(WSB Radio)  The aha moment for Jim Norman came a few years back.

"My wife and I were shopping for school supplies for our five children," he says.  "It was very frustrating experience.  We were standing in an extremely long line at one of the discount department stores."

The shopping experience went on for hours, Norman says, and he was becoming more vocal as he waited in each store.

"I'm complaining about the experience," he says, "and the more I complained, the louder my voice got."

Finally, as he waited in his fourth department store, the life changing moment occurred.

"Suddenly a woman in front of us turned around and said, 'I'd pay someone to do this.'" 

OK.  It wasn't exactly, "Mr. Watson, come here.  I want you," but alexander Graham Bell probably never shopped for his kids school supplies. 

Out of that innocent comment, made by a fellow frustrated shopper, a new career was born.

"My wife and I went home, talked about it and said, would somebody really pay to do this?" Norman tells WSB.

Now, three years later, Norman is president of the School Supplies Network, based in Buford and growing fast.

"We provide pre-packaged school supplies for parents of, primarily, elementary and middle schools," says Norman, who was a nursing administrator before becoming an entrepreneur.  "Interestingly enough, we found it was a lot easier than we thought it would be."

The first thing was contacting suppliers, finding out how to buy in bulk.  So, after talks with Crayola, Dixon and Texas Instruments, Norman and his wife found their basement filled with pencils, crayons and glue. 

The next step was finding schools willing to work with their fledgling company.

"We tried to go to the schools," he says.  "We tried calling the schools, we tried knocking on the door at schools.  The principals didn't have time to talk to us."

But Norman found that all schools have business partners.  So, after writing a partnership check to the schools, he started getting calls from local administrators, asking what they could do for him.

He started working with school in the area of his Mill Creek home, signing up three elementary schools and one middle school.

That was 2007.  Two years later, School Supplies Network has grown to become a national business.

"We have schools as far away as Washington State," he says.  "Schools in Ohio, schools in Kentucky, Missouri."

The company offers parents the chance to avoid hours of shopping, making school supply shopping a one stop process.

"Parents will get a list from the schools of all the items they'll need for their child that's in third grade, say," Norman says, "then they'll go out to start shopping for it.  They'll find that, in order to get the supplies for their child in third grade and their child in fifth grade, they're going to be out in the shopping area for five or six hours.

"Whereas, they can come to us and either go online or fill out a form and the shopping experience is less than five minutes," he says.

In addition, the school gets 10% of the profits from the company.

Norman says School Supplies Networks is growing during the recession, as many parents who were stay-at-homes find themselves having to go back to work.  Norman also says, with money so tight, people can't afford to take time off from work to do the school shopping, or spend the gas needed to drive from store to store.

The company currently has four full-time employees and takes on a dozen or so more during its peak time.

Going national was not something Norman ever considered when he started School Supplies Network in 2006 and went into operation a year later.  His goal was simply to supply the local schools and maybe branch out to other districts in Georgia.

"We would have been satisfied with hosting only the Gwinnett County schools," he says.  "We would still be satisfied.  We would love to have every school in Gwinnett County.  That would wonderful.  That would be an incredible cottage industry."

In three years of business, Norman has gone from being an out of work nursing administrator to president of a company that's spreading to all parts of the United States.  It's all thanks to an innocent comment made by a stranger. 

Does Jim Norman ever think about that fellow frustrated shopper?

"We're real thankful to her for planting the seed," he says.  "Never saw her before and, to the best of my knowledge, never saw her again.  But, yeah, I think it was serendipitous .  We were just standing in line and got the comment and the light went on."

School Supplies Network

(WSB Radio)  Chipper Jones will remain an Atlanta Brave for a long time.

The All-Star third baseman has signed an extension with the team that runs through 2012, with a vesting option for 2013.

Jones, 36, was due to become a free agent at the end of the upcoming season.

"This contract ensures that Chipper will play his whole career as a Brave, which was a key factor for us, our fans and for Chipper," Braves Executive Vice President and General Manager Frank Wren said. "Chipper has been an outstanding performer with our club for a long time and he is still a key part of our team."

Chipper hit .364 last year to win his first batting title.  It was the second highest batting average by a switch hitter, topped only by the .365 posted by Mickey Mantle in 1957.

Jones, who is the all-time Atlanta leader in nearly every offensive category, ranks ninth among all active players in career batting average, eighth in on-base percentage (.408), 11th in home runs, 12th in runs (1,378), 12th in RBI (1,374), and 13th in doubles (449).

Financial terms of the deal were not announced.

(WSB Radio)  It's called Conficker and it's lingering out there, threatening millions of computers worldwide.

"It's waiting for some sort of update," says Joe Stewart, director of Malware Research for Atlanta-based Secureworks.  "It's periodically checking in with its home server."

Conficker is a computer worm and it's estimated to have already infected at least two million computers and, possibly, as many as ten million. 

It's currently operating on 250 different domain names a day, moving from one to another, "kind of playing a shell game," says Stewart.

But, come tomorrow, April 1, Conficker presents a new challenge for hacker hunters, and a new threat.

"That is when it's going to switch from using that old 250 domains to using 50,000 a day," Stewart tells WSB.

Conficker is the product of hackers who are out for money.  Stewart says the worm can allow the hackers access to your bank accounts, your credit card number or other financial information. 

And if your computer is infected, Conficker blocks you from getting help.

"It's disables the computer's ability to reach anti-virus websites, Microsoft's websites," says Stewart, "so, once you get infected, it's really hard to get cleaned up on your own."

Stewart says Conficker allows users to reach sites such as Yahoo or Google, but not the security websites that can fight the worm.  And, while some people might find it possible to access an anti-virus web page, Stewart says those sites might also be fakes, used by hackers to gather even more information.

If your computer is infected, Stewart suggests that, unless you are a power user, you should take it to a professional to get cleaned up.

As for Conficker, hacker hunters are waiting for tomorrow, to see if the worm gets new commands and is unleashed.  Stewart doubts that will happen.

"Since they're so many looking at it on that day, it's probably not going to do anything," he says.  "I would imagine they would wait a day or a week or a month and just do it at their leisure."

(WSB Radio)  A Cobb County woman has turned herself in after allegedly cheering her teenage daughter on during a fight with another girl.

46 year old Ilamina Dixie Slink, of Austell, is charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

She told a Pebblebrook High School resource officer that she was taking her daughter to the fight on March 20.  She was overheard yelling at her daughter to, "hit her in the face."

She then told other students there would be another fight on campus the next week. 

(WSB Radio)  A Marietta attorney is accused of being a Georgia-based Bernie Madoff.

Federal investigators say Robert Copeland was running a ponzi scheme, based around real estate investments.

The feds say Copeland suckered more than 100 investors with promises of a 15% return on their investments.  They say the victims gave Copeland more than $30 million.

The scheme collapsed and many of the homeowners face property seizures by U.S. Marshalls.

Investigators say Copeland took the investors money and sank it into smaller homes across Atlanta. 

As agents try to sort out the details of the scheme, they do know one thing; the investors will not be getting their money back.

(WSB Radio)  A Gwinnett County principal is out of her job, forced out, she says, as she is being investigated for the way in which she disciplined a student.

School authorities say Esther Adames, principal at Beaver Ridge Elementary School, in Norcross, came across a student with a pen that can deliver an electric shock to an unsuspecting person who holds it.

Officials say Adames made the student use the pen to deliver a shock to himself.  That led to the investigation and Adames' ouster.

Parents say she is responsible for huge improvements in test scores at the school and they don't want her to leave.

Adames will remain on the job through the end of this school year, but she will not return in the fall.

This isn't the first time Adames has been in trouble with school officials .  Years ago, when she worked in Boston, the parents of a 4 year old child who bit other kids sued, claiming Adames held their son down so other students could bite back.  That lawsuit was settled.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  A bill that would allow Georgia's unemployed to take advantage of federal stimulus money is closer to final passage.

HB 58, which received unanimous passage in the Senate, would allow Georgia to draw down $526 million in federal stimulus money with $300 million of that going to extended unemployment benefits an additional 13 weeks.

"When this $300 million is spent, then that extension will evaporate," says Sen. Ralph Hudgens who carried the bill in the Senate.

As part of the deal to receive the money, state law had to be changed to allow part-time workers drawing benefits to seek part-time employment rather the full-time which is part of current law.  Additionally, those unemployed workers training for high demand jobs such as nurses would receive another 26 weeks in benefits.

The bill now goes back to the House to approve Senate changes.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  The State House passes a bill that would require drivers license exams be given only in English.

Currently the exams can be given in 11 other languages including Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Bosnian, Japanese, Korean, Laos, Polish, and Russian.

Rep. James Mills (R-Gainesville) says it's a matter of public safety.

"When someone sees a sign on the road and it may say 'bridge out ahead', we want to make sure that you can read 'bridge out ahead'," he says.

But Rep. Pedro Marin (D-Duluth) joined other Democrats calling the bill an anti-immigration measure.

"It's sole purpose is to stigmatize and undermine specific communities of people who are different," he says.

The bill passed 104-58 and goes back to the Senate to approve House changes.

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) In another food scare sure to rattle consumers who watched the national salmonella outbreak in peanuts unfold, federal food officials are now warning people not to eat any food containing pistachios, which could carry contamination from the same bacteria.

The Food and Drug Administration said central California-based Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., the nation's second-largest pistachio processor, was voluntarily recalling more than 2 million pounds of its roasted nuts shipped since last fall.

``Our advice to consumers is that they avoid eating pistachio products, and that they hold onto those products,'' said Dr. David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food safety. ``The number of products that are going to be recalled over the coming days will grow, simply because these pistachio nuts have then been repackaged into consumer-level containers.''

Two people called the FDA complaining of gastrointestinal illness that could be associated with the nuts, but the link hasn't been confirmed, Acheson said. Still, the plant decided to shut down late last week, officials said.

The recalled nuts represent a small fraction of the 55 million pounds of pistachios that the company's plant processed last year and an even smaller portion of the 278 million pounds produced in the state in the 2008 season, according to the Fresno-based Administrative Committee for Pistachios.

California alone is the second-largest producer of pistachios in the world.

According to the company's Web site, Setton Pistachio is in the corporate family of Commack, N.Y.-based Setton International Foods Inc. The company sells nuts, dried fruit, edible seeds, chocolate and yogurt-coated candies.

The FDA learned about the problem last Tuesday, when Kraft Foods Inc. notified the agency that it had detected salmonella in roasted pistachios through routine product testing. Kraft and the Georgia Nut Co. recalled their Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix the next day.

The FDA contacted Setton Pistachio and California health officials shortly afterward, in what Acheson called a ``proactive move.''

By Friday, grocery operator Kroger Co. recalled one of its lines of bagged pistachios because of possible salmonella contamination, saying the California plant also supplied its nuts. Those nuts were sold in 31 states.

Fabia D'Arienzo, a spokeswoman for Tulare County-based Setton Pistachio, said the company was only recalling certain bulk roasted in-shell and roasted shelled pistachios that were shipped on or after September 1.

Because Setton Pistachio shipped tote bags of nuts weighing up to 2,000 pounds to 36 wholesalers across the country, it will take weeks to figure out how many products could be affected, said Jeff Farrar, chief of the Food and Drug Branch of the California Department of Public Health.

``It will be safe to assume based on the volume that this will be an ingredient in a lot of different products, and that may possibly include things like ice cream and cake mixes,'' Farrar said. ``The firm is already turning around trucks in transit to bring those back to the facility.''

Salmonella, the most common cause of food-borne illness, is a bacteria that causes diarrhea, fever and cramping. Most people recover, but the infection can be life-threatening for children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.

For nuts, roasting is supposed to kill the bacteria. But problems can occur if the roasting is not done correctly or if roasted nuts are re-contaminated. That can happen if mice, rats or birds get into the facility.

Last winter, a national salmonella outbreak was blamed on a Georgia company under federal investigation for flouting safety procedures and knowingly shipping contaminated peanuts.

The outbreak is still ongoing. More than 690 people in 46 states have gotten sick. Nearly 3,900 products made with peanut ingredients from Peanut Corp. of America have been recalled.

California public health authorities have taken hundreds of samples at Setton's processing facility, but lab results have not yet determined whether salmonella was found at the plant, Farrar said. The food companies' own tests of the contaminated products isolated four different types of salmonella, but none were the same strain as the one found in the peanuts, Acheson said.

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

(WSB Radio/AP) -- An unusually wet March has helped elevate vast parts of Georgia from epic drought conditions. 

State climatologist David Stooksbury said Monday that only basins surrounding north Georgia's Lake Lanier and Lake Hartwell are still locked in drought conditions.

But he says long-term rainfall deficits are still a concern, and that Lanier and other major reservoirs are still far from full. He also says soil moisture levels across south Georgia remain "abnormally dry.''

Much of Georgia descended into an epic drought in late 2007, forcing state officials to call for sweeping water restrictions. Many of those rules have since been relaxed as the drought loosened its grip.

Still, outdoor water restrictions will remain in place indefinitely because Lake Lanier is still recovering and remains more than 9 feel below full pool.

According to state rules, it takes four months of improved conditions to end outdoor watering restrictions, though they have been eased. March counts as the first month, Stooksbury said.

"We believe it was," Tommy Wheeler at the Douglas County Sheriff's Office tells WSB. "We're working it as an arson."

Velma Stuckey, 69, lived in the home with her 15-year old grandson.  

"As far as any suspects, right now, I'm not at liberty to tell you anything," Wheeler said.

An autopsy was underway Monday to determine the cause of Stuckey's death.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  A bill to increase the pay for math and science teachers in the state is headed to the Governor's desk.

The measure would compensate new math and science teachers the same as fifth year teachers and also bump up the salaries of those teachers currently employed less than five years.

The bill is an initiative of Gov. Perdue who hopes it will attract more math and science teachers to the state.

"Our state graduated only one physics teacher last year, and we must do what we can to ensure that our students are ready to meet the challenges ahead," said Governor Perdue in a statement. "I applaud the General Assembly for passing legislation to attract and retain more math and science teachers in our schools."

The bill also provides a $1,000 annual bonus to elementary teachers who hold a math or science endorsement in an effort to encourage them to increase their competency in the two subjects.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  A coalition of business leaders and interest groups urge state lawmakers to pass some form of transportation funding before the session ends on Friday.

The "Get Georgia Moving" coalition says it's not choosing sides between a House plan for a statewide sales tax to fund transportation or a Senate plan for a regional tax.

"They both have merit, I think we could live with either... what we truly have a preference is that we get something," says coalition co-chair Doug Hertz.

House leaders have called for a compromise that would send voters to the polls in 2010 to decide on a statewide tax.  If the measure fails, then counties could partner together for a regional tax.

But Senate leaders say they don't think that's constitutional and insist that one plan be placed on the ballot.

Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams says he does support a House plan when it comes to changing the state's governance over transportation.

HB 200 would strip much of the DOT board's power when it comes to choosing and funding transportation projects. Under the reworked bill, the Governor would appoint a Planning Director who would come up with a list of projects to be approved by both the Governor and the board.  Funding of the projects would be left up to the General Assembly through the budget process.

"We're confident that takes it out of the hands of the DOT and when this plan is approved it, allows the DOT to implement the plan... and I think they can do that," says Williams.

He says the Senate would like to a make a few changes, though, to the bill before passing it.

ATLANTA (AP) As Georgia legislative's session careens toward another frenzied final week, some of the most contentious proposals of this political season are still on the table.

New guidelines for stem cell research, a proposal for a one-cent sales tax for infrastructure projects, an overhaul of the transportation bureaucracy and strict new ethics guidelines for lawmakers are all still pending.

And the biggest issue this legislative session is still unresolved: The $18.6 billion budget for 2010. The spending plan, which uses about $1.4 billion in federal stimulus funding, is still being hashed out by the Senate.

State lawmakers have knocked off a few proposals. They've strengthened food safety regulations in the wake of the salmonella outbreak, approved stiff new fines on drivers traveling far above the speed limit and given Georgia Power the authority to charge ratepayers early for the construction of two new nuclear reactors.

The House and the Senate have also agreed in broad brush strokes to tax breaks aimed at businesses who hire new workers off the unemployment rolls, a two-year freeze on property assessment hikes and citizenship checks for prospective voters.

The chambers must still iron out differences, however, before those bills receive final passage.

A slew of other proposals remain up in the air, many of them among the most heavily debated of the 40-day legislative session. And time is running out. They'll need approval by Friday to become law this year.

``It's time to fish or cut bait,'' Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said.

One of the most contentious involves vast changes to Georgia's transportation bureaucracy.

Gov. Sonny Perdue and Senate leaders are pushing for an overhaul to create a new agency that gives the governor and lawmakers more control over how transportation dollars are spent, but the House is backing a plan that retains much of the current setup.

Moving in tandem is a plan for a new one-cent sales tax that would fund transportation improvements, but disagreements over how the tax should be levied threatens the proposal's future.

The Senate backs a plan that would allow the tax to be imposed and spent regionally while the House insists on a statewide sales tax.

Also still up in the air is one proposal that would phase out Georgia's corporate income tax over 12 years and another that would wipe out the annual car tag tax and replace it with a new fee of up to $1,500 on newly purchased vehicles.

And there are a slew of non-tax related issues that have yet to reach the governor's desk.

Senate lawmakers have backed a measure that would restrict embryonic stem cell research in Georgia by banning the creation of fertilized embryos for research.

Proposals for new guidelines that empower Georgia's joint Legislative Ethics Committee to sanction lawmakers who haven't paid their taxes and an effort to soften parts of Georgia's strict crackdown on sex offenders are still pending. Those plans could be considered as early as Monday.

House lawmakers may also debate a perennial effort to require adults in pickup trucks to buckle their seat belts. Georgia is the only state in the nation to specifically exempt those drivers from the requirement.

And House Democrats are pressing GOP leaders to revive a resolution that would declare President Barack Obama an honorary member of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus. The proposal was defeated weeks ago amid concerns over wording declaring Obama a man with an ``unimpeachable reputation for integrity.''

The next three legislative days set for Monday, Wednesday and Friday will determine the fates of all those proposals.

``It's a race against time,'' said Republican state Sen. Jeff Mullis.

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

(WSB Radio)  It was a bank robbery that was a little bit different.

Atlanta police have arrested the thief who used an excavator to crack open the roof and front door of the Suntrust Bank in the 3100 block of Greenbriar Parkway this morning.

A driver who was passing the scene spotted the suspect stealing the heavy equipment and called 911.

The witness told officers he watched as the crook used the excavator, which is sort of like a backhoe but with more power, to rip open the bank's roof and door.

When the police arrived, the suspect ran, but was captured a short distance away.

Suntrust has posted two armed security guards a the bank to protect it while repairs to the building are made.

(WSB Radio)  Fire has gutted a two story home in Johns Creek and threatened neighboring houses.

The early morning fire broke out early this morning at the home in the Ivy Ridge subdivision, off of Old Alabama Road.

Johns Creek fire department officials have not talked about the people who live in the house.  They may not have been home when the fire started.

It did cause some cosmetic damage to the homes on either side.

Fire investigators will begin the process of determining a cause as soon as all the hot spots have been extinguished.

Officials are not saying if anyone was injured.

(WSB Radio)  So, did all the rain this weekend help Lake Lanier?

The answer is yes.

The lake's levels are up a foot since Thursday and rainfall run-off should continue to drain into Lanier.

For the first time since 2007, Lanier has reached 1060 feet, about 11 feet below full pool.

Lake Allatoona is actually above full pool this morning.

And there's more good news for the lakes.  Rain is, once again, in the forecast this week.

(WSB Radio)  There is concern about future lottery revenues keeping up with demand.

The Georgia Lottery is staying ahead despite the tough economic times.  But lawmakers want to know how long that will last.

According to statistics from the state and Scientific Games, an Alpharetta company that prints Georgia lottery tickets, the current crop of 78 scratch-off games account for the fourth largest total sales in the U.S. and the second highest per capita sales in the world. 

But last year there was only a $660 million gap between how much the lottery took in and how much it paid out to winners and education.

The state relies on the lottery proceeds for key programs like pre-K and the Hope Scholarship.

ATLANTA (AP) As the Legislature plunges into its final week, the state Senate's budget-writing panel is set to tackle an $18.6 billion spending plan that funnels more state dollars to Medicaid.

The health program for the poor has seen its rolls skyrocket in the economic downturn. But the shift in funds to account for projected growth in Medicaid means more cuts elsewhere throughout the budget, which has already passed the House.

The 2010 budget the Senate Appropriations Committee takes up Monday covers the fiscal year that begins July 1. Plunging tax revenues have forced legislators to cut about $1.6 billion in state spending. But they were helped along by about $1.4 billion in federal stimulus money.

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

(WSB Radio) State and local investigators have not ruled out arson as the cause of a weekend house fire that claimed the life of a Douglas County woman. 

60-year-old Velma Stuckey was found dead Sunday morning inside a two story home on Yeager Road that she shared with her 15-year-old grandson. 

Douglas County Communications Director Wes Tallon tells Channel 2 Action the fire's origin is being investigated by the fire department, the sheriff's department and the state fire marshal's office "to make sure what caused the fire, especially when there is a fatality, you want to make sure you get to the bottom of it."

The teenage boy, who's name has not been released, made the 9-1-1 call around 9 o'clock Sunday morning.  He has been questioned about the fire but has not been charged with a crime.

WASHINGTON (AP) The stage is set for what could be the final two months of two American auto giants.

The White House says neither General Motors nor Chrysler submitted acceptable plans to receive more bailout money. Administration officials say President Barack Obama and his top advisers have determined neither company's recovery plan is viable and that Washington will not spend billions more to keep the pair open forever.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss administration decisions. Obama plans to make the announcement Monday morning.

Obama is giving Chrysler 30 days to finish its partnership with Italian automaker Fiat. If that doesn't work out, Washington plans to abandon efforts to bail out the company. GM got 60 days to restructure.

GM CEO Rick Wagoner resigned Sunday under pressure from the White House.

(WSB Radio) Bishop Earl Paulk, the church leader for sexual scandals, has died at age 81.

He died at Atlanta Medical Center overnight. The cause of death is not know, but Paulk had been battling cancer.

He started one of the nation's first mega churches in the 1960's. The Chapel Hill Harvester Church in Decatur had more than 12-thousand members and 24 pastors in the 1990's. He had developed an international following with books, tapes, and TV broadcasts.

But for several years Bishop Paulk had been caught up in sexual allegations. In 2003 he settled one out of court and admitted to affair with church member Mona Brewer in 2007. Paulk said he was short and consensual . Brewer claimed it lasted 14 years.

In 2007, Paulk turned over the church to his nephew D.E. Later that year, DNA testing showed his nephew is his son.

The church is now called Cathedral at Chapel Hill.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) As the Red River slowly receded Sunday, Fargo was keeping a close eye on the many miles of sandbag levees that are the main line of defense against a potentially destructive flood that has had the city on edge for more than a week.

Residents who spent the better part of the week filling sandbags and building up dikes turned their attention to forming neighborhood patrols and monitoring levees for breaches. Fargo still fears that water could burst past the levees and submerge parts of the city.

The city had been bracing for a crest of up to 43 feet on Sunday, but instead learned Saturday that the river may have reached its peak. The weather service said the river crested around midnight Friday at 40.82 feet. It was at 40.34 feet early Sunday and dropping.

But the river can still fluctuate up to a foot and may remain at dangerous levels for a week, meaning people will have to endure an agonizing several days before they reach the point they can relax.

The city was to resume sandbagging Sunday morning and was requesting more volunteers. Many were expected to turn out after church services that are staple of life on Sunday mornings in Fargo, a heavily Lutheran town of more than 90,000.

``I just hope that everybody doesn't let up. We can't let our guard down,'' said Al Erickson, a 47-year-old banker whose two-story home is across the street from a golf course that is now a giant water hazard. ``The city as a whole will be OK, but there may be neighborhoods that still may have some trouble.''

Forecasters say the river is retreating because cold temperatures have been freezing water that normally would be flowing into the river. By the time that water thaws, the biggest flooding threat should have passed, Hudson said.

Officials in charge of the flood-response effort deployed high-tech Predator drone aircraft, called up more National Guard troops and brought in hundreds of bags that each hold a ton of sand and could be dropped by helicopter into breaks in the levees.

The National Guard has been dispatching inspection teams to the levees, joining a cadre of volunteers who are being asked to do the same. The task is monumental, with more than 35 miles of levees around Fargo.

``I don't think there's an inch of riverfront on the Fargo side that doesn't have some kind of levee,'' said city engineer Mark Bittner. ``We encourage neighborhoods to get together and have their own dike patrols and assist us.''

Bruce Boelter walked the entire length of a roughly mile-long stretch of sandbag dike to eyeball the manmade wall separating his subdivision and the Red River. Neighbor Tony Guck joined him halfway. Each felt a special stake in the dike they helped build.

``If we don't protect this, it's gonna get us. It's basically for our own security,'' said Guck, 42. ``I'm just planning on coming out every six hours and walking it.''

Water has forced hundreds of residents in the Fargo area from their homes and submerged basements and yards in an untold number of houses along the river. Emergency crews in boats had to rescue about 150 people from their homes in neighboring communities in Minnesota, while about 20 percent of households in Moorhead have been urged to leave.

The flooding was brought on by heavier-than-average winter snows, spring rains and a rapid thaw of the snowpack that sent the Red River to record-high levels in Fargo, North Dakota's largest city.

A winter storm was predicted to hit North Dakota early next week, although the snow isn't expected to affect the flooding in Fargo. Still, wind from the storm could cause 2-foot waves that could send some water over the top of dikes, said Dave Kellenbenz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

``That's something we're going to have to watch closely as we move into next week,'' he said.

The variation in flood forecasts was a roller coaster throughout the week for Fargo, with the projection edging upward twice before being lowered Saturday. Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker opened a briefing earlier in the day by apologizing for criticizing the weather service.

Greg Gust, a warning coordination meteorologist for the weather service, said the predictions are complex. They come from round-the-clock work by hundreds of scientists, engineers and other experts. Some of those people brave the river for measurements of volume, flow and temperatures. They also use computer models for mathematical and statistical analyses.

But even with improved forecasting methods, the river's record levels and the volatile temperatures don't allow anyone to be certain, and the weather service continued to hedge its prediction Saturday.

The main focus for the Fargo area will be on whether the long line of levees will be able to hold up against the floodwaters regardless of their level. Engineers say that anytime water is pressed up against a levee for a considerable period of time, there is a risk of catastrophic flooding.

``The saturation usually becomes the enemy of a levee over time,'' Jud Kneuvean, chief of emergency management for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Kansas City. ``It can cause the embankment to be less stable and slide.''

Word of the river's possible retreat couldn't come at a better time for 91-year-old Jim Sundahl, whose Moorhead yard has already been swallowed up by floodwaters. He has been waging a furious battle to keep the waters from his home, where he was born.

``I'm happy about it, I'll tell you that,'' Sundahl said. ``But it won't do us any good for four or five days.''


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

(WSB Radio) A judge denied bond for the suspect accused of killing a store clerk in Atlanta's west end last week.

On Friday, police arrested Yusef Cantrell in the Sunday slaying of 24-year-old Harish Roy during a robbery at the Stop 'N Shop in Atlanta's West End neighborhood.

 WSB News has learned he was mistakenly released from jail March 20th when he provided police with a false name. Two days later, he gunned down Roy, police said.

A videotape of the shooting shows one of the two robbers shooting the clerk in the head while the man holds up his hands in surrender. Police believe a third man drove the getaway car, a red Pontiac Grand Am.

Authorities are still looking alleged accomplice Damien Glover.

(WSB Radio) A DeKalb County woman says a police officer should be fired for body slamming her 14-year old son during an arrest.

Sherri Branton is said Officer Adam Quigley used excessive force when he arrested her son back in August.

"What I want to happened ," Branton told WSB-TV.  "Is I want him fired. He needs to be in jail. He's not above the law and I'm here to get justice."

Branton met with community activists in Lithonia on Saturday. She is backed by the human rights organization New Order. New Order is planning to contact DeKalb's District Attorney and CEO Burrell Ellis on Tuesday.

Branton filed a complaint with the police department. Quigley was suspended for one day.

KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) It's the modernday battle for Kennesaw Mountain and officials are asking for the public's help in defending the land from a ruthless invader.

Garlic mustard, an invasive plant, has staked its claim at the top of Kennesaw Mountain and continues to multiply its battalion.

The plant, which is denoted by its garlicky smell, grows rapidly and suffocates any vegetation in its way, said Lloyd Morris, chief ranger at Kennesaw Mountain. Garlic mustard has green, triangular to heart-shaped leaves with small white flowers.

For the last three years, Morris said the National Park Service and Kennesaw Mountain Trail club have hosted plant-pulling events to rid the mountain of garlic mustard. This year's pull will be April 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

``This is the fourth year we've been trying to aggressively manage it,'' Morris said. ``Kennesaw Mountain is the only place the plant has been located in the state, so we want to make sure it doesn't grow anywhere else. It suffocates the other plants in the area so nothing can grow.''

Morris said the plant was possibly introduced to the mountain through bird droppings. The gestation period for garlic mustard is up to 10 years and seeds can lie dormant for seven years, he said.

``We're thinking we have to do this for 10 years before it's all gone,'' he said.

The plant was discovered three years ago and the park has been dealing with it ever since, Morris said.

``We had about 30 acres of it three years ago and it's all you could see at the top of the mountain,'' he said. ``We spray the area, bag the pulled plants and take them to an incinerator.''

Acworth resident Fred Feltman has volunteered for the pull in the past.

``I thought it would be a way to pay back the National Park Service because the trails were deteriorating,'' he said. ``It's satisfying because, if we can get it all pulled before it spreads, then we won't have to worry about it in other parts of Georgia.''

Feltman said he's seen up to 100 volunteers at past pulls, and he welcomes residents to join for this year's event.

``People should help prevent this plant from taking over more area in the park,'' he said. ``Kennesaw Mountain is one of the best places we have in this area as far as recreation and historical significance.''

Feltman suggested volunteers wear long sleeves and pants and bring gloves and water for the pull. No tools are needed because mustard plants come up easily. Residents interested in helping out should call (770) 427-4686 extension 0 between 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to sign up.

A parent or adult must accompany children under the age of 16 and walk-up volunteers will be accepted the day of the pull. Walk-ups should go to the Visitor's Center for instructions.

