education to decrease salaries and benefits for the school system's teachers and other staff members. 

The school board held the first of three hearings Monday night to gauge public support for the plan.  Kindergarten teacher Andrea Mueller tells Channel 2 Action News "We're on the front lines everyday.  There's got to be somehwrre else, besides taking away what means the most to the children."

The school board will vote on the cuts Thursday night.  Last month, board members approved the elimination of 157 teaching and staff positions.

(WSB Radio/AP) -- Strict funding requirements by the federal government could force Governor Sonny Perdue to turn down some of the money being offered to Georgia in President Barack Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package. 

Perdue is among a handful of Republican governors in Washington for their annual conference who have publicly said strings attached to some of the funds make the money "unattractive."

Perdue says his staff is analyzing each component of the stimulus plan to decide what's in the best long term interest of Georgia.  At least $6 billion has been earmarked by Congress for Georgia.

Perdue is not alone in his opposition to some parts of the president's plan.  Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour said he is considering turning down millions of dollars in unemployment aid because it would force his state to raise taxes when the stimulus money runs out by putting in place a tax on employers.  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and South Carolina's Mark Sanford share Barbour's concern about strings attached to stimulus dollars as well as the plan's overall approach to dealing with the economic crisis.

Some Republican governors played down a split over the stimulus plan.  Florida's Charlie Crist was among those who said they are behind the plan even if they have qualms about it.

(WSB Radio)Twelve people are under arrest, charged with pandering following a prostitution sting in Clayton County.

The police operation lasted about five hours and was centered along the Old dixie corridor.

Undercover officers observed how prostitutes who worked in that area approached customers on Thursday.

That led to the sting operation the next day.

It began at about 330 Friday afternoon, lasted until 830 that evening and focused on Tara Boulevard, between Old Dixie Way and Holiday Boulevard.

Police placed undercover female officers along the roads, posing as prostitutes.  Using the same approach as the prostitutes that were arrested on Thursday, the undercover cops had no trouble finding men who offered money for sex.

Of the twelve people arrested, eleven are from the metro Atlanta area.  The last is from St. Louis.

(WSB Radio) Five Atlanta fire stations have re-opened after a brief weekend shutdown.

The closings are blamed on city budget cuts.

Fire Captain Bill May tells WSB the stations were back in business by Sunday morning, after being shuttered the day before.

May says 23 firefighters were on furlough and 18 others called in sick. 

It meant not enough firefighters were available to staff the five stations.

(WSB Radio) Time may be running out on DeKalb County Police Chief Terrell Bolton.

He has until 10 this morning to respond to a pre-termination notice issued to him by county CEO Burrell Ellis.

"He'll be given an opportunity to respond and, at that time, I'll make a final decision about his employment status," Ellis says. 

In angry tones, the CEO listed the accusations against the chief.

"Permitting a civilian employee to be issued police equipment that only a sworn officer could properly use, including this badge," Ellis says, "failing to obtain clarification of my compensatory time policy prior to taking compensatory time in 2009.

"We do know that he had an excessive number of vehicles under his control and possession," Ellis says.  "The seven, plus the two seized drug vehicles, that were to be assigned to county use and narcotics work were kept in his garage."

Bolton's attorney says the chief will fight the accusations to the end.

"Basically, the chief's reputation and career is at stake," says Bill McKenney.

(WSB Radio) Weekend fires in the metro Atlanta area have displaced dozens of families.

The first was in Norcross, at the Oakbrook Point Apartments on Saturday.  That fire killed a three year old boy.

On Sunday, fires broke out at two apartment complexes in DeKalb County.

The Southern Pines Apartments and the Birch Grove Apartments burned in the afternoon.  No one was hurt in either of those two fires.

The Red Cross says, in all, 186 people are out of their homes due to the fires. 

(WSB)-- Forsyth and Cherokee county team up with the FBI to fight gangs.

The gang task force will consist of two deputies from each of the Sheriff's Offices who will work with agents from the FBI to collect gang intelligence in both counties. The task force will take a proactive role to deter gang activity and will also be available to provide gang education to local schools upon request.

FBI will act as a liaison between the task force and the U.S. Attorney's Office for possible prosecution of gang-related arrests. The task force is expected to be operational by March 1 and will be part of the FBI's Safe Streets Gang Task Force Initiative.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  A state lawmaker wants to add first and second grades to the list of those required to pass the CRCT in order to be promoted to the next grade. Currently only third, fifth, and eighth graders are required to pass it.

Rep. Rick Austin (R-Demorest), a college biology professor, says first and second graders currently take the test but aren't required to pass it to move on.

"In many cases children that have had significant hurdles to overcome are going to find themselves so far behind, that it's going to be very difficult for them to ever get their feet back up underneath them to do the work in the forthcoming years," he tells WSB's Sandra Parrish.

HB 501 would also penalize schools that socially promote students who fail the test by withholding funding. He says right now schools aren't required to report how many students fail the test in the spring or in the mandatory retest . They would be required to do so under the bill as well as report how many of those students are promoted anyway

"We've got a system that we say we're going to evaluate and assess our children, and then we turn right around and over 80 percent of them we're not holding accountable," he says.

Austin is also sponsoring HB 503 called the "Teacher Access to Resources Act," that would require any textbook used by a public school in Georgia meet at least 80 percent of the competencies and curriculum requirements established by the state Board of Education. It will also require the State Board of Education to establish a comprehensive website to provide teachers access to state standards and teaching resources.

(WSB Radio)  Some 700 homes around metro Atlanta will be auctioned this weekend at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park.

Rick Weinberg with REDC US HomeAuctions.Com, which is holding the auction, tells WSB's Sandra Parrish it's a great time to get a really good deal on a home.

"Unbelievable deals... we're talking 50 to 60 percent off the previous high value of the home," he says.

More than 3000 people registered for this weekend's auction.

It will move to Birmingham on Monday and then return to Atlanta next Saturday.

(WSB Radio)  Gov. Perdue is in Washington DC this weekend meeting with other governors from around the country where the stimulus plan will be a major topic of discussion.

The chairman of the National Governors Association says the $787 billion stimulus plan isn't perfect, but it may help many states avert economic disaster.

Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley tells WSB's Sandra Parrish the governors will meet with President Obama on Monday.

"They'll be able to talk about the stimulus and see how we're going to be able to take advantage of the funds that are going to be available in a way that's a very responsible use of the taxpayers money,"says Brantley.

He says the governors will also share ideas on health care , energy , and infrastructure development.

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) With just 2:14 gone, Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy called a timeout, gathered his players around him, balled his fists next to his face and laid into the Rebels for a less-than-lackluster start against Georgia.

They got the message, held the Bulldogs without a point for the next 6 minutes and picked up a 69-47 win on Saturday that has them thinking about March.

``We took Georgia too lightly,'' Terrico White said. ``Like in the film room, we were just joking, not paying attention to what they were doing.''

White scored 19 points and David Huertas added 17 for the Rebels (15-11, 6-6 Southeastern Conference), but it was a trio of young frontcourt players who pushed Ole Miss to its second straight victory.

Malcolm White had 11 points, nine rebounds and a career-high five blocks, Murphy Holloway had his third straight double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Zach Graham got a pitch for the all-SEC defensive team from his coach after the win.

They held Georgia (10-17, 1-11) to just 25 percent shooting from the floor and 14 field goals, blocked seven shots and sent the Bulldogs to their 13th loss in 14 games. Georgia's point total was the lowest for an Ole Miss opponent in SEC play since 2004.

The only positive development for Georgia on offense came from Terrance Woodbury, who scored 19 points to become the 39th Bulldogs player with 1,000 points in his career. Most of his points came after the game was out of reach, though.

``Our expectation level has been raised,'' coach Andy Kennedy said. ``We still have room for growth. This team can still get better.''

With four games left, the Rebels think they can still get to 10-6 in the SEC West and maybe earn a bye in the first round of the league tournament.

``I know people didn't think we'd be 6-6 with the key losses (to injury) we had,'' Holloway said. ``But now we might be able to do something in March.''

Only if the Rebels play with the kind of intensity they manage after one of Kennedy's scorching outbursts. Despite their defensive stand early in the half, the Rebels only led 27-21 at halftime and got another grilling from their coach at halftime.

They responded by holding Georgia without a point for the first 3:31 of the second half. Meanwhile, Terrico White and Huertas combined for a 13-0 run that gave Ole Miss a commanding 40-21 lead with 16:44 left.

Malcolm White had three blocks during the first 3 minutes of the second half and Georgia's post players began to wilt under pressure from the sophomore and Holloway, who routinely outleaped taller players for rebounds. The Rebels held advantages of 38-12 in the paint and 25-12 on second-chance opportunities.

``I put myself to blame for this,'' said Pete Herrmann, now 1-6 as Georgia's interim coach. ``We're just not scoring on the inside like we need to. When we beat Florida we scored the ball on the inside and we are just not doing it.''

The Rebels now turn their attention to their final four regular-season games. They play Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi State, and hope to make a move behind division-leading LSU. That's not something anyone imagined after Ole Miss lost three of its best players, including two starters, to knee injuries.

``We're not in it yet,'' Kennedy said. ``But we've still got an opportunity to play some meaningful basketball as we get to March.''

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Thanks to the NHL's geographically slanted schedule, a big chunk of the Atlanta Thrashers' roster and coaching staff had never even seen the Shark Tank before Saturday.

They left with ample respect for the Western Conference leaders, and for one well-known veteran who was just grateful to be seen in uniform again.

Jeremy Roenick picked up his 700th career assist in his return from a 10-week injury absence, and Ryane Clowe broke a scoreless tie 30 seconds into the third period of the San Jose Sharks' 3-1 victory over the Thrashers.

Evgeni Nabokov made 22 saves for the Sharks, who set a franchise record with their NHL-best 26th home win already this season. Jonathan Cheechoo and Joe Thornton also scored power-play goals as the Sharks rallied to win their third straight, staying ahead of Detroit atop the conference standings.

The teams hadn't met since March 22, 2007, and Atlanta hadn't played in San Jose since Dec. 6, 2005. The unfamiliarity led to two dull, scoreless periods in a rare San Jose matinee, but the Sharks took charge in the third with an assist from Roenick, whose fresh legs easily made up for the slight rust on his game.

``Right from when I stepped on the ice for my first shift, it felt great to be out there with the boys,'' said Roenick, who missed 28 games because of torn cartilage in his shoulder. ``I told (coach Todd McLellan) two weeks ago I was ready. ... I've seen some guys with the same injury this year out for four months. It's good to see the old guys can come back as fast, or even quicker.''

San Jose activated Roenick and defenseman Brad Lukowich from its injured list before the game. Lukowich still missed his 18th straight game after taking pregame warmups, but the Sharks got close to full strength before heading out on a key four-game road trip with stops in Dallas, Detroit and Montreal.

``He's our Energizer Bunny,'' McLellan said of Roenick. ``He's ready to go every shift. That will rub off on other players.''

McLellan teamed the 39-year-old Roenick with 43-year-old Claude Lemieux and 33-year-old enforcer Jody Shelley on a fourth line that promises to be one of hockey's most entertaining groups, if not its slickest any more.

``It's definitely the oldest line in the NHL,'' Roenick said. ``We've got about 115 years of experience, so we must be doing something right.''

Bryan Little scored during a 5-on-3 advantage for the Thrashers, who lost in regulation for the first time on their four-game road trip. Little scored at every stop on Atlanta's road swing, but the Thrashers still haven't won at San Jose in the franchise's six visits.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 28 shots for the Thrashers, who dropped to 1-8-2 against the Sharks. Anderson wouldn't use the unfamiliarity as an excuse.

``It's no different for them, (since) they don't see us,'' Anderson said. ``It's the same thing. There are no secrets in this league. There's enough video going around that you could start your own movie theater. You have to make adjustments, which our guys did. I was surprised how loud it was, though. It was my first time in here.''

Clowe forced a turnover in the Atlanta zone on the opening shift of the third period. Lehtonen stopped shots by Joe Pavelski and Milan Michalek before Clowe slapped home the rebound for his 21st goal, ending a seven-game goal drought that matched the longest of the season for San Jose's imposing power forward.

``We had some good shots early on, but no net presence,'' said Clowe, held without a goal on San Jose's five-game trip earlier in the month. ``When we go on the road, we've got to find ways to put teams away. We've got to establish some leads. I don't think we even got a first goal on that last trip.''

Cheechoo then scored in the final seconds of a power play, slipping a shot between Lehtonen's pads after a cross-ice pass from Roenick. Little kept it close with the 25th goal of his breakout sophomore season, but Thornton tapped home his 15th goal with 6:42 to play.

Hulking defenseman Boris Valabik returned to the Thrashers' lineup after sitting out five games. The 6-foot-7 Slovakian rookie committed two minor penalties and lost an entertaining fight to Shelley.

``For me, it's especially difficult as a defenseman to play against them,'' Valabik said. ``I went around asking guys who they knew on the Sharks. If they knew someone, I asked how they play, and what are his tendencies. How fast is he? How skilled? You never really know until you face them. To watch a guy on TV or tape is completely different than playing against them. I tried to do as much scouting as I could, but it's never enough.''

Center Tomas Plihal also returned to the Sharks' lineup after missing two games with a lower-body injury, and Shelley also had skipped six straight games with a lower-body injury.
Notes: Lukowich hasn't played since undergoing sports hernia surgery. ... Fellow rookie D Nathan Oystrick was scratched in favor of Valabik. ... Pavelski extended his points streak to a career-best six games. ... Sharks RW Devin Setoguchi earned an assist while playing in his 100th NHL game. He has 35 goals and 33 assists in his short career.

ATLANTA (AP) The slowed-down growth of students in Georgia's public school will help the legislature in its effort to balance the budget.

The enrollment in Georgia grew by 30,000 between 2005 and 2006, but last fall the increase was about 6,000. The lesser increase froze about $100 million in funding that lawmakers had expected to spend to educate the 20,000 to 30,000 additional students that Georgia schools usually see each fall.

For a long time, state officials have had to set aside large amounts of money to educate the extra children that enter Georgia schools each fall.

Overall, the state set aside $187 million in midyear reserves to pay for schools this fiscal year. It will wind up spending less than $78 million on enrollment growth.

KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) JP Morgan Chase has confirmed it will close a credit card customer service center in Kennesaw by mid-2010, eliminating 730 jobs.

The center was primarily being used for a credit card that Chase cobranded with Circuit City, the electronics firm that filed for bankruptcy in November and later said it planned to liquidate.

Chase said Friday that employees at the Kennesaw center will be eligible to apply for jobs elsewhere in the company.

The company didn't announce when the cuts would begin.

(WSB Radio) A toddler is dead after a Norcross apartment catches fire Saturday afternoon.

A Gwinnett fire spokesman said the 3-year old boy was pulled from the burned out building just before midnight, almost eight hours after the blaze started.

"It was a pretty serious fire," Gwinnett Fire Captain Thomas Rutledge said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family."

The boy's mother and 1-year old sibling got out of their unit at the Oakbrook Pointe Apartments on Pirkle Road.

The blaze started at 4:16 p.m. 10 units are destroyed.

"Firefighters reported flames through the roof of the building," Cpt. Rutledge said. "There was fire on all three levels on the backside of the building and on both sides of the breezeway."

The flames were so strong, firefighters were not able to get into the building when they arrived. The toddler was the only person missing.

Around 10 p.m., firefighters called in cadaver dogs to help find the body. They also used a tractor to help stabilize the building so it would be safe to enter. Firefighters found the boy's body just before midnight.

Investigators don't know what started it. 50 firefighters were called in to put out the blaze. The Red Cross is providing aid to several families that are displaced.

(WSB Radio) Atlanta's fire department temporarily closed five fire stations on Saturday because of low staffing levels.

It's the second straight week for the brownouts and third time this month.

23 firefighters were already off due to furloughs. 18 more called in sick, putting the fire department below the minimum level. 120 positions were cut because of the city's budget shortfall, an Atlanta fire spokesman said.

"It all boils down to not having staffing we need to operate safely ," Atlanta fire Cpt. Bill May told WSB. "It really boils down to not having enough people."

The stations closed Saturday were Station 12 on DeKalb Ave.; Station 22 on Hollywood Rd.; Station 26 on Howell Mill Rd.; Station 30 on Cleveland Ave.; and Station 36 on Kimberly Rd.

The five stations will reopen Sunday if staffing levels are back where they are supposed to be.

The city closed six stations last week because of the same problem. It also had brownouts on Super Bowl Sunday.

"The victim was walking down the street when he encountered the suspect," Atlanta police Lt. Keith Meadows told WSB. "The suspect produced a hand gun and discharged it at least three times, striking the victim at least once in the chest."

Lt. Meadows said a witness heard the gunshots and then saw the suspect running from the scene at 974 Joseph E. Boone Blvd. around 3 a.m Sunday.

"The witness saw the suspect running down Cairo street," Lt. Meadows said. "He's a black male, approximately 6-foot-2, wearing a red baseball cap and some dark clothing."

Police said they have no motive and spent the night searching the subdivision where the shooting took place. They are talking to at least two witnesses.

The victim died on scene from a single gunshot wound to the chest. His name has not been released.

The House Regulatory and Utility Affairs Subcommittee approved the measure by voice vote.

The legislation would give Georgia Power permission to begin charging ratepayers early for interest charges to construct two new reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta. Under the bill, Georgia Power would be able to collect the charges years before the project's estimated completion date of 2017.

The average monthly electric rate bill would rise by $1.30 a month beginning in 2011. That would gradually rise to an estimated $9.10 monthly increase by 2017. Critics maintain those are conservative estimates and the costs could rise further, particularly if construction costs run over budget or the timetable for completion is delayed.

Supporters of the measure say it will save consumers money in the long run. Financing the interest costs upfront will shave about $300 million off the project's estimated $14 billion price tag.

Without the bill, Georgia Power argues electric bills will shoot up 6 percent in 2016 and another 6 percent in 2017.

``This saves your consumers money because they are going to pay one way or the other,'' state Sen. Don Balfour, the bill's sponsor, told House lawmakers Friday. The Snellville Republican and other backers have cast the bill as a critical economic development tool that would create jobs and lure companies to the state with the promised of affordable electricity.

But opponents maintain it's bad news for consumers, saying they will be forced to foot the bill for the plant before they ever see any benefit.

``The people who are supposed to be protecting the public are not doing it if they pass this bill,'' John Evans, of Lithonia, told the House panel.

The bill has already passed the state Senate. Critics had been hoping to stall its progress in the House. But after hearing two days of testimony, lawmakers approved the measure by voice vote without any discussion. State Rep. Randall Mangham, a Decatur Democrat, cast the lone dissenting vote. State Rep. Earnest ``Coach'' Williams,'' a Democrat from Avondale Estates, abstained until the Public Service Commission weighs in on the matter.

The bill now moves to the full committee, which could take up the bill as early as Monday.

Separately, the state Public Service Commission must still sign off on the utility's plan to build the reactors That vote is expected to take place in March.

(WSB Washigton Bureau) Invoking his own name-and-shame policy, President Barack Obama warned the nation's mayors on Friday that he will ``call them out'' if they waste the money from his massive economic stimulus plan.

``The American people are watching,'' Obama told a gathering of mayors at the White House. ``They need this plan to work. They expect to see the money that they've earned they've worked so hard to earn spent in its intended purposes without waste, without inefficiency, without fraud.''

Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin was among those in attendance.

"(I'll use the money) to rebuild sidewalks, pave our streets, upgrade water and sewer systems, and continue the upgrades and improvements to the airport," Franklin told WSB-TV.

She said the money could start following within weeks.

In the days since the White House and Congress came to terms on the $787 billion economic package, the political focus has shifted to how it will work. Obama has staked his reputation not just on the promise of 3.5 million jobs saved or created, but also on a pledge to let the public see where the money goes.

His budget chief this week released a 25,000-word document that details exactly how Cabinet and executive agencies, states and local organizations must report spending. It is a system meant to streamline reports so they can be displayed on the administration's new Web site, Recovery.gov.

Using his presidential pulpit, Obama demanded accountability, from his friends in local government as well as his own agencies. He said the new legislation gives him tools to ``watch the taxpayers' money with more rigor and transparency than ever,'' and that he will use them.

``If a federal agency proposes a project that will waste that money, I will not hesitate to call them out on it, and put a stop to it,'' he said. ``I want everyone here to be on notice that if a local government does the same, I will call them out on it, and use the full power of my office and our administration to stop it.''

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, who leads the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said he welcomed Obama's warning.

``Absolutely. We get called out every day at the local level,'' Diaz said, drawing laughs from other mayors in a gathering with reporters on the White House driveway. ``We have plenty of constituents who will be doing that before the president does.''

Mayors of both parties said they appreciated the invitation to meet with Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and a handful of Cabinet secretaries. They cautioned, though, that the stimulus plan will only work if leaders at the state level direct the money to their cities in a clear, timely way.

The economic plan will inject a sudden boost of cash into transportation, education, energy and health care. Beyond new spending, it aims to aid people through a package of tax cuts, extended unemployment benefits and short-term health insurance help. The cost will be added to a growing budget deficit.

Obama said government leaders have asked for the ``unprecedented trust of the American people.''

``With that comes unprecedented obligations to spend that money wisely, free from politics and free from personal agendas,'' he said.

The president did not specify how, exactly, he would call out one of his own agencies or a local government about wasteful projects.

 The Associated Press contributed to the report

DECATUR (WSB Radio/AP) DeKalb County's chief executive officer says Police Chief Terrell Bolton has been insubordinate and that he plans to fire Bolton, pending the chief's response to a list of complaints.

CEO Burrell Ellis says Bolton has misused county property and engaged in conduct unbecoming an officer. The CEO says Bolton has countermanded his orders, misused county vehicles and abused compensatory time off.

Bolton says Ellis is grasping for straws to get rid of him. He says he is following policies established under former CEO Vernon Jones, and that Ellis did not ask him to change them.

Ellis placed Bolton on a two-week administrative leave Feb. 9, pending an investigation. Bolton had been on medical leave the previous week. He requested another two weeks of medical leave on Thursday.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) The Trail Blazers are doing a good job of protecting their home court so far.

Portland has won seven straight at the Rose Garden, where they improved to 22-5 overall with a 108-98 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.

LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 24 points and 11 rebounds in the win, said the Blazers will need to make sure they maintain that home-court advantage if they're going to make it to the playoffs.

``As long as we keep playing hard, and taking care of the home court, we'll be good,'' he said.

The Blazers have the second-best home record in the Western Conference, behind the Los Angeles Lakers (25-4).

``It's important to get any win at this stage, especially those at home,'' coach Nate McMillan said.

Brandon Roy added 27 points for the Blazers, who have won nine of their last 12 overall.

Mike Bibby scored 27 points for the Hawks, who kept it close in the first half but fell behind midway through the second and trailed by as many as 16. Joe Johnson added 21.

``They made a run in the second half and it really put them over the hump,'' Johnson said. ``We just couldn't recover from it.''

Blazers center Greg Oden missed his second game because of a bone chip in his left knee. He was hurt in a collision during a game at Golden State before the All-Star break. It forced him to miss the All-Star rookie challenge and Wednesday night's game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

He was also expected to miss Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers and will be reevaluated Monday. The top pick in the 2007 draft, Oden sat out last season after microfracture surgery on his right knee. He missed six games at the start of this season with a foot injury.

Joel Przybilla started in Oden's absence, finishing with six points and 10 rebounds.

The teams traded the lead back and forth 13 times in the first half. Portland made a move in the second, going up 58-50 on Roy's 3-pointer.

But Bibby and Johnson each had 3-pointers to answer for the Hawks. Marvin Williams added a running jumper to narrow it to 60-58.

Portland quickly extended its margin, taking a 78-68 lead on Rudy Fernandez's 3-pointer. The Blazers went up 92-80 on Roy's 3-pointer with 7:50 left.

Fernandez's 3-pointer made it 104-88 late, and the Spanish forward finished with 19 points.

Fernandez has hit a three in 32-straight games, an ongoing rookie record. He has at least one 3-pointer in 52 of 53 games this season.

The Hawks, who had won six of their last nine, did not make any moves by Thursday's trade deadline. Meanwhile, the Blazers were involved in a three-way deal that sent forward Ike Diogu to Sacramento and brought Chicago forward Michael Ruffin to Portland.

Ruffin was activated for Friday night's game in Oden's absence. He entered with 17.3 seconds left, but didn't not score.

Aldridge, who had his 10th double-double of the season, said the Blazers were relieved no major moves were made.

``We've been together and I think we built a chemistry,'' he said. ``I think all the guys wanted to keep it that way.''

The Blazers were coming off a 94-90 victory over Memphis on Wednesday. The same night, the Hawks defeated the Kings 105-100 in Sacramento.
Notes: Blazers forward Martell Webster, out with a foot injury, may not return during the regular season, according to one report. Webster, who was expected to start, had surgery on his left foot before the start of the season. He returned briefly for one game before reaggravating the injury. ... Portland has won four straight against the Hawks. ... Roy has scored 19 or more points in seven straight games. He's averaging 26.7 points over the stretch.

Above Photo - Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith, left, shoots as Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy defends during the first half. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

(WSB Radio) One person is dead after a Lithonia home burns to the ground, a DeKalb County fire spokesman said.

The victim and another person were inside the home at 5897 Brows Mill road when in caught fire around 12:30 a.m. Saturday. One person got out unharmed, the other person did not.

"The home is completely destroyed," DeKalb fire Cpt. Eric Jackson told WSB. "It is burned through and through. There is nothing left standing."

Investigators aren't sure why the victim did not get out or how the fire started. They have not been able to identify the body.

"The remains are quite bad," Cpt. Jackson said. "We aren't able, as of this point, to determine the gender of the individual found."

Investigators don't know what started the blaze it what turned out to be a very busy night for DeKalb county firefighters.

Cpt. Jackson said they had to extinguish two other fires before arriving at the burning home in Lithonia. The first was a small apartment fire near I-85 in the north end of DeKalb. The second was a vacant home that caught fire in Lithonia. But investigators aren't sure if those fire hurt their response time.

"It too early for me to say because that has not been looked into as of yet." Cpt. Jackson said.

The three fires started about 90 minutes apart.

Photo courtesy of WSB-TV

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) Jeff Francoeur was there for the tail end of The Streak.

He was promoted from the minors midway through the 2005 season, got swept up in Atlanta's winning ways and helped the Braves capture their 14th straight division championship. Francoeur led the celebration on the night they clinched yet another NL East title, dunking his head in a bucket of ice water and wrestling in the middle of the clubhouse with Chipper Jones.

Sure seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?

The Braves have endured a different kind of streak the last three seasons, stuck at home each October after once being the gold standard for regular-season consistency.

Francoeur is tired of looking back.

``They had a great run,'' the right fielder said. ``We've got to move on.''

Francoeur was one of the lucky ones, getting a chance to celebrate the last of the 14 titles, the longest such streak by any franchise in any of the major American sports. Most of the guys in the clubhouse today weren't around for any of The Streak. They don't remember how it seemed to feed off itself, providing the sort of inner confidence that assured the Braves would finish first in their division no matter who they put on the field.

Pitcher Tom Glavine, third baseman Jones and manager Bobby Cox are the only real holdovers, the last true links to all those championships. There's a new owner, a new general manager, basically a whole new roster.

The Streak means little to someone who wasn't a part of it.

``I didn't come here saying just because they won 14 championships in row, they'll be able to do it again,'' said Derek Lowe, the new ace of the staff after signing a $60 million, four-year contract during the offseason. ``There's definitely nothing wrong with respecting what they've done, acknowledging that they set the bar. But it's our job in here to get them back to those winning ways.''

Atlanta was on the fringe of the playoff race in both 2006 and '07, but the bottom fell out a year ago. Injuries decimated the once-proud pitching staff, which had only one projected starter make it through the season unscathed and lost two key relievers.

In a stunning move, the Braves gave up on their season at the trade deadline, dealing away Mark Teixeira and getting a head-start on 2009. They stumbled to a fourth-place finish in the NL East, 20 games behind Philadelphia with a 72-90 record that was their worst since 1990, the year before The Streak began.

Even at 67, Cox has never been one to spend much time dwelling on the past. When the Braves were winning all those division titles, he never thought there was any secret formula that assured they would always finish on top of the standings.

``We had good players,'' he said. ``That helps.''

It all started with the rotation, a group dominated for years by the likes of Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Glavine Cy Young winners all.

``We're going through a transition,'' Jones said. ``When you replace Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz with kids out of the minor leagues news flash! you're going to take your lumps.''

Certainly, the Braves no longer can rest on their laurels. With each passing season, they pull a little further away from that winning tradition, the one signified by all those pennants painted on the facade above the left-field stands at Turner Field.

``We've got to go out and play the game harder,'' said Francoeur, who went from being a hometown hero to a frequent target of boos during a miserable 2008 season. ``A team we need to emulate is the Phillies. The Phillies play the game the right way. They play the game hard. They take extra bases. That's what we want to do this year. Everybody wants to play hungry.''

His comments are telling. Those are the sort of things they used to say about the Braves. Now it's left to other organizations Philadelphia, Boston, even Tampa Bay to show how it's done.

Perhaps the most telling change in this organization is at the top. Ted Turner used to own the Braves, a hands-on, free-spending billionaire who watched games from his box right next to the dugout and made sure Atlanta was always had one of the highest payrolls in the game. If they needed to sign someone such as Maddux or Andres Galarraga, Turner would willingly write out the check.

But his influence began to erode when his company was gobbled up in a series of massive corporate mergers. Turner's last ties to the franchise were effectively stripped away when Time Warner sold the franchise to Denver-based Liberty Media, a massive conglomerate that seemingly takes little interest in the franchise beyond the bottom line.

The Braves finished the 2008 season with a payroll of about $92 million, which ranked in the middle of the pack 14th out of 30 teams, to be exact and was less than half of the nearly $223 million spent by the in-a-league-of-their-own New York Yankees.

The trickle-down effect has been apparent. The streak coincided with a time when general manager John Schuerholz had plenty of money to spend (and, no, that doesn't diminish his remarkable accomplishment, a legacy tarnished only by Atlanta's failure to win more than one World Series).

But the Braves failed to make the playoffs in his final two years as GM, and then last year after he moved up to president and handed off his former duties to Frank Wren.

Wren believes Atlanta remains a favored destination among players looking for a team, though it certainly didn't appear that way over the past few months:

The Braves tried hard to land free agent pitcher A.J. Burnett, but he took an even better offer from the Yankees.

Former Atlanta shortstop Rafael Furcal appeared set to re-sign with his original team, only to take more money to stay with Los Angeles Dodgers.

Smoltz, who had spent his entire big league career in Atlanta, signed with the Boston Red Sox after receiving what he described as a significantly inferior offer from the Braves.

Then, over the past week or so, Ken Griffey Jr. approached the Braves about the possibility of finishing his Hall of Fame career in Atlanta, only to have a last-minute change of heart that led him to accept an offer from his original team, the Seattle Mariners.

``The history with this team is all positive,'' Wren insisted. ``It's a great place to play, a great organization, with a great manager. Those are all positives that endure. That goes on.

``But,'' he added, ``the current situation is we haven't made the playoffs in the last three years. Players are looking at what we're going to do to improve our chances of getting back to the playoffs.''

To their credit, the Braves have taken steps to improve their injury plagued rotation, signing Lowe, trading for Javier Vazquez and going all the way to Japan to acquire their first player from that country, all-star Kenshin Kawakami. On Friday, they brought back the 42-year-old Glavine, who'll serve the dual role of fifth starter and resident historian. He was there at the start of The Streak and can pass along tips about starting a new one.

``There's a long history of success with the Atlanta Braves,'' Glavine said. ``A lot of the younger guys on our team grew up watching that.

``Maybe I can bring answers to some of their curiosity about how we did it all those years, what it took to do it all those years, what it takes as a team and what it takes as an individual.''

Or maybe he can just tell them:

Forget about the past. Start your own tradition.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

DALLAS (AP) The bankrupt company at the center of a national salmonella outbreak hasn't carried out a recall of its products manufactured in Texas, so the state is notifying customers itself, officials there said Friday.

Texas health officials ordered Peanut Corp. of America on Feb. 12 to recall all products ever shipped from a plant in Plainview after inspectors found dead rodents, feces and bird feathers in a crawl space above a production area.

But the Texas Department of State Health Services said the company hasn't responded to its order, so state workers have begun asking manufacturers, distributors and retailers to keep products from the Plainview plant away from the public.

``When you order a recall and don't get a response you've got to do something to protect the public,'' Doug McBride, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said Friday. ``They weren't going to do it, so we are doing it.''

The company said in a press release on its Web site Friday that the bankruptcy proceedings were hampering its ability to carry out recall orders.

``PCA is informing customers who received products from its Georgia or Texas plants not to distribute or further use those products,'' the release stated.

However, it wasn't clear whether the company had made efforts beyond posting the release to contact customers. The company's bankruptcy attorney Andrew Goldstein didn't immediately respond to a phone message seeking further comment.

A day after the Texas order last week, the Lynchburg, Va.-based company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy as it faced fallout from the outbreak that has sickened hundreds, may have caused nine deaths and prompted one of the largest food recalls in the nation's history. The outbreak had been traced to another of its plants in Georgia.

Federal investigators have launched a criminal investigation, and Peanut Corp. faces mounting lawsuits.

McBride said that while Peanut Corp. was obligated to comply with the health department's order related to its plant there, the health department has no authority to compel companies outside the state to do what it says.

However, a company that ignored a state's recall would likely run afoul of its insurance carriers, McBride said.

A company also could make itself vulnerable to civil lawsuits.

Some companies that did business with the Texas plant have already issued recall notices in response to news coverage of the recall last week. Notices are posted online at www.fda.gov.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The following recalls have been announced because the products may be contaminated with salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems:

American Health Kennels Inc. is recalling certain baked dog treats containing peanut butter. In pets, this organism can cause diarrhea, vomiting, fever and abdominal pain. It can be transferred to humans handling the treats. The company said it has had no reports of illness. Details: by phone at 954-781-0730.

The recall includes:

American Health Kennels Inc. Cookie Bars: Creamy Peanut Butter UPC 725999522004; PB Carob Chips UPC 725999523001; Lucious Carob UPC 725999521007; 4 pack Cookiebar Assortment UPC 725999538005; Best Before: 11/09

American Health Kennels Inc. Peanut Butter Crunch 12 ounce UPC 725999001103; 16 ounce UPC 725999161104; Best Before: 11/09

American Health Kennels Inc. Bark Bars Peanut Butter: 1.5 ounce Jumbo UPC 725999000168; 2.25 Pillow Pack UPC 725999333105; 2.5 pound canister UPC 725999005064; 5 pound bulk UPC 725999001257; 6 ounce Smiles UPC 725999530009; Giggles UPC 725999530009

American Health Kennels Inc. Bark Bars Peanut Butter: Christmas Stocking 6 ounce UPC 725999000175; Christmas Card Mailer UPC 725999513003; Birthday Mailer UPC 725999528006; ``With Love'' Hearts UPC 725999512944; Holiday Smiles UPC 725999222300

American Health Kennels Inc. 100 Calorie 2 ounce Pillow Pack UPC 725999539101; 100 Calorie 14 ounce dispenser UPC 725999539200; Gravity Trial 2 ounce UPC 725999400166; Best Before: 11/09

American Health Kennels Inc. Bark Bars Minis UPC 72599953300; Best Before: 11/09

American Health Kennels Inc. Bark Bars Animal Snackers 3 ounce UPC 725999512098; 12 ounce UPC 725999512098; Best Before: 11/09

American Health Kennels Inc. Bark Bars Milk Cookies UPC 725999333808; Best Before: 11/09

American Health Kennels Inc. Dog Ate My Homework Jumbo UPC 725999531006; 2 ounce Pillow Pack UPC 725999535004; Best Before: 11/09

American Health Kennels Inc. Bark Bars Naughty or Nice UPC 725999530092; Best Before: 11/09

American Health Kennels Inc. Bark Bars Carob Peanut Butter, 2.5 pound canister UPC 725999005071; 2.25 ounce Pillow Pack UPC 725999333402; 5 pound bulk UPC 725999003251; Best Before: 11/09

American Health Kennels Inc. Bark Bars Brownie Delight 12 ounce UPC 725999003107; 5 pound bulk UPC 725999003251; Best Before: 11/09

Gurley's Foods Inc. is recalling some lots of Gurley's 2 for $1 Chocolate Covered Peanuts and Gurley's Golden Recipe Chocolate Covered Peanuts. No illnesses have been reported, according to the company. Details: by phone at 800-426-7845.

The recall includes:

Gurley's 2 for $1 Chocolate Covered Peanuts; UPC 0-28348-00223-4; 1.5 ounce codes: 05 DEC 09, 18 DEC 09, 19 DEC 09, 08 JAN 10, 20 JAN 10.

Gurley's Golden Recipe Chocolate Covered Peanuts; UPC 0-77449-49888-0; 5 ounce codes: 08 DEC 09, 17 DEC 09, 15 JAN 10, 16 JAN 10.

EB Performance LLC is recalling its PB Whey Protein Bites. No illnesses have been reported, according to the company. The recalled products were sold nationally through select retail stores and direct to customer sales. The products are in 1.25 ounce packages in 15-count printed boxes and 45-count plastic containers. The recall involves these date codes: BEST BY 10NOV09; BEST BY 17SEP09; BEST BY 07JUL09; BEST BY 12MAY09; BEST BY 03MAR09; BEST BY 12DEC08; BEST BY 07NOV08; BEST BY 06NOV08. For more information, call 954-725-8393.

The packages have these UPC codes:

Individual packages: 8 90391 00100 3

15-count boxes: 8 90391 00108 9

45-count containers: 8 90391 00101 0

Ramsey Popcorn Co. is recalling 117 bags of 12-ounce chocolatey peanut clusters. The company said it has received no complaints or reports of any illness. The recalled lot was sold through fundraising groups in Maryland, Mississippi and Texas as one of five products in a Camp Masters Gourmet Popcorn 88-ounce treasure tin, UPC 7520100820. The clusters, the only recalled products in the tin, were in a plastic pouch with a white paper label that reads ``12-ounce Chocolatey Peanut Clusters Best By May 24, 2009.'' Details: by phone at 800-624-2060.

