(WSB Radio) The wife of a Snellville man accused of kidnapping a woman while she was jogging, taking her to Tennessee, and raping her twice, has filed for divorce.

Christy Jansen of Snellville filed documents in Gwinnett County Superior Court on Friday. She has been married to David Joseph Jansen for almost 25 years. She also reportedly has a restraining order against her husband. It prohibits him from seeing his wife, their two kids, or coming near their Snellville home.

Jansen said the incident was a planned, consensual, sexual encounter.

Meantime, the victim, who was rescued when a pizza delivery man came to deliver a pizza, says she's already thanked him.

Chris Turner says the woman and her husband came by the restaurant.

"She seemed fine and everything, had a smile on her face - like trying to get it out of her head or whatever. You know, that's something I'd want to get out of my head also," said Turner.

ROME, Ga. (AP) Authorities say a Floyd County Prison inmate who fled from a work detail has been captured in metro Atlanta.

Warden Jeff Chandler says Jack Belcher was taken into custody about 7:40 p.m. Friday in Snellville through a joint effort of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force and Floyd County Prison officials.

Belcher took off Thursday afternoon in a City of Rome Public Works vehicle after asking to use the restoom at the city's water treatment plant. He was serving a sentence for possession of methamphetamine, impersonating another individual and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

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

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. (AP) It has been nearly 64 years since Theodore ``Dutch'' Van Kirk helped make history and end a war.

Though he left the military soon after World War II, he's never forgotten those days or his final bombing mission.

Veteran Theodore ``Dutch'' Van Kirk will be at Majestic Frames, 2507 Moody Road, in Warner Robins today from noon until 2:30 p.m. to meet people and sign books about the Enola Gay.

He went to Middle Georgia last week to commemorate another Memorial Day weekend, his 88th, to help others remember and to be sure the record is straight.

Van Kirk was the navigator for the special crew of the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress Bomber captained by Paul Tibbets Jr. that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945. It was hoped that the weapon developed in the top-secret Manhattan project would bring an end to the war.

It didn't immediately, and three days later a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki by another crew in another B-29. Finally, Japan surrendered.

In the years since, many have questioned the morality of the United States' use of the atomic bomb.

But Van Kirk has never doubted it was the right thing to do.

``It was war, and all war is awful, but it ended the war. There's not a GI who was over there in the Pacific then who will say we shouldn't have dropped it. They were going to have to invade Japan, and the losses, ours and theirs, would have been so much worse.''

Estimates at the time were that there might be a million U.S. casualties if Japan's home islands had to be invaded and conquered with ground forces.

Now, Van Kirk, the last surviving member of the 12-man crew that flew to Hiroshima that day, speaks to veterans groups, high schools, civic clubs and any others who will listen to his story.

``I probably speak three or four times a month now,'' Van Kirk said. ``I went to a high school not long ago and asked the students if they knew anything about World War II. One boy waved his hand and said, 'I do, I do. That's when we and the Germans fought the Russians.'

``The kids today don't know the history. That's because their teachers and parents don't know. But I try to tell them.''

Van Kirk grew up in Pennsylvania and went to college for a year before enlisting about a year before the U.S. entered World War II.

``I could see the war in Europe and knew it was coming to us. I didn't want to get drafted into the infantry, so I joined the Army Air Force,'' he said.

He wanted to be a pilot but washed out in training. He was going to volunteer to fly for Britain, but a captain talked him into staying in the Army and going to navigator school instead.

Soon he found himself in Florida with the 97th Bomber Group, 340th Squadron. There he first met pilot Paul Tibbets and bombardier Thomas Ferebee. They trained together and later crewed together in B-17s flying the first U.S. bombing missions over Europe from England.

Later, they flew Gen. Dwight Eisenhower on missions to North Africa, and then were sent home and broken up to train new crews.

Soon after, Van Kirk was contacted by Tibbets, who had been chosen to select crews for the atomic bomb missions being planned.

``He asked if I wanted to be in on something that could end the war. I said, 'Sure, we've all heard that one before.' But he told me this was really different,'' Van Kirk said.

So after 58 bombing missions in Europe, he was back off to war, this time in the Pacific.

Only this time, he flew just one mission.

After the war ended, Van Kirk said he considered staying in the service, but after seeing commands going to young West Point graduates rather than experienced war veterans, he decided to leave and go back to college. He earned degrees in chemical engineering and went to work for DuPont.

``I found out private industry can be a lot like the military a lot of politics but DuPont was good to me, and I'm still living on my pension from them,'' he said.

Three years ago, he moved to Stone Mountain after spending 28 years in California.

``People here in the South appreciate the military and veterans more. Memorial Day in California is nothing, just a day off. Here, some of the people still try to remember and honor those who have served, and those serving now.''

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

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) Georgia coach Mark Richt says safety John Knox is transferring to Georgia Military College for academic reasons.

Knox, a third-year sophomore, had eight tackles in 12 games in 2008.

Georgia announced on Saturday Knox will begin classes at Georgia Military College this month.

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

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Freshman Sean Gilmartin pitched a complete game and Jason Stidham had five RBIs in Florida State's 8-2 victory over Georgia on Saturday that advanced the Seminoles to the championship round of the Tallahassee Regional.

Florida State (44-16) jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Georgia senior Trevor Holder (7-5) settled down in the middle innings, retiring 12 consecutive batters during one stretch. Gilmartin (12-3) allowed two runs on five hits.

``Sean Gilmartin did a great job,'' said Georgia coach David Perno, whose team homered seven times a day earlier against Ohio State. ``He had our number. He did a tremendous job a lot of poise for a freshman.''

Georgia (38-23) will play Ohio State in an elimination game Sunday. The winner will play Florida State in the finals.

``It was a game that you really wish you could get excited about, but you can't because there's a lot of baseball left to be played,'' Florida State coach Mike Martin said. ``You wish there was a week between games that you could enjoy. But you can't. You've got to be ready to go (Sunday).''

Gilmartin's only blemish came when he missed with an inside fastball to Georgia cleanup hitter Rich Poythress, who hit his 25th homer, a two-run shot to right field in the fourth inning.

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

PHOENIX (AP) With Mark Reynolds, it's often been a strikeout or a home run, and not much in between.

On Saturday, it was his opposite-field double on an 0-2 count that paved the way for Arizona's 3-2, 11-inning victory over the Atlanta Braves.

Eric Byrnes singled home Reynolds to give the Diamondbacks a 3-2 victory.

``Mark's developing as a hitter every day,'' Byrnes said. ``He's got probably some of the best power I've ever seen. Obviously that's evident with the home runs. But I think he's really maturing as a hitter, starting to use the entire field and that's fun to watch.''

Reynolds opened the 11th with a ground-rule double off Jeff Bennett (2-2) that bounced into the Atlanta bullpen down the right-field line.

Reynolds moved to third on Miguel Montero's sacrifice bunt. With the infield playing in, Byrnes hit a dribbler up the middle.

``It's fundamental baseball at its finest,'' Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said, ``and we executed well there. We got a two-out hit with Chris Young (in the seventh). We did things to help you win games today.''

Juan Gutierrez and Tony Pena each pitched two scoreless innings of relief. Pena (5-2) retired all six batters for the win.

The Braves fell to 1-5 on their trip out West.

``That's a real tough loss,'' said Atlanta catcher David Ross, who got into a shouting match with Arizona's Justin Upton, clearing the benches. ``It's not sitting well with me right now.''

Javier Vazquez blanked the Diamondbacks through six innings but didn't make it through the seventh.

With one out and Arizona trailing 2-0, Byrnes beat out an infield single, then Ryan Roberts brought him home with a double to left-center. Roberts, a late addition to the starting lineup when Augie Ojeda was hurt in batting practice, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Young's pinch-hit single on a 3-2 pitch.

Left-hander Eric O'Flaherty came on to get Felipe Lopez to line out to right and Gerardo Parra to ground out to third.

``Vazquez was dynamite once again,'' Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. ``We just didn't do enough hitting to get more runs after the deuce we put up. It was real hard to pull him. I don't think he was even tired, either, but they hit a couple of balls good and we had to hold it.''

The Braves went up 2-0 in the third inning.

Ross led off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Vazquez, then scored when Kelly Johnson doubled over the head of Byrnes in left. Garret Anderson's two-out double to the right-field corner brought Johnson home.

The benches emptied for a brief shouting match after Upton walked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases for Arizona with one out in the sixth. Ross apparently didn't like the way Upton flipped his bat into the air after Vazquez threw the fourth ball. Upton turned and walked back toward the catcher, and the bullpens emptied. But order was quickly restored.

``That's stuff that goes on in the heat of the battle,'' Ross said.

Vazquez escaped the jam by striking out Stephen Drew and Reynolds.

Vazquez gave up two runs, one earned, and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings. He struck out eight, walked one and hit a batter with a pitch.

Arizona starter Doug Davis went seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, striking out three and walking two.

Montero led off the Diamondbacks' ninth with a single off Atlanta reliever Rafael Soriano and was sacrificed to second on Byrnes' bunt. Roberts was intentionally walked, then pinch-hitter Josh Whitesell struck out. The runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, but Lopez bounced out to third to send the game to extra innings.

Anderson flied out to the fence in right field to end Atlanta's 10th.
Notes: Ojeda was a late scratch at 3B after he was hit by a ball during batting practice, bruising his left quadriceps. ... Roberts is 9 for 20 on the homestand. ... Lopez (sore hamstring) got his first start in seven games. ... Matt Diaz got his first start in CF for Atlanta. Rookie Jordan Schafer, who had started in CF all 48 games before Saturday, came on in the bottom of the sixth. ... Drew struck out four times on his bobblehead day.

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

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Taylor Schlopy homered twice to help Georgia rally from an early three-run deficit for a 7-5 win against Michigan on Saturday night at the Women's College World Series.

Schlopy became only the fourth player in World Series history to homer twice in one game, and the sixth-seeded Bulldogs set a Series record with four home runs in a game.

Schlopy's three-run blast into the stands in left field put Georgia (46-11) on top 5-3 in the second inning, and Ashley Pauly and Brianna Hesson also homered.

Christie Hamilton (26-9) came on in relief and picked up her second win of the day despite having a series of illegal pitches called against her.

Roya St. Clair homered and drove in three runs to lead the Michigan (47-12) offense.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Southern Miss is on the verge of advancing to its first NCAA Super Regional just in time to send its coach into retirement.

B.A. Vollmuth homered, doubled and drove in four runs, and Southern Mississippi took advantage of Georgia Tech's worst defensive game of the season to beat the Yellow Jackets 10-7 on Saturday night.

Southern Miss (37-23) has won nine of its last 11 under coach Corky Palmer, who announced in April that he's retiring after the season.

The Eagles are playing in their seventh straight NCAA regional. This is the first year they've won their first two regional games.

``I've been in two previous regionals,'' Vollmuth said. ``This year it feels like we have something special working for us.''

Special? Not yet, Palmer said.

``It'll only be special if we can win one more game,'' Palmer said.

The Eagles can advance to the NCAA Super Regional with a victory on Sunday night against the winner of Sunday's elimination game between Georgia Tech and Elon.

Georgia Tech (36-18-1) committed a season-high five errors, including three by second baseman Connor Winn, that led to six unearned runs.

``Definitely not our best effort,'' said Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall, who pulled Winn following the sixth inning.

``He just has to pick his head up,'' Hall said of Winn. ``I've watched the guy for nine months and he's a great defensive infielder. He just didn't have a good night. It can happen to anybody. I'm sad it happened to him.''

Luke Murton hit a three-run homer in Georgia Tech's four-run ninth. Thanks to the five errors, the Yellow Jackets trailed 10-3 before the inning.

``We know we've got to play better,'' Murton said.

J.R. Ballinger (6-3) gave up seven hits and five runs, four earned, with five walks in 8 1-3 innings.

Palmer had his bullpen working and appeared to be on the verge of pulling Ballinger in Georgia Tech's two-run second inning. The Yellow Jackets still had the bases loaded with two outs, but Ballinger struck out Derek Dietrich and ended the inning with a groundout by Chris House.

``That was huge; those were two big outs he got,'' Palmer said.

Winn had fielding and throwing errors in the Eagles' three-run third. He added a fielding miscue that set up a four-run fifth inning that gave Southern Miss the lead.

``Georgia Tech made some mistakes ... but we had to get some big hits after they made the mistakes,'' Palmer said.

Tech starting pitcher Brandon Cumpton (4-3) gave up six hits and eight runs, only two earned, in 4 2-3 innings.

Southern Miss, backed by a large traveling fan base, committed no errors and turned double plays to end the fifth and sixth innings.

Tony Plagman drove in two runs for Tech.

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

(WSB Radio) The GBI and the Fulton County Medical Examiner are trying to determine how a man died while he was in the custody of East Point police. 

Rodney Winfrey was detained around 11 o'clock Friday night night because he was darting in and out of traffic along Langford Parkway near Stanton Road.  Police were alerted to the situation by numerous 9-1-1 calls from drivers in the area.

While handcuffed and under the care of emergency medical technicians for serious injuries to his arms and legs, Winfrey collapsed.  He was pronounced dead a short time later at South Fulton Medical Center.

(WSB Radio) Atlanta police have no motive and no suspects in the machete murder of a 27-year-old woman.

Sheena Martin was found Saturday morning in a unit of the Dolphin Court Apartments off of Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard in southwest Atlanta.

APD homicide detective Keith Meadows tells Channel 2 Action News "several of Miss Sheena Martin's family members came over to the apartment after several failed attempts to contact her."  He says "it appears one of the sisters actually climbed in through a window and found her dead from an apparent stab wound to the neck."

Lt. Meadows says the murder weapon was still stuck in the woman's body when police arrived on the scene.

The Fulton County Medical Examiner believes Miss Martin had been dead for at least three or four days.

(WSB Radio) -- Atlanta police have recovered the SUV belonging to the victim of Thursday morning's fatal stabbing at Piedmont park.

Atlanta Police spokesman Eric Schwartz told WSB Radio, officers found Patrick Boland's vehicle Friday night. He did not say where the white Toyota Sequoia was recovered.

Police have not named any suspects or released a motive. Boland, 42, was stabbed in the chest around 2 a.m. Thursday.

Investigators also told WSB, they are trying to determine if there is a connection to another stabbing less than a half hour later at Juniper and 6th streets, a few blocks south of Piedmont Park.

PHOENIX (AP) Starved for run support much of the season, Atlanta's Jair Jurrjens almost didn't know what to do when Yunel Escobar's three-run homer gave him a nine-run lead.

Jurrjens struggled through five innings, then turned the game over to the bullpen as the Braves hung on for a 10-6 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night, snapping a four-game losing streak.

``I was so close to blowing up,'' said Jurrjens (5-2), who helped his cause with a two-run double. ``Baseball is so funny. You ask for runs, they give you a lot of runs, then you give back a lot of runs.''

In one stretch of six starts this year, the Braves scored a total of nine runs while Jurrjens was in the game.

They topped that in four innings, hammering Arizona's Jon Garland (4-4). Escobar's shot off Garland capped a five-run third inning and gave the Braves and Jurrjens what looked like a comfortable 9-1 lead.

After the Braves added another run in the fourth, Arizona pulled to 10-5 two innings later when Ryan Roberts led off with a double and scored on Gerardo Parra's single. Atlanta manager Bobby Cox was so concerned that he had a reliever warming up.

Jurrjens responded by striking out hot-hitting Justin Upton and retiring Stephen Drew and Mark Reynolds to end the inning, and his outing.

``I was like, if I give up more hits, there's a chance I'm going to lose my win,'' Jurrjens said. ``Pitching with a big lead like that's really difficult. I think I prefer to pitch when the game is closer.''

Jurrjens allowed a season-high five runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out five. He entered with a 2.07 ERA, third in the NL, and left with a 2.59 ERA.

``He had probably his worst game of the year,'' Cox said. ``But he got it all together in the fifth inning. He really sucked it up. He deserved that win.''

Five Atlanta relievers limited the Diamondbacks to one run the rest of the way.

Chad Tracy had three hits, including a homer, and drove in four runs for the Diamondbacks, who fell to 3-8 at home under new manager A.J. Hinch.

``Certainly our guys bounced back and tried to make a game of it,'' Hinch said. ``But all in all, just kind of got beat up tonight.''

Eight Braves had hits before Arizona's pitcher batted in the third and by then it was reliever Leo Rosales.

Atlanta scored four in the second inning, with Jurrjens doubling in two runs, Jeff Francoeur singling in a run and another run scoring on a throwing error by Parra in left field.

The Braves made it 9-0 in the third on Kelly Johnson's two-run single, and Escobar's three-run homer on the last of 78 pitches thrown by Garland. Escobar returned to the lineup after missing six games because of a strained right hip flexor.

Garland gave up nine runs, eight earned, and nine hits and three walks in 2 2-3 innings. He has allowed at least seven earned runs four times in 12 starts dating to last season.

``It's flat-out terrible,'' Garland said.

Garland has allowed 19 earned runs and 29 hits in his last three starts at Chase Field.

Maybe it's the roof's fault.

On Friday night, the roof was open on a 99-degree night in the desert. The ballpark is said to be friendlier to pitchers when the roof is closed.

``I still vote to have it closed, and they won't close it for me,'' Garland said with a grin. ``But what do you do? Get back up there in five days and give the boys a chance.'' Notes: The Diamondbacks-Braves game rained out May 17 game has been rescheduled for Aug. 17 in Atlanta. For Arizona, the game will be at the front end of a scheduled nine-game trip to Philadelphia, Houston and San Francisco. ... Arizona LHP Daniel Schlereth pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning as he made his major league debut less than a year after the club drafted him in the first round. ... Arizona 2B Felipe Lopez, bothered by a hamstring injury, was out of the starting lineup for the sixth straight game but bounced out as a pinch hitter.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Deck McGuire overcame the jitters of a big inning and proved why he's the Atlantic Coast Conference pitcher of the year.

``There always seems to be one inning where I hit a little speed bump,'' he said. ``I try to come in, collect myself and go back out and start a new inning.''

McGuire scattered three runs over seven innings, Matt Skole hit a grand slam, and Georgia Tech beat Georgia State 9-3 in their NCAA tournament opener Friday night.

After snapping Georgia State's eight-game winning streak, the Yellow Jackets (36-17-1) will play Southern Mississippi in the winners' bracket game Saturday. Georgia State (39-21), which had its first NCAA appearance spoiled, will face Elon in an elimination game.

McGuire (11-1) allowed nine hits and three runs with no walks and seven strikeouts in seven innings.

Skole's first career grand slam, his 16th homer this season, came off Georgia State starter Will Palmer (5-6) in the fifth inning to give the Yellow Jackets a 6-3 lead.

``I was just trying to get a pitch that I could in play, maybe find a hole and get a couple of runs,'' Skole said. ``At that time, we were down and needed one big hit to get us going. Luckily, he threw a fastball in, and I got the turn on it.''

Georgia Tech, participating in its 23rd NCAA regional in 25 years, trimmed the Panthers' lead to 3-2 earlier in the fifth when Palmer gave up Tony Plagman's bases-loaded RBI walk.

``I think our kids were very ready to play,'' Georgia State coach Greg Frady said. ``They handled themselves very well, and this is only going to help us in the future as we go forward.''

Palmer allowed six hits, seven runs six earned with four walks and six strikeouts in five innings, but the five-run fifth was too much to overcome.

``Yeah, it was a little frustrating,'' Palmer said. ``I threw (Skole) a fastball and didn't make my pitch, just one pitch I missed. But they did the job in getting runners on base.''

In the sixth, Jeff Rowland's RBI single off reliever Aidan Francis put the Yellow Jackets ahead 7-3.

Georgia State erased a 1-0 deficit in the second. Bradley Logan tied it with his 10th homer, and fifth in five games, before Matt Van Horn scored from second on a throwing error and Marc Mimeault scored on a double-play grounder.

McGuire acknowledged trying to pitch Logan too carefully.

``I didn't want to walk him, and so I figured that hitters get themselves out 70 percent of the time anyway,'' McGuire said. ``But he didn't get himself out. Logan is a tough out.''

Luke Murton's two-RBI single in the eighth ended the scoring.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Grady hospital officials are continuing to try to satisfy the Fulton County Commission's request for more information on the care of the indigent poor.

The county commission is holding back $26.5 until it's satisfied with the answers.

The hospital and the county spent months wrangling over a memorandum of understanding regarding Gradys care of poor and uninsured Fulton County residents.

Grady spokesman Matt Gove says hospital officials submitted what they hope is the final piece of information Thursday.

Fulton County provides about $80 million of Gradys approximately $730 million annual budget for the purpose of providing charity care for the poor and uninsured.

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

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Limping into the NCAA Regional amid a prolonged slump, Georgia battered Ohio State 24-8 behind a season-high 23 hits Friday night, including seven home runs.

``It was three weeks of pent-up frustration that came out,'' said Georgia coach David Perno, whose team had dropped 14 of its previous 19 games. ``We figured some things out this week and put it to good use.''

The second-seeded Bulldogs (38-22) scored eight runs in the first off Buckeyes All-American Alex Wimmers and kept the pressure up, despite a five-hour weather delay.

Rich Poythress belted three homers and drove in seven runs, while Matt Cerione and Joey Lewis combined for nine RBI on two homers each.

``Its huge for us,'' Poythress said of the victory. ``Ive been saying all week that (the regional) is a chance to start over. Getting the confidence going is big.''

Georgia wasted no time as Cerione and Lewis homered in the first off Wimmers (9-2), who walked seven and surrendered eight hits in four innings of work.

``You couldnt ask for a better start,'' Perno said.

The third-seeded Buckeyes (40-18) got a two-run double from Ryan Dew in the third to pull within 8-2 before Poythress and Lewis got those runs back with solo homers in the fourth. Poythress, whose seven RBI gives him a single-season record 84 on the season, tacked on a two-run homer in the seventh.

Poythress and Cerione each contributed grand slams in a 10-run eighth inning as the Bulldogs established a team record with 104 homers on the season.

Georgia will meet the winner of Fridays late game between top-seeded Florida State and fourth-seeded Marist on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Ohio State will face the loser at noon Saturday.

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

ATLANTA (AP) A former police sergeant's husband whose nude photos of young girls led to scandal in the Atlanta Police Department has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

Terrill Marion Crane pleaded guilty Jan. 22 to producing child pornography.

Federal prosecutors say Crane started making photographs of sexual encounters with young girls in 1999. In 2003, his wife found and burned some of the photos.

In 2007, Atlanta officers advised the FBI of photos of 11 mostly middle school-age girls. Some were identical to pictures initially provided to Alanta police in 2000.

Allegations of a coverup led to an internal investigation and the demotion of a police official who was later reinstated by the city's Civil Service Board.

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

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) Atlanta Falcons offensive lineman Quinn Ojinnaka is free on $2,400 bond after being accused of fighting with his wife.

A Gwinnett County police spokesman confirmed that Ojinnaka, a fourth-year reserve drafted out of Syracuse in the fifth round of 2006, was charged with simple battery. His wife, whose name is not listed on the Falcons' web site, reportedly confronted him for contacting a female friend on Facebook, got tossed down some stairs and thrown out of their house in Suwanee late Tuesday.

Ojinnaka, who has started seven of 30 career games, reportedly told police she began the fight by attempting to stab him with a pen.

Falcons spokesman Reggie Roberts said Friday that coach Mike Smith had talked with Ojinnaka but the team would have no further comment.

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

(WSB Radio)  The Snellville man accused of kidnapping a woman while she was jogging, taking her to Tennessee, and raping her twice, is not behind bars.

WSB Legal Analyst Ron Carlson says the $800,000 bond set for 46-year-old David Jansen is considered a very substantial one.

"Setting it much higher risks having a bond amount which might be attacked by in court by defense attorneys, as a violation of the constitutional prohibition against excessive bail," said Carlson.

He says the judge probably didn't consider him a flight risk, since he has a wife and two young children at home.

Meantime, the victim, who was rescued when a pizza delivery man came to deliver a pizza, says she's already thanked him.

Chris Turner says the woman and her husband came by the restaurant.

"She seemed fine and everything, had a smile on her face - like trying to get it out of her head or whatever.   You know, that's something I'd want to get out of my head also," said Turner.

5/29/09

(WSB Radio/AP) -- Closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay would purge the U.S. of a symbol used by enemies to divide the nation, the head of the U.S. Central Command said Friday.

Army Gen. David Petraeus said the U.S. military is ``beat around the head and shoulders'' with images of detainees held in Guantanamo, the facility in Cuba President Barack Obama has vowed to close. He said closing Guantanamo and ensuring detainees are dealt with by an appropriate judicial system would bolster the nation's war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq.

``I do believe very strongly that we should live our values,'' he said. ``Generations of soldiers have fought to defend those values, and we should not shrink from living them, from operationalizing them, on the battlefield.''

Petraeus, who oversees U.S. military involvement throughout the Middle East, Afghanistan and Central Asia, is dealing with another symbol of American hostility after dozens of civilians died in western Afghanistan this month.

``We do not want our soldiers fighting with one arm behind their back, we do not want fair fights. We want our soldiers to be able to employ all the means that we've employed over there to support them and enable them when we make contact with the enemy,'' he said.

At the same time, though, he said the military must strive to achieve its top goal: ``We're there to secure and serve the people and that is our paramount mission.''

Petraeus spoke after delivering a commencement speech to 38 graduates of Georgia Gwinnett College, a suburban Atlanta liberal arts school that opened in 2006.

He told the 38 graduates, wearing black robes in the baking heat, that the nation needs a new generation of civilian ``world changers'' who can help bolster the troubled economy, fix the health care crisis and tackle other pressing challenges in the future. And he pressed them to remember that serving the country goes beyond joining the armed forces.

``You might suspect that someone wearing a uniform would think of service in terms of military service,'' he said. ``But service comes in many forms. Whether in the commercial sector or in local political arenas, on the health care front or in the educational arena, there is much work worth doing.''

His address is considered a landmark event in the young history of Georgia Gwinnett College, which opened in 2006.

Back then, said school president Daniel J. Kaufman, it had 10 faculty members and no fitness center and celebrated its first holiday party in a classroom. Now it boasts 1,700 students and is primed to accept thousands more in the next decade, said Kaufman, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general who taught with Petraeus at West Point about 20 years ago.

For a morning, at least, the bulldozers and construction cranes shaping new libraries and classrooms on the school's growing campus were quiet as the general best known for effectively overseeing the ``surge'' strategy in Iraq offered his advice. He recognized that students will face significant challenges in trying to serve their country.

``This is certainly the case in today's tough economic times, when finding a job and paying back student loans can be particularly daunting processes,'' he said. But, he reminded the students, ``achieving any worthwhile goal can be a long, hard slog and almost always requires relentless determination.''

29 May 2009

By DORIE TURNER
Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA (AP) Khoa Nguyen is one relieved high school valedictorian.

The 17-year-old graduated the top of his class from Morrow High School in Clayton County on Friday after months of uncertainty over whether his diploma would be from an accredited district. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools restored the 48,000-student district's certification earlier this month, easing the fears of many antsy students that their diplomas would be worthless.

``The first thought in my mind was 'Oh, thank God,''' Nguyen said about hearing the news May 1 that Clayton County had accreditation again after being without it for eight months. ``I think it does have a sense of worth behind it, knowing your school is worth something when compared with other schools.''

Nguyen, who will attend the Savannah College of Art and Design's Atlanta campus in the fall to major in video game design, is one of about 2,200 seniors getting diplomas from Clayton County high schools Friday and Saturday. On Friday, Nguyen and his Morrow High classmates lined up in green and white gowns at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta for their graduation ceremony.

``I'm happy the school system got its accreditation back so all the hard work the children went through won't go to waste,'' said Nina Pierce of Hampton, as she prepared to watch her daughter, Amber Williams, and stepdaughter, Isha Pierce, graduate. ``I was definitely nervous at first. I didn't think they were going to pull it off.''

Clayton County schools lost accreditation with the Atlanta-based national accrediting agency in September, putting students at risk of being ineligible for admission to some colleges and for some scholarships. SACS blamed the district's woes on a ``fatally flawed'' school board that harassed school employees, meddled in the day-to-day operations of schools and frequently squabbled during meetings.

All nine members of the board have since been removed or have resigned, and the district's new superintendent, Edmond Heatley, is set to take over July 1.

The district is on probation with SACS, which means it has to submit progress reports to the agency over the next two years and host monitors from the accrediting agency to prove the schools are meeting standards. Should problems resurface, the district could again lose accreditation.

The restored badge of approval paves the way for the 59-school district to regain millions in state and federal funds lost after an exodus of about 3,000 students over the accreditation crisis. School officials estimate the district will lose $33 million because of the enrollment loss.

On the Net:

Clayton County Public Schools: http://www.clayton.k12.ga.us/index2.asp

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

JACKSON, Ga. (AP) After meeting for nearly two hours with death row inmate Troy Davis on Friday, two Georgia congressmen and the president of the NAACP say they are convinced of his innocence and committed to saving his life.

Congressmen John Lewis and Hank Johnson say they plan to pursue other legal means to resolving Davis' case, which is in the U.S. Supreme Court on appeal. NAACP President Ben Jealous says the case is now a national priority for his organization.

Davis was convicted in the 1989 killing of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. His guilt was put in question after several witnesses from his trial changed their testimony. Supporters are calling for a new trial.

Lewis says he has considered asking for a presidential pardon for Davis, but has not yet spoken to President Barack Obama about intervening in the case.

WASHINGTON (AP) The Obama administration is creating a ``cyber czar'' within the White House to coordinate the nation's computer security. Critics already say the post will not have enough authority to haul the government into the digital age.

Government and private industry need to better protect the nation's computer networks, the White House warns in a plan to be rolled out Friday as the administration sets broad goals for dealing with cyber threats.

President Barack Obama is expected to say that cyber security is a top priority of the administration and to call for a new education campaign to raise public awareness of the challenges and threats cyber security involves.

Completed six weeks ago, the much-anticipated cyber report has been delayed because policymakers in and outside the White House have been at loggerheads over how much power and budget-making authority the new office will have.

According to officials familiar with the discussions, the cyber czar would be a special assistant to the president and would be supported by a new cyber directorate within the National Security Council. The cyber czar would also work with the National Economic Council, said the officials, who described the plan on condition of anonymity because it has not been publicly released.