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

(WSB Radio) Saturday's storms put thousands of people in the dark.

 A Georgia Power spokesman said 14-thousand people lost power during the height of Saturday's severe weather.

"We may have had a little bit of lightening," said. John Kraft with Georgia Power. "A good bit of it was from the tree limbs and the wind. We did have several broken poles where a tree fell."

Most of the lights were turned back on by Saturday night, but some residents were still without power on the east side of Atlanta.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) Mark Teixeira is fitting in quite nicely with the New York Yankees.

The first baseman, who signed an eight-year deal worth $180 million in the offseason, hit his second spring home run and raised his Grapefruit League average to .391 as the Yankees defeated the Atlanta Braves 6-4 on Saturday.

``I've been spending a lot of time in the cage and my swing is coming around,'' Teixeira said. ``By opening day, I should be about where I want. It takes a while when you are a switch-hitter.''

Teixeira was 2-for-2 and walked against Braves starter Jair Jurrjens. His homer came on the first pitch of the fifth inning and sailed well over the fence in right-center field.

``We've got a great lineup and I'm going to get pitches to hit all season,'' Teixeira said. ``We should score a lot of runs.''

Atlanta All-Star catcher Brian McCann had to leave in the first after being struck on the right ring finger by a foul tip by Teixeira, but said it was just a bruise.

``We caught a break there,'' Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said.

McCann started five consecutive games so he could catch the entire Atlanta rotation after missing much of spring training while playing for the United States in the World Baseball Classic.

``It's just a bruise,'' McCann said. ``I should be able to play in a couple days.''

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter bruised a knuckle on his left pinkie when he was involved in a collision at first base leading off the game. He left after three innings, but isn't expected to miss any time.

Jurrjens gave up nine hits and six runs in five innings, but three of the runs were unearned after an error by shortstop Yunel Escobar in New York's four-run second inning. He walked three and also gave up a homer to Robinson Cano.

Brett Tomko, trying to win the long reliever spot in the Yankees' bullpen, lowered his spring ERA to 1.17 with three scoreless innings as the starter. He allowed three hits and a walk while striking out one.

``It's probably the best spring I've ever had,'' said Tomko, a non-roster invitee who's coming off arm surgery. ``I'm just trying to win a spot and I'd be happy in any role that they'd give me.''

Tomko got the start because Chien-Ming Wang stayed in Tampa to pitch in a minor league game. He allowed nine hits and four runs in five innings in the Triple-A game, with three strikeouts and a walk. Two of the hits were homers.

Atlanta rookie Jordan Schafer, battling for the starting job in center field, had three hits to raise his average to .396. He also made a nice running catch.

``He's got speed and he can patrol center field,'' Cox said. ``He's looking good at the plate, too. He's going to be a good one.''

Melky Cabrera, competing for the Yankees' center field job with Brett Gardner, also had three hits and is batting .346.
Notes: Atlanta released left-handed reliever Jeff Ridgeway, leaving 35 players in camp. ... Garret Anderson, out since early March because of a strained calf, is expected to DH for the Braves on Sunday in the game against Detroit at Lakeland. First baseman Casey Kotchman, sidelined more than a week with the flu, is also slated to play. ... Atlanta LF Brandon Jones left Saturday's game in the second inning because of a stomach virus. ... Xavier Nady had three hits for the Yankees. ... A.J. Burnett, 3-0 with a 1.20 ERA in his first spring with the Yankees, will start Sunday's game in Tampa against Pittsburgh. ... Javier Vazquez, acquired from the White Sox during the winter, will pitch for the Braves against Detroit. He has a 1.74 ERA in two starts after pitching for Puerto Rico in the WBC.

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

(WSB Radio) The Yellow River is out of its banks following several days of rain. At the Yellow River Park in Gwinnett County many onlookers came just to see for themselves how high the water had risen.

The park is known for it mountain bike trails, some of which are likely under water.

"I've been here 22 years and I've never seen it out of its banks like this," Jerry Russell tells WSB's Sandra Parrish.

Residents also stopping by the Big Creek in Alpharetta as it floods for the third time this year.

"We just thought we'd come see it," said Jerry Sullivan in an interview with WSB-TV. "We heard that this was a flood danger. We wanted to see what a flood danger looked like."

The danger has sidewalks underwater in North Fulton County. The Flint River through Clayton, Fayette, and Spalding Counties was also under a flood warning Saturday.

ATLANTA (AP) Ilya Kovalchuk would give up all his goals for a shot at the playoffs.

That won't happen this season, but Kovalchuk netted his 40th goal and the Atlanta Thrashers scored three times in less than three minutes of the second period to beat the Ottawa Senators 6-3 on Saturday night.

``I'd trade all my goals for a playoff spot,'' said Kovalchuk, who has at least 40 goals in five consecutive seasons.

The Thrashers, who have won two straight and eight of 11, broke open a 2-2 game on goals by Tobias Enstrom, Marty Reasoner and Colby Armstrong in a span of 2:58.

Enstrom, who had two assists, scored his fifth goal on a power play at 13:12, giving Atlanta a 3-2 edge. Reasoner added his 13th goal 1:12 later before Armstrong notched his 19th 54 seconds later for a 5-2 lead.

Jason Spezza had two of Ottawa's goals, giving him 29 this season, in the first period.

Kovalchuk, who also had an assist on Enstrom's goal, scored his milestone goal with 10 seconds left in the opening period. The seven-year veteran, who has 294 career goals, has registered four goals and five assists in his last four games. Nathan Oystrick scored earlier in the period for Atlanta.

``It's easy to score when everybody plays well. We're building some momentum for next year,'' Kovalchuk said of the Thrashers (32-38-6). ``I'll try for (300 goals). A couple of hat tricks and you're there.''

Spezza assisted on Ryan Shannon's power-play goal at 1:50 of the third period. It was Shannon's seventh of the season and third in three games for the Senators, who lost their second straight after winning five in a row.

``We played a decent first period, made good goals,'' Spezza said. ``Had a horrible second period, and they just outplayed us after that.''

Atlanta's Slava Kozlov, who had two assists, scored his 24th goal on a power play at 9:23 of the third period.

Todd White and Eric Perrin each had a pair of assists, and Armstrong added an assist for the Thrashers. Johan Hedberg recorded his 100th career victory by making 18 saves.

``It only took almost 10 years, but it was nice to have it,'' said the 35-year-old Hedberg, who has played for Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Dallas and Atlanta. ``I noticed a week ago that I was closing in on it.''

The backup to Kari Lehtonen is 11-10-3 this season.

Ottawa rookie goalie Brian Elliott was removed after Reasoner's goal. He gave up four goals on 21 shots. His replacement Alex Auld allowed Armstrong's goal on the first shot he faced.

``By no means was it his fault,'' Ottawa coach Cory Clouston said of Elliott. ``They wanted it more than we did. It's hard to explain that. The effort just wasn't consistent enough at times.''

Ottawa's Nick Foligno had an assist, giving him two goals and four assists in five games.
Notes: Lehtonen didn't play after injuring his upper body and leaving following the first period of Thursday night's 5-4 shootout win over the New York Rangers. ... Kovalchuk, who has 294 career goals, has 10 goals and 15 assists in his last 13 games. ... Elliott was 11-1-2 in his previous 17 games.

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

DALTON, Ga. (AP) Inside a cavernous factory, massive machines that churn out carpeting for Home Depot and Lowe's were idled on a recent Friday as workers took a forced day off without pay.

Across Dalton, the self-proclaimed ``Carpet Capital of the World,'' storefronts stood vacant, once bustling restaurants were virtually empty and police battled a rising methamphetamine problem.

This city in the foothills of the Appalachians, which makes nearly 75 percent of the country's floor coverings, has felt a mountain of economic troubles since the country's real estate boom went bust.

Plummeting demand for flooring has led to a near doubling of Dalton's unemployment rate. Foreclosures are on the rise. And there are signs that the population may be shrinking.

There are doubts that Dalton's economy will ever look the same again even after the nation's financial crisis ends.

``This has been a tough, tough time,'' said Ralph Boe, president of Beaulieu of America, one of the ``big three'' carpet manufacturing companies, which employ a combined 37,000 workers in north Georgia. Boe's company has shed 1,100 jobs over two years.

Another, Shaw Industries Group Inc., announced this week that it was closing plants in Calhoun, near Dalton, and Valdosta, in south Georgia, which will idle about 600 workers.

Mario Moreyra, who lost his job at a Shaw carpet plant, said he would do just about anything to pull in a paycheck right now.

``I'm not being picky and still I'm not finding anything,'' the 26-year-old said as he scanned online job listings at a career center.

Dalton's reversal of fortune is forcing residents and business leaders to confront an underlying problem that Detroit knows all too well: its economic rise and fall are too dependent on one industry.

Local officials three years ago launched a drive to diversify the economy and that effort has taken on added urgency since the housing market collapse. Tax breaks and abatements have already helped lure an automobile parts manufacturer to the region.

Brian Anderson, president of the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce, said he envisions a new Dalton that is still a manufacturing center but one no longer dependent on just one industry. Job skills from the carpet mills translate into a ready work force, said Anderson, who wants to lure chemicals and plastics companies and even call centers to the region.

But such a turnaround could take years. And until then, Dalton's fate is tied to the volatile housing market.

U.S. demand for floor coverings has fallen a combined 34 percent over the past two years, according to the Dalton-based Carpet and Rug Institute.

That impact can be seen in a near doubling of Dalton's jobless rate over the past year to 11.2 percent, and that doesn't count the many Hispanic workers who may not have been in the country legally. The Labor Department says the Dalton region posted the second-highest increase in joblessness in December 2008, compared with the same month the year before.

The National Association of Realtors reported Monday that sales of existing homes grew 5.1 percent in February, the largest monthly sales jump since July 2003. Economists were encouraged by the news but sounded a cautionary note: sales nationwide were down 10 percent from a year earlier and tens of thousands of homes remain mired in the foreclosure process in Florida, Nevada and other epicenters of the housing meltdown.

Still, Werner Braun, president of the Carpet and Rug Institute, said that when the housing rebound happens Dalton will see the impact almost immediately.

``We're a leading economic indicator,'' Braun said. He said most large stores have very little carpet in stock, meaning that when a customer places an order for a rug the carpet mill begins making it.

The group is pushing members of Congress for a home refurbishing tax credit that would give people an incentive to buy carpet and other furnishings. There's been no legislation yet but Braun said lawmakers have been receptive to the idea.

Dalton's emergence as America's carpet hub was something of an accident. It began in the late 1800's when Catherine Evans Whitener began to sell her hand-tufted bedspreads. The spreads became popular and soon other local women followed suit.

Carpets came next. The craft really took off when local residents figured out how to mechanize the process.

The rise of tufted carpets from Georgia dovetailed with the World War II housing boom and soon carpets once synonymous with luxury and wealth were available to the masses, according to Randy Patton, author of ``Carpet Capital: The Rise of a New South Industry.''

In the last decade or so, the industry grew so rapidly and jobs were so plentiful that Hispanic workers flocked to the region. Their arrival changed the complexion of this blue-collar Georgia city. In 2005, the U.S. Census estimated 29 percent of the area's population was Hispanic. And it wasn't just single males coming but families putting down roots.

Now anecdotal reports suggest some of these workers are leaving as jobs disappear. Officials said school enrollment once on the rise has been flat. And some Hispanic grocery stores have shut their doors.

Throughout the region there is a rising sense of fear as the recession shows no signs of letting up.

``There isn't any work,'' said Charles Steele as he slumped in a chair waiting to speak to a job counselor at the state Labor Department's Dalton Career Center.

The 50-year-old had worked installing home security systems. When he was laid off late last year he wasn't worried. He figured he could easily find work in shipping and receiving, his fallback. Months later he's still looking.

``Nothing's there. That's starting to scare me,'' Steele said.

Danny Cope, manager of the career center in Dalton, said some of those who are coming in seeking help have spent decades in the region's carpet mills.

``They're scared. A lot of people have been at these jobs for a long time, technology has passed them by,'' Cope said. ``This is their first time ever drawing unemployment.''

Methamphetamine has long been a problem in north Georgia. But the economic woes appear to have added to the troubles.

Jim Langford, executive director of the Georgia Meth Project, said the jobless no longer have to submit to random drug testing at the carpet mills. With time on their hands and few prospects for work, anecdotal reports suggest use of the drug is up in the region, Langford said.

Unlike other American manufacturing sectors such as the auto industry which have suffered as jobs and business have moved overseas, the carpet industry has remained rooted within U.S. borders.

But Patton doesn't expect it will ever return to its heyday in 2005 when the local joke was that ``if you couldn't find a job, you simply weren't looking hard enough.''

``I think those days may be over,'' Patton said.

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Storms spread misery Saturday from the Great Plains to the Gulf Coast, dumping spring snow that cut power to thousands of Kansas utility customers and spawning tornado warnings and heavy rain across the South.

Two deaths were reported in Kansas as a spring blizzard buried parts of the state in ice, slush and up to two feet of snow. A 72-year-old man shoveling snow died of a heart attack Saturday while waiting for an ambulance slowed by impassable roads in Arlington, in central Kansas, authorities told The Hutchinson News. On Friday, a 58-year-old woman was killed in a car accident on icy roadways in Marion County.

The system also prompted a disaster declaration in Kansas and was blamed for two traffic deaths in Oklahoma.

The National Weather Service warned eastern Iowa about a narrow band of snow that will be particularly nasty, with forecast accumulation of 4 to 6 inches.

Mixed in with the heavy snow could be thunder and lightning, a phenomenon called thundersnow, which typically produces heavy snow over a brief period.

``Snow, and lots of it,'' was Kyle Obert's laconic assessment of the weather conditions in Iowa City. Obert, 23, a clerk at a Casey's General Store north of downtown, said snow began piling up at about 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Bands of spring storms also lashed the Southeast with thunderstorms, baseball-sized hail, flash floods and tornado watches and warnings. The region was still reeling from twisters over the past two days. On Thursday, nearly 30 people were hurt when a tornado destroyed dozens of homes and businesses across south-central Mississippi. On Friday, tornadoes struck Louisiana, Alabama and North Carolina, damaging homes and toppling trees.

Strong winds Saturday damaged roofs and windows and sent debris flying in Murfreesboro, Tenn., the state emergency management agency said. Three people were injured and treated at the scene.

Severe thunderstorms tore off roofs and downed trees and power lines in Corydon in western Kentucky.

About 100 roads in southern Mississippi were impassable at the height of the bad weather because of flooding, including the main route into Biloxi, Harrison County Emergency Management Director Rupert Lacy said. Some residents had to be rescued from stalled cars in flood waters.

More than 200 homes in the Biloxi area sustained flood damage and two roads sustained major pavement washouts, Lacy said.

``We have springtime storms,'' Lacy said. ``But this is a very unusual springtime storm.''

People were evacuated from about a dozen homes in Geneva County in southeast Alabama because of flooding, said Margaret Mixon, the county's emergency management director.

Up to 17 inches had fallen over three days in isolated areas in Alabama and Mississippi, said National Weather Service meteorologist Kirk Caceras.

In Missouri, Kansas City International Airport was closed for more than two hours Saturday because of a mix of freezing rain and snow. Officials said they briefly closed the airport to departing and arriving flights because maintenance crews couldn't keep up with waves of freezing rain and snow and conditions were too slick for aircraft to operate safely.

The storm also dumped as much as two feet of snow on parts of Oklahoma. It was blamed for two deadly accidents in central Oklahoma and dozens of other collisions in northwest Oklahoma, including one that left a truck driver critically injured.

Associated Press Writer Nigel Duara in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this story.

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

Davis, who moved into the starting lineup as Garnett was held out with a sore knee, had 19 points and matched his career high with 12 rebounds to lead the Celtics past the Atlanta Hawks 99-93 on Friday night.

Ray Allen led Boston with 22 points and Paul Pierce had 21, but Davis was the key while filling in for Garnett.

Boston coach Doc Rivers said his team won with ``mental toughness.''

``We've got a group that believes they're going to win games no matter who's on the floor,'' Rivers said.

The big game by ``Big Baby'' Davis was frustrating for the Hawks, who could not take advantage of the absence of Garnett even while trying to play big with Zaza Pachulia starting on the front line with Al Horford.

``With their key guys out, they still have guys on the team who can get in there and play,'' Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. ``Glen Davis was huge tonight, and we had nothing to stop him. I don't think that beat us, but the hustle in itself did. They banged a little harder than we did and they hustled a lot harder than we did.''

Rivers held out Garnett, who's still experiencing soreness after missing 13 games with a right knee strain. Garnett played a limited role in four games after returning from the injury, but now could miss more time as Rivers attempts to have the high-scoring forward healthy for the playoffs.

The performance by Davis could help Rivers use patience with Garnett.

``Baby was physical,'' Rivers said. ``He got his body in the way a lot. He's a big man and when he throws that body around, that's good for us.''

Davis drew praise from others, but was critical of himself.

``Look at the stat sheet,'' Davis said. ``I went 8-for-18. Out of 18 shots, I made eight. I'm my toughest critic. I had four turnovers. I had some bad fouls. I didn't execute at crucial times. I say that because I'm preparing myself for the playoffs.''

The Hawks only saw Davis help the Celtics win almost every chase for loose balls.

``He was real active in the first half, and it carried over to the second half,'' Smith said, adding the loss to the Celtics was disappointing ``with or without Garnett.''

Rivers said Garnett, averaging 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds was ``just not feeling great,'' but would've been in uniform for a playoff game.

Atlanta took three home wins over the Celtics before falling in Game 7 in last year's first-round playoff series, but Boston has won three straight over the Hawks this season, including two at Philips Arena.

Boston twice led by 20 in the final quarter, the last time at 89-69 with 6:07 remaining.

``They just outplayed us for the first three quarters,'' said Atlanta's Josh Smith, who had 22 points and 11 rebounds. ``It was embarrassing, to tell you the truth.''

Flip Murray scored on a drive with 1:38 remaining to cut the lead to 93-88. Joe Johnson, who scored 22 points, hit a 3-pointer with 1:11 left to pull Atlanta within four at 95-91.

Pierce made four free throws in the final minute to protect the lead.

Woodson said the Hawks waited too late to start the comeback.

``We didn't play until the five-minute mark in the fourth quarter,'' Woodson said. ``You can't beat a team like Boston when you don't start playing until then.''

Mike Bibby added 19 points for Atlanta.

The Hawks, who have lost three of four, fell to the short-handed Celtics one game after a home loss to San Antonio, which played without Tim Duncan.

Boston led only 43-41 before pulling away with a 21-6 run that covered the final three minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half.

Davis had a double-double in the first half with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Eddie House scored 12 points, all in the first half. Stephon Marbury, who had 11, closed the first half with his third 3-pointer, giving Boston a 52-42 halftime lead.

The Celtics stretched the lead to 17 points with a 12-5 run to open the second half. Rajon Rondo had seven points in the run.
Notes: Hawks coach Mike Woodson tried a big lineup, with 6-foot-11 Pachulia starting at center, pushing Horford to power forward. Pachulia had seven points and only two rebounds. Mo Evans, who had been starting for the injured Marvin Williams, moved back to a reserve role. ... Boston's bench outscored Atlanta's backups 25-17. ... After facing the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, the Hawks will have played the last four NBA finalists in a five-game span.

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

NEW YORK (AP) Regulators on Friday shut down Omni National Bank in Georgia, marking the 21st failure this year of a federally insured bank.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the bank, based in Atlanta. The fourth Georgia bank to be closed this year, it had $956 million in assets and $796.8 million in deposits as of March 9. There were about $2 million in uninsured deposits at the time of the closing.

Omni National had branches in Atlanta and Dalton, Ga., as well as Chicago, Tampa, Fla., Houston and Dallas. It had loan production offices in Philadelphia and Birmingham, Ala.

Atlanta-based SunTrust Bank agreed with the FDIC to act as a paying agent for insured deposits at Omni National Bank. As the agent, SunTrust will operate Omni National's six former branches until April 27 to cover regular banking activities and to help avoid any disruption of service for customers.

During the one-month transition period, depositors in Georgia and Florida can open an account with SunTrust or have their accounts closed and receive a check. Customers who do not choose either option during the that period will automatically be transferred to SunTrust.

Depositors at branches in Illinois and Texas who do not close their accounts by April 27, will be mailed a check by SunTrust.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which closed the bank, said in a statement that losses depleted the bank of most of its capital and it would have been unable to recapitalize itself without government assistance.

Last week, regulators shut down three banks, including another Georgia-based bank, FirstCity Bank in Stockbridge. The others were Teambank NA in Paola, Kan., and Colorado National Bank in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Mounting loan losses, rising unemployment and tumbling home prices have pressured banks during the ongoing recession, leading to a growing number of failures. Those failures have cost the FDIC's insurance fund billions of dollars.

The fund stands at its lowest level in nearly a quarter-century, $18.9 billion as of Dec. 31, compared with $52.4 billion at the end of 2007. The FDIC estimates the closing of Omni National will deplete its insurance fund by about $290 million.

The FDIC expects that bank failures will cost the insurance fund around $65 billion through 2013. The FDIC has increased fees and premiums in an effort to replenish the insurance fund.

The 21 bank collapses this year is already approaching the total of all of 2008, when 25 banks were shut down by regulators. Last year's closures included two of the nation's largest savings and loans, Washington Mutual Inc. and IndyMac Bancorp.

The FDIC had 252 banks and thrifts on its list of troubled institutions at the end of 2008, up from 171 in the third quarter.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Police have arrested a man in connection with the fatal shooting of an Atlanta convenience store clerk.

Police on Friday arrested Yusef Cantrell in the Sunday slaying of 24-year-old Harish Roy during a robbery at the Stop 'N Shop in Atlanta's West End neighborhood.

Police have also issued a warrant for Damian Grover.

A videotape of the shooting shows one of the two robbers shooting the clerk in the head while the man holds up his hands in surrender. Police believe a third man drove the getaway car, a red Pontiac Grand Am.

Police arrested Cantrell after picking him up Friday.


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

MARIETTA (AP) A Cobb County judge has sentenced a 27-year-old to life in prison for shooting a renowned primatologist during a robbery attempt at a strip shopping center.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Schuster sentenced Elliott Mitchell on Friday to life plus 45 years for the 2005 wounding of Shelly Williams, who was left paralyzed.

Williams, who was in the courtroom, said: ``Justice was served.''

Authorities said Mitchell and 23-year-old Kendall Bolden were trying to rob a man in a drug deal when Mitchell hit him over the head with a gun that discharged. A bullet struck the 53-year-old Williams, who had worldwide attention for discovering a new species of ape in the Republic of the Congo

Bolden pleaded guilty Monday and will be sentenced later.

ATLANTA (AP) Six months after Atlanta business leaders set up parking meter-like machines to accept spare change donations and discourage panhandling, just $500 has been deposited not much help for beggars who say they can sometimes raise $300 in a day on their own.

Despite the program's dismal beginnings, Atlanta leaders are encouraged. They are installing more of the ``giving meters'' and using signs to make more people aware of the machines. In other cities, like Denver, thousands of dollars have been raised to help the needy.

But some in Atlanta believe the money is better off directly in the hands of the homeless.

``If someone is on the street now, they're hungry now,'' said Shirley Zanders, who recently gave 37 cents to a homeless man downtown. ``How will a meter help?''

An Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau survey shows that panhandling is second only to traffic among visitors' biggest complaints about the city. Beggars have besieged Atlanta for years, lingering outside hotels, near fast-food drivethru windows and alongside highway on-ramps.

As springtime brings out more beggars, city leaders are trying to target people like Zanders with the message that ending panhandling starts by closing your wallet.

``We have to change folks who feel like this is the right way to give,'' said A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress, a revitalization group spearheading the ``giving meters'' campaign.

Posters encourage passers-by to drop their spare change into one of 12 yellow, parking meter-like devices scattered across downtown. The money will then be put toward programs that help the needy, officials say.

Similar meters are in St. Louis, Baltimore, and Denver, where $15,000 in coins has been generated since 2007. That's far from the collections in Atlanta, a city known for its homeless problem.

The new program has had several problems, including confusion. Pedestrians have mistaken the new machines for regular parking meters. Atlanta also has far fewer than the 86 meters Denver had when that city started.

``We've got new signage coming, we've got little stickers to make sure people know these are not parking meters,'' Robinson said. ``We didn't do a real good job in the beginning.''

Robinson said more than half of those downtown who were polled in a February street survey wanted to see more done to curb panhandling, but only 7 percent had noticed the meters.

``We've still got a ways to go,'' Robinson said. ``There are still folks giving to panhandlers.''

A city panhandling ban lets police arrest aggressive ``spangers'' slang for spare change beggars. So far, 213 have been arrested, according to police records.

But Atlanta police acknowledge spangers are usually back on the street the next day.

Recently, on a downtown corner, Sylvester Glenn shook his empty hat.

He spends his days cajoling passers-by into donating a ``blessing'' he calls it that will buy a sandwich or help him one day travel back home, to Tallahassee, Fla.

While he says he sometimes makes $300 a day, earlier this week he wasn't doing so well: He had raised maybe 25 cents and it was past 5 p.m.

``You ever heard of a blue Monday? It's a blue Tuesday,'' he said, as women toting Louis Vuitton purses and men on cell phones hustled past.

Then Zanders walked up and dug into her pocket and fished out 37 cents.

``I call it helping someone in need. Shouldn't be a law against that,'' said Glenn, who bristles at being called a panhandler.

Glenn has been working Atlanta streets for more than a decade.

He's personable, and at 48, young enough to work. Asked why he doesn't, he mentions vague health problems and a dry skin condition he says resulted from handling chemicals in a factory years ago.

Thirty minutes after Zander's donation, foot traffic was heavy, but the donations were still slow.

Another panhandler, a man using a wheelchair, had diverted would-be donors. Glenn was giving up for the day.


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

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) Atlanta's Tom Glavine and Detroit's Justin Verlander are looking to have bounce-back seasons, and each made strides Friday toward reaching their goals.

Verlander threw seven scoreless innings and Glavine shut out the Tigers for four in the Braves' 3-2 victory.

Glavine, the two-time Cy Young Award winner with 305 wins, started a career-low 13 games last year, going 2-4 before his season was cut short by an elbow injury. He went on the disabled list for the first time in his 22-year career and ended up having elbow and shoulder surgery.

On Friday, the left-hander allowed three hits, walked none and struck out three in his second start of the spring. He pitched three scoreless innings against the Mets last Saturday.

``I don't think I can be any happier with where I'm at,'' said Glavine, who threw 34 of his 51 pitches for strikes. ``I was free and easy and my location was good.''

Glavine didn't throw a pitch faster than 81 mph, but he wasn't concerned. Even when he was having 20-win seasons, his pitches never hit 90 mph.

``I hope my velocity gets better, but I can pitch like this if I locate,'' Glavine added. ``That was a good lineup I faced and they were ahead of my changeup and late on my fastball.''

Verlander, coming off a 17-loss season, is using a lower arm angle that he has worked on with new Detroit pitching coach Rick Knapp. He gave up two hits while striking out three and walking one, and was named opening-day starter before the game.

``He was terrific,'' Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. ``He's really done a good job making his adjustments.''

The right-hander won 35 games in his first two full seasons with Detroit before faltering last year (11-17, 4.84 ERA). Now he feels like the pitcher he was in 2006 and 2007.

``It was a big stride for me,'' said Verlander, who lowered his spring ERA to 2.30. ``This is a game of adjustments.

``At first it was awkward,'' he said of the lower arm slot. ``But it is getting more and more comfortable. It's letting me pitch like I did before.''

Detroit catcher Matt Treanor hit a long two-run homer off Atlanta reliever Manny Acosta in the seventh inning to put the Tigers ahead, but the bullpen couldn't hold the lead.

Greg Norton tied the game for the Braves in the eighth inning with a two-run double off Fernando Rodney and then Brandon Lyon, Detroit's closer, faltered in the ninth.

Lyon gave up a walk and a single before Martin Prado hit a run-scoring single to win it.

Buddy Carlyle pitched a perfect ninth for Atlanta and hasn't given up a run this spring. Notes: Treanor is 3-for-23 this spring, but two of the hits are homers. Super Bowl star Santonio Holmes of the Steelers and Chipper Jones exchanged jerseys before the game. Both wear No. 10 and are fans of each other's team. Atlanta first baseman Casey Kotchman, fighting a virus for a week, remained out of the lineup. Left fielder Garret Anderson, who played just one Grapefruit League game before straining a quad, is expected to return to the Braves lineup Sunday against the Tigers in Lakeland. A return a day earlier had been targeted.

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

DECATUR (AP) Human remains found almost two years ago in northeast Georgia have been identified through DNA testing as those of a metro Atlanta woman reported missing in October 2005.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says skeletal remains of 40-year-old Leslie Adams of Lilburn were found in a swampy area by local residents two miles west of Interstate 85 in Franklin County on May 13, 2007.

The GBI says bone fragments were submitted to the FBI for DNA extraction and compared to three of Adams' family members. After the FBI lab determined DNA from the fragments was consistent with family profiles, the results were forwarded to the University of North Texas for an analysis that determined the probability that the recovered remains were those of Leslie Adams is greater than 1.12 billion to one.

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

ATHENS (AP) Junior Demarcus Dobbs, who entered spring practice as Georgia's starting defensive end, will miss the rest of the spring after suffering a broken bone in his left foot on Thursday.

Georgia spokesman Claude Felton said Friday Dobbs will need surgery to repair the fifth metatarsal fracture.

Georgia trainer Ron Courson said Dobbs should be able to train during the summer and be ready for the start of preseason practice in August.

Dobbs, from Savannah, played in 13 games with four starts in 2008. He had 19 tackles and two sacks. He returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown.

Georgia postponed its scheduled Friday scrimmage due to heavy rain and plans to return to practice on Monday.

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

ATLANTA (AP) It's becoming a saga that's a bit too familiar with Georgia lawmakers: House and Senate leaders play a high-stakes game of chicken over vast changes to the state's transportation network in the final weeks of the legislative session.

The proposals for a one-cent state sales tax to fund infrastructure improvements ended in legislative gridlock last year, but failed to pass the Senate by three votes. And this year, competing versions of transportation plans could be headed toward the same fate.