Dairy Fresh is recalling about 36,500 one-half gallon containers of Southern Home tin roof sundae ice cream with a ``sell by'' date of Aug. 30, 2009, or earlier and UPC 0788040516. The company said it has received no reports of illnesses. The product was distributed in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee through BI-LO retail outlets and in Alabama and the Florida panhandle through Bruno's, Food World and Food Max retail outlets.

Dean Foods of Decatur, Ind., is recalling about 1,590 one-half gallon containers of IGA tin roof sundae ice cream printed with a ``best by'' date of April 9, 2009, and UPC 4127046102. The company said it has received no reports of illnesses. The recalled products were distributed in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia through IGA affiliated retail outlets.

Four In One LLC is recalling Lucky brand peanut butter pouches. No illnesses have been reported, according to the company. The peanut butter was shipped to distributors in Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. The products were primarily for institutions and not intended for retail. The white pouches are labeled ``Lucky Peanut Butter'' with net weights of 0.75 ounce or 1.12 ounce. Details: by phone at 866-815-9497.

Golden Temple of Oregon LLC of Eugene, Ore., is initiating an expanded voluntary recall of WHA GURU CHEW Peanut Cashew bars (1.13oz.), because they have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella.

Items affected by the expanded voluntary recall follow:

Item code 450001: ``WHA GURU CHEW Peanut Cashew'' Lot 050109; ``WHA GURU CHEW Peanut Cashew'' Lot 052909; ``WHA GURU CHEW Peanut Cashew'' Lot 061709; ``WHA GURU CHEW Peanut Cashew'' Lot 061809.

This expansion is in addition to the original items under recall: Item code 450001 ``WHA GURU CHEW Peanut Cashew'' Lot 040909,

``WHA GURU CHEW Peanut Cashew'' Lot 041509.

Description: 1.13oz. (32g) individually plastic wrapped confectionary bars. The bars are packed 24 to a display box and 6 display boxes to a master shipper. The shipper and display boxes are lot coded. The individual bars are not lot coded. The UPC Code is 7507000101.

Golden Temple is not aware of any reported cases of illness related to this product. Any customer who has inventory of these lots or individual bars of WHA GURU CHEW Peanut Cashew are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1- 541-461-2160 (8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. PST Mon.-Fri.)

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Matthew Stafford refuses to accept the title of second best. Mark Sanchez won't like it either.

So the NFL draft's two top-rated quarterbacks will spend the next two months proving who is better.

Stafford and Sanchez insist this high-stakes duel will not devolve into a personal battle despite the temptation to make this about money, prestige and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be the first quarterback selected in the 2009 draft. They figure football should never ruin a good friendship.

``Of course I think that (I should go first), and he should think that, too,'' Sanchez said Friday at the NFL's annual scouting combine in Indianapolis. ``All I want to be is the best and No. 1 is the best, so that's what I want to be.''

Most draft analysts believe Stafford, a three-year starter at Georgia, holds the lead. They claim he's the top quarterback in the class and a possible No. 1 selection in April.

Sanchez's supporters point to Southern Cal's offense, the track record of recent Trojan quarterbacks in the NFL and believe that experience makes Sanchez a better choice even though Sanchez didn't win the starting job till last summer.

The decision, of course, rests with the scouts and general managers who scrutinize everything from the obvious, like arm strength, to minute details, like hand measurements.

But the quarterbacks embrace the competition.

``We're having fun with it, trying to keep it lighthearted,'' said Stafford, who measured in at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds.

Friday's dialogue between the two provided hints about how much fun they are having.

As Stafford addressed reporters, Sanchez sneaked up to the podium with a small video camera, ducked his head and shouted a question about Stafford's weight.

Stafford started to answer before realizing who it was, then responded with a playful scolding more reminiscent of brothers than challengers.

``Get out of here Mark, go away,'' Stafford said, laughing. ``I'll to have get you back.''

The two first met at the influential Elite 11 camp in California. There, they emerged among the nation's best quarterbacks and started the quest that has turned them into two highly-prized players.

Stafford then headed to Georgia, while Sanchez stayed home in California. When they got together again last summer, their outgoing personalities seemed a perfect match. The two traded text messages, e-mails and phone calls through the fall, and continued chatting while debating whether to turn pro.

When Stafford and Sanchez both opted to leave school, it put them in arguably the highest-profile battle in this year's draft.

``I'm doing everything to prove to teams that I'm worth a pick, and if it's the No. 1 pick, that's great,'' Stafford said. ``To go to the Lions, I'd be happy to go there.''

But going in the first round, or No. 1 overall, has big risks for a quarterback.

The busts, like Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch, and Alex Smith, have become almost as identifiable as the successful players, like Peyton and Eli Manning.

And when the competition gets close, the relationship can become tense.

Sanchez and Stafford will not let that happen.

``He's a great guy, and from what I hear a great teammate,'' Stafford said. ``He'll definitely help some team.''

Which one may depend on who answers the questions best.

Some believe juniors have a more difficult transition to the NFL than seniors.

It hasn't seemed to matter this year.

Each of the top four quarterbacks this year Stafford, Sanchez, Kansas State's Josh Freeman and Ball State's Nate Davis left school early. Two other underclassmen, Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and Tim Tebow of Florida, both Heisman Trophy winners, didn't come out.

That makes Sam Houston State's Rhett Bomar, the former Oklahoma quarterback who was dismissed from the program, the top-rated senior at No. 5.

``I think experience really does help,'' Bomar said. ``The more you play, the more things you experience, the better you're going to be. I wished that never happened to me (at Oklahoma), but I think it's matured me and I've grown up a lot. I think it's good training. For some of these guys, everything's gone perfectly all their lives and it's not like that in the NFL.''

Stafford and Sanchez hope to debunk those contentions.

Sanchez, who measured in at 6-2, 227, contends the big-city environment of Los Angeles and high expectations at Southern Cal have been good preparation for the scrutiny he will face next season.

On Sunday, Sanchez will be one of the rare top prospects who plans to participate in the workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Stafford does not plan to work out this week, opting instead to audition at his pro day next month in Athens.

``I've got to throw because I feel like I want to do it,'' he said. ``I'm a competitive person and that's what it's about. It would kill me not to throw.''

Or to go behind Stafford on draft day.

So they will battle hard, hear the judgments, shake hands and wish each other well till they meet again.

``We're the same type of guys, so we hit it off right away,'' Stafford said. ``I had to take the guys around Orange County and show them what to do. Now we're competing against each other and everyone wants to make it 'Who will be No. 1?' But we're having fun.''

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

MCDONOUGH (AP) A Henry County jury has sentenced a Stockbridge man to life in prison for his role in the beating death of his 11-year-old daughter.

The jury of seven women and five men returned the verdict on Friday in the sentencing phase of the trial of 42-year-old Rodney Reaves.

Reaves, a former Navy recruiter, was found guilty on Wednesday of felony murder and cruelty to children in the death of Joella Reaves over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2003. He was acquitted of malice murder.

Reaves' lawyers say they will appeal his conviction. Gary Bowman, Rodney Reaves' public defender, says there was insufficient evidence presented that Reaves beat the child.

Reaves' lawyers said his wife, Charlott Reaves, was the person who abused Joella. Charlott Reaves faces trial in April.

ATLANTA (AP) Gov. Sonny Perdue has declared a state of emergency in four Georgia counties following Wednesday's violent storms that spawned 11 tornadoes, killing one person and injuring 22 others.

Perdue issued an executive order Friday for Hancock, Jasper, Thomas and Warren counties. Those four were hit hardest by the storms, which Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John Oxendine estimates caused at least $25 million in insured damage across the state.

One insurance company alone, State Farm, said Thursday it expects to see as many as 750 claims from homeowners and businesses and as many as 1,000 claims for damaged vehicles.

In the Hancock County town of Sparta, Johnny Frank Baker was killed when his home was destroyed by the storm.

(WSB Radio) The man accused of murdering a midtown doctor charmed a woman before killing the doctor, a confidential source told WSB's Jeff Hullinger.

Police arrested Jamal Thompson, 22, Thursday and charged him with murdering Dr. Eugenia Calle, 57, in her condo Tuesday at the Aqua midtown.

WSB News has learned what Thompson did before and after the crime.

The source said Thompson met a woman the day before Dr. Calle's murder. He was then invited to a birthday party inside a downtown Atlanta restaurant the next night. After breaking into Dr. Calle's condo and killer her, Thompson showed up at the party for a restaurant employee. He was armed with very expensive champagne and a diamond ring for the honoree. He then posed for many pictures and was described as fun and charming.

Police said Calle had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and that there was evidence of a struggle inside her upscale unit at the Aqua, at 10th and West Peachtree streets.

Calle, 57, retired last month from the Atlanta-based American Cancer Society, where she was vice president of the epidemiology department. She was also a former adjunct professor of epidemiology at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health.

Investigators say Calle's condo at Aqua is for sale, and and they had been working to determine whether a person seen on security video visiting the condo on Tuesday was a potential buyer there to view the property.

Lt. Keith Meadows, commander of the Atlanta police homicide unit, said Calle's body was discovered about 11 p.m. Tuesday by her boyfriend, an Atlanta attorney whose name was not released.

Thompson had posed as a potential buyer of Eugenia Calle's condo to gain entry to her home at the upscale Aqua complex on 10th Street, Meadows said.

Meadows said Thompson was tracked to southwest Atlanta after using one of Calle's credit cards.

Thompson is charged with murder, and Meadows said other charges, including robbery and credit card theft, are likely.

Calle had apparently been dead for about 12 to 16 hours when her body was found, according to Meadows. That would mean she died between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he wants to consider taxing motorists based on how many miles they drive rather than how much gasoline they burn an idea that has angered drivers in some states where it has been proposed.

Gasoline taxes that for nearly half a century have paid for the federal share of highway and bridge construction can no longer be counted on to raise enough money to keep the nation's transportation system moving, LaHood said in an interview with The Associated Press.

``We should look at the vehicular miles program where people are actually clocked on the number of miles that they traveled,'' the former Illinois Republican lawmaker said.

Most transportation experts see a vehicle miles traveled tax as a long-term solution, but Congress is being urged to move in that direction now by funding pilot projects.

The idea also is gaining ground in several states. Governors in Idaho and Rhode Island are talking about such programs, and a North Carolina panel suggested in December the state start charging motorists a quarter-cent for every mile as a substitute for the gas tax.

A tentative plan in Massachusetts to use GPS chips in vehicles to charge motorists by the mile has drawn complaints from drivers who say it's an Orwellian intrusion by government into the lives of citizens. Other motorists say it eliminates an incentive to drive more fuel-efficient cars since gas guzzlers will be taxed at the same rate as fuel sippers.

Besides a VMT tax, more tolls for highways and bridges and more government partnerships with business to finance transportation projects are other funding options, LaHood, one of two Republicans in President Barack Obama's Cabinet, said in the interview Thursday.

``What I see this administration doing is this thinking outside the box on how we fund our infrastructure in America,'' he said.

LaHood said he firmly opposes raising the federal gasoline tax in the current recession.

The program that funds the federal share of highway projects is part of a surface transportation law that expires Sept. 30. Last fall, Congress made an emergency infusion of $8 billion to make up for a shortfall between gas tax revenues and the amount of money promised to states for their projects. The gap between money raised by the gas tax and the cost of maintaining the nation's highway system and expanding it to accommodate population growth is forecast to continue to widen.

Among the reasons for the gap is a switch to more fuel-efficient cars and a decrease in driving that many transportation experts believe is related to the economic downturn. Electric cars and alternative-fuel vehicles that don't use gasoline are expected to start penetrating the market in greater numbers.

``One of the things I think everyone agrees with around reauthorization of the highway bill is that the highway trust fund is an antiquated system for funding our highways,'' LaHood said. ``It did work to build the interstate system and it was very effective, there's no question about that. But the big question now is, We're into the 21st century and how are we going to take care of our infrastructure needs ... with a highway trust fund that had to be plused up by $8 billion by Congress last year?''

A blue-ribbon national transportation commission is expected to release a report next week recommending a VMT.

The system would require all cars and trucks be equipped with global satellite positioning technology, a transponder, a clock and other equipment to record how many miles a vehicle was driven, whether it was driven on highways or secondary roads, and even whether it was driven during peak traffic periods or off-peak hours.

The device would tally how much tax motorists owed depending upon their road use. Motorists would pay the amount owed when it was downloaded, probably at gas stations at first, but an alternative eventually would be needed.

Rob Atkinson, president of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, the agency that is developing future transportation funding options, said moving to a national VMT would take about a decade.

Privacy concerns are based more on perception than any actual risk, Atkinson said. The satellite information would be beamed one way to the car and driving information would be contained within the device on the car, with the amount of the tax due the only information that's downloaded, he said.

The devices also could be programmed to charge higher rates to vehicles that are heavier, like trucks that put more stress on roadways, Atkinson said.

On the Net:

National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission: http://financecommission.dot.gov

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

(WSB Radio) -- Gwinnett County Police will increase patrols around Collins Hill High School after a man came onto the Suwanee campus and attempted to grab the arms of two female students. 

Gwinnett Schools' spokesman Jorge Quintana tells Channel 2 Action News the incident happened Thursday morning in a school parking lot before classes began.

Warrants have been issued for the suspect, but police have not released his name.  When taken into custody, the man will be charged with two counts of simple battery and one count of criminal trespass.

Principal Glenn McFall sent an e-mail Thursday to Collins Hill students, faculty and parents.  It reads "the students were understandably shaken, but none of them were injured.  Police were notified immediately.  We have used this situation as an opportunity to remind students and staff that we do, on rare occasions, have people trespass onto our campus.  We have reviewed safety precautions with students and have asked them to be alert of what is going on around them and to notify an adult immediately if they see anything out of the ordinary."

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) Tom Glavine has returned to the Atlanta Braves, completing a $1 million, one-year contract that includes another $3.5 million in possible bonuses based on roster time.

The Braves announced the deal Friday morning after a final round of talks with Glavine's agent. The left-hander is baseball's active wins leader with 305.

Glavine, who turns 43 next month, was 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA in 13 starts last season, cut short by an elbow injury. He will join the Braves in March after continuing rehab in Atlanta from an operation that also cleaned up his shoulder.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

(WSB Radio) It's only 3100 square feet, with wide porches and rocking chairs.  It sits in a 17 acre lot, with a fishing lake on one side and a wheat field on the other. 

Hardly the kind of place to be at the center of a fight between the Governor of Georgia and the residents of a storied community.

The Georgia Visitor's Center, in Plains, is one of eleven in the state.  Based on raw numbers, it's not even in the same league as the other centers.

"56,000 people stopped at the Plains Visitors Center last year," says Bert Brantley of the Governor's office.  "That's compared to an average of 1.1 million at the other facilities.  So this is a very simple decision in making the most value of the dollars that we have."

But numbers don't tell the whole story, at least not for the 600 people who call Plains their home.

To them this is about respect, respect for their hometown hero who went on to become President of the United States and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, but never moved away from their small town in southwest Georgia.

The Plains Visitors Center draws tourists who come to Plains to find out about Jimmy Carter.  His presence is everywhere in town, from the old train station that was his campaign headquarters in 1976, to the church where he still teaches Sunday School (and mows the lawn) to his home, where he and Rosalynn have lived since before he became Governor of Georgia.  To the people of Plains, Jimmy Carter deserves the center.

"It's a small price to pay for the state of Georgia to maintain a presence and an active boost in the president's hometown and on his doorstep," says State Senator George Hooks, of Americus, who is leading the effort to keep the center open.  To Hooks, the 56,000 people who come to the Plains Visitors Center are more than just statistics. 

"The other visitors center are on the perimeter of the state and are on the interstate highways," he tells WSB.  "People stop to use the restrooms or to get a drink of water, walk their dog or get a map.

"The ones who go to the visitors center in Plains, Georgia, it's a final destination.  They stay and spend money."

Brantley says, in these tough economic times, with the state looking at a budget deficit of $2 billion dollars, all options to save must be examined.

"It's all about prioritizing your dollars," he says. 

To maintain the center in Plains costs Georgia approximately $186,000 a year.  Brantley says the Governor's budget does not look to close the facility, just make it more cost effective.

"The proposal was not to close the center.  The proposal was to remove the funding for the center," he tells WSB.  "If there's a way they can keep that center open through local money, or volunteers or however they can do it, then that's fine.

"That's what we want them to do.  We want them to look at creative ways of doing more with less money," he says.

But Hooks says the state does not have a choice when it comes to keeping the center operating.  He points to a 1977 Georgia law that, he says, puts the matter to rest.

"The law says any Georgian ever elected President of the United States shall, it doesn't say may it says shall have constructed, operated and maintained a state welcome center within the vicinity of their home," Hooks says.  "So the state has a legal obligation to keep that one open."

It does look as if the center will remain open. 

The Georgia Department of Economic Development said it would find a way to keep the center open, although it might reduce its hours or rely on volunteers to run it.

Brantley says that's great. 

"I do want to credit the agencies who are trying to do more with less," he says.  "I think that's what you're seeing in this case."

Hooks says he'll continue to watch developments and fight for the center in Plains.

"The country has only four living former presidents," Hooks says, "and one of them happens to live in my district."

===============================================

Talked with Bert Brantley....waiting for call from George Hooks...

PLAINS, Ga. -- Reminders of Jimmy Carter abound in this 637-person town, where the local preacher and bicyclist and woodcarver just happens to also have been president of the United States.

There's the Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm, the Jimmy Carter National Historical Site and Jimmy Carter Industrial Drive. There's the "aw shucks" grin painted on bobble-head dolls, shot glasses and a 13-foot peanut statue. And there's Mr. Carter himself, teaching Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church, marching in the Peanut Festival Parade and riding down Main Street in his black Suburban.

"Before President Carter, we were total obscurity," said the town's mayor, L. E. Godwin III, known as Boze. "If people came here, they were lost."

But last month, locals began to worry that out-of-towners might once again feel lost in Plains -- only now, with too much to see and too little direction. That is because Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican, to help close a budget gap and save $186,000, proposed shutting the town's state Visitor Information Center, a tiny museum and rest station that has been tourists' first stop in town since 1977, when Mr. Carter's inauguration made Plains a national Mayberry-esque landmark.

Plains loyalists pleaded for a special exception for Mr. Carter's hometown center.

"The idea of the state wanting to close a welcome center that is located in the vicinity of our nation's 39th president, and a former governor, Jimmy Carter, is far-fetched," wrote Rebecca L. Holland, an editor for The Times-Recorder newspaper in nearby Americus. "Had it not been for Carter, regardless of how you feel about his reign as president, Georgia wouldn't be on the minds of the multitudes of tourists who venture into our great state."

George Hooks, 63, a state senator whose district includes Plains, furthered the argument by unearthing an obscure 1977 Georgia law requiring the state to "construct, operate and maintain" a tourist center in the hometown of any Georgian elected president. (Mr. Carter is the only such person.)

"You cannot just close it without changing the law," Mr. Hooks said. "Besides, I think it's poor judgment to close a tourist information center at the doorstop of a president of the United States."

By Wednesday, the visitor center appeared to have been spared. The Georgia Department of Economic Development said it would find a way to keep the center open, although it might reduce its hours or rely on volunteers to run it.

"That's the law," said Alison Tyrer, a spokeswoman for the department. "We're definitely keeping the center open."