The special assistant title is not as high in the White House hierarchy as some officials sought. It would not give the czar direct, unfettered access to the president. Instead, the official would report to senior NSC officials a situation many say will make it difficult to make major changes within the calcified federal bureaucracy.

Government and military officials have acknowledged that U.S. computer networks are constantly assailed by attacks and scans, ranging from nuisance hacking to more nefarious probes and attacks. Some suggest that the actions at times are a form of cyber espionage from other nations, such as China.

Federal officials and corporate leaders familiar with the review say it will urge private industry to better protect networks against hackers and cyber criminals. The plan will call for accountability from both the government and industry in ensuring the security of the nation's networks.

The study will depict the U.S. as a digital nation that needs to provide the education required to keep pace with technology, and attract and retain a cyber-savvy work force.

But the review does not explicitly dictate how the government or private industry should tighten digital defenses. Critics say the cyber czar will not have sufficient budgetary and policymaking authority over securing computer systems and spending.

Dale Meyerrose, a retired Air Force major general now vice president at Harris Corp., said the administration needs to improve the ways government agencies use and secure their computer systems and how they spend their budgets.

The White House, Meyerrose said, needs ``to empower this person to solve the problems.'' But, he added, ``this is an initial step and to expect it to completely change how we run government is asking way too much.''

Because of lingering uncertainty over the cyber czar's authority and presidential access, several contenders for the post took themselves out of the running, according to one former administration official.

But a handful of candidates were still being mentioned as late as this week. Obama, however, is not expected to announce who will get the job during Friday's unveiling of the review, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the selection process is ongoing.

Obama ordered a 60-day cyber review shortly after taking office, and the exhaustive study has been lauded by government officials and well as technology executives. The review was led by Melissa Hathaway, once an aide to President George W. Bush and appointed by Obama to fashion a broad policy for the computer systems that govern everything from power grids and airline traffic to military computers.

Corporate leaders who met with Hathaway praised her efforts to reach out to private industry. Franck Journoud, manager of information security policy for BSA, said the administration had a ``healthy debate'' over how to ensure cyber security without limiting innovation and economic development.

Others cautioned that expectations may have been set too high for the review's results.

Lawmakers are already taking steps to shape the government's cyber policies, and in some cases may call for stronger action that the president is expected to take.

Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, who chairs the Senate's commerce committee, has introduced legislation with Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, that would establish a national cybersecurity adviser office, led by someone who would report directly to the president.

U.S. cyber efforts have been plagued with turf battles and confusion over who controls the country's vast computer systems.

Earlier this year the head of the nation's cybersecurity center, Rod Beckstrom, resigned, bluntly complaining about a shortage of money for the center and a clash over whether the National Security Agency should control cyber efforts.

The role of the NSA the agency oversees electronic intelligence-gathering in protecting domestic computer networks has triggered debate, particularly among privacy and civil liberties groups who oppose giving such control to U.S. spy agencies.

Intelligence officials argue, however, that they must be involved in order to adequately defend the country and its networks.

Although Obama's new review put overall control and coordination of cyber at the White House, it reportedly does not get into the NSA debate.

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

(WSB Radio) -- A Gwinnett County man is behind bars in Tennessee, accused of kidnapping a woman from Atlanta and raping her in a rental cabin near Pigeon Forge. 

46-year-old Charles Jansen of Snellville allegedly abducted the 24-year-old woman Tuesday as she jogged near her home. 

Jansen was arrested Thursday after a pizza delivery man spotted the victim tied up on a couch in the cabin and called 9-1-1.  Sevier County deputies freed the woman, obtained a search warrant for the cabin and found evidence that a crime had been committed. 

Jansen is being held in the Sevier County jail on $800,000 dollars bond.  The charges in Tennessee include aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape.  The Sevier County Sheriff's Department is working with Atlanta police to determine a timeline of what happened.

PHOENIX (AP) Dan Haren slipped and fell after delivering a pitch in the eighth inning. It was one of very few stumbles for the right-hander all night.

Haren outpitched Derek Lowe and the Arizona Diamondbacks took advantage of second baseman Kelly Johnson's error to score four times in the fourth inning on their way to a 5-2 victory over Atlanta on Thursday.

``He can control a game,'' Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch said of Haren. ``It's a sight to see when he competes. He executes pitches, he's got a game plan. He doesn't back down. He thinks along with the hitters.''

Haren (4-4) retired 15 in a row before a two-out double by Johnson and RBI single by Casey Kotchman in the eighth inning. The last batter Haren faced was Chipper Jones, who had doubled in a run earlier in the game. Jones struck out looking.

``That was one of the best balls I threw all night,'' Haren said. ``He's a tough guy to strike out. He's given me some trouble over the years. I knew I had to make a perfect pitch and I knew it was probably my last batter, too, so I dug in deep and made the pitch.''

He allowed two runs and seven hits in eight innings, striking out eight to earn his first victory in four starts.

``We hit the ball really good early in the game,'' Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said, ``and later on Haren got really tough. ... You can say `Well, we didn't hit the ball tonight,' but he was hard to hit at. A lot of teams wouldn't have hit him tonight at all.''

Haren has not walked a batter in his last three outings. He's walked nine all season, with 71 strikeouts.

Lowe (6-3) gave up five runs, three earned, and a season-high 10 hits for the Braves, who were swept in three games in San Francisco before opening a four-game set in Arizona.

``I pitched poorly pretty much the whole game,'' Lowe said. ``That was pretty much a grind from the first pitch all the way through. I was just fortunate to not give up any more runs.''

Chad Qualls pitched a perfect ninth, with some defensive help from second baseman Augie Ojeda and shortstop Stephen Drew, for his 12th save in 14 opportunities.

Justin Upton singled three times for the Diamondbacks to raise his average to .346. The 21-year-old outfielder has hit safely in seven straight games and 30 of the last 33.

The error by Johnson on what looked to be a double play cleared the way for Arizona's big fourth.

``I was just trying to catch the ball first and make the best play possible after that, whether that's to go to second or go to first, but it just kind of hopped up on me and I didn't catch it,'' Johnson said.

The miscue left runners at first and second with no outs, and Mark Reynolds doubled to right-center on the next pitch to bring home both runs.

Eric Byrnes and Ryan Roberts followed with RBI singles to put the Diamondbacks up 5-1. Two of the Arizona runs were unearned.

Reynolds, Byrnes and Roberts each had two hits. Byrnes tripled and scored on Chris Young's sacrifice fly to give Arizona a 1-0 lead in the second.

The Braves tied it in the third when Jones doubled in Johnson.

Haren fell on a 1-0 pitch to Jordan Schafer leading off the eighth. After talking to trainers, he got back on the mound and struck Schafer out.

Haren said he rolled his foot in a hole that Lowe creates in his landing area.

``It scared me for a second,'' he said. ``Once I stood up I knew I was fine.''
Notes: After the game, Arizona optioned LHP Doug Slaten to Triple-A Reno, with a corresponding roster move to be made Friday. ... Atlanta SS Yunel Escobar was scratched, missing his sixth straight game with a strained right hip flexor. ... Arizona 2B Felipe Lopez missed his fifth straight game with a sore hamstring. ... Jones was coming off the first four strikeout game of his career.

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

 ATLANTA (AP) An off-duty Atlanta police officer who shot a man at an apartment complex has been charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery and false imprisonment.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard says the officer, Reginald Fisher, is charged in the shooting of Tremaine Miller on May 5 at a complex where Fisher was working at a security job.

Fisher told investigators he tried to question Miller in a park known for drug sales and that Miller ran to his car.

The officer told authorities he ordered Miller to put his hands in the air and thought Miller was reaching for a gun.

Miller's father said Miller was at the complex to check on a sick aunt. He was shot in the face and was released from a hospital on Wednesday.

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

(WSB Radio/AP) -- Faced with tax collections that continue to plunge, Gov. Sonny Perdue has announced state agencies will lose 25 percent of their funding for June.

Perdue said he is slashing $274 million for the 2009 fiscal year that ends June 30. The budget now stands at $2.8 billion less than what the governor had originally planned to spend last year.

Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said schools will not be affected by the deep cuts. The state will pull forward federal stimulus money that it had planned to spend in 2011 to soften the blow, Brantley said.

Some other agencies like the state's prison system will face smaller cuts to avoid crippling public safety.

Brantley said agencies have known for some time that the state's grim economic picture might force them to absorb another hit before the end of the fiscal year.

``It's not like it's a shock to the system, they have been preparing for this,'' Brantley said.

Perdue announced his decision to lower the revenue estimate in a letter to top state lawmakers on Thursday. It's the fourth time tumbling revenues have forced him to reduce the amount the state may spend for the 2009 fiscal year.

Georgia is constitutionally mandated to balance its budget. If it overspends for the year it would have to take money from its already depleted reserve fund.

Georgia's tax collections in the month of April plummeted 20.6 percent from the same month the year before or $362.1 million. They are down 9.5 percent for the fiscal year.

Roughly a third of the state's 100,000 employees are already taking unpaid furlough days and there have been a small number of layoffs.

State Sen. Jack Hill, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the state is already in trouble heading into the 2010 fiscal year which begins July 1.

Hill, a Reidsville Republican, said if the downward trend continues ``you are looking at some life-changing cuts.''

He mentioned the elimination of teacher planning days and the resurrection of an unpopular plan to tax health insurance companies as possible options that might need to be reconsidered.

By ERRIN HAINES
Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA (AP) The SCLC has relaunched the Poor People's Campaign begun four decades ago by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and is pushing to keep poverty on the agenda in Washington.

Byron Clay, interim president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said Thursday that the organization has asked U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia to host congressional hearings on the issue and is calling for President Barack Obama to create a commission on poverty.

The SCLC, co-founded by King in 1957, is planning a march in Jackson, Miss., on June 20 to bring attention to the plight of the poor in America, following King's example of compassion, love and understanding for others.

When he was killed in 1968, King was working on a similar initiative to reduce poverty in targeted areas across the country. Clay, who took office in February, said continuing King's mission was a priority for him as head of the SCLC.

The civil rights icon's campaign was to culminate in a march in the nation's capital, but the modern day movement will stay in the Mississippi Delta, Clay said.

``We thought it would be more fitting,'' Clay said, adding that the country should see families in homes with dirt floors instead of the gleaming marble monuments of Washington.

Such images struck King four decades ago when he visited the soil-rich, resource-poor Delta region, which remains among the poorest places in the nation, said State Rep. Tyrone Brooks, who worked alongside King in the SCLC.

``We were determined to carry through with this project,'' Brooks said. ``It is certainly fitting and proper that the SCLC continue the Poor People's Campaign.''

The SCLC is also reaching out to other civil and human rights organizations, including the Realizing the Dream Foundation led by Martin Luther King III the NAACP, the National Urban League and other members of the clergy. Clay stressed the issue is not one of race, but of class.

On the Net:

Southern Christian Leadership Conference: http://www.sclcnational.org/

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

Cadaver dogs found the body of former marketing professor George Zinkhan, 57, two weeks after the April 25 shootings in a shallow grave he dug for himself in the woods not far from his north Georgia home. He had shot himself in the head.

In a search warrant application, Sgt. Christopher Nichols wrote that he thinks Zinkhan ``was initially gathering evidence for a divorce from Marie Bruce'' and that ``the murders were the result of continued contact between Marie Bruce and Thomas Tanner.''

Bruce, 47, was Zinkhan's wife and Tanner, 40, was a Clemson University economist she was apparently seeing. Police have said Zinkhan appeared to target Tanner. The third victim, Ben Teague, 63, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, authorities have said.

The three were members of a local theater group gathered the day of the shootings for a reunion at the Athens Community Theater, a short distance from the UGA campus.

The search warrant applications and inventories from the searches of various locations including Zinkhan's home, his office at UGA and his Jeep were obtained Wednesday by the Athens Banner-Herald newspaper.

Police had not previously released a motive for the killings but said Zinkhan and Bruce were having ``marital difficulties'' and had received marriage counseling. A search warrant application indicates that Marie Bruce removed her name from the couple's joint bank account in February.

A digital voice recorder found in Zinkhan's university office had a recording that ``seemed to be a covert recording between George Zinkhan and Marie Bruce,'' Nichols wrote. ``The substance of the recording was concerning Marie Bruce's affair with Thomas Tanner.''

Documents on a desktop computer in the office also indicated he knew about the affair, Nichols wrote.

A document on one computer in Zinkhan's office ``spoke about Zinkhan wanting to rebuild his relationship with his wife.''

Authorities have said Zinkhan left his two young children in his red Jeep Liberty during the shootings. He was last seen dropping them off at a neighbor's house soon after, saying there was an emergency.

Authorities launched an international manhunt, fearing he might try to flee to Amsterdam, where he taught part-time, but his Jeep was found about a week later, crashed in a ravine in a rural wooded area not far from his home, and his body nearby a week after that.

In the Jeep were Zinkhan's wallet containing $51, his passport, a laptop computer, a BlackBerry, $1047.77 in cash shoved into the pockets of a bag, and six spent shell casings from a .38-caliber revolver, according to a search inventory. Documents with ``information of Thomas Tanner'' were also found in the Jeep, Nichols wrote.

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) A man and a horse have been killed in a collision on the Athens Highway near Gainesville.

Georgia State Trooper Michael Talton said he had no idea why the bridled horse was loose. He said the animal wandered into the northbound lanes Thursday a short distance south of the Gaines Mill Road intersection.

He said the accident happened about 6 a.m., closing the road for about 90 minutes until the victim, the car and the horse could be removed from the road.

The victim was not immediately identified.

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

(WSB Radio) -- Police are trying to determine if there is a connection between the thefts of flat-screen televisions at two Atlanta bars early Thursday.

WSB's Richard Sangster reports police responded to a 6:18 a.m. alarm at 97 Estoria, a bar on Wylie Street in Cabbagetown, where police dispatchers reported at least one flat-screen television stolen.

Less than 20 later, officers were sent to the North Highland Pub on North Highland Avenue. There, suspects described as two black males wearing masks took a 42- and a 50-inch television.

Flat-screen television has been popular among thieves in metro Atlanta in recent months.

Atlanta police and other agencies set up a task force earlier this year to investigate flat-screen thefts.

(WSB Radio)  WSB Sports Director Tony Schiavone reports the Atlanta Braves haven't commented publicly on rumors that Boston has checked out Atlanta outfielder Jeff Francoeur, the popular player who was at one time expected to be the next face of the Braves franchise.

Gordon Edes, baseball writer for Yahoo!, said this week:  "The Boston Red Sox have been scouting underachieving Atlanta outfielder Jeff Francoeur as they look to improve their outfield depth, especially in right field.  J. D. Drew has had back and shoulder issues and seldom makes it through a season without breaking down, while his backup, Rocco Baldelli, has ongoing medical concerns that make his availability suspect.

"Francoeur, 25, hasn't regained the power stroke that netted him 29 home runs in 2006, his first full season in the big leagues, but some scouts are convinced a change of scenery would do him wonders. And his durability is unquestioned - Francoeur did not miss a game in 2006 and '07 and played in 155 in 2008."

Any trade, presumably, would have to include a replacement outfielder for Atlanta, Schiavone says.

ATLANTA (AP) Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday the federal government won't try to broker a solution to a bitter three-state battle over water rights, but he urged Georgia, Alabama and Florida to seek a compromise outside of the courtroom.

``At the end of the day, the three states have got to come together and have got to figure out a way forward with a compact agreement between the three states,'' Salazar said shortly after taking a helicopter tour of north Georgia's reservoirs with Gov. Sonny Perdue.

The approach is in contrast to that of previous Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, who convened meetings between the three states at the height of a severe drought in the region in late 2007. The governors broke off the negotiations last year after saying they could not resolve the complex battle that began almost 20 years ago. There have been no formal talks since.

And while severe drought conditions have largely subsided across the region, the litigation hasn't. A federal judge in Florida heard arguments earlier this month by lawyers for Alabama and Florida, who are challenging how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers parcels out water from north Georgia reservoirs among the three states.

Perdue said Wednesday he'd prefer an agreement with his counterparts to a continued court battle.

``Ultimately, one litigation leads to another litigation to another appeal,'' Perdue said. ``The ultimate solution is a mutual agreement among the three affected states.''

Messages seeking comment weren't immediately returned by the offices of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley. All three men are Republicans.

The fast-growing Atlanta region relies on the lakes for drinking water, while Florida and Alabama depend on healthy flows downstream for commercial fisheries, farms, industrial users and cities. The corps also is required to release adequate flows to ensure the survival of endangered species downstream.

The dispute began in the early 1990s and intensified during the historic drought that withered crops and sent water levels plummeting in the lake that supply Atlanta with most of its water.

Salazar, a former Colorado attorney general who helped hash out an agreement to a lengthy water fight between Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska, said drawn-out litigation over water rights usually leaves all sides upset. But he said it will be up to the states to broker a deal.

``I do not see us as playing the role of coming in and hammering heads, trying to get the deal done,'' he said. ``It really is something that has to come from the three respective states, and if we can play a facilitating role in that, we will be happy to help.''

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

(WSB Radio) -- Metro Atlanta's unemployment rate did not change between March and April. 

The Georgia Department of Labor says 9.1% of the residents of the metro area were out of work last month.  That figure is three and a half percentage points higher than it was in April of 2008.

The jobless rate was also unchanged in Columbus (8.3%) and Gainesville (8.6%), while rates were up slightly in Albany (8.1 to 8.5%), Athens (6.7 to 6.8%), Brunswick (8.0 to 8.1%) and Macon (8.6 to 8.7%). 

Unemployment was down in Augusta (8.8 to 8.5%),  Dalton (13.6 to 12.8%) and Hinesville (7.4 to 7.3%).

The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.3% in April, up slightly from a revised 9.2% in March and February.

At present, 446,560 unemployed Georgians are looking for work, an increase of 60% from April of 2008.  Of that number, 167,981, or 37.6%, are receiving unemployment insurance benefits.

The number of payroll jobs in April decreased 197,100, or 4.8%, from April of 2008.  The over-the-year losses came in manufacturing, professional and business services, including temporary employment agencies, along with trade, transportation and warehousing, and the construction industry.

Job gainers totaling 14,200 were recorded in health care and educational services.

(WSB Radio ) -- Johns Creek police have cited more than 30 teenagers for underaged drinking, after breaking up a "lock-in" graduation party at a local restaurant.

Police have also charged the restaurant owner, her son and three security guards for serving alcohol to minors and obstructing police.

According to a police report, the incident happened over the Memorial Day weekend at Anatolia, at 10970 State Bridge Road.

An officer noticed a number of cars parked behind the restaurant, but none in front.

As the officer approached, according to the report, one teen fled and others were found in the building, hiding in air ducts in the building rafters, in refrigerators, and under tables, and saw wine bottles, beer cans, cases and a keg still cold to the touch, police said.

Police said a breath analysis was used to determine those under 21 had been drinking alcohol, and each was cited and returned to their parents.

Owner Rabia Gungoren and her employees said the staff didn't serve alcohol to teens at the Sunday-night-to-Monday morning party. Gungoren said police are targeting her young clientele.

"This is discrimination against teenagers," Gungoren told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Randy Johnson earned his 299th victory with six impressive innings, yielding three hits and one run in the San Francisco Giants' 6-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night.

Johnson (4-4) retired the Braves' first nine hitters and 15 of the first 16 in a performance reminiscent of the Big Unit in his inimitable prime, although the 45-year-old left-hander has less power and more precision these days.

The five-time Cy Young Award winner struck out five to run his career total to 4,843, second-most in baseball history. He didn't walk a batter and allowed his only run on Casey Kotchman's RBI single in the sixth, which he finished by striking out Chipper Jones for the third time.

Johnson likely will get his first chance to become the 24th major leaguer with 300 victories next Wednesday at Washington.

Aaron Rowand hit two doubles for the Giants and stole home when Atlanta catcher David Ross fell down while running to tag him on a broken play. Rowand was one of five Giants who drove in a run as they got back to .500 with their first three-game series sweep of the season.

Brian Wilson pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 13 opportunities.

Johnson often is at his best against the Braves, who have scored just two runs against him in 28 innings dating back to 2004. Jones was particularly flummoxed, twice striking out to end an inning and Jones also struck out in the eighth against reliever Merkin Valdez.

All four of Johnson's victories during his first season with the Giants have occurred in their waterfront ballpark, but San Francisco's bullpen nearly blew No. 299 after the Unit left with a 2-1 lead.

After the Giants scored two more runs in the sixth, Atlanta pinch-hitter Garret Anderson hit a two-run single in the seventh to trim the lead to 4-3. But San Francisco added two more runs in the seventh while giving Johnson more than one run of support for just the fourth time in his 10 starts.

Kenshin Kawakami (3-6) allowed nine hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings for Atlanta during his sixth defeat in eight starts.

Rowand hit a leadoff double in the third and took third on a passed ball before stealing home although it was hardly a clean swipe.

With Rowand on third and Edgar Renteria on first, Ross threw to second base and caught Renteria in a rundown before Rowand broke for home much too late to beat second baseman Martin Prado's throw.

But the ball bounced off Ross and skittered out in front of the plate. Ross collected it and went to tag Rowand, but the catcher's spikes slipped in the dirt, leaving him flopping on the ground while Rowand slid home.
Notes: Jeff Francoeur threw out Bengie Molina at the plate in the fifth inning when San Francisco's stone-footed catcher attempted to score from second base on a single to right field. ... Giants RHP Joe Martinez, who was hit in the head by a line drive early last month, will throw off a mound next Friday. He won't return before the All-Star break.

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

(WSB Radio) -- A portion of I-85 in Gwinnett County is one step closer to having tolls on existing HOV lanes. 

On Wednesday, the Atlanta Regional Commission formally approved a plan that would use a $110 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and $37 million dollars in state money to fund the project which would stretch 14.3 miles along the interstate from Old Peachtree Road to Spaghetti Junction.

If the proposal is approved by the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and passes an environmental review, the electronic tolls could be operational by 2011. 

The cost to drive in the high occupancy toll, or "HOT" lanes would rise and fall based on interstate congestion,  Vehicles using the new toll lanes would also need to have a minimum of three passengers to avoid a fine.

(WSB Radio) -- A daylong police sweep across metro Atlanta racks up nearly 200 arrests and more than a thousand tickets. 

Atlanta Police Major Debra Williams tells Channel 2 Action News about 30 police agencies from five different counties, including the State Patrol and Georgia Tech police, participated in numerous road blocks and extra patrols in high crime areas of Fulton, Dekalb, Gwinnett, Clayton and Henry counties.

Major Williams says the joint detail was successful in increasing police visibility and getting offenders off the streets.

(WSB Radio) -- Loganville Police have identified the third suspect they believe took part in last Friday's violent home invasion that seriously injured an elderly couple. 

Loganville Police Chief Mike McHugh tells Channel 2 Action News it's just a matter of time before they arrest 18-year-old Barry Partee of Monroe.

18-year-old J.J. Blackwell and 28-year-old Corey Butler are already in custody.  All three men are charged with armed robbery and aggravated assault for their alleged roles in the brutal attack on C.F. and Epsie Ewing.

From Poland, Gingrich tweets, "Imagine a judicial nominee said 'my experience as a white man makes me better than a Latina woman' new racism is no better than old racism."

About ten minutes later, Gingrich posted again, "A White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw."

The comments make Gingrich the highest profile Republican to speak out against Sotomayor without actually mentioning the judge by name.

The criticism comes from a speech Judge Sotomayor delivered at the University of California in 2001. 

There she said,

"Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases.I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement ... I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

When asked about the Gingrich comment during today's briefing, White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs dismissed the remarks as coming from a "former lawmaker" and smacking of "partisan politics."

"It is probably important for anybody involved in this debate to be exceedingly careful with the way in which they decide to describe different aspects of this impending confirmation," Mr. Gibbs said when asked about the comments.

(WSB Radio)  Some Gwinnett County residents aren't happy with a proposal that would raise property taxes.

"You can't expect that the public, so many of them who can't hang on to their homes, can pay more right now," says county resident Nancy Williams.  "It's unrealistic."

The county says it has been able to roll back taxes in the past, but can no longer afford to do so. 

Under the proposal a home worth $200,000, depending on where you live, could mean a $100 to $200 increase on your tax bill.

A third hearing will be held on June 2.  That's also when a vote is expected.

(WSB Radio)  For the second time this year Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders has been the victim of a burglary.

Atlanta police received the call at about 1:30 this morning that someone had broken into Borders condo near Centennial Olympic Park.

Borders, or someone else in the townhome, called 911 after an alarm alerted them to the burglary.  They then went into an upstairs bedroom, locked the door and waited out the burglars.

Police have not said what, if anything, was taken.

Back in January Borders home in southwest Atlanta was broken into, with those burglars making off with a flat screen television.

(WSB Radio)  Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin has filed complaints with federal and state authorities after an angry outburst by now suspended Atlanta Police Sergeant Scott Kreher. 

The Mayor says the Kreher's comments were troublesome.

"My family was upset.  They still are upset," Mayor Franklin tells Channel 2.  "It's bothered me more than I thought it would."

Kreher told a city council committee that he was so angry with the way the city is treating some wounded officers that he'd like to beat on the mayor with a baseball bat.

He was suspended by Police Chief Richard Pennington over those remarks.

Kreher has apologized and the police union says it's standing by him and thinks the Mayor is overreacting.  The mayor disagrees.

"When you take a bat and hit someone in the head, that's an effort to kill you," she says.

Franklin has filed complaints with the Fulton County District Attorney and the U-S attorney. 

(WSB Radio) The man who was stalking former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has pleaded guilty.

25 year old Umair Qureshi was sentenced to time served after reaching a deal on a lesser charge.

Authorities say that, in 2004, he went to McKinney's house, continually rang her doorbell and knocked on her back door.

He claimed at the time he was trying to give her some documents.

"I would ask people of Atlanta and Georgia realize I'm not a stalker," Qureshi said after entering his plea.  "I have not anything to harm anyone in my life, let alone Cynthia McKinney, who I was just trying to help politically."

(WSB Radio)  Kiplinger's Personal Finance is out with its ten best places to live, and one city in Georgia, makes the top five.

Kiplinger's Jessica Anderson, tells WSB she toured cities all over the country and fell in love with Athens.

"My impression was wonderful.  I loved it there.  I had a wonderful time just kind of poking around in the downtown area," said Anderson. 

"Athens actually has a fairly diverse economy.  The University of Georgia is kind of the reason for being; but there are a lot of other sectors, including healthcare and hospitality.  The unemployment rate is much better than it is in nearby Atlanta," said Anderson.

Athens-Clarke County Mayor Heidi Davison tells WSB the unemployment rate is 9.1% in Atlanta, compared to 6.8% in Athens.  Despite the economy, she says Athens is a good place to live.

"We work very hard to ensure a high quality of life in the community.  We have a lot of great cultural offerings.  There are lots of things to do in the arts arena, as well as sports.  It doesn't come as a surprise," said Davison.

Besides the University of Georgia, Athens has two hospitals.  More health careers will be available because of the medical school that will soon be coming to Athens.

Athens is the birthplace of the B-52s and R.E.M. and is the 33rd greenest city in the country.

"The University, with the highly intelligent, very engaged citizenry, who want that those kinds of quality of life ammenities to be part of our community, and who will support. those.  I think contributes a lot to the kind of community that we have that obviously other people notice and want to emulate," said Davison.

Huntsville is ranked number one, followed by Albuquerque, N.M., Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, VA, Athens, GA, Olympia, Washington, Madison, Wisconsin, Austin, Texas, Flagstaff, Arizona, and Raleigh, N.C..

(WSB Radio) -- Gwinnett police have arrested two people on charges they were operating an underground strip club in Lilburn that featured dancers as young as 15.

The Gwinnett Daily Post reports a plainclothes officer  found several females performing "lap dances" at Lucky Billiards, a pool hall at 880 Indian Trail-Lilburn Road. The officer had come to the bar to investigate tips of prostitution and drug activity, according to a police report.

Police arrested the bar's owner, Jay Kim, 45, of Norcross, and a dancer, Whitney Blackburn, 21, of Acworth, on misdemeanor charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Both have since posted bond at the Gwinnett County Jail.

ATLANTA (AP) Georgia park rangers will be facing one-day-a-month furloughs beginning in July, as the state heads into its busy summer outdoor season.

The furloughs will affect most employees of the state Department of Natural Resources. The Environmental Protection Division is so far exempt.

DNR is the latest Georgia agency to use unpaid furlough days to shrink its budget. Plummeting tax collections in the state have forced Gov. Sonny Perdue to make deep cuts to the state budget.

Critics worry that the latest furloughs could endanger park safety and make it hard for state officials to police boaters who are intoxicated.

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

ATLANTA (AP) When Georgia lawmakers left the Capitol without adopting a transportation funding plan, they also reopened a bitter rift involving Atlanta's transit system that has sent local authorities scrambling for ways to keep the 500,000 riders moving.

Transportation officials are set to decide Wednesday whether to shift $25 million in federal stimulus funding to cover some of MARTA's losses.

The effort is short-term, and, some opponents say, short-sighted. But the plan's proponents say it's the only proposal on the table to keep the system above water.

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

(WSB Radio) -- Less than 24 hours after they were named suspects in a brutal Loganville home invasion, 18-year-old J.J. Blackwell and 28-year-old Corey Butler are now in custody. 

Blackwell surrendered Tuesday afternoon at Loganville police headquarters.  Butler was arrested Tuesday night following a foot chase near Monroe with Georgia State Trooper John Taylor.  He tells Channel 2 Action News "anytime you can take a person like that off the street, it feels real good."

Butler and Blackwell are being held without bond in the Walton County jail on charges of armed robbery and aggravated assault.  A third unidentified suspect remains at large.

All three men are accused of taking part in a home invasion last Friday that sent 70-year-old C.F. Ewing and 68-year-old Epsie Ewing to the hospital.  Mr. Ewing has been released, but his wife remains in critical but stable condition at Atlanta Medical Center.

Mrs. Ewing underwent surgery Tuesday to repair broken bones on both sides of her face.  Her doctors say additional operations will be needed on her badly injured arms and hands.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Tim Lincecum has regained his strength and dominant form after a bout of bronchitis back in spring training that slowed him down for a while.