But now there's also another pothole facing lawmakers: The two chambers are at odds over proposals to overhaul the transportation bureaucracy. And they have just three legislative days before the session ends next week to hash out an agreement.

Gov. Sonny Perdue and Senate leaders are pushing a plan that would create a new agency that would oversee transportation funding, while House leaders unveiled their own version of an overhaul that keeps much of the same setup. It was adopted Friday by the House Transportation Committee.

Both proposals would give lawmakers and the governor new authority to determine which infrastructure projects are funded, pleasing legislators long eager to have a say over how transportation dollars are spent. Under the current system, transportation bureaucrats have the final word in choosing which projects are approved.

But the House proposal also grants the Department of Transportation new powers, creating a new planning division that would oversee long-range projects. State Rep. David Ralston, the proposal's sponsor, said the head of the division would be ``outside of the day-to-day political pressures'' and charged with creating a more expansive view of transportation policy.

The House version also keeps the 13-person state transportation board that is now elected by state legislators, but it strips it of the power to appoint the department's chief officers. Perdue's proposal would have abolished the board entirely and replaced it with a new 11-member panel.

The governor didn't immediately pour cold water on the House plan, as Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley struck a pragmatic tone. He called the House plan an ``interesting concept'' and said any plan must ultimately improve accountability and transparency.

``It's a step in the right direction,'' he said.

The differences over the proposal are yet another roadblock facing state lawmakers as they consider vast changes to Georgia's transportation setup while they navigate the final week of Georgia's 40-day legislative session.

The House and Senate are still miles apart on a compromise plan for a transportation tax, with House leaders holding firm to a statewide plan and Senate lawmakers favoring a regional approach. A conference committee designed to hash out differences between the two plans is expected to meet next week.

Associated Press writer Shannon McCaffrey contributed to this report.

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

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau) The State Senate votes overwhelmingly to give home buyers a tax credit to spur the housing market.

The credit would total 1.2 percent of the purchase price or $3,600, whichever is less. Payout of the credit could stretch over three years.

Sen. Chip Pearson (R-Dawsonville) who sponsored HB 261 in the Senate says it would be for any home or condo bought within six months of the bill being signed into law.

"It's a true stimulus in that they have to act now... this will not be available next year, it won't be available the year after," says Pearson.

The measure goes back to the House to approve minor changes in the bill.

(WSB Radio)  Stonecrest Mall is saying no to unsupervised teenagers.

The mall's management has instituted a ban on teens for Friday and Saturday nights, unless the teenager is with their parents.

A spokesman for the Lithonia mall says they want to cut down on the number of teens roaming the mall on weekends after 4 pm. 

The new policy goes into effect next week.

Stonecrest is the second mall in the metro area to restrict teen access on weekends.  Arbor Place Mall, in Douglas County, has enforced a similar ban for the past two years.

(WSB Radio)  The District of Columbia admits it's to blame for granting an improper tax break to Georgia Congressman Phil Gingrey.

But the District also wants the tax money back.

Roll Call named Gingrey as one of several House members getting homestead exemptions on property they own in D.C., even though they should be ineligible.

Gingrey's office has released a letter from the District in which city officials admit they were at fault.

However, the city is still demanding that Gingrey return four years worth of back taxes on his Washington home.

(WSB Radio)  The recession is taking a toll on Atlanta tourism.

The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau reports tourism dropped off 16% in the city.  Hotel occupancy is running about 50% so far in 2009.   That's down 10% from a year ago.

Metro Atlanta typically attracts about 38 million visitors a year. 

The downturn in the economy is also hitting the ACVB hard.  The bureau is downsizing, as a half dozen staffers have accepted buyouts.  The bureau has already eliminated 401k and pension contributions this year.

(WSB Radio)  A couple charged in the drowning death of a two year old may be out of jail soon.

Tanya and Sean Moon waived a hearing Thursday in exchange for bond.  That bond was set for $40,000.

The little boy died last week after wandering out of the house where the Moons were watching him and falling into a pool.

"It was an accident, it was an accident," says Tanya Moon's sister.  "Just a tragedy is all it was."

The boy's family says it wasn't an accident but, rather, a case of neglect. 

If the Moons do get out on bond one condition is that they cannot have any unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16.

(WSB Radio) A would be jewel thief is in stable condition after trying to snatch a bracelet and run out of a Roswell store.  The man didn't get very far.

Roswell police say the suspect took the bracelet from the store on Holcomb Bridge Road, then darted out into the parking lot.  That was a big mistake.

"Right out the door and ran across the little parking lot there at Brown & Company jewelers," says police Sergeant James McGee.  "Ran right out into the road and was hit by a Buick, a full size Buick at about 45 miles per hour.

"As he was struck, some witnesses say, the tires ran over his head," McGee tells WSB.

The suspect was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.

(WSB Radio) Accused of driving a Mercedes Benz in excess of 130 miles an hour on Georgia 400, a suspected drunk driver is behind bars this morning following an overnight police chase in Alpharetta.

Alpharetta police spokesman George Gordon tells WSB's Richard Sangster Thomas Lackey wrecked his C230 on Old Milton Parkway around 1:45 this morning trying to get away from a pursuing officer. 

After he wrecked the car, Gordon said Lackey "exited his vehicle and started yelling at the responding officers to shoot him."  He added that Lackey was "highly combative and resisted arrest physically," forcing one of the officers to deploy a taser.  

Lackey is being held without bond, charged with DUI, fleeing and eluding, aggravated assault by motor vehicle, resisting arrest and numerous traffic violations.

(WSB Radio) -- Americans eat too much salt!

A new Centers For Disease Control and Prevention study shows that most Americans consume more than double the amount of their daily recommended level of sodium.

A diet high in sodium increases the risk of having high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.

The study is the first to use national data  to show that 69.2 percent  of the adult population belongs to a specific group  that should aim to consume no more than 1,500 mg od sodium per day.  This group includes people with high blood pressure, blacks, or middle aged and older adults (40 or older).  The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended  that adults should  in general consume less than 2,300 mg. That's about one teaspoon of salt  per day.

(WSB Radio) -- Hundreds of animals, ranging from dogs to cats, to rabbits, will be up for adoption this Sunday in Alpharetta.

Co-Coordinator of the event, Michelle Williams, tells WSB it's one of the largest pet rescue fairs in the Southeast. Besides Georgia, rescue groups will be coming from Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee.

"Nine years ago, Cheryl Flannigan with horse rescue decided she wanted to get all the rescue groups together and work together and get word out about the different rescues that are available," said Williams. 

One of the groups who will be on hand is Fancy Feline Rescue of the South.  The group's Dale Thompson tells WSB the economy has hit them hard too.

"The economy is really hurting us.  It's hurting everybody.  People can't afford to care for their animals," said Thompson.

She says even some of those who adopt complain of the $100-200 adoption fee.

"If you were to pick up a stray kitten, take that cat to the vet, do everything that we do. At the end of a year, come back with all of your vet bills and tell me that you've spent less than what you've spent less than what you would've paid to adopt a fully vetted cat from us," said Thompson.

With the adoption, the animal is spay or neutered, given the necessary vaccines, dewormed, microchipped, and will receive pre-paid health insurance for 30 days.

She says they have purebreed cats, regular cats, young, and old.

"We've got a 15-year-old Siamese that was surrendered by her owner of 15 years.  They had two dogs, two other cats, and I think mom was pregnant.  They just didn't need the 15-year-old around, and that's so sad," said Thompson.

Besides cats, dogs, horses, rabbits, and even ferrets will be up for adoption.

The event, sponsored by Save the Horses, will be held on Sunday at the Wills Park Equestrian Center from noon to 5 p.m.

(WSB Radio) -- A former Fulton County dispatcher who was fired after she botched a 9-1-1 call that led to a Johns Creek woman's death is trying to clear her name and get her job back so she can retire.

During a five hour hearing on Thursday before the Fulton County Personnel Board, Gina Conteh testified she was working in a position she was not qualified for when she received an emergency call August 2nd from a distressed Darlene Dukes asking for help.  Conteh said "during this time when I got the call, I was overwhelmed with alot of calls.  I was being a call taker and a dispatcher at the same time."

Conteh's attorney, Rory Starkey, said his client was "overworked because the 9-1-1 center wasn't properly staffed and (she) wasn't properly trained or managed."

Crystal Williams, the county's interim 9-1-1 director told the board Conteh simply failed to use her training.  A county attorney referred to Conteh as "a chronic screwup" who remained in an entry level position even after 12 years on the job. 

The personnel board is expected to rule on the appeal within 30 days.  If she's reinstated, Conteh could also receive seven months of back pay.

WASHINGTON (AP) From the White House through the halls of Congress, Washington is losing its zeal for an all-out fight over hefty executive bonuses, now that it wants the financial companies it blames for the collapse of the U.S. economy to help clean up the mess.

The House Financial Services Committee on Thursday adopted a milder alternative to a bill passed last week that would have taxed away 90 percent of employee bonuses from companies getting federal bailout money. The new legislation would let bailed-out companies pay bonuses as long as the government determines the compensation is not ``unreasonable or excessive.''

Just what is unreasonable or excessive would be determined by financial regulators and the Treasury Department, where Secretary Timothy Geithner set off a public furor by not blocking $165 million in AIG payments to its financial products executives and traders on March 15.

The Senate, meanwhile, has put on hold a bill that Democrats unsuccessfully tried to advance last week. It would tax about 70 percent of the employee bonuses at AIG and other companies getting more than $100 million in bailout money.

Since last fall, AIG has received or been promised more than $182 billion of government money, much of it funneled to investors and foreign banks who held high-odds bets with the company on the U.S. housing market collapsing.

The about-face in Washington came as it become clear that financial institutions might not partner with the government on new efforts to restore vital credit flows to businesses and consumers if it meant later being demonized for its use of taxpayer dollars.

Geithner proposed on Monday a new government program that would rely on the help of private investors to buy up to a $1 trillion of bad debt, or ``toxic assets,'' sitting on the books of major banks, giving them more ability and incentive to lend.

``I don't want people to think that businesses and people who have worked hard, performed well and received bonuses are going to be painted with the AIG brush,'' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters Thursday.

The gentler approach is in stark contrast to the anti-Wall Street rhetoric that consumed Congress and the White House last week after the bonus payments by AIG, the prime example of a company deemed ``too big to fail'' because its collapse could create a worldwide run on banks and other financial institutions.

The bonus payouts ignited populist anger that four days later prompted the House to vote 328-93 to tax them away and Obama to declare on Jay Leno's late-night talk show the same day that he was ``stunned'' and would ``do everything we can to get those bonuses back''

By the next day, the Senate's bonus tax plan had stalled.

Obama then warned the public against vilifying investors and entrepreneurs who are needed to keep the economy alive. Geithner said industry's help would specifically be needed to buy up the billions of dollars of sour mortgage securities.

``We cannot solve this crisis without making it possible for investors to take risks,'' Geithner wrote in an editorial published in The Wall Street Journal.

Now, Democrats are walking a fine line. For Geithner's bank-rescue plan to work, private investors will have to trust that the government will keep up its end of the bargain. But as the flap over the AIG bonuses showed, Congress will intervene if it thinks the rules are unfair.

``Private investors need certainty that Washington will not change the rules of the game while the game is being played,'' said Rep. Spencer Bachus of Alabama, the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, who opposes the latest committee proposal.

The latest House bill, sponsored by Democratic Reps. Alan Grayson of Florida and Jim Himes of Connecticut, directs Geithner to take into account an employee's performance, as well as the stability of a financial institution, before bonuses are paid.

``We need regulation that aligns the public's interest with the health of these institutions,'' said Himes.

In a sort of olive branch to industry, the committee included an exemption to the rules for firms willing to participate in Geithner's investment program involving ``toxic assets.''

``We do want to encourage wide participation,'' said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the panel's chairman.

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

(WSB Radio) -- County statistics from the Georgia Department of Labor paint a bleak picture in some parts of the state. 

87 out of 159 counties now have double digit unemployment.  The three highest jobless rates are in east Georgia's Jenkins, Hancock and Warren counties.  The closing of a Jockey International underwear manufacturing plant in Millen pushed the Jenkins County unemployment rate to 21.3%.  It's 19.1% in Hancock County and 16.8% in Warren County.

Three metro Atlanta counties are among the 87 with jobless rates of more than 10%.  In Bartow County, the unemployment rate is 11.4%.  It's 10.3% in Clayton and Rockdale counties.

By contrast, the lowest unemployment rate is 6% in Oconee County.  That's followed by Lee and Long counties at 6.7% each.

The statewide unemployment rate is a seasonally adjusted 9.3%.  The national  average is 8.1%.

(WSB Radio)  A former Atlanta stockbroker has pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges, for a scheme that fleeced investors out of millions.

48 year old Frederick Barton faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he's sentenced in June.

Prosecutors say one of Barton's victims was a 90 year old woman with Alzheimer's who lost her $1 million life savings.

Investigators say when Barton learned of her medical condition he transferred her money into his checking account and used it to set up a new company.

In all, Barton bilked his customers out of more than $2 million.

(WSB Radio)  The Georgia Department of Transportation wants to know who's been stealing thousands of dollars worth of cast iron grates that sit over storm drains.

"We've lost over 100 of these grates," says the DOT's Mark McKinnon.  "And what's amazing to us is they weigh over 200 pounds apiece, so it's quite a chore to get these grates up."

As for the motive for the thefts, McKinnon says it's money.

"All we can figure is that they're trying to recycle them somewhere," he says.  "We have notified the local recycling centers to be on the lookout for these.  They've indicated to us they haven't seen any yet.  So, we don't know exactly where they're going at this point."

 The grates costs about $170 each to replace.  McKinnon says, when sold for scrap metal, they're only worth about $8 apiece.

The thefts have been reported in Atlanta, along I-285 in Fulton County and in Clayton County and College Park, as well as in DeKalb, along I-20, 85 and 285.

11 are missing in Fulton, 28 in DeKalb, and a dozen more in Clayton.

Atlanta police have been investigating the thefts of manhole covers, with 50 of those missing.  It's believed they are also being stolen for resale as scrap.

(WSB Radio)  Both the prosecution and the defense are expected to wrap up their cases in the trial of a man accused of shooting a Cobb County scientist.

Elliott Mitchell is charged in the 2005 shooting of Shelly Williams, who was struck in the back by a stray bullet and left paralyzed.  Prosecutors allege the gun went off while Mitchell was pistol whipping a man during a drug deal.  They call the case simple and tragic.

Williams, who was a world renowned primatologist, was jogging when she was shot.  She's been in attendance at Mitchell's trial, in the back of the courtroom in her wheelchair.

The defense strategy has been to try to discredit the prosecutions witnesses, most of whom are serving jail time.

The jury could get the case as early as today.

(WSB Radio) The superintendent of Cherokee County Schools is recommending the Board of Education eliminate more than 300 teaching postions from next year's budget.

Dr. Frank Petruzielo's preliminary spending plan for the 2009-2010 school year calls for an $8.5 million dollar decrease in personnel costs.

The proposed cuts include 144 teachers who work part-time or job share.  In addition, 80 kindergarten paraprofessionals and 80 special education paraprofessionals will not be offered contracts next year.

The Cherokee County School Board isn't expected to adopt the staffing changes until July.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau) -- A bill to allow sentences of life without parole without first having to seek the death penalty is close to final passage.

SB 13 would allow prosecutors the option of a life without parole sentence in murder cases that don't warrant the death penalty.

"Victims often ask me 'can you ensure me the person that murdered my loved one will never be out of prison'. This bill will finally give us the ability to guarantee that," says Douglas County District Attorney David McDade.

Following a procedural vote in the Senate, the bill will head to the Governor's desk.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau) -- The State House offers up a compromise on funding transportation that includes both the House and Senate plans.

Under the compromise, voters would go to the polls in 2010 and decide on a statewide penny sales tax to fund specific transportation projects. It it fails, then the ten-county metro Atlanta region and counties outside Atlanta could offer up a regional sales tax to fund local transportation projects.

During this legislative session, the House has called for a statewide tax while the Senate has called for a regional one.

"We think its a great compromise... a great way to take it to the voters," says House Majority Leader Jerry Keen.

But Senate leaders aren't ready to commit . Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Jeff Mullis calls it a step in the right direction.

"I really feel good about the possibilities and I've been optimistic all along on transportation and getting somewhere... and we're at that posture," he says.

Mullis expects the Senate will disagree with the House changes in the bill and send it on to a conference committee of six House and Senate members to work out the differences.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution publisher Doug Franklin says it comes down to this:  "We are reducing the size of our newsroom by about a third," he tells WSB's Pete Combs.

Blistered by what journalism experts call a perfect storm of the economic downturn, lower advertising revenues and changing tastes among readers, the AJC's newsroom will be at the end of the month about half of what it was just a couple of years ago.

The paper today laid off 48 part-timers. Another 90 full-time employees will have to accept the paper's offer of buy-outs next month or there will be more lay-offs, according to one AJC reporter.

"Knots of people are gathered around the newsroom talking about who's staying and whose going," says one AJC reporter who asked not to be named. "Some of the stalwart names and bylines people have been reading for decades likely will be gone."

Franklin says he hopes this will get the paper back in the black by next year. Will the AJC go the way of other dailies around the country and phase out it's print edition in favor of a web-only product?

No, Franklin says. At least for now, he says, "don't expect the AJC's print edition to go the way of the carrier pigeon."

25 March 2009

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  For the second time this session,  House Democrats successfully block a measure that would have doubled the homestead exemption for Georgia property owners from $2000 to $4000.

The measure failed to receive the two-thirds votes needed to pass.

It would have brought the question to voters in the 2010 General Election and if approved, the exemption would have increased by $1000 in 2011 and then another $1000 in 2012.

Sen. Edward Lindsey says the current homestead exemption of $2000 has been in place since 1937.

"Do we stand with the homeowners of Georgia... do we finally do what we should have been doing all along which is gradually increasing the homestead exemption," says Lindsey.

But Democrats argued that it would put future economic burdens on local governments.

"Once again we're passing the buck down to our local communities that will result in a couple of things... higher millage rates and cuts in education," says House Minority Leader DuBose Porter.

The measure is now dead for the session.

25 March 2009

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  A bill to impose super fines on super speeders is headed to the Governor Perdue's desk.

The measure, which Perdue has pushed for three years, would charge an additional $200 in fines to those caught going 75 mph on two-lane roads and 85 mph and over on four lane ones.

The measure received final passage in the State Senate where Sen. Bill Heath (R-Bremen) says Georgia has a reputation for speeders on its roads.

"Georgia is known as a place where you can make up time when you're traveling to and from Florida for example. As you travel through Georgia you can pick the speed up a little bit and get by with it," he says.

Heath says some $23 million a year is expected to be generated from the increase in fine with all the money slated to go to fund Georgia's trauma care network.

25 March 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama says his administration's efforts to fix the economy are ``moving in the right direction.''

At the second prime-time news conference of his presidency, Obama recapped the steps his administration has taken to address the economy.

Obama also shot back at Republican critics of his budget, saying he inherited a deficit of over $1 trillion from his predecessor.

He said the tax and spending plan is inseparable from the recovery and that it ``lays the foundation for a secure and lasting prosperity.''

Obama also urged Americans to be patient. He said the current downturn didn't happen overnight and that a full-fledged recovery is months away.

Obama mum on proposal to scrap tax cut

WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama says he's not ready to comment on a proposal from some Senate Democrats to scrap his middle-class tax cut after 2010. Obama says he hasn't yet seen what changes are coming out of the House and Senate.

But he delivered his bottom-line on the budget at a Tuesday evening news conference. Obama said the budget must move toward health care reform and include an energy policy that frees the nation from dependence on foreign oil. He also says he's looking for investment in education and a reduction in the deficit.

Obama said a middle-class tax cut is already in place through the recovery package for at least two years. And he said he never expected Congress to approve his plan without some changes.

Obama defends delay in response to AIG bonuses

WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama is defending his decision to wait a few days before expressing his anger over the bonuses paid out to executives at troubled insurer AIG.

Critics questioned why the president seemed days behind the populist anger over the $165 million that were distributed at the company bailed out with federal tax dollars.

Said Obama: ``It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak.''

The president was answering questions at a prime-time news conference.

(WSB Radio)  Georgia Congressman Phil Gingrey may be declaring a homestead exemption in two places at once.

Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, reports that Gingrey is one of a number of House members who appear to be improperly receiving the Washington, D.C., homestead tax deduction.

The deduction reduces their annual property tax bills by hundreds of dollars.

Under the District's homestead program, taxpayers who own a home in the city and use it as their principal residence receive a reduction of $67,5000 on the assessed value of their home.  It's a savings of $573.75 off their 2009 tax bill.

Roll Call reports that district records show Gingrey's wife, Billie, as the sole purchaser of a three bedroom row house in 2004.  In the current tax year, that property is valued at about $705,000, with a taxable value of $637,000.

A spokesman for Gingrey says the Congressman did not realize he had received the tax deduction but would look into it and work to correct any improper claim.

The spokesman says Gingrey may have inadvertently applied for the deduction when the purchase of the home was finalized in 2004.

(WSB Radio)  Brian Nichols will not face prosecution in Gwinnett County.

District Attorney Danny Porter has decided not to file charges against the Atlanta courthouse shooter.

He says that, although Ashley Smith has agreed to testify, she's also ready to move on with her life.  That and the fact that Nichols is going nowhere after his conviction for the courthouse murders means he'll not face charges in Gwinnett.

"Despite the three jurors in the death verdict, I think Nichols is dangerous and capable of killing someone," Porter tells WSB.  "I don't want it to be a Gwinnett County deputy or a Gwinnett County juror or anybody else in Gwinnett County."

Porter says prosecuting someone already serving a life sentence isn't a good use of taxpayer's money.  Porter says all they could hope for in a Gwinnett trial would be a, "symbolic conviction."

Nichols was found guilty for the March 11, 2005 murders of Judge Rowland Barnes, court reporter Julie Brandau, Fulton County Sheriff's Sergeant Hoyt Teasley and U.S. Customs Agent David Wilhelm.

The jury that convicted him also sentenced Nichols to life in prison.  Nine jurors wanted a death sentence, but three jurors held out, forcing the life term.

(WSB Radio)  Managers at a metro Atlanta Salvation Army center is frustrated after thieves break in for a second time in weeks.

"When I was younger, churches were off limits," says Major Doug Browning, with the Doraville center.  "When I was a young pastor, you didn't worry too much about people breaking into your church.  But now, there's nothing sacred."

Browning believes the same people who broke in weeks ago are the ones responsible for this latest crime.

In the first burglary, they got off with computers.  This time it was expensive music equipment used during worship services.

The crooks not only stole from the center, they did extensive damage, as well.

"Trying to break in, they didn't know which glass to break out," Browning says, "so they broke out five of them."

The thefts affect up to 40 people who come to the center for help everyday.

(WSB Radio)  The man arrested for an attack on a woman in Buckhead has a lengthy criminal history.

Lavel McNutt has been in and out of jail since 1979 on charges ranging from being a peeping tom to aggravated assault.

One woman says she caught him looking at her in the Macy's dressing room at Lenox Square.

"He had a very familiar face," she says, "and another lady came out and said she saw him on all fours the entire time I was in there."

The woman, who did not wish to be identified, says she later learned that McNutt had been a senior manager at the Fox Sports Grille, in Atlanta.

McNutt was nabbed for last week's assault on the Buckhead woman outside of her condo.

(WSB Radio)  DeKalb County Police aren't looking for your typical robbery.  Police Spokeswoman Bettina Durrant tells WSB the two suspects held up the McDonald's on Turner Hill Road on Sunday, while in the drive-thru.

"Detectives believe they place an order and acted just as a normal customer would do," said Durrant.

But, once the two suspects got up to the window, it was a different story.

"According to detectives, two black males pulled up to the window, the passenger-side suspect brandished a weapon and demanded cash.  In turn, the McDonald's employee handed the men the cash register drawer through the drive-thru window," said Durrant.

The two drove off in a 90's model gray or silver Toyota Corolla.  The whole thing was caught on tape.  Police are hoping police will recognize the suspects and turn them in.

(WSB Radio) Cobb County commissioners vote no on a proposal that would've allowed 16 and 17 year olds to work in convenience stores that sell alcohol. 

Prior to the unanimous denial of the measure, Ben Harper with the Cobb Alcohol Task Force told the commissioners a change in the ordinance could lead to an increase in underage drinking.

Kyle Baker with the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores favored the change.  He told the commissioners there are no statistics to indicate that teens working in a business that sells alcohol leads to underage alcohol sales.  In fact, Baker said state law does allow minors to work in convenience stores, including behind the register.

A check of Cobb County records show 160 convenience stores are licensed to sell alcohol.

(WSB Radio) Two children are now orphans after their mother died in a Monday night house fire in Cobb County. 

An unattended candle appears to be the cause of the blaze that claimed the life of 32-year-old Sarah Goreman.  She was pulled from the basement of the home on Proctor Landing in Acworth and died later at Cartersville Medical Center. 

Goreman and her kids moved in with her mother after her husband died of cancer four years ago.

The grandmother and the children escaped serious injury by jumping from a first floor window.

(WSB Radio) A Forsyth County man is being held without bond in the DeKalb County jail, accused of killing a man nearly two weeks ago at a convenience store in Dunwoody. 

36-year-old Cayles Nathan Berry of Cumming is charged with murder in the March 12th shooting death of Allan Wolfenbarger outside a Texaco station on North Peachtree Road. 

Homicide detectives believe Berry shot Wolfenbarger after the two men argued over a drug deal.

WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama looked to steer the nation's economic attention to the bigger picture Tuesday night and away from recent days' micro-focus on outrage over executive bonuses, declaring signs of progress as his administration attacks the crisis ``on all fronts.''

``It's a strategy to create jobs, to help responsible homeowners, to restart lending and to grow our economy over the long term,'' Obama said in remarks released in advance of his prime-time news conference.

During a crowded week for the White House and furious debate that echoed from Main Street to Capitol Hill corridors, the president sought to take a step back. He summarized the steps taken so far by his administration to address the worst economic disaster in a quarter-century, framing them with optimism.

``We will recover from this recession,'' he said. ``But it will take time, it will take patience and it will take an understanding that when we all work together when each of us looks beyond our own short-term interests to the wider set of obligations we have to each other that's when we succeed.''

A day earlier, the Obama administration unveiled a plan to melt a vast credit freeze by helping banks shed bad loans. Under the plan, the government will finance the purchase by private investors of as much as $1 trillion of the $2 trillion in bad assets still held by the nation's banks, in the hopes of freeing banks to begin lending more freely and churn up economic activity.

The proposal led to a huge stock rally on Monday, though stocks slipped back somewhat on Tuesday as Wall Street digested all the information.

The administration also is to outline its proposal for a broad overhaul of financial regulations on Thursday when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifies on Capitol Hill. A key request: greater ability for the government to regulate and even take over the kind of complicated financial companies like American International Group whose collapse could threaten the entire system.

But anti-AIG ferocity threatens to undermine Obama's efforts to bail out the nation's deeply troubled financial sector, by possibly scaring investors away from the new program and by making it more difficult to wring more bailout money out of Congress.

Obama also is preparing for a European trip next week that includes a London summit on the global economic crisis, while, away from the economy, an announcement is expected by Friday on a revamped U.S. strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The president took particular care to defend the $3.6 trillion budget proposal that includes his ambitious, all-at-once agenda of increased health care coverage, higher education spending and a new ``cap-and-trade'' system on greenhouse gases emissions. The blueprint starts its journey through Congress this week, and is encountering opposition and demands for big spending reductions from fellow Democrats as well as Republicans.

``This budget is inseparable from this recovery because it is what lays the foundation for a secure and lasting prosperity,'' Obama argued.

On Wednesday, a day after taking questions in prime-time television viewing hours to maximize the unfiltered exposure of the president's message Obama is heading to Capitol Hill to lobby Senate Democrats.

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell emphasized Republican criticism of the president's proposed budget as an over-spending, over-taxing disaster. A Congressional Budget Office analysis released last Friday estimates Obama's budget would generate deficits totaling $9.3 trillion over the next decade

``If these plans are carried out, we run the risk of looking like a Third World country,'' said McConnell, R-Ky.

But Obama repeated his claim that his plans would cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term in 2011 ``even under the most pessimistic estimates.''

``At the end of the day, the best way to bring our deficit down in the long run is not with a budget that continues the very same policies that have led to a narrow prosperity and massive debt,'' the president said. ``It's with a budget that leads to broad economic growth by moving from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest.''

Obama's job approval rating is 63 percent, according to Gallup polling. That number has been relatively stable recently, down from the 68 percent when the president took office mostly on a loss of support among Republicans.

Obama has been in near-constant motion since he assumed the presidency just over two months ago. This week has assumed an especially feverish pitch.

In addition to all the announcements, a long interview with CBS' ``60 Minutes'' aired Sunday night. An opinion piece written by Obama also ran in 31 newspapers worldwide on Tuesday, a setup to next week's meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 largest world economies.

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

(WSB Radio) --  A Fulton County judge today refused to set bond for DeJuan Marshall during a jailhouse hearing today.

Marshall is accused of trying to entice a 12-year old girl as she was walking to school yesterday -- right in front of the school resource officer from Harper Archer Middle School.

The officer, on his way to work, was behind the suspect's blue Chrysler. After the Chrysler pulled away, the young girl told the school resource officer that Marshall tried to entice her into an indecent act.

(WSB Radio) A Gainesville man has admitted to running a Ponzi scheme that got clients to invest in construction equipment.

50 year old Wendell Spell started out legit, but took a wrong turn. Through his businesses, North Georgia Equipment Sales and Cornerstone International Investments, Spell persuaded investors to put money into the purchase of construction equipment to be re-sold at a profit. Assistant US Attorney Russell Phillips tells WSB's Bob Coxe: "Some of them he promised he would share the profits 50-50; others he told he would pay them 36 percent interest per year."

During the 3 and a half years he ran the scam, Spell fleeced more than 50 investors out of over $60 million. He could get 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

ATLANTA (AP) A key House panel has dealt a devastating blow to efforts to require adults in pickup trucks to buckle their seat belts.

The House Consumer Affairs subcommittee voted 4-3 against the measure. It was the first time in at least three years a House panel has considered the issue. Supporters immediately moved to reconsider the measure on another day.