But Bert Brantley, a spokesman for the governor, said legal experts must still decide whether the 1977 law allowed the state to scale back the center's hours or to reach another compromise with Plains. No matter the findings, he said, Mr. Perdue plans to reduce Georgia's budget for the 2009 fiscal year by more than 10 percent, including cuts of 21.3 percent to tourism.

"There are things we can afford in good times but don't provide enough value in tough times," Mr. Brantley said. "We're looking at spending these dollars in the ways that are beneficial to the most people."

Penny Smith, the center's manager and one of three employees, received the news on Thursday that the center would probably remain open. "Oh, this is so wonderful," she said. "This place is such an asset. I could get another job, but I would have hated to see the building just sitting there. What would the tourists do?"

All along, the center seemed an unlikely battleground. Only 3,100-square feet, with wide porches and rocking chairs, it sits on a 17-acre lot, lined by a wheat field and a fishing lake. It displays photographs and pamphlets on attractions like the Little Grand Canyon and, of course, Mr. Carter's boomeranging life from peanut farmer to president to hometown hero.

"Most of our visitors are what we call 'destination visitors,' " Mr. Smith said. "They didn't mistakenly get here. They have a reason for coming."

Over the past 32 years, she said, visitors to Mr. Carter's hometown have come from 38 countries and all 50 states. But this year, traffic has declined.

Because Plains is not along an Interstate, the center has attracted the fewest visitors of any of Georgia's 11 visitor centers. Last year, only 56,000 people stopped there, compared with an average of 1.1 million people at each of the other facilities.

But Mr. Hooks said the center's location was an asset, not a burden. "Little things like this do matter, and they matter a lot," he said. "It never cost a lot of money, and this is a struggling part of the state that needs all the help it can get."

Besides, Mr. Hooks said, the country has only four living former presidents, "and one of them lives in my district."

(WSB Radio) If you want consumers to come, lower the prices.

That's exactly what Six Flags Over Georgia, one of metro Atlanta's biggest attractions, has decided to do.

Park Spokeswoman Hela Sheth tells WSB the recession has forced many attractions to rethink pricing.

"Our season pass price right now, for Six Flags Over Georgia, is only $49.99.  That's the lowest price we've had in years," said Sheth.

The lower pass price comes as Six Flags' parent New York-based Six Flags, saw attendance increase at its parks in the third quarter, but has struggled with its stock value.

Also a first, 2009 will be the park's longest operating season.

"Six Flags Over Georgia's opening day is Saturday,  February 28th.  That is the first time in the park's 42-year history that we're opening up in the month of February," said Sheth.

There's also another big attraction.

"We definitely want people to bring their little monsters out to the park this year because we're going to be opening Monster Mansion in mid-May.  That of course, is the ride renovation of the 28-year-old Monster Plantation.  We're going to be having some new characters, some new interactive elements; and the ride is just going to have a completely new look and new feel to it," said Sheth.

Six Flags isn't the first attraction to lower prices.

Last fall, the Georgia Aquarium offered tickets to lure customers back who weren't ready to become season passholders.

(WSB Radio) The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to issue a Levi's Call for three missing children. 

A 1-year-old Hispanic female, a 3-year-old Hispanic female and a 5-year-old Hispanic male were allegedly kidnapped just after 11 o'clock Thursday night from Lancaster County, South Carolina, 271 miles northeast of Atlanta. 

29-year-old Gerado Reyes-Campos and the victims are believed to be traveling to Monroe, North Carolina in a 1992 tan Isuzu Rodeo with South Carolina tag 287-HYN.

Lt. Brown with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division tells WSB's Mark Alewine "there is no indication that Gerado Reyes-Campos has any intention of going to Georgia."

Authorities consider Reyes-Campos to be dangerous.  Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Reyes-Campos and the children are asked to call 9-1-1.

(WSB Radio) Damage assessment teams from the National Weather Service have determined that Wednesday's super cell thunderstorms produced ten tornadoes. 

There was one each in Coweta, Hancock, Houston, Newton, Oconee, Putnam, Taylor and Wilkes counties.  Two twisters touched down in Jasper County, where 13 homes were destroyed and 74 others were damaged.

Buzz Weiss with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency tells WSB one storm-related death occurred in Hancock County when a man was thrown from his mobile home in Sparta.  17 other injuries were reported around the state.

Initial property damage estimated stand at $10 million dollars, but State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine expects that figure to go even higher.

MARTA Assistant Police Chief Joseph Dorsey tells WSB's Jennifer Griffies 9-1-1 got the call about the body just after 8 o'clock Thursday night.

He said "after responding, they (MARTA officers) observed the subject on the tracks and shortly thereafter determined the subject was pretty much deceased."

it's unclear if the woman was struck by a train.  An autopsy will determine how she died.  The death investigation shut down a portion of MARTA's east rail line for more than three hours.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau) House and Senate leaders join Gov. Perdue in calling for an overhaul of the state's transportation system. 

The bill, which will be sponsored by Sen. President Pro Tem Tommie Williams, would create the new State Transportation Authority and strip most of the power from the current DOT board.

"This isn't about bad people, it is about a process that failed to deliver value for the citizens of Georgia," says Perdue.

The State Railway and Toll Authority and Georgia Regional Transportation Authority would merge into the new agency with its 11 members appointed by the Governor, Lt. Governor, and House Speaker.

The DOT would still maintain the state's roads and could bid for road projects along with private contractors.

The bill would allow for all transportation dollars to be transferred to the new authority including the state's motor fuel tax.

19 February 2009 

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  The state Senate votes to strip the authority from the Georgia Public Defenders Council and give it to the council's director. 

SB 42 would give the ability to make financial decisions to director Mack Crawford and turn the council into an advisory panel.  It would also move the council from the purview of the judicial branch to the executive branch.

"The current structure while well intentioned, and certainly was attempted, has not worked and most everyone you talk to will say that it's broken down," says bill sponsor Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome).

He says while other state agencies are being asked to cut their budget, the council is asking for a 33 percent increases as well as pay raises for employees.

Sen. John Wiles says the Brian Nichols case is a good example of the ineffectiveness of the current system.

"The idea that a group of appointed officials who do not have the best interest of the public at large... it's time to make a change," he says.

But opponents of the measure say changing the current system will result in inadequate representation for defendants.

"You really do need an independent group of people who are fighting to make sure normal people have adequate access to council," says Sen. Kasim Reed (D-Atlanta).

The bill passed 32-21 and now goes to the House.

19 February 2009

ATLANTA (AP) Severe thunderstorms hurled large hail, heavy rain and swirling winds across north Georgia on Wednesday.

The National Weather Service reported that tornadoes touched down in several spots just before sundown. Buzz Weiss of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said there were no reports of injuries from the storms.

Black clouds broken by horrific lightning flashes rolled from the west, dumping hailstones the size of golf balls and even larger in some cases.

Weiss said Jasper County authorities were reporting that 100 homes had been damaged and some roads were closed, and that Wilkes County was reporting one house destroyed and damage to several other houses and a church.

Weiss said scattered damage was reported in Gwinnett County, south Fulton County, and Henry County, where a roof was blown off a business and a tree fell on a house in McDonough.

``We don't know whether that was due to a tornado or straight-line winds,'' he said.

Weiss said Wednesday's storms could serve as a ``dress rehearsal'' for the spring tornado season. And he noted that twisters are not uncommon in Georgia this time of year. A record outbreak of 21 struck the state March 1, 2007, wrecking a hospital in Americus and killing nine people in southwest Georgia.

A tornado struck downtown Atlanta on March 14 last year, causing millions of dollars in damage.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

(WSB Radio) -- The day before a scheduled arbitration hearing, and a report says the Braves and Jeff Francoeur have reached an agreement on a new contract.

Francoeur and the Braves have agreed to terms on a one-year, $3.375 million contract, which includes incentives that could push his earnings this year to $3.4 million, according to MLB.com.

The base salary represents the midpoint of the arbitration figures the two parties exchanged in January. Francoeur was seeking $3.95 million, and the Braves offered $2.8 million.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) Jake Peavy. A.J. Burnett. Rafael Furcal. John Smoltz.

Now, Ken Griffey Jr.

The Atlanta Braves wanted them all. They'll all be playing elsewhere in 2009.

Griffey was the latest disappointment, deciding Wednesday night that he wanted to return to the Seattle Mariners rather than fulfill a longtime goal of playing in Atlanta.

The Braves seemed to have everything going their way in the negotiations. They had an opening in the outfield, two actually. They had NL batting champ Chipper Jones lobbying Junior on a regular basis. They had the advantage of proximity, since Griffey lives in Orlando and had expressed a desire to remain close to his wife and children. One doesn't need a map to know that Atlanta is a lot closer to Florida than Seattle.

In the end, none of that prevailed. For whatever reason loyalty to a former team, anger about media reports Tuesday that said he would sign with Atlanta Griffey decided to spend the twilight of his career on the opposite coast.

The Braves had to be stunned.

``We were informed tonight that Ken Griffey Jr. has decided to return to Seattle,'' general manager Frank Wren said in a hastily prepared statement. ``We will continue to be open to other possibilities to improve our outfield offense and, at the same time, give our young players an opportunity to show us they can win that job.''

But there was no glossing over the latest snubbing of a team that won 14 straight division titles from 1991-2005, but now looks increasingly isolated from that proud legacy. The Braves have struggled to losing records two of the last three seasons, including last year's 72-90 mark their worst since 1990.

Determined to rebuild a rotation that was devastated by injuries, Atlanta set its sights high at the start of the offseason.

San Diego offered up Peavy, its top starter, but the two sides couldn't agree on a deal because the Braves wouldn't part with heralded pitching prospect Tommy Hanson. Atlanta offered big money to free agent Burnett, but he took an even larger offer from that bottomless pit known as the New York Yankees.

The Braves thought they had a $30 million deal with shortstop Rafael Furcal, who began his career in Atlanta, but he chose to re-sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Team officials were livid about the late-breaking development, believing they had a firm agreement with Furcal, and vowed to never deal again with any client represented by his agent.

Then came a stunning blow: Smoltz, who had spent his entire 20-year career with the Braves, bolted to the Boston Red Sox, saying they offered a significantly better deal than the Braves. Losing the only player in baseball history with 200 wins and 150 saves led to fierce local criticism of Wren, a second-year GM who replaced the architect of all those division championships, John Schuerholz.

Wren redeemed himself somewhat when, in the space of a few days last month, he signed Derek Lowe to a $60 million, four-year contract and landed the first Japanese player in franchise history, Kenshin Kawakami. They'll join another newcomer, trade acquisition Javier Vazquez, to bolster the rotation.

But the lineup still has some major holes especially in the outfield. That's where Griffey was supposed to come in, even though he's 39 and clearly past his prime. Last season, Junior batted .249 with 18 homers and 71 RBIs, but even those numbers would have made him Atlanta's most productive outfielder.

``We think he's got some playing left in him,'' Braves manager Bobby Cox said earlier Wednesday. ``We're looking for a stronger bat, and he's just the guy to supply that.''

Wren tried to temper expectations when he spoke to reporters at the first full-squad workout of the spring, pointing out Griffey's loyalty to the Mariners, a team he played with for 11 seasons.

``He has emotional ties to the Seattle club he came up with originally,'' Wren said. ``I'm sure that's a strong deciding factor as well.''

The Braves had hoped to add another strong-hitting outfielder to their lineup without giving up prospects in a trade. If they stick to that philosophy, the most appealing free agent option left is Garret Anderson, who batted .293 with 15 homers and 84 RBIs for the Los Angeles Angels last season.

Wren said there's also a chance the Braves will stick with the outfielders they have, even though that's the same group that produced a major league-low 27 homers in 2008. The only potential newcomer is center field prospect Jordan Schafer, who has no major league experience and served a 50-game suspension last season for using human growth hormone.

Wren said he's willing to stick with what's got.

``I think last year was more an aberration than anything else,'' he said. ``I'd be surprised to see that repeat itself, even if we do nothing at all. We've said all along that we'd like another bat in our lineup ... but we'd also like to see our young guys. We're not married to any one way of putting it together.''

One thing is for sure: Griffey won't be part of the mix.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

(WSB)--The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention is out with its annual report on the nation's health.

The report this year highlighted young adults ages 18 to 29 years old. The reports finds obesity rates among young adults have triple in the past three decades.  More young adult  men are smoking and binge drinking.

Other findings: 

* In 2006, American men could expect to live 3.6 years longer, and women
1.9 years longer, than they did in 1990. Death rates from heart disease, stroke and cancer have continued to decline in recent years.

* Sixty-five percent of men and 80 percent of women aged 75 and older reported having high blood pressure or were taking high blood pressure medication in 2003-2006, compared to about 36 percent of adults aged 45-54.

* The proportion of the population with high cholesterol levels has been dropping, in large part due to increased use of cholesterol-lowering drugs. In 2003-2006, 16 percent of adults had high cholesterol. Women aged 55 and over were much more likely to have high cholesterol than their male counterparts.

* Approximately 25 percent of adults aged 60 and over had diabetes in 2003-2006.

(WSB Radio)  Marietta Police have arrested a former Boys and Girls Club advisor on child molestation charges.

Officer Mark Bishop tells WSB 28-year-old Michael Brown has been charged with child molestation, statutory rape, enticing a child, and sexual battery involving a now 13-year-old girl from the club.

"This child he met during his time working as an advisor for the Boys and Girls Club here in Marietta, during this time period there which was only from 2004-2005," said Bishop.

They are asking any other possible victims to call Marietta Police Detective Mark Erion at 770-794-5363.

WSB's Jon Lewis reports Jamal Thompson, 22, is charged with murder in the death of Eugenia "Jeanne" Calle.

Police said she had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and that there was evidence of a struggle inside her upscale unit at the Aqua complex, at 10th and West Peachtree streets.

Calle, 57, retired last month from the Atlanta-based American Cancer Society, where she was vice president of the epidemiology department. She was also a former adjunct professor of epidemiology at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health.

Investigators say Calle's condo at Aqua is for sale, and and they had been working to determine whether a person seen on security video visiting the condo on Tuesday was a potential buyer there to view the property.

Lt. Keith Meadows, commander of the Atlanta police homicide unit, said Calle's body was discovered about 11 p.m. Tuesday by her boyfriend, an Atlanta attorney whose name was not released.

Thompson had posed as a potential buyer of Eugenia Calle's condo to gain entry to her home at the upscale Aqua complex on 10th Street, Meadows said.

Meadows said Thompson was tracked to southwest Atlanta after using one of Calle's credit cards.

Thompson is charged with murder, and Meadows said other charges, including robbery and credit card theft, are likely.

Calle had apparently been dead for about 12 to 16 hours when her body was found, according to Meadows. That would mean she died between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Detective Paul Brown tells WSB the mother of 14-year-old Dmitry "Dima" Irby called police after he failed to come home Tuesday night.

Irby was last seen around 10:45 Tuesday morning at his home in the Deer Run community located off of Towne Lake Parkway.

"He likes the outdoors and he has a tendency to stay out and be out.  The weather is not really something that seems to concern him too much, doesn't mind the cold weather.  But she (his mom) says it's very unusual for him not to have returned home, basically at dusk or dark.   So, for him to be gone overnight was out of the ordinary," said Brown.

Brown says while it's too early to suspect foul play, they're still very concerned.

"With it being a child of that age, we just kind of want to err on the side of  caution just to be sure.  Even if he was out and about, there's always that fear of  who he may have come into contact or who may have come into contact with him," said Brown.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Woodstock Police Department at 770-592-6030.

February 18, 2009

(WSB Radio) -- A Henry County jury will decided whether a Stockbridge father lives or dies.

It took them eleven hours to return guilty verdicts against Rodney Reaves in the death of his daughter Joella.

The jury convicted Reaves of felony murder, aggravated battery, and  two counts of cruelty to children.  Reaves could be seen weeping as the jury foreman read the verdict.

His attorneys argued that Reaves' wife, Charlott, not Reeves was guilty for the murder of his 11-year old daughter.  Because Reaves was found not guilty of a charge of malice murder, he will escape the death penalty. 

The crime happened more than five years ago - over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2003.  The child was tied up and beaten to death for refusing to write that she was a "thief and a liar for stealing change and mouthwash from her home.

The sentencing phase of the case begins today.  Charlott Reaves stands trial for murder in April.  She also faces a possible death sentence.

SB 80 by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Bulloch would require food processing plants to report any test results that come back positive with a contaminate to be reported to the Georgia Department of Agriculture within 24 hours.

The company would also have to maintain test results for two years and make those results available to the department at any time.

"It's unfortunate with the situation we've got today in the state of Georgia with this one plant that shipped product that they had reasons to believe or to know that it was contaminated," Bulloch says.

The bill now goes to the House.

18 February 2009

(WSB Radio) - Medical issues for WSB's Clark Howard as he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The good news is it has been caught early and there's some question as to whether cancer surgery at this early stage is even necessary.

The WSB Radio and TV icon remains positive about his situation. "Cancer is a scary word, but through early detection, doctors say I have a 'little league' case of prostate cancer."

Howard tells News/Talk 750 WSB, "I have virtually a 100-percent chance of survival." "That is why guys going to the doctor is key," he added. "So often, men die of silent killers that could be prevented by merely having routine physicals."

Clark Howard is 53 and plans to maintain his rigorous radio and television schedule. He hosts a daily consumer advice program on news/Talk 750 WSB weekdays from 1pm until 4pm. He also appears regularly as the money and consumer reporter on Channel 2 Action News, and since January hosts a weekly program for HLN - formerly CNN Headline News.

Clark says he'll discuss his diagnosis and why it is important for men to participate in early screening for prostate cancer during the 2pm hour of his radio show today.

(WSB Radio)  Two people have died from a fire at the Monteleona Apartments on Briarcliff Road near Emory University--one of them, a child. 

WSB's Jon Lewis reports the fire broke out around 7:30 this morning and damaged four units.  DeKalb Fire & Rescue Captain Eric Jackson tells WSB it took them about an hour to put the blaze completely out.  They're not sure where the fire began.

"We're going to have to determine if the apartment they were found in was the apartment of origin.  We don't know that, because there are three other apartments that are just as badly damaged," says Jackson.

The child and adult were found in the rear of one of the four damaged units; their identies were not immediately determined, nor were their genders or ages.

A rescued baby suffering from smoke inhalation and burns was taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. 

(WSB Radio) Atlanta police are on the scene of a suspicious death in midtown.

A woman in her 50's was found dead in her penthouse apartment at the Aqua Midtown  Apartments, on 10th Street and West Peachtree Street.

The woman's boyfriend had gone to the apartment after not hearing from her for an extended period.  When he went upstairs, he discovered her body.

"There did appear to be some signs of a struggle inside," says APD Lieutenant Keith Meadows.  "She had some blunt force trauma to the back of the head and it appears she may have been moved at some point. 

"We are trying to develop some security footage within the complex to see who her visitors were throughout the course of the day," Meadows says.

Police say the building is equipped with surveillance cameras and they are confident there is video of anyone who may have gone to the woman's apartment.

(WSB Radio) He was the first black mayor of the city where the modern Ku Klux Klan was born.

Charles Burris tamed the past, even winning the support of the former Imperial Wizard of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. 