Lincecum pitched eight sharp innings to win for the first time in four starts, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves 4-0 on Tuesday night.

``It takes some people longer to get ready for a season,'' he said. ``I feel like I'm kind of getting into that zone right now. Things are coming easier. Mechanics are easier. I'm not thinking too much out there.''

Aaron Rowand hit a two-run double in the second and Edgar Renteria singled in two runs moments later to stake Lincecum to an early lead that held up. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner looked just like the dominant pitcher he was in 2008, striking out eight and walking two.

Lincecum (4-1) threw a season-high 122 pitches and won for the first time since beating the Cubs on May 5 at Chicago. He was coming off three straight no-decisions, but quickly found his groove. He struck out eight or more for the fourth straight start and the seventh time in his last eight outings.

``Anytime you can get a lead with him on the mound you feel pretty good,'' Rowand said.

Bob Howry pitched a perfect ninth to finish the five-hit shutout for the Giants, who won back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game winning streak from May 10-12. It was San Francisco's sixth shutout and the fifth time the Braves have been blanked this year.

Starting with pitcher Kris Medlen's strikeout to end the second, Lincecum retired 14 of 15 batters. He allowed only a one-out walk to Garret Anderson in the fourth before Jeff Francoeur's seventh-inning single.

``When you get a lead like that, you don't want to let them nitpick,'' Lincecum said. ``You want to keep pounding them into the ground.''

Medlen (0-2) dug himself a quick hole in his second big league start. After coming in with a 15.00 ERA following a 9-0 loss in his major league debut May 21, Medlen had one costly inning this time. After Lincecum drew a two-out walk in the second to load the bases, Medlen received a mound visit from pitching coach Roger McDowell. Rowand then doubled and Renteria followed with his single.

Medlen allowed four runs on four hits, struck out three and walked two as the Braves lost their second straight to start their seven-game trip out West after a weekend interleague sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays. That still leaves 24th-year Braves manager Bobby Cox five wins shy of 2,000 with Atlanta.

Cox knew the Braves would have a tough time fighting back against Lincecum.

``You don't need to get behind that many runs early,'' Cox said. ``It's tough to catch up with him. He's not going to give you but a couple. He's tough. He's got all the pitches in the world and they're good.''

Reigning NL batting champion Chipper Jones returned to the Braves' lineup for his first start since injuring his right big toe Thursday night.

Jones ran before the game to show Cox he was ready, then doubled in his first-inning at-bat. That was the only extra-base hit allowed by Lincecum, who threw 122 or more pitches for the sixth time in his career.

``He's back on track,'' Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
Notes: The Braves placed RHP Buddy Carlyle on the 15-day disabled list with an upper back strain and activated righty Jorge Campillo from the DL. Campillo missed 35 games with rotator cuff tendinitis in his throwing shoulder. ... Atlanta RHP Tim Hudson threw off a mound for the first time since spring training a significant step in his recovery from elbow ligament replacement surgery last year. Hudson was scheduled to throw again Wednesday, 20 pitches at 50 percent effort level. ... The Giants activated OF Andres Torres from the DL following a rehab stint and optioned 1B Jesus Guzman to Triple-A Fresno. Torres was placed on the DL on April 28 with a strained left hamstring. RHP Sergio Romo is expected to be activated from the DL on Friday and will throw a simulated game Wednesday. Romo started the season on the disabled list with a right shoulder sprain.

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

WASHINGTON (AP) More than 90 percent of economists predict the recession will end this year, although the recovery is likely to be bumpy.

That assessment came from leading forecasters in a survey by the National Association for Business Economics to be released Wednesday. It is generally in line with the outlook from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues.

About 74 percent of the forecasters expect the recession which started in December 2007 and is the longest since World War II to end in the third quarter. Another 19 percent predict the turning point will come in the final three months of this year, and the remaining 7 percent believe the recession will end in the first quarter of 2010.

``While the overall tone remains soft, there are emerging signs that the economy is stabilizing,'' said NABE president Chris Varvares, head of Macroeconomic Advisers. ``The economic recovery is likely to be considerably more moderate than those typically experienced following steep declines.''

One of the major forces that plunged the economy into a recession was the financial crisis that struck with force last fall and was the worst since the 1930s. Economists say recoveries after financial crises tend to be slower.

Against that backdrop, unemployment will climb this year even if the economy is rebounding, the NABE forecasters predict. Companies won't be in a rush to hire until they feel certain any recovery is firmly rooted.

For all of this year, the forecasters said the unemployment rate should average 9.1 percent, a big jump from 5.8 percent last year and up from its current quarter-century peak of 8.9 percent. If NABE forecasters are right, it would be the highest since a 9.6 percent rate in 1983, when the country was struggling to recover from a severe recession.

Some forecasters thought the unemployment rate could rise as high as 10.7 percent in the second quarter of next year. The NABE outlook from 45 economists was conducted April 27 through May 11.

General Motors Corp., chemical company DuPont and Clear Channel Communications Inc. were among the companies announcing mass layoffs during the survey period.

With joblessness rising, consumers major shapers of overall economic activity likely will stay cautious, making for a tepid turnaround. And given the big bite the recession has taken out of household wealth, notably the values of homes and investment portfolios, consumers probably will stay subdued for some time.

Seventy-one percent of the forecasters believe a more-thrifty consumer will be around for at least the next five years. Americans' personal savings rate edged up to 4.2 percent in March, marking the first time in a decade that the savings rate has been above 4 percent for three straight months.

Even as the NABE forecasters believe the country will emerge from recession later this year, they also predict the economy's overall performance in 2009 will be rotten.

The economy should contract by 2.8 percent this year, the forecasters said in updated projections. That's worse than the 1.9 percent drop they forecast in late February. If they are right, it would mark the worst annual contraction since 1946, when economic activity fell by 11 percent.

Still, the forecasters believe the worst is already behind the country in terms of lost economic activity.

The economy shrank at a 6.1 percent annualized pace in the first three months of this year, on top of a 6.3 percent decline in the final three months of last year, the worst six-month performance in 50 years.

For the current April-June quarter, the NABE forecasters believe the economy will shrink at a pace of 1.8 percent. After that, the economy should start growing again at a 0.7 percent pace in the third quarter and a 1.8 percent pace in the fourth quarter.

NABE's growth projections for the third and fourth quarters are lower than those made in late February. The downgrade was based on the expectation that businesses, whose profits and sales were hit hard by the recession, will remain wary of ramping up investment.

President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus package of increased government spending and tax cuts, near-zero interest rates ordered by the Fed and government programs to get banks to lend more freely again all factor into the expected economic revival.

Many forecasters also predict that home sales will hit bottom by the middle of this year, another stabilizing factor for the economy. A report on sales of previously owned homes will be released Wednesday, and data on new-home sales is due Thursday.

Next year, the economy should grow by 2 percent, the forecasters said. That was lower than the 2.4 percent growth projected in February.

With a lethargic recovery expected, forecasters predict the Fed won't start boosting interest rates until the second quarter of next year.

Because Fed policymakers expect credit and financial problems to ebb slowly, ``the pace of the recovery would continue to be damped in 2010,'' they said last week.

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

CLEVELAND, Ga. (AP) A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a northeast Georgia chaplain who gave him a ride home.

William Joseph Dyer pleaded guilty to murder Tuesday in the Dec. 1 death of 44-year-old Frank Harris Jr. of Clermont. Harris was stabbed in the abdomen and then run over with his own car in an apparent robbery attempt.

A murder charge against Dyer's 29-year-old girlfriend, Jennifer Lineberger, was dropped. She pleaded guilty to theft and other charges and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Harris, a father of three, was chaplain at Gainesville's Compassionate Hospice and a part-time youth minister at Pendergrass Baptist Church. District Attorney Stan Gunter says Harris picked up the pair hitchhiking at a gas station on U.S. 129 near Gainesville.

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

WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama named federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice on Tuesday, praising her as ``an inspiring woman'' with both the intellect and compassion to interpret the Constitution wisely.

Obama said Sotomayor has more experience as a judge than any current member of the high court had when nominated, adding she has earned the ``respect of colleagues on the bench,'' the admiration of lawyers who appear in her court and ``the adoration of her clerks.''

``My heart today is bursting with gratitude,'' Sotomayor said from the White House podium moments after being introduced by Obama.

If confirmed by the Senate, she would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the current court, the third in history. She would succeed retiring Justice David Souter.

She would be unlikely to alter the ideological balance of the court, since Souter generally sides with the liberals on key 5-4 rulings. But at 54, she is a generation younger that Souter, and liberal outside groups hope she will provide a counterpoint to some of the sharply worded conservative rulings.

Obama and Sotomayor both noted the historic nature of the appointment. The president said a Hispanic on the court would mark another step toward the goal of ``equal justice under law.''

Obama and Sotomayor stood with Vice President Joe Biden. It was a striking picture of diversity: a black president, a white vice president and a Hispanic nominee to the nation's highest court.

Sotomayor said she grew up in poor surroundings and never dreamed she would one day be nominated for the highest court.

Obama has said he hopes she can take her place before the justices begin their new term in October.

Democrats hold a large majority in the Senate, and barring the unexpected, Sotomayor's confirmation should be assured.

The Senate Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, issued a statement that said: ``Senate Republicans will treat Judge Sotomayor fairly. But we will thoroughly examine her record to ensure she understands that the role of a jurist in our democracy is to apply the law evenhandedly, despite their own feelings or personal or political preferences.''

In his remarks, Obama made no mention of his earlier statement that he wanted a justice with empathy, although his remark that compassion was needed came close.

Sotomayor's nomination opens a new phase in the drive to replace Souter, as liberal and conservative groups alike scour the record she has compiled in 17 years on the federal bench.

In one of Sotomayor's most notable decisions, as an appellate judge she sided last year with the city of New Haven, Conn., in a discrimination case brought by white firefighters. The city threw out results of a promotion exam because too few minorities scored high enough. Coincidentally, that case is now before the Supreme Court.

That ruling has already drawn criticism from conservatives, and is likely to play a role in her confirmation hearing.

In one of her most memorable rulings as federal district judge, in 1995, Sotomayor ruled with Major League Baseball players over owners in a labor strike that had led to the cancellation of the World Series.

Obama referred to that in his remarks, then joked he hoped her support for the Yankees would not unduly influence New Englanders to oppose her in the Senate.

Among them is Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who said, ``The American people will want the Senate to carry out its constitutional duty with conscientiousness and civility.''

Sotomayor grew up in New York after her parents moved from Puerto Rico. She has dealt with diabetes since age 8 and lost her father at age 9, growing up under the care of her mother in humble surroundings. As a girl, inspired by the Perry Mason television show, she knew she wanted to be a judge.

A graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School, a former prosecutor and private attorney, Sotomayor became a federal judge for the Southern District of New York in 1992. She became an appeals judge in 1998 for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers New York, Vermont and Connecticut.

She was first appointed by a Republican, President George H.W. Bush, and won Senate confirmation without dissent. She was named an appeals judge by President Bill Clinton in 1997.

At her Senate confirmation hearing more than a decade ago, she said, ``I don't believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it.''

Obama's nomination is the first by a Democratic president in 15 years.

His announcement leaves the Senate four months more than enough by traditional standards to complete confirmation proceedings before the court begins its next term in the fall.

Republicans have issued conflicting signals about their intentions. While some have threatened filibusters if they deemed Obama's pick too liberal, others have said that is unlikely.

Given Sotomayor's selection, any decision to filibuster would presumably carry political risks Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the population and an increasingly important one politically.

One conservative group did not wait for the formal announcement. Wendy Long of the Judicial Confirmation Network, issued a statement calling Sotomayor a ``liberal judicial activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important that the law as written.''

Abortion rights have been a flashpoint in several recent Supreme Court confirmations, although Sotomayor has not written any controversial rulings on the subject.

As a federal appeals court judge in 2002, she ruled against an abortion rights group that had challenged a government policy prohibiting foreign organizations receiving U.S. funds from performing or supporting abortions.

In her opinion, Sotomayor wrote that the government was free to favor the anti-abortion position over a pro-choice position when public funds were involved.

Sotomayor's elevation to the appeals court was delayed by Republicans, in part out of concerns she might someday be selected for the Supreme Court. She was ultimately confirmed for the appeals court in 1998 on a 68-28 vote, gathering some Republican support.

Among those voting against her was Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, now the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee that will hold sway over her confirmation.

``I'd say the stakes are higher for the Supreme Court,'' he said recently. ``The Supreme Court sometimes seems to be acting as a continuing constitutional convention, so I am concerned about that.'' He said Sotomayor would be entitled to a fair hearing if nominated.

Sotomayor possesses credentials Sessions said he wanted in a pick for the high court years of experience on the bench. Obama had talked openly about the upside of choosing someone outside the judiciary every current justice is a former federal appeals court judge but passed over at least two serious candidates who had never been judges.

Sotomayor has spoken openly about her pride in her ethnic background and has said that personal experiences ``affect the facts that judges choose to see.''

``I simply do not know exactly what the difference will be in my judging,'' she said in a speech in 2002. ``But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.''

From the moment Souter announced his resignation, it was widely assumed Obama would select a woman to replace him, and perhaps a Hispanic as well.

Others known to have been considered included federal appeals judge Diane Wood, who was a colleague of the president's at the University of Chicago Law School, as well as two members of his administration, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Solicitor General-nominee Elena Kagan.

Obama came to office at a time when several potential vacancies loomed on the high court. Justice John Paul Stevens at is 89, and Ginsburg recently underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer.

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

(WSB Radio)  Although he won't make any kind of official announcement until next week, former Governor Roy Barnes had the look of a current candidate on Memorial Day.

Barnes was out and about, talking to potential voters about the issues.

He says he's particularly upset with Republican candidates who support a resolution that says Georgia can secede from the Union.

"Have we gotten to that?" Barnes says.  "Have we absolutely gotten down in the politics of Georgia that leading candidates say we ought to secede from the Union?  How dare them."

Barnes is expected to announce on Monday whether he will join the field of Democrats vying for governor next year.

"I've made up a bucket list, but I'm not sure I've got enough time for everything," Barnes says.  "Having said that, I'm very concerned about where the state is.

"There's a saying in the Old Testament that says, 'The people perish where there is no vision,'" he says.  "What we have here, to a large extent, is a lack of vision and just looking towards petty, political gains."

(WSB Radio)  Charges are possible against the mother of a Paulding County girl who was allegedly molested by her stepfather.

Casey Fagen, her 8 year old daughter Isabella and a one year old son are still in Phoenix.  Authorities found them there after a nationwide manhunt for Jerry Fagen.

He turned himself into the Paulding County sheriff on Sunday night and is in the county jail.

The children are in the custody of Arizona child protective services.  The girl had her hair shaved off to change her appearance.

She told teachers about the alleged abuse last month, but was then removed from school by her family.

(WSB Radio)  A Cobb County man is due before a federal magistrate in Chattanooga today to try and change his plea in a kiddie porn case.

57 year old Gary Salles, of Smyrna, was to now plead guilty.

Salles is accused of delivering child pornography across state lines. 

He and another man were arrested in January, after Salles, allegedly, tried to deliver a CD containing child porn videos.

Salles also allegedly ran a web site called "bois4men.com."

(WSB Radio)  A Floyd County man is under arrest, charged with child cruelty for, allegedly, giving his three year old son a tattoo.

24 year old Gene Ashley is also charged with tattooing someone under the age of 18.

The boy's mother says she found out over the Easter weekend that her husband had tattooed the initials, "DB" for "Daddy's Boy" on the boy.

The mother contacted DFACS, who then referred the matter to the Floyd County police.

Ashley is no longer allowed to see the boy.

(WSB Radio)  A Hall County jail guard is hospitalized after being slugged by an inmate.

Authorities say Deputy Aaron Nguyen was seriously hurt in the attack, suffering facial fractures. 

Nguyen was punched several times in the face while he was escorting the inmate, 24 year old Devonte Hammond of Atlanta, to a disciplinary cell on Monday.

Nguyen is being treated at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center.

(WSB Radio)  Two missing kayakers have been found after becoming lost on the Chattahoochee River.

Authorities say the Atlanta couple rented the kayaks in Carroll County on Monday, then vanished on the river.

The were found on a remote island in the river in Heard County early this morning.

The two, a Danish husband and wife in their 20s, had put into the river near Whitesburg and had not been seen in 18 hours.  They had said they planned to be out on the Chattahoochee for only about two hours.

Fire and rescue personnel from Carroll County had searched the river until after midnight, with no success.  Their efforts were hampered by dense fog, which prevented the use of helicopters. 

The search was set to resume this morning, but was called off when the couple was spotted.

(WSB Radio)  Atlanta police are stepping up patrols, and Georgia Tech is handing out crime alert flyers, after the latest in a string of robberies in the area.

The latest robbery was Monday morning.  Three men ambushed a group of college students on a porch on Hemphill Avenue, in northeast Atlanta.

Tyler Anderson, who goes to Tech, says he was asleep when it happened.  He says at least three suspects were involved.

One of Anderson's friends was injured when he got into a fight with one of the suspects. 

"My one roommate just had his phone and his wallet taken," Anderson says, "but they dropped his wallet on the way out." 

According to Anderson, the robbers "looked like they were about 16," and wore bandanas over their faces. 

Police do not know if this latest robbery is linked to others. 

Earlier this month, Georgia Tech student Patrick Whaley was shot in a robbery attempt.  Prior to that another student, Carston Singh, was abducted, then shot, in a robbery.

(WSB Radio)  It was a tragic Memorial Day in Cherokee County, as two people die in a lunchtime wreck.

Police say the driver of a Ford Taurus lost control on Highway 20 and ran into a tree. 

Mary Queen, 26, was killed along with her passenger, Stacey Cable.  Both were from Emerson.

"Another passenger, in the back seat, was airlifted to Erlinger Hospital, in Chattanooga, with life-threatening injuries," says Tim Cavender, with Cherokee County Fire and Rescue.

There's no word on what caused the crash. 

The Georgia State Patrol says at least fourteen people died in traffic accidents over the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend that ended at midnight Monday.

Troopers report more than 2,700 wrecks and 700 people injured since the holiday travel period started at 6 p.m. Friday.

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. (AP) The city of Sandy Springs, which discovered after stripping what it considered invasive plants from along the Chattahoochee River that it was violating state environmental rules, will replace the vegetation.

The state Environmental Protection Division, concerned about erosion, sent the city a notice of violation in March for removing wisteria and bamboo from a 5-acre stretch. City officials say they removed only invasive plants as part of a plan to create a municipal park.

When construction begins in July, the park will include river birch, tulip poplar, black willows, wax myrtle and several other types of native trees, shrubs and grasses.

Sandy Springs originally planned a dog park for the parcel, which officials describe as having been so overrun with invasive plants that it choked all of the trees.

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

(WSB Radio) -- A warning from some health officials to be  on the lookout for a popular Swedish tobacco product known as Snus. It is now  being marketed in the United States. It comes in a small pouch that is placed in the upper lip and requires no spitting.

Tobacco companies are marketing this type of tobacco more aggressively as smoking bans become more pervasive, reducing the places cigarettes are allowed.

Some claim  snus is less harmful to health than cigarettes, and may be less harmful than other types of smokeless tobacco sold in the United States.
Public health advocates don't agree saying  that it has been linked to various types of cancer and warn against using any tobacco product.

Under laws in every state, snus and other tobacco products may not be sold to anyone younger than 18. But many health advocates see the new smokeless alternatives as an attempt to create a new generation of tobacco users.

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) Two men are charged with reckless conduct in Hall County after an explosion at a carnival.

Gainesville police Lt. Nina Harkins says the explosion took place early Monday. She says 19-year-old Brett Davis and 24-year-old Andrew Leslie, both of Gainesville, are each charged in the case.

Harkins says officers arriving at the scene found a plastic bottle that contained what appeared to be a homemade chemical explosive that had already detonated. She says a carnival employee complained of burning to his throat and eyes, but did not require medical attention.

The carnival was closed at the time of the explosion.

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

(WSB Radio) -- A Monday morning burglary at a southwest Atlanta liquor store cost the business more than $100,000 in stolen inventory and property damage. 

Someone cut a hole through the back wall of Ben Hill Liquor on Campbellton Road and filled up a truck with high end vodka, rum, whiskey and wine. 

Owner Avtar Singh tells Channel 2 Action News the thieves also disabled the alarm system and stole security cameras and video.  He says "they must have spent hours and hours here, taking all those cases outside.  It took a lot of time."

Singh believes whoever robbed his store had inside information and knew what to steal and what to leave behind.

(WSB Radio) -- Loganville police have identified two of the three suspects wanted in connection with a violent home invasion that left an elderly couple hospitalized. 

Loganville Police Chief Mike McHugh tells Channel 2 Action News 21-year-old Corey Butler and 18-year-old J.J. Blackwell, both of Monroe, have been charged with armed robbery and aggravated assault.

Both suspects have lengthy criminal backgrounds and should be considered armed and dangerous.

Chief McHugh believes that with the help of family and friends, Butler and Blackwell are hiding out somewhere in Walton County. 

Last Friday's brutal attack on C.F. and F.C. Ewing in their Covington Street home netted the robbers $117.  Mr. Ewing has been released from Gwinnett Medical Center.  Mrs. Ewing remains in critical condition at Atlanta Medical Center with broken bones in her face and arms.  She is scheduled to undergo reconstructive surgery on Tuesday.

(WSB Radio)  2009 proved to be a good year for Georgia's high school students.

The state school superintendent's office is out with the scores for the Georgia High School Graduation Test and they show an across the board improvement.

System level results will not be released until next month, but the statewide scores show an increase from 2008.

88% of the students passed the science portion of the test, a two percent increase from the year before.  English scores rose one percent, with 90% passing.

In math and social studies, the news was equally good.  94% of students passed the math section, while 87% passed social studies, up one percent in both subjects.

The test is given to students in their junior year and must be passed in order to graduate. The test can be taken as many times as is needed to pass.

(WSB Radio) The big wild card in this year's Georgia Governor's race is a man who's not even in it, at least not yet.

Former Governor Roy Barnes will announced next Monday whether or not he intends to enter the campaign.

The latest Insider Advantage poll shows him leading all Democratic candidate, including Attorney General Thurbert Baker, former Secretary of State David Poythress and House Minority Leader Dubose Porter.

Name recognition is the key.

"It points to the cold, hard fact that every politician has to wake up and realize is that nobody knows you," says Insider Advantage CEO Matt Towery.  "You've got to get known."

Fundraising is the key to getting name recognition, Towery says.

On the Republican side, the latest poll shows Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine with a big lead.

(WSB Radio) The Paulding County man. who was the focus of a nationwide manhunt, has surrendered to authorities.

30 year old Jerry Lee Fagen is accused of molesting, then kidnapping, his 8 year old stepdaughter.

"The suspect turned himself in at the Paulding County Detention Center," says Corporal Brandon Gurley, "where he will be booked in on the charges of child molestation and felony sexual battery."

8 year old Isabella Eve Petty was found in Phoenix, Arizona, with her head shaved.  With her were her mother and year old brother.

Georgia DFACS is working with Arizona authorities to bring the three back home.

The molestation came to light last month when Paulding County officials received a telephone tip.

"We received a phone call from our Department of Family and Children Services about possible inappropriate conduct that was taking place in the home," Gurley says.

Police say Fagen fled Georgia and had been the subject of an intense search for days.

Gurley says either the media coverage of the case, or an attorney, convinced Fagen to turn himself in.

No charges have been filed against the girl's mother, 26 year old Casey Lynn Fagen. 

(WSB Radio) The Georgia State Patrol predicts 18 people will die in more than 2,700 accidents on the state's highways over the holiday weekend.

As of 12:01 Monday morning, troopers had investigated 2,190 accidents which resulted in 577 injuries and eight fatalities.

Georgia's holiday travel period runs from 6pm Friday, May 22nd through Midnight Monday, May 25th.

(WSB Radio) -- The president of the Atlanta Police Union has been suspended after saying he wanted to beat Mayor Shirley Franklin with a baseball bat.

Sgt. Scott Kreher will be relieved of duty and  put on administrative leave, pending a psychological exam, Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington told WSB Radio in a statement Saturday night.

"The Atlanta Police Department does not condone nor will we tolerate supervisors making irresponsible and inflammatory remarks against the Mayor or any citizen of the City of Atlanta," Pennington said in an email statement.

Kreher, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 23, could not be reached for comment Saturday night.

Gregory Pridgeon, Mayor Franklin's Chief of Staff, declined to comment.

Sgt. Kreher apologized to Mayor Franklin for the comments he made during an emotional Atlanta City Council Finance Committee meeting.

On Wednesday, Sgt. Kreher said he was expressing his frustration to the council over disabled police officers not being able to get workmen's compensation claims paid. He said "to be treated the way they are now, is just unconscionable.  I want to beat her (Mayor Franklin) in the head with a baseball bat sometimes when I think about it."

Kreher told Channel 2 Action News on Thursday, "Personally, I just want to extend my apologies to the Mayor.  (Wednesday's) finance committee meeting, there was a lot of emotions involved in that meeting."

Mayor Franklin issued a statement that read in part "Sgt. Kreher's threat is reprehensible, a violation of his oath of office and a disgrace to the many men and women who serve proudly as law enforcement officers in Atlanta."

Chris Camp contributed to this story.

(WSB Radio) -- At least 100 people missed the South Cobb High School graduation ceremonies Saturday because of counterfeit tickets, a school district spokesperson said.

Every senior received legitimate tickets for the ceremony at the Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta. But some could not get in because the church was already filled to capacity.

"I can't even talk cause I'm missing my baby graduate," Michelle Weaver Thrasher told WSB-TV as her child was receiving a diploma.

"I thought they were going to go in and see me walk and everything, but they didn't," said graduate Gabriella Calderon.

The school district says someone printed 100 fake tickets and used them for Saturday's ceremony.

"It's unfortunate some people used fake tickets... We understand why those parents were mad. We're mad too," a spokesman with the Cobb County School District said in a statement.

"I was in the hospital a couple of weeks ago having surgery. I didn't think I could make it here today. I'm here and I couldn't even see them," said mother Regina Howard.

The school district said it would go through each ticket from graduation to figure out where the fake tickets came from.

ATLANTA (AP) Georgia's lakes have recovered from a three-year drought in time for abundant recreation over the Memorial Day weekend if it only stops raining long enough for people to have fun.

The forecast for most of Georgia calls for cloudy skies and a chance of showers and thunderstorms for the next three days.

Lake Thurmond, along the Georgia-South Carolina line, is more than five feet higher than last Memorial Day after a wet spring in the Savannah River basin and elswhere in Georgia.

Although water levels are more favorable this year, boaters must continue to be cautious, said Georgia Wildlife Resources Division Col. Terry West, whose law enforcement officers will be out all weekend.

``Water levels certainly are better this year, which may remove some of the obstruction issues we had in the previous few years, but that does not mean that boaters should become less diligent,'' West said.

Last year, Georgia had 156 boating accidents and 18 boating fatalities. Conservation rangers made 215 boating under the influence arrests. This year, with more visitors likely to use state reservoirs, the numbers could increase.

Even Lake Lanier northeast of Atlanta, which a year ago was 18 feet below full, is expected to see large crowds this weekend.

Chris Arthur, chief ranger of park operations for the Army Corps of Engineers, anticipates about 300,000 visitors over the three days.

``There should be an onslaught,'' said Arthur, who has been at the lake 12 years.

Lanier is still about 5 feet below normal levels. That means some swimming areas are sandy beaches.

Kit Dunlap, a co-founder of the lake watchdog group called the 1071 Coalition, says the rising water level is good news for businesses in the area.

``It's helped everyone's attitude. It's nice to have some good news from Lake Lanier,'' said Dunlap, who also is president of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce in Gainesville. Hall County boasts the most shoreline of any county around the lake, more than 400 miles.

A 2001 study concluded that lake recreation was worth more than $5 billion annually to the region, Dunlap said.

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

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Authorities are investigating a three-vehicle crash that killed two men Friday on Interstate 59 in St. Tammany Parish.

State Police say 74-year-old Homer Phillips, of Carriere, Miss., was heading north in the southbound lanes of I-59 in a pickup truck around 6 p.m. when he collided head-on with a southbound pickup truck, forcing it into the median.

State Trooper Louis Calato said Phillips' vehicle then struck a southbound car, which also careened into the median, before rolling over and coming to a rest in the southbound shoulder.

Authorities say Phillips and a passenger in the other pickup, 28-year-old James Chapman, of Atlanta, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Chapman was a social studies teacher at South Cobb High School.

State Police would not speculate on why Phillips may have been driving against traffic.

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

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) Micah Gibbs broke a tie with a two-run single in the fifth inning and Paul Bertuccini got the final four outs to help LSU beat Georgia for the second time Saturday night, 3-2, and advance to the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game.

The top-seeded and defending champion Tigers (45-16) have won four straight games to set up a meeting with No. 8 seed Vanderbilt for the title on Sunday. The title game was moved up three hours to noon CDT because of forecast bad weather.

The second game was shortened to seven innings because of the late start.

LSU had stayed alive earlier with a 16-0 rout, scoring seven runs in the first inning and not letting up even after a 4-hour, 28-minute rain delay in a 16-0 rout.

Daniel Bradshaw (4-0) pitched a complete-game three-hitter for the Tigers, who won by the mercy rule after seven innings.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Derek Lowe put Atlanta in position to win with his arm and his bat. Rafael Soriano stepped in when it looked as if Lowe's effort wouldn't be enough.

Lowe pitched into the eighth inning and drove in the go-ahead run with one of his two hits, leading the Braves to a 4-3 victory over the slumping Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night.

Lowe (6-2) allowed two runs and five hits in 7 1-3 innings to move into a tie for the NL lead in wins. He has allowed two runs or less in seven of his 10 starts.

Lyle Overbay's RBI single off Mike Gonzalez cut Atlanta's lead to 4-3 in the ninth. Rod Barajas then walked to load the bases but Soriano struck out pinch-hitter Kevin Millar and retired Marco Scutaro on a flyball to left to earn his fourth save.

``Soriano came in and did an unbelievable job,'' Lowe said. ``I think that's the benefit of having two guys who are comfortable closing. Clearly Gonzalez is our closer. But when the situation come about it's very comforting to everybody to see a guy come in like that. Because you see now he's very comfortable in that role.''