Georgia is the only state in the nation that exempts adults in pickups from wearing seat belts. The stance has cost the state millions of dollars in federal highway funds.

The Senate approved the seat belt changes for the last three years. House lawmakers, worried it could negatively affect rural residents, have made sure the changes are killed each year.

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

(WSB Radio)  Clayton County is rehiring some of the teachers who it had told it was laying off.

100 of the 400 teachers who received notice have their jobs back and county officials say, if more vacancies open up, more teachers will be rehired.

Former School Superintendent John Thompson announced the layoffs earlier this month, blaming the cuts on budgetary troubles.

A few days later, Thompson himself was out of a job.

The new school superintendent, Valya Lee, named a committee to examine the layoffs.  They found dozens of special ed teachers had not been given the required performance review before getting the axe, so they are now back at work.

(WSB Radio)  Former MARTA Board Chairman Ed Wall is due in court today over his airport restroom bust two years ago.

Wall was arrested for having sex with another man in the airport men's room.

The man arrested with Wall, Michael Patrick of Indiana, has pleaded guilty to charges of public indecency.  He was fined, placed on probation and ordered to perform community service.

Wall has maintained his innocence since his arrest and demanded a jury trial.

He resigned as MARTA chair, but still serves on the MARTA board.

(WSB Radio)  Former Georgia Bulldog standout Odell Thurman is off the hook, for now.

Prosecutors in Sandusky, Ohio have dropped assault charges against the linebacker, saying they need more time to investigate.

Thurman was charged with slugging a man at a water park and breaking the man's jaw.

Thurman, who was with the Cincinnati Bengals, says he was home in Monticello at the time and the puncher had to have been someone else.

Erie County prosecutors dismissed the charges to further look into the incident.  They could recharge Thurman at a later date.

(WSB Radio)  The in-fighting on the Clayton County school board hasn't stopped.

The board has voted 6-3 to remove Michael King as a member, for violating the district's conflict of interest policy.

The county ethics commission determined King is an attorney and represented a teacher who sued the school district.

King has asked a judge to find the ethics commission's policy unconstitutional and cancel any action by the panel.

A hearing on the matter is set for April 14.

(WSB Radio)  Opening statements get underway today in the trial of a man accused of shooting and paralyzing a renowned primatologist in Cobb County.

Elliott Mitchell's co-defendant has already pleaded guilty and Kendall Bolden will testify at Mitchell's trial.

Police say the two were involved in a drug deal gone bad, a shot was fired.  The stray bullet went through a wall at a strip mall and struck Shelly Williams in the back.  The 53 year old scientist was left paralyzed from the waist down.

Williams was in the courtroom, in her wheelchair, when Bolden entered his guilty plea on Monday.  Afterwards, she spoke about what her life has been like since the 2005 shooting.

"Just the little things you take for granted that you do everyday are huge, huge tasks for me now," she says.

Williams is expected to testify at Mitchell's trial.

(WSB Radio)  A man is in custody in connection with the 2006 murder of a Roswell woman and is also suspected in other crimes.

Elijah Britton, of Forsyth County, is charged with the killing of Octavia Adkins.  The 30 year old mother of two was found strangled in an abandoned farmhouse in south Forsyth County.

"In my opinion, he's a stone cold killer," says Forsyth County Sheriff Ted Paxton.  "He's off the streets now and, certainly, we intend to keep him off the streets so he will not be able to victimize anybody else."

Paxton says Britton is also under investigation for another murder, this one of a Forsyth County man.  He's also under suspicion in the disappearance of a Clayton County woman.

(WSB Radio)  Gwinnett County police have arrested 14 people on charges of illegal gambling.

The undercover investigation began after receiving a tip in January about gambling at Pufferbelly's Saloon and Eatery, in Lawrenceville.

"When they (the officers) went to the location, they observed gaming machines that were illegal," Gwinnett County Police Corporal David Schiralli tells WSB.  "There was also live poker games that were going on."

Police seized $7000 in cash, a handgun and several video poker machines.

(WSB Radio)  DeKalb County is going ahead with plans to open a public high school in partnership with the United States Marine Corps.

The DeKalb Marine Corps Institute will have a principal, but will also have a commandant. 

The principal will handle the academic end of the school, while the commandant will take care of anything not related to academic instruction.

The school is the first of its kind in Georgia.

Critics say the school is a ploy to help the Marines recruit new members.  Supporters say it would be a good place to send a student who is capable of going to college but lacks discipline.

The DeKalb Marine Corps Institute will open in August.

(WSB)--Eating a serving of  fish each week could dramatically reduce your chance of advanced prostate cancer.

Omega-3 fatty acids appear to protect against advanced prostate cancer according to a new report in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The study performed a case control analysis of 466 men diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer and 378 healthy men.  Researchers looked at their diets  and found the men who ate more fish were cancer free. The men who didn't eat any ot little fish had prostate cancer.

John Witte,Ph.D., professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco says men who eat just a serving of fish a day could cut the risk of advanced prostate cancer by 50 percent.

Dr. Witte says the best fish to eat appears to be salmon, mackerel and blue fish.

(WSB Radio)  What was hailed as great news for the long-term unemployed may turn out to be a cruel joke for thousands of people in Georgia and a dozen other states. WSB has learned they may not get the jobless benefits promised under President Obama's stimulus program.

In Georgia and twelve other states, along with the District of Columbia... a lot of people won't get the 20-week extended benefits promised under President Obama's stimulus plan.

"For me not to get that money that I need is just not fair," one unemployed landscape architect tells WSB.

"It's shocking. Just shocking and irresponsible," says a young mother of a 9-month old who's been out of work for months.

Georgia's legislature is scrambling to rewrite labor laws that stand in the way of the 20-week benefits extension offered under the stimulus plan... but it's a race against time. With only five days left in the legislative session... what happens will affect 87-thousand people now on unemployment, who stand to receive $315 million under the extended benefits program.

The House has unanimously passed a bill that would allow the benefits. But Elizabeth Appley, an attorney trying to push the changes through the Legislature, Senate passage is no sure thing. "I'm concerned about a slow-down in the Senate," she tells WSB.

There are only five days left in the current legislative session.

(WSB Radio) About 100 Dekalb County residents gathered at a church Monday night to learn more about last week's attack on a female jogger along Briarcliff Road. 

During the meeting, Dekalb Police Sgt. Dan Fonseca told the group of concerned citizens that the department is doing everything it can to identify a suspect and arrest the man who stabbed Kimellen Tunkle.

Tunkle suffered a punctured lung and other injuries when she was attacked last Tuesday morning by a masked man with a knife.  She was released from Atlanta Medical Center on Monday afternoon, but denied multiple media requests for interviews.

Sgt. Fonseca says investigators have not determined a motive for the attack, but detectives have questioned several homeless men who frequenbt the area near the scene of the crime.

(WSB Radio) Cobb County fire officials have identified the victim of a house fire in Acworth.   

Firefighters found the body of 32 year old Sarah Goreman at about 11:30 Monday night in the basement of the home on Proctor Landing, off of Lake Acworth Drive. 

Officials say Goreman lived in the home with her mother and her two children.  They all escaped unharmed.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

NEW YORK (AP) New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Monday that 15 employees who received some of the largest bonuses from American International Group Inc. have agreed to return the more than $30 million worth of payments in full.

In total, AIG employees have agreed to return about $50 million of the $165 million in bonuses awarded earlier this month by the troubled insurer, Cuomo's office said.

Cuomo said he still hopes that more AIG employees will return their bonuses. At most, Cuomo said his office could hope to recoup $80 million of the bonuses roughly the amount paid out to American employees.

``I applaud the employees who are returning the bonuses,'' Cuomo said during a conference call with reporters. ``I think they are being responsive to the American people.''

Cuomo said 9 of the 10 people receiving the largest awards have agreed to return their bonus. Additionally, 15 of the top 20 bonus recipients have consented to returning their money. Cuomo said some have refused to return the money, while others are still considering it.

``We are deeply gratified that a vast majority of Financial Products' senior leadership have expressed a willingness to forsake their recent retention payments,'' wrote spokeswoman Christina Pretto in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. She added that the company is continuing to review the responses of the other employees.

AIG has come under heavy criticism because the bonuses were given to employees after the company received $170 billion in government bailout money. AIG Chief Executive Edward Liddy told Congress last week that some of the employees were willing to give the money back. But Liddy has expressed concern that the company may not be able to attract and retain talented employees if they believe their compensation is subject to adjustment by the Treasury.

Pretto said Monday that a ``handful'' of senior-level executives have resigned from the financial products division, and that there will likely be more resignations to come.

``We do believe that at this point it's all manageable,'' she said.

Cuomo said he doesn't plan to release the names of the employees who have agreed to return the bonuses, and said there is no implied threat that if an employee doesn't consent to returning the bonus that their name will be released. Cuomo had sought the names of the employees who received bonuses from Liddy through a subpoena.

He said his office is continuing to assess the security of the employees.

About 400 employees and future employees in AIG's financial products division received bonuses. Documents provided by AIG to the Treasury Department said the awards ranged from $1,000 to nearly $6.5 million. Seven employees were to receive more than $3 million. Last week Cuomo said AIG paid bonuses of $1 million or more to 73 employees, including 11 who no longer work there.

Separately, Connecticut's consumer protection division has subpoenaed AIG, demanding that the contracts and names of employees who received the bonuses be provided by March 27. Gov. M. Jodi Rell has said she wants the division to determine whether the bonuses can be voided under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.

AIG's financial products division is headquartered in Wilton, Conn.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says his office also demanded the bonus recipients' names and the amounts.

Last week, the House passed a plan to slap a punitive, 90 percent tax on bonuses paid to AIG employees whose family income surpasses $250,000. Not all of the AIG employees earned more than the income threshold specified by the House bill.

But President Obama has signaled opposition to the House's tax bill on constitutional grounds.

The Senate is soon expected to take up its own plan on the tax.

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

(WSB Radio) A Powder Springs man has been arrested after police say he tried to lure a metro Atlanta middle school student into his car.

Atlanta Police Sgt. Lisa Keyes tells WSB 33-year-old Dejuan Marshall was arrested after a resource officer pulled up behind him as he tried to pick up a Harper Archer Middle School student walking to school Monday morning.

"The officer noticed that the young lady that he (suspect) was talking to was a student at the school where he worked.  He spoke with the student and asked her what happened.  She she told him that the male who was in the vehicle tried to get her in the car.  He was telling her to get in that he'd give her a ride to school," said Keyes.

The officer put the girl in his car and then followed the suspect, who was later arrested and charged with enticing a child.

Keyes says another person was arrested recently for a similar incident in Zone 3.

"We did have an incident not long ago, where we did someone into custody for approaching individuals, school-aged children, probably about two or three weeks ago," said Keyes.

School System Spokesman Joe Manguno tells WSB the school sent letters home to parents, alerting them of the situation.

"Parents, if your child walks to school, please talk with him, her, about not talking to strangers along the way," said MangATuno.

3/23/09

WASHINGTON (AP) The Obama administration aimed squarely at the crisis clogging the nation's credit system Monday with a plan to take over up to $1 trillion in sour mortgage securities with the help of private investors. For once, Wall Street cheered.

The announcement filled in crucial blanks in the administration's financial rescue package and formed what President Barack Obama called ``one more critical element in our recovery.''

The coordinated effort by the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. relies on a mix of government and private money mostly from institutional investors such as hedge funds to help banks rid their balance sheets of real-estate related securities that are now extremely difficult to value.

The goal, said Obama, is to get banks lending again, so ``families can get basic consumer loans, auto loans, student loans, (and so) that small businesses are able to finance themselves, and we can start getting this economy moving again.''

It was a huge gambit and one that came like a tonic to Wall Street, which had panned an earlier outline of the program that lacked detail.

Stocks soared, the Dow Jones industrial average shooting up more than 400 points, thanks to the bank-assets plan and a report showing an unexpected jump in home sales.

The plan is designed to help fix a value on the damaged mortgage loans and other toxic securities.

If the value of the securities goes up, the private investors and taxpayers would share in the gains. If the values go down, the government and private investors would incur losses.

``This will help banks clean up their balance sheets and make it easier for them to raise capital,'' Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told reporters.

The plan will take $75 billion to $100 billion from the government's existing $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. The government will pair this with private investments and loans from the FDIC and the Fed to generate $500 billion in purchasing power.

Geithner said purchases eventually could grow to $1 trillion roughly half of the estimated $2 trillion of toxic assets on bank books now.

On the hot seat, Geithner has a lot personally tied to the success of the new program. His performance in the Cabinet, including his slowness in learning about multimillion dollar executive bonuses paid by insurance giant AIG after taking bailout money, has been severely criticized by some in Congress.

Geithner testifies on Tuesday before the House Financial Services Committee.

Under a typical transaction, for every $100 in soured mortgages being purchased from banks, the private sector would put up $7 and that would be matched by $7 from the government. The remaining $86 would be covered by a government loans.

The plan was introduced ahead of a summit next week in London of 20 major and developing economies struggling with the global recession.

Obama is trying to get other wealthy countries to do more to stimulate their economies with government spending, as the United States has done. However, other countries, particularly ones in Europe, are resisting U.S. calls for more stimulus and would prefer to see more internationally coordinated bank regulation.

The administration was expected to outline its plan for financial regulation overhaul later this week.

Geithner said taxpayers still could lose money on the deal but there was no fixing the system without risk.

Other options, such as having the government purchase the securities outright or letting them languish on bank balance sheets, would pose even greater vulnerabilities, he said, and it was important to find the right blend of risk versus reward.

``I am very confident this scheme dominates all the alternatives for trying to find that balance,'' he said.

The sentiment was echoed by congressional Democrats, who said risk seemed inevitable with any plan big enough to work.

But House Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia called Obama's plan a ``shell game'' that hid the true cost.

He said he hoped the administration would consider instead an earlier Republican proposal to set up a government-sponsored insurance program for mortgage-related securities.

The administration plan ``seems to offer little incentive for private investors to participate unless the subsidy is made so rich that it comes at the expense of the taxpayer,'' Cantor said in a statement.

The new program marks a return by the government to acquiring the hard-to-price toxic securities. Henry Paulson, who was treasury secretary in the final days of the Bush administration, abandoned plans to purchase these securities, largely because they were impossible to price.

The plan builds on earlier programs to pump money into banks, help some homeowners repay their mortgages and stimulate college, small business and other forms of lending.

``There's still great fragility in the financial systems, but we think that we are moving in the right direction,'' Obama said after meeting Geithner and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Obama said the plan will allow taxpayers to ``share in the upside as well as the downside.''

Treasury officials had no firm forecast on when the government would begin making the asset purchases although market expectations were that the process could begin within weeks.

The Obama administration's plan to finance purchases of as much as $1 trillion in toxic assets from banks will include programs supported by the Treasury Department's bailout fund, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Here is a look at how they will operate.

Public-Private Investment Program: The umbrella organization that will support the effort to entice private investors to join with the government to purchase troubled assets. The administration plans to commit $75 billion to $100 billion from the government's $700 billion bailout program to support $500 billion in troubled asset purchases initially with the potential to expand to $1 trillion over time.

Troubled Mortgage Loans: The FDIC, the agency that insures deposits at the nation's banks, would operate auctions of troubled mortgage loans and then provide financing to the winning bidders. Under an example provided by the administration, the FDIC loan would cover 86 percent of the purchase price of the troubled mortgages with the Treasury's bailout fund contributing 7 percent and the winning private investor bidder contributing the remaining 7 percent.

Troubled Asset-Backed Securities: The Treasury and the Federal Reserve announced they were expanding the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF, beyond its goal of boosting consumer debt in the area of credit cards, auto loans and student loans. The facility, which has the capacity of supporting $1 trillion in loans, will be expanded to cover securities backed by residential and commercial real estate and other types of asset-backed mortgages. Five asset managers will be chosen by Treasury to compete for purchases of troubled asset-backed securities with financial backing provided by Treasury and the TALF.

ATLANTA (AP) A ruling by Georgia's top court has revived a lawsuit filed by the city of Atlanta claiming it has been bilked out of ``untold'' millions in unpaid taxes by online travel companies.

The Georgia Supreme Court's 5-2 decision Monday throws out a decision by an appeals court to dismiss the lawsuit.

It also sends the case back with instructions that a lower court must decide specifically whether the companies are subject to Atlanta's hotel occupancy tax.

Atlanta claims in its lawsuit that Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia and 14 other online travel companies owe the city millions in unpaid taxes.

It's among a growing number filed by officials who contend that city coffers have been shortchanged by the online travel sites. Similar challenges have been filed in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago and Branson, Mo.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Plans to raise the sales tax to pay for transportation projects in Georgia have hit a speed bump.

With each chamber in the Legislature pushing a competing proposal, the state Senate on Monday dug in its heels, pushing their version of the funding bill.

The Senate plan would allow counties to band together to form regional alliances. Voters in those regions would have to approve a one-cent sales tax hike to pay for road, bridge and transit projects,

The House plan would ask voters statewide to approve the penny increase for projects around Georgia.

The Senate voted on Monday on a pair of bills that would amend the House plan and substitute it with their own.

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

(WSB Radio)  It may cost more to buy school lunch in Fulton County this fall.

The county school board is considering raising the lunch fee to two dollars in elementary school and $2.25 for middle and high schoolers.

A la carte items may cost more, as well.

It would be the first price increase in the school system since 2003. 

School board members say food prices have increase 104%, necessitating the price hike.

(WSB Radio)  The Georgia Department of Transportation kicks off a series of public meetings this week centering on whether toll booths should be added to the I-85 HOV lanes in Gwinnett County.

"We will still keep the high occupancy component," the DOT's Teri Pope tells WSB.  She says that means free HOV traffic as usual.  But, in addition, "if you're by yourself and you'd like to get into that lane, you can pay and choose to ride in that free flow lane."

Pope says the meetings will help the DOT determine how people might use the new lanes.

"When they would consider paying the price to get into the toll lanes," she says, "or whether they would continue to use it as an HOV lane."

Pope says that, if the new lanes win approval, they could be up and operating by 2011.

The first of five meetings is set for Thursday at 5 in the afternoon in the Gwinnett Civic Center. 

People can find the meeting nearest them on the Georgia DOT website.

(WSB Radio)  Atlanta police are hunting for the driver of a Mercedes that was involved in a hit and run that killed a pedestrian.

47 year old Joyce Bailey, of Cobb County, was crossing Boulevard at a crosswalk on Saturday morning when she was struck and killed.

Police say the driver struck Bailey then kept driving, dragging her several yards into a BP station.

Family members of the victim held a vigil for Bailey Sunday night and are asking the driver to come forward and take responsibility for the incident.

(WSB Radio) The international search is over and a Canton man will be in court this afternoon.

41 year old Rodney Burton had been on the run since the death of his wife in January.  Police say 39 year old Kimberly Burton was beaten to death in the couple's home.

Burton fled the country following the murder and had been living in Cancun when authorities tracked him down.  After intense negotiations between his attorney and the Mexican government, Burton boarded a plane on Saturday, bound for Atlanta.  Upon disembarking the aircraft at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, Burton was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals, the Canton police and the Cherokee County sheriff's department.

He faces charges that include murder and 2 counts of aggravated assault in the death of his wife.

Kimberly Burton had two sons from a previous marriage.

WASHINGTON (AP) The Obama administration's latest attempt to tackle the banking crisis and get loans flowing to families and businesses will create a new government entity, the Public-Private Investment Program, to help purchase as much as $1 trillion in toxic assets on banks' books.

The new effort, to be unveiled Monday, will be followed the next day with release of the administration's broad framework for overhauling the financial system to ensure that the current crisis the worst in seven decades is not repeated.

A key part of that regulatory framework will give the government new resolution authority to take over troubled institutions that would pose a threat to the entire financial system if they failed.

Administration officials believe this new power will save taxpayers money and avoid the type of controversy that erupted last week when insurance giant American International Group paid employees of its troubled financial products unit $165 million in bonuses even though the company had received more than $170 billion in support from the federal government.

Under the new powers being sought by the administration, the treasury secretary could only seize a firm with the agreement of the president and the Federal Reserve.

Once in the equivalent of a conservatorship, the treasury secretary would have the power to limit payments to creditors and to break contracts governing executive compensation, a power that was lacking in the AIG case.

The plan on toxic assets will use the resources of the $700 billion bank bailout fund, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The initiative will seek to entice private investors, including big hedge funds, to participate by offering billions of dollars in low-interest loans to finance the purchases. The government will share the risks if the assets fall further in price.

When Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner released the initial outlines of the administration's overhaul of the bank rescue program on Feb. 10, the markets took a nosedive. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged by 380 points as investors expressed disappointment about a lack of details.

Christina Romer, head of the Council of Economic Advisers, said Sunday that it's important for investors to know that the administration is bringing a full array of programs to confront the problem.

``I don't think Wall Street is expecting the silver bullet,'' she said on CNN's ``State of the Union.'' ``This is one more piece. It's a crucial piece to get these toxic assets off, but it is just part of it and there will be more to come.''

But private economists said investors may still have doubts about whether the government has adequate resources to properly fund the plan and whether private investors will be attracted to participate, especially after last week's uproar concerning the AIG bonuses, which has added to the anti-Wall Street feelings in the country.

Romer said the new toxic asset program would utilize around $100 billion from the $700 billion bailout fund, leaving the fund close to being tapped out.

Mark Zandi, an economist at Moody's Economy.com, estimated that the government will need an additional $400 billion to adequately deal with the toxic asset problem, seen by many analysts as key to finally resolving the banking crisis.

Administration officials, who briefed reporters late Sunday night, said no decision had been made on asking Congress for more money at the present time.

These officials, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because the plan had not yet been released, said the goal was to prove that the asset purchase program could achieve success with the resources available to it.

In its budget request to Congress last month, the administration included a placeholder for an additional $750 billion in bailout funds, but many lawmakers said there was little chance more money will be approved, given the current political environment.

Zandi said the administration has no choice but to rely heavily on government resources because of the urgency of getting soured real estate loans and troubled asset-backed securities off the books of banks so that they can resume more normal lending to consumers and businesses.

``This is a start and we will see how far it goes, but I believe they will have to go back to Congress for more money,'' he said.

The Public-Private Investment Program that will be created was viewed as performing the same functions selling bonds to finance purchases of bad assets as a similar organization did for the Resolution Trust Corp., which was created to dispose of bad real estate assets in the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s.

According to administration and industry officials, the toxic asset program will have three major parts:

A public-private partnership to back private investors' purchases of bad assets, with government support coming from the $700 billion bailout fund. The government would match private investors dollar for dollar and share any profits equally.

Expansion of a recently launched Fed program that provides loans for investors to buy securities backed by consumer debt as a way to increase the availability of auto loans, student loans and credit card debt. Under Geithner's plan for the toxic assets, that $1 trillion program would be expanded to support purchases of toxic assets.

Use of the FDIC, which insures bank deposits, to support purchases of toxic assets, tapping into this agency's expertise in closing down failed banks and disposing of bad assets.

Some industry officials said hedge funds and other big investors are likely to be more leery of accepting the government's enticements to purchase these assets, fearing tighter government restraints in such areas as executive compensation.

Administration officials, however, insisted Sunday that a distinction needed to be made between companies getting heavy support from the bailout programs and investors who are being asked to help dispose of troubled assets.

Romer said the partnership with the private sector will help ensure that the government doesn't overpay for the toxic assets that it will be purchasing.

``This isn't just another handout to banks,'' she said on CNN. ``We very much have the taxpayers' interest in mind.''

The administration's revamped program for toxic assets is the latest in a string of banking initiatives which have also included efforts to deal with mortgage foreclosures, boost lending to small businesses and unfreeze the market for many types of consumer loans.

In addition, the nation's 19 biggest banks are undergoing intensive examinations by regulators that are due to be completed by the end of April to determine whether they have sufficient capital reserves to withstand an even more severe recession. Those that do not will be able to get more support from the government.

The overhaul of financial regulation will be revealed by Geithner in testimony he is scheduled to give Tuesday and Thursday before the House Financial Services Committee.

In addition to the expanded authority to seize big institutions that pose a risk to the entire system, the administration is also expected to offer more general proposals on limiting excesses seen in executive compensation in recent years, where the rewards prodded extreme risk-taking.

The regulatory plan is also expected to include a major change that gives the Federal Reserve more powers to oversee systemic risks to the entire financial system.

The administration is working to unveil its proposed regulatory changes in advance of a meeting of the Group of 20 economic leaders, which Obama will attend on April 2 in London. European nations have complained that lax financial regulations in the United States set the stage for the current financial crisis.

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

Burton ended the three month search Saturday by turning himself in Saturday to Cancun authorities at 1 p.m. EST. Burton was back in Atlanta by 4:30 p.m. when Canton Police and the Cherokee County sheriffs office took him into custody at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.

He is charged with murdering his wife Kim Burton. Her body was found on Jan. 19 in the couple's Canton home, police said. An autopsy showed she died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Police suspected Burton may have been involved when he disappeared after the murder.

Investigators said the husband had been in Cancun and Cozumel since the day after the murder.

He is charged with murder and two counts of aggravated assault. No word on his first court date.

The body of 67-year-old John Harvey Bedford III  was found at his home on Post Oak Tritt Road in Marietta Friday evening.

Officer Nathan McCreary tells WSB murder charges have been filed against 43-year-old Randall Keith Fisher. He was last seen in the victim's car, a gold/ beige 2008 Honda Civic with Georgia tag number AAC5870.

So far police are not releasing the cause of death or a motive in the case.

The remaining 10,000 spots will be randomly selected from applications in this weekend's Sunday edition of the AJC.

The paper applications along with the $33 application fee must be postmarked by March 31st.  Those whose checks are cashed will know their spots are secured.

Earlier this month, some 45-thousand spots were filled after the first-ever online application process for the July 4th race.

Mark Ward, of Tyrone, was in Dallas on business when he decided to go on a second run for the day.  As he ran along the Trinity River he noticed a boy and two woman struggling in the water.

"All of them were struggling, but they were struggling to keep this boy above water," he tells WSB's Sandra Parrish.

Ward jumped in and pulled the boy, ranging in age from 5 to 7-years-old, to the shore and the child's mother and another woman were also able to get out.

He says the boy had apparently slipped and fell into the water and the two women were having trouble saving him.

Ward says he doesn't know what prompted him to take that second run that day, but he's glad he did.

"I just happened to be at the right place at the right time," he says.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) The Atlanta Thrashers had the Lightning right where they wanted them Saturday night on Florida ice.

Slava Kozlov scored the only shootout goal in Atlanta's 4-3 victory over Tampa Bay. The Thrashers have won nine of the last 11 games in the series, including four of the last five in Tampa.

Kozlov, Ilya Kovalchuk and Todd White each had a goal and an assist in regulation for the Thrashers, who have won seven of their last nine games in a stretch that began with a franchise-record six victories in a row.

Tampa Bay, meanwhile, has lost six consecutive home games and nine of its last 10. The Lightning are 3-10 in shootouts.

``We're not getting balanced scoring right now, so that's kind of tough on the team,'' Tampa Bay interim coach Rick Tocchet said. ``You have to rely on basically one line all the time.''

Goalie Johan Hedberg improved Atlanta's shootout mark to 6-1, stopping attempts by Steven Stamkos, Vinny Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. At the other end, Karri Ramo shut down Bryan Little before Kozlov netted the winner.

``They know what I can do by now, so they got some advice from the coaches,'' Kozlov said of his shootout goal. ``But I just had to read the goalie and there's going to be something open, and I found the five hole.''

Kozlov has 22 goals and 44 assists this season.

``We're getting him to shoot more, thank goodness, and you can see the results of that,'' coach John Anderson said. ``The hardest thing about him to defend is that he never does the same thing twice.''

Kozlov opened the scoring 6:12 into the game. White made it 2-0 during a two-man advantage late in the first period, when the Thrashers took 19 shots.

White has at least a point in nine straight games. His career-high 66 points include three goals and two assists in five games against Tampa Bay.

Early in the second period, Stamkos beat Hedberg twice in 82 seconds to pull the Lightning even. The top overall pick in the 2008 draft has eight goals and five assists in his last 12 games.

St. Louis helped set up the first Stamkos goal, extending his point streak to eight games. Tampa Bay's leading scorer has five goals and six assists in that span.

Kovalchuk put the Thrashers ahead 3-2 on a power play at 12:52 of the second, but Vinny Prospal tied it less than three minutes later.

Ramo finished with 33 saves. Hedberg had 26. Notes: Kozlov has 38 points on the power play, second to NHL leader Alex Ovechkin. ... St. Louis has four goals and three assists against Atlanta this season. ... The Lightning scratched D Marek Malik and D Cory Murphy because of foot injuries. ... Thrashers C Jim Slater and D Boris Valabik were sidelined with shoulder problems. ... Atlanta has allowed 15 goals in its last three games.

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

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) Tom Glavine knows the end of his career is in sight and he wants to leave on his own terms.

The Atlanta Braves lefty pitched three pain-free innings against his former team in his first start this spring, allowing two hits Saturday in a 12-1 win over the New York Mets.

Glavine had thrown a simulated game Monday and said he felt as though he'd be ready to join the rotation in about a month.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner has 305 wins, but he started a career-low 13 games last year, going 2-4 before his season was cut short due to elbow surgery. Glavine, who will turn 43 on Wednesday, contemplated retirement but said he wasn't quite finished.

``Last year was not a lot of fun,'' Glavine said. ``I enjoy the nervousness I get when I get ready to make a start. Last year I was nervous because I was wondering how I would get through it. I enjoy doing this and knowing I can get guys out. I didn't feel that way last year.''

Braves manager Bobby Cox said he couldn't be more pleased.

``He will get even stronger,'' Cox said. ``It doesn't matter how hard he throws because he isn't about that. He's right on schedule.''

Glavine said he was comfortable on the mound, something he didn't feel last year despite being in professional baseball since 1984.

``I just want to be comfortable,'' Glavine said. ``I checked the radar, I was about 80, 81 (mph). If I can get it to 85 I know I will be ready. Coming back from surgery I need to just get comfortable. I have pitched something like 4,000 innings and I just needed some extra work. I know what I am doing out there.''

Mets starter John Maine is also coming off an operation. His season ended last August because of a shoulder injury and he finished 10-8 with a 4.18 ERA. He had surgery Sept. 30 to shave a bone spur in his right shoulder.