Burris, who was elected mayor of Stone Mountain in 1997, has died in Maryland from postsurgery complications.  He had been suffering from amylodosis, a disease in which an abnormal protein builds in the body's organs and tissues.

When Burris first ran for mayor in 1991, he received an unlikely endorsement. 

James Veneble, who used to hold Klan rallies on the top of Stone Mountain, allowed Burris to put signs up in his front yard and said he'd vote for him in the election.

Burris lost in that bid but, six years later, became Stone Mountain's first black mayor.

He lost his bid for re-election in 2001 and, two years ago, moved to Maryland to work for Lockheed-Martin.

A native of Louisiana, Burris, who was 57, moved to Atlanta in 1967 as a scholarship student at Morehouse College.  He later worked in the administration of former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson.

Burris is survived by his wife, four children, one stepchild and 12 grandchildren.

(WSB Radio) Clayton County's buses are too crowded and border on being dangerous.  So says MARTA's general manager.

Beverly Scott says it will take at least six more buses, and drivers, plus additional bus routes to ease the problem.

Currently, MARTA operates 22 buses through C-TRAN, the Clayton County public transportation system.

County officials are trying to come up with the funds for new buses, and hope to get some state and federal money.  But, County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell says it's likely the money will have to come from county funds.

Scott says it's a problem that pushes the boundaries of safety.  She says some buses are carrying as many as 70 passengers.  The buses are designed to hold between 48 and 52 people safely.

The commission was scheduled to hear from Scott on Tuesday, but instead heard from county residents who are angry over the conditions on the buses.

The majority of the residents who spoke Tuesday said they would be willing to pay a higher fare for better bus service.

(WSB Radio) Jury deliberations resume today in the murder trial of a Henry County father accused of beating his daughter to death.

The jury has already reached a verdict on three counts against Rodney Reaves.  Two other charges are still being considered.

Reaves is accused of tying up his 11 year old daughter, Joella, in the garage of the family's Stockbridge home, then beating her, repeatedly, over five days during Thanksgiving week of 2003.

Reaves wife, Charlotte, goes on trial in April.  She's also charged in the girl's death.

Rodney Reaves claims Joella's injuries were self-inflicted.

He faces a possible death sentence if convicted on all counts.

Charlotte Reaves is also facing the death penalty in her trial.

(WSB Radio) For  the third year in a row, a bill is before the Georgia House that would allow the sale of liquor on Sundays. 

Does it have a chance to pass in 2009?

Senate Bill 16 would allow local communities to hold a referendum on whether to allow the sale of beer and wine on Sundays. 

"Not a single sale would ever occur on Sunday, unless the local voters approved it," says Jim Tudor, with the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores.  "The local county commission, or city government, would have to first vote to put it on the ballot.  Then, secondly, a majority of voters would have to approve it."

47 other states currently have similar laws, including every state in the South, except Georgia.

(WSB Radio) Cops are supposed to investigate crimes.  Now, some officers are the target of a rape investigation.

Atlanta Police Major Lane Hagin says the alleged incident took place on February 6.  The victim is described as a passenger in a car that had been in an accident.

The driver of that vehicle had been charged with DUI and police were giving the passenger a ride home when the alleged assault happened.

She claims the officers sexually assaulted her.  She went to the hospital, called police and was provided a rape kit.

"Anytime something like this happens, we're going to investigate it," Hagin says.  :If, in fact, there were wrongdoing, we're going to investigate it."

Hagin says the unidentified officers who are accused have been on the force for less than three year and are on administrative leave, with pay.

(WSB Radio) A lawsuit filed by seven women claims they were all sexually assaulted at Kennestone Hospital.

The women all say the assaults happened while they were patients at the Marietta facility.

"People look at hospitals as safe havens," says one plaintiff, who claims she was assaulted by an x-ray technician.  "You go there for healing.  In these instances, the patients are walking away with more scars than they entered the hospital with."

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages.  The attorney for the women says he decided to file the suit when it became clear that the hospital would not settle with his clients.

"The fact that there's been at least twelve complaints over the last few years against three different hospital employees tells us that there's something wrong at the hospital," says attorney Glenn Loewethal. "With either the hiring practices, the supervision, or the policies that are in effect."

Police have arrested more than one Kennestone employee.  One man is charged with sexual assault. 

(WSB Radio) Investigators are looking into a suspicious fire at a home owned by controversial pastor Arthur Allen.

Allen, who served prison time for cruelty to children, says he believes an ex-church member and his son are to blame.

"It's a threat.  I have it on tape," Allen says.  "This young fellow confessed that his daddy told him to burn us out."

Allen was renovating the ten room home on Hollywood Drive for his wife and eight children.

The pastor gained notoriety as head of Atlanta's House of Prayer Church.  It was in that church that several children of congregation members were beaten at the direction of Allen.

The children were removed from their families by DFACS and the parents, and Allen, were charged.

WSB Radio/AP) Administrators at Mercer University and the Dekalb County Fire Department are investigating what sparked a small explosion Tuesday afternoon in a building on the school's DeKalb County campus.

The incident, which sent two graduate students to the hospital, led to the evacuation of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, which is located off of Chamblee-Tucker Road.  The explosion set off the building's sprinkler system, which caused extensive water damage to the two story complex.  A restoration team arrived on campus Tuesday night to begin the task of cleaning up.  It's unclear when the college will be be able to be occupied again.

DeKalb County Fire Captain Eric Jackson says the two students, a male and a female, underwent chemical decontamination at the scene.  Both victims were also treated for cuts and acid burns.  One was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, the other to Northside Hospital.  Neither students' injuries are believed to be life threatening.

Jackson said "It appears there was some cleaning that was going on utilizing some hydrochloric acid and somewhere in the midst of that there was a reaction that resulted in a small explosion with no fire."

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  -- Gov. Perdue signs HB 143 into law that will provide Homeowners Tax Relief Grants to local governments that were promised last year by the state.

He says federal stimulus money promised for Medicaid enabled the funding of the grants this year.

Perdue, who says he's still opposed to such grants because he feels local governments are not using them to keep property taxes down, signed the bill anyway.

"While I've been very candid in my feelings... I feel it's appropriate for a chief executive, even when he disagrees with legislative action, to bow to that will if it's in the best interest of the state," he says.

Funding of the grants will mean homeowners will not get an additional tax bill of between $200 and $300 this spring.

The bill also stipulates that the grants will only be funded in the future is there's a budget surplus.

Perdue says the economy still dictates that he reduce the state's revenue estimate by $450 million dollars meaning further budget cuts for the midyear spending plan.  He's also calling on state agencies to cut an additional one percent or $131 million.

17 February 2009 

(WSB Radio) -- It looks like Morris Brown College has dodged another bullet.

The college had until 5 o'clock Tuesday to pay the $214,000 water bill to Atlanta Watershed Management.

School Spokeswoman Bunny Jackson tells WSB they raised the majority of the money in hopes it would be enough to keep the water on.

"We have raised the total of $150,000, which they are offering in good faith to the city of Atlanta, to the Watershed Department, hoping that the city will accept this and not turn the water off," said Jackson.

Janet Ward, spokeswoman for Atlanta Watershed Management tells WSB they've accepted the offer.

"They have worked out an agreement with the city.  We are going to accept $150,000 by close of business today; and then the court order will be extended and the balance of $65,000 will be paid within 30 days.  "I'm real glad about this.  Everybody worked together very well, said Ward.

February 17, 2009

Highlights of the $787 billion bill signed into law Tuesday by President Barack Obama. Additional debt costs would add about $330 billion over 10 years. Many provisions expire in two years.

Spending

AID TO POOR AND UNEMPLOYED

$40 billion to provide extended unemployment benefits through Dec. 31, and increase them by $25 a week; $20 billion to increase food stamp benefits by 14 percent; $4 billion for job training; $3 billion in temporary welfare payments.

DIRECT CASH PAYMENTS

$14.2 billion to give one-time $250 payments to Social Security recipients, poor people on Supplemental Security Income, and veterans receiving disability and pensions.

INFRASTRUCTURE

$48 billion for transportation projects, including $27.5 billion for highway and bridge construction and repair; $8.4 billion for mass transit; $8 billion for construction of high-speed railways and $1.3 billion for Amtrak; $4.6 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers; $4 billion for public housing improvements; $6 billion for clean and drinking water projects; $7.2 billion to bring broadband Internet service to underserved areas; $4.2 billion to repair and modernize Defense Department facilities.

HEALTH CARE

$24.7 billion to provide a 65 percent subsidy of health care insurance premiums for the unemployed under the COBRA program; $86.6 billion to help states with Medicaid; $19 billion to modernize health information technology systems; $10 billion for health research and construction of National Institutes of Health facilities; $1 billion for prevention and wellness programs.

STATE BLOCK GRANTS

$8.8 billion in aid to states to defray budget cuts.

ENERGY

About $50 billion for energy programs, focused chiefly on efficiency and renewable energy, including $5 billion to weatherize modest-income homes; $6.4 billion to clean up nuclear weapons production sites; $11 billion toward a so-called ``smart electricity grid'' to reduce waste; $6 billion to subsidize loans for renewable energy projects; $6.3 billion in state energy efficiency and clean energy grants; and $4.5 billion make federal buildings more energy efficient; $2 billion in grants for advanced batteries for electric vehicles.

EDUCATION

$44.5 billion in aid to local school districts to prevent layoffs and cutbacks, with flexibility to use the funds for school modernization and repair; $25.2 billion to school districts to fund special education and the No Child Left Behind law for students in K-12; $15.6 billion to boost the maximum Pell Grant by $500 to $5,350; $2 billion for Head Start.

HOUSING

$4 billion to repair and make more energy efficient public housing projects; $2 billion for the redevelop foreclosed and abandoned homes; $1.5 billion for homeless shelters; $2 billion to pay off a looming shortfall in public housing accounts.

SCIENCE

$3 billion for the National Science Foundation for basic science and engineering research; $1 billion for NASA; $1.6 billion for research in areas such as climate science, biofuels, high-energy physics and nuclear physics.

HOMELAND SECURITY

$2.8 billion for homeland security programs, including $1 billion for airport screening equipment.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

$4 billion in grants to state and local law enforcement to hire officers and purchase equipment.

Taxes

NEW TAX CREDIT

About $116 billion for a $400 per-worker, $800 per-couple tax credits in 2009 and 2010. For the last half of 2009, workers could expect to see about $13 a week less withheld from their paychecks starting around June. Millions of Americans who don't make enough money to pay federal income taxes could file returns next year and receive checks. Individuals making more than $75,000 and couples making more than $150,000 would receive reduced amounts.

ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX

About $70 billion to spare about 24 million taxpayers from being hit with the alternative minimum tax in 2009. The change would save a family of four an average of $2,300. The tax was designed to make sure wealthy taxpayers can't use credits and deductions to avoid paying any taxes. But it was never indexed to inflation, so families making as little as $45,000 could get significant increases without the change. Congress addresses it each year, usually in the fall.

EXPANDED COLLEGE CREDIT

About $14 billion to provide a $2,500 expanded tax credit for college tuition and related expenses for 2009 and 2010. The credit is phased out for couples making more than $160,000.

CHILD TAX CREDIT

About $15 billion to provide the $1,000 child tax credit to more families that don't make enough money to pay income taxes.

EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT

$4.7 billion to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income families with three or more children.

HOME BUYER CREDIT

$6.6 billion to repeal a requirement that a $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit be paid back over time for homes purchased from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, unless the home is sold within three years.

AUTO SALES

$1.7 billion to makes sales taxes on paid on new cars, light trucks, recreational vehicles and motorcycles tax deductible through the end of the year.

RENEWABLE ENERGY INCENTIVES

About 20 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency over 10 years, including extending tax credits for energy produced from wind, geothermal, hydropower and landfill gas; grants to build renewable energy facilities; tax credits for purchases of energy-efficient furnaces, windows and doors, or insulation; tax credit for families that purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles.

BONUS DEPRECIATION

$5 billion to extend a provision allowing businesses buying equipment such as computers to speed up its depreciation through 2009.

REPEAL BANK CREDIT

Repeal a Treasury provision that allowed firms that buy money-losing banks to use more of the losses as tax credits to offset the profits of the merged banks for tax purposes. The change would increase taxes on the merged banks by $7 billion over 10 years.

Debt Limit

DEBT LIMIT INCREASE

Increases the statutory limit on the national debt by $789 billion, to $12.1 trillion.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

ATLANTA (AP) Former Mexican President Vicente Fox will speak at Emory University's spring graduation ceremony on May 11, where he will receive an honorary degree.

Fox was elected president in 2000 as a member of an independent political party, marking the first time in seven decades that Mexico was led by someone outside the Institutional Revolutionary Party. After his term ended in 2006, he founded Centro Fox, a presidential library and museum modeled loosely on the humanitarian work of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at The Carter Center in Atlanta.

Fox earned an MBA from Harvard University and eventually became the president of Coca-Cola Mexico.

Fox joins a list of other people receiving honorary doctorates, including former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

(WSB Radio)  Sandy Springs Police have made a couple of arrests in a series of car break-ins, and have recovered stolen i-pods, laptops, cell phones, mp-3 players and at least one GPS system.

Officers on anti-theft patrol early this morning pulled over a car they noticed prowling through parking lots off Abernathy Road and Mt. Vernon Highway.

Lieutenant. Steve Rose tells WSB one of the 2 men in the car, 27 year old Jermaine Moss, is also being charged with probation violation: "I know that he's got a record for this type of thing, and it's certainly our hope that this probation is for that and if so, then hopefully they'll revoke it."

Dekalb County Police plan to charge Moss and his passenger, Nick Johnson, with breaking into a Dunwoody City Council member's car overnight.

(WSB Radio) The Braves are adding a future Hall of Famer to their outfield.

Ken Griffey Jr. has decided to sign with Atlanta, rather than the Seattle Mariners, for the 2009 season.  That according to a person close the the 39 year old star.

Griffey, who's one of six players in major league history with more than 600 career home runs, is coming off an injury-plagued year that was split between the Reds and White Sox.

In 2008, Griffey hit .249, with 18 home runs and 71 RBI.  He had off-season surgery to repair a problem with his knee.

Griffey, a 13 time all-star, turned down a chance to return to Seattle, where he played the first 11 years of his career.  He was American League MVP for the Mariners in 1997.

Both the Braves and Mariners offered Griffey a contract worth about $2 million, with incentives built in.  Those incentives are tied to Griffey's health and to his number of plate appearances for 2009.

It's expected that the Braves will play Griffey in left field as part of a platoon with Matt Diaz.

Griffey's father, Ken, played three seasons for the Braves, from 1986-1988.

Griffey's agent and Braves General Manager Frank Wren are expected to meet today to finalize a deal.

(WSB Radio) When it comes to vacant homes and businesses, Atlanta is among the best, or worst, American cities.

The Forbes magazine list of the nation's emptiest cities ranks Atlanta third, trailing only Las Vegas and Detroit.

According to the study, Atlanta's vacancy rate for rental properties stands at 16.1%, and the rate for homes is at 4.3%.

Las Vegas, which tops the list, has vacancy rates of 16% for rentals and 4.7% for homes.  In Detroit, the vacancy rates were 19.9% and 4%, respectively.

The southeastern U.S. fared poorly as a whole.

Greensboro/High Point, North Carolina placed 4th on the list, with Orlando at 7, Jacksonville coming in 9th and Miami/Fort Lauderdale 11th.  Also in the top 15 were Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater (13), and Charlotte/Gastonia/Concord (15).

Forbes compiled the list based on U.S. Census figures.

Forbes Magazine Story

Trent Benson (left) and Matthew Graeff (right), both of Kennesaw, are facing misdemeanor obstruction charges. Police said they made false statements during interviews at Harrison in the days after Reed's death. The name of the third teenager was not released because he is 16 years old.

According to arrest warrants, the teenagers formulated a plan to make false statements to officers about how minors obtained alcohol and where it was consumed in the hours before Reed's death on Jan. 24. Additionally, they encouraged other students to make false statements, according to the warrants.

Cobb police Sgt. Dana Pierce told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the obstruction charges are not related to the arrest of Kecia Whitfield, 44, of Powder Springs. Whitfield, the stepmother of a Harrison student, was arrested Jan. 30 for allegedly providing Reed and other teenagers with rum hours before Reed's accident.

Reed, 16, died when his car crossed the center line on Midway Road in Powder Springs and slammed into another car. Police have said alcohol and speed were contributing factors in the crash.

(WSB Radio) A bill to restructure the state's transportation system could be introduced as early as today.

The measure would do away with GRTA and SRTA and create the State Transportation Authority, which would approve road projects and control project funding.

"We think ten years in too long to wait for a road," says Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams.  "When all the funding is there.  And that's the purpose.  To speed up these projects and delivery."

Williams says the DOT would still maintain roads and could bid for new projects. 

Members of the new authority would be appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House.  Currently, members of the DOT board are elected by the Legislature.

(WSB Radio) How poorly did Atlanta do in a new report about park space?

Las Vegas, the oasis in the desert, scored higher.

Park Pride, a local park advocacy group is out with their study that says even metro counties known for development, like Gwinnett, are more park friendly than the city.

The report blames the current money crisis for hurting the effort to buy up more land for parks.

Las fall, voters in Gwinnett, Cobb and Cherokee Counties approved measures for local option sales taxes to purchase more park space.

(WSB Radio) Investigators, probing the death of a local music promoter, have revealed some new clues, and a cause of death.

Authorities say a Marc Stewart died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Gwinnett County police released the cause of death of the Stone Mountain businessman in a statement Tuesday. Investigators are treating the death as a homicide.

Police also say someone used his debit card across north Georgia after the man went missing.

Stewart's body was discovered inside of his Ford Explorer, in the parking lot of the Bahama Breeze restaurant in Duluth, on Saturday night.

Stewart's live-in girlfriend had reported him missing last Wednesday, after he telephoned to say he was coming home, but never arrived.

In additional to the debit cards, police say Stewart's cell phone was also used in north Georgia.

Stewart, who lived in Stone Mountain with his girlfriend and daughter, was known in the Atlanta area as a promoter of Caribbean music and films.

(WSB Radio) It's going to take another couple of months before we know if a private motor sports park will be built in Dawsonville.

The city council last night tabled its decision on the plan.

A huge crowd of both supporters and opponents filled the council chambers, waiting for the council to make a decision.  Now they'll have to wait some more.

Developer Jeremy Porter wants to put the new attraction on a 152 acre site owned by race car driver Bill Elliot's older brother.

"The ripple effect, from what I've heard, from these businesses can be 30 to 50 million a year," Porter tells WSB.  "In support businesses.  In people driving in and out."

But opponents, like local veterinarian Doctor West Hamryka, who owns a nearby horse farm, fear the neighborhood's peace and quiet will be ruined.

"They are saying high performance race cars," he says.  "They are doing carts, which are very high pitched, and super motorcycle racing."

The city planning commission has voted in favor of the project.

(WSB Radio) DeKalb police have filed misdemeanor charges against the Snellville woman who struck and killed a 7 year old boy in a school crosswalk earlier this month.

40 year old Shirley Ogilvie is charged with misdemeanor vehicular homicide and violating a crosswalk.

She's free on $3000 bond.

Kameron Dunmore was killed on his way to Princeton Elementary School on February 2.  Police say Ogilvie struck the boy despite the presence of a crossing guard who was stopping traffic.