Gonzalez earned his seventh save in Friday night's 1-0 win over Toronto but left the tying run on third base.

Kelly Johnson hit a seventh-inning homer off B.J. Ryan as the Braves (22-20) moved two games over .500 for the first time since April 15, when they were 5-3.

The Braves have won 11 of 16 and are 5-3 on their nine-game homestand. They began the stretch at Turner Field with the worst home record in the majors.

``We needed to starting playing better at home, I think that's the most important thing,'' Lowe said.

``It starts with starting pitching. You've got to be able to keep your team in the game. I think that's what we've been able to do.''

The AL East-leading Blue Jays have lost five straight, all on the road. It's their longest streak since losing seven straight from June 14-21, 2008.

``We haven't shown up so far in this series,'' manager Cito Gaston said. ``These guys have got to start swinging their bats like they did before this road trip. ... You have long streaks like this. You just have to keep going.''

Lowe, who entered with a .143 batting average, was 2 for 3, including a fourth-inning single that drove in Jeff Francoeur for a 3-2 lead. Francoeur had three hits.

Toronto right-hander Casey Janssen (0-1) gave up three runs and eight hits over six innings in his first start since 2006 and his first appearance since 2007. Janssen missed last season recovering from a torn labrum.

``I could have made some better pitches,'' Janssen said. ``I'm back. That was my goal.''

Casey Kotchman hit a tying two-run double off Janssen just over the reach of center fielder Vernon Wells in the third inning. The double drove in Lowe and Johnson, who had singled.

Scutaro gave Toronto a 2-0 lead with a two-run double in the third.

With light rain beginning to fall in the bottom of the fourth, Francoeur hit a one-out double and Diory Hernandez walked. After the runners advanced on Jordan Schafer's grounder, Lowe's single to right drove in Francoeur.

Hernandez was a late addition to the lineup after shortstop Yunel Escobar was scratched with a strained right hip flexor. Hernandez made his first career start.

There was rain, but no delay, over the last six innings.
Notes: Atlanta 3B Chipper Jones was held out for the second straight game with a sore right big toe. He said he hopes to play Sunday. ... Escobar is listed as day to day. ... Lowe reached 2,000 career innings in the fifth. ... Janssen's previous start was on July 24, 2006, for Toronto at Seattle, when he gave up six runs in three innings. ... Braves LHP Tom Glavine (sore left shoulder) gave up three runs and five hits over three innings in his rehab start for Triple-A Gwinnett against Toledo on Saturday night.

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

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) Atlanta Braves left-hander Tom Glavine tossed three innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Gwinnett on Saturday night.

Glavine allowed three runs and five hits against Toledo. He has been on the disabled list since the start of the season following elbow and shoulder surgery last August.

``I felt really good,'' said Glavine, who threw 56 pitches against the Mud Hens. ``That is certainly as good of stuff velocity-wise on my fastball as I've had. The flip side was that I couldn't throw the ball where I wanted to. But I'll take that. I'd rather feel that my stuff was good and be fighting my location.''

Glavine is scheduled to make a second rehab start for Gwinnett on Thursday, then likely get another in with Class A Rome before possibly rejoining the Atlanta rotation in early June.

Glavine made only 13 starts last season, going 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA, and went on the disabled list for the first time. He has a career record of 305-203 with a 3.54 ERA.

After he stopped a minor league rehab start April 12, the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner was diagnosed two days later with inflammation in his left rotator cuff.

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

EAST POINT, Ga. (AP) Hundreds gathered Saturday to mourn the slain rapper Dolla, who was shot at a Los Angeles shopping mall five days earlier.

Many friends and relatives wore white clothing and white scarves to honor the 21-year-old performer, filing past his casket at Word of Faith Love Center south of Atlanta. The body of the entertainer, whose real name was Roderick Anthony Burton II, was wrapped in a cream-colored fabric.

His brother, rapper Will ``Scrapp DeLeon'' Robinson, said Dolla once told him that he did not fear death, and when it came he wanted people to wear white and celebrate his life.

After the service, Burton was buried at Atlanta's Westview Cemetery.

The man accused of shooting him, Aubrey Berry of Snellville, an Atlanta suburb, pleaded not guilty to murder and assault charges Friday in Los Angeles. Berry, 23, is being held in lieu of $5 million bail.

Berry was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport hours after Burton was shot on Monday. Berry's lawyer says the shooting was in self-defense.

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

PHOENIX (AP) An 8-year-old Georgia girl who was believed to have been sexually molested and abducted by her mother's husband has been found in Arizona.

Maricopa County sheriff's spokesman Doug Matteson said Saturday that the girl was found in Youngtown about 15 miles northwest of Phoenix on Friday night with her head shaved, possibly to hide her identity.

He said after receiving a tip late Friday, deputies surrounded a Youngtown home, broke down the door, and found the girl inside with her 1-year-old brother and mother, 26-year-old Casey Petty.

Petty's husband, Jerry Lee Fagen, 30, was not found. Matteson said he may be on his way back to Georgia. The sheriff's office has notified other agencies between the two states to be on the lookout for Fagen.

Matteson said one of Petty's relatives owns the Youngtown home, and that Petty told deputies she'd been living there for a couple of weeks.

Fagen is wanted by the Paulding County Sheriff's Office on suspicion of child molestation and sexual battery, according to Cpl. Brandon Gurley, a spokesman for the Georgia agency.

Paulding County investigators received a tip earlier this month that Fagen was in Phoenix, and was on the run with his wife and the two children.

The children are now in the care of Arizona Child Protective Services, which will coordinate with Georgia authorities about what will happen to them.

Georgia authorities received reports in April from the Department of Family and Children Services stating that Fagen engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with the girl, who was last seen at school on April 28. A family member withdrew her from the school two days later.

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

(WSB Radio) Bomb squad units successfully detonated one of two suspicious packages found at the West End MARTA Station, authorities said.

MARTA Police, Atlanta Police, and Atlanta firefighters responded after the packages were found just after midnight Saturday. Lee Street was blocked off for the investigation. MARTA passengers were taken off the trains and transported by bus.

Authorities are investigating the contents of the second package. They think a liquid chemical was inside. Authorities have not said exactly what that liquid was.

Police said no one was injured.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) Gwinnett County Police will honor an officer killed on the highway by emphasizing enforcement this weekend of a Georgia law requiring motorists to move a lane away from stopped emergency vehicles with flashing lights.

Police will concentrate on Interstate 85, providing motorists stopped for violating the 2003 ``Move Over'' law with pamphlets explaining it. Gwinnett's DUI Task Force also will arrest drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Sixteen years ago, May 23, 1993, Task Force Officer Chris Magill was waiting for a wrecker to pick up a vehicle on the shoulder of I-85 when he was struck in the rear by a drunken driver.

The law requires drivers to slow down and move away from the lane adjacent to stopped emergency vehicles with flashing lights.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Family and friends will gather to mourn the slain rapper Dolla, who will be buried in Atlanta's Westview Cemetery five days after he was shot at a Los Angeles mall.

Funeral services for the 21-year-old performer, whose real name was Roderick Anthony Burton II, are scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Word of Faith Love Center in East Point, just south of Atlanta.

The man accused of shooting him, Aubrey Berry of Atlanta, pleaded not guilty to murder and assault charges Friday in Los Angeles. The 23-year-old Berry is being held in lieu of $5 million bail.

Berry was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport hours after Burton was shot on Monday. Berry's lawyer says the shooting was self-defense.

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

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) With more people out of work, they are eating more snack foods, which in turn is adding 70 jobs in Columbus.

Snack maker Lance Inc. announced Friday a new cracker line and increased candy bar production at its west Georgia plant through a $10.5 million expansion expected by late fall. Lance, which employs about 525, will add jobs including machine operators and supervisors.

Senior vice president Blake Thompson says ``the food business is growing nicely right now.''

The Charlotte, N.C.-based company also makes crackers, cookies, nuts, potato chips and more in North Carolina, Iowa, Massachusetts, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Arkansas and Ontario, Canada.

Thompson says the company likes Columbus' location for distribution, the city's support for business, and the plant's capacity to expand.

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

Kawakami combined with Mike Gonzalez on a four-hitter and the Atlanta Braves beat Halladay and the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 on Friday night in the interleague opener for both teams.

Kawakami (3-5) had lost five of his last six decisions before outlasting Halladay, who leads the major leagues with eight wins.

``I'm not trying to think about the other pitcher too much but I did hear things about how he's on a roll right now,'' Kawakami said through an interpreter. ``He's been pitching so well, it's a pleasure to pitch against him. Really.''

Kawakami, a 33-year-old rookie, lasted eight innings his longest outing of the season and gave up only three hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.

``It was fun to watch him dominate tonight,'' said Matt Diaz, who scored the only run on Casey Kotchman's eighth-inning sacrifice fly.

Halladay gave up five hits with one walk and six strikeouts in seven scoreless innings, ending his streak of wins in five straight starts.

``When you run into a guy who's pitching well, it makes it tough,'' Halladay said. ``We ran into one who was pitching well. You have to tip your hat to him.''

Gonzalez escaped a jam in the ninth for his seventh save.

Aaron Hill hit a one-out double to left field and advanced to third on Alex Rios's weak grounder to Gonzalez. Vernon Wells followed with a grounder that a charging Martin Prado bobbled briefly at third base before recovering to throw to first.

``I was hoping he'd throw it away,'' Toronto manager Cito Gaston said.

Instead, Prado's accurate throw beat Wells by one-half step.

``I just reacted to the groundball,'' said Prado, the fill-in starter for Chipper Jones, who was held out with a sore toe.

``With that guy Vernon Wells running down the line, I didn't want to stay back. I knew he was going to run hard,'' he added. ``I came in to get it and for some reason I was watching the runner the ball just bounced in front of me. I just reacted.''

The Braves took advantage of Halladay's exit to score the game's only run and hand the Blue Jays their fourth straight loss for the first time since losing seven straight from June 14-21, 2008.

The Blue Jays scored a total of five runs in losing three straight at Boston before continuing their nine-game road trip in Atlanta.

``We couldn't score any runs,'' Gaston said. ``We're having trouble scoring runs right now. (Kawakami) threw the ball well. You can't take anything away from him. They both pitched a very good game.''

Diaz, pinch-hitting for Kawakami, led off the eighth with a double to center off Jesse Carlson (1-3) and moved to third on Yunel Escobar's groundout to first before scoring on Kotchman's fly to left field.

The Blue Jays, shut out for the first time this season, remain one-half game ahead of Boston in the AL East.

Kawakami, who had lost five of his last six decisions and entered the game with a 5.73 ERA, looked to be an unlikely bet to keep pace with Halladay, the 2003 Cy Young winner.

``He had a 6.00 ERA for so long; he's so much better than that,'' Braves manager Bobby Cox said. ``He was popping the ball. He got his split-finger going. He was just dynamite.''

Kawakami gave up only two hits before Scott Rolen led off the eighth with a double to left. Rolen was left standing at second as Lyle Overbay grounded out to Kawakami, Rod Barajas hit a fly to shallow right field, and pinch-hitter Joe Inglett struck out.

Inglett hit for Halladay, who left after throwing 95 pitches and said ``it's definitely tough'' to leave a 0-0 game.

Kawakami did not last more than six innings in any of his first seven starts, but he looked strong against the Blue Jays after limiting his pitch count early in the game.

There was a 30-minute rain delay before the start of the game. Notes: Braves INF Omar Infante had surgery Friday to have a plate placed in his left hand. A bone in the hand was broken when he was hit by a pitch from Colorado's Manny Corpas on Wednesday night. ... Toronto called up RHP Casey Janssen, INF Joe Inglett and LHP Ricky Romero from Triple-A Las Vegas. OF Travis Snider, LHP Brett Cecil and RHP Bobby Ray were optioned to Las Vegas. ... The Braves optioned RHP James Parr to Gwinnett and recalled RHP Manny Acosta. ... Francoeur stole second base in the seventh, his first steal since Sept. 14, 2007.

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

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) Taylor Schlopy hit a three-run homer to help Georgia rally from a 6-1 deficit to beat Ohio State 7-6 on Friday to advance to the Women's College World Series.

Courtney Pruner's first-inning grand slam gave the Buckeyes (47-11) a 4-1 lead. Rachael Shepherd's RBI double helped Ohio State build a 6-1 lead in the third.

Schlopy singled home a run in the fourth to make it 6-2, and her homer was the tying blow in Georgia's five-run sixth inning. Brianna Hesson doubled home Brittney Hubbard to cap the rally.

Christie Hamilton picked up the win in relief for Georgia (44-10).

Georgia, which swept its Super Regional series against the Buckeyes, will travel to Oklahoma City for the WCWS, which begins Thursday.

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

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) Police say a woman who hid in crawl space behind a closet with her 18-month-old has been charged with felony murder by depriving the girl of oxygen long enough to cause her death.

Jessica Holcomb initially was charged with child cruelty after Shyanne Nicole Holcomb died Monday. Police say the 26-year-old had an outstanding warrant for her arrest and stuffed herself and the baby in the crawl space when officers went to the home Friday to check on a report that two small children had been left alone in unsanitary conditions.

After finding the hiding spot, officers described the child as pale and lifeless. She was taken to a hospital where she died three days later.

The girl's 3-year-old brother was placed in the paternal grandparents' custody.

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

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) Michael Vick met with probation officials Friday for the second time in the two days he's been home from prison, and prepared to begin a $10-an-hour construction job after the holiday weekend.

Wearing jeans, a light blue shirt and navy blue blazer, the former Atlanta Falcons star quarterback looked straight ahead as he entered the federal courthouse, escorted by his fiance and a member of his security team. He was joined inside by his lawyer, Lawrence Woodward.

Vick made no statements to reporters and didn't acknowledge a few onlookers who shouted encouragement. ``Keep your head up, Mike,'' one yelled.

The meeting lasted nearly an hour. He later met with attorneys in Surry County, where the dogfighting operation was discovered, before returning to his home in Hampton.

Vick arrived home Thursday after a 1,200-mile car trip from Leavenworth, Kan., and within hours had his first meeting with probation officials, who fitted him with an electronic monitor. Vick must wear the device during his two-month home confinement, which will complete his 23-month sentence for operating a dogfighting ring.

Next week, he is expected to begin construction work for the W.M. Jordan Co.

Vick's long-term schedule includes:

a June 9 hearing in his Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in Norfolk.

his expected release from federal custody on July 20, when he would shed the monitor and start three years' probation.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has indefinitely suspended Vick and said the former standout will have to show remorse before he considers reinstating him.

AP Sports Writer Hank Kurz Jr. in Richmond, Va., contributed to this report.

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

ATLANTA (AP) The FBI says a 50-year-old security guard has been charged in connection with a bomb threat at the Georgia Department of Labor building in Atlanta.

FBI special agent Gregory Jones says Robert Lamar Thompson of Covington faces charges involving the false report of a bomb last Friday.

Jones says Thompson, a security officer at the building, notified officials of two suspicious packages left on two separate floors of that building.

Jones says markings on the boxes and statements regarding a telephone call indicated that the boxes might contain a bomb.

The agent says a subsequent investigation focused on Thompson, who was charged under federal law with reporting a false bomb threat.

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

JONESBORO, Ga. (AP) A Georgia man was sentenced to 100 years in prison for poisoning his two children to extort money from Campbell Soup Co.

William Cunningham was sentenced Thursday after a jury found him guilty of five counts of cruelty to children and two counts of aggravated assault, said Kellie Perry, a clerk at the Clayton County Superior Court.

The girl and boy, then 18 months old and 3 years old, were hospitalized after Cunningham fed them soup tainted with prescription drugs and lighter fluid.

On one occasion, authorities said he used the prescription drugs Prozac and Amitriptyline both used to treat depression to poison the children.

Cunningham was arrested in March 2006. According to prosecutors, the former dump truck driver called Campbell in January 2006 and threatened to sue the company because its soup was contaminated. He pleaded guilty in 2007 to a federal charge of making false claims against the company.

Authorities said there was no evidence the soup was tainted when it was purchased. A family member said the children may suffer lifelong respiratory problems after swallowing the poisoned soup.

The children's mother, Rhonda Cunningham, filed for divorce during the case.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Chipper Jones is not starting in the Atlanta Braves' series opener against Toronto and says he's not sure if he'll be available to pinch-hit.

Jones said he hurt his right big toe while running to first base in the sixth inning Thursday night. He left the game one inning later.

When asked after batting practice Friday if he could pinch-hit, Jones said he didn't know.

The Braves optioned right-handed reliever James Parr to Triple-A Gwinnett and recalled right-hander Manny Acosta, who was 1-3 with a 2.86 ERA at Gwinnett. Acosta was 3-5 with three saves and a 3.57 ERA with Atlanta last season.

Parr threw 91 pitches and gave up four runs in four innings in Thursday night's 9-0 loss to Colorado, leaving his ERA at 5.79.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Rapper T.I. must report Tuesday to a federal prison at Forrest City, Ark., as previously ordered, a federal judge ruled Friday.

T.I., whose real name is Clifford J. Harris Jr., was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for a federal weapons charge. He asked a court Thursday to let him remain free while he seeks placement in a minimum-security prison closer to his Atlanta home, but that request was denied the next day by U.S. District Judge Judge Charles A. Pannell Jr.

Harris claimed prison officials miscalculated his criminal history in a pre-sentencing report that said he had a ``serious history of violence.'' His lawyer called a 2003 incident a ``scuffle'' with a mall cop.

Lawyer Donald F. Samuel said he would continue to ask the federal Bureau of Prisons to re-classify the music star.

The rapper is scheduled to report by noon Tuesday to the Federal Correction Institution at Forrest City, Ark. He was fined $100,000 and sentenced to 366 days for trying to buy machine guns and silencers he said he needed for protection.

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

WASHINGTON (AP) A Republican House member wants President Barack Obama to make 2010 the year of the Bible.

There's no sign that Obama will get the chance in the foreseeable future. Georgia Rep. Paul Broun's resolution would have no force of law if passed. And it can't be passed unless majority Democrats, who referred it to a committee, bring it to the floor for a vote.

The resolution reads in part:

``The president is encouraged ... to issue a proclamation calling upon citizens of all faiths to rediscover and apply the priceless, timeless message of the Holy Scripture which has profoundly influenced and shaped the United States and its great Democratic form of government, as well as its rich spiritual heritage, and which has unified, healed and strengthened its people for over 200 years.''

Told of the measure, several Democrats and liberal and atheist bloggers objected. Some said it would violate the separation of church and state by advocating one book of faith over others.

``If Broun wants to practice his brand of Bible-thumping by legislative 'ministering' to the public, let him get his own damn pulpit outside the halls of Congress,'' blogged Talking Points Memo on May 13. The Politico also reported on the resolution.

Broun said the nation's values are based on those espoused in the Bible.

``The national year of the Bible resolution reminds us that our great nation was founded upon biblical principles and that religious freedom is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights,'' he said in a statement. The resolution has 14 co-sponsors.

There is precedent. By signing proclamation 5018, President Ronald Reagan designated 1983 the year of the Bible, ``in recognition of the contributions and influence of the Bible on our Republic and our people.''

``I encourage all citizens, each in his or her own way, to re-examine and rediscover its priceless and timeless message,'' the proclamation reads.

Broun's resolution is H. Con. Res. 121 and can be accessed at http://thomas.loc.gov.

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

(WSB Radio) A missing 10-year old College Park girl is found safe 400 miles away from home.

The GBI said Kaylen Francis Johnson was found in Hattiesburg, Mississippi early Saturday morning.

The girl was reported missing Friday afternoon. Police said she was picked up from Love T. Nolan Elementary school by her mother, Malissa Consuela Johnson. Johnson does not have custody of her daughter.

The GBI immediately issued a Levi's call when the child was reported missing.

"(Malissa) was in Mississippi," Kaylen's uncle David Chambers told WSB-TV. "She had no place to stay (in College Park), so she had to go back to Mississippi." 

Hattiesburg police have not released the status of the girl's mother. Authorities also have not said if anyone was arrested.

ATLANTA (AP) An armored truck driver is accused of helping another man rob a truck he was driving two years ago in suburban Atlanta.

Federal prosecutors say 26-year-old Desmond Cooper of Duluth was arraigned Friday, three days after his indictment on charges of Hobbs Act robbery and possessing a firearm during commission of a violent felony. A bond hearing is scheduled for next week.

Hobbs Act robbery involves interstate commerce.

Authorities say Cooper was the driver of a truck held up by Craig Carroll during a May 31, 2007 delivery to a check cashing facility in Tucker. They claim he helped Carroll plan the robbery and provided him with details of the delivery route.

Carroll was indicted on the same charges. He is being held in the Gwinnett County Jail.

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

(WSB Radio) -- Michael Ledford, the man convicted of brutally murdering a 53-year old woman on the Silver Comet Trail in Paulding County three years ago is now a dead man walking.

WSB's Pete Combs reports the jury of ten men and two women spoke with one voice as they sentenced Silver Comet Trail killer Michael Ledford: give him the needle.

"We the jury fix the sentence as follows: Death," read the verdict.

One juror cried throughout the sentencing. Polling the jury, Paulding County Superior Court James Osborne asked her, "Was (the verdict) freely and voluntarily made by you?" 

The woman replied through her tears, "Yes, sir."

"Is it still your verdict?"

Without hesitation, the woman replied again, "Yes, sir."

The other female juror appeared contemptuous of Ledford, staring at the convicted killer as she, too, was asked, "Was (the verdict) freely and voluntarily made by you?"

"Absolutely," she replied, never taking her eyes off the defendant.

The 46-year old Ledford listened to the verdict without emotion, though his mother sobbed quietly in the gallery, comforted by other family members. Later, there was a brief altercation between Ledford's relatives and news photographers as the family left the building. 

The family of victim Jennifer Ewing was relieved at the verdict.

"Michael Ledford has been held accountable for what he did," said Jennifer Ewing's widower, Jim.

And for that, Ledford has been sentenced to die. His attorneys promise an appeal, one that will apparently be based on their contention Ledford suffers from brain damage and is mentally impaired.

(WSB Radio)  Someone really messed up the last day of school in Gainesville.

Parents were forced to drive their kids in after an early morning fire at the Gainesville School System's bus shop destroyed nine buses.

Initial reports had eight buses burned, but Glenn Allen, spokesman for the Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner's office, reported the additional bus burned.

School Supt. Merriana Dyer said that no buses would run on Friday.

Gainesville Fire Chief Joe Canada said the call of the fire came in about 4:30 a.m.

Dyer said parents were told, some at the last minute, that they should take their children to school or make other arrangements to get them there. She said if that's not possible any absences will be excused.

(WSB Radio)  There's justice for a Clayton County boy and girl, scarred for life by their father, who poisoned their soup.

William Cunningham added all sorts of things to his kids' soup in an effort to extort money from the Campbell's company.

A jury has convicted Cunningham and sentenced him to 100 years in prison. 

Authorities say the first time he had forced them to eat soup laced with hot peppers and lighter fluid and the second time he used the prescription drugs Prozac and Amitriptyline,  both used to treat depression. 

Family members say Cunningham tried poisoning the kids three times, the third time forcing the soup down their throats.

According to federal prosecutors, Cunningham called Campbell's and threatened to sue. Authorities say there was no evidence the soup was tainted when it was purchased.

"Who would think your husband and the father of your kids would do that?" Rhonda Cunningham says.  She divorced William Cunningham after the poisoning scheme became known.

Janet Dockery is the children's grandmother.  Miranda and Billy Cunningham are 4 and 6, respectively.

"He said, 'Mawmaw, I think that's my old daddy,'" Dockery says.  "I said, no that's not your old daddy.  I played it off to be something else.  And he said, 'Yeah.  That's soup daddy.'  That's what he calls him.  soup daddy."

William Cunningham was earlier convicted in federal court of trying to extort money from Campbell's. 

Cunningham's former mother-in-law has no sympathy for him.

"I hope you get what you deserve while you're in there," Dockery says.  "They should feed him lighter fluid every night."

(WSB Radio)  Parents and students both are rushing to the defense of two Cherokee County educators who are now under arrest.

Woodstock High School teacher Lori Peavy and para-professional Nancy Cheek are both charged with false imprisonment and cruelty to children, after accusations surfaced about the way a couple of special ed students were treated.

Another special ed teacher and another assistant last week accused Peavy and Cheek of duct-taping one student to a chair and trapping a blind student under a desk.

Parents say their special ed kids miss their teachers.

"She comes home and asks for Miss Peavy everyday," one parent tells Channel 2 Action News. 

"This is a woman you can trust," says another parent.  "Her mug shot makes her look like a criminal.  She's not a criminal."

Yet another mother says her child is inconsolable now that his favorite teaching team is no longer at school.

The parents say they don't believe the charges against the pair.

(WSB Radio)  Snellville police are calling the mother-in-law of the woman killed in front of a Target store a "person of interest."

The GBI is looking at a white pick up truck similar to the one driven by the mother-in-law.

25 year old Heather Strube was shot to death in the Target parking lot after picking up her son from her estranged husband.

According to witnesses, after the husband dropped off the boy and drove off, another person approached Strube, the two exchanged words and the suspect pulled a gun, shooting Strube in the head.

Witnesses say the killer was wearing a wig and fake moustache.

Police believe Strube knew her killer.  Surveillance video suggests the suspect might have been a woman disguised as a man.

(WSB Radio) Lilburn police are searching for the gunman who opened fire early Friday morning on an employee of the Wal-Mart on Lawrenceville Highway.

Lilburn police spokesman Matthew Lake tells Channel 2 Action News the victim and another worker were behind the business attending to some propane tanks when they heard a "popping sound."

Back inside the store, the victim discovered he had been shot once in the calf.  He's listed in stable condition at Gwinnett Medical Center.

Officers combed the woodline behind he store, but didn't turn up anything.  Investigators hope video surveillance will provide them with some leads.

(WSB Radio) -- The president of the Atlanta Police Union has apologized to Mayor Shirley Franklin for derogatory comments he made about her during an emotional Atlanta City Council Finance Committee meeting.

On Wednesday, Sgt. Scott Kreher was expressing his frustration to the council over disabled police officers not being able to get workmen's compensation claims paid when he said "to be treated the way they are now, is just unconscionable.  I want to beat her (Mayor Franklin) in the head with a baseball bat sometimes when I think about it."

Kreher tells Channel 2 Action News "personally, I just want to extend my apologies to the Mayor.  Yesterday's (Wednesday's) finance committee meeting, there was a lot of emotions involved in that meeting."

Mayor Franklin issued a statement that read in part "Sgt. Kreher's threat is reprehensible, a violation of his oath of office and a disgrace to the many men and women who serve proudly as law enforcement officers in Atlanta."

Chief Richard Pennington was unavailable for comment.

NEW YORK (AP) New rules for credit card companies will clamp down on when they can hike interest rates and force them to spell out their terms in plain English. But opening your monthly statement could still be a dizzying experience.

The wide variety of fees that card issuers charge balance transfer fees, foreign transaction fees, annual fees will probably keep climbing as banks try to make up for lost revenue, analysts say.

``Banks are very creative,'' said Philipp Schnabl, an assistant finance professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. ``They need to make money.''

Among other changes, the rules, expected to be signed into law Friday by President Barack Obama, will force card issuers to wait until customers are 60 days behind on payments before raising their interest rates.

Lenders would be required to restore the lower rate if cardholders paid their minimum balances on time for six months. The rules will also make it more difficult for people under 21 to get cards.

Once the regulations go into effect next year, customers will get to choose between being charged a fee for going over their credit limits, or simply not being able to exceed those limits at all.

But the host of other fees will remain unrestricted, as long as they are clearly disclosed to customers. Many card lenders have already hiked fees over the past several months, and probably will go further, said Bill Hardekopf, CEO of Lowcards.com, which tracks credit card offers.

``The fees are still a wide open game,'' he said.

Balance transfer and cash advance fees are typically 2 percent or 3 percent, but a few card issuers have recently raised them to 4 percent.

Another fee that's becoming more popular is the foreign transaction fee, which cardholders incur if they buy goods from a foreign retailer. That includes people vacationing anywhere outside the U.S., driving up the costs of a trip overseas.

This year, Discover Financial Services added a 2 percent fee for transactions made in foreign currencies. And Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. will charge 3 percent on all transactions outside the U.S., even those made in dollars.

Credit cards are lucrative for banks. Last year, even after issuers cut back offers and credit lines, they pulled in $169 billion from credit cards, industry consultant Robert K. Hammer says. About 60 percent of that was interest, 40 percent fees.

Already, the windows of time for introductory interest rates are shrinking, Hardekopf said. Offers of zero percent for 12 months ``are still out there, but they're a lot fewer and farther between,'' he said.

Industry analysts are also watching to see whether card companies make up lost revenue by trimming benefits, like cash back for purchases and airline miles. Citigroup has already put a three-year expiration date on its rewards points and warned its customers more changes could be on the way.

But rewards programs, low fees and low interest rates are what lure customers, said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. Even responsible borrowers generate revenue, and they come with much less risk.

In the wake of the new rules, ``the reliance on 'gotcha' practices is coming to an end,'' McBride said. ``Issuers will need to make better credit decisions and be better lenders. Those that do will be very profitable. Those that can't will be behind the curve.''

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

ATLANTA (AP) Aaron Cook kept throwing sinkers, and his infielders kept making plays.

Cook pitched a four-hitter and Todd Helton's grand slam ended Colorado's power slump as the Rockies beat the Atlanta Braves 9-0 on Thursday night.

Cook (3-1) retired the final 16 batters for his second career shutout. He had 20 groundouts and did not allow a baserunner to advance past second for his first win in eight career starts against Atlanta.

``I didn't need to show up today,'' said Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta of his easy task of calling pitches for Cook. ``The choice was between a sinker and a sinker. ... It was the best sinker I've seen this year.''

Jeff Francoeur singled with two outs in the fourth and then Cook retired everyone else. The only other hits that Cook gave up were a single to Chipper Jones in the first and back-to-back singles by Francoeur and Jordan Schafer in the second.

``When he's got that sinker with that late movement, it's every bit as good as it gets in this game,'' said Braves catcher Brian McCann. ``He baited us and made us swing at tough pitches.''

Colorado second baseman Clint Barmes had 10 assists.