Against the Braves, Maine allowed five runs and six hits in four innings but said he felt no pain.

``I am a work in progress,'' Maine said. ``I am still working on a lot of things but I feel like I just want to put up some zeros. It's just not happening. I am still a little bit out of sync. I am just trying so hard to come back.''

The Braves jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Brandon Jones scored on a sacrifice fly. They scored four more in the third, highlighted by a three-run double from Jeff Francoeur.

Jones and Francoeur each had two hits for the Braves, and Josh Anderson added a pinch-hit homer.

Bobby Kielty had three hits for the Mets.
Notes: The Braves' bullpen allowed five hits and a run in six innings. Cox said he doesn't mind if he has some tough decisions to make at the end of camp. ``I have always said no matter how much pitching you have, go get some more,'' Cox said. Jorge Campillo was the only reliever to allow a run, but Cox said he and Peter Moylan stood out among the candidates for one of the final bullpen jobs. ... The Braves have not lost consecutive games all spring. ... Jo-Jo Reyes, who started 22 games for the Braves last year, impressed Cox with his performance during Saturday's minor league game against Washington with seven strikeouts in five innings. ... Jair Jurrjens will start against Mets ace Johan Santana on Sunday in Port St. Lucie.

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

BLAKELY, Ga. (AP) An estimated 2,000 people poured into Blakely's court square to boost the image of the peanut.

It was the first Peanut Proud Expo on Saturday, a celebration at a time when the peanut industry has been rocked by a salmonella outbreak. Blakely is home to the Peanut Corp. of America plant that was linked to the national salmonella outbreak that sickened nearly 700 people and may have been responsible for nine deaths.

Hilary Halford, president of the Blakely-Early County Chamber of Commerce, estimated that 2,000 people attended Saturday's celebration.

She said they started with 1,000 little yellow goodie bags and that they had given all of them away in the first hour.

U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop recounted for the crowd the importance of the peanut industry in the south.

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

CLEVELAND (AP) Any ideas the Atlanta Hawks had of extending their seven-game winning streak ended quickly Saturday.

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled to a 24-point lead early in the second period in winning their eighth straight game, 102-96 over the Hawks.

``That's what we wanted to do,'' said James, who scored 22 points as the Cavaliers upped their home record to 32-1. ``We wanted to first protect home court like we've been able to do. We had a lot of energy.''

Too much energy for the Hawks, who were hoping to prove a point against the team with the best record in the NBA. Instead, it turned into an afternoon of frustration for Atlanta, which found itself behind 40-16 with 8:56 left in the second quarter.

Hawks coach Mike Woodson picked up technical fouls in the second and third periods and was ejected by official Joe Forte with 6:30 left in the third period. Mike Bibby and Josh Smith were also hit with technicals in the third period.

Woodson didn't speak with reporters after the game, instead sending assistant coach Larry Drew to talk to the media.

Bibby, who was 6-for-15 from the field, said he was going to appeal the automatic fine that goes with being assessed a technical foul. Meanwhile, center Al Horford said the Hawks needed to be quiet.

``We shouldn't even be talking to the refs,'' Horford said. ``We have to go out there and play. The Cavs are the best team in the league, so we need to go out and play. Until guys understand that, we're going to be going through this.''

Mo Williams led the Cavaliers (56-13) with 24 points. He was 8-for-14 from the field, including 3-for-4 on 3-pointers, and made all five of his foul shots.

James played 40 minutes, hitting 9-for-21 from the field to go along with seven rebounds and five assists.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas passed the 10,000-career point mark in the first period when he hit two foul shots. James, Brad Daugherty and Austin Carr are the only other players in franchise history to reach 10,000 points in their careers.

The 7-foot-3 Ilgauskas missed the entire 1996-97 and 1999-2000 seasons and played in only 24 games in 2000-01 because of injuries to his feet.

``Obviously, if I had not missed so many years because of injuries, I would have had more points,'' said Ilgauskas. ``I consider myself lucky to still be playing basketball so I'll take this one and not ask for too much.''

Ilgauskas scored 16 points Saturday and was given a standing ovation by the crowd when it was announced he had reached the milestone.

All of Atlanta's wins during its streak came at home, but the Hawks found circumstances much more difficult at Quicken Loans Arena. The Hawks led briefly early in the game, but the Cavaliers went on a 12-0 run late in the first quarter to build a 23-9 lead. The margin ballooned to 40-16 early in the second quarter.

``They jumped on us early,'' said Bibby, who scored 14 points. ``We weren't hitting our shots and they were just running the ball down our throat. They were doing what they wanted with us. They had a lot of layups at the beginning. We got down early and that's what killed us.''

After trailing 100-84 with 3:06 to play, Atlanta cut the margin to 102-96 with 39.4 seconds left against the Cavaliers' reserves, but the Hawks missed two 3-point attempts as the clock ran out.

Joe Johnson led Atlanta with 24 points, while Flip Murray added 22. Maurice Evans scored 15.

The Hawks have lost three straight road games and are 14-22 away from home.
Notes: After just completing a seven-game homestand, the Hawks return home for four more home games. ... Atlanta plays only five times on the road in March. ... Cavs F Anderson Varejao was questionable after banging his right leg into Portland's Greg Oden on Thursday, but had six points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes. ... Cleveland is 3-1 against Atlanta this season. The Hawks snapped the Cavaliers' 11-game winning streak with a 97-92 victory at Atlanta on Dec. 13. ... Cleveland plays at New Jersey on Sunday night.

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

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (AP) A Peace Corps volunteer from Cumming who was slain in West Africa has been remembered at a special service by her family and friends.

They gathered Saturday at the Birmingham United Methodist Church in Alpharetta to celebrate the life of 24-year-old Kate Puzey who taught English to locals in Africa.

Puzey's body was discovered less than two weeks ago outside her home in the West African nation of Benin. Officials suspect she may have been murdered.

Her family doesn't believe politics played a role. They said they don't want their daughter's death to put a negative spotlight on West Africa.

ATLANTA (AP) Three years after adopting one of the nation's stiffest stances on sex offenders, Georgia lawmakers are rethinking some of the crackdown's toughest provisions.

After complaints from civil rights groups and round after round of costly court challenges, powerful Georgia lawmakers are looking to soften some of the very parts of the law that incited the greatest debate.

Changes to the 2006 law could allow some offenders to petition the legal system to get off the registry, allow others to volunteer at churches and clear the way for disabled and elderly offenders to be exempt of the strict residency requirements.

The revisions, which already have cleared the Senate, are aimed at addressing some of the most vocal critics who challenged the rules in court. They have won the support of sheriff's groups, defense attorneys and some of the sex offenders who so vocally criticized them.

``I think they start to create a rational law that can move in the direction of creating public safety,'' said Kelly Piercy, who was convicted of child pornography charges in 1999. ``They are actually bringing this legislation back to its noble intent.''

But the most stirring of changes still could face a backlash from the House lawmakers who supported the measure three years ago as a way to protect Georgia's children from the state's 16,000 sex offenders.

``I've said since the day we passed the bill that we knew that this was a pretty big change and there were some things we needed to revisit, but I'm not on board with all the changes,'' said House Majority Leader Jerry Keen, the law's sponsor.

He wouldn't elaborate on what parts of the proposal concerned him, but he did say he would fight any changes that could cripple the law.

``I'm for anything that makes it easier to administer the rules, but I'm not in favor of anything that could weaken the overall purpose of the law.''

The law, which supporters say is among the nation's toughest, was passed in 2006 at the urging of Republican leaders who vowed it would prevent the state from becoming a ``safe haven'' for Georgia's sex offenders.

Shortly after it took effect, civil rights groups challenged a provision that banned offenders from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of just about anywhere children gather. They claimed it rendered vast areas of Georgia off-limits to offenders.

They also have targeted other portions of the law, with at least eight challenges that have been resolved or are pending in state and federal court.

State Sen. Seth Harp, R-Midland, said his proposal aims to address those concerns.

``I want it every bit as harsh on the dangerous predators, but I don't want it so broad as to treat some people who aren't sexual predators like they are,'' Harp said.

One change would allow ``low risk offenders,'' such as those convicted of statutory rape, to petition the courts to get off the registry after completing their sentence. The law has been criticized by judges for treating the most egregious offenders, such as child molesters, the same as those convicted for having consensual sex with an underage partner.

It also would clear the way for most sex offenders to volunteer in churches. Sex offenders who are elderly and disabled could ask the courts to be released from the residency requirements under the proposal. Both those issues are at the center of federal lawsuits.

``While I'm not sympathetic to these people, on the other side I can see the problems of rolling people on their death beds out into the street,'' Harp said.

And it would allow the homeless to identify the place they sleep using a street address or other description after the Georgia Supreme Court ruled last year the law fails to tell homeless offenders how they can comply.

Another section would clarify parts of the measure that have put people convicted of kidnapping or falsely imprisoning a minor during other crimes on the sex offender registry. Instead, they would only be put on the registry if their crimes involved a sex offense.

A key portion also would address privacy advocates concerned about a requirement that sex offenders hand over their Internet passwords. Under the proposal, offenders would keep their passwords but still hand over their e-mail addresses and user names.

The proposal has earned the support of sheriff's groups, who say is crucial to help their deputies enforce the existing laws.

``By and large it addresses a lot of these pending cases and answers some of the concerns that were unanswered,'' said Terry Norris, executive vice president of the Georgia Sheriff's Association. ``It's a great step forward.''

Democrats couldn't help but remind GOP leaders they raised concerns about the legality of the law earlier. State Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, D-Decatur, said it was ``unfortunate'' that taxpayer dollars were spent to defend flawed law.

To Piercy, who was convicted of child pornography charges in 1999, the proposal would help blunt the law's unintended consequences.

``I don't argue with the intent of this legislation at all,'' said Piercy. ``I want children and communities and families to be safe. What this bill does is begin to recognize what the true danger is and narrow the brush with which they paint sex offenders.''

DULUTH, Ga. (AP) Georgia had the home fans and another advantage: Arizona State was missing its point guard.

The equalizer was Arizona State's defense.

Arizona State held Georgia to 20 first-half points to beat the Lady Bulldogs 58-47 in the NCAA tournament's opening round Saturday.

The sixth-seeded Sun Devils entered the tourney with a two-game losing streak after point guard Dymond Simon tore a ligament in her left knee. Arizona State won easily, despite fill-in starter Kate Engelbrecht scoring only three points with no assists and two turnovers.

Arizona State (24-8) led 27-20 at halftime and stretched the lead to 16 at 44-28. Christy Marshall scored for No. 11 seed Georgia (18-14) with 4:45 remaining to cut the lead to 48-41. Kayli Murphy, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds, scored Arizona State's next three baskets to push the lead back to double digits.

Lauren Lacey and Becca Tobin also had 12 points each for Arizona State.

Georgia, which struggled to find shots, had 19 turnovers, made only 40 percent of its shots from the field and had no scorer in double figures.

Angel Robinson, Angela Puleo and Porsha Phillips each had 9 points for Georgia, playing in its 15th straight NCAA tournament.

The Lady Bulldogs, playing only an hour from their campus, had the support of the majority of the 2,027 fans, but that advantage didn't help Georgia find good shots against the Sun Devils' tough defense.

The Sun Devils led the Pac-10 by allowing 53 points per game while setting the conference record for fewest points allowed in a game in a 75-23 win over UC Irvine.

Only a late scoring flurry by Ashley Houts saved Georgia from setting a season low for points in the first half.

Houts had eight points while hitting two 3-pointers in the final 2:02 to cut Arizona State's lead to 27-20 at halftime but didn't score in the second half.

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

ATLANTA (AP) The government says three immigrants from Mexico have pleaded guilty to federal hostage-taking charges arising from the weeklong kidnapping and torture of a drug dealer.

U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias identified them on Friday as 20-year-old Victor Abiles Gomez, 19-year-old Omar Mendoza-Villegas and 23-year-old Gerardo Solorio Reyes.

Nahmias said on July 11, 2008, suthorities established surveillance of a house in Lilburn and that three in the house saw police and fled. Authorities found 31-year-old Oscar Reynoso bound and gagged, dehydrated and beaten.

Reynoso pleaded guilty last March 10 to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute at least 5 kilograms of cocaine.

The kidnappers face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison. Sentencing for the kidnappers will be held next July 7.

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

The man was one of three who tied up and robbed two people at gunpoint at their home on 84 Bradley St. around 7 p.m. Saturday.

When officers spotted the red pick up truck, the driver tried to flee. Instead he crashed into another car and a fountain in Central City Park, Atlanta police said.

Firefighters had to pull the suspect out of the fountain. He was taken to Grady Hospital . Two others remain at large. The suspects may be in the second robbery victim's blue Mitsubishi Eclipse  None of the victims involved in the robbery were hurt.

Kate Puzey's body was found outside her home in the West African Nation of Benin.

The memorial will be held at 11 a.m. at the Sanctuary at the Birmingham United Methodist Church in Alpharetta.

Puzey, 24, left Cumming in 2007 to teach English classes. African authorities said they have a prime suspect.

Gwinnett police said Tanga Sheri Moon, 34,  was watching Abiola Bankolemoh and other children when she went to the bathroom. When she came out, the child has slipped into the pool.

Investigators say the boy's older brother told Mrs. Moon his brother had fallen into the pool.

Police said Moon told them she pulled the child out of the above ground pool and and began CPR.

"This can not be an accident," A spokesman for the victim's family told WSB-TV. "It's negligent because you are supposed to take care of a little child that is under your care. Even if a child is playing, you can not call that an accident."

Mrs Moon and her husband Shawn Moon, 36, are charged with two counts of reckless conduct.

The couple's five kids are in the custody of the Department of Family and Children Services.

ATLANTA (AP) A 12-year-old student from Fulton County will represent Georgia in the national spelling bee in May.

Julia Denniss of St. Jude the Apostle Catholic School defeated 19 other spellers to emerge Friday as the winner of the 48th Annual Georgia Association of Educators State Spelling Bee.

Among her final achievements were the successful spelling of ``erythromycin,'' an antibiotic, and ``concatenate,'' which means to link things together.

Julia won the right to represent the state in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Championships in Washington, D.C., May 24-30.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) Derek Lowe plans on being ready to start on opening day. The rest is up to Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox.

Lowe worked five innings in Atlanta's 8-6 loss to the Florida Marlins on Friday. The right-hander allowed four runs and seven hits, struck out two and walked none.

Lowe said he felt good about the outing and smiled when asked about the opening-day assignment.

``It wasn't the greatest of games,'' Lowe said. ``I am just trying to figure out what I am doing. There will be days like today. It's just a matter of being ready for opening day.''

Lowe didn't have to face All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who was scratched with tightness in his throwing shoulder.

``He's OK,'' Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. ``We are erring on the side of caution. It's not a problem.''

Lowe joined the Braves in the offseason, signing a $60 million, four-year deal after going 14-11 with a 3.24 ERA for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. He likely will be the top starter in Atlanta's restructured rotation, joined by fellow newcomers Javier Vazquez and Kenshin Kawakami.

Cox wasn't ready Friday to announce a starter for Atlanta's April 5 opener at Philadelphia but praised what Lowe has done this spring.

``I think he and the team are just ready to get started,'' Cox said. ``There's no opening-day starter yet. I should have some news by next Wednesday.''

Atlanta's Tom Glavine is scheduled to make his spring debut on Saturday against the New York Mets. Glavine is working his way back from elbow and shoulder surgery that sidelined him for much of 2008.

Cox said he didn't know if Glavine would go two or three innings but that the left-hander was in excellent shape and ready for opening day.

The Marlins scored two runs in the 10th inning off Emiliano Fruto to get the win. John Raynor had a sacrifice fly and Brett Carroll singled in a run.

Andrew Miller allowed two runs and six hits in five innings for Florida. He struck out two and walked one.

David Ross and Jason Heyward homered for Atlanta.

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

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Russia plans to stop accepting poultry from three plants in Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia after officials said they found antibiotics and anti-parasitic drugs in chicken shipped from producers in those states.

Government officials in Russia the largest U.S. export market for chicken said they found traces of the drugs in meat from Sanderson Farms in Hammond, La.; Peco Foods in Canton, Miss.; and Tyson Foods in Cumming, Ga., USDA spokeswoman Bryn Burkard said Friday. Russia will stop accepting shipments from the plants March 27.

``We're trying to find out why the Russians want to stop shipments from (the) Cumming plant, which is operating smoothly and continues to produce safe, high quality products,'' Gary Mickelson, a spokesman at Tyson headquarters in Springdale, Ark., wrote in an e-mail.

``Since we have other U.S. poultry plants that are approved to ship to Russia, the suspension of the Cumming facility should not affect our overall international sales,'' he wrote.

Spokesmen for the other two companies could not be reached Friday evening.

Russia imported more than 1.8 billion pounds of chicken from the United States last year, followed by mainland China at 733.9 million pounds, according to USDA's economic research service.

``While Russia is an important leg quarter market for our company, our leg quarter sales to other regions of the world have been growing in recent years,'' Mickelson wrote. ``We are doing more business in places such as China, Africa and the Middle East.''

Burkard said the agency has asked Russia for more information. It was unclear what prompted the testing and why the drugs' presence would have been unsatisfactory.

``Once we do have that, we will work with the establishments here and find whether antibiotics and anti-parasitics were in fact used, and then take appropriate action,'' she said.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Rainbow PUSH Coalition officials are disputing the idea that federal oversight of election procedures should be terminated in Georgia.

Gov. Sonny Perdue filed a brief in a Texas case before the U.S. Supreme Court that could end U.S. Department of Justice oversight of elections in states with a history of racial discrimination.

``If that has allowed us to make progress and there are still signs of race prejudice in the society and government, why would you do away with it?'' said Janice Mathis, vice president of the coalition at a news conference on Friday.

Perdue argued that continued federal oversight, which began with passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, is ``a badge of racism'' since Barack Obama outperformed previous Democratic presidential candidates John Kerry and Al Gore.

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

WASHINGTON (AP) Regulators on Friday shut down banks in Georgia, Colorado and Kansas, marking 20 failures of federally insured banks this year. More are expected to succumb to the prolonged recession.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the failed banks.

FirstCity Bank of Stockbridge, Ga., had about $297 million in assets and $278 million in deposits as of March 18. Colorado National Bank of Colorado Springs, Colo., had $123.5 million in assets and total deposits of $82.7 million as of Dec. 31. Paola, Kan.-based Teambank N.A. had assets of $669.8 million and total deposits of $492.8 million as of Dec. 31.

The FDIC said it will mail checks to depositors of FirstCity Bank for their insured funds on Monday morning. Direct deposits from the federal government, such as Social Security and veterans' benefits payments, will be transferred to SunTrust Bank.

At the time of closing, FirstCity Bank had an estimated $778,000 in deposits that exceeded the insurance limits, the FDIC said. Regular deposit accounts are insured up to $250,000.

Amarillo, Texas-based Herring Bank will assume all of the deposits of Colorado National, whose four branches will reopen as Herring Bank branches on Saturday.

In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Herring Bank agreed to buy about $117.3 million in assets at a discount of $4.2 million. The bank agreed to pay a 1 percent premium on the deposits.

The FDIC said it will keep the bank's remaining assets for future sale. Additionally, Herring Bank entered into a loss sharing agreement with the FDIC, wherein the FDIC will assume 80 percent of the losses and Herring Bank 20 percent of the losses on $62 million in assets.

Teambank's 17 branches will reopen on Saturday as branches of Great Southern Bank. The Springfield, Mo.-based bank is assuming $474 million of Teambank's deposits for about $4.7 million, while the FDIC is paying out $18.8 million in deposits directly to brokers.

Great Southern Bank has also agreed to buy about $656.5 million in assets at a discount of $100 million. The remaining assets will be sold at a later date, the FDIC said. Additionally, the FDIC has agreed to cover 80 percent of the losses on about $450 million in assets, while Great Southern Bank will cover the remaining 20 percent of losses.

The FDIC said Teambank was affiliated with Colorado National Bank.

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the deposit insurance fund from the closings of the three banks will be about $207 million.

The last bank closing, two weeks ago, involved a Georgia bank, Freedom Bank of Georgia in Commerce, Ga.

As the economy sours, unemployment rises, home prices tumble and loan defaults soar, bank failures have cascaded and sapped billions out of the deposit insurance fund. It now stands at its lowest level in nearly a quarter-century, $18.9 billion as of Dec. 31, compared with $52.4 billion at the end of 2007.

The FDIC expects that bank failures will cost the insurance fund around $65 billion through 2013.

The agency said Friday that the nation's banks and thrifts lost $32.1 billion in the final quarter of last year, even worse than the $26.2 billion originally reported last month. ``Significant'' revisions also lowered the industry's net income for all of 2008 to $10.2 billion from $16.1 billion.

Rising losses on loans and eroding values of assets bit into the revenue of U.S. banks and thrifts in late 2008, causing them to post the first quarterly deficit in 18 years.

The $26.2 billion loss originally reported for the October-December period already was the largest in 25 years of FDIC records. It compared with a $575 million profit in the fourth quarter of 2007.

And the originally reported 2008 net income of $16.1 billion was the smallest annual profit since 1990, during the savings and loan crisis.

The 18 bank collapses this year follow 25 failures in 2008, which included two of the biggest savings and loans, Washington Mutual Inc. and IndyMac Bank. Last year's total was more than in the previous five years combined and up from only three failures in 2007.

The FDIC had 252 banks and thrifts on its list of troubled institutions at the end of 2008, up from 171 in the third quarter.

The agency recently raised the fees that U.S. banks and thrifts pay, and levied a hefty emergency premium in a bid to collect $27 billion this year to replenish the insurance fund.

President Barack Obama has outlined a federal budget proposal that calls for spending up to $750 billion for additional financial industry rescue efforts atop the $700 billion that Congress has already approved.

Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp., for example, have had to go back to the government well for more cash amid continuing losses from toxic assets and soured consumer loans. They each have received $45 billion in bailout money, and the government recently agreed to exchange up to $25 billion of Citigroup's portion for as much as a 36 percent equity stake in the struggling banking giant.

AP Business Writer Sara Lepro contributed to this report from New York.

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

WASHINGTON (AP) Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is putting the finishing touches on a plan to get toxic assets off the books of the country's struggling banks, according to administration and industry officials. The plan could be announced as soon as Monday, they said.

Geithner's proposal will employ the resources of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to make the government's $700 billion financial rescue fund go further, these officials said Friday.

The Fed and the FDIC are being tapped for support because the prospects for getting additional money from Congress for the bailout effort have dimmed significantly with this week's uproar over millions of dollars in bonuses provided to troubled insurance giant American International Group Inc.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about Geithner's plan, said it will have three major parts. One part will be an effort Geithner spoke about last month which would be the creation of a public-private partnership to back purchases of bad assets by private investors.

A second part of the plan will expand a recently launched program being run by the Federal Reserve called the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF. That program is providing loans for investors to buy assets backed by consumer debt in an effort to make it easier for consumers to get auto, student and credit card loans. Under Geithner's proposal, this program would be expanded to support investors' purchases of banks' toxic assets.

The third part of the Geithner plan would utilize the resources of the FDIC, the agency that guarantees bank deposits, to purchase toxic assets.

When Geithner announced the administration's overhaul of the troubled financial rescue program on Feb. 10, it was widely panned by investors with the Dow Jones industrial average plunging by 380 points.

Geithner's new plan on toxic assets would attack what many analysts see as the major failing of the bank rescue effort so far, the failure to rid banks' of more than $1 trillion in bad loans and other troubled assets weighing down banks' books. As a result, banks have been unable to shake off the effects of the worst financial crisis to hit the country in seven decades.

While the administration included a placeholder in its budget request last month for as much as an additional $750 billion in rescue funds, more than doubling the current commitment, the uproar over the AIG bonuses has underscored the dim prospects that Congress would vote to bolster the size of the current $700 billion fund.

The effort to deal with toxic assets is the latest in a string of initiatives the administration has put forward to deal with a severe financial crisis that has crimped consumer and business borrowing and deepened a recession that is already the longest in a quarter-century.

The administration's other programs include efforts to deal with mortgage foreclosures, bolster lending to small businesses, unfreeze the markets that support credit card, student loan and auto debt and begin so-called stress tests of the country's 19 largest banks to make sure they have sufficient reserves to withstand an even more severe recession.

A major unknown is whether the new plan to deal with toxic assets will succeed in attracting private investors to begin buying banks' bad assets in markets that essentially have dried up under the weight of billions of dollars in losses.

Hedge funds and other big investors may be even more leery of accepting the government's enticements to purchase these assets for fear of the imposition of tighter government restraints in such areas as executive compensation in the wake of the uproar over AIG.

In addition to unveiling his plan for toxic assets, Geithner is also expected to put forward next week the administration's proposals to overhaul the government's current financial regulatory structure.

President Barack Obama said this week that this plan will include a proposal to give the administration expanded authority to take control of major troubled institutions that are deemed too big to fail because their collapse would pose a risk to the entire financial system.

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

PHILADELPHIA (AP) A former NFL quarterback who failed to show for sentencing on drunken driving charges nearly four years ago was killed in a car crash in Greece, authorities said, leaving behind an unsolved mystery involving two suspicious fires and years spent on the lam.

The State Department used fingerprints to determine that the victim of Saturday's crash was William ``Jeff'' Komlo, according to Jim Vito, Chester County's acting chief detective. Vito said he was initially skeptical, concerned because of Komlo's history that he might have faked his own death.

``Even though we heard that he was deceased, the first reaction was that, well, we better make a positive identification,'' Vito said.

Once the State Department verified the fingerprints were those of the 52-year-old fugitive, Vito was satisfied.

``As far as we're concerned, we're closing this now.''

A State Department spokesman, Noel Clay, declined to comment ``out of respect for the family.'' He would not say where in Greece the accident happened or release details of the crash.

Komlo played for the Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers over five NFL seasons from 1979 to 1983.

In July 2005, Komlo failed to show for sentencing on two drunken driving convictions.

Two months earlier, authorities had issued a warrant for Komlo when he didn't appear for a May 10 preliminary hearing on charges in an alleged assault on his girlfriend.

At the time he went missing, Komlo was under investigation for fires at his home in Chester Springs, Pa., and another home in Palm Beach County, Fla.

Komlo had lived in Chester Springs and worked as an insurance broker in the nearby Philadelphia suburb of Wayne. Authorities did not know what happened to him after he skipped the hearings in 2005.

``This guy apparently has created some intrigue over the years,'' Vito said.

In the 2005 Palm Beach County case, Komlo staged a fire at his home and tried to make it look like the damage resulted from a hurricane, according to Capt. Rob Rush, of the fire department's bomb and arson squad.

``We found a lot of evidence that there was an attempt to burn this place in multiple spots around the room,'' said Rush, adding that the case will be closed once the county gets a death certificate. ``He was still our only suspect, and we were convinced that he was responsible for the crime.''

Komlo starred at the University of Delaware, leading the Blue Hens to the Division II national championship game in 1978. The Lions picked him in the 9th round of the 1979 NFL draft.

Scott Selheimer, Delaware's sports information director, said the school's thoughts go out to Komlo's friends and family.

``It's a tragic situation where someone, when they were here at the university, was kind of like a hero,'' Selheimer said. ``It's a shame that his life kind of tumbled. He was going through so many troubled situations for so long.''

After playing in 16 games his rookie year in the NFL, the 200-pound, 6-foot-2-inch quarterback played sporadically the rest of his career.

An NFL spokesman did not immediately comment Friday.

``For whatever his past sins, it's always sad for family and friends when someone passes, particularly when that family includes four children,'' said Tom Schindler, a lawyer in West Chester, Pa., who had represented Komlo.

ATLANTA (AP) Morris Brown has finally paid its $380,000 overdue water bill in full, a three-month effort against seemingly long odds as the historically black college struggled for survival.

But that battle is dwarfed by the school's $30 million overall debt its chief obstacle to the reaccreditation needed to assure much-needed federal funding and a level of education that again attract students to the 128-year-old campus.

The school must demonstrate its financial stability to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. To do that, Morris Brown must prove itself to would-be donors and others interested in the institution's future.

``We are at the threshold of a new Morris Brown,'' Bishop William DeVeaux, chairman of the board of trustees, said in a statement Friday. ``This financial challenge was, and is, our priority before we can move forward and work toward a renewal of founding our mission.''

Morris Brown Acting President Stanley Pritchett said he is hopeful after the school bought itself more time with the payment of the water bill.

``We just might be at that place now where we can focus on the ... new plans for the growth of the institution,'' he said. ``Our deliberations with financial investors are beginning to meet with some favor and we are in a position to eliminate some of our debt. We trust that the weekly financial emergencies will cease.''

Meanwhile, the college is continuing to raise money.

On March 29, Morris Brown is planning Sunday of Hope, a statewide fundraiser aimed at Georgia churches, synagogues and mosques, soliciting prayers and financial contributions on behalf of the school.

Most of what has been raised to date has ranged from a few dollars to a few thousand dollars at a time, and organizers are hoping to change that.

``The need for large donations is even more critical now than ever before, especially from the Atlanta philanthropic community,'' said Sonny Walker, vice chairman of the board of trustees and chairman of a committee addressing Morris Brown's emergency financial situation.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Two dozen black lawmakers angrily stalked out of the Georgia House on Friday amid claims a decision by white Republican leaders to delay passage of a resolution honoring President Barack Obama had racist overtones.

House Speaker Glenn Richardson said the proposal to make Obama an honorary member of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus required some changes to its language and sent it to a committee. Supporters, including black lawmakers, claimed the move was a snub to the nation's first black president.

``It drips with racism,'' said state Rep. Al Williams, a Democrat. ``I call it just like it is.''

State Rep. Austin Scott said he and other Republicans objected to wording that would have put the full chamber on record backing the resolution and its declaration of Obama as a man with an ``unimpeachable reputation for integrity.''

He said he blocked the proposal after Democrats balked at revising the wording.

``All we've requested is minor changes to the language,'' he said.

Some noted it was a rare move in the Georgia Capitol, where lawmakers routinely adopt all manner of resolutions without debate and often through a show of hands, from measures honoring a constituent's wedding anniversary to others offering condolences upon a death.

The furor began Thursday when the Republican-controlled House voted 70-68 to reject the resolution. Black lawmakers then walked out Friday, seconds after leaders sent the measure to a committee for reworking.