Residents in the neighborhood say they want a stoplight installed at that crossing on South DeShon Road.

(WSB Radio) Georgia is now reporting widespread flu activity.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention includes Georgia among 16 states with the highest level of flu.  All 50 states are reporting an outbreak of some degree.

This year's "Type A" strain is showing resistance to tamiflu, but flu shots are still effective.

200,000 people end up in the hospital and 36,000 die from flu each year in the U.S.

SHARPSBURG, Ga. (AP) Authorities say a 54-year-old woman found dead in her Sharpsburg home was stabbed to death.

Coweta County coroner Ray Yeager said Tuesday that Cathy Mendenhall McNaughton died from ``sharp force injuries to the torso.'' Her husband, 60-year-old Alec McNaughton, called 911 just after 7:30 p.m. Sunday to say his wife was unresponsive and bleeding.

The Coweta County sheriff's office is investigating the case a homicide.

Sheriff Mike Yeager says Alec McNaughton was questioned and released but remains a ``person of interest.''

No arrests have been made.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

ATLANTA (AP) U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson got an early jump on the 2010 election, announcing his bid for a second term.

Tuesday's state Capitol news conference was the first stop in a statewide tour for Isakson, an Atlanta real estate developer.

No Democratic challenger has emerged yet to challenge Isakson.

Instead, all eyes have been on the open governor's seat that will be up that same year.

Isakson recently voted against the federal stimulus package President Barack Obama is set to sign into law.

But he acknowledged on Tuesday that it will mean ``significant money coming to Georgia'' for programs such as cash-strapped programs like Medicaid and transportation.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

(WSB Radio) Jurors in the Rodney Reaves murder trial have reached verdicts on three of the five counts against the man accused of beating to death his 11-year-old daughter. 

After six hours of deliberations on Monday, the jury came to unanimous conclusions on the counts of malice murder, cruelty to children and aggravated battery.  The panel has not reached a decision on two remaining felony murder charges. 

Because one of the jurors has a spouse undergoing surgery on Tuesday, deliberations won't resume in Henry County Superior Court until Wednesday. 

(WSB Radio) Closing arguments get underway this morning in the murder trial of a Henry County man, accused of beating his daughter to death.

Rodney Reaves declined to take the stand in his own defense on Friday.

11 year old Joella Reaves was found by police in her bed at the family's home in Stockbridge.  Prosecutors say Rodney Reaves and his wife, Charlotte, tied the girl to a chair in the garage, then beat her, repeatedly, over a five day period during the 2003 Thanksgiving holiday.

Rodney Reaves faces a possible death sentence if convicted.  The jury could get the case by this afternoon.

Charlotte Reaves goes on trial in April.  She's also facing the death penalty.

(WSB Radio) A state house panel will try to get answers as to why some Atlanta residents have seen their water bills go through the roof.

Representative Tommy Smith, who chairs the house state planning and community affairs committee, says some bills have jumped more than 1000%, usually after a new water meter has been installed. 

To make matters worse, Smith says, many customers complain that their complaints to the city have gone unanswered.

"There seems to be a problem that's gone on so long that I'm convinced the state needs to look into it and make sure that citizens are being treated fairly," Smith tells WSB.  "That's all we're trying to do."

Smith says some of the bills defy belief.

"We've had reports of water bills going from 25 and 50 dollars to over $1000 in one month," he says. 

Smith says that, in some cases, residents have had their water cut off because of non-payment.

(WSB Radio) DeKalb police are hunting for the robber who shot a convenience store clerk during a brazen, daylight hold-up.

The clerk was behind the counter of the Circle K, on Shallowford Road, off of Interstate 85, when the robber entered.

Surveillance video captured the shooting.  Police are asking who might recognize the robber to contact them.

The clerk is in critical condition.

(WSB Radio) He was heading home to Stone Mountain and called his wife to find out what she wanted for dinner.  That was the last time anyone heard from Marc Stewart.

The body of the DeKalb businessman was found, in his SUV, in the parking lot of a Bahama Breeze restaurant in Duluth.  He had been shot to death.

"We really don't have any viable suspect information," Gwinnett Police Corporal Illana Spellman tells WSB.  She says someone spotted the body in the vehicle and called police.

Stewart, who had a daughter, was known in the area as a promoter of Caribbean music and films.  There had been a preview of one of his movies scheduled for Sunday night.  That, instead, turned into a memorial service for Stewart.

"Oh God.  Marc is the sweetest person you would ever want to know," says Joan Savoury, a family friend. 

"I'm heartbroken," says Wesley Graham, another friend.  "All I can say is condolences to his family and I hope his soul rests in peace."

Police are asking anyone with information on the killing to contact them.  Another family friend, Tamayra Ginyard, is looking for justice and hopes the police can track down those responsible for the killing.

"It's a senseless crime and we want whoever killed him to be caught," she says,  "and to be prosecuted to the fullest extent.  Because they've taken someone from us that we can't replace."

An Atlanta police spokesman said the man was stabbed during a struggle at a home at 160 Joesph E. Lowery Blvd. around 3:30 a.m. Sunday.

"Some of the people inside the rooming house reported hearing loud voices and what appeared to be a scuffle coming from the back door of the residence," Lieutenant Keith Meadows with the Atlanta police department told WSB.

Police said they are questioning five adult males and one is considered a person of interest. There is no motive for the stabbing.

The victim is described by police as a black male in his 30's. His name has not been released.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Six salmonella cases in Colorado have been linked to tainted products from a shuttered Texas plant owned by the peanut processing company at the focal point of a national outbreak of the disease.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment linked the cases to the Plainview Peanut Co. in the Texas Panhandle, The Oregonian newspaper in Portland reported Saturday. The Colorado victims were between the ages of 2 and 60. One had to be hospitalized, the newspaper reported.

The Plainview plant, owned by Peanut Corp. of America, had operated since 2005 without an inspection, authorities have said.

On Thursday, Texas health officials ordered the recall of all peanut-related ingredients ever shipped from the Plainview plant. Inspectors found dead rodents and feces, and preliminary tests by a private lab indicated salmonella was present.

A Texas health official confirmed Saturday that they knew come Colorado salmonella cases were possibly linked to the Plainview plant, which was shut down after the inspection.

``It's certainly not a surprise to us,'' said Doug McBride, spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The salmonella cases in Colorado were traced to peanut butter from Lakewood-based Vitamin Cottage. The natural foods chain recalled its Vitamin Cottage Fresh-Ground Peanut butter last week.

Vitamin Cottage could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday evening.

In a statement last week, though, Vitamin Cottage officials said they'd been notified by Colorado authorities that three people had salmonella after eating the peanut butter in late December or early January. Vitamin Cottage has 25 stores in Colorado, plus stores in Texas, New Mexico and Utah.

The salmonella outbreak has sickened some 600 people in 43 states and is being linked to nine deaths. More than 1,900 products have been recalled, and Peanut Corp. of America is under FBI investigation and filed for bankruptcy Friday. It's plant in Blakley, Ga. is considered the source of the outbreak. Leading brands of jarred peanut butter are not affected.

Alicia Cronquist, epidemiologist at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, told The Oregonian that 16 people in the state have been sickened by tainted peanut butter, six of them linked to peanut butter from Vitamin Cottage and the Texas plant.

CUMMING (WSB Radio) Police say a Cumming man has been charged in the death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old adopted son.

The Forsyth County Sheriff's Department says 39-year-old Christopher Brian Gilreath is charged with felony murder, aggravated battery and cruelty to children in the death of Joshua Pinckney.

"We're not saying that he beat the child to death," Cpt. Frank Huggins with the Forsyth County Sheriffs office told WSB's Charley O'Brian. "The child, according to preliminary autopsy results, died from multiple blows to the head."

Pinckney was found dead in his bed Friday morning. He lived with his sister and adopted mother at a home on Catalina Drive in Cumming.

Authorities say Gilreath is a registered sex offender in Pennsylvania and has been charged with failing to register in Georgia.

Child welfare officials removed a 2-year-old girl from the home.

A Forsyth County Jail said Gilreath has been visited by an attorney. Efforts to reach the attorney Saturday night for comment were not successful.

Cpt. Huggins said the victim's mother, Miriam Pinckney, is part of the investigation . She has not been charged and Cpt. Huggins said he didn't know if she would be.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

ATLANTA (AP) Still seeking a proven bat for the outfield, the Atlanta Braves say they're interested in acquiring Ken Griffey Jr.

Braves general manager Frank Wren told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday the team is interested in ``several available outfielders, including Griffey.''

Atlanta has been looking for more offense from its outfielders, who combined for a major league-low 27 home runs last season. Griffey has 611 career home runs, including 18 last year with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox.

Recent speculation has suggested Griffey would return to Seattle, where he was a perennial All-Star until he was traded to Cincinnati in 2000. But this week at a California golf tournament, Griffey downplayed reports of his possible return to Seattle as ``rumors.''

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) University of Georgia officials say the number of applications for admission reached a record 18,100 by the Jan. 15 deadline. That is 3 percent more than the 17,600 applications a year ago.

There were 32,177 students enrolled at Georgia in spring 2008, down slightly from the 32,510 in spring 2007. The 2008 fall enrollment of 34,180 is the largest in school history.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) Terrance Woodbury scored a career-high 32 points to help Georgia end an 11-game losing streak and deal a blow to Florida's hopes in the SEC's Eastern Division in the Bulldogs' 88-86 upset victory on Saturday.

Erving Walker and Walter Hodge missed shots in the final seconds for the Gators, allowing Georgia to avoid its first 12-game stretch of consecutive defeats since 1951-52.

Woodbury scored 20 points in the first half on 7-for-7 shooting and 5-for-5 on 3-pointers.

``They kept going in, man,'' Woodbury said. ``One would go in, and I was like, 'Cool, we're winning.' Another would go in, (and) 'Cool, we're winning.' It was just unreal. Just unreal.''

Bulldogs interim coach Pete Herrmann brought in Georgia football coach Mark Richt to motivate his players in a brief talk Friday night.

``We remained poised, and the big baskets were key,'' Herrmann said. ``It's a terrific day for Georgia and the kids on this team.''

The Bulldogs (10-15, 1-9 Southeastern Conference) led by 14 points three times in the first half, but Florida took its first lead with 8:03 left in the game when Ray Shipman's two free throws made it 77-76.

Florida (19-6, 6-4) missed a chance to stay even with Kentucky, a 79-63 winner Saturday at Arkansas and South Carolina, which won 75-73 at Alabama in the SEC East.

The Gators, who had an 11-game winning streak against Georgia, began the game tied with the Wildcats, the Gamecocks and Tennessee atop the East.

Hodge scored a team-high 22 for Florida. Nick Calathes, who became the first Gator to have a triple-double against an SEC opponent in Florida's 26-point win over Georgia on Jan. 28, scored 16 points on 5-for-14 shooting. He also had a game-high 10 rebounds.

Herrmann assigned senior guard Corey Butler with the job of covering Calathes, a candidate for SEC player of the year.

``We wanted to be aggressive early,'' Herrmann said. ``Nick is so good at controlling the game, and Corey got after him early, and it gave us the adrenaline we needed the rest of the game.''

The Gators, now 1-4 when trailing at halftime, gave up a season-high 54 points in the first 20 minutes.

``I think our guys play very, very hard, but I think they're also understanding there's a lot more to this thing mentally in terms of how you handle those situations,'' Florida coach Billy Donovan said. ``There's a level of discipline you have to have and a level of toughness you have to have, but that last possession, I thought we got really decent looks.''

Suffering their first two-game losing streak this season and dropping three of their last four, the Gators are now 1-4 when trailing at halftime. They gave up a season-high 54 points in the first half.

Florida's second and final lead came on Hodges' 3 from the left corner, making it 82-80 with 6:42 remaining. The score was tied twice before Zac Swansey's layup put the Bulldogs ahead to stay at 86-84 at the 2:58 mark.

Georgia won its first game for interim coach Pete Herrmann, who took charge of the team after Dennis Felton was fired Jan. 29.

Coming off an embarrassing 79-48 loss Wednesday at Tennessee, the Bulldogs got 11 points each from Dustin Ware and Trey Thompkins.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

ATLANTA (AP) Emory University says it has changed the name of Emory Crawford Long Hospital to Emory University Hospital Midtown.

Emory University president James Wagner said Friday it will make the hospital more clearly affiliated with Emory in the public eye.

The hospital is a 511-bed acute-care teaching facility. It was founded in 1908.

Emory is in the midst of a major project to modernize its medical facilities at its main campus and the Crawford Long site. The estimated cost of the project is $1.5 billion.

(WSB Radio) Four Atlanta fire stations re-opened their doors Sunday after six were temporarily closed Saturday because of staffing shortages.

A spokesman for the fire department said 50 firefighters did not come to work on Saturday, putting the department below the minimum staffing level.

"There's always the sick outs, the vacation tends to be higher on the weekends, and we have people on furloughs," said Atlanta Fire Cpt. Stephen Hill.

Six trucks were also browned out Saturday. One of those unmanned trucks was needed when three buildings caught fire on MLK Jr. Drive in Southwest Atlanta around 7 a.m. Saturday. The first truck responded in five minutes, but the truck closest to the scene was browned out.

Cpt. Hill said 25 firefighters called in sick and some 20 firefighters were furloughed. The city of Atlanta was forced to cut $15 million from the fire departments budget to deal with budget crisis.

The department had similar problems on Super Bowl Sunday when 27 firefighters, twice as much as usual, called in sick. Five fire stations and seven trucks were closed.

A spokesman for the Gwinnett fire department said the first blaze at 1512 Oak Road started in two rooms around 6:30 p.m. Friday. Firefighters put out that fire around 9 p.m., only to watch the entire the house go up in flames an hour later.

"It does appear that both fires are an act of arson," Gwinnett Fire Cpt. Thomas Rutledge told WSB's Sandra Parrish. "There are no utilities to the house. The power, the gas, and the water were shut off previously."

Rutledge said no one was home at the time of either fire. They are still trying to get in touch with the home owner.

The average prices in Metro Atlanta is at $1.86 for a gallon, an increase of almost a nickle since Friday, according to atlantagasprices.com.  

The price has shot up 20 cents in the past month and 8 cents in the past week -- despite low crude oil prices. 

A top Kuwaiti oil official says crude oil prices are unlikely to rise above $40 per barrel, even if OPEC decides to enact a production cut of as much as 2 million barrels per day at its meeting next month.

Moussa Marafi, a member of the Supreme Petroleum Council, the highest oil policy-making body in Kuwait, told Annahar newspaper Sunday that oil prices are being pressured by a surging U.S. crude inventories, quota noncompliance by some OPEC members and continued pumping by non-OPEC producers.

OPEC members have agreed to cut production by 4.2 million barrels from September levels. But the cuts have failed to support oil prices, with the March delivery oil contract settling Friday at slightly over $37 per barrel.

But gas prices have stayed high. The national average is now at $1.92 a gallon, up from $1.80.

The good news -- prices were nearly $3-a-gallon this time last year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

(WSB Radio) Forsyth County deputes are questioning the boyfriend of the woman whose son was found dead in his bed Friday, police said.

The two-year old boy died around 7 a.m. Friday, said a spokesman for the Forsyth County sheriffs office. The boy's body has been taken to the GBI crime lab for an autopsy.

"I don't want to go into any further details as far as our investigation goes," Cpt. Frank Huggins told WSB's Jennifer Griffies. "It's ongoing at this time and details are still developing."

That investigation is the reason Christopher Gilreath, 39, is behind bars. He's is the boyfriend of the victim's mom. During that investigation, police discovered Gilreath is an unregistered sex offender from Pennsylvania. Huggins said he has not been charged with the boys death, but was charged with not registering as a sex offender in Georgia and the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

"He's fine," Gilreath's attorney John Rife told WSB-TV. "He's upset. He's been through a traumatic day but he's doing as well as can be expected."

Detectives have not released the name of the mother and the child.

WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama has the first major victory in Congress of his young administration, a $787 billion stimulus bill that includes tax cuts and federal spending aimed at easing the worst economic crisis in decades.

Obama ``now has a bill to sign that will create millions of good-paying jobs and help families and businesses stay afloat financially,'' said Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat who was a leading architect of the measure that cleared both houses on Friday on party line votes.

``It will shore up our schools and roads and bridges, and infuse cash into new sectors like green energy and technology that will sustain our economy for the long term,'' he added in a statement.

Hours earlier, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell offered a different prediction for a bill he said was loaded with wasteful spending.

``A stimulus bill that was supposed to be timely, targeted and temporary is none of the above,'' he said in remarks on the Senate floor. ``And this means Congress is about to approve a stimulus that's unlikely to have much stimulative effect.''

In a struggle lasting several weeks, lawmakers in the two political parties both emphasized they wanted to pass legislation to revitalize the economy and ease frozen credit markets. But the plan that the administration and its allies eventually came up with drew the support of only three Republicans in Congress moderate Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Their support was critical, though, in helping the bill squeak through the Senate on a vote of 60-38, precisely the number needed for passage. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown cast the 60th vote in favor in a nearly deserted Senate, hours after the roll call began. He arrived after a flight aboard a government plane from Ohio, where he was mourning the death of his mother earlier in the week.

The House vote was 246-183.

The legislation, among the costliest ever considered in Congress, provides billions of dollars to aid victims of the recession through unemployment benefits, food stamps, medical care, job retraining and more. Tens of billions are ticketed for the states to offset cuts they might otherwise have to make in aid to schools and local governments, and there is more than $48 billion for transportation projects such as road and bridge construction, mass transit and high-speed rail.

Democrats said the bill's tax cuts would help 95 percent of all Americans, much of the relief in the form of a break of $400 for individuals and $800 for couples. At the insistence of the White House, people who do not earn enough money to owe income taxes are eligible, an attempt to offset the payroll taxes they pay.

In a bow to political reality, lawmakers included $70 billion to shelter upper middle-class and wealthier taxpayers from an income tax increase that would otherwise hit them, a provision that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said would do relatively little to create jobs.

Also included were funds for two of Obama's initiatives, the expansion of computerized information technology in the health care industry and billions to create so-called green jobs the administration says will begin reducing the country's dependence on foreign oil.

Friday's events capped an early period of accomplishment for the Democrats, who won control of the White House and expanded their majorities in Congress in last fall's elections.

Since taking office on Jan. 20, the president has signed legislation extending government-financed health care to millions of lower-income children who lack it, a bill that President George W. Bush twice vetoed. Obama also has placed his signature on a measure making it easier for workers to sue their employers for alleged job discrimination, effectively overturning a ruling by the Supreme Court's conservative majority.

WASHINGTON (AP) America is bringing shock and awe to the home front, using dollars instead of bombs.

It's the military doctrine of lightning force fast and brute, or as brute as the shaken country can manage applied to the campaign for economic recovery.

With a record-busting stimulus plan, the U.S. is marshaling resources against economic catastrophe in ways not seen since Franklin Roosevelt put the New Deal in motion.

President Barack Obama is going with the best deal he could get. The stimulus bill is a landmark legislative achievement for a new president who inherited economic spoilage along with the spoils of power. Now the nation anxiously waits to see if it works.

Undermining federal balance sheets that were already deeply in the red, Obama and Congress settled on a nearly $800 billion plan that aims to spend more on the crisis at hand than the government has spent waging the Iraq war for six years.