``I was cheering for the guys making the plays,'' said Cook of his infielders. ``I was throwing strikes, keeping the ball down. ... I always take a lot of pride in our defense.''

The Rockies had gone four games and 46 innings with a homer before Helton's shot in the fourth inning. Before that mini-drought, the Rockies had not had as many as two straight games without a homer this season.

The Rockies posted only their second shutout of the season. The only other one was a 3-0 victory over Arizona in the second game of the season.

Helton had three hits and drove in five runs as the Rockies spoiled Kris Medlen's major league debut.

Medlen (0-1) gave up five runs in three innings. He left after facing four batters in the fourth.

The Rockies recovered after losing games Wednesday and Thursday by the combined score of 20-5.

``We definitely needed this one, no doubt about that, especially after the way we got beat last night,'' said Helton of the Braves' 12-4 win on Wednesday night.

Helton, who opened the series with his 2000th career hit Tuesday night, helped give the Rockies a split of the four games with another memorable game. He enjoyed his 10th career game with five RBIs while hitting his fifth career grand slam, his first since Sept. 10, 2006 against Washington.

The 23-year-old Medlen earned his promotion by posting a 5-0 record with a 1.19 in eight games with Triple-A Gwinnett near Atlanta. His major league debut included two wild pitches, a hit batter, a balk and five walks all while recording only nine outs.

``I can't explain it but whatever it was, it's unacceptable,'' Medlen said. ``I felt fine. I can't explain what happened. ... The wheels fell off.''

After Medlen's second wild pitch far outside the reach of McCann in the fourth inning, manager Bobby Cox and assistant trainer Jim Lovell hurried out to the mound. Cox said he was concerned that a drop in the velocity of Medlen's pitches was a sign the right-hander was injured.

Medlen remained in the game, but he walked Clint Barmes on four pitches to load the bases with no outs. Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell visited Medlen, who then hit Cook's left elbow with a pitch, forcing in a run.

Cox returned to the mound to pull Medlen.

Reliever James Parr almost stranded the three runners he inherited. After recording outs on popups by Dexter Fowler and Troy Tulowitzki, Parr gave up the grand slam to Helton on a 3-2 fastball to give Colorado a 6-0 lead.

``When the count was 3-2, I said 'This kid's in trouble, he's got to throw a strike to get him out,''' said Clint Hurdle of Parr.

Helton's homer was just beyond the reach of Francoeur, who had to look in his glove to see he didn't make the catch.

``The wind was blowing pretty good, and the ball barely got out,'' Helton said.

Helton drove in Dexter Fowler with a sixth-inning double off Parr.
Notes: Helton drove in a career-high six runs on May 23, 2003 against Los Angeles. ... The Braves placed IF Omar Infante (broken left hand) and LHP Jo-Jo Reyes (right hamstring) on the 15-day disabled list and called up IF Diory Hernandez with Medlen from Triple-A Gwinnett. Hernandez entered the game in the seventh, marking the first time since Sept. 5, 2001 (Tim Spooneybarger and Cory Aldridge) the Braves had two players make their major league debut in the same game.

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

(WSB Radio) -- Police have released sketches of two of the three suspects who brutally pistol-whipped and robbed an elderly couple inside their Walton County home.

C.F. Ewing is listed in serious condition at Gwinnett Medical Center.  His wife, F.C. Ewing is in critical condition at Atlanta Medical Center.

"As far as we know," J.W. Ewing said about his sister's condition. "Facial structures are crushed, jaws are broken. She's beaten very, very badly."

Loganville Police Chief Mike McHugh says two black men approached the couple at their home on Covington Street, off of Highway 78, around 1 p.m. Thursday.  They allegedly gained access to the home by posing as buyers of Mr. Ewing's pickup truck.  Once inside, the suspects severely beat the couple and stole Mr. Ewing's wallet.

The two suspects, and a third black man waiting in a car, made their getaway in a late model dark blue or black Chevrolet or Oldsmobile sedan.

The GBI and the Walton County Sheriff's Department are assisting Loganville police with the investigation.  Chief McHugh tells Channel 2 Action News "collectively we will investigate it and hopefully bring these guys to justice."

(WSB Radio) A DeKalb County toddler is lucky to be alive after falling out of an apartment window.

Batallion Chief Charles Milam tells WSB the boy fell out of a window at the Valley Place Apartments off of Valley Brook Road and Highway 78.

"We had a three-year-old to fall from a three story apartment building, out of the window.  Apparently, he fell into some bushes that broke his fall.  He just has some minor scratches on one leg," said Milam.

Milam says when they arrived, the little boy was already playing and laughing. 

"He was not hurt and our medics talked the mother into letting her kid go to Egleston to be checked out," said Milam.

So far, no charges have been filed.

5/21/09

(WSB Radio) -- Two men are in the hospital and a suspect is on the loose after a shooting in Dekalb County today. WSB's Pete Combs is tracking the story and reports the search for a suspect continues.

The shooting happened around 11:30 Thursday morning near the intersection of McAffee and Nettie Court. Dekalb Police spokeswoman Mekka Parrish tells Combs it happened the suspect apparently argued with the two men on the street, pulled a gun, shot them and ran.

"As a precaution, because the suspect was last seen on foot," she says, "two schools were put on lockdown." The security precautions were lifted about two hours later.

The victims, whose names haven't been released, are reportedly in serious and critical conditions.

21 May 2009

(WSB Radio)  DeKalb Police say they've made an arrest in the case of an Iraq war vet who was stabbed to death outside a Tucker bar early Sunday.

Police won't say who they have in custody or if they're looking for any more suspects in the death of 28-year-old Adam Pearce.

He was stabbed trying to break up a fight at the Last Great Watering Hole. Witnesses say reported seeing a woman with a knife.

Police won't say if the person in custody is a female.

A spokeswoman says detectives plan to release more information in the case Friday.

(WSB Radio)  They got their name because of the way they'd break in during smash and grab burglaries.

Now, the "Old Virginia" gang has been broken up.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, accompanied by law enforcement from Sandy Springs, Roswell, Alpharetta and DeKalb County, announced the arrests of four suspects in connection with a total of 27 burglaries in Fulton County and parts of DeKalb.

Howard says cops are sure these are the guys.

"Once they were taken into custody, the number of burglaries has dropped significantly," he says.

The gang targeted businesses with flat screen televisions, using a brick to smash their way in.  It was those bricks that led to the gang's moniker.

"One of the things that police kept finding was this brick stamped Old Virginia," Howard says.  The Old Virginia brick company has been around since 1890 and is based, as you might imagine, in Virginia. 

After police established that the bricks were the common thread in the burglaries, they set out to find their suspects. 

"When they arrested one of the defendants at his apartment complex, they located a pallet of Old Virginia bricks," says Howard.

Police say the ring leader is James Nathan Craig.  He faces a total of 62 charges.  Yardley Emil Alford is charged with 13 counts, Greg Joseph Vital is facing 6 counts and Jason Warren Matthews has been indicted on 31 charges.

Alford is Craig's son; Vital is Craig's stepson.

Police say the gang operated from 2007 until the arrests last month.  They hit 23 businesses a total of 27, burglarizing one Allstate insurance office on three separate occasions.

They stole a total of 36 flat panel TVs, worth just over $116,000. 

Surveillance video shot at some of the crime scenes indicated the suspects were driving a 2003 black Ford Excursion.  A witness gave police a partial license number, but that led nowhere.  However, when a detective switched the witnesses description of the number from ANK 7581 to AWK 7581, the license matched the SUV belonging to Craig.

Police say now they're trying to figure out where the stolen TVs were sold.  They're asking for the public's help.  Anyone with information about the sale of stolen flat panel televisions is ask to call the police tip line at 770-551-3300.

(WSB Radio) Parents of a Gwinnett County middle school are put on alert after a disturbing discovery.

Gwinnett County School Spokesman Jorge Quintana tells WSB it happened Tuesday at Trickum Middle School.

"The school reported that a man was inside the girl's bathroom in the school. A child, a student, walked into the bathroom, saw the man, and immediately came out and reported it to a staff member," said Quintana.

Quintana says the man was not threatening and it quickly became obvious he was confused.

"Upon speaking with the man, the school found out that he was lost and confused because he did not speak the English language," said Quintana.

Quintana says most people who enter the school, know they have to go through the main door and must sign in.

"It's the last week of school.  Today is the last day; so a lot of our schools are having activities, celebrations, and celebrating student achievement, and so there are many visitors coming in and out of the school," said Quintana.

The man was questioned and later released.  The incident was posted on the school's website.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (AP) Former Atlanta Braves and current Boston Red Sox pitcher John Smoltz has married Kathryn Darden, the second marriage for each.

The wedding was Saturday night at Smoltz's house in Alpharetta in front of about 70 family and friends.

Smoltz had four children by his previous marriage and she has two.

The couple is in Fort Myers, Fla., where Smoltz is rehabilitating from shoulder surgery.

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

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) A man accused of killing three people in a shooting rampage at a Columbus hospital in March 2008 is expected to plead guilty.

Charles Johnston is on the guilty plea docket Thursday for Superior Court Judge Doug Pullen.

The 64-year-old Johnston was accused of entering the hospital on March 27, 2008 and killing administrative assistant Leslie Harris and nurse Pete Wright, who were both 44, and 76-year-old patient James David Baker.

Police say Johnston had a grudge against a nurse he believed was responsible for the 2004 death of his mother and mistakenly thought Wright was that nurse.

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

(WSB Radio) -- Georgia's unemployment rate for April was 9.3 percent, up slightly from March and February, according to newly released figures from the state Department of Labor.

"The state unemployment rate has remained virtually unchanged during the past three months," said State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, "and, during the same period, the number of Georgians filing initial unemployment insurance claims has shown smaller increases than in previous months. This suggests that Georgia's labor market may be beginning to stabilize."

The April jobless rate was up 3.5 percentage points from 5.8 percent at this same time last year. Georgia's unemployment rate remained above the national rate of 8.9 percent for the 18th consecutive month.

ATLANTA (AP) Georgia health officials say 27 cases of swine flu have now been confirmed in the state, up from 25 last week.

The state Department of Human Resources Division of Public Health said Wednesday the two latest patients are Henry County residents. Health oficials say both patients have recovered, and neither required hospitalization.

The samples were tested by a private lab at the beginning of the month and later sent to the North Carolina state lab.

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

ATLANTA (AP) The Atlanta Braves' highest scoring inning and game of the season couldn't take away the sting of losing one of the team's hottest hitters and most versatile players.

Yunel Escobar hit a three-run homer in a nine-run fourth inning and the Braves beat the Colorado Rockies 12-4 on Wednesday night for their second straight lopsided win in the series.

Atlanta lost leadoff hitter Omar Infante in the sixth inning. He broke a bone in his left hand when he was hit by a pitch from Manny Corpas and is expected to miss six to eight weeks, according to manager Bobby Cox.

``It's a huge blow,'' Cox said. ``He's been on fire the whole year. He can play several positions and he can play them well.''

Infante, who had two hits to lift his batting average to .349, will be evaluated Thursday.

Infante has shared time with Kelly Johnson at second base and has made fill-in starts at shortstop and third base and has appeared in three games in the outfield.

``You lose a guy with that much ability that's been that productive, you're gonna feel it somewhere down the road,'' Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said. ``I don't know what the prognosis is, but it's obvious he's not going to be helping us anytime soon.''

X-rays revealed Infante broken his fifth metacarpal.

The Rockies, who gave up 10 runs in the seventh inning of their 11-4 loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday, were tied 1-1 with the Braves before the big inning.

The Braves beat the Rockies 8-1 on Tuesday night, then set a season high with the 12 runs Wednesday. The nine-run inning was their biggest of the season.

The Rockies have lost six of eight to fall a season-low nine games below .500.

``We'll figure things out tomorrow,'' Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. ``We have work to do. We know that.

``We're embarrassed. We have to pick it up and go. We don't want to dig ourselves in any deeper.''

Javier Vazquez (4-3) struck out the first four Colorado batters and finished with six in five innings. He gave up three hits and one unearned run.

Jorge De La Rosa (0-4) walked Martin Prado and Matt Diaz before hitting Jeff Francoeur to load the bases with no outs in the fourth. De La Rosa then walked David Ross to force in a run.

Jordan Schafer hit a sacrifice fly and Infante had a run-scoring single before Escobar's homer gave the Braves a 7-1 lead.

The home run knocked De La Rosa out of the game. He gave up seven runs and five hits and walked five in 3 2-3 innings, raising his ERA from 3.16 to 4.27.

``I was wild,'' De La Rosa said. ``It was one of those games when I had control problems. I had nothing.''

Matt Belisle, who took over for De La Rosa, gave up seven hits and five runs, three earned, in two innings. Belisle gave up run-scoring singles to Diaz, Francoeur and Ross in the fourth.

``It unraveled,'' Hurdle said. ``It was a bad inning. We were one out away from getting out of it. We were not in a good place.''

Hurdle benched shortstop Troy Tulowitzki for one game for swinging at a high, first pitch and hitting into a double play in the eighth inning Tuesday night.

The Braves, helped by two fielding errors by third baseman Ian Stewart, added two runs in the sixth. Schafer's bloop single drove in a run, and a second run scored when Stewart couldn't field Jeff Bennett's grounder.

The Braves' starting lineup did not include regulars Brian McCann, Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman. Ross, the fill-in catcher, drove in two runs. Diaz, starting in left field, had three hits and scored four runs.

Ryan Spilborghs had two RBIs for the Rockies and Clint Barmes had a two-run double.

``We have to start winning games,'' Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins said. ``... We're not even making them close. That's frustrating.''
Notes: Jones' first-inning single was his 1,000th hit at Turner Field, the most of any player. ... The five walks and seven runs allowed were season highs for De La Rosa. ... Jo-Jo Reyes made his first relief appearance since being removed from the Braves' rotation. He gave up two runs in the eighth and then left after hitting a single in the bottom of the inning. He suffered an apparent hamstring injury running to first base and left the game. He will be evaluated Thursday.

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

WASHINGTON (AP) Every American with a credit card will see sweeping changes in the market, with limits on sudden hikes in interest rates that drive consumers deeper into debt. Even cardholders who pay off their balance each month may face new annual fees or lose out on lucrative rewards programs.

Congress wrapped up the legislation Wednesday and sent it to President Barack Obama, who plans to sign it on Friday. The bill will revolutionize the market by restricting when and how a card company can raise an individual's interest rate, who can receive a card and how much time people are given to pay their bill.

In general, the new rules which go into effect in nine months will protect debt-ridden consumers from many of the surprise charges common in the industry, such as over-the-limit fees and costs for paying a bill by phone.

``This cements a victory for every American consumer who has ever suffered at the hands of the credit card industry,'' said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Banking Committee.

But there will be losers too.

Banks, which oppose the legislation, will need to make up the cost somewhere, and cardholders who pay off their balance in full each month could see new annual fees and lucrative rewards programs canceled. Credit could become harder to come by too.

Some of the changes, including a requirement that cardholders receive 45-days notice before their rates are raised, are already on track to take effect in July 2010 under new regulations by the Federal Reserve. The legislation would put these changes into law and go farther in restricting when and how banks charge people and who could get a card.

For example, the bill would require people under 21 to prove first that they can repay the money or that a parent or guardian is willing to pay off their debt if they default.

The House passed the reform bill by a 361-64 vote on Wednesday. The Senate had voted, 90-5, for the measure on Tuesday.

Consumer advocates say it's up to the banks to decide what happens next.

Nick Bourke, manager of the Safe Credit Cards Project at the Pew Health Group, said companies already offering transparent pricing won't have to drastically change how they do business. Lenders could probably cover costs with small annual fees in the $15-$20 range or increase upfront interest rates, he said.

``Nothing requires pricing to go up and benefits to go down,'' Bourke said. ``The only thing that is required is that the price offered actually reflects the cost of using the card.''

Regardless of how banks respond to the bill, it's passage this week reflects both America's addiction to debt and easy credit's contribution to the economic downturn.

Last year, the Nilson Report estimated that more than 700 million credit cards were in circulation in the United States. That's more than two cards for every man, woman and child.

What's more is that many cardholders are carrying hefty balances. According to the Federal Reserve, the nation is some $2.5 trillion in debt, excluding home mortgages.

Lawmakers supporting the bill say legislation is necessary to stop a vicious cycle: A cardholder falls behind on one bill and watches helplessly as the rate spikes on their existing balance. Buried in interest fees and other charges, they spend less, which hurts local businesses.

Under the bill, a customer would have to be more than 60 days behind on a payment before seeing a rate increase on an existing balance. Even then, the lender would be required to restore the previous, lower rate if the cardholder pays the minimum balance on time for six months.

The practice of charging higher rates and fees to cardholders with risky credit was devised as a means to protect lenders against the risk of default while keeping costs low for consumers who paid their bill on time, said Edward Yingling, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association, which lobbied against the legislation.

Yingling says the new rules will limit the card companies' ability to price according to risk.

``Less credit will be available generally, which means some consumers and small businesses will not be able to obtain credit cards at all, particularly younger people and start-up small businesses,'' Yingling said.

Dodd, who championed the bill, said this argument is absurd and ``a little like Chicken Little.''

Flooded with complaints by constituents who say they are victims of abusive practices by the card companies, the Senate fast-tracked Dodd's bill and only five senators voted against it.

Two of the opposing senators GOP Sen. John Thune and Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson were from South Dakota, where thousands of jobs depend on the industry. Thune estimated up to 5,000 workers in the state would lose their jobs as a result of the changes.

Included in the bill is an unrelated measure by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., that would allow people to bring loaded guns into national parks and wildlife refuges.

The House approved that provision separately on Wednesday by a 279-147 vote.

Associated Press Writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

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

ATLANTA (AP) DreamWorks still wants to make a movie about Martin Luther King Jr. ``provided that there is unity'' among his feuding children, the movie studio said Wednesday.

DreamWorks announced a deal this week with The King Estate for a major motion picture about the civil rights icon. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III immediately threatened legal action, saying they were not involved in negotiating it.

King's son, Dexter, oversees the estate and signed off on the deal.

``The purpose of making a movie about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is to tell a great story which could bridge distances and bring people together,'' read the statement provided to The Associated Press by DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan. ``We remain committed to pursuing a film chronicling Martin Luther King's life provided that there is unity in the family so we can make a film about unity in our nation. We believe this is what Dr. King would have wanted.''

The studio touted the project in a news release as the first big-screen portrayal of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner that would be authorized by the estate and use King's intellectual property, including copyrighted speeches and other works, as the basis for the film. Steven Spielberg was listed as a co-producer.

``I sincerely believe that the film project we have been working on with DreamWorks ... offers an unprecedented opportunity for educating the largest possible audience about our father's legacy as the leader of America's greatest nonviolent movement,'' Dexter King said in a statement.

He said the DreamWorks biopic could focus on the life and work of his father just as the film ``Gandhi'' educated people on the teachings of India's political and spiritual leader of non-violent independence from the British.

``I sincerely hope my brother and sister will join us in supporting this urgently needed project,'' he said.

He said although his communication with family members has ``been somewhat stymied by the current litigation,'' he continues to reach out to them.

Spokesmen for Martin Luther King III and Bernice King were not immediately available to comment on DreamWorks' statement.

Bernice King and King III have accused their brother of tarnishing their parents' legacy with his business decisions, and say he has been operating The King Estate for years without their input.

In March, Dexter King brokered a deal with EMI Music Publishing for his father's words and image. Last month, his siblings took issue with an $800,000 licensing deal their brother struck with the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation, which is building a monument to King on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The siblings still haven't settled three lawsuits involving their parents' estates, including one attempting to force Dexter King to open the books of The King Estate. Another would determine who should control Coretta Scott King's personal items some of which were at the center of a $1.4 million book deal about their mother's life that fell apart last year.

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

(WSB Radio) -- It will be up to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to decide when, or even if, Michael Vick will be allowed to rejoin the league.  Goodell's decision, presumably, will come after Vick completes the last two months of his federal prison sentence in home confinement.

So, what would happen if Goodell opts to keep Vick from signing with an NFL team?

"If the commissioner were to make a discrimantory decision against Michael Vick, while allowing others with felony convictions to play, Vick could sue," says WSB legal analyst Ron Carlson.  He says the former quarterback would have a case, "if Vick was arbitrarily stripped of his right to pursue his own economic freedom while others were given a pass."

Carlson, who was one of Vick's harshest critics when knowledge of Vick's involvement in dogfighting came to light, says the quarterback's situation is different from other professions, like teaching or lawyering.  In those jobs, a felony conviction often means the end of a career.

"But, in those other professions, there is a standing rule that everybody knows about," Carlson says.  "But, if the commissioner is going to pick and choose among people, that's a very very different sort of scenario."

Carlson says NFL attorneys could counter that nobody, including Michael Vick, has a right to play in the NFL.

"The league would, perhaps, argue that the league can do what it wants with its stars because the league is a purely private entity," he says.  But, Carlson adds Vick's attorney could challenge that contention by pointing to the billions of dollars in public money that goes towards NFL stadiums, making the league a somewhat public entity.

If Vick were to sue, he could end up winning the battle but losing the war.

Carlson says any lawsuit could be dragged out for years, long after Vick's prime playing days were over.  So, Carlson believes, it might be worth it for Vick to accept whatever additional suspensions the commissioner might mete out.

If Vick did want to challenge a ban, he'd have to look no further than the case of Leonard Little for ammunition.

Little, a standout defensive end for the Rams for the past 11 years, was convicted of DUI manslaughter in connection to the 1998 death of a 47 year old Missouri mother.  In 2005, Little was again arrested for DUI, resulting in a felony plea.

"It's hard to hold Vick's case up against that one and say Vick's case is worse," says Carlson.

So, should Michael Vick be reinstated into the NFL? 

Carlson, who called for hard prison time for Vick when the former Falcon was convicted, believes so.

"He's paid a strong price," Carlson says.  "His time in jail.  The loss of his assets.  As another football player has said, this has always been a country of second chances.  I believe Michael Vick deserves another chance."

(WSB Radio) -- Atlanta Police are investigating a case of road rage that sent two women to Grady Memorial Hospital with gunshot wounds. 

One victim was shot in the face and the other took a bullet to the chest when a man opened fired around 8 p.m. Wednesday on I-285 near Langford Parkway. 

The suspect, identified only as a black man, is believed to be driving a red Eagle Talon convertible with a black top.  Police consider him armed and dangerous. 

The victims say they initially encountered the man about thirty minutes before the shooting when he tried unsuccessfully to strike up a conversation with them outside their apartment complex on Campbellton Road in southwest Atlanta.

(WSB Radio) Parents of a Gwinnett County middle school are put on alert after a disturbing discovery.

Gwinnett County School Spokesman Jorge Quintana tells WSB it happened Tuesday at Trickum Middle School.

"The school reported that a man was inside the girl's bathroom in the school. A child, a student, walked into the bathroom, saw the man, and immediately came out and reported it to a staff member," said Quintana.

Quintana says the man was not threatening and it quickly became obvious he was confused.

"Upon speaking with the man, the school found out that he was lost and confused because he did not speak the English language," said Quintana.

Quintana says most people who enter the school, know they have to go through the main door and must sign in.

"It's the last week of school.  Today is the last day; so a lot of our schools are having activities, celebrations, and celebrating student achievement, and so there are many visitors coming in and out of the school," said Quintana.

The man was questioned and later released.  The incident was posted on the school's website.

5/20/09

FAJARDO, Puerto Rico (AP) A Puerto Rican man pleaded guilty Tuesday to kidnapping, raping and killing a pregnant Georgia tourist who made a frantic phone call to her fiance from the trunk of her assailant's car.

Eliezer Marquez Navedo pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, kidnapping and two sexual assault charges in the Feb. 4 slaying of Sara Kuszak.

Marquez stood expressionless, head up, as his attorney Hector Jimenez read the plea in a nearly empty courtroom in the eastern coastal city of Fajardo.

Marquez faces up to life in prison at a June 1 sentencing hearing. He will not face the death penalty because capital punishment can only be imposed on the U.S. island for federal crimes.

Jimenez said Marquez told him he wished to plead guilty just hours before Tuesday's hearing was to begin. ``It was a little bit surprising,'' the lawyer said, adding that his client rarely spoke to him in recent months.

Prosecutor Francisco Sanchez said he was not surprised.

``We have significant and overwhelming evidence,'' he said, referring to DNA samples found at the scene that police say are a match for Marquez.

Kuszak was about five months pregnant when she was abducted while jogging along a remote road in eastern Puerto Rico.

She had been living in Savannah, and was visiting the U.S. Caribbean island with her fiance and friends. The couple had planned to marry in the Caribbean in March.

From the trunk of her kidnapper's car, Kuszak made a desperate phone call to her fiance and told him she was going to die, her mother said. She was found dead with her throat slashed about an hour later.

Police say Marquez acknowledged killing Kuszak after they arrested him with bloodstains on his shirt and pants.

A friend of Kuszak's family, Matt Daniel, said Tuesday he is relieved to know that Marquez is going to prison.

``I'm glad he 'fessed up and that he's getting what he deserves,'' Daniel said in a telephone interview from Georgia.

Kuszak's killing was similar to murders that Marquez's mother, Ines Navedo, was convicted of committing in 1992. She served seven years for slashing the throats of two young siblings aged 2 and 3 before being paroled.

Police have since reopened that case to probe whether Marquez may have been responsible. They plan to re-interview him and are analyzing the victims' wounds for any similarities, but Lt. Nelson Torres said the investigation has stalled because no witnesses have materialized.

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

(WSB Radio)  Atlanta police are hunting for the robbers who hit an optical shop early this morning.

It marks  the third time Atlanta Vision Optical, on Caroline Street off of Moreland Avenue has been the target of robbers.

Police say today's robbery took place shortly after 4 this morning and was a smash and grab, as the suspects broke their way into the shop and made off with about for dozen eyeglass frames, each valued at about $300.

The store's owner believes the four suspects who broke into her store this morning are the same ones who robbed the business in the past.  She says in the previous robberies a green van was spotted parked outside.

(WSB Radio)  Woodstock police are looking for help in finding a man who has been following women and children in the Brookshire area.

Police say the man is driving a white minivan and followed an 18 year old around as she was jogging near Ridgewalk Parkway.

Cops say the following day he ran after a 10 year old girl who was out walking her dog.

"Our concern is that we don't know what this man is capable of or what his intentions were," Sergeant Paul Brown tells WSB.  "Our worst fear. of course, would be that he would be some type of a sexual predator, that's basically prowling through the neighborhood seeking somebody or, possibly, an attempt to kidnap someone."

Brown says police were first notified of the man's presence over this past weekend.

"We received a report from a man that lives in the neighborhood," Brown says.  "He reported that his 10 year old daughter had been followed by a male that was driving a white minivan.  She was out walking her dog and, at some point, this man got out of the van and began running towards her.

"According to the child, the man slipped and fell and she continued running and was able to make it back to her house," Brown says.

The man is described as a white male, in his late 20s, about 6 feet tall and 200 pounds.  The subject has short brown hair and was last seen wearing a pair of large, bright blue sunglasses, a blue t-shirt and black cargo shorts.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Woodstock police.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) An 18-month-old girl found by Gwinnett County police in a closet with her mother has died, and the woman has been charged with child cruelty.

Gwinnett County Police spokesman Cpl. David Schiralli says officers had been called to the home near Lawrenceville on Friday to check on two small children, who reportedly had been left alone in unsanitary conditions.

Police say the found 26-year-old Jessica Holcomb hiding in a closet with the baby. They described the baby as pale and lifeless. Schiralli says the baby was taken to a hospital and died on Monday.

Schiralli says police seized the baby's 3-year-old brother, who has been placed in the paternal grandparents' custody.

(WSB Radio) --  A judge says a DeKalb County elementary school student who killed himself last month was not specifically targeted by bullies.

In announcing the finding of an independent investigation, retired Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore also said the evidence shows Jaheem Herrera, 11, actively participated in several fights during the school year.

"My conclusion is there is no evidence of bullying at Dunaire," Moore said. "There is name-calling and teasing, but it is almost always done outside of any adult [being present]. There is a code of silence among the students."

Moore made the comments at a Wednesday press conference at the school district's headquarters on North Decatur Road near Clarkston.

WSB's Sandra Parrish reports Jaheem's mother, Masika Bermudez, broke down crying. Bermudez has insisted her son killed himself because of bullying at the school and that she had complained to school officials several times.

(WSB Radio) Nine people have been arrested in a stolen theft ring that stretched from Athens to Gwinnett County.

Athens-Clarke County Police Major Mark Sizemore says they knew something was up when the number of burglaries in the area shot through the roof.

"There was an increase in theft of flat screens, laptop computers.  Based on that,  we realized that something in our environment had changed.  Through investigation, through gathering information, we were able to determine that some of the stolen property was being taken to these convenient stores," said Sizemore.     

Sizemore says those arrested, including owners of some of those convenient stores weren't just paying cash for stolen items, but actually placing orders on items they wanted stolen.

Some of the businesses also ran illegal gambling operations in which they paid cash to customers who played poker machines.

The nine suspects face 40 criminal counts, both state and federal charges.

ATLANTA (AP) DreamWorks Studios plans to tell the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s story on the big screen in a film to be co-produced by Steven Spielberg, the studio announced Tuesday.

The studio describes it as a monumental project but two of King's children say the film deal was brokered without their blessing.

Dreamworks touted the project in a press release as the first theatrical motion picture authorized by the estate using King's intellectual property, including copyrighted speeches and other works, as the basis for the film.

Dexter King, one of the late civil rights leader's sons, said in a press release that he hoped the movie would ``be the definitive film'' on his father's legacy. Two other King siblings Bernice King and Martin Luther King III said they oppose the deal, which they say was brokered by Dexter without their input. They vowed to take immediate legal action.

Dexter is the chairman and chief executive officer of King, Inc.

``This is a deal that Mr. Spielberg and his people ... have entered into believing that they have the blessing of The King Estate. They don't have the blessings of Bernice and Martin King,'' Bernice King told The Associated Press in a telephone interview on Tuesday after finding out about the deal in an e-mail from Dexter King.

A spokesman for Dexter King did not immediately return a phone call Tuesday afternoon.

The three siblings have been involved in several legal disputes regarding their parents' intellectual property in the past year. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III have accused their brother of tarnishing their parents' legacy with his business decisions, and say he has been operating The King Estate for years without their input.