Black lawmakers pointed out that they've gone along in the past with other largely symbolic resolutions out of respect for their colleagues, including a 2005 measure commending then-President George W. Bush's much-criticized response to Hurricane Katrina.

At the time, critics complained many minority residents of New Orleans bore the brunt of the 2005 storm and its aftermath.

House Majority Leader Jerry Keen said sending the resolution back to committee would help ``get this language recrafted'' and Richardson suggested an easy fix could be found.

``Two or three words can be changed and this matter can be voted on,'' said Richardson, a Republican.

(WSB Radio)  What do you think about having the world's greatest cocktail party in Atlanta?

With Georgia's four-year contract to play Florida in Jacksonville, set to expire next year, Gary Stokan with the Atlanta Sports Council tells WSB they would like to have Georgia and Florida face off at the Georgia Dome once every four years.

"Obviously, we think that the game a mega event, sporting event, and that's our job at the Atlanta Sports Council is to recruit and bid on mega events with the hope of driving economic impact and sales tax to the state of Georgia.  With the state of the economy and the tourism industry, this would be certainly beneficial to the state of Georgia," said Stokan.

So what does the University of Georgia think of the idea?

"Obviously, there's some interest.   Again, there hasn't been any negotiations; but, when I've broached the subject to both Mark Richt and Damon Evans, you know they have interest.  That doesn't mean that they're committing to anything, but certainly I think there's some interest to have some discussions at some point here," said Stokan.

3/20/09

WASHINGTON (AP) With states eager to spend, President Barack Obama announced guidelines Friday aimed at preventing waste and fraud and limiting the influence lobbyists will have in carrying out the $787 billion economic stimulus program.

``This plan cannot and will not be an excuse for waste and abuse,'' Obama declared.

The rules, he said, ``will help ensure that we are proving ourselves worthy of the great trust the American people have placed in us.'' Obama also told state legislators gathered at the White House that decisions about how money will be spent will be based on the merits of creating the most jobs and helping reverse the recession.

``They will not be made as a way of doing favors for lobbyists,'' he said.

To help ensure that special interests don't stymie stimulus efforts, Obama said his administration would post on the Internet all requests by lobbyists who want to talk to any member of his administration about particular projects that would involve using the money from the Economic Recovery Act.

All requests must be in writing, and details from meetings between Obama's administration and lobbyists about stimulus projects also will be posted online, the president said.

Obama said the administration will give priority to projects that create numerous jobs ``so we can get the most bang out of every single taxpayer buck'' and those that will help make health care more affordable and rebuild roads and bridges in the future.

Telling lawmakers he's trying to lead by example, Obama said he nixed a request to update electrical and heating systems in the East Wing of the White House, the first family's residence, because it won't create many jobs or hasten the economic turnaround.

Still, Obama lobbied for money in a future bill, saying: ``This is a much-needed project. It is long overdue, and I hope Congress funds it in the future.''

As one of his first acts in office, Obama signed the sweeping stimulus measure last month to much fanfare, and his administration has been making money available to states since then.

The law says states will lose the cash if they miss a deadline or don't spend the money fast enough. But state officials across the country have had trouble keeping track of the application deadlines and requirements in the 400-page law. For weeks the administration had failed to disclose what the rules were, even though governors are required to sign pledges saying they'll spend the money appropriately.

The guidelines are the latest step in Obama's efforts to ensure transparency and accountability over the stimulus money. He appointed Vice President Joe Biden to oversee the stimulus implementation, and he's appointed an inspector general to prevent waste and fraud.

``No plan is perfect. And I can't stand here and promise you that not one dollar will slip through the cracks. But what I can promise you is that we will do everything in our power to prevent that from happening,'' Obama told the National Conference of State Legislatures.

He added: ``The American people are watching what we do. They need this plan to work. And they expect to see their hard-earned money spent efficiently.''

Obama discussed spending on the nation's infrastructure Friday afternoon during a meeting with Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent.

Before the meeting was closed to reporters, Obama said he was confident that ``with all these bright minds sitting around the table'' that he'll get a budget that reflects some of their concerns about improving the nation's roads, bridges and other infrastructure, separate from the stimulus funds designated for these types of projects.

Rendell said they talked about creating an ``infrastructure bank,'' an idea Obama endorsed as a presidential candidate. Such a bank would raise money for major national projects by issuing bonds that could be leveraged into even greater funding.

Schwarzenegger said they ``let the president know that we are 100 percent behind him on this, to go out and to sell this to the American people. ... Not only does it help us make our economy function better, but also it helps us in creating jobs.''

Bloomberg said he and the governors pledged to work to help Obama get the support he needs on this issue.

Associated Press Writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

On the Net:

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov

(WSB Radio) -- As the city warns more violent crime is on the way and is criticized for delays in a fire department rescue Thursday night, some Atlantans are saying "enough is enough."

Kyle Keyser at Atlantans Together Against Crime says his group is growing fast, feeding on fatigue about too much crime and too few police. He says ATAC is making its collective voice heard ahead of the November city election.

"We will get louder as it gets closer," Keyser tells WSB's Pete Combs.

Keyser says ATAC isn't interested in taking sides in the budget battle between Mayor Franklin and the City Council. The group IS interested, he says, in hammering down the spiking crime rate and putting more firefighters back to work.

(WSB Radio) The Stone Mountain Antique Car and Treasure Museum was a staple in the park from 1963 until it shut down last year.

Now, the hundreds of items that were on display are on the auction block.

Bobby Protsman inherited the museum when his father, Tommy, passed away in 2000.  Tommy was the museum's founder.  When Bobby decided to retire in 2008, the museum closed its door and the items inside the building sat in storage.

But now the building is being converted into construction and maintenance offices, so it must be vacant by the end of April.  Hence the auction.

The collection has been divided into 1147 lots that will be auctioned Saturday and Sunday.  The lots are as diverse as the museum once was.

Victorian beaded purses, lace gowns, radios, talcum-powder containers and vintage coin-operated amusements.  A pipe organ that played carousel music, film-reel players called Mutoscopes that show Charlie Chaplin scenes and a mannequin of an 1890s grandmother that predicts the future by way of eight-track tape recordings.

The vintage cars that were the mainstay of the museum are also for sale.

"A wonderful 1932 Packard, a wonderful Camaro convertible, a Firebird, a 57 Chevy Bel Air, a couple of early Ford racers," says auctioneer Rich Penn.  "There's some great automobiles out here."

Penn tells WSB, in addition to the cars, they have some two wheel transportation.

"A circa 1917 Harley Davidson bicycle," he says.  Some big wheel bikes from the 19th century are also on the auction block.

And if cars and bikes are not your thing, how about some fashion items from a long ago era.

"He (Tommy Protsman) liked beaded ladies purses," Penn says, "so there's probably 100 Victorian beaded ladies purses."

Penn says he doesn't put a price estimate on his lots, but he predicts that at this sale, "there will be things from $50 to as much as $50,000."

Winning bidders will be asked to ship their purchases soon after the sale.  That might be difficult in some cases.  Shipping vintage cars can't be an easy process.  And, among the lots for sale is a 14 foot long Belgian band organ.  That, along with everything else, must be out of the building in the next few weeks.

Stone Mountain Museum Auction Catalog

"We are the source of supply for Miami," says Jack Killoran, the director of Atlanta's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, an arm of the Justice Department. "If they were going make a TV show, or a movie, today about drug trafficking, they'd be wiser to call it Atlanta Metro Vice."

Drug Center of the Eastern US

Atlanta can lay claim to many things; the world's busiest airport, the fastest growing communities in the nation, and now, the largest city in the southeast is also the drug distribution capital of the eastern United States.

"We have claimed that crown," Killoran says. "People don't see it. We are not the only the Queen City of the South, but we are also the Queen City for drug distribution in the eastern U.S.

When it comes to moving large quantities of drug, nowhere is it done better than right here.

"We're no longer a consumer area, we are, literally, a supply area," Killoran says. And it's no longer small time dealers standing on the street corner. Drug dealing in Atlanta is big business.

"They (drug dealers) need to move metric tons of product, and bring back metric tons of cash, and that's their business model," says Killoran.

So, how did Atlanta become this drug distribution power? That reasons are varied, some are obvious, and some are shocking in their simplicity.

Open for Business

Governor Perdue has said it over and over; Georgia is open for business. It's a call to bring hi-tech companies, and big industry to the state. But, along with the legitimate businesses came some illicit ones, as well.

"We're unwise to look at drug traffickers and not apply a business model," Killoran says.

The same conditions that attract Fortune 500 companies to the area also attract drug operators. "All of the reasons it's become an economic powerhouse, and a population powerhouse, have also enabled it to become an illicit powerhouse in terms of narcotics distribution," says Killoran.

The change in the drug culture in Atlanta came quickly.

"The drug trade in Atlanta in the past ten years has change pretty significantly," says Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter. He says a decade ago most drug dealing was local. "We would make cases based on a small network of local customers." But that has changed.

"The Atlanta area is a major hub for the distribution and for the movement of large shipments of cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine,' says Rodney Benson, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta office of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It's a staging area, and a trans-shipment point."

Drugs used to come to here from Miami. Now, we're the suppliers.

"Miami went from the prime supply center to a receiving area for Atlanta-based drugs," Killoran says. But drugs now come up from Mexico, into the metro area, and are shipped out to points all over the country.

"The big cases are drugs that are in transit," Porter says. "They're either arriving here to be divided out and sent to other places, or they're directly in transit to somewhere else."

While Atlanta has grown in the narcotics center of the nation, the places in the metro area where the drug dealers operate may not be what you'd expect.

Organized Crime in Suburbia

Drug dealers love the suburbs for the same reasons most of us do. The quiet streets, the less crowded neighborhoods, and the low crime rates all make the outskirts of Atlanta the prime location for large drug operations.

"We started in the grow house case, where they specifically looked for nice, quiet neighborhoods, kind of off the beaten path," Benson says. "Their goal was to just fit into these quiet neighborhoods and keep a low profile.

"It could be a rural area, where, maybe, there isn't a lot of law enforcement. And their goal is to just kind of go below the radar screen."

If you think your neighborhood is immune from drug operators, think again.

"If you think that, you're certainly being naive," Porter says. When police broke up that massive grow house operation, Porter says most of the homes were in upscale neighborhoods, out in the open for anyone to see.

"The grow houses were, sort of, hide in plain sight. They would put people there and they would maintain the yard," says Porter. Often, the homes used by drug operators are high priced and used merely as warehouses.

"We've run across homes in Gwinnett that are being used for the purpose of stashing money. Not drugs, but money."

As Atlanta has grown and the sprawl has stretched dozens of miles from downtown, drug dealers have followed.

"For folks who focus on the cities and say, 'that's where crime is,' no.  Big time crime is your neighbor out in the suburbs," Killoran says. It may seem odd for drug operators to move into quiet subdivisions, but Killoran says it makes perfect sense.

"One, because the people are less attuned, less street smart, not as observant of what's going on around them. Number two, they're not as prone to be encroached upon by existing criminals in the area. And, number three, they're facing a lot less police density."

Low crime rates in suburbia means less chance of a burglar breaking into a money warehouse. And lower population means fewer prying eyes.

The sprawling suburbs have been a boon to the drug trade, but so have Atlanta's transportation network, and its climate.

All Roads Lead to Atlanta

When you think of Atlanta and transportation, your first thought is probably Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. But drug operators no longer look for large airports. Today, drugs travel by road.

"It's an arterial cluster that feeds out in all directions," Killoran says. "It gives them the ability to move large amounts of goods, at high speeds, anywhere in the eastern United States."

Bulk narcotics used to be smuggled into this country by either plane, or ship. Why the switch to cars and trucks? Credit the September 11 attacks which increased scrutiny at airports and seaports.

"If you start to move bulk drugs, you're move likely to run afoul of law enforcement these days," says Killoran.

So dealers hit the road. They found it was easier and more efficient than using aircraft or ships.

"It's kind of like a shotgun effect," Killoran says. "Some are always going to get through and those are so profitable that they fund the whole enterprise."

Drugs used to come to south Florida by way of ship, or small plane, from the Caribbean. Now, the drugs are brought in from Mexico and then driven to the Atlanta area.

"When you look at a load originating in McAllen, Texas, arriving in Atlanta, warehoused and then it's pretty much an easy shot up to the eastern seaboard," Benson says.

Perhaps the most attractive part of Atlanta's transportation network is Interstate 85. "Because it is the major artery connecting to the big northeastern centers; Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, New York, Boston and beyond," Killoran says.

Narcotics officers used to intercept drugs coming into the city from south Florida. But they were small quantities, and that was a decade ago.

"Today, we're noticing it comes straight up 85," says DeKalb Police Narcotics Captain Annette Lane Woodard, "and I'm thinking that they're coming up highway 10, from Texas, and they're going up 85, through DeKalb, to north Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, all the way up to DC."

Woodard says, years ago, those arrested were locals. Today, the addresses of the drug dealers range across the southeastern US.

"We see people coming in from North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky and Alabama, to pick up drugs, not to buy them."

Among all the factors that have contributed to Atlanta's rise as a drug center, the one that might go unnoticed is the weather. Believe it or not, it plays a large part in turning the city from a consumer area to a supply center.

"The roads freeze in the northeast," Killoran says, "and not too far north of us you get snow. You get things that will interrupt your ability to move products. But we're below that. Sure, you may lose four or five days a year to ice, but nothing compared to places north of here. We're basically moving every day."

To drugs operators who have to move tons of narcotics by highway, no snow and minimal ice, combined with our highway system and central location, make Atlanta very attractive.

Diversity Attracts Dealers

As the city has grown, it's drawn people from all ethnicities. Atlanta has become as diverse a metropolitan area as any in the United States. This has allowed drug operators to hide in plain sight, moving easily in neighborhoods among people who share a common background. They also share a common distrust of law enforcement.

"They're not likely to contact law enforcement when they perceive a problem in their community," Killoran says. Illegal immigrants are particularly appealing, because they can be forced to work with drug operators.

"If you're known to a trafficker as someone whose status is illegal, or known to have family depending on you back in Mexico, where they (the traffickers) may control large portions of the territory, you can be coerced or extorted into supporting and covering that enterprise."

Threats do buy silence, especially if an immigrant, legal or otherwise, has relatives back in Mexico, where drug operators are ruthless.

"They (immigrants) may be fearful to cooperate with police because they fear their relatives will be killed due to that cooperation," Benson says.

The drug operators are not just from Mexico, although Mexicans organized crime makes up a large percentage of the drugs moving into, and out of, Atlanta. Drug operators come from the Caribbean, and the Pacific Rim.

"Diversity is a good thing," Killoran says, "it drives a lot of good things in this community. But that diversity also provides cover for people who don't have good things in mind."

(WSB Radio) -- Child cruelty and reckless conduct charges have been filed against a Gwinnett County couple who own and operate an in-home day care center where a 2-year-old boy drowned in a backyard pool. 

Gwinnett police spokesman David Schiralli tells WSB the toddler fell into the pool behind Tanya and Shawn Moon's Buford home while Mrs. Moon was supposed to be watching him and three other children, ages 2 to 9, who were in her care.

The incident happened around 3 p.m. Thursday at the home on Bradford Walk Trail in Buford.  Mrs. Moon pulled the victim from the pool and attempted CPR until an ambulance arrived.  The child was transported to Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville where life saving measures were unsuccessful.

The 34-year-old woman and 36-year-old man were arrested around 11 p.m. Thursday after crime scene investigators determined the couple was negligent in their care of the kids they were babysitting. 

The Moons' five biological children are staying with relatives until the Department of Family and Children's Services completes its own investigation. 

The drowning victim has been identified as 2-year-old Abiola Bankolemoh.

There is talk of relocating one of the country's top college football rivalries, the annual showdown between the University of Georgia and the University of Florida.

The four-year contract is set to expire next year and discussions are underway about playing the game at the Georgia Dome once every four years, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Gary Stokan, president of the Atlanta Sports Council, tells the Chronicle that in conversations with Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans and Coach Mark Richt, "both of them expressed a high level of interest."

(WSB Radio)  Most of us know not to believe we read on the internet.  A 911 trainee in Newton County learned that lesson the hard way.

He discovered a warning online about a supposed violent attack at a local Walmart this week. 

"When we tracked it down, we discovered this had been a situation reported even on snopes.com," says Covington Police Lieutenant Wendall Wagstaff, "to where this had been going on for several years, where people had been sending out this email.  Apparently, it was a hoax email."

The trainee didn't know it was a fake and passed the information on to his wife.  She spread the word and created a panic in the Newton County area.

The trainee has since resigned.

(WSB Radio)  A Harrison High School baseball player is making a pitch to get back on the team.

17 year old Matthew Graeff has pled guilty to obstructing police after the death of his classmate.

Garrett Reed died in a January car crash that was fueled by alcohol and speed. 

His friends initially lied to investigators about how they got the alcohol.

Graeff has already completed all the course requirements to clear his record as a first offender.  He's apologized for his role in the incident and has completed his community service.  He's also submitted to alcohol and drug testing.

(WSB Radio)  Deanna Hamilton stopped into a Buckhead bar, and what an adventure it turned out to be.

Lis Saunders, Vice President of the Taste Marketing Group for Andrews Bar, tells WSB, the bartender rang up the wrong amount and thought he credited $8.00 back to her debit card.

"When credited back what was supposed to be $8.00 just, in the midst of one of our busiest nights of the year, credited back $80,000," said Saunders.

Hamilton didn't realize the mistake for several days.

"She logged onto her account, realized that $80,000 had been deposited and logged out of her computer and checked into another computer to make sure she was reading things correctly.  She still saw the deposit, thought she might've won a drawing, and then realized that the money was from East Andrews. And being a good  honest soul, called East Andrews right away and reported the error," said Saunders.

Saunders says they had not even caught the error and were stunned when they realized the mistake.

"Obviously, in a rough economy $80,000 means a lot to any business.  Laughing she said, "it  was an unfortunate error and thank goodness, she was such a great person that she didn't skip town with the money and was honest  enough to return it right away," said Saunders.

For her honesty, the club is throwing a party for her and 100 of her friends on Friday night.

So, what about the bartender who made the mistake?

"You know, he felt terrible about it.  We realize that mistakes happen and that's why we do have checks and balances and accountants who check the following week everything to make sure there are not errors like that.  They're used to doing a lot of high-volume and mistakes do happen.  This is the only we've had of this magnitude, though," said Saunders.

(WSB Radio) Two painters who didn't speak English can thank a couple of Atlanta firefighters for saving their lives after scaffolding they were working on in downtown Atlanta collapsed. 

The supports to the scaffolding gave way around 5:45 Thursday afternoon while the unidentified Hispanic men were applying stucco to the University Place at Underground Atlanta apartment building on the corner of Peachtree and Alabama streets. 

Firefighter Stephen Webb rappelled down the side of the building to get one of the men to safety.  He tells Channel 2 Action News "he was clutching on pretty good" as the pair traveled the 160 feet from the scaffolding to the roof of the two story Waffle House next door.  Webb added "he was a little nervous, but I reassured him he was fine, we do this alot, have him down in 10 minutes and he can go eat."

The only hitch to the successful rescue effort was the time it took to assemble the fire department's special operations unit.  Due to budget cuts, the members of an elite squad of fire and rescue personnel who gained fame during the Cabbagetown crane fire rescue were dispatched to several different stations around the city.

ATLANTA (AP) The House approved an $18.6 billion state budget following a dire warning from Speaker Glenn Richardson that the state's worsening economy could force lawmakers to return to the state Capitol later this year for a special session to make even deeper spending cuts.

Richardson said the state's economy ``is coming apart at the seams.''

The budget passed 123-49 on Thursday.

The spending plan covers the fiscal year that begins July 1. Plunging tax revenues forced legislators to cut about $1.6 billion in state spending.

House Minority Leader DuBose Porter said by eliminating the Homeowner Tax Relief Grant and slashing state funding for school districts the budget marked ``the largest property tax increase on homeowners in our state's history.''

Richardson called that ``hogwash.''

H.B. 119: www.legis.ga.gov

WASHINGTON (AP) The Democratic-led House overwhelmingly approved a bill on Thursday to slap punishing taxes on big employee bonuses from AIG and other firms bailed out by taxpayers.

The vote was 328-93.

``We want our money back and we want our money back now for the taxpayers,'' said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

The bonuses, totaling $165 million, were paid to employees of troubled insurer American International Group, including to traders in the unit that nearly brought about the company's collapse.

In all, 243 Democrats and 85 Republicans voted ``yes'' on the bill. It was opposed by six Democrats and 87 Republicans.

The margin of victory came despite sharp Republican attacks calling the legislation a legally questionable ploy to paper over Obama administration missteps.

Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the bill was ``a political circus'' diverting attention from why the administration hadn't done more to block the bonuses before they were paid.

However, although a number of Republicans cast ``no'' votes against the measure at first, there was a heavy GOP migration to the ``yes'' side in the closing moments.

WASHINGTON (AP) At least 13 firms receiving billions of dollars in bailout money owe a total of more than $220 million in unpaid federal taxes, a key lawmaker said Thursday.

Rep. John Lewis, chairman of a House subcommittee overseeing the federal bailout, said two firms owe more than $100 million apiece.

``This is shameful. It is a disgrace,'' said Lewis, D-Ga. ``We are going to get to the bottom of what is going on here.''

The House Ways and Means subcommittee on oversight discovered the delinquent taxes in a review of tax records from 23 of the firms receiving the most money, Lewis said as he opened a hearing on the issue.

``If we looked at all 470 recipients, how much would they owe?'' Lewis asked.

He did not name the firms owing back taxes.

Banks and other firms receiving federal money were required to sign contracts stating they had no unpaid taxes, Lewis said. But he said the Treasury Department did not ask them to turn over their tax records.

The revelation is sure to spark outrage on Capitol Hill, where the House is expected to vote Thursday on a bill that would impose steep taxes on employee bonuses at firms that have received bailout money.

To date, the Troubled Asset Relief Program has paid out more than $300 billion to private companies, with billions more on the way.

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

NEW YORK (AP) British luxury carmaker Jaguar surged to the top of J.D. Power and Associates' closely watched vehicle dependability study this year, tying Buick for the No. 1 spot and dethroning Lexus for the first time since the Japanese luxury brand has been a part of the survey.

Lexus, Toyota Motor Corp.'s luxury brand, took the next spot in the study released Thursday, followed by Toyota's namesake brand, then Mercury, Infiniti and Acura.

``Buick and Jaguar both lead the industry in nameplate performance,'' said Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis at J.D. Power. ``In terms of individual model performance, Lexus and Toyota still do very, very well.''

The annual study measures problems experienced by the original owners of vehicles after three years. Suzuki owners reported the most problems among the 37 brands assessed by J.D. Power.

Despite losing its crown to Jaguar and Buick, Lexus still swept top awards in four segments, while Toyota's namesake brand took five awards. General Motors Corp.'s Buick LaCrosse was J.D. Power's top midsize car, while Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln brand took two awards. Chrysler LLC, which took no segment awards last year, won top honors for its Dodge Caravan in the van segment.

Jaguar's sudden jump to the top from its No. 10 spot in 2008 was notable for a study that is fairly consistent from year to year. Oddes said the brand has made significant improvements across many areas.

``We see improvements all over the board with Jaguar,'' Oddes said, citing fewer reported problems with vehicle exterior, sound system and the overall driving experience. ``The improvement at a nameplate level is significant.''

Still, Jaguar, which Indian car giant Tata Motors Ltd. bought from Ford in 2007, remains a relatively small-volume brand in the U.S. It sold just 14,000 vehicles here in 2008, while Buick sold 128,000.

Oddes said this year's study was redesigned to exclude routine fixes from a vehicle's list of problems. For example, the study no longer counts tire or windshield wiper replacements as a reportable problem. The intended result is a study that focuses on actual glitches with a vehicle, Oddes said, though it also makes it difficult to make year-over-year comparisons.

``We cleaned up the survey to really try to focus in on things that are truly broken,'' he said.

The industry average was 170 problems per 100 vehicles, or somewhat less than two problems per vehicle. Last year, the industry average was 206 problems per 100 vehicles, but year-over-year improvements this year are much less pronounced when accounting for the changes in the study's methodology, Oddes said.

The most frequently reported problem was wind noise, followed by brake noise, peeling paint, brake vibrations and problems with a vehicle's lights, Oddes said. The problems have been fairly consistent from year to year, he said.

J.D. Power's dependability study surveyed 46,313 original owners of 2006 model-year vehicles in October 2008. The results are watched closely by automakers and are often used in advertising. Owners' opinion of a car after three years can be a major influence on their opinion to buy that brand again.

The firm also releases an initial quality study, which measures problems in the first 90 days of ownership.

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

(WSB Radio) -- The Georgia unemployment rate hit a record high of 9.3 percent in February, according to a report released Thursday by the state Department of Labor.

The previous high was a revised 8.5 percent in January.

"For the second consecutive month Georgia suffered from record unemployment," said State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond. "Times are difficult, but not hopeless. I encourage all Georgians to keep the faith. Don't give in, don't give up, and don't give out."

The February jobless rate was up 3.9 percent from 5.4 percent at this same time last year. Georgia's unemployment rate remained above the national rate of 8.1 percent for the 16th consecutive month.

At present, 445,498 unemployed Georgians are looking for work, an increase of 69.2 percent over the year. Of that number, 159,359, or 35.8 percent, are receiving unemployment insurance benefits.

The number of payroll jobs in February decreased 189,800, or 4.6 percent, from February 2008. The losses came in manufacturing and construction, trade, transportation and warehousing, along with professional and business services, including temporary employment agencies. Jobs were added in educational and health services, state and local education, and with the federal government.

Commissioner Thurmond urged jobseekers to expand their job searches, explore new training and educational opportunities and to make full use of the reemployment services at the department's 53 career centers around the state. Each month, through its reemployment program, the department helps about 24,000 jobseekers find work.

(WSB Radio)  The recession has forced cuts in the state budget and when there's not enough money to go around things get left undone.

So, get used to seeing higher grass alongside Georgia's roads.  The department of transportation says you can expect to see more litter, too.

The DOT's Mark McKinnon says the budget cuts are forcing changes on the roads and interstates.

He says the DOT has not laid off any road crews, but, when people leave voluntarily, they're not being replaced.

"It's put our crews in a much more versatile role," McKinnon says.  "They have a lot more duties they have to cover with a lot less people."

Grass along roads will be mowed just once.  Interstate grass will be mowed just three times.  McKinnon says prisoners who used to help out are also in short supply.

"The department of corrections has also had to make cuts," he says, "and some of those prisons have closed in the Atlanta area.  So, for us to bring them in from other parts of the state is really not feasible."

McKinnon says that, despite the cuts, safety will always come first.

"If we're notified that there's an issue with sight distance and that sort of thing, with mowing, we will certainly take care of that," he says, "because we still have safety as our main priority.  We will not neglect those safety issues.

"But, we will not be mowing for aesthetics."

(WSB Radio)  A Roswell man will learn later today whether he'll be allowed to keep his chickens in his backyard.

For the past several years, Andrew Wordies has kept eleven chickens and three roosters on his property off of Alpharetta Highway. 

He says the birds never bothered anyone, until a former employee decided to get back at him.

"She called the city of Roswell code enforcement and reported to them that I had chickens that weren't allowed in Roswell," says Wordies.

The question before the judge is whether the birds are considered pets or whether they're livestock.

The city attorney says they're livestock, which means Wordies would be in violation of the city code.

(WSB Radio)  They had him but now they don't.

The Clayton County sheriff's department is searching for a 19 year old drug suspect from Lithonia who was arrested and handcuffed during a traffic stop late Wednesday.  But, despite the shackles, the suspect managed to escape.

Deputies pulled the car over on Tara Boulevard because the driver wasn't wearing a seatbelt.  They then found drugs and, after placing 19 year old Cameron Richardson in cuffs, they started questioning the other two occupants of the car.  That's when Richardson ran off.

The two other occupants were released. 

Police later found two guns hidden under the vehicle's seat.

(WSB Radio) Federal investigators will look at why a single engine plane crash landed into a Cherokee County lake.

46 year old Alan Jordan, of Orlando, was flying from Calhoun to Lawrenceville when he reported engine trouble.  He ditched the aircraft in Lake Arrowhead, in Canton.

A spokesman for the Cherokee County sheriff's department says a fisherman motored to the plane and was able to pluck Jordan out before the aircraft sank.

Jordan was not hurt.

(WSB Radio) Governor Perdue is trying to get Georgia out from under federal voting rights supervision.

The governor has had an attorney draw up papers that join the state with Texas in a challenge going before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Since the mid-1960's, Georgia and other southern states have been under federal scrutiny because of past race-based voting rights abuses.  The governor says the burden should be lifted because Barack Obama did so well here last November.

The brief was prepared by a lawyer for the state republican party after Attorney General Thurbert Baker declined.

(WSB Radio) Atlanta police have arrested two women in an undercover sting, after getting complaints from patrons of a trendy hotel.

The teenage girls were nabbed for prostitution at the W hotel in Buckhead.

Police say the pair used Craigs List and were turning tricks for $300.

The 19 and 18 year olds are charged with soliciting. 

(WSB Radio) Midtown neighborhood associations are warning residents to be on alert about a possible group of armed bandits.

An email from police shows several of the locations where the crimes have taken place and warn people to take extra precautions.

Police say the robbing crew strikes in downtown and midtown Atlanta.

The email cautions residents to be extremely cautious, to the point of minimizing their visits in neighbor's driveways at night.

It goes on to say that patrols in Atlanta are not as common as they once were, due to police furloughs.

(WSB Radio) A man accused of shoplifting in Henry County and leading police on a wrong way high speed chase on I-75 in Clayton County is the focus of a manhunt this morning in Dekalb County.

The suspect is accused of stealing several items around Midnight Thursday morning from the CVS Pharmacy on Mount Zion Parkway in Stockbridge.  In an attempt to get away from police, the unidentified man allegedly drove northbound in the southbound lanes of the interstate, at times reaching speeds of 80 miles an hour.

During the 11 mile pursuit, the suspect ran a motorcycle off the road, sending the driver to Grady Hospital with serious injuriues. 