The idea: fast cash, and lots of it, but with a strategic view to the future.

Some dollars will flow quickly into wallets and right out again.

The stimulus plan will mean thousands of dollars in tax breaks for first-time home buyers and people buying new cars. Lower- and middle-income taxpayers will get an extra $13 a week in their paychecks this year, and about $8 a week next year. Unemployment checks will go up $25 a week, and keep coming longer. Food stamp benefits for 30 million Americans will rise. Short-term health insurance will become more affordable for many losing their jobs.

The success of the stimulus package may be measured less by visible achievements than by what does not happen the home that is not foreclosed, the family that doesn't slip into poverty, the disease that does not go undiagnosed.

``The one thing we'll never know is what would have happened if we didn't do it,'' said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist for Global Insight of Lexington, Mass.

It's not FDR's deal and these aren't his times.

No federally subsidized artists will paint murals glorifying the muscle of American workers or the progress belching from smokestacks, as they did in Roosevelt's day.

No grand compact is to be formed between generations like the one that promised everyone a federal pension. No institutions will rise to try something brand new.

``We're not reinventing government,'' said historian Kenneth C. Davis, author of the best-selling ``Don't Know Much About'' series. ``We're modifying things that exist.''

Yet as the share of the economy taken up by federal spending rises to an anticipated 30 percent, the nation is grappling again with big questions about Washington's place in people's lives.

``The stakes are so high now, this is such a big bill, average Americans are following it,'' says Princeton historian Julian Zelizer. ``It's become a bill that is an argument about what government can or can't do.

``If there is no effect and in six months we are talking about the same economy or a worse economy, I think it would be a devastating blow to the president, Democrats, and to liberal claims about what government can do.''

To critics such as Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, the package is the ``Europeanization of America.'' Others call it ``Rooseveltian'' or ``generational theft'' in reference to the debt passed on to the future.

They might envision murals glorifying little more than filled potholes, insulated windows, depreciated computers.

Democrats and just enough Republicans in Congress three saw the measure as the best chance to tamp down the economic wildfires breaking out across the landscape.

Obama came into office saying he wished to be judged on his first 1,000 days instead of the usual benchmark of 100. In some ways he will be judged on his first 10 or 20.

Not even Roosevelt, fast off the mark to deal with a bank crisis, was as fast as this in achieving something so sweeping, so early.

The enormity of the package left politicians grasping for concrete ways to convey its size.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., spoke of a stack of hundred-dollar bills 689 miles high, and of bills wrapped side-by-side that would encircle the Earth nearly 39 times. House Republicans predicted that the package's costs with interest on the necessary borrowing could total more than a trillion dollars, enough money to buy about 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies for every American.

It was enough to prompt comic Jon Stewart to riff that if you sewed the $100 bills together, ``you would make a blanket for Jupiter.''

The stimulus wasn't just about throwing cash at the economy, though.

The package is filled with billions for some of the same goals that Obama preached about on the presidential campaign trail renewable energy and green jobs, computerized medical records, broadband Internet service for underserved areas.

``There are seeds in this bill for long-term change,'' says Zelizer. ``There are things that can develop out of the research that can change our lives.''

Obama sounded a drumbeat of warnings about the consequences of failing to act. But Americans didn't need their president to tell them how grim the economic situation was and could become.

Forty percent of Americans already have been affected by some sort of job problem in the past year, be it unemployment, underemployment, layoffs, reductions in pay or hours, or job losses by members of their households, according to a poll released Friday by the Pew Research Center. Fifty-six percent expect things to be worse or about the same a year from now and they've got solid grounds for their pessimism.

The country could well suffer a net loss of 2 million to 3 million or more jobs this year, economists believe. And the unemployment rate, now 7.6 percent, could top 9 percent by spring of 2010.

The stimulus pull-together was a colossal game of winners and losers shaped and reshaped by the latest set of hands on the package. The fortunes of people, schools, towns and other varied interests rose and fell in blinks of time.

Ready to buy another home?

Poof you just lost $15,000 that legislators had considered providing.

Buying a first home? You're still in luck the government plans to give you an $8,000 credit if you buy by the end of August.

A new car? You'll be able to deduct the thousands in sales taxes from your income tax but not as was initially proposed your loan interest as well.

One day, the government proposed to pay 65 percent of the cost of health coverage for a year for jobless people who lose their workplace insurance. Days later, it was down to half. Ultimately, it zigzagged back up to 65 percent, but only for nine months.

Obama declared an end to pork-barrel politics, but legislators still managed to look out for favorite projects.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was quick to point out that a big chunk of the $8 billion set aside to construct high-speed rail lines could go to a proposed Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas route. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., helped make sure $10 billion was set aside for the National Institutes of Health, a priority of his.

Long after the dust has settled from the horse trading, the government will be seen to have moved with unaccustomed speed on policies normally subjected to years of deliberation and gridlock.

Deficit hawks found their wings clipped as both parties reached for the treasury. Democrats mainly wished to spend; Republicans, mainly to cut taxes.

After last November, guess who got their way?

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said flatly: ``We won the election; we wrote the bill.''

The debate was both large and small. Negotiators considered the proper role of government and how fast a business can depreciate its equipment.

Entering the 1930s, Americans mainly saw the national government as the entity that fought wars, ran post offices and enforced a ban on liquor. Federal spending was only 3.4 percent of the economy.

That more than tripled during the New Deal, topping 10 percent, because of the explosion of public works and other labor programs, rural modernization, bank support, and farm and industrial aid.

``It was a transformation of society in a way that hadn't been done since the end of the Civil War and the end of slavery,'' Davis said.

The government became the entity that guaranteed a minimum wage, controlled farm production, supported artists, set workplace standards, insured deposits in regulated banks and cast the first national safety net for the elderly and handicapped under Social Security.

``The whole scope of what Roosevelt was trying to do is different but the intent is clearly the same: relief and recovery during a time of economic stress,'' said John Halpin, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

The package won by Obama offers ``very important but more subterranean changes in the way the economy works,'' he said.

Federal spending as a share of the economy shot above 40 percent during World War II and has hovered around 20 percent most of the years since. That share was already projected to approach 25 percent before Obama's stimulus plan.

To be sure, there's still considerable disagreement about how much the New Deal helped to end a depression finally crushed by the humming factories of World War II.

Even FDR's transformation of the federal government was not universally recognized at the time for what it was. It may be years before the full measure of Obama's efforts are taken, too.

In 1936, The Economist magazine pronounced the New Deal a ``striking success'' in improving conditions that existed when FDR took office three years earlier.

But what of the legacy?

What legacy?

``If the criterion be Utopian, the achievements of the New Deal appear to be small,'' the editors sniffed. ``The great problems of the country are hardly touched.''

Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this story.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The following recalls have been announced because the products could be contaminated with salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems:

GKI Foods Inc. is expanding its Feb. 2 recall to include additional candy products containing peanuts. The company said it has had no reports of any illnesses. The recalled products were distributed in retail packages nationwide through retailers, wholesalers and firms. Details: by phone at 248-486-0055. The recall includes:

Silver Lake Chocolate Double Dipped Peanuts, net weight 15 ounce; UPC 1264731900

Silver Lake Chocolates Milk Chocolate Peanut Clusters; net weight 12 ounce; UPC 1264732413

Silver Lake Chocolate Bridge Mix; net weight 13 ounce; UPC 1264730514

The Annapolis Chocolate Co. Inc. is recalling some chocolate peanut butter products. There have been no reported illnesses, according to the company. The recalled products were distributed nationwide to retail stores and mass merchants, and were sold to fundraising organizations and mail order customers. Details: by phone at 410-691-9911. The recall includes:

Mr. Chocolate brand; Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Bar, 2-ounce; Lot numbers: 8044, 8056

Old Fashion Candy Company brand; Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Bar; 2 ounce and 2.25 ounce; Lot numbers: 7300 to 7365, 8001 to 8365, 9001 to 9008

Old Fashion Candy Company brand; Peanut Butter Paws; 6 ounce; Lot No. 8315

The Kidz Kompany brand; Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Bar; 3.5 ounce and 2.25 ounce; Lot numbers 8033 to 8316

The Kidz Kompany brand; Peanut Butter Paws; 6 ounce; 8315

The Kidz Kompany brand; Peanut Butter Bears; 6 ounce; 8315

4-H Fundraising brand; Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Bar; 2.25 ounce; Lot numbers: 8029,8014,8070,8071, 8281

Wilson Candies brand; Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Bar; 2 ounce and 2.25 ounce; Lot numbers 8028 to 8365

Penhurst Candy Co. brand; Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Bar; 3.5 ounce and 2.25 ounce; Lot numbers 7300 to 7365, 8001 to 8365, 9001 to 9008

Taufelen Candy Co. brand; Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Bar; 2.25 ounce; Lot numbers 7300 to 7365, 8001 to 8365

Fortune Fundraising brand; Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Bar; 2 ounce and 2.25 ounce; Lot numbers 8200 to 8303

Heart and Soul Candies brand; Peanut Butter Meltaway Hearts; 0.5 ounce; UPC No. 842719000069; Lot numbers 7300 to 7365, 8001 to 8325

S S Candies brand; Overload King Size Peanut Butter Cups; 2.55 ounce; UPC No. 633013245399 and 633013818005; Lot numbers 7304 to 7365, 8001 to 8319

The Candy Lady brand; Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Bar; 2 ounce; Lot numbers 8056, 8059, 8071

The Foreign Candy Co. brand; El Dia de Los Muertos Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Bar; 2 ounce; 8113, 8221, 8235

The Foreign Candy Co. brand; Merry Christmas Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Bar; 2 ounce; Lot numbers 8113, 8221, 8235

Dazzling Delicacies Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Truffle Bar; 2.25 ounce; Lot numbers 8070, 8113

General Mills is recalling three flavors of Cascadian Farm snack bars containing peanuts. No confirmed illnesses have been reported. The recalled Cascadian Farm products were sold in traditional and specialty retail stores. Details: by phone at 800-624-4123. The recall includes:

Cascadian Farm Peanut Butter Chip Chewy Granola Bar; Individual Bar UPC: 0 21908-40802 6; Carton (6 Bars) UPC 0 21908-14631 7

Cascadian Farm Sweet Salty Mixed Nuts Chewy Granola Bar; Individual Bar 0 21908 50442 1; Carton (5 bars) UPC 0 21908 40774 6

Cascadian Farm Sweet Salty Peanut Pretzel Chewy Granola Bar; Individual Bar 0 21908-50443 8; Carton (5 bars) 0 21908 40775 3

Cougar Mountain Baking Co. is recalling its Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk, and Ballpark Cookies and Cookie Dough products. No known illnesses have been reported, according to the company. The recalled products were sold through grocery and retail stores in California, Oregon, New York and Washington, and through Internet mail order nationwide. Also, cookie dough products were distributed to fundraising organizations in Washington. Details: by phone at 877-328-2622 ext. 201.

These Cougar Mountain brand products were recalled:

Gourmet Cookies; 10 ounce box of 8 cookies; Seasonal Variety: Ballpark Cookies; UPC: 0 96343 85672; Best Before: 02/01/07 to 11/01/08

Gourmet Cookies; 10 ounce box of 8 cookies; Classic Peanut Butter; UPC: 0 96343 85676; Best Before: 02/01/07 to 03/07/09

Gourmet Cookies; 10 ounce box of 8 cookies; Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk; UPC: 0 96343 85679; Best Before: 02/01/07 to 03/07/09

Gourmet Cookie; 3.5 ounce individually cellophane wrapped/labeled; Seasonal Variety: Ballpark Cookies; UPC: 0 96343 22099; Best Before: 02/01/07 to 03/07/09

Gourmet Cookie; 3.5 ounce individually cellophane wrapped/labeled; Classic Peanut Butter; UPC: 0 96343 22005; Best Before: 02/01/07 to 03/07/09

Gourmet Cookie; 4.0 ounce individually cellophane wrapped/labeled; Dark-Dipped Peanut Butter; UPC: 0 96343 32002; Best Before: 02/01/07 to 03/07/09

Gourmet Cookie Dough; 18 ounce Cookie Dough Tub; Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk; UPC: 0 96343 51102; Best Before: 03/01/07 to 04/14/09

Gourmet Cookie Dough; 18 ounce Cookie Dough Tub; Seasonal Variety: Ballpark Cookies; UPC: 0 96343 51107; Best Before: 03/01/07 to 04/14/09

Gourmet Cookie Dough; 48 ounce Cookie Dough Tub; Classic Peanut Butter; UPC: 0 96343 51305; Manufactured/Delivered on: 3/1/07 to 2/11/09

Gourmet Cookie Dough; 48 ounce Cookie Dough Tub; Seasonal Variety: Ballpark Cookies; UPC: 0 96343 51399; Manufactured/Delivered on: 3/1/07 to 2/11/09

Arbonne International LLC is expanding its recall of certain lots of Arbonne Figure 8 Peanut Butter Chews. The company said it is not aware of any reported cases of illness. The recalled products were distributed through Arbonne Independent Consultants nationwide and in Canada. The chews were sold in individual packages and as a component of the Go Figure 8 30-Day Program Set and the Figure 8 Ready, Set, Go! Vanilla product bundles. The Arbonne Figure 8 Chews affected by this recall are the Peanut Butter Chews from these lot numbers:

A8296-8291

A8331-8291

A8331-8309

B8331-8309

C8331-8309

A8336-8291

C7075-7073

B7075-7073

A7075-7073

B7079-7073

B7302-7296

B7170-7166

Aurora Products Inc. is expanding its recall of certain lot codes of Aurora Natural products to include Raw Organic Peanuts, Roasted Salted Organic Peanuts and Roasted Unsalted Organic Peanut products with Best If Used By: date codes from 1/01/2007 to 4/2/2009. No illnesses have been reported. The recalled products were distributed in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Florida and Texas. Details: by phone at 800-898-1048. The following products, with a Best if Used by date code beginning 1/01/2007 and ending 4/2/2009, are recalled:

UPC 65585200445; Organic Peanuts, Raw (Plastic Cup); 10 ounce

UPC 65585200446; Organic Roasted Salted Peanuts (Plastic Cup); 10 ounce

UPC 65585200155; Organic Roasted Unsalted Peanuts (Plastic Cup); 10 ounce

Mountain Man Nut Fruit Co. is recalling all lots of its Cherry Hill Supremes Chocolate Candies. The company said it has not received any complaints of consumer illness. The products were distributed through the company's franchised retail stores and franchised distributors. The distributors sell products directly to people at their place of business through a direct sales format. The recalled product has the UPC code 01906106803. Details: by phone at 800-225-0045.

Slim-Fast is recalling three Slim-Fast bar products because they may contain peanuts that are being recalled by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). This recall was ordered by the Texas Department of State Health Services, as a result of unsanitary conditions at the PCA Plainview, Texas, facility, which could have compromised the peanuts.

This product recall includes:

Slim-Fast optima caramel crispy peanut MEAL on-the-go bars sold in paperboard boxes, 6 bars per box, 1.97 oz. (56 g) each with various best-if-used by dates. The UPC code is located on the bottom of the box. UPC: 0834623790

Slim-Fast MEAL OPTIONS Breakfast Lunch Bars Dutch Chocolate flavor sold in paperboard boxes, 8 bars per box, 1.2 oz. (34 g) each various best-if-used by dates. The UPC code is located on the bottom of the box. UPC: 0834601520

Slim-Fast MEAL OPTIONS Breakfast Lunch Bars Peanut Butter flavor sold in paperboard boxes, 8 bars per box, 1.2 oz. (34 g) each various best-if-used by dates. The UPC code is located on the bottom of the box. UPC: 0834601522

The products were distributed nationwide. Consumers who have any of the three affected Slim-Fast bar products are asked to discard them and call 1-877-270-7393, which is operational 24 hours a day, for information on the recall. In addition, a consumer services representative is available between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. EST.

Dr. Melina Inc., based in San Francisco, is recalling its Chocolate Peanut flavor Protein Bars, because it has determined that the peanut pieces and/or halves used originated in Peanut Corporation of America's Blakely, Georgia, processing plant and were possibly contaminated by salmonella. No illnesses resulting from ingestion of Dr. Melina Chocolate Peanut Protein Bars have been reported.

The Chocolate Peanut bars were distributed nationwide on Amazon.com, and are also sold in Whole Foods Markets and other grocery or convenience stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. The bars can be identified by the ``Best By'' date of 092409, and are sold individually (UPC 99115 00101) and in boxes of 15 (UPC 99115 00104). Pictures of the bars can be found online at http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Melina-Protein-Chocolate-1-58-Ounce/dp/B000 V71OMK.

Consumers with questions should contact Ginger Bisharat, Assistant to Dr Melina Jampolis, at 415-885-6474 or gingerdrmelina.com.

Betty Lou's Inc. of McMinnville, Oregon is recalling 104,550 Nut Butter Peanut Butter Protein Balls because they have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. Betty Lou's Peanut Butter Protein Balls were distributed nationally through retail health food stores, wholesalers and direct to customer sales.

Peanut Butter Protein Balls distributed from Feb. 21, 2008 to September 1, 2008 are involved in this recall. Potentially affected products can be identified by the following Best By Dates: BEST BY 01MAR09 ; BEST BY 18FEB09; BEST BY 26JAN09; BEST BY 22DEC08; BEST BY 12DEC08; BEST BY 07DEC08; BEST BY 16NOV08; BEST BY 17NOV08; BEST BY 19OCT08; BEST BY 05OCT08; BEST BY 27SEP08.

The balls are packaged in 1.7 oz. packages in 40 or 70-count plastic jars and 18-count printed boxes.

UPC Coding: Individual packages: 0 16073 52143 4; 40-count jars: 0 16073 52123 6; 70-count jars: 0 16073 52103 8; 18 count boxes: 0 16073 52113 7.

No known illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this product. Consumers who have purchased Betty Lou's Peanut Butter Protein Balls with the above code dates are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact Betty Lou's Inc. at 1-800-242-5205.

Tree Huggin Treats LLC is recalling three lots of Crispy Cat Roasted Peanut candy bars because they were manufactured using peanut ingredients recalled by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) and may be contaminated with salmonella. PCA has recently expanded its recall to all peanuts and peanut products produced at their Blakely Georgia Facility since January 1, 2007. There have been no reported illnesses or adverse effects from these products.

The specific lots were sold in grocery and retail outlets in the US and Canada:Crispy Cat Roasted Peanut UPC 8 93048 00004 6. Best By/ Sell By Jan 2009, Feb 2009, June 2009. No other Crispy Cat bars or flavors are included in this recall.

Consumers with additional questions may call 877-527-4779 Monday - Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST.

Whole Foods Market is recalling some of its products containing peanuts due to a possible salmonella risk. The products were sold before Feb. 1 in Whole Foods Market stores in Southern California, Las Vegas, Arizona and Hawaii.

The recall includes:

Self-serve Grinder Peanut Butter - PLU 7121

Self-serve Grinder Honey Roasted Peanut Butter - PLU 8579

Self-serve Grinder Chocolate Peanut Butter - PLU 8946

Bulk Fresh Peanut Butter - PLU 7121

Bulk Fresh Honey Roasted Peanut Butter - PLU 8579

Bulk Fresh Chocolate Peanut Butter - PLU 8946

There have been no reported illnesses or adverse effects from these products. Any customers who have these items are encouraged to dispose of these items or return them to Whole Foods for a full refund.