Martin Luther King III said the matter was typical of an ongoing pattern of exclusion.

``It's not that we are against a film,'' he said. ``It's very interesting to me that a company would engage in a business arrangement knowing that there's severe controversy around many issues pertaining to the estate of Martin Luther King Jr.''

DreamWorks spokeswoman Kristin Stark declined to say how much the deal is worth. It is not clear when the movie might be made. Stark said she did not believe the siblings' legal differences would affect the project.

Although several movies about King's life have been televised, the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner has only been on the silver screen once. The documentary, ``King: A Filmed Record ... Montgomery to Memphis,'' was shown once in theaters on March 24, 1970, and featured commentary from Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Ruby Dee, among others.

Film and television producer Suzanne de Passe and Madison Jones, a longtime friend of Dexter King who has handled intellectual property issues for the estate for several years, are also listed as producers on the project.

Bernice King said Jones also does not represent her and Martin.

``He has always represented Dexter,'' she said. ``This is about Dexter and Phil and their empire.''

In March, Dexter King brokered an intellectual property deal with EMI Music Publishing for his father's words and image. Last month, Bernice King and Martin Luther King III took issue with an $800,000 licensing deal their brother struck with the foundation tasked with building a memorial to their father on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The siblings are still struggling to settle three lawsuits involving their parents' estates, including one attempting to force Dexter King to open the books of their father's estate. Another would determine who should control Coretta Scott King's personal items some of which were at the center of a $1.4 million book deal about their mother's life that fell apart last year amid the legal wrangling.

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

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Michael Vick wants to work with an unlikely ally the Humane Society of the United States on a program aimed at eradicating dogfighting among urban teens.

Society president Wayne Pacelle said Tuesday that he recently met with Vick at the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kan., and that Vick said he wants to work with the group once he's out of federal custody.

Billy Martin, one of Vick's attorneys, said Vick requested the meeting.

``Michael is very interested in putting this together,'' Martin said.

Vick is serving a 23-month prison sentence after his 2007 dogfighting conviction. He is scheduled to return to Virginia this week to serve the final two months of his term under home confinement in Hampton. Vick is expected to be released to supervised probation July 20 after receiving two months off his term for good behavior.

``He indicated that he's tremendously remorseful about this, and now he wants to be an agent of change, to work to end dogfighting and to specifically get young kids to cease any involvement in these activities,'' Pacelle said.

Pacelle said he went into the meeting with much skepticism.

The vicious bloodsport, Pacelle contends is a ``culturally complex problem'' that is prevalent among black urban teens and Vick's voice could become a valuable asset.

``Sometimes folks who are reformed can be particularly strong advocates,'' Pacelle said, but not simply by recording anti-dogfighting public service announcements. ``We agree that he's got to put boots on the ground and hit the issue hard and do it over a long time.''

One of Vick's primary challenges over the coming months will be showing he is genuinely sorry for the actions that landed him in prison.

And one of the people he must convince is NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who suspended him indefinitely as the case against him mounted.

``I think that's going to be up to Michael,'' Goodell said Tuesday during a break at the NFL meetings in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. ``Michael's going to have to demonstrate to myself and the general public and to a lot of people, did he learn anything from this experience? Does he regret what happened? Does he feel that he can be a positive influence going forward? Those are questions that I would like to see when I sit with him.''

Goodell said that won't happen until Vick's legal responsibilities have been satisfied in July, around the time NFL training camps open.

Pacelle, too, said actions, not words, will be critical as Vick returns to society and begins attempting to repair his tarnished image.

``He's got to help himself. We can give him an opportunity to do the right thing, but it's ultimately going to be his level of intensity and sincerity that is going to convince the American public,'' Pacelle said.

``He still has to prove himself over time.''

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

ATLANTA (AP) Jair Jurrjens knew eventually the Atlanta Braves would score some runs in one of his starts.

The only question was when.

``It's like going to the ice cream store when you were a little kid,'' Jurrjens said with a grin. ``You relax more and just throw strikes. Try to work on the pitch count, try to work deep in the game.''

Jurrjens pitched seven strong innings, and Casey Kotchman had three hits and three RBIs to help the Atlanta Braves beat the Colorado Rockies 8-1 on Tuesday night.

Lowering his ERA 10 points to 1.96, Jurrjens (4-2) scattered three hits and allowed one run in seven innings. The right-hander struck out a season-high eight and walked three.

``Just come out and throw strikes,'' said Jurrjens, whose previous eight starts resulted in an average of only 2.3 runs of support. ``That's the thing that's been working for me, just being aggressive. Before I was trying to be perfect. Now I'm up there challenging the hitters, making sure I get ahead and make them get themselves out.''

In their previous three games, the Braves had scored just four runs, but the win improved them to 7-11 at Turner Field. They began the night with a .353 home winning percentage that was second-worst in the majors.

Manager Bobby Cox, hoping to change Atlanta's poor fortunes at Turner Field, tweaked the batting order with Yunel Escobar leading off, Kotchman hitting second and dropping Kelly Johnson to the sixth spot.

Atlanta's 13 hits were its most at Turner Field since the home opener, a 10-inning, 6-5 victory over Washington on April 10.

One of the few highlights for Colorado, which has lost five of seven, was Todd Helton's 2,000 career hit. The Rockies' first baseman singled in third to become the 255th player to reach the milestone.

``That's a lot of hits,'' Helton said. ``I'm proud of every hit I've got.''

Johnson had three hits for the first time in 25 games, improving his average 18 points to .243.

``I think that when you put up eight runs, whatever the lineup is after we haven't scored any runs,'' Johnson said, ``I think we should stick with it.''

Escobar, Kotchman and Johnson combined to go 7 for 13 with three runs scored.

``I'm just happy to have a costume on , so wherever you can be in the lineup, just try to contribute when you get the chance,'' Kotchman said. ``I don't analyze anything like that. I just try to play.''

Jason Hammel (0-3) lost his third straight start for the Rockies, allowing six runs and 10 hits.

``It's frustrating because we're losing,'' Hammel said. ``We're giving up little hits. We're making pitches, and we're making plays. Sometimes it just doesn't go your way.''

After Brian McCann's RBI single in the first made it 1-0, Atlanta scored three unearned runs in the second to take a 4-0 lead.

Johnson singled and moved to second when Jeff Francoeur reached on second baseman Clint Barmes' fielding error. On a fielder's choice grounder by Jordan Schafer, Francoeur was thrown out at second, but Johnson advanced to third and scored on Jurrjens' RBI infield single.

Escobar's infield single loaded the bases for Kotchman, whose RBI single drove in Schafer. Chipper Jones' RBI walk made it 4-0.

Troy Tulowitzki's sacrifice fly in the third cut the lead to 4-1, but Schafer responded with a two-run single to make it 6-1 in Atlanta's half of the inning.

Schafer moved to third on a wild pitch, but was thrown out at the plate on an assist from center fielder Dexter Fowler to end the third. Catcher Chris Iannetta held onto the ball despite Schafer's attempt to jar it loose in a collision.
Notes: Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said LHP Franklin Morales, on the 15-day disabled list since April 21 with a shoulder sprain, will throw simulated innings on Wednesday. ... Braves RHP Jorge Campillo, on the DL with rotator cuff tendinitis, will pitch two or three innings in long relief at Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday.

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

WASHINGTON (AP) The Obama administration is actively considering creation of a regulatory commission to protect consumers of financial products such as credit cards and mortgages in an effort to crack down on some of the abuses that helped trigger the current financial crisis, according to administration and industry officials.

These officials said that the administration has been exploring such an approach in meetings over the past few days with executives of the financial services industry.

There was also a discussion of the proposal at a dinner Tuesday night at the Treasury Department attended by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers, director of the president's National Economic Council.

An administration official who confirmed that the dinner had taken place said that no final decisions had been reached. The meeting was first reported by The Washington Post on its Web site.

However, an industry official said that the administration supported the concept that has already been introduced in legislation by several senators but may offer its own approach to the issue.

The officials who spoke Tuesday night did so on condition that their names not be used because the administration is not ready to unveil a proposal.

Treasury issued a statement late Tuesday that called the dinner ``one of a series of meetings with a wide range of relevant constituencies and experts'' to seek views on regulatory reform.

``Tonight's outreach meeting was largely attended by academic experts and former government officials. Other meetings have been held with consumer and investor groups and a wide range of financial services and market participants,'' the Treasury statement said. ``No decisions have been made but the administration is actively seeking various viewpoints as it puts together its framework.''

The proposal could set off a turf war among current federal agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the various bank regulatory agencies.

The administration is considering centralizing the enforcement of laws that protect consumers of financial products, such as mutual funds, credit cards and mortgages an effort that currently is spread across a number of federal agencies.

A leading proponent of such an approach has been Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren, who is currently serving as the head of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the government's $700 billion financial rescue effort.

Warren argued in a 2007 article that the government needed to do a better job of protecting homeowners who take out mortgages and consumers of other increasingly complex financial products.

Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., introduced legislation earlier this year that would create a commission like the one proposed by Warren.

Some industry groups have already expressed opposition to the plan.

The Financial Services Roundtable, which represents some of the biggest institutions in the country, has argued that it would be a mistake to separate the regulation of financial products from the regulators who oversee the institutions selling those products.

It was unclear whether the administration will propose creating a new federal agency to house the commission or placing the commission under an existing agency.

The administration is expected to unveil its proposal in the next few weeks as it pushes ahead with a sweeping effort to overhaul the government's financial regulatory system.

Geithner has said that extensive changes are needed to make sure that the current financial crisis, the worst in seven decades, is never repeated.

Under the current system, regulation of financial products is split between a wide range of state and federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve, the SEC and the Federal Trade Commission.

Under one possible approach, some federal banking agencies might combined and some powers over consumer products might be consolidated into a new body.

The administration has already put forward some broad principles for financial regulatory overhaul, including creation of new powers to allow authorities to take over major financial institutions that represent a threat to the system.

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

(WSB Radio) Nine people have been arrested in a stolen theft ring that stretched from Athens to Gwinnett County.

Athens-Clarke County Police Major Mark Sizemore says they knew something was up when the number of burglaries in the area shot through the roof.

"There was an increase in theft of flat screens, laptop computers.  Based on that,  we realized that something in our environment had changed.  Through investigation, through gathering information, we were able to determine that some of the stolen property was being taken to these convenient stores," said Sizemore.     

Sizemore says those arrested, including owners of some of those convenient stores weren't just paying cash for stolen items, but actually placing orders on items they wanted stolen.

Some of the businesses also ran illegal gambling operations in which they paid cash to customers who played poker machines.

The nine suspects face 40 criminal counts, both state and federal charges.

5/19/09

(WSB Radio)  Jurors at the trial of Michael Ledford wiped away tears as they listened to victim's impact testimony by the victim's family.

"Everything changed on July 25, 2006, when she failed to return home from an afternoon bike ride," Ewing's husband, James, testified.  "Our worst fears were realized the next day as details of the murder reached us.  Her death created a void in my life and in the lives of our family that can never be filled."

Ledford was convicted of ambushing the Cobb County mother on the Silver Comet Trail, sexually assaulting her, then beating her to death.

Ewing's daughter fought back tears as she told the jurors about the impact of her mother's death.

"We have been left without our strongest supporter, our biggest believer and our closest confidant," Margaret Ewing said.  "Our world is much emptier now with our mom missing from it."

Some jurors began crying as they listened to Ewing's mother talk about her 54 year old daughter.

"I can't help but be thankful that she was preceded in death by her father," Margaret Slocumb cried on the stand.  "He referred to her as the golden one.  She honestly was beautiful, brilliant, artistic and witty.  She is missed by her whole world."

Ledford was convicted by the same jury on Monday in Ewing's murder.  They must now decide whether to sentence him to life in prison or death by lethal injection.

As for the Ewing family, three years after the murder, life is still as painful as ever.

"I don't care about our fond memories and happy times," Ewing's son George told the court.  "Sometimes I would rather forget them.  They hurt me so much."

(WSB Radio)  A Villa Rica police officer is recovering after being dragged following a traffic stop.

The sergeant pulled over 28 year old Marko Burton for questioning.

"One of our officers was attempting to stop a subject on 61 at Highway 78," says Villa Rica Police Chief Michael Mansour."

During the stop, Mansour says, Burton attempted to drive off and the sergeant tried to stop him.

"Subject attempts to crank the car to leave.  The officer reaches in to try to prevent him from doing that," Mansour says.  "In the process, the officer is drug (sic) probably 40 to 50 feet.  He falls to the ground and is run over by the rear tire of the car."

Burton was taken in custody.  Police believe he was trying to flee because he was driving without a license.  Mansour says Burton has a long criminal history.  He's now being held in jail.

The officer was taken to Tanner Medical Center where he was treated for bruises and released.

(WSB Radio)  A 911 call led to the Henry County SWAT team surrounding a home.

The caller told police he wanted "them out of his home."  "They" were armed men who, the caller said, had committed some sort of criminal acts.

When police arrived, they surrounded the house on Line Crest Road.  It turns out the house is owned by DeKalb County and is rented to a county employee.

The man arrived at the scene and gave SWAT officers the key.  They then entered through the front door and escorted five men out.

Those men, including the 911 caller, are being held for questioning.  No charges have been filed.

Police do say a stolen car was recovered at the house.

(WSB Radio)  Cherokee County investigators have found no fault with the Canton cops who shot and armed man in a KMart men's room.

Police went into the restroom to talk to Raymond Sweat without knowing he had a gun. 

"I'm just assuming he became irritated and said 'there's not enough of you here,'" says Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison,  "and he raised the gun as if to fire and the officers returned fire as they had no cover."

  Garrison says Sweat was hit five times and died at Kennestone Hospital.

Sweat's wife and his employee had reported that his behaviour had turned erratic in recent months.

(WSB Radio)  An up and coming Atlanta rapper has been shot and killed at a Los Angeles mall.

Roderick Burton, otherwise known as Dolla, was gunned down while waiting at a valet stand near the Beverly Center.

"LAX airport was able to help us identify and detain a person that resembled a person at the scene," says Los Angeles Police Officer Ronald Crump.  Police say the suspect had a handgun stuck in his waistband.

A police officer says the victim and gunman had been arguing before the shooting.

The suspect remains in custody.

Dolla was in Los Angeles to record his first album.  He worked on the 2006 dance film ``Step Up'' and recently cut a pair of singles with Akon: ``Like This'' and ``She So Fine.''

(WSB Radio) The victim in a fatal bar fight in Tucker was an Iraq war veteran.

Witnesses say 28 year old Adam Pearce intervened during the fight at "The Last Great Watering Hole," on Sunday night.  According to police, someone insulted Pearce's roommate's girlfriend about her tattoos, leading to the altercation.

During the fight, according to witnesses, a woman stabbed both Pearce and the roommate.

Pearce died from his wounds.  The roommate was injured, but not seriously.

No arrests have been made.

Pearce joined the Marines after graduating from Shiloh High School in 1999.  He was part of an artillery unit that was sent to Fallujah.

(WSB Radio) Budget cuts may mean that Gwinnett County school could lose their crossing guards.

The Board of Education says they will not be able to provide money for the 18 guards and three supervisors who work at 30 schools.  The guards cost the school system about $260,000.

Parents are not happy with the possibility of losing the crossing guards.

"IT's extremely important," says Lisa Washington, a county parent, "just because, in the morning time , this street gets extremely packed out and it's the crossing guard that controls everything."

The cuts are not a done deal.  Officials have until the next school fiscal year to decide.  The next year begins on July 1.

"We do understand they have challenges, but we have challenges, as well," says school system spokesman Jorge Santana.  "We are hoping that these two programs can continue for the next school year."

(WSB Radio) Parents in at least three northwest Atlanta neighborhoods are keeping a close eye on their children after a suspicious woman was spotted several times last week staring at kids from her parked car.

The woman has made unwelcome appearances in the Wood Valley, Paces Forest and Argon Forest subdivisions off of Moore's Mill Road and Northside Drive.

Charles Yauger lives in Wood Valley with his wife and two daughters.  He tells Channel 2 Action News "we don't really know what she's up tom but something's going on and it's scaring the kids."

The woman has been seen driviing two different cars, but neighbors have not been able to get a tag number.  Atlanta police have increased patrols in the area.

(WSB Radio) -- The north Fulton teenager accused of driving drunk when he wrecked his pickup last week, killing one of his friends, is being held without bond in the Fulton County jail.

18-year-old Andrew London surrendered overnight to Milton Police at the Alpharetta city jail.  His only comment as he entered the jail, "Praise Jesus."

London is charged with DUI, vehicular homicide, reckless driving, speeding and underage possession and consumption of alcohol.  He was allegedly driving in excess of 80 miles an hour when he ran his 1972 Chevrolet pickup off New Providence Road last Tuesday morning and struck two utility poles.

18-year-old Adam Stephens, a senior at Milton High School who was supposed to graduate this Friday night, was killed in the crash.  London's 16-year-old brother suffered serious injuries when he was ejected from the truck.  He remains hospitalized at North Fulton Regional Hospital.

Stephens' parents are encouraging people to make donations to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

WASHINGTON (AP) Unable to stop the tide of foreclosures and job losses, lawmakers are hoping to give voters at least some breathing room in the economic downturn by banning arbitrary rate hikes and excessive fees charged by credit card companies.

Legislation that would impose new restrictions on the industry was expected to pass the Senate on Tuesday. With the House having endorsed a similar measure already, Democratic leaders said they hoped to send a final version to the president to sign by week's end.

If Obama signs the bill, as expected, the credit card industry would be required within nine months to change the way it does business: Lenders would have to post their credit card agreements on the Internet, let customers pay their bills online or by phone for free and give customers 45 days notice and an explanation before interest rates are increased.

In a key provision addressing a concept called ``universal default,'' a customer would have to be more than 60 days behind on a payment before seeing his rate on an existing balance increase. Even then, the credit card company would be required to restore the previous, lower rate after six months if the consumer pays the minimum balance on time.

The banking industry is pushing back, warning lawmakers that the legislation would restrict credit at a time when Americans need it most. They defend their business practices as necessary to protect themselves when providing money to consumers with no collateral and little more than a promise to pay it back.

But members of Congress don't want to face voters in the 2010 election without proof that they are listening to constituents crushed by debt. They say credit card companies have gone too far.

``Any effort to restore confidence in our economy must start not on Wall Street, but in Main Street, and that's what the credit card situation is all about. It's about Main Street,'' said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Obama too has taken up the issue, most recently last week at a town hall meeting in New Mexico. He said that while free-flowing credit is important, the government cannot tolerate profits made by misleading working families.

``This is America and we don't begrudge a company's success when that success is based on honest dealings with consumers,'' Obama said. ``We need reform to restore some sense of balance.''

Senate debate on the credit card bill comes as a senior House Democrat tried to assure small, local banks that they weren't the target of financial reform efforts in Congress.

The House Financial Services Committee, led by Rep. Barney Frank, plans to consider in June legislation that would create a government entity that would monitor risk and dissolve large financial institutions that threaten the financial system. The cost of a ``systemic risk regulator'' and ``resolution authority'' is expected to be borne by the banking industry.

``While we are considering how best to fund the resolution authority, I believe there is a consensus on the House Financial Services Committee that small banks that have not contributed to the problem should not be assessed for the fix,'' said Frank, D-Mass., in a statement released Monday.

As lawmakers focus on how to prevent another financial meltdown and rein in credit cards, foreclosure rates and joblessness are on the rise.

According to a report released last week by RealtyTrac Inc., the number of U.S. households faced with losing their homes to foreclosure jumped 32 percent in April compared with the same month last year. Nevada, Florida and California showed the highest rates.

Meanwhile, the jobless rate rose to 8.9 percent in April with predictions that it will probably hit the double digits.

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

(WSB Radio) -- Multiple social factors, including discrimination and harassment, may contribute to an increased risk of suicidal feelings among adolescents who feel that they are overweight, a Georgia State University researcher says.

Monica Swahn, associate professor in the institute of public health, and her students found that adolescents who perceive that they overweight -- even though they are not, according to their body mass index -- are at increased risk for suicide attempt, according to a recently published study in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

"We were surprised to find that any combination of perception of being overweight, or actually being overweight, increased the risk of suicidality," Swahn said.

Swahn and students in her social determinants of health class analyzed data from the National Youth Risk Behavior Study from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention. Further studies are needed to look at multiple factors related to suicidal feelings, but social structures including discrimination, harassment, income, housing, food and nutrition, and media messages likely play a role in the increased risk for suicide attempts among youth who feel that they are overweight.

"There is an ideal about what a body should look like, which we're all inundated with constantly," Swahn said. "And children and youth are very vulnerable to these messages as they transition into adulthood."

ATLANTA (AP) Georgia State University is cutting 300 staff positions to deal with reductions in state funding.

University spokeswoman Andrea Jones said Monday that just 30 of the jobs are filled. She said no full-time faculty will be cut.

Jones said the Atlanta university hopes to save $9 million by cutting the positions. The university already has restricted travel for faculty and staff and frozen hiring.

The 27,000-student university has lost $37 million in state funding for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The university has 3,400 employees.

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

ATLANTA (AP) An agreement has been reached in a class action lawsuit that will provide lump sum payments for thousands of retired Georgia teachers and their beneficiaries.

The agreement between the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia and lead plaintiffs Larrie Grant Plymel and Connie D. Monroe brought the lawsuit to a close on Monday following a hearing in Fulton County Superior Court.

The plaintiffs claimed that the retirement system did not correctly calculate retirement benefits and that as a result, some retirees were underpaid for years.

The back payments cover the period from April 1998 to April 2004, before the filing of the lawsuit.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Jason Marquis got the better of Derek Lowe in a pitchers' duel and there weren't a whole lot of people there to see it.

The right-handers went at it for eight innings before Colorado added three runs against two relievers in the ninth for a 5-1 victory over Atlanta on Monday night.

The Braves dropped to 6-11 at Turner Field this season, and the latest loss was in front of 15,364, the smallest paid crowd since the stadium opened in 1997.

Marquis had the right strategy to keep Atlanta's hitters off balance.

``I pounded the bottom of the strike zone,'' he said. ``I was able to attack the strike zone and put the ball on the ground.''

Marquis (5-3) scattered five hits and allowed one run in eight innings to end a two-start losing streak. He struck out three and walked three.

Marquis gave up 16 runs 14 earned in his previous two starts, a span of 9 2-3 innings against San Francisco and Houston. Even so, the right-hander believes his talent doesn't match his career 4.56 ERA.

``I feel like every time I get the ball, I'm going to shut them down,'' Marquis said. ``I'm out there every pitch battling.''

Lowe (5-2) was attempting to become the NL's first six-game winner. He allowed two runs, three hits and one walk in eight innings, losing for the first time in five starts. He dropped to 7-7 against the Rockies, but improved his ERA 20 points to 4.50 in 17 career starts.

``They beat us at every aspect of the game, and that's ultimately why we came up a little short,'' Lowe said. ``They did a good job of manufacturing a run in the sixth inning and that was the ball game.''

Colorado, which had lost three out of four and seven of 10, snapped a two-game losing streak.

The Braves have lost two straight and three of four.

``We hit three bullets in the eighth inning,'' said Braves manager Bobby Cox, whose team grounded into a season-high four double plays. ``That was a game-changer. We didn't have any luck at all. We had one hit less than they did, and they got five runs. Figure that one out.''

Dexter Fowler, who gave Colorado a 1-0 lead in the third with an RBI groundout, doubled leading off the sixth. He moved to third on a groundout and made it 2-1 on Todd Helton's RBI fielder's choice grounder.

Atlanta tied it at 1 in the sixth on a double-play grounder by Casey Kotchman.

The Rockies scored three runs in the ninth. Eric O'Flaherty, who relieved Lowe to start the inning, was charged with two runs after Troy Tulowitzki singled and Helton reached on shortstop Yunel Escobar's fielding error.

Peter Moylan, who relieved O'Flaherty, gave up consecutive RBI singles to Chris Iannetta and pinch-hitter Ryan Spilborghs. Iannetta scored from third on Clint Barmes' grounder, which third baseman Chipper Jones misplayed for an error.

Marquis, whom Atlanta drafted between the first and second rounds in 1996, came up through the Braves' farm system and made his debut in the majors four years later. He was traded to St. Louis the following winter after a 2003 season that included 19 relief appearances, two starts and a 0-0 record with a 5.53 ERA.

``He kept us off balance,'' Braves catcher Brian McCann said. ``A lot of us were swinging at stuff out of the zone.''

In his first four starts against the Braves, Marquis went 0-3 with a 14.04 ERA. After giving up six hits and two runs in 5 1-3 innings of a 10-2 win for the Chicago Cubs over the Braves last Aug. 13, Marquis is 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA in his last two starts against Atlanta.
Notes: Braves LHP Tom Glavine, on the DL all season with a sore shoulder, threw three simulated innings and hopes to make a rehab start Saturday. ... Atlanta CF Jordan Schafer made an over-the-shoulder catch a few feet from the wall to rob Tulowitzki of an extra-base hit in the third.

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

(WSB Radio/AP) -- President Obama plans to propose the first-ever national emission limits for cars and trucks as well as average mileage requirements of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 all costing consumers an extra $1,300 per vehicle.

Obama's plan couples for the first time pollution reduction from vehicle tailpipes with increased efficiency on the road. It would save 1.8 billion barrels of oil through 2016 and would be the environmental equivalent to taking 177 million cars off the road, senior administration officials said Monday night.

The plan also would effectively end a feud between automakers and statehouses over emission standards with the states coming out on top but the automakers getting a single national standard and more time to make the changes.

The plan still must clear regulatory hurdles at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department. The administration officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the formal announcement by Obama was scheduled for Tuesday.

New vehicles would be 30 percent cleaner and more fuel efficient by the end of the program, according to officials familiar with the administration's discussions. The officials also spoke on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement had not been made.

Administration officials said consumers were going to pay an extra $700 for mileage standards that had already been approved. The comprehensive Obama plan would add another $600 to the price of a vehicle, a senior administration official said.

The extra miles would come at roughly a 5 percent increase each year. By the time the plan takes full effect, at the end of 2016, new vehicles would cost an extra $1,300.

The cost would be recovered through savings at the pump for consumers who choose a standard 60-month car loan if gas prices follow government projections, according to one official.

In a battle over emission standards, California, 13 other states and the District of Columbia have urged the federal government to let them enact more stringent standards than the federal government's requirements. The states' regulations would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in new cars and trucks by 2016 the benchmark Obama planned to unveil for vehicles built in model years 2012 and beyond.

The Obama plan gives the states essentially what they sought and more, although the buildup is slower than the states sought. In exchange, though, cash-strapped states such as California would not have to develop their own standards and enforcement plan. Instead, they can rely on federal tax dollars to monitor the environment.

A 2007 energy law requires carmakers to meet at least 35 mpg by 2020, a 40 percent increase over the current standard of about 25 mpg. Passenger car requirements have remained unchanged at 27.5 mpg since 1985, drawing complaints from environmental groups that the government has been slow to push automakers to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles.

The auto industry will be required to ramp up production of more fuel efficient vehicles on a much tighter timeline than originally envisioned. It will be costly; the Transportation Department last year estimated that requiring the industry to meet 31.6 mpg by 2015 would cost nearly $47 billion.

But industry officials many of whom are running companies on emergency taxpayer dollars said Obama's plan would help them because they would not face multiple emissions requirements and would have more certainty as they develop their vehicles for the next decade.

``For us, that clarity, not having to address a patchwork of conflicting laws and regulations across our country, is a significant win,'' said David McCurdy, a former Oklahoma congressman who leads the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group which represents 11 vehicle manufacturers.

Auto executives, including General Motors Corps. CEO Fritz Henderson, and executives from Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., Daimler AG and others planned to attend the White House event. United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger also planned to attend.

Henderson said the automaker, which faces a June 1 deadline by which it may be forced to file bankruptcy, was ``fully committed'' to the administration's approach. His company and Chrysler LLC have received billions in government loans during a dramatic downturn in car sales and weakened economy.

Toyota Motor Sales USA President James Lentz also issued a statement in support of the single benchmark.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, praised the move, which allows him to declare victory on policy and dodge a tricky budget question on how to pay for it.

``Today, we're seeing what happens when California leads on energy and the environment and doesn't waiver, doesn't get bogged down, doesn't let obstacles get in the way,'' Schwarzenegger said.

It also provides a reason for Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat who is being considered for the Supreme Court vacancy, to visit the White House. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Granholm's visit was primarily for the autos event but wouldn't comment if she would meet with Obama about the soon-to-be-vacant court position.

A March 2008 decision prevents states from setting their own limits on greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, but Obama has ordered the EPA to reconsider the ruling.

The EPA was already working toward establishing federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for new motor vehicles when it made a preliminary determination in April that six greenhouse gases four of which are released from automobiles endanger human health and welfare.

Before the new Obama proposals would even have a chance at being implemented, the EPA would have to approve those findings. Hearings began on Monday.

Associated Press writers Ben Feller and Dina Cappiello contributed to this report.

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

(WSB Radio) Cherokee County Sheriff's investigators are calling a police-involved shooting that killed a man inside a Canton K Mart bathroom justified.

Canton police were called to the store on Marietta Highway Saturday to a report of a man who was unresponsive leaning against the bathroom wall.

Sheriff's Roger Garrison says when officers tried to talk to 65-year-old Raymond Sweat he said "there aren't enough of you here" and raised a small handgun toward the officers.

"They had no place to retreat to... so they were pinned down and had no option but to open fire," he says.

Sweat was hit five times and died at Kennestone Hospital.

Garrison says Sweat had a small .25 caliber automatic weapon with a shell in the chamber and the hammer cocked.

He says Sweat's wife and employer, Lockheed, both told police his behavior had been erratic in recent months.

18 May 2009

(WSB Radio) -- Cherokee County authorities have charged a special education teacher and her aide following an investigation into allegations that they abused two of their students.

Laurie Peavy, 44, a teacher at Woodstock High School, is accused of duct taping an autistic child to a chair.

Sheriff Roger Garrison says Peavy has been charged with 2 counts of False Imprisonment and 2 counts of first degree Cruelty to Children.

Peavy is being held on $60,000 bond.

Nancy Cheek, 49, a paraprofessional, is accused of holding a blind student under a desk.