The fleeing Honda Civic eventually made it to I-285 before exiting on to Bouldercrest in Dekaln County.  The driver wrecked the car on Clifton Church Road and fled on foot.

WASHINGTON (AP) Strapped by the nation's economic crisis, fewer Americans are migrating to Sun Belt hot spots in Nevada, Arizona and Florida, instead staying put for now in traditional big cities.

Census data released Thursday highlight a U.S. population somewhat locked in place by the severe housing downturn and economic recession, even before the impact of rippling job layoffs after last September's financial meltdown.

The population figures as of July 2008 show growth slowdowns in once-booming metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tampa, due mostly to a rapid clip of mortgage foreclosures as well as frozen lines of credit that made it harder for out-of-staters to move in.

As a result, rust-belt metro areas such as Buffalo, N.Y., Pittsburgh and Cleveland stanched some population losses, and Boston, Los Angeles and New York saw gains. Well-to-do exurbs around Washington D.C. saw growth slowdowns as people weary of costly commutes moved closer to federal jobs in the nation's capital.

``It's the bursting of a 'migration bubble,''' said William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution think tank who analyzed the numbers. ``Places that popped up in migration growth in the superheated housing markets earlier in the decade are now just as quickly losing their steam.''

``It's the constraint of not being able to buy or sell a home that is keeping people from moving long distances,'' he said.

The latest population trends come as state and local governments are deciding where to pour billions of dollars in federal stimulus money to develop schools, roads, bridges and other infrastructure. The nation's decennial head count, used to apportion House seats and redraw congressional districts, also is fast approaching.

Las Vegas, known for its warm climate and wide spaces, had its smallest annual population gain in nearly 20 years.

Despite its pricier housing market, San Francisco was back to its heyday growth of the 1990s, having formerly shriveled when the tech boom went bust in 2000.

Economists explain that because housing in San Francisco was so expensive for so many years, only the wealthy were able to buy. As a result, the area was less affected by mortgage foreclosures than other cities. San Francisco's tech industry also has been slower to lose jobs so far in the current recession, but officials aren't sure how long that will hold up given California's double-digit unemployment.

California had the biggest net loss from people moving to other states. The declines in its interior regions put it at risk of losing a House seat. Los Angeles had major gains, but partly at the expense of Riverside, a sprawling exurb nearby.

In the months ahead, jobs are expected to be a growing factor in U.S. migration.

The population in the nation's distressed counties, or areas with unemployment rates of 6 percent or higher in 2007, grew by 0.3 percent, compared to a 1.2 percent growth rate in areas with relatively low unemployment.

The overall nationwide growth rate was 0.9 percent, according to the Population Reference Bureau.

In Michigan, where the struggles of the auto industry led to the nation's highest unemployment rate, 60 of the state's 83 counties lost population. Florida and Rhode Island are facing similar pressures.

Despite slowing migration, the South and West continued to account for the most growth from 2007 to 2008.

Raleigh-Cary, N.C., and Austin-Round Rock, Texas, were the nation's fastest-growing metro areas, registering growth rates of 4.3 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively. Both high-tech centers, the two metros are also sites of major college campuses that helped cushion them from the housing slowdown.

Other findings:

Metros registering the biggest numerical gains were Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston. Despite housing slowdowns in 2008, Phoenix and Atlanta ranked third and fourth in growth, respectively, followed by Los Angeles.

The New Orleans area grew 2 percent to more than 1.1 million, still lagging its pre-Hurricane Katrina level of 1.3 million. St. Bernard Parish and neighboring Orleans Parish were the nation's first and third fastest-growing counties.

The Washington, D.C., region was among the top 10 numerical gainers, due partly to federal government jobs. Far-flung D.C. exurbs such as Virginia's Loudoun and Prince William counties had flat or declining growth rates, victims of the housing bubble and a spike in gasoline prices.

Out of the nation's 100 fastest-growing counties, the majority were in Texas (19), Georgia (14), North Carolina (11) or Utah (nine).

The census estimates used local records of births and deaths, Internal Revenue Service records of people moving within the United States, and census statistics on immigrants. The estimates were for both counties and metropolitan areas, which generally include cities and surrounding suburbs.

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

(WSB Radio)  It's like match.com, but, instead of looking for a spouse, you go to this site looking for a house.

With home loans nearly impossible to find for some, more and more people have decided that if they can't sell it, swap it.

"Finding and buying a house would be very easy," says Ben Daba, with Chapman Hall Realty, "but selling a house is getting to be very difficult."

The new trend for those looking to move is to trade homes with those in similar positions.  It's something that was commonplace a century ago and, given the current recession, is making a comeback.

"It's an old concept, but it's become a very popular concept because of the inability to get loans," says Telmo Bermeo, a local realtor whose own home is being offered for swapping.

Bermeo has his 5 bedroom, 4 bath Sandy Springs house listed on GoSwap.org, sort of an Eharmony for homes.  The listing is drawing attention.

"In the two weeks since I listed on that website, I had at least ten prospects that have shown an interest," Bermeo tells WSB.

Swapping may seem like a strange way to unload your home, but Daba says it makes perfect sense, especially for some people who have been hit hard by the recession.

"If somebody is offered a different job in another state," he says, "and they need to move, the best alternative might be to swap that house with someone in that other state."

Bermeo says swapping does streamline the process and is relatively simple to do.

"It makes it easier," he says.  "Sometimes you don't even have to go through an agent.  You say, ok, I'll buy yours upon you buying mine.

"Not having the home on the market with agents," Bermeo says, "if the client coming in from out of state likes your home and you like his, it becomes a very simple process."

"Obviously, if they can't sell their house," Daba says, "the best option would be to swap a house they're going to be moving to.  The only alternative some have is to find a house of similar value and swap with somebody in that state."

Swapping has grown in popularity across the country as more and more people find it difficult to get loans from banks.  Daba says swapping is a way to use the equity in your home without having to find someone who can turn that equity into cash.

"People are always looking for creative ways to get rid of their house," he says.

As for Bermeo and his Sandy Springs house, which he values at $585,000, it's still listed.  He's looking to relocate in the Atlanta area and he has had interest. 

Someone offered a midtown condo, while someone else was looking to swap from a list of properties in north Georgia.

Bermeo still hasn't had an offer from an area he likes, but he'll keep trying.  Like the people on match.com, Bermeo knows his perfect mate is out there, somewhere.

WASHINGTON (AP) Under intense pressure from the Obama administration and Congress, the head of bailed-out insurance giant AIG declared Wednesday that some of the firm's executives have begun returning all or part of bonuses totaling $165 million.

Edward Liddy, brought in last year to oversee a company that has received $182 billion in federal bailout funds, offered no details. Buffeted by congressional outrage, he said he was angry, too, but did not respond directly when advised in pungent terms to pay to the Treasury all the money handed out last weekend in ``retention payments.''

``Eat it now. Take it out of your profits down the road. It's a lot sweeter now than it's gonna be later,'' said Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y.

Liddy slid into the witness chair at a congressional hearing as President Barack Obama sought anew to quell a furor that has bedeviled his administration since word of the bonuses surfaced over the weekend.

Obama, who took office just under two months ago, told reporters his administration was not responsible for a lack of federal supervision of AIG that preceded the company's demise, nor for the decision made last year to pay what he called ``outrageous bonuses.''

Still, he said, ``The buck stops with me.'' He said that ``my goal is to make sure that we never put ourselves in this kind of position again,'' and he disclosed the administration was consulting with Congress on the possibility of creating a new agency to govern the meltdown of large financial institutions such as AIG.

He also gave a strong vote of confidence to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who has been the target of growing Republican criticism.

Obama spoke as congressional Democrats worked on legislation designed to recoup most or all of the $165 million by exposing it to new taxes. A House vote was likely Thursday on a bill placing a 90 percent tax on the payments to top-paid executives at companies like AIG that received large bailouts from the federal government.

Republicans raised pointed questions about the extent of Geithner's advance knowledge of the bonuses, and stressed they had been locked out of discussions earlier this year when Democrats decided to jettison a provision from legislation that could have revoked the payments.

``The fact is that the bill the president signed, which protected the AIG bonuses and others, was written behind closed doors by Democratic leaders of the House and Senate. There was no transparency,'' said Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.

Liddy's presence in a congressional hearing room was evidence of a bipartisan opposition to the bonuses, although his status as a $1-a-year CEO called out of retirement last year to try and untangle AIG's financial mess made him a less-than-easy target for expressions of outrage.

``No one knows better than I that AIG has been the recipient of generous amounts of government financial aid,'' he said. ``We have been the beneficiary of the American people's forbearance and patients,'' he added, acknowledging that patience was wearing thin.

Liddy said that on Tuesday, he had ``asked those who have received retention payments in excess of $100,000 or more to return at least half of those payments.'' Some have ``already stepped forward and returned 100 percent,'' he added.

Asked by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., whether he would turn over the names of individuals who received the money, as well as the amounts, he said he would do so only if assured the information not be made public.

When Frank said he might seek a subpoena, Liddy said he was concerned about the safety of the employees and their families, and read aloud from a death threat received by one of them.

Frank said he would be guided in part by security considerations, but Ackerman later noted that Andrew Cuomo, the New York attorney general, was already seeking the names with a subpoena.

Liddy said he had not yet complied, sidestepped several times when asked whether he would, and finally said ``it would be our intent'' to do so.

But Cuomo swiftly issued a statement saying Liddy's pledge was ``simply too little, too late. ... Rather than take half-measures, AIG should immediately turn over the list, which we have subpoenaed, of who got what and when.''

He added, ``We prefer not to go to court on this matter, but AIG is leaving us little choice. I hope the leadership at the company comes to its senses now.''

Separately, AIG spokesman Mark Herr said he could not say how many executives had turned back the money. ``Bear in mind, these bonuses were only just paid,'' he said.

He added the company may not release that information. Asked why, he responded, ``Why is it cloudy today? Because sometimes it just is.''

For his part, Liddy also said the Federal Reserve knew long in advance of the bonus payments and acquiesced in them, noting that officials from the independent agency attend key company meetings. But he said the same was not true of Geithner, adding, ``We do our work with the Federal Reserve.''

Liddy gave skeptical committee members what amounted to a tutorial in the practice of paying retention bonuses he did not call them that to executives.

He said the money was offered to executives in AIG's financial products section, where risky investments finally became the entire company's undoing. He said each executive was offered money to dispose of his ``business book,'' meaning the transactions he had been in charge of handling, and thus far, the company's financial derivatives had been reduced from $2.7 trillion to $1.6 trillion.

He had decided it was worth paying the money to retain the services of executives who knew the business best, he said. And he had received legal advice that there were valid contracts requiring the payments.

``I know 165 million is a very large number. It's a very large number. In the context of 1.6 trillion ... we thought it was a good trade,'' he said.

Liddy added there was still a risk of financial catastrophe if the remaining $1.6 trillion in financial instruments were not disposed of properly.

But Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., angrily told the witness the contract read like ``the captain and the crew of the ship reserving the lifeboats.''

Liddy replied that he was not at the firm when the contracts were negotiated, and said, as he has before, that he would not have approved them.

Lynch said the terms had been put in place in December, after Liddy arrived at AIG.

But Liddy disputed that. ``I take offense, Sir,'' he said.

``Well you take it rightly. Offense was intended,'' shot back Lynch.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  A bill that would make Georgia the first state to adopt tough new food safety regulations in wake of the salmonella outbreak passes the House unanimously.

SB 80 requires food processing plants report any tainted test results on food samples to the State Department of Agriculture within 24 hours.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom McCall says had the law been on the books already, it likely would have reduced the chances of a Salmonella outbreak like the one linked to the Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely.

"Nothing is a hundred percent... this maybe bumps it up to 98 percent that nothing will get out," he tells WSB's Sandra Parrish.

The bill also makes it a felony for those plants that don't comply.

The measure now goes back to the Senate to approve some minor changes to the bill before going to the Governor's desk.

18 March 2008 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it will spend up to $300 billion over the next six months to buy long-term government bonds, a new step aimed at lifting the country out of recession by lowering rates on mortgages and other consumer debt.

At the same time, the Fed left a key short-term bank lending rate at a record low of between zero and 0.25 percent. Economists predict the Fed will hold the rate in that zone for the rest of this year and for most if not all of next year.

Fed purchases should boost Treasury prices and drive down their rates. That would ripple through and lower rates on other kinds of debt. The last time the Fed set out to influence long-term interest rates was during the 1960s.

The Fed also said it will buy more mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to help that battered market. The central bank will buy an additional $750 billion, bringing its total purchases of these securities to $1.25 trillion. It also will boost its purchase of Fannie and Freddie debt to $200 billion.

``This is not only going to keep mortgage rates low for a long period of time,'' said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. ``The mere announcement may produce a honeymoon effect and bring mortgage rates down to even lower levels in the coming days.''

In addition, the Fed said a $1 trillion program to jump-start consumer and small business lending could be expanded to include other financial assets.

The program which is rolling out this week currently is focused on spurring lending for autos, education, credit cards and loans for business equipment. The government already has announced an expansion to include commercial real-estate assets. Any broadening of the program would be beyond that area.

The Fed's action is keeping Wall Street's big rally alive. After being down earlier in the day, the Dow Jones industrial average added about 30 points in afternoon trading, and broader indicators also rose.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are taking the new steps as the economy sinks deeper into recession.

Since the Fed last met in late January, ``the economy continues to contract,'' the policymakers observed.

``Job losses, declining equity and housing wealth and tight credit conditions have weighed on consumer sentiment and spending,'' they said.

Businesses, meanwhile, are facing weaker sales prospects and credit troubles have them cutting inventories. Problems overseas have crimped demand for U.S. exports, dealing domestic companies another blow, the Fed said.

Across the Atlantic, the Bank of England last week began buying government bonds from financial institutions as it turned to other ways to help revive Britain's moribund economy. The Bank of England, like the Fed, already had lowered its key interest rate to a record low of 0.5 percent.

Finance leaders from top economies have discussed coordinating actions from their governments and central banks to provide a more potent punch against the global financial crisis.

Still, the Fed hoped its actions, the government's banking rescue effort, and President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus of increased government spending and tax cuts eventually will help revive the economy.

``Although the near-term economic outlook is weak, the committee anticipates that policy actions .... will contribute to a gradual resumption of sustainable economic growth,'' the Fed said.

Obama has urged Americans to be patient, saying it will take time for his revival programs to work.

Bernanke has repeatedly said that stabilizing the nation's financial system is key to turning around the economy. If that can be done, then the recession might end this year, setting the stage for a recovery next year, he said.

But even in this best-case scenario, the nation's unemployment rate now at quarter-century peak of 8.1 percent will keep climbing. Some economists think it will hit 10 percent by the end of this year.

The recession that began in December 2007 already has snatched a net total of 4.4 million jobs and has left 12.5 million searching for work.

And the economy is still sinking. It contracted at 6.2 percent in the final three months of 2008, also the worst showing in a quarter-century. Analysts believe the economy in the current January-March quarter is contracting at a pace between 5.5 and 6 percent or more. They expect the economy also will continue to contract in the April-June quarter.

(WSB Radio)  33 Georgia gas stations, including 15 in the metro Atlanta area, have settled with the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs over complaints about price gouging.

The state began their investigation into claims of gouging against 59 stations all over the state.  In its finding, the consumer affairs office cleared 26 stations of gouging and struck deals with the other 33.

141 stations are still being investigated.  Those inquiries have not yet been completed.

Under Georgia law, price-control statutes are activated upon the Governor's declaration of a state of emergency. During the declared state of emergency, businesses may not sell any goods or services necessary to protect the health, safety or property of citizens at prices higher than the prices at which those same goods or services were offered before the declaration of a state of emergency.

The only exception allowed is if the business can document that the price was increased only in an amount which accurately reflects an increase in the cost of the goods or services to the person selling the goods or services or an increase in the cost of transporting the goods or service into the area.

The 33 stations cited were ordered to pay fines and restitution.

If a gas station operator was required to provide consumer restitution, he or she had to post signage stating that customers with receipts who were covered by the agreement were eligible for refunds.  In some cases, customers that paid with a credit card will receive their refund automatically through the credit card company.

The following is a list of businesses that settled, along with their penalty:

• Pilot Travel Center #70, 7001 Highway 21, Port Wentworth, Georgia - Restitution plus $20,000 fine, which was assessed jointly against the 9 Pilot locations listed here

• Pilot Travel Center #319, 244 Connector 3 Southwest, Dalton, Georgia - Restitution plus $20,000 fine, which was assessed jointly against the 9 Pilot locations listed here.

• Pilot Travel Center #421, 142 Carbondale Road, Dalton, Georgia - Restitution plus $20,000 fine, which was assessed jointly against the 9 Pilot locations listed here

• Pilot Travel Center #65, 4091 Jimmie Dyess Parkway, Augusta, Georgia - Restitution plus $20,000 fine, which was assessed jointly against the 9 Pilot locations listed here

• Pilot Travel Center #67, 968 Cassville White Road, Cartersville, Georgia - Restitution plus $20,000 fine, which was assessed jointly against the 9 Pilot locations listed here

• Pilot Travel Center #422, 1645 Highway 29 South, Newnan, Georgia - Restitution plus $20,000 fine, which was assessed jointly against the 9 Pilot locations listed here

• Pilot Station #416, 2201 East 16th Avenue, Cordele, Georgia - Restitution plus $20,000 fine, which was assessed jointly against the 9 Pilot locations listed here

• Pilot Station #66, 5888 Highway 53, Braselton, Georgia - Restitution plus $20,000 fine, which was assessed jointly against the 9 Pilot locations listed here

• Pilot Station #68, 2185 U.S. 441, Dublin, Georgia - Restitution plus $20,000 fine, which was assessed jointly against the 9 Pilot locations listed here

• Chevron, 400 N. Cobb Parkway, Marietta, Georgia - Restitution plus $2,000 fine

• Citgo, 2900 Evans Mill Road, Lithonia, Georgia - Restitution plus $2,000 fine

• Leon's Food Mart, 5410 Matt Highway, Cumming, Georgia - Restitution plus $1,400 fine

• Super Speedzone, 678 North Expressway, Griffin, Georgia - Restitution plus $2,500 fine

• Kroger, 3139 Highway 278 NW, Covington, Georgia - Restitution plus $4,000 fine, which was assessed jointly against the 3 Kroger locations listed here.

• Kroger, 2325 Bethel View Rd., Cumming, Georgia - Restitution plus $4,000 fine, which was assessed jointly against these 3 Kroger locations

• Kroger Fuel Center, 3651 Peachtree Parkway, Suwanee, Georgia - Restitution plus $4,000 fine, which was assessed jointly against these 3 Kroger locations

• Lakeview Grocery, 3970 North Expressway, Griffin, Georgia - Restitution plus $1,500 fine

• Super Express, 3150 Wrightsboro Rd., Augusta, Georgia - Restitution plus $5,000 fine

• Shell, 3794 Bouldercrest Road, Ellenwood, Georgia - Restitution plus $1,000 fine

• Coastal Gas Station, 935 Dallas Highway, Douglasville, Georgia - Restitution plus $750 fine

• Oak Foods, 500 North Oak Street, Valdosta, Georgia - Restitution plus $2,500 fine

• Zetella Express, 4289 Highway 16 West, Griffin, Georgia - Restitution plus $2,500 fine

• Adel Truck Plaza, 1503 West Fourth Street, Adel, Georgia - Restitution plus $10,000 fine

• Shell (Top of the Ridge), 2874 Ridge Road, Douglasville, Georgia - Restitution plus $1,000 fine

• Aden's Minute Mart # 42, 1126 Bowens Mill Road, Douglas, Georgia - Restitution plus $1,000 fine

• Aden's Minit Market # 50, Georgia Highway 111, Meigs, Georgia - Restitution plus $750

• Aden's Minute Market # 52, 2067 U.S. Highway 19 SE, Pelham, Georgia - Restitution plus $1,000

• Stop N Shop #2, 3107 Lanes Bridge Road, Jessup, Georgia - Restitution plus $500

• Fillers #22, 801 Georgia Highway 96, Warner Robins, Georgia - Restitution only

• Fillers #24, 101 Marshallville Road, Perry, Georgia - Restitution only

• Marathon Ashland, 1325 South Main Street, Cedartown, Georgia - Restitution only

• Ashley's Convenience Store, 6001 Ogeechee Road, Savannah, Georgia - Restitution plus $3,000

• Executive Park Chevron, 2911 Buford Highway, Atlanta, Georgia - Restitution plus $5,000

(WSB Radio) -- DeKalb County police have increased patrols in the Briarcliff and LaVista road area after a woman was attacked while out for a morning jog.

Kimellen Tunkle, 54, was attacked around 7 a.m. Tuesday along Southland Vista Court at Briarcliff, just south of LaVista in the Briar Vista area.  Her family said Tunkle suffered several stab wounds, including a punctured lung, but is expected to recover.

Tunkle works as an aide to Atlanta death penalty lawyer Millard Farmer, and is the intensive care unit at Atlanta Medical Center.

Police said they've stepped up patrols in the neighborhood but have made no arrests. They haven't released a description of the assailant.

Richard Tunkle said his sister lives in that neighborhood and is an occasional jogger. He said she's in good spirits, despite the wounds.

"She is being her usual self, entertaining us, making quips," he said.

(WSB Radio)  A Lawrenceville man has pleaded guilty to the murder of a married woman in front of her husband and child.

In a last minute deal with prosecutors, Nghia Tran agreed to plead to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. 

He was in love with the victim, Bien Son, and shot her after she and her husband drove from Alabama to Gwinnett County to confront him.  The couple's infant son was asleep in the family car when they approached Tran.

 They demanded that Tran leave Son alone.  That's when Tran shot her, then himself.  He survived his wounds, but Son died a short time later. 

According to his attorney, Tran has no memory of what happened. 

Under the terms of the deal, Tran will get 25 years in prison and is eligible for parole.

(WSB Radio)  There's now a curfew in place for kids in Kennesaw.

The city council has passed an ordinance which bars people 17 years or younger from congregating in a public place between 8:30 in the morning and 2:30 in the afternoon on school days.

Exceptions include students who are traveling to or from school, or kids who have a note from the parents to be absent from school.

The city of Powder Springs passed a similar measure in 2006.

(WSB Radio)  Gwinnett County is maneuvering to allow Sunday beer sales at their new ballpark.

The county is asking the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to declare the stadium a regional economic assistance project.  That might open the taps in time for opening day of the Gwinnett Braves season.

The other option open for the county is to amend Gwinnett's liquor ordinance to allow beer sales at the ballpark as long as half of the stadium's sales are derived from food.

The Braves will open their inaugural season in Gwinnett on April 17.

(WSB Radio)  With the economy tanking and more people out of work, some are taking matters in their own hands to keep the lights on. Georgia Power says many of them are getting burned. Literally.

Carol Boatright at Georgia Power tells WSB's Pete Combs the number of people stealing power was way up last year.

"We saw an increase of almost 35-percent in electricity thefts over 2007," she says. That trend appears to be continuing.

"We think it is an indication oif the economic situation people are now finding themselves in," she tells WSB.

Power thieves are rewiring their electric meters, says Boatright. They're even running illegal power lines to poles near the street. In many cases, Boatright says, they're getting hurt.

"We'll see, actually, parts of bodies or other indications that there's been a burn or a burn accident," Boatright says.

If you lose your job and can't pay your power bill Boatright suggests you call the utility early and often. She says counselors there will try to work something out with you to help you avoid having the power turned off.

"Until the inventory (of existing and foreclosed homes) gets cleared out," Malcom tells WSB's Pete Combs, "the housing starts will eventually slow down again.

Indeed, Cobb County realtor Pat Steph tells WSB the new home market isn't going anywhere until more foreclosures are off the market.

"The foreclosure market in Cobb County in February was 77-percent larger than it was in January," she says. "The same is true for all the surrounding counties."

Steph says this may indeed be the first glimmerings of a housing market recovery. But she warns, don't bet on it.

(WSB Radio) Atlanta police believe revenge may be the motive for an early morning murder in northwest Atlanta.

The victim, described as a black man in his mid to late 30s, was shot to death around 1 a.m. Wednesday near the intersection of James P. Brawley Drive and Neal Street.

Witnesses told Atlanta homicide detectives the suspect approached the victim as he walked in the street with another person.  After the shooting, the accused gunman fled the scene on foot.

Several teenagers who witnessed the shooting were questioned at City Hall East and released.

Police say days later Buckner exposed himself again and made lewd comments to a 47 year old woman woman at the Four Dollar Car Wash at 3390 South Cobb Drive.  The woman was cleaning her vehicle.

Police say they don't know where Buckner is and would like the public's health in locating him.  He has a lengthy criminal record.  Anyone with any information is asked to contact Detective McDuffie at 678-631-5166 or 770-434-9481.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau)  A state lawmaker from Snellville blasts a proposal by Pres. Obama to make veterans use private health insurance to pay for combat or service-related injuries.

Rep. Melvin Everson, a veteran himself who served 23 years in the military, gave an impassioned speech in the well of the House to applause from fellow Republicans .

"We signed a trillion dollar stimulus bill not knowing where the money's going to come from but we can't even take care of our veterans?" he said.

Everson says he comes from a family of military servants including a brother who was permanently disabled after stepping on a mine during the Vietnam War.

"Have we arrived in this nation that we no longer honor the long standing tradition of taking care of our veterans who have put their lives in harms way to defend the very freedoms that we so richly enjoy," he said.

Everson is one of only two black Republican state legislators in Georgia, both serving in the House.

17 March 2009

(WSB Radio) -- Federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against convicted court house shooter Brian Nichols.

Nichols is already convicted on state murder charges stemming from his deadly escape attempt from a Fulton County courtroom on March 11, 2005.  David Nahmias, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia said today Nichols will not face a federal death penalty trial.

Nichols was sentenced to life without parole for killing Fulton County Superior Court Judge Roland Barnes, Court Reporter Julie Brandau, Fulton County Sheriff's Sergeant Hoyt Teasley, and U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Wilhelm.

On December 13, 2008 after a long trial, the state jury could not reach a unanimous decision as to whether Nichols should receive the death sentence.

Nahmias noted one of the reasons his office has decided not to pursue a case against Nichols is the fact that Nichols has not appealed his state convictions and sentence.

"The federal capital charges that might be applied to Nichols' conduct would be limited to the murder of David Wilhelm and would require proof beyond a reasonable doubt," Nahmias said in a statement to News/Talk 750 WSB.  "Even if those significant evidentiary issues were overcome and Nichols were convicted on a death-eligible charge, a federal jury might well not return a unanimous death sentence, as occurred in the state trial," he continued.

Nahmias added there is considerable value in not disrupting the finality that the state case provided to the many victims, survivors of victims, other witnesses, and the community.

17 March 2009

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau) -- The Georgia House of Representatives renews an effort to allow non-unanimous juries to recommend the death penalty. 

An attempt is being made to amend the proposal onto a Senate bill that would allow sentences of life without parole to be imposed in murder cases without first seeking the death penalty.  SB 16 was to be considered in the House Tuesday but was pulled and sent back to committee to make some "technical" changes.

House Majority Leader Jerry Keen tells WSB's Sandra Parrish he favors 9-3 juries to find for the death penalty, the same split that allowed Brian Nichols to avoid it in his sentencing.

"That's as we say up here a 'constitutional majority'... that's a two-thirds majority... that's a pretty strong vote," he says.

Keen says the House has passed a similar measure in the past, only not to receive support in the Senate.

SB 16 sponsor Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome) says it means his bill, which he's fought for for three years now, is dead for the session.

"I'm very disappointed at this late date in the session for a bill of this importance to be hijacked," he says.

The bill and its amendment are expected to be heard in the House Rules Committee Wednesday morning.

(WSB Radio)  A DeKalb County woman is hospitalized after being stabbed during her morning jog.

54 year old Kim Ellen Tunkle was stabbed in the back and left bleeding on the sidewalk near the intersection of Briarcliff Road and Southland Vista Court around 7 this morning.

"I heard a woman screaming across the street.  I saw two people tussling," Gilbert Treadwell tells Channel 2 Action News.  He was heading out for his own exercise when he heard the attack.  He may have saved her life.  "Didn't think about it.  just hear a woman in distress and you just go to her aid."

Treadwell drove towards the two people and saw one was a woman in jogging clothes.

"When my headlights came upon them, the man left and the woman, I saw, had been stabbed and was bleeding," Treadwell says.  "I helped her to the sidewalk and tried to stop the bleeding."

Treadwell says Ms. Tunkle told him as they waited for an ambulance that she thought there was another man waiting in a car nearby.

"I understand she was stabbed multiple times," says the victim's brother, Richard Tunkle.  "Punctured her lung." 

Tunkle is listed in stable condition at a local hospital and is expected to survive. 

(WSB Radio)  The economy is taking its toll on another local company.

Caterpillar has announced it's closing its facility in Jefferson, costing 89 workers their jobs.

Lower volumes are one reason cited for the cuts.  Caterpillar is also trying to bring production levels in line with demand.

The Jefferson plant will be shut down by the end of June.  Caterpillar is offering employees at Jefferson a severance package and will work with appropriate agencies on outplacement services.

"It is never easy to make the decision to close a facility and I want to thank our employees in Jefferson for their work and efforts," says Gary Stroup, Caterpillar vice president with responsibility for fuel systems.  "We are taking steps to consolidate these operations in order to remain competitive in the long-run."

The company will transition work to fuel systems facilities in Thomasville, Georgia and Pontiac, Illinois.

In addition, Caterpillar is laying off 189 production workers and 11 support and management employees at its plant in Griffin. 

Caterpillar produces generators, engines and oil service units in Griffin. 

Those layoffs will begin in May.

(WSB Radio)  Things are looking up for Lake Lanier.

The weekend rains that hit the metro Atlanta area this weekend have lifted the lake to its highest level in more than two years.

Lanier is less than 12 feet below full pool.  But state EPD Director Carol Couch warns that Lanier may be, "peaking out," and the Army Corps of Engineers predicts the lake level will remain about 1058 feet above sea level through early April.

Georgia is in its fourth year of drought.

(WSB Radio)  Fulton County is the latest local government to make it illegal to keep your dog chained up.

County Commissioner Robb Pitts sponsored the measure, which take effect in September.

You can keep your dog tied to a tree, if you're there with it.  But you can't leave it tethered there all day.

Violators can be fined up to $500 and can be jailed for up to 60 days.