Consumers with additional questions may call 818-501-8484 ext. 418 during business hours Monday-Friday.

Pure Bliss Organics Inc. is recalling Naughty But Nice Granola Cereal, Naughty But Nice Granola Bars and Naughty but Nice Bites. The Naughty but Nice Granola Cereal and/or Naughty but Nice Granola Bar were distributed to health food stores in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Details: by phone at 770-579-7665. The recalled products include:

Naughty but Nice Granola Cereal; Lot numbers 123908, 125308, 134008, 100709; UPC 897363001016

Naughty but Nice Granola Bar; Lot numbers 522108, 531008, 533708, 83371; UPC 897363001153

Naughty but Nice Granola Bites; Lot numbers 522108, 531008, 533708, 83371; UPC 897363001412

ORLANDO (AP) Old habits are hard to break.

The Atlanta Braves haven't made the playoffs since 2005, the last hurrah in their record streak of 14 straight division titles, and it's hard to view them as a serious contender now. They're coming off their worst season since George Bush (the first one) was president.

They're looking up in the same division to the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies and the free-spending (if perpetually disappointing) New York Mets.

Still, the Braves head into spring training clinging to the mind-set of a franchise that once ruled the NL East not the one the lost 90 games a year ago.

``It's been a very fruitful offseason and we feel very comfortable,'' general manager Frank Wren said. ``We like our club a lot.''

Of course, everyone likes their team at this time of the year. Pitchers and catchers report for spring training at Atlanta's Disney World complex on Saturday, with the first workout set for the following day. The entire squad will be on the field for the first time on Wednesday.

So, are the Braves really a legitimate contender? Or is Wren just blinded by the perpetual optimism that was once so justified in Atlanta?

First, the hopeful signs:

The Braves rebuilt their injury-ravaged rotation over the winter, doling out a $60 million contract to Derek Lowe, trading for Javier Vazquez and signing Japanese all-star Kenshin Kawakami.

The bullpen should be much better if Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan are fully recovered from offseason surgeries.

Chipper Jones is still wreaking havoc in the heart of the batting order, coming off a career-best .364 average and his first NL batting title.

Now, for the bad news:

John Smoltz, who had spent his entire career with the Braves and was a leader in the clubhouse, signed with the Boston Red Sox after negotiations with Atlanta turned ugly. Needless to say, the fans weren't too thrilled about losing an icon of the team's once-dominant rotation.

The outfield is a mess. Right fielder Jeff Francoeur, who once graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, would have trouble landing a spot in a weekly shopper after the worst season of his once-so-promising career. The other two spots are even more shaky.

Former ace Tim Hudson continues to recover from Tommy John surgery and isn't likely to take the mound until August.

So is this team a contender or pretender?

In all likelihood, the answer will be provided by the pitching staff.

The Braves once dominated with a rotation that included Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, a trio that will likely team up again someday at Cooperstown. But the staff went down in flames last year, devastated by a string of season-ending injuries. Smoltz, Hudson, Glavine, Soriano and Moylan were all lost as Atlanta assembled a more formidable staff on the DL than it did on the field.

Wren was determined to avoid a repeat. He dealt a group of prospects to the Chicago White Sox for Vazquez. He signed Kawakami, the first Japanese player in franchise history. He doled out a huge contract to Lowe to be the ace of this reconstituted staff. Those three join the one reliable holdover from last year's staff, 13-game winner Jair Jurrjens.

``You've got to start off with your starting pitching,'' Wren said.

The 35-year-old Lowe is certainly durable, having never been on the DL during his dozen years in the big leagues, but it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the role of No. 1 starter. Even while putting together seven straight seasons with at least 12 wins during stints with the Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, he was always viewed as a complementary member of the rotation rather than the top guy.

Lowe said he's ready to take on the burden of ace after pitching in Boston and L.A.

``You learn how to lose,'' he said. ``What I mean by that is, you learn how to take criticism. You learn how to get booed. I think a lot of people don't know how to deal with it. I think it's a positive learning experience in so many ways. But no matter where you go, there's always pressure. There's no different pressure here.''

While the top four spots in the rotation appear to be filled, the Braves will use spring training to settle on the fifth spot. They could go with journeyman Jorge Campillo, a pleasant surprise in 2008 (8-7, 3.91 ERA in 25 starts). They could bring back the 42-year-old Glavine, who was still mulling an offer to return for one more season with the Braves at a significantly reduced salary. They could push up the timetable on top prospect Tommy Hanson, a 6-foot-6, 210-pound right-hander who dominated the Arizona Fall League.

The 22-year-old Hanson figures to get as much attention as Mickey Mouse during spring training, though the Braves would prefer to give the non-roster invitee at least another partial season in the minors. After all, he's made just 18 starts above the Class A level.

``I feel zero pressure,'' Hanson insisted. ``I don't feel any more expectations. I just want to go out pitch and get better and do what I've been doing for the last three years. Obviously I want to be in Atlanta. That's been the goal. That's the ultimate goal, but if I start in Triple-A, that's fine.''

Francoeur doesn't have the luxury of patience, even though he's only 25. The guy once projected as baseball's next great player looked totally lost in 2008, hitting a paltry .239 with just 11 homers. He even did a brief stint in the minors, hoping to regain his hitting stroke, but nothing seemed to work.

This season will likely determine whether Francoeur has a long-term future in Atlanta or was just another over-hyped prospect.

Jones, for one, is expecting to see major improvement.

``He's definitely made some adjustments,'' the Braves most reliable hitter said. ``His thought process is 300 percent better.''

Francoeur could certainly take some lessons from Jones, who just seems to keep getting better at the plate. His on-base percentage was .470. He had far more walks (90) than strikeouts (61). And he basically had to go it alone after Mark Teixeira was dealt away just before the trade deadline.

``It's a swing that's been crafted over 30-some years,'' the switch-hitting Jones said. ``Over the last three, four years, it's really settled in. And that's what hitting is. It's all about timing. It's all about keeping things as simple as possible.''

But Jones, who will turn 37 before the season is a month old, has been plagued by injuries. He played only 128 games last year and hasn't made it through a full year without some sort of ailment since 2003.

``This club can't afford for me to be off for an extended period of time,'' Jones said. ``I can't afford to play 120, 125 (games). I can't have that.''

Especially with some of the holes in the batting order. First baseman Casey Kotchman hardly impressed after coming over in the Teixeira deal (.237, two homers, 20 RBIs) and the Braves were still trolling around for another outfielder, having passed on the chance to bring back Andruw Jones.

For now, the Braves have three players Gregor Blanco, Josh Anderson and prospect Jordan Schafer battling for playing time in center field, while Matt Diaz and Brandon Jones are the leading contenders in left.

Ugh.

But this is spring training. Let's not let realism stand in the way of optimism, especially when you're a franchise that still remembers what it was like to make the playoffs year after year.

``We feel,'' Lowe said, ``that we have every right to win this division.''

ATLANTA (AP) Georgia is expected to get $5.9 billion for transportation, health care and other programs from the massive economic stimulus package headed for President Barack Obama's desk.

The $787 billion economic stimulus package passed by Congress Friday night includes a $1.7 billion infusion for Medicaid, $1.2 billion for education and another $1 billion to build and repair highways and bridges in Georgia, according to the Federal Funds Information for States.

Georgia legislators, facing a $2.2 billion deficit, hope the money will help them stave off deeper budget cuts and furloughs. The money for health care, for instance, could prevent a 1.6 percent hospital fee to offset a widening Medicaid deficit.

But state officials were quick to say the tidal wave of federal cash is no a magic fix.

``It's not a panacea,'' said Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, who reminded lawmakers Friday that Georgia's unemployment rate hovers around 8.1 percent.

Lawmakers have already decided to slow the 40-day legislative session in anticipation of the federal dollars. Both chambers agreed last week on a plan to disband in late March and return in June to consider any final budget changes.

A range of public officials from transportation authorities to school administrators hope the money will help them prevent deeper furloughs and a round of layoffs. But state officials said Friday they may need time to determine how the stimulus affects their projections.

``It's a moving target at best,'' said Ron Jackson, commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia. ``We're as in the dark as anyone else would be. There's too many unknown variables.''

Supporters say the stimulus would help create and retain jobs and jolt the country out of a deeper recession. But critics say it contains too much unnecessary spending.

Here's a look at how the funds could be doled out, according to the preliminary review released by the Federal Funds Information for States:

$1.7 billion for Georgia's Medicaid program

$1.2 billion in education dollars

$1 billion to build and repair roads and bridges

$333 million for special education programs

$90 million for public housing

$82 million for child care programs

$33 million for homelessness prevention

$20 million for the Head Start program

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

ATLANTA (WSB Radio/AP) The peanut processing company at the heart of a national salmonella outbreak is going out of business.

The Lynchburg, Va.-based Peanut Corp. of America filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Virginia Friday, the latest bad news for the company that has been accused of producing tainted peanut products that may have reached everyone from poor school children to disaster victims.

``It's regrettable, but it's inevitable with the events of last month,'' said Andrew S. Goldstein, a bankruptcy lawyer in Roanoke, Va., who filed the petition.

The salmonella outbreak was traced to the company's plant in Blakely, Ga., where inspectors found roaches, mold and a leaking roof. A second plant in Plainview, Texas was shuttered this week after preliminary tests came back positive for possible salmonella contamination. So far, the outbreak has been suspected of sickening more than 630 people and may have caused nine deaths. It also has led to more than 2,000 product recalls, one of the largest recalls in U.S. history.

Companies file Chapter 7 to liquidate their assets and distribute the proceeds to creditors. A trustee is automatically appointed to oversee the wind down, as opposed to a Chapter 11 filing that gives a company breathing room while it tries to reduce its debts and continue in business. The company said in the filing that its debt and assets both ranged between $1 million and $10 million.

The board had considered a Chapter 11 bankruptcy but decided on an outright liquidation. It said in a court filing that the recalls had been ``extremely devastating'' to the company's financial condition.

``We kicked the tires on trying to reorganize, but the fact of the matter is they've absolutely closed down,'' Goldstein said. ``They're prevented from carrying on business. There didn't seem like there would be any prospects.''

The company's problems have multiplied since the link to its Georgia plant.

The government is working on a criminal investigation into the case, and more than a dozen civil lawsuits have been filed. This week, Peanut Corp. president Stewart Parnell repeatedly refused to answer questions before the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee, which is seeking ways to prevent another outbreak. But e-mails surfaced indicating he ordered products the company knew were tainted to be shipped anyway.

Reached by telephone, Parnell said his attorneys had advised him not to talk. ``If I could do it, I would,'' he said.

Despite Friday's bankruptcy filing, food safety lawyers are optimistic that victims and their families can still be compensated. The bankruptcy proceeding could postpone litigation against the company, but lawyers plan to push a judge to allow civil lawsuits to go forward anyway. And many have also filed lawsuits against Solon, Ohio-based King Nut Co. and Battle Creek, Mich.-based Kellogg Co., which they say used the tainted ingredients in their products.

``Even if Peanut Corp. doesn't have enough insurance and enough assets to cover the damages, King Nut and Kellogg will have to step up,'' said Bill Marler, who has filed seven lawsuits against the company and represents more than 40 possible victims.

Fred Pritzker, a food safety lawyer in Minneapolis who filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company, said it could delay justice for his clients.

``For all the people whose loved ones have been killed or people who have been out of work or suffered serious injury or who have incurred medical bills, right now they're just left with a lump of uncertainty,'' he said.

The company began as a family business in 1977, and Parnell, his father and two younger brothers turned the struggling peanut roasting operation into a $30 million operation before selling it in 1995.

But in 2000 Stewart Parnell bought his own peanut plant in Texas, and a year later he bought the Blakely, Ga. operation after teaming up with a financial backer, David Royster III of Shelby, N.C. He also operated a plant in Suffolk, Va.

It all came crashing down when federal investigators identified the Georgia plant as the sole source of the salmonella outbreak, and questions began emerging about how the company operated its plants.

The company faced more scrutiny once it was revealed that its Texas plant, which opened in March 2005 and was run by a Peanut Corp. subsidiary, Plainview Peanut Co., was not inspected by state health officials until after problems arose at the company's Georgia plant. Texas health officials asked the company to close the plant Monday after samples sent to a private lab for testing showed possible salmonella contamination.

On Friday, companies began destroying products made with anything that came from the plant after Texas health officials said they discovered rodents, feces and feathers in a crawl space above a production area. An air handling system sucked debris from the crawl space into an area where peanuts are processed, officials said, so Texas officials took the highly unusual step of ordering all products ever made at the plant recalled.

``The reason we went back to March of 2005 is because it could not be determined how long those conditions had existed in that facility and ... it would have been risky to guess,'' said Doug McBride, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Associated Press Writers Vinnee Tong in New York, Sue Lindsey in Roanoke, Va., Jeff Carlton in Dallas and AP Business Writer Emily Fredrix in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

Buford man accused of threats against FBI

ATLANTA (WSB Radio) A Georgia man is accused of threatening to blow up FBI buildings nationwide.

Gregory Jones, special agent in charge of the FBI in Atlanta, said Friday 23-year-old Michael Robert DeJong of Buford was arrested Wednesday morning, one week after the threat was made on the FBI.gov Web site. DeJong is in custody pending a probable cause and bond hearing on Tuesday.

DeJong was arrested at a friend's home in Auburn, Ga., after agents traced the threat to a publicly available computer in the Auburn library. Examining the computer contents, agents were led to DeJong, who they learned had been convicted of threats against President Bush in 2007.

The threat did not specify which FBI offices would be targeted other than that the bomber would start with Atlanta.

ATLANTA (AP) Most Americans know about a peanut-based national salmonella outbreak but many are wrong about what products are involved and few have confidence in food safeguards, according to a Harvard survey released Friday.

About 1 in 4 of those polled mistakenly think that national peanut butter brands are involved in the product recalls, but fewer than half are worrying about recalled snack bars, baked goods, ice cream and dry-roasted peanuts.

The recall of 1,900 products includes mainly minor-label peanut butter and a range of other items, but not major brand names of jarred peanut butter.

``A lot of people have taken some precautions but they're not looking at the ingredients in products not related to peanut butter,'' said Robert Blendon, the Harvard health policy professor who directed the survey.

About 93 percent know about the outbreak and recall, and most of them understood it was caused by salmonella bacteria an unusually high level of awareness for a public health issue, Blendon noted.

The poll also indicated little faith in corporations and the government. Only 1 in 3 Americans said they have a good or great amount of confidence in food manufacturers or government inspectors to keep food safe, the survey found.

Federal health officials are tracking a salmonella outbreak that has caused at least 636 illnesses in 44 states and has been linked to 9 deaths. The outbreak has been traced to a Virginia-based company, Peanut Corporation of America, that makes some minor-label peanut butter, peanut paste and other products.

Nearly 200 food makers who used or sold Peanut Corporation products are listed in a recall of more than 1,900 different items, making this one of the nation's largest recalls.

The telephone survey, which dialed both landline and cell phone numbers, included nearly 1,300 U.S. adults. The interviews were done last week.

Of those that knew about the outbreak, 70 percent knew that peanut butter crackers were part of the recall.

There was not a question about all brands of peanut butter. But a question about major national brands indicated 25 percent mistakenly thought they were involved and had been recalled.

Only about half correctly identified some snack bars containing peanut paste as part of the recall. Just a little more than a third understood that some candy and prepackaged meals were involved, and only about a quarter identified some types of ice cream as a risk.

Fewer than 1 in 5 people have gone to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's online list of foods involved or sought other information about recalled products.

The survey also indicated extremes of concern and apathy: About 31 percent contacted friends or relatives to make sure they know about the recall, and about 15 percent stopped eating any foods containing peanuts. But 69 percent didn't contact loved ones, and 45 percent continued to eat all peanut-containing foods.

The survey also found that 33 percent of all survey respondents were very worried or somewhat worried about getting food poisoning, which was down a bit from the 38 percent who expressed such concern in a similar poll last June.

``We don't know why the level of overall worry about food safety did not increase,'' Blendon said. One possible factor: ``About the peanut thing, some people say they are not worried because they're taking precautions,'' he said.

The poll also found that 37 percent had a good or great amount of confidence in government food inspections, down from 47 percent a year ago. About 48 percent had significant faith in grocery stores to safeguard food, down from 58 percent a year ago.

Only 32 percent had significant confidence in food manufacturers. There was no similar question on last year's poll to compare that result to.

The negative reviews may be due in part to increasing success in tracking food problems, said Glen Nowak, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although the number of confirmed food poisonings has held about steady in recent years, more advanced testing allows investigators to better link cases and identify national outbreaks.

``The system is going to look less safe,'' Nowak said.

Harvard is funded by the CDC to do a series of surveys on public health topics. The Harvard poll was conducted by ICR of Media, Pa., and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The mother of the student accused Dalton Greene, the head boys basketball coach at Redan High School, of sending her daughter inappropriate emails through with website facebook.com. Greene quit three days after those allegations were made.

Redan high school says its investigating. Greene did not return phone calls from the media.

Greene was coached the boys team at the Stone Mountain school since 2000. The team is ranked in the top 10 this season. The region 2-AAAAA tournament starts this week

A DeKalb police spokeswoman told WSB the victim was hit and killed around 12 a.m. Saturday while walking across Peachtree Industrial Blvd near Tilly Mill road.

Bettina Durant with the DeKalb police department said police are looking for the drive of a  light colored SUV or truck. They think that is the person that ran over a black adult male.

The victims name is being withheld while police notify his family.

Police Bettina Durant tells WSB Marc Stewart called his wife Wednesday night from Marietta, asked her what she wanted for dinner and hasn't been seen since. He's 38 years old.

"At the time of his disappearance, he was driving a silver 2005 Ford Explorer with a Georgia license tagg of BDY 6016," said Durant.

Stewart is from Jamaica and friends say he's the biggest promoter of Carribbean music shows around Atlanta. The last time he was seen, he was wearing a black turtle neck, jeans, and black shoes.

While Stewart has not been seen, it appears someone has used his bank card and his cell phone. Bank of America sent him an email saying the bank had noted "irregular check card activity" three hours after he called home. His phone has also been used.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the DeKalb County Police Department's Special Victims Unit at 770-724-7710.

February 13, 2009

(WSB Radio) Just another reminder how little time it takes to be a victim of a crime.

Cobb County Police Officer Nathan McCreary tells WSB a man had just buckled his six-month-old daughter into his BMW in his garage at his home on Bright Hampton Drive in Smyrna Friday morning.

"He said he did start the car, realized he left something in the residence, re-entered the residence  to go get it, at which time he heard the car being driven off," said McCreary.

Fortunately, the car and his daughter were found in about ten minutes at the intersection of Bolton and Parrott Roads, just inside the city limits of Atlanta.

"Usually, if someone steals a car, you don't find it for days or months later. This one had a child in it and I think it probably spooked them and they left it sitting in the middle of the roadway and went somewhere else," said McCreary.

A witness told police four black men jumped out of the car and into a pearl Cadillac Escalade with a possible drive-out tag.

The victim told police he had seen a car matching that description driving slowly in his neighborhood shortly before the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Cobb County Polie at 770-499-3945.

February 13, 2009