Cheek has been charged with one count of False Imprisonment and one count of first degree Cruelty to Children.

Cheek is being held on $30,000 bond.

Both incidents are alleged to have happened last year, according to Garrison.

He said two other teachers alert authorities to the alleged incidents, but Garrison said he did not know why those teachers waited so long to come forward.

(WSB Radio) -- Jury deliberations have begun in the death penalty trial of accused Silver Comet Trail killer Michael Ledford.

In closing arguments Monday morning, Paulding County prosecutor Tom Campbell told the jury that Ledford's blood "tattooed the truth" about what happened for cyclist Jennifer Ewing the day she was murdered in 2006.

Ewing was on her routine 50-mile ride along the trail, when she was "relentlessly attacked," stomped and "beaten beyond recognition," said Campbell

Campbell said Ewing, 53, fought back when Ledford, now 46, tried to force her to perform oral sex on him.

Investigators said Ledford became enraged when the Sandy Springs woman bit him and he hit her dozens of times.

Ledford's attorney, Jimmy Berry, said the defense lawyers were not "saying this did not happen," but they questioned the care law enforcement officers took in collecting evidence to support the charges that would bring a death sentence.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) The University of Georgia likely will see cuts to student scholarships, faculty travel and other programs after the two private foundations supporting the institution lost about $180 million in assets in the last year.

The UGA Foundation and the Arch Foundation had a combined worth of about $730 million in June 2008. The two have lost about 25 percent of their assets as the sagging economy worsened.

UGA officials say they plan to decrease the number of students who get the prestigious Foundation Fellow scholarships. The programs grants recipient money for school and for education travel.

The two foundations gave UGA a total of $40 million in the 2007-08 fiscal year, the most recent data available.

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

(WSB Radio)  An Atlanta city councilman says he trusts Twitter more than 911. 

That's why Kwanza Hall tweeted instead of dialing the emergency number when he spotted a woman in need of medical assistance.

Hall saw the woman on John Wesley Dobbs and Jackson Street.  He says he used Twitter because he didn't want to end up stuck on hold with 911.

Earlier this month callers complained of sitting on hold while a southwest Atlanta home burned to the ground.

Things were different this time, thanks to Twitter. 

Paramedics arrived in time to rush the unconscious woman to Grady Hospital.  Doctors say she had suffered a seizure.

(WSB Radio)  Closing arguments get underway today in the trial of accused Silver Comet Trail killer Michael Ledford.

Ledford is charged with the 2006 murder of Jennifer Ewing, who was ambushed while riding her bicycle on the trail, then sexually assaulted and beaten to death.

Both sides rested their cases on Friday and the jury could begin deliberations this afternoon.

If convicted, Ledford would then go to the penalty phase of the trial, where the jury would decide whether he receives life in prison or death by lethal injection.

(WSB Radio) Tucker Police are trying to figure out what happened in a deadly parking lot fight outside a bar.

Witnesses tell police it started outside "The Last Watering Hole," when one man insulted another man about his girlfriend's tattoos.

"Those two were fighting, then somebody else jumped into the fight to help another one," says Bob Wall, who witnessed the altercation.  "The somebody else jumped in.  Then, at the end, some girl jumped onto the pack, right in the middle of the pile and started stabbing him."

Wall says the man stabbed to death was a regular at the bar.

"A huge gash on his neck," Wall says.  "He had blood all over his face.  And you could see the fog in his eye as he was laying there."

Police have no released the victim's name.  . Another man is in serious condition.

(WSB Radio) DeKalb police are hunting for the gunman who shot and killed a man, then left his bullet riddled body at an apartment complex.

The body was dumped at the Jasmine Apartments Sunday afternoon.

"We did receive a call of a person lying in the roadway," DeKalb police spokeswoman Mekka Parish tells WSB.  "A black sedan, with two black males inside, did drop off the body of the victim at that complex and then fled the scene."

The victim has been identified as 20 year old Carrie Flores.

"Our detectives have recovered that black sedan at a nearby apartment complex," says Parish.  "However, the suspects were not with that car."

Police have no description of the suspects, nor a motive in the killing.  They also do not know why the killers dumped the body at that apartment complex.

WASHINGTON (AP) It may be riskier on the lungs to smoke cigarettes today than it was a few decades ago at least in the U.S., says new research that blames changes in cigarette design for fueling a certain type of lung cancer.

Up to half of the nation's lung cancer cases may be due to those changes, Dr. David Burns of the University of California, San Diego, told a recent meeting of tobacco researchers.

It's not the first time that scientists have concluded the 1960s movement for lower-tar cigarettes brought some unexpected consequences. But this study, while preliminary, is among the most in-depth looks. And intriguingly it found the increase in a kind of lung tumor called adenocarcinoma was higher in the U.S. than in Australia even though both countries switched to so-called milder cigarettes at the same time.

``The most likely explanation for it is a change in the cigarette,'' Burns said in an interview and he cited a difference: Cigarettes sold in Australia contain lower levels of nitrosamines, a known carcinogen, than those sold in the U.S.

That's circumstantial evidence that requires more research, he acknowledged.

But anti-smoking advocates are citing the study as Congress considers whether the Food and Drug Administration should regulate tobacco, legislation that would give the agency power to decide such things as whether to set caps on certain chemicals in tobacco smoke.

Smokers once tended to get lung cancer in larger air tubes, particularly a type named ``squamous cell carcinoma.'' Then doctors noticed a jump in adenocarcinoma, which grows in small air sacs far deeper in the lung. Initial studies blamed introduction of filtered, lower-tar cigarettes. When smokers switched, they began inhaling more deeply to get their nicotine jolt, pushing cancer-causing smoke deeper than before.

Burns' study, presented at a meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, took a closer look. He compared smoking behaviors of different age groups over four decades how much they smoked, when they started, when they quit and how cancer-risk changed.

The risk of squamous cell carcinoma stayed about the same over those years, Burns found. But adenocarcinoma rose. It makes up 65 percent to 70 percent of newly occurring U.S. lung cancer cases, but no more than 40 percent of Australia's lung cancer, he said.

While the nation's total lung cancer cases have inched down as the number of smokers has dropped in recent years, the study suggests an individual smoker's risk of getting cancer is higher.

It's well known that cigarettes differ from country to country, because of different tobacco crops grown locally and smokers' varying tastes. Nitrosamines are a byproduct of tobacco processing and levels vary for several reasons, including differences in curing practices.

Australian cigarettes contain about 20 percent of the nitrosamine content of U.S. cigarettes, making the chemical a prime suspect, concluded Burns, who has been scientific editor of several surgeon general reports on tobacco.

That doesn't rule out a role for deeper inhaling, cautioned Dr. Michael Thun of the American Cancer Society: ``There's several strong suspects in the lineup. They may have acted in combination.''

Philip Morris USA spokesman David Sutton called the study speculative and hard to evaluate until it's published in a medical journal, something Burns plans to do.

Still, Philip Morris, which supports FDA tobacco regulation, began taking steps with its growers in 2000 that have yielded ``significantly lower'' nitrosamine levels in recent years' supplies, Sutton said.

Be careful in assuming lower-nitrosamine cigarettes are less lethal, said Dr. Neal Benowitz of the University of California, San Francisco, a well-known tobacco expert. Lung cancer is only one of tobacco's many risks it causes heart disease and other killer diseases, too.

``If you reduce someone's (lung cancer) risk by 10 percent, that's not really meaningful for an individual,'' he said. ``The goal still is to get them to stop.''

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

CINCINNATI (AP) As Americans grow accustomed during the recession to spending more time at home and living in the same places longer, home-improvement companies are regaining momentum.

``My wife and I had thought of this as more of an in-between house,'' said Scott Nichols, 50, who had considered moving from his suburban Cincinnati home to a condo or ranch-style house. ``Now we have decided to concentrate on making our current home exactly like we want it, pay it off and stay.''

An insurance marketer who lives in Union Township, Ohio, Nichols hired a handyman service to knock out a wall between his kitchen and family room to make home entertaining easier.

Though construction and major remodeling remain sluggish walloped by the housing market's plunge demand has risen at big-box home-improvement stores for items to make small repairs and maintain lawns and gardens. Analysts say Home Depot Inc. and Lowe's Cos. Inc. are likely to show the benefits when they report their first-quarter earnings this week.

Handyman, painting and floor covering businesses also say they're booking more small jobs in recent months. Nichols' contractor said his project was part of a trend.

``We started to pick up a few weeks ago,'' said Dan Landon, owner of the Milford-based House Doctors franchise. ``And then it was like someone flipped a switch and I'm booked solid.''

Landon said his employees have been doing mostly general repairs like fixing doors, windows and decks and refreshing bathrooms and other areas. Jim Hunter, president and chief executive of House Doctor's parent company, H.D. Franchising Systems LLC in Milford, said revenue has risen this year compared with last year at more than half its franchises around the country.

``The market is still struggling with big home additions, but the soft economy is keeping us busy with homeowners just fixing things up for now,'' Hunter said.

In metropolitan Denver, Jacobsen Brothers Painting is seeing increased demand for maintenance painting with fewer calls for more-decorative work.

``We're not getting calls like we used to from people just tired of a color,'' said Mark Chase-Jacobsen, president and CEO of the Boulder, Co.-based company. ``They're calling about practical concerns like siding that isn't looking too good. They're want to take care of what they have.''

Floor Coverings International in Smyrna, Ga., which handles mostly residential flooring and carpeting jobs, has seen fewer big projects and more budget-conscious customers. But president and CEO Tom Wood said business swelled last month after a year of mostly flat sales.

``In April, we had the biggest increase one month over the other that we've seen in 15 to 16 months, and we are getting more inquiries than last year,'' said Wood.

Some consumers are tackling the smaller projects themselves rather than hiring professionals, repairing instead of replacing items and doing more comparison pricing, retailers and service companies said.

``Whether it's good times or bad, homeowners are going to preserve their investment,'' said Karen Cobb, spokeswoman for Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe's. ``When people stay at home more and are less quick to move, they are more likely to notice things like the coat of paint that needs refreshing or a dripping sink.''

Stifel Nicolaus Co. analyst David Schick wrote in a note to investors that he believes Lowe's sales were ``relatively healthier'' during the first quarter thanks to an increase in garden sales and smaller do-it-yourself jobs.

Citi Investment Research analyst Deborah Weinswig predicted in a note to investors that Home Depot's sales are trending better than management's guidance.

Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said the Atlanta-based retailer is seeing a surge in spending on projects like fixing a leaky toilet, updating a look and just enhancing the feel and value of homes.

At the Home Depot store in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah, assistant manager Kristin Calderwood said shoppers are buying just more conservatively.

``They still need to refresh kitchens if they are falling apart, but they are going down a level or two from the more expensive countertops,'' Calderwood said. ``Customers aren't going as much toward the high end.''

Peter's True Value Hardware in Milford, Mich., where auto industry layoffs have pushed up unemployment, also has been selling more items for enjoying life at home, like backyard barbecue grills. Owner Peter Grebeck said those sales usually don't pick up until June or July.

And at Home Depot's Crescent Springs store in northern Kentucky, shopper Christian Mains, 24, of Dayton, Ky., who said he had to delay buying a new house, is focusing his spending on his current home instead.

``I'm just trying to maintain and keep up what I have until things get better,'' Mains said.

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

JONESBORO, Ga. (AP) The Clayton County school board is expected to officially name the district's new superintendent Monday.

The board is scheduled to vote on whether to appoint Edmond Heatley the leader of the 48,000-student district in Atlanta's southern suburbs during a specially called meeting.

Heatley was named the only finalist from a pool of 60 candidates two weeks ago, but state law requires that the board wait 14 days to vote on his appointment. Heatley is a retired Marine and superintendent of the Chino Valley Unified School District in California.

The Clayton district just won back accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools after nine months without it.

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

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) Spring rains may mean greener lawns and beautiful blooms, but they also mean more bugs, including mosquitoes.

Almost all species of insects should rebound to normal or above-normal levels this season after being reduced by drought over the last three years, said Dr. Brian Forschler, professor of entomology and household insect specialist at the University of Georgia.

``I think all of them are going to fare better,'' he told the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Many species from millipedes and roly-polies to ants and earwigs should be more prevalent this summer because all depend on moisture to survive or reproduce, Forschler said.

Jody Millard, of Jody Millard Pest Control in Hixson, estimated his number of service calls is up 20 percent.

``It's just running us to death,'' he said. ``We had a very good month last month.''

Ant and mosquito populations especially are up, he said, while termites seem to be the only insect not proliferating as in previous years. Millard theorized the weather probably was too wet for termites to swarm as normal.

Good news for exterminators may be bad news for public health, according to Tennessee's state medical entomologist Dr. Abelardo Moncayo. He said aggressive species of mosquitoes will be more common and ticks likely will be more ``adventurous'' this summer.

``I think (ticks) are going to thrive well,'' Moncayo said. ``They don't do well when it's dry.''

Mosquitoes need water to breed, and many species of ticks survive drought by staying in or around the soil, he said. This season, mosquitoes will be able to reproduce more and ticks will be climbing higher on leaves and grass.

``I hate to hear that,'' said David Hunter, environmental program manager for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department. He said the department would be monitoring the county for mosquito diseases such as West Nile virus and encephalitis.

``The more water we have, the more mosquitoes we're going to have, and that increases the risk of West Nile,'' Hunter said.

Health officials declared a mosquito disaster in 13 southwest Georgia counties after significant flooding earlier this spring. Some cities in the flooded region, including Moultrie, Ga., have increased their spraying programs.

Moncayo and Hunter said planters, old tires, buckets and tarps all can hold water and allow mosquitoes to reproduce.

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

CANTON, Ga. (AP) Authorities haven't said what led police to shoot and kill 65-year-old Raymond Charles Sweat inside the men's restroom at a Kmart in Canton.

Canton police spokeswoman Stacy Bailey says a customer saw Sweat with a gun in the restroom Saturday morning, leaning against the wall and acting strangely. When questioned, Sweat was unresponsive.

Two officers arrived, cleared the store and tired to speak with him.

Police sent a hostage negotiator and put the SWAT team on standby.

Bailey says the man was shot by the officers inside the restroom.

He died at a hospital.

The Cherokee County sheriff's office will handle the investigation because Canton police officers are involved. Their names were not released.

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

(WSB Radio) -- Friends and family of a respected Fulton County judge who died in a Friday plane crash in east Alabama are planning to say their final goodbyes. 

A memorial service for Fulton County Juvenile Court Judge Sanford "Sammy" Jones of Fairburn will be Tuesday at 2 p.m. at New Hope Baptist Church in Fayetteville.

Visitation will be held Monday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Parrott Funeral Home in Fairburn. 

Jones and 19-year-old Alexander Sasha Medina died in the plane crash in Lee County, Alabama.  Two other teenagers walked away from the crash with only minor injuries. 

The cause of the accident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) The price of gasoline in the U.S. jumped 25 cents a gallon during the past three weeks, but remains well below prices from a year ago.

That's according to the national Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday.

Analyst Trilby Lundberg says the average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline was $2.30 a gallon Friday, when the survey was completed.

That's up from $2.05 a gallon recorded on April 24, but $1.49 a gallon cheaper than at this time last year.

The lowest price for gasoline in the U.S. was found in Phoenix, at $1.99 a gallon. The highest was in Chicago, at $2.63.

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

(WSB Radio) Clayton County police are searching for the suspect they say opened fire more than a dozen times at a group of people standing in a yard in College Park, a spokesman said.

Officer Kevin Hughs told WSB Radio's Charley O'Brian the suspect got out of a vehicle and started shooting at the group outside a home on Warrington Drive around 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

Officer Hughs said a 40-year old Asian man was shot in the chest. He was taken to a local hospital . His condition was not immediately known.

"We had a gathering over here at my grandfather's house," the victim's brother, who didn't want to be identified, told WSB-TV. "Someone just pulled up and started blasting at least 15 rounds."

Police say they have no idea who did it. They think its just a random shooting.

ATLANTA (AP) Max Scherzer may remember the best throw in his first major league win as one he made to first base.

Scherzer used momentum from a first-inning pickoff play to pitch six scoreless innings and Chris Snyder hit a grand slam in the ninth, capping the Arizona Diamondbacks' 12-0 rout of the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.

Snyder matched his career high with five RBIs, including the grand slam off Buddy Carlyle in a six-run ninth. Rookie Gerardo Parra drove in three runs with three hits as Arizona ended a four-game losing streak.

Scherzer (1-3) gave up four hits and three walks with four strikeouts. His first win came in his 14th start.

``Finally,'' said Scherzer, who was collecting souvenirs after the game including a game ball and the lineup sheet.

Scherzer said the turning point was a simple throw to first base in the first inning.

The Braves had runners on first and third with one out after singles by Yunel Escobar and Chipper Jones.

Scherzer's throw to first caught Jones breaking to second. Shortstop Stephen Drew tagged Jones to end a brief rundown, and Drew threw to third where Mark Reynolds put the tag on Escobar trying to dive back to the bag.

Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said he called for the throw to first after seeing Jones breaking for second on a foul ball on the previous pitch to Garret Anderson.

``We knew he was going to start the runner again,'' Hinch said of Braves manager Bobby Cox.

``It works every once in a while,'' Scherzer said. ``That was what we needed to create momentum and sure enough the next inning we scored two runs.''

Scherzer lost his first seven decisions over two seasons. He entered the game with no wins despite a strong 3.39 ERA in 22 career games.

Snyder said Scherzer can build off the first win.

``Scherzer got the win. He can check that off the list,'' Snyder said. ``Now it's time for him to start rolling, and as a team, the same. It's a big win. We scored a lot of runs. That's what we need. We need some momentum. We need some confidence.''

Braves relievers walked eight batters in four innings. Jeff Bennett and Carlyle forced in runs with bases-loaded walks in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

``That turned into a nightmare,'' Cox said.

``We just got out of the strike zone way too much and couldn't do much offensively.''

Kenshin Kawakami (2-5) gave up five hits and three runs in five innings. He retired the last eight batters he faced before he was removed for a pinch hitter.

``With runners in scoring position, I was rushing my delivery,'' Kawakami said through an interpreter. ``Staying back was the key.''

Four of Arizona's five hits off Kawakami were extra-base hits, including back-to-back doubles by Reynolds and Eric Byrnes that gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead in the second. Byrnes scored later in the inning on Snyder's sacrifice fly.

Felipe Lopez hit a third-inning double and scored on Parra's single to center.

Kawakami has lost five of his last six starts and has not lasted more than six innings in any of his seven starts.

``He struggled the first two innings, then he got better,'' Cox said.

Atlanta reliever James Parr walked Chad Tracy and Snyder to start the seventh, setting up a two-run triple by Parra.

The control problems continued in the eighth, when Bennett walked four batters, including a bases-loaded pass to pinch-hitter Miguel Montero to force in a run.

Carlyle added two walks in the ninth. Byrnes had a run-scoring single before Snyder's grand slam over the center-field wall.
Notes: Hinch said RHP Brandon Webb, on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right shoulder since his opening day start, ``did great'' while throwing in the batting cage before the game. ... Braves LHP Tom Glavine will throw three innings in a simulated game on Monday as he continues his recovery from a sore left shoulder. ... RHP Jorge Campillo (right rotator cuff tendinitis) gave up one hit in two scoreless innings in a minor league rehab start for Double-A Mississippi against Montgomery.

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

CANTON, Ga. (AP) Police reportedly have shot and killed a man at a Kmart store in Cherokee County after a report of a man with a gun in the store's bathroom.

Canton police say officers responded to the call shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday.

Canton police spokeswomen Stacy Bailey said two officers responded to the report of a man in his 60s being unresponsive, leaning against a wall in the mens restroom at the store.

Bailey said the man, who was armed, was then shot by the officers inside the restroom.

He died at a hospital.

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

COVINGTON, Ga. (AP) Karmen Callaway dropped off her three sons at the National Guard Armory in Covington, where teary men and women embraced one last time in early morning light.

Karmen was not allowed to linger. Go home, her uniformed sons ordered, knowing that saying goodbye would be especially tough for their mother.

She had felt the sting of this moment before when, just a week after Mother's Day in 2005, she sent her two oldest sons, Ryan and Jared, off to Iraq.

This time, they were taking their younger brother Seth with them, to the unforgiving mountains and valleys of Afghanistan, where they will serve for a year in the same unit, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment.

From Covington, where Company B is based, the Callaway boys left for six weeks of training at Camp Shelby, Miss., in March. They will deploy later this month.

Karmen, 46, is proud of her sons' love for their country. She knows it is part of their heritage. But there's no denying today is another Mother's Day blemished. By longing, anxiety, uncertainty.

'Mama, I joined'

Karmen prayed the entire year that Jared and Ryan spent with the Georgia Army National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade in Iraq. They were both so young and inexperienced.

Jared, 23, has spent all six of his years as a National Guardsman with Bravo Company and was stationed at Baghdad's Camp Liberty, where he had access to a phone and Internet. Ryan, 25, served his first tour with a cavalry troop that patrolled the roads in an area south of the Iraqi capital known as the Triangle of Death. For many months, he had little contact with home.

Ryan lost a close friend, Sgt. Michael Stokely of Loganville, just three months into the tour when a bomb hidden along a dusty, rural road exploded near Stokely's Humvee. His death shook up the closely knit cavalry troop and haunted Ryan.

Jared narrowly survived a rollover in his hulking Bradley Fighting Vehicle about a month after his arrival in Iraq. It was especially harrowing for him because he harbored vivid memories of another terrible accident years earlier at home in Henry County.

In Iraq, the boys occasionally connected, and Karmen and her husband, Mark, were overjoyed when Ryan's face popped up on Jared's Webcam. At least they had each other, Karmen thought.

But Iraq was turning their sons into mature men, in a manner too abrupt for Karmen's liking. Some nights, she couldn't sleep. Her youngest son helped fill the emptiness. Sometimes, he came in and lay next to her in bed and let his mama know that it was OK to cry. She shudders to think how that jittery year would have gone without Seth, now 20, by her side.

Ryan and Jared returned from Iraq in the spring of 2006, and almost two more years passed with the Callaway boys all safe at home again. Then one day in January 2008, Karmen was hanging up freshly laundered clothes in Seth's closet when he broke the news.

``Mama,'' he said. ``I joined.''

He couldn't look at her.

Karmen stood perfectly still. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks.

``Nobody knows what you and I went through,'' she said.

``I know, Mama. We'll always have that. But I really need to serve.''

At first, Jared and Ryan had reservations about Seth's enlistment. They grilled him one night to make sure he was ready, that he was enlisting for the right reasons. A yearlong combat tour is agonizing enough for the most hardened soldier. If your heart's not a hundred percent, it's that much tougher.

Karmen doesn't know how the discussion unfolded; her sons wouldn't tell her.

``Mama,'' they said, ``this is a brother thing. Just know we're going to take care of each other.''

Their bonds as brothers already run deep and strong, like the roots of an ancient tree. But in war, another sort of bond develops- from surviving its chilling sights, sounds and smells. Ryan and Jared already shared that; Seth wanted the same.

That thought was at once comforting and shocking to Karmen when she learned the 48th Brigade would be called up again. She had thoughts so grim she could not vocalize them.

She and Mark had already come close once to losing a child.

Six years ago, Jared was driving Seth and their only sister, Anna Katheryn, to Eagle's Landing Baptist Church when his Honda Civic hydroplaned on a rain-slicked road, rolled over and crashed into a ditch.

Karmen and Mark heard the sirens from their home in Stockbridge. Then, the phone rang. It was Jared.

``Mama,'' he said. ``AK is not OK.''

Twelve-year-old Anna Katheryn had suffered brain injuries and was airlifted to Eggleston Children's Hospital, where she lay in a coma.

Karmen endured unending days of waiting, of not knowing. A child is not supposed to die before a father or mother.

Anna Katheryn defied the odds. She awoke from a coma and after therapy and a year of home-schooling, she resumed the active life of a teenager.

But for Karmen, the fear of losing a child was magnified.

'Stars of the Twilight'

People often ask Karmen if she's seen Steven Spielberg's ``Saving Private Ryan,'' the 1998 movie based on the true story of the Niland brothers from upstate New York. All four fought in World War II. When three were believed dead, the fourth was sent back home.

Today's all-volunteer Army has a rule that allows the sole surviving son or daughter of a family whose other children have been killed in action to request a waiver for deployment. But it does not prohibit siblings from serving together, although the Callaways' battalion commander, Lt. Col. Matt Smith said the three brothers will not be sent out on missions together.

Karmen wanted to see ``Saving Private Ryan'' again. Even rented it. But she couldn't watch.

When word came that the 48th was going to war again, Karmen took solace in her faith. And in the familial roots that turned her boys into soldiers.

They grew up in the woods that edged the back of the family home. They were little pretend soldiers then, playing paintball and building forts among tall pines and brush.

Later, a book called ``Stars of the Twilight'' resonated in their hearts. Written by Karmen's grandmother, Mada Scott, the book was an account of how Karmen's grandfather Churchill L. Scott Jr. saved everyone in his plane before going down over Europe during World War II.

Karmen says that story is why all three boys ended up in the military. Her grandmother's words instilled love of country in their hearts.

Her pretend soldiers grew into real ones. Her boys say their mama is proud of their service, but they know what she looks like on the inside. They are counting on their sister to be there for her.

Awed by the recovery Anna Katheryn made after the car accident, her brothers felt especially protective of her. They gave her dates the evil eye. ``Do we need to fight him?'' they asked.

Last year, Ryan and Jared showed up at one of her tennis matches. They painted ``Go'' on their stomachs and ``AK'' on their backs and cheered shirtless.

Anna Katheryn couldn't recall any other girl whose siblings did that. Or anyone else who had three brothers marching off to war.

At a surprise party they threw for her 18th birthday in January, the Callaway boys told the crowd they were sorry they would miss Anna Katheryn's high school graduation. That they have always looked up to their baby sister - and not just because she is taller than them.

Known to be pranksters, they got serious in toasting their sister. ``You're my hero,'' each one told her.

Anna Katheryn decided to attend nearby Gordon College for a while instead of the University of Georgia. She wanted to be close to home. It would be devastating for her mother to lose all her children at once.

A vast void

A few days ago, the Callaway home was full again at dinnertime. Not with boys, but girls.

Ryan and Jared both were married recently. Their wives, Louie and Heather, live nearby and visit Karmen as often as they can.

Karmen, studying at Mercer University for a degree in education, takes Heather's 4-year-old daughter Courtney to school every morning. It's another way to fill the void.

Karmen served up cheeseburgers and chocolate almond ice cream for the girls. Then they sat down at the kitchen table for a game of Rummy, just like they did when the boys were home.

``This ain't fun,'' joked Mark, who works for Target. ``We need some males here. We lost three boys and gained three girls.''

``It's OK,'' Anna Katheryn said. ``I'll punch on you, beat up on you.''

Those are skills a girl learns when she grows up with three older brothers.

Karmen pulled out a pile of old photographs, mostly of the three boys. With painted tomahawk bellies at a Braves game. On a church mission trip to Mexico. In a sepia-tone portrait taken in vintage clothes at the Garden Ridge store in Stockbridge.

Jared's pants were too tight, Karmen said, laughing. But he managed to smile. He always did, even in the most uncomfortable situations.

``Remember when Ryan ran away from home,'' Karmen said. ``He was 9. He came back home when he found out I was making macaroni and cheese.''

Karmen prays that all her sons will come back home again.

Today, she won't be going to church with the boys as she likes to do on Mother's Day. There'll be no lunch afterward at Olive Garden. No cookout like she had last year after her sons built her a deck.

They won't return to the house and play with water guns. Or sit down for a round of Scrabble. Karmen won't have to restock the refrigerator because her high-energy sons won't be there to gobble up its contents.

Karmen will spend another Mother's Day with a vast void in her heart. She will sit with her cellphone and wait for it to light up. Three times.

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

ATLANTA (WSB Radio/AP) Atlanta police have released an East Point teenager arrested yesterday in the April 22 shooting death of a taxi driver.

Police spokesman James Polite said 17-year-old Gerald Wise was charged Saturday with murder in the death of 57-year-old Stephen Anim of Austell.

WSB Radio has learned the charges against Wise were dropped and he was released from custody around 1 a.m. Sunday. No word from police on why the charges were dropped.

Anim was found shot once in the back of the head after his Star Cab Co. taxi crashed into the gate of a retirement community in southwest Atlanta early that morning.

Police said robbery was the apparent motive.

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

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) A pair of ospreys evicted by the state Department of Transportation for repairs to a bridge on Lake Lanier refused to go away.

DOT spokeswoman Teri Pope says now there are two osprey nests atop Bolding Bridge on the Dawsonville Highway. Pope says this time, the DOT is leaving them alone as long as eggs are believed to be present.

The nests were originally removed to make way for repairs after an truck accident bent the bridge's lower crossbeams.

The DOT is working with the Department of Natural Resources to monitor the ospreys. Once the babies have left for the season, Pope said, DOT will devise a plan for repair work.

The ospreys nest there once a year before migrating south. The birds fall under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, protected as migratory birds.

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

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) Republicans can reach a broader base by recasting gay marriage as an issue that could dent pocketbooks as small businesses spend more on health care and other benefits, GOP Chairman Michael Steele said Saturday.

Steele said that was just an example of how the party can retool its message to appeal to young voters and minorities without sacrificing core conservative principles. Steele said he used the argument weeks ago while chatting on a flight with a college student who described herself as fiscally conservative but socially liberal on issues like gay marriage.

``Now all of a sudden I've got someone who wasn't a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for,'' Steele told Republicans at the state convention in traditionally conservative Georgia. ``So how do I pay for that? Who pays for that? You just cost me money.''

As Steele talked about ways the party could position itself, he also poked fun at his previous pledge to give the GOP a ``hip-hop makeover.''

``You don't have to wear your pants cut down here or the big bling,'' he said. ``It's a metaphor for taking this party to places and to people that we've either forgotten about, ignored or feel don't want to engage with us.''

Vermont and Iowa have legalized gay marriage in recent weeks, and a Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this month found that 57 percent of people questioned support civil unions that provide marriage-like rights. Although 55 percent said they opposed gay marriage, the poll indicated a shift toward more acceptance.