(WSB Radio)  Johns Creek's bridge may be the cause of delays for some 911 calls.  If that sounds strange, it's not.

Emergency response times may be slower because fire trucks have to detour around undersized bridges. 

Four bridges in Johns Creek have been found to not be strong enough to support the 40 ton ladder trucks. 

The city doesn't have the ready cash it would take to bolster the bridges so, for now, the trucks have to make the detours.

The bridges are along Medlock Bridge, Parsons and Bell Roads.

The fire chief has ordered personnel to avoid them when on a call.  The department is now tracking its response times to assess the impact of the new routes.

(WSB Radio)  Four people face charges over the death of a 14 year old girl at a house in Hochston late last year.

Police say Brittany Brown died of an overdose of xanax and painkillers last Christmas.  Now, two adults and two teens are charged in her death.

37 year old Donna McDonald faces counts of involuntary manslaughter and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

40 year old Mark Ingram and two teenage boys face drug charges.

(WSB Radio) Public health officials are warning residents in east Cobb County after they noticed a rise in whooping cough cases.

Authorities are tracking down dozens of cases in East Cobb Elementary School.

"Pertussis is one of the most communicable diseases that we have.  It spreads easily," says Joy Wells, with the Cobb and Douglas County health department.  "When people cough or sneeze into the air, that's primarily the way that it's spread."

Wells says the cough began in November and has shown no signs of letting up.

"We saw a cluster of illness, if you will, starting in November," says Wells.  "Many times, if a cough does persist for at least two weeks and it gets worse over that time period, then parents do need to be aware that it could be pertussis."

(WSB Radio) Marietta police have issued an arrest warrant for a Health Place massage therapist.

Officer Brian Hosea says 32 year old Wilbert Gilmore is facing felony aggravated sexual battery and misdemeanor sexual battery charges.

"There was a victim, a woman there, who was there for a massage session," Hosea tells WSB.  "During that session, some type of sexual  event occurred.  She left and within about a block of the place she did call 911 to report the incident."

After interviewing the woman several times, arrest warrants were issued for Gilmore.

"I do not know how long he has been employed by Health Place," Hosea says.  "I do know detectives are looking into if there are other victims."

(WSB Radio) Clayton County has a new school superintendent.

Valya Lee was hired over the weekend after the school board fired former superintendent John Thompson.  Lee is serving in an interim capacity.

"We are going to take this district from good to great," Lee says.  She adds that, when it comes to regaining its accreditation, Clayton County schools are moving in the right direction.

"What I shared with them (the school board) is that, every decision that they make has to have, at the foundation of that decision, 'Is it in the best interest of the children.'"

Lee is the fourth school superintendent Clayton County has hired in the past two years.

(WSB)--Americans are engaging in dangerous habits when it comes to their prescriptions.

A Consumer Reports poll finds money strapped Americans are not getting prescriptions filled, sharing medications and cutting pills in half.

Dr. John Santa with Consumer Reports tells WSB's Sabrina Gibbons more than half of the people surveyed said they had reservations about taking generic prescriptions.  Although generic drugs are chemically identical to their branded counterparts, they are typically sold at substantial discounts from the branded price. According to the Congressional Budget Office, generic drugs save consumers an estimated $8 to $10 billion a year at retail pharmacies.

Dr. Santa says generic are safe to use. Health professionals and consumers can be assured that FDA approved generic drugs have met the same rigid standards as the innovator drug.

(WSB Radio) Gwinnett County Police have arrested a 17-year-old in connection with a string of car break-ins.

Corporal David Schiralli tells WSB Eric Duncan of Lawrenceville, has been charged so far with 11 counts of Theft by Receiving.

"We're looking at the Lawrenceville-Suwanee area, Lawrenceville-Dacula area.  Back in February,   there was a rash of entering autos in those cities," said Schiralli.

After searching Duncan's home, they found a large amount of electronic equipment.

Police say they've seen a significant increase in entering automobile crimes this year.  Currently, there have been 96 reported cases of entering auto incidents since January 1, 2009.  During the same time period of 2008, there were only 34 reported incidents.

Additionally, 73 percent of these thefts happen because citizens are leaving their vehicles unlocked.

Atlanta police spokesman James Polite tells WSB's Mark Alewine the victim was killed around 9:30 Monday night after being struck by at least three vehicles.  Officer Polite says all the drivers involved stayed at the scene and are cooperating with the authorities.

The accident investigation wrapped up and all lanes of I-85 in southwest Atlanta reopened just before 12:30 Tuesday morning.

(WSB Radio) -- The fugitive dubbed by law enforcement as "Little Houdini" has been captured in Florida, two weeks after escaping from custody in Cobb County.

The Polk County, Fla. sheriff's office says it arrested Christopher Daniel Gay, 34, on Monday in the parking lot of a Lakeland Wal-Mart in a stolen tractor-trailer.

He had escaped in the parking lot of a Waffle House near Kennesaw State University, on March 3, during transportation to Tennessee to face charges of stealing another trailer in January 2007 to try to get to his dying mother. He also is accused of stealing country singer Crystal Gayle's tour bus.

Gay is the main character in a 2007 song, ``The Ballad of Christopher Daniel Gay,'' by Grammy-award winning bluegrass picker Tim O'Brien.

Police say he never did see his mother who soon died.

In Cobb, Gay is charged with felony obstruction, giving false information to law enforcement, escape from custody and battery.

Gay's crimes are legendary.  He once stole singer Crystal Gayle's tour bus to show off to his ailing mother.

WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama on Monday offered a fresh package of aid to small businesses ``the heart of the American economy'' in an aggressive push to get big banks that got federal bailout money to do more lending to these struggling entrepreneurs.

``You deserve a chance. America needs you to have that chance,'' Obama told small business owners gathered in the White House East Room as the administration detailed various steps to get credit flowing to small businesses.

With Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner by his side, Obama said the nation has small businesses to thank for many of the new jobs, roughly 70 percent in the last decade. Geithner said as small businesses prosper, the nation does, a critical element to any economic recovery.

The White House announced a series of moves to get credit flowing to small businesses. The measures include boosting bank liquidity with up to $15 billion aimed at unfreezing the secondary credit market, reducing lending fees and increasing loan guarantees, and easing the tax burden. The administration also announced that the 21 largest banks receiving government money must report monthly on how much lending they do to small businesses.

The goal is to help those businesses make payroll, buy equipment and maintain or even expand employment as the nation's economy is bleeding jobs.

``As president I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure that you have the opportunity to contribute to your community, to our economy and to the future of the United States of America,'' Obama said.

Meanwhile, Obama expressed fresh outrage about Wall Street behavior. He said he would try to stop insurance giant American International Group, which has benefited from more than $170 billion in federal bailout funds, from paying $165 million in executive bonuses.

``How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?'' the president asked.

Geithner made a direct appeal to community banks to start lending again.

``When banks individually pull back out of a sense of prudence and caution, the collective impact of those actions will make the economy weaker and make each individual bank worse off,'' Geithner said. ``By pulling back on credit, you push businesses to pull back, and this dynamic can feed on itself.''

Geithner also ordered the Internal Revenue Service to issue a series of new rules for temporary but significant tax breaks, meaning that small businesses:

That earn up to $15 million will be allowed to claim losses for the past five years in the current tax year;

May write off up to $250,000 in investments this year.

Can reduce estimated tax payments to 90 percent of the previous year's filing.

Are allowed to take larger depreciation deductions within the first year of property purchases.

And will see 75 percent of capital gains excluded for those who invest in small businesses.

The administration plan includes $730 million from the stimulus package to immediately reduce small-business lending fees and to increase the government guarantee on some Small Business Administration loans to 90 percent.

Often primary bank lenders will seek to sell the SBA loans in the secondary market, allowing them to use the proceeds of the sale to make new loans to other small business owners, but skittish investors have been staying away. Under the administration's initiative, the government will step in to buy these loans to help unlock the frozen credit market, using money from the recently passed bailout package in the range of $10 billion to $20 billion.

While the SBA typically guarantees $20 billion in loans annually, new lending this year is on track to fall below $10 billion, according to the administration.

The reporting requirements for financial institutions receiving government bailout funds are the first, the White House said.

The plan comes amid Republican efforts to cast doubt about Obama's ambitious budget, in particular the proposal to raise taxes, starting in 2011, on individuals earning more than $200,000 and on households earning more than $250,000. Those provisions also hit small businesses.

NEW YORK (AP) The president and chief executive of Six Flags says one key debtholder is holding up negotiations for an out-of-court refinancing deal.

CEO Mark Shapiro did not name the debtholder but said it was a portfolio fund manager. He was speaking to investors on a quarterly conference call Monday.

The situation is increasing the theme park operator's difficulty in avoiding a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Shapiro is stressing that the company's restructuring whether in or out of court will not affect the experience visitors have at its theme parks.

Six Flags over Georgia is located in Austell in suburban Atlanta.

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

(WSB Radio) Jury selection gets underway today for a Lawrenceville man who allegedly shot the woman he was in love with.

Police say Nghia Trong Tran shot Bien Son is front of her husband and infant in August of 2006, then shot himself.  Tran survived.  Son did not.

The victim and her husband had driven from Alexander City, Alabama to Lawrenceville to confront Tran and to demand that he stop pursuing her.

Tran faces counts of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

The victim's husband and their two year old son were not harmed in the shooting.

CUMMING, Ga. (AP) Services are planned Saturday for a Peace Corps worker from Georgia who was found dead in the west African nation of Benin.

The service for 24-year-old Catherine ``Kate'' Puzey of Cumming is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday in Alpharetta at The Sanctuary at Birmingham United Methodist Church.

Lois Puzey says her daughter's body will be accompanied back to Georgia in a few days by a Peace Corps official.

Puzey's body was found early Thursday outside her home in Benin, and officials suspect someone killed her. Neither the State Department nor the Peace Corps has commented on the cause of death, which will be determined by U.S. and local investigators.

Her father, Harry Puzey, tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that he and his wife do not believe her death was political or random.

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

(WSB Radio) The Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery is spending the night at Emory Hospital/Midtown after a fall during Sunday morning services at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. 

The 87-year-old civil right icon became dizzy while taking part in the church's 123rd anniversary celebration.  Church member Anita Gilmore tells Channel 2 Action News "he just lost his balance, the chair was reaaly not positioned behind him and he did not hit the floor."

Ebenezer pastor Raphael Warnock says the hospital stay is just precautionary.  Doctors believe Dr. Lowery should be able to go home sometime on Monday.

(WSB Radio)  More and more Atlantans are concerned about the safety of their cash and valuables.  And more and more Atlantans are finding that security in a cube of steel.

Safes are hot now.  Very hot.  Local dealers say their sales are soaring, as the economy slumps.

"We're getting 2 or 3 calls a day, when I used to get 2 or 3 calls a week," says Dick Casper, owner of Lock Doctor and A-1 Security, in Sugar Hill. 

A big, expensive cube to store cash and valuables might not seem high on a recessionary shopping list. But sellers of safes say that business is up as customers confront new fears, be they losing money in failing banks or being robbed by desperate Atlantans.

With a home safe and their cash inside of it, "they don't have to worry about the banks," says Taylor Fredericks, Vice President of Arrowhead Lock and Safe in Atlanta.  "About whether their bank is going to be there on Monday or Tuesday."

Some people, fearful that their banks might fail, don't even trust cash anymore and are looking at home safes to secure their futures.

"They're storing cash," Casper says, "but I've had a few people call, they're buying gold bullion, gold bars."

People are buying safes these days as a way of sleeping better at night, feeling more at ease when they go out and as a way of keeping a sharp eye on whatever valuables they still have.

"The typical client has been wanting to keep more of a bird's eye view on their assets and their valuables," Fredericks says.

To that end, both Casper and Fredericks recommend heavy safes that can be bolted down, rather than so-called "microwave" safes, smaller, 100 pound lock boxes that you'd buy in a discount store.

"The thief or the crook will be thanking you on the way out," Fredericks says, "because you've supplied him with, essentially, a bag that weighs 100 pounds, where you've put every valuable and every asset in your home."

So, what should you look for in a home safe?  Casper says that's easy.

"Get a safe with hard plate so a burglar can't drill it," he says.  "Spend a little more and get a safe that protect the things that really matter."

Check the burglar and fire ratings, the experts say.

A top of the line safe would have a burglar rating of up to TRTL-60X6, meaning that a team of safecrackers, using tools and torches, were unable to penetrate any of the six sides within an hour. Experts say that such a safe is overkill for most homes, where something closer to a rating of TL-30X6, meaning a team using just tools, for half an hour, was unable to crack it, is enough.

As for fire ratings, the numbers tell the story.  15, 30, 60 or 120 indicates how long it would take the interior of the safe to reach 350 degrees in a fire, close to the temperature where paper burns.

"A good fire proof safe should be tested by United Laboratories," Casper says, "which tests safes at 1800 degrees. Imported safes, tested in places like Korea, are checked at 1250 degrees. Apparently, fires don't burn as hot over there."

Above all, safes need to be bolted or secured to the home's framework.  Options include drop safes, wall safes and floor safes.

The options don't stop there.

Safes are more than just security.  They're furniture in some offices, or in a person's home.  And so, the safe dealers offer customers way to accessorize.

"They come in hunter green, with a nice, gloss finish," Casper says.  "There's a burgundy , with a nice gloss finish.  There's also a gloss black, because black goes with anything."

And how much does a good safe cost?  Not nearly as much as you might think.

"You're looking at about $850," Casper says.  Fredericks agrees, saying good home safes run between $750 and $1200.  Casper believes it is well worth the investment.

"If you're protecting 5 or 10,000 dollars worth of valuables," he says, "why not spend a little more to make sure it's really protected."

(WSB Radio) An Atlanta police officer was injured after a driver lost control of his car and crashed into the officer's parked vehicle.

Authorities said the officer was working a previous wreck, in the rain, on I-75 Northbound near Mt. Paran road early Sunday morning.

"I thought 'Oh my god I hit a cop car," Robert Theberge, the driver in the other car, told WSB-TV. "By the time I saw the cop car sitting in the other lane I slammed on my brakes, I tried to swerve and I couldn't because another car was beside me."

Theberge crashed into a police car and spun it around. The officer was taken to Grady Hospital with shoulder pain. He's expected to be ok.

Theberge said, after his brakes locked up, the went roads made it impossible for him to miss the cruiser .

He received four citation for road violations. Theberge also admitted to having a drink about 90 minutes before the crash. Police said he was not under the influence.

The man suffered first and second degree burns along with smoke inhalation. He was one of 158 people at the Mosley Motel on Fulton Industrial Blvd. when it caught fire around 2 a.m. Sunday.

Fulton County Firefighters put out the blaze. They said two rooms were heavily damaged.

Investigators don't know what caused the fire. They have not said how many motel customers were affected by the blaze. Some had to be evacuated.

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) The Atlanta Braves' big-ticket Japanese import scuffled for the first time, while the Cardinals' Adam Wainwright enjoyed his best outing by far.

Kenshin Kawakami, signed to a three-year, $23 million deal in January, was disappointed after giving up seven hits and both runs in 4 2-3 innings of a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday. The 33-year-old right-hander entered as the only NL pitcher in the Grapefruit League with two wins and a 0.00 ERA, although he minimized the damage when the Cardinals had four hits in the second but left the bases loaded.

``I felt like I could have done better pitching from the stretch,'' Kawakami said through a translator. ``It was kind of a shame.''

Wainwright allowed a run and six hits in five innings with four strikeouts and no walks. It was a huge improvement over his first two outings in which he yielded nine hits and six runs, three earned, in 4 2-3 innings.

Between starts he threw an extended side session and threw on flat ground every day to work out his problems.

``Today was an important one for me,'' Wainwright said. ``Now I sort of feel like a big league pitcher again.''

Albert Pujols and Jason LaRue each had an RBI for the Cardinals. Pujols fouled out twice against Kawakami before hitting an RBI single in the fifth for the game's final run.

The Braves' Jeff Francoeur was 2-for-2, his third straight two-hit game, and is batting .333 after a 3-for-20 start. He has yet to strike out in 28 at-bats after fanning 111 times during a dismal 2008 in which he batted .239 with 11 homers and 71 RBIs and spent time in the minors.

``It's not even so much the hits as it is just feeling comfortable,'' Francoeur said. ``I'm not trying to hit home runs, I'm not trying to hit balls off the wall. It makes you excited about what's to come in the season.''

Francoeur said Pujols complimented him at first base after one of the hits.

``He told me, 'You look great, you look relaxed,''' Francoeur said. ``It feels good for people to notice.''

Wainwright retired the Braves' first three hitters in order three times, requiring only eight pitches to get through the first inning. The rest of the Atlanta lineup was 6-for-12 against the right-hander, including three straight singles in fourth by Francoeur, Matt Diaz and Martin Prado to produce Atlanta's lone run.

Prado was 3-for-3, raising his average to .310.

Wainwright welcomed the challenge from the Braves, who entered with a major league-best .306 batting average eight points better than the second-place Cardinals and an eight-game winning streak.

``The difference between a good start or a bad start several times during the season is making one pitch when you need to, or two pitches,'' Wainwright said. ``I had some jams that could have gotten bad and I was able to make some pitches.''

Kawakami said honing his control was the most important aspect of his game heading into the season. He's not happy with his velocity yet, either, although he said he'll be ready to go.
Notes: After the game the Cardinals optioned OF Nick Stavinoha and IF Jarrett Hoffpauir to Triple-A Memphis, leaving the team with 44 players in camp. Stavinoha batted .333 (6-for-18) and Hoffpauir .333 (6-for-18). ... Braves 1B Casey Kotchman snared a line drive blistered by Chris Duncan to end the first. ... The Cardinals have won six in a row, the last three in a span of 24 hours.

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

Peace Corps director Jody Olsen says Puzey, 24, was an exemplary volunteer for the agency in Benin where she taught English at a rural school in the village of Badjoude about six hours from the capital of Cotonou.

"Kate's life and work spoke volumes about the kind of dedication she had to her service as a volunteer, and the U.S. Peace Corps is greatly saddened by her loss," Olsen said in a statement.

Puzey's body was discovered early Thursday outside her home. Officials suspect she may have been murdered. Neither the State Department nor the Peace Corps has commented on the cause of death, which will be determined by U.S. and local investigators. Puzey had been working for the Peace Corps in Benin since July 2007.

AAA Boys: South Atlanta 81, Westover 62

MACON, Ga. (AP) Derrick Favors scored 38 points and grabbed 21 rebounds to lead South Atlanta to an 81-62 victory over Westover in the GHSA Class AAA boys title game Saturday night.

The South Atlanta standout and Georgia Tech commitment also added four blocks, and can now add state champion to his list of accomplishments. The championship is the first in South Atlanta (29-3) history.

Leading the way for Westover (27-8) were guards Terrance Noel and Greg Green, who each had 16 points.

The Hornets never trailed, despite having to stave off an aggressive Patriots team.

Entering the contest, South Atlanta had faced very few teams who had given it as much trouble as the Patriots did. The Hornets had beaten opponents by an average of 44 points per game this season.

AAA Girls: Carrolton 51, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe 31

MACON, Ga. (AP) Karisma Boykin scored 13 points and held Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe's leading scorer, Kayla Weaver to two points in the second half to give Carrolton a 51-31 win in the Georgia High School Association's Class AAA championship on Saturday night.

Trailing 24-23 at halftime, Carrollton opened the second half on an 11-0 run, sparked by four straight points from Alyssa Jones.

Kelsi Billings added 14 points for Carrolton.

Michelle Morgan led Lakeview with nine points and Weaver chipped in eight. Carrollton (32-2) held Lakeview (20-4) scoreless for the entire third quarter.

After losing to Lakeview by six points in the championship game of the Region 6-AAA tournament, Carrollton made the needed adjustments and used fullcourt pressure and double-teamed Weaver off of every screen to hold Lakeview to its lowest shooting percentage of the season.

AA Boys: Dublin 79, Blessed Trinity 64

MACON, Ga. (AP) Rashard Smith scored 12 points and dished out 11 assists to help Dublin defeat Blessed Trinity 79-64 for the Georgia High School Association's Class AA boy's championship on Saturday night.

Chris Smith and Sherrard Brantley scored 13 in the first half to lead the Irish (31-1) to a large halftime advantage.

Smith finished with 26 points, Tawaski King added 16 and Brantley scored 17 for Dublin.

Dublin last won the state title in 2006, when the senior core of the current Irish team watched from the bench as freshman.

Ryan LeGates led Blessed Trinity (26-7) with 23 points.

AA Girls: Buford 66, Model 35

MACON, Ga. (AP) Jocelyn Danley scored 21 points and Buford used its dominant press to roll past Model 66-35 to capture the Georgia High School Association Class AA girls state championship on Saturday.

The Lady Wolves (32-1) forced 28 turnovers and used their pressure defense to control the game. The Lady Blue Devils (31-1) committed four turnovers before taking their first shot, leading to a time out four minutes into the game.

In the third quarter, Buford turned four consecutive turnovers into four baskets and a 38-15 lead.

Danley played with stress fractures in both shins. Andraya Carter and Blanche Alverson added 11 points each for Buford.

Model was without leading scorer Janaye Jasper, who tore an ACL in Thursday's semifinal win over Henry County.

Shelby Farrer led the Lady Blue Devils with 13 points.

A Boys: Whitefield Academy 69, Turner County 53

MACON, Ga. (AP) Brandon Reed and Kennard Backman scored 17 points apiece to lead Whitefield Academy to a 69-53 victory over Turner County on Friday and the boys Class A state championship.

The Wolfpack (26-6) trailed 27-25 with 3 seconds left in the first half, then Chris Lovelace stole an inbounds pass and dished to Reed for an easy basket to tie the game.

The second half was all Whitefield. Seniors Cameron Baskerville and Aaron McLeod combined for 13 points in the third quarter as Whitefield outscored Turner County 20-4.

Baskerville fouled out just 34 seconds into the fourth quarter, but Backman connected on eight free throws while Reed scored six of his 17 points in the fourth quarter.

Whitefield was 33-for-52 from the foul line.

Ternell Davis scored 18 points to lead Turner County (30-2), which lost its third game in the final four in the past four years.

A Girls: Wesleyan 71, Savannah Country Day 31

MACON, Ga. (AP) Ann Marie Armstrong scored 18 points to help Wesleyan rout Savannah Country Day 71-31 on Saturday in the Class A Georgia High School Association state girls championship on Saturday.

The win gave Wesleyan (29-4) is the third state championship in four years, claiming its previous two in AA.

It was a fitting finish for Wesleyan, which has now won three state crowns in four years. The title also follows a postseason run in which the Wolves scored more than 80 points a game and yielded less than 30.

The Wolves took over early, darting through the Hornets (29-4) defensive sets to score numerous points near the basket. They also put together a 13-0 run to finish the quarter with a 26-5 lead.

Wesleyan also held Savannah Country Day to single digits until the third quarter.

Leah Baughn had 12 points for the Wolves.

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

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) Brett Sterling, back in the NHL for the first time since November, became a hero for the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night.

Hours after being called up from the minors, the 24-year old rookie scored the only goal in a shootout, giving Atlanta a 4-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

``I was kind of surprised,'' said Sterling, who played in his fourth NHL game this season after playing in 13 last season. ``I haven't done great in shootouts in the American league the last two years, but (coach John Anderson) gave me an opportunity. I had to put it upstairs, and I got it right up.''

``I had him for a couple of years in (the AHL with) Chicago,'' Anderson said. ``I saw him score 55 goals and go about 60 percent on shootouts. When he gets around the net with a little bit of time, he's usually pretty deadly.''

Sterling's chance in the fourth round of the tiebreaker came about because of Todd White, who forced overtime for Atlanta by scoring with 3.5 seconds remaining in regulation. He swatted in a rebound after Buffalo goalie Patrick Lalime could not control Ron Hainsey's slap shot from the high slot.

``I tried to go to he net,'' White said. ``I saw it lying there and just went for it.''

``In the last minute, we basically gave it away,'' Lalime said. ``It squeezed through. He came with a two-handed swat and there was no way for me to hold it down.''

``We have to make sure the puck stays in the corner or gets out,'' Buffalo defenseman Toni Lydman said.

For Buffalo, which earned a point with the shootout loss, it was little consolation. The Sabres have lost three of their last four games and are 10th in the Eastern Conference. They did move within two points of the eighth and final playoff spot.

``Your three best shooters go out in the shootout and don't get a goal,'' said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, who saw Derek Roy, Tim Connolly, Drew Stafford, and Thomas Vanek all come up empty in the shootout. ``That makes it tough.''

Slava Kozlov and Marty Reasoner also scored for Atlanta, a 13th place team playing the role of spoiler. The Thrashers have won five straight, equaling their season-high.

``We're trying to grow as a team and set the standard for next year,'' Anderson said. ``We want to win as many games as we can.''

Derek Roy had a goal and an assist in a 3:12 span in the second period for the Sabres. Daniel Paille and Maxim Afinogenov also scored for the Sabres, and Patrick Lalime made 29 saves.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 34 shots for Atlanta, who played without star left wing Ilya Kovalychuk because of an upper-body injury. He was hurt Thursday night a 4-3 overtime win at Edmonton.

Kozlov opened the scoring on a power-play goal with 26 seconds left in the first period. He banged in a rebound after Lalime stopped an initial shot by Zach Bogosian.

In the second period, Roy fed Paille for a tying goal with 6:41 remaining. Roy chipped a loose puck into the offensive zone and backhanded a pass from the right corner to the charging Paille for a tip-in.

Roy then scored with 3:29 to go, putting Buffalo on top for good as his slap shot from the blue line was tipped by Atlanta defenseman Boris Valabik. Afinogenov made it 3-1 before the period's end by banging in a pass from Thomas Vanek.

Reasoner scored a short-handed goal with 6:34 remaining to get Atlanta to within one goal.

Lalime, making his ninth straight start, is 3-4-2 since taking over for injured starter Ryan Miller.

Atlanta's other five-game winning streak this season was done between Nov. 2-14. Notes: All three games of the season series have been decided in overtime or shootouts. ... Kovalchuk, who leads Atlanta with 36 goals and 78 points, had not missed a game since last season, when he missed two straight on Feb. 1-2. ... Roy leads Buffalo with 15 multipoint games. ... Kozlov has played in 189 straight games. He can tie Bobby Holik's team record of 190 on Monday against Washington. ... Six of Buffalo's 13 remaining games will be at home.

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

JONESBORO, Ga. (AP) The man hired to help Clayton County regain its accreditation has been fired.

The county school board met on Saturday and unanimously voted to oust Superintendent John Thompson and then appointed Valya Lee, the assistant superintendent of support services, as interim superintendent of the 47,000-student district.

The board voted to pay Thompson the remainder of his annual $285,000 salary and benefits until his contract expires on June 30.

The termination comes a month before the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools returns to Clayton County to determine if the district improved enough to be reaccredited.

ATLANTA (AP) Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller had a knack for connecting big shots with people in need as he created a legacy of charitable works building homes around the world, former President Jimmy Carter said at a memorial service Saturday.

Fuller, who died last month at age 74, convinced Carter to be one of his most high-profile volunteers after Carter lost the 1980 election.

Together, they traveled from Atlanta to the Philippines and many places in between building homes. The service was held at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached from 1960 until his death in 1968.

Fuller's legacy was intertwined with King's, as both worked on behalf of the poor, Carter said.

``I'm here to represent many volunteers,'' Carter said. ``It's kind of presumptuous of me to say that. Our lives were transformed by our relationship with Millard Fuller.''

A millionaire by the time he was 30, Fuller gave up his fortune and invested his life in Habitat for Humanity, which he co-founded with his wife, Linda, in 1976 in a tiny house that doubled as Fuller's law office. Over the years, Habitat grew to a worldwide network that has provided shelter to more than 1.5 million people.

When his presidency was coming to an end, Carter, of Plains, Ga., had not heard of Fuller. But that changed after Carter saw a newspaper in which Fuller criticized him for being ``inattentive to the needs of the poor,'' Carter said at the service.

Carter said he and his wife, Rosalynn, soon learned about Habitat for Humanity and the Fullers and decided to meet with them at their home. Carter said he figured he would politely turn down the Fullers' request for his help in their cause because he was busy with other work.

At the sit-down, Carter said, Fuller had a legal pad with 32 things on it he wanted Carter to do.

``Eventually, we decided to do all of them,'' Carter said to laughter from the crowd.

Carter said it was hard to turn down Fuller because of his devotion to building homes for the needy.

``Millard goes to bed with inspirations, we go to bed with nightmares about what we need to do to carry out his vision,'' Carter joked.

Carter in recent years helped his friend when scandal that had smoldered for years flared anew to sully Fuller's legacy.

Habitat's international board moved to oust Fuller as chief executive officer after allegations surfaced that he had sexually harassed a female staff member in 2003. The move came despite the board's conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the charge.

However, the allegations mirrored complaints in 1990 from female staffers and volunteers that led to Fuller's yearlong exile from the organization's headquarters.

Fuller acknowledged he had kissed and hugged the women who made the 1990 complaints, but argued they had misinterpreted his actions. He categorically denied the later charge.

Carter intervened in both instances to prevent the board from ousting Fuller.

In 2004, Fuller reached a compromise allowing him to stay on in the largely ceremonial role of ``founder and president.'' After the Fullers backed out of an agreement not to discuss the situation publicly, the board voted in 2005 to oust them.

Months later, the Fullers and their supporters formed The Fuller Center for Housing, a fundraising group for Habitat affiliates.

Fuller died Feb. 3 near his south Georgia home after suffering from chest pains, headache and difficulty swallowing. He and his wife were planning to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in August with a 100-house worldwide ``blitz build.'' Those plans will likely go forward without him.

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

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) Five cities in Gwinnett County are stopping the use of red light cameras at busy intersections, saying they are too costly even though they have reduced accidents.

Norcross and Suwanee have removed the cameras, Snellville and Lilburn have suspended their programs for study and Duluth says it won't renew its lease when it expires in May.

The cameras monitor and record red light violations.

By summer only one government in Gwinnett will still be using the cameras the county government.

Officials say the cameras are working, with violations, accidents and injuries all down. But the program can cost cities $400,000 a year and the number of citations have dwindled since a state law mandates a one-second addition to the yellow phase at all camera intersections.

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