The chief of the Republican National Committee has been criticized by some social conservatives in recent weeks after GQ magazine quoted him as saying he opposed gay marriage but wasn't going to ``beat people upside the head about it.''

Steele, a Catholic and former Maryland lieutenant governor, was elected chairman of the committee earlier this year.

Steele received a rousing reception from the Georgia Republicans meeting in Savannah. Convention delegates gave him standing ovations twice before speeches at breakfast and later on the convention floor.

``I think he tries to call it like it is,'' said delegate David Dillinger, a 79-year-old retired Army officer from rural Thomson. ``He says we got our butt kicked and need to get some glue to stick ourselves together. We need to change.''

That change, Steele said, doesn't mean watering down Republicans' conservative principles to appeal to moderates.

Instead, he said the GOP's ``credibility as a reliably conservative choice is in tatters'' and needs fixing after voters nationwide ``fired the Republican Party'' in the past two election cycles.

``The first thing is we stop trying to remake, redo, rebrand, rebuild, re-anything. That's going backward,'' Steele said. ``We don't have to remake anything. What are we going to remake, our values? To do so says they're not true.''

Steele also acknowledged he can be ``controversial at times.'' As GOP chairman, he's come under fire for calling comments by radio host Rush Limbaugh ``ugly'' and ``incendiary,'' for saying some Republicans rejected 2008 presidential hopeful Mitt Romney because they ``had issues with Mormonism,'' and for referring to abortion which Steele opposes as ``an individual choice.''

``I can give people angina, and sometimes within my own party,'' Steele said, drawing laughter from the crowd. ``But I've always thought that to be a good thing, that we shake ourselves up ... to make sure that we're staying true to who we are.''

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

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) The University of Georgia's 177-year-old New College building is about to look a little newer.

The historic building on the university's north campus will get a $3 million renovation this summer.

Scott Messer, a historic preservationist in the UGA Office of University Architects, says crews will remove asbestos and rip out layers of floor and interior walls added through the years. They'll also remove an exterior stairwell on the west side of the building, an interior stairway and other later additions.

When workers finish in late winter or early spring next year, Messer hopes the building will look more like its original self, with windows more like the originals and a facade closer to its original design.

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

Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. David Schiralli told WSB's Jennifer Griffies a woman arrived at her home around 5 p.m. Friday and found two Hispanic men burglarizing it. The two men, described by police as Hispanic males, kidnapped the woman and took her to an abandoned home at 199 Lester Rd. in Lawrenceville.

But that home won't be abandoned for long

"During that time," Cpl. Schiralli said. "The two relators, who were in charge of the home, came by to check on it and stopped in kidnapping in progress."

Police said the two relators got into a fight with the suspects. They fled in victim's vehicle. Police have not released a description of the suspects of the getaway vehicle.

All three victims are in the hospital.

The ninth inning may have provided more tension than Jones had expected.

Yunel Escobar hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the bottom of ninth, giving the Atlanta Braves a 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night after blowing a lead in the top of the inning.

The Braves, coming off a 6-2 road trip that included series wins over Florida, Philadelphia and the New York Mets, opened a 10-game homestand with the worst home record in baseball.

Jones, who hit his fourth homer, said the Braves improved to 6-9 at Turner Field by maintaining some of the passion they showed on the successful trip.

``It always helps when the guy who's calling the meeting goes out and leads by example,'' Jones said.

``Hopefully it's something to build on. We started it on the road and we want to keep it going, he added. ``If you can't keep the home-field advantage and have it be an advantage for you, it's going to be a long year. We've got to win ballgames here.''

Jones' third-inning homer gave the Braves a 3-2 lead that held until closer Mike Gonzalez (2-0) gave up a tying homer to Stephen Drew to lead off the ninth. It was the third blown save in nine chances for Gonzalez.

``We had every opportunity to tuck our tails after the top of ninth and just fold up the tent and lose this game but we didn't,'' Jones said.

With one out in the ninth, Jordan Schafer hit a single to right off Tony Pena (3-1). Pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson walked and Omar Infante singled to center. Schafer, who hesitated between second and third to see if center fielder Chris Young would catch the ball, had to hold at third.

Then Escobar's fly to center allowed the speedy Schafer to score the winning run without a slide.

``We had just enough chances to score,'' Braves manager Bobby Cox said. ``And we did.''

Jones' drive was the Braves' sixth homer of the season at Turner Field, the low home total for any team in the majors. It was the ninth homer allowed by Doug Davis this season.

The loss was the fourth straight and seventh in eight games for Arizona, which opened a 10-game road trip.

``It was a tough loss,'' said Arizona manager A.J. Hinch, who turned 35 Friday. ``We're playing better.''

Javier Vazquez struck out 10 in seven innings as the Braves took their fifth win in six games.

Vazquez gave up five hits and two runs in seven innings. He gave up two runs in the first and then allowed only one baserunner as far as second the next six innings.

Felipe Lopez hit Vazquez's first pitch up the middle for a single and scored on Gerardo Parra's triple to right. Parra scored on Justin Upton's groundout for a 2-0 lead.

The Braves took advantage of a throwing error by Davis to tie it in the second. Brian McCann and Jeff Francoeur opened the inning with singles. Casey Kotchman followed with a grounder to Davis, whose low throw skipped past first baseman Josh Whitesell for an error, allowing McCann to score. Francoeur scored on Schafer's grounder.

Davis gave up four hits and three runs two earned in six innings and, according to Hinch, was upset at being removed for a pinch hitter in the seventh after throwing only 80 pitches.

``He wanted the ball,'' Hinch said. ``It's an emotional game. But guys have to understand we're trying to go for the win. I'm confident with the decision. It's part of being in this chair. ... I don't fault him for being frustrated.''

Davis was not available for comment.
Notes: Hinch said OF Conor Jackson, who was placed on the 15-day DL on Tuesday with what the team called ``general illness,'' is feeling better and no longer has a fever. ... The Braves moved LHP Jo-Jo Reyes to the bullpen and plan to call up RHP Kris Medlen from Triple-A Gwinnett to start Tuesday night against Colorado. ... Arizona minor league OF Agustin Murillo, who was at Triple-A Reno, was suspended 50 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

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

ATLANTA (AP) A Colquitt County educator has been named Georgia's Teacher of the Year.

Gwen Desselle, who has been teaching for 32 years, was honored Friday night by state officials at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.

Desselle, a high school social studies teacher, got her undergraduate and master's degrees from Valdosta State University. She began her teaching career at Valdosta High School in 1977 and moved to Colquitt County High School in 1981.

In her application, she stressed the importance of constantly changing the way she teaches to adapt to changes in the world.

She will spend the next school year traveling around the state, speaking to the public about the teaching profession and conducting workshops and programs for educators.

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

BEAUREGARD, Ala. (AP) A Georgia judge considered an innovative leader in juvenile justice was one of two people killed in the crash of a single-engine plane Friday in a pasture in east Alabama. Two others were injured.

Lee County Sheriff's Captain Van Jackson said deputies responded to a call late Friday morning regarding a downed plane near the Beauregard community, about half a mile off Lee County Road 112.

The cause of the crash of the Beechcraft Bonanza, piloted by Judge Sanford Jones, was not immediately known.

Lee County Coroner Bill Harris confirmed that Jones, the 56-year-old presiding judge of the Fulton County Juvenile Court in Atlanta, was killed. Harris identified the other fatality as Alexander ``Sasha'' Medina, 18, of Newnan, Ga., the front-seat passenger.

Harris said two backseat passengers on the six-seater aircraft, Sarah Conklin 19, and Joshua Rumohr, 18, both of Newnan, survived and one dialed 911 to direct emergency crews to the site.

The coroner said Jones had flown the plane to Destin, Fla., to pick up the three passengers, who had driven a car to Destin for someone. Harris said Jones was flying the plane back to Newnan when it developed engine trouble, clipped some trees at the edge of a field and nose-dived into the ground.

Jones, who became a juvenile court judge in 1992, had handled many high-profile cases. They included ordering 41 children from an Atlanta church called the House of Prayer removed from their parents in 2001 because of the church-sanctioned practice of beatings for discipline.

Jones was a close friend of Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, who was killed in a shooting rampage at the Fulton County Courthouse in March 2005. The two had known each other for 25 years, and Jones performed the marriage ceremony for Barnes and his wife.

He was also friends with Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears. In a statement, Sears called Jones ``a compassionate public servant, whose single purpose was to improve the lives of so many troubled young people who came into his court.''

``He worked tirelessly for our children, and understood better than anyone that all young lives are worth saving,'' she said.

Chief Judge Belinda Edwards of the Juvenile Court said the judicial community in Atlanta was ``shocked and deeply saddened by the sudden loss of our friend and a steadfast advocate for children and families.''

She said Jones had innovations ``that have become models for juvenile courts nationwide.''

Under Jones' leadership, the court developed numerous alternatives to detention and treatment programs to prevent delinquency and reduce recidivism. He emphasized community involvement through task forces, faith based initiatives, and partnerships with outside agencies and entities that now include more than 600 volunteers and several nonprofit corporations.

Jones had been president of the Georgia Council of Juvenile Court Judges, a member of the Judicial Council of Georgia, chairman of the Atlanta Bar Judicial Section, and had served on numerous Supreme Court Commissions dealing with drug abuse and child placement projects.

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

Photo Courtesy - WSB TV

WASHINGTON (AP) The Energy Department has narrowed its list of the most likely recipients of $18.5 billion in government loan guarantees for building the first new nuclear power plants.

The department recently informed four companies planning new reactors in Maryland, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas that their applications have been elevated for closer scrutiny, department and industry officials said Friday.

Energy Department spokeswoman Stephanie Mueller said the applications were singled out for closer review because they are furthest along in obtaining a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The proposed projects singled out include Atlanta-based Southern Company for two new reactors at its Vogtle power plant near Waynesboro, Ga., and South Carolina Electric Gas, for two new reactors at its V.C. Summer power plant near Columbia, S.C.

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

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) Republican Karen Handel came out swinging at John Oxendine at the Georgia GOP convention Friday as she aired a slick, stinging campaign video that compared her gubernatorial rival to a lumbering beast.

A number of convention delegates whooped and applauded during the three-minute video's opening shots of a shaggy ox straining and tugging against a taught rope threaded through a ring in the animal's nose.

``It weighs tons. Is loud. Moves not with grace, but with a lumbering gait. It is the ox,'' a narrator says. ``Who could be stronger than an ox?''

Handel, Georgia's secretary of state, hopes die-hard Republicans at the convention in Savannah will decide she's the stronger candidate in the crowed 2010 race for the GOP nomination to succeed term-limited Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Though she's served only a single term as the state's elections chief, Handel sought Friday to persuade delegates she has the tenacity and the campaign organization much of it culled from Perdue's former political team to match a more seasoned statewide campaigner such as Oxendine, Georgia's insurance commissioner since 1995.

``I've taken on some of the toughest challenges that life, a career and politics have to offer,'' Handel told delegates. ``Yet with every new challenge, I've said, `Bring it on!'''

Six Republicans have entered the 2010 race, with the primary still more than a year away. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, widely considered the favorite GOP candidate to replace Perdue, bowed out of the race last month to undergo surgery for a degenerative spine condition. He'll seek re-election as lieutenant governor instead.

Oxendine, who announced his candidacy more than a year ago, took Handel's barbs in stride. He acknowledged them when he took the stage Friday, but refrained from attacking in kind.

``First off, I'm a little puzzled,'' Oxendine told the crowd. ``I'm not sure what I'm supposed to `bring on.' As far as I'm concerned, good conservative values for Georgia that's what we need to bring on.''

Oxendine won raucous applause for his pledge to end the state income tax, saying he would scrap Georgia's tax code and ``find a big Dipsty Dumpster and I'll throw it in there.''

Oxendine and Handel are the only Republican gubernatorial contenders who have previously won statewide office. But none of the remaining four GOP candidates are novices.

U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal has represented northern Georgia in Congress since he first won election in 1992. Deal's campaign announced Friday his endorsement by five of the state's GOP congressmen Reps. Phil Gingrey, Tom Price, Lynn Westmoreland, John Linder and Paul Broun.

``If you want a governor who does his own thinking, writes his own speeches and delivers them without a TelePrompTer ... then this Deal's for you,'' Deal said in a crowd-pleasing jab at President Barack Obama.

State Sen. Eric Johnson of Savannah, the Georgia Senate's former GOP leader, also took aim at a prominent Democrat former Gov. Roy Barnes, who's considering a comeback attempt after losing to Perdue in 2002, but hasn't committed.

Johnson noted his role as one of the Republican leaders who battled Barnes and Democrats in court over district lines for the state House, a GOP victory that helped the party win control of the legislative chamber in 2004.

``I'm the only candidate for governor who's gone toe-to-toe with Roy Barnes and won,'' Johnson said.

State Rep. Austin Scott of Tifton told delegates he opposed ``rebranding'' the Republican Party and shifting from core conservative principles in an effort to broaden the party's base. Activist Ray McBerry, who unsuccessfully challenged Perdue's re-election in 2006, said he was the best candidate to stand for states' rights against the federal government.

The convention Friday was the gubernatorial candidates' first chance to pitch their campaigns to some of the Georgia GOP's most active supporters. Still, there's plenty of time before the primary on July 20, 2010.

Delegate Kathy Statham, a 58-year-old customer service rep from Grayson, said she has been leaning toward supporting Oxendine. But after Handel's fiesty appearance, she said, ``I'll take a second look.''

Statham said her biggest concern is ensuring Republicans hold onto the governor's office after Perdue, Georgia's first GOP governor since Reconstruction.

``I need to back the person who is strong enough to win against a Democratic contender,'' Statham said. ``I want to back a winner.''

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

ATLANTA (AP) The Atlanta Dream have signed their first former University of Georgia standout.

Atlanta general manager and coach Marynell Meadors said Friday the team has signed eight-year WNBA veteran Coco Miller. Miller averaged 16.4 points in four seasons at Georgia while playing with her twin sister, Kelly Miller.

``I'm glad we finally have a UGA player and what a great one we got,'' Meadors said.

Miller, a guard, was the ninth overall pick in the 2001 WNBA draft by the Washington Mystics. She averaged about 5 points per game last season.

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

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Rapper T.I. will be coming to Arkansas to serve a federal prison sentence.

T.I., whose real name is Clifford J. Harris Jr., must report to Forrest City's low-security federal prison by noon on May 26, according to court filings. There, Harris will join 1,500 other inmates as he serves a year-and-one-day prison sentence after pleading guilty in March to federal weapons charges in Atlanta.

The rapper, the self-proclaimed ``King of the South,'' had faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each charge in his three-count indictment.

Harris will be credited for 305 days of home detention he already has served after being charged, so his stay at the Forrest City prison likely will be only two months.

R.D. Weeks, a spokesman for the prison, said Harris likely would be treated like any other prisoner coming into the facility.

``Unless there are custody or security concerns, all incoming inmates are placed in general population,'' Weeks told The Associated Press.

Weeks said each cell at the prison is double-bunked. Harris also will have the opportunity to use the recreation yard, as well as take part in counseling or participate in the one of the facility's 14 religious groups, Week said.

Harris, 28, was arrested after after trying to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers from undercover federal agents in 2007. That came after Harris' best friend was killed following a post-performance party in Cincinnati in 2006. The rapper has said the bullets that killed his friend were meant for him.

Upon his release, Harris will be on probation for three years. He also must pay a $100,000 fine as part of his sentence.

Harris' sixth album, ``Paper Trail,'' has sold about 2 million copies and the rapper earned a Grammy for the song ``Swagga Like Us'' that he performed with Jay-Z. Harris wrote the lyrics for the album while awaiting trial.

On the Net:

T.I.: http://www.trapmuzik.com/

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

ATLANTA (AP) The Atlanta Braves are moving left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes to the bullpen and plan to call up right-hander Kris Medlen to take his place in the rotation.

Manager Bobby Cox said on Friday that Medlen, who is 5-0 with a 0.96 ERA at Triple-A Gwinnett, will be called up to start Tuesday night against Colorado.

``He's throwing great,'' Cox said of Medlen.

Medlen's strong start moved him ahead of top prospect Tommy Hanson, who is 1-3 with a 1.99 ERA at Gwinnett.

Medlen has allowed only 19 hits while striking out 44 batters in 37 1-3 innings.

He was 7-8 with a 3.52 ERA at Double-A Mississippi last year. He began the 2008 season as a reliever before moving to Mississippi's rotation in June and was 6-5 with a 3.11 ERA in 11 starts.

Reyes is 0-2 with a 6.58 ERA in five starts.

``We'll stick him in the bullpen, see what he can do out there,'' Cox said. ``He gets so close to getting it consistently then for some reason or other it wanders away.''

Reyes has allowed only a .133 batting average (4 for 30) against left-handers. He has allowed a .309 batting average to right-handed hitters.

Reyes expects to see mostly left-handed batters as a reliever.

``I think my success so far off lefties is what he's looking at,'' Reyes said of Cox.

Reyes has made only four relief appearances in seven seasons in the Braves' organization.

``I've never done it before,'' he said. ``It should be interesting.''

Reyes was 3-11 with a 5.81 ERA in 2008, but impressed Cox and pitching coach Roger McDowell with progress he showed this spring. He opened the season as the No. 5 starter when Tom Glavine needed more time to recover from elbow and shoulder surgeries.

Reyes, who lost his last seven decisions in 2008, is Atlanta's first pitcher to have nine straight losses since Marty Clary in 1990. Reyes' last win came on June 13, 2008.

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

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded validation to the Georgia Public Health Lab on Friday to perform confirmatory testing of the novel H1N1 virus, known as swine flu. This means the lab was quickly able to test and confirm all its probable samples.

As recently as Thursday, officials said there were eight cases, with six associated with a private school in Henry County.

Dr. Sandra Ford, acting director of the Division of Public Health, said no patients diagnosed have been hospitalized and most have recuperated. Five cases were tested out-of-state.

Both seasonal flu virus and the H1N1 are present in Georgia currently.

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

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) Authorities say the remains of the University of Georgia professor who fatally shot his wife and two others have been released to his family.

Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson says George Zinkhan III, found two weeks after the shooting rampage at an Athens community theater troupe picnic, will be cremated.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead says the body was released Friday to Mortuary Shipping Service in Atlanta. The ashes will be sent to Zinkhan's son, George Zinkhan IV of Utah.

The remains have been at the GBI medical examiner's office since they were found in a shallow grave on Saturday. Authorities said Zinkhan died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, probably soon after the April 25 shootings of his wife, Marie Bruce, Tom Tanner and Ben Teague.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Officials say hundreds of employees of the Georgia Department of Transportation headquarters in Atlanta have been evacuated after a bomb threat.

DOT spokesman Bryan Gunter says the warning came shortly before 3 p.m. Friday, and the evacuation was ordered immediately.

The building on West Peachtree Street in Atlanta, near North Avenue, called 1 Georgia Center is about 20 stories. Not all DOT employees of the agency who work in Atlanta are in that building.

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

(WSB Radio)  Two people have been killed and two others injured in a single-engine plane crash in a pasture in east Alabama.

The plane is registered part-time Fulton County Judge Louis Levenson.  He was not on the plane, but Fulton County Juvenile Judge Sanford Jones, who was on board, was killed.

The FAA's Kathleen Bergen tells WSB the Beechcraft, was headed to the Newnan-Coweta Airport when the pilot, Judge Jones, reported having engine problems and was advised to land at an airport near Auburn, Alabama. It crashed about three miles from the airport.

"Local authorities found the aircraft inverted with the two front seat passengers deceased.  The two back seat passengers received minor injuries," said Bergen.

56-year-old Sanford "Sammy" Jones of Fairburn, was killed.  18-year-old Alexander "Sasha" Medina of Newnan, also died. The survivors have been identified as 19-year-old Sarah Conklin and 18-year-old Joshua Rumohr, both of Newnan.

5/15/09

(WSB Radio/AP) Chuck Clancy Chevrolet in Cartersville is one metro Atlanta GM dealership notified today of the automaker's plans to eliminate more than 2,300 dealerships by 2010.

Owner Chuck Clancy tells News/Talk 750 WSB he'll cross-train his GM workers to work in his other dealerships.

General Motors Corp. on Friday told about 1,100 dealers, or nearly 20 percent of its U.S. network, that they will be fired by the automaker late next year because their sales are weak.

GM's announcement is more bad economic news for dealers, communities and businesses still reeling from Chrysler's similar nationwide dealer cuts a day earlier. Both automakers are scrambling to reorganize and stay alive in a severe recession that has devastated sales of cars and trucks.

While GM doesn't own the dealers, its network is too big, causing dealers to compete with each other and giving shoppers too much leverage to talk down prices and hurt the company's future sales.

``Too many dealers, in actuality, are a problem,'' Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president of North American sales and marketing, said in a conference call with reporters.

GM declined to reveal which dealers will be eliminated and left it up to franchise owners to report the decision to customers.

The cuts are part of a larger GM plan to drop 2,600, or nearly 42 percent of its 6,200 dealerships as the automaker tries to restructure outside of bankruptcy court and become profitable again. Thousands of jobs will likely be lost and governments will lose untold dollars in tax revenue as dealerships are forced to close.

Besides the 1,100 dealership cuts, the company will provide updates to about 470 Saturn, Hummer and Saab dealerships on the status of those brands, which it plans to sell.

Friday's cuts will not be the last. GM said it expects to lose more dealers through attrition. Ultimately, about 90 percent of the remaining dealerships will stay with GM, the company said.

FedEx letters bearing the bad news began arriving Friday morning at GM franchises around the country. The letter states that dealers were judged on sales, customer service scores, location, condition of facilities and other criteria.

``Based on our review and current foreseeable market conditions and your dealership's historical performance, we do not see that GM have a productive business relationship with (your dealership) over the long term,'' according to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

However, the letter left open the possibility that the decision could be reversed.

``Please understand that our planning in this regard is not finalized, and we are prepared to give you until the end of the month to submit any information you would like us to see,'' the letter said.

Both Chrysler and GM say they are cutting the number of dealers because they have too many outlets that are too close to each other, and the competition drives down prices. But as the ranks of dealers thin and competition decreases, that likely will mean higher prices for car and truck buyers.

As GM and Chrysler lost market share to Japanese and other overseas brands, the automakers, as well as Ford Motor Co., ended up with too many dealerships. Many are barely getting by and can't afford to upgrade their facilities or hire the best personnel to compete with the Japanese, who have far fewer dealerships.

With fewer dealers, consumers won't see as much competition, said Aaron Bragman, an automotive industry analyst with the consulting firm IHS Global Insight.

``No longer will people be able to shop between three or four dealers within 15 minutes of each other for the best cutthroat price,'' he said.

GM knows it will lose sales in the short-term, but over the long haul, fewer dealers will mean higher per-vehicle profits, Bragman said.

``As the dealers go, so goes the company in terms of financial health,'' he said.

In the 1980s, GM, Chrysler and Ford controlled more than 75 percent of U.S. sales, but that dropped to 48 percent last year. GM alone held nearly 51 percent of the market in 1962, but only 22 percent last year.

Bragman said GM likely will go into bankruptcy protection on June 1, but it's starting to negotiate deals ahead of the filing to speed up the Chapter 11 process.

``GM has been ... acting as if they are negotiating a prepackaged bankruptcy,'' he said.

Associated Press writer Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.

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

(WSB Radio)  Atlanta police believed they've broken up a gang of thieves that was targeting flat screen televisions and designer blue jeans.

A Thursday night raid led to arrests.

According to a spokesman for the APD, the department's Special Enforcement Section served a search warrant at an apartment complex in southwest Atlanta.

During that search, officers discovered 10 pairs of designer blue jeans, along with three flat screen TVs.  Police also seized guns, ammunition and bolt cutters.

The police are holding a news conference to discuss further details of the arrests.

(WSB Radio)  A retired Fulton County police lieutenant has been linked to sexual assaults on three metro Atlanta prostitutes.

48 year old Gerald Copeland has been charged in Union City in a March 17 incident.  In it, a woman was found half naked and badly beaten in an unfinished subdivision off of Highway 92.

She told police she had been robbed and raped, but she could not offer a detailed description of her attacker.

Police say they made the connection to Copeland after learning he was being held in Fayette County on charges related to two similar crimes there.

(WSB Radio)  The campus police chief at Morehouse College has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from an encounter with a hunter in Lamar County.

Chief Vernon Worthy is charged with aggravated assault, false imprisonment and pointing a weapon at another person in connection with the confrontation which took place last November.

Worthy challenged a man who said he had permission to hunt on the property.

Nathaniel Rooks says he came down from his deer stand to talk to Worthy.  That's when, according to Rooks, Worthy drew his pistol, told Rooks to lie down on the ground and warned he'd "blow his brains out" if he moved.

(WSB Radio)  A multi-agency crime sweep in Cherokee County means a handful of illegal aliens will soon be sent home.

Lieutenant Jay Baker at the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office says 35 law officers swept through higher crime areas... netting 15 arrests. About half of them, he says, aren't even supposed to be here.

"Seven of the individuals actually had ICE deportation holds placed on them," Baker tells WSB.  "Five of those individuals are suspected gang members.  So we're pleased with the way the operation went."

Baker says gangs aren't a huge problem in Cherokee County and operations like this one will ensure it stays that way.

(WSB Radio)  Snellville police are narrowing their list of possible suspects in the murder of a young mother in the parking lot of a Target last month.

Capt. Harold Thomas tells WSB's Sandra Parrish they're about ready to rule out Heather Strube's estranged husband as well as his girlfriend.

But they do believe the suspect is a woman and that Strube knew her killer.

"We know there was a conversation on the passenger's side of the vehicle before she was killed," Thomas says.

And while police have searched the older white Ford pickup believed to have been parked behind the retail store at the time of the murder, they're still looking for key evidence in the case.

"We're looking for the wig, the mustache, the weapon, the black bag... anything that was used at that time," he says.

(WSB Radio)  With 13 Georgia Chrysler dealerships on the list to close, letters to GM dealers are next.

But Greg Baranco, owner of Baranco Buick, Pontiac, GMC in Lilburn tells WSB's Sandra Parrish he's not worried.

"If that happens, there's an opportunity in it somewhere and we're going to figure out how to find the opportunity and make it work for everybody," he says.

Sales have been down at his Lilburn dealership 70 percent this year.  But he says sending out letters and closing down dealerships isn't the answer. 

"Dealers cost the manufacturers nothing... we buy the products and then sell the products to the consumer.  So if we're in business now, then the customers have given us a vote of support," he says.

Baranco and another Georgia dealer met with members of Congress in Washington DC this week to explain how so many people would be affected if dealerships are forced to close.

"We don't need another 2000-4000 jobs coming out of our (Georgia's) economy. Just writing people letters saying they're going to go away by X-day isn't the solution," he says.

He also says minority-owned dealerships are especially hurting.  Two years ago there were 119 General Motors dealers nationwide, now that number is now down to 35.

"It's cruel and unusual what's happening and it's not the way we should be conducting business," he says.

(WSB Radio)  The Fire Chief in Carroll County is out.

County Commission Chairman Bill Chappell says Chief Gary Thomas was dismissed from his job for budgetary reasons.

"This was not about job performance.  This was not about personalities," Chappell says.  "This was a strict budgetary matter."

Thomas had been fire chief in Carroll County for 15 years.

The mayor of Bowden isn't buying the Chappell reason for the dismissal. 

Jim Watts says the firing comes after years of criticism by the chairman, even before he was in office.

"It still lsounds like a vendetta to me," Watts says, "and I told the commissioner that."

Both Thomas and 911 director Debra Lanier were let go, saving the county $64,000 a year by hiring one person to do both jobs.

Chappell has offered Thomas another position at similar pay, but Thomas has not decided whether or not he'll take it.

(WSB Radio)  A new Insider Advantage poll of the Georgia governor's race shows Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine as the republican frontrunner.

On the democratic side, there may be optimism.

"If there is a democrat who can truly raise substantial money, then this becomes, I think, a very competitive governor's race," says Insider Advantage CEO Matt Towery. 

Former Governor Roy Barnes is expected to announce by June 1 whether he'll enter the race.

In the crowded GOP field, Towery tells Channel 2 Action News, Secretary of State Karen Handel hasn't gotten a lot of support from women.

"I've always been concerned about whether or not Georgia is as receptive to a female candidate for governor," Towery says.

ATLANTA (AP) First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Georgia last month rose 63.4 percent from April 2008, but the rate declined compared to the previous month.

The Georgia Department of Labor said Thursday that 84,346 laid-off workers filed initial claims for jobless benefits in April, the first month this year that the percentage increase over the same month in 2008 was not in triple digits.

In March, the year-over-year increase was 126.3 percent.

The metropolitan areas with the highest percentage of increase in claims from April 2008 to April 2009 are Gainesville, up 164.9 percent, and Athens, up 143.2 percent. The areas with the smallest increase in claims are Dalton, up 18.6 percent, and Warner Robins, up 24.6 percent.

Most of the state initial claims were filed by laid-off workers in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, construction, and administrative and support services.  And, the number of jobless workers receiving unemployment insurance benefits rose 107.8 percent over the year, from 80,830 in April of 2008 to 167,981 in April of 2009.

Also, in April, the Labor Department processed 18,936 first-time claims for Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits, bringing the total to 180,933 since the federal program began in Georgia in July of 2008. Federal extended benefits are available to eligible jobless workers who have exhausted regular state unemployment compensation.

State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond urges all Georgians to watch the Georgia Department of Labor's 15th annual televised job fair which will be broadcast statewide on Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) Sunday, May 17, from 2-4 p.m. The live broadcast, entitled Job Fair 2009 - Preparing For Recovery, will originate from Atlanta, Albany, and Macon and will be broadcast on GPB's nine station network of television stations.

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

(WSB Radio)  Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case against accused Silver Comet Trail killer Michael Ledford and the jury could get the case today.

Ledford is charged in the 2006 murder of Jennifer Ewing, who was riding her bicycle along the trail when, police say, she was ambushed, sexually assaulted, then beaten to death.

A woman who was attacked on the trail a year before Ewing was killed testified on Thursday.  She said the incident was a bad memory until she heard about Ewing's murder.

"Of course, I looked to see if it was the same person or not," Virginia-Bell Pringle told the court.  "And when I saw Michael Ledford's picture, I recognized it immediately.  That's the same guy who tried to get me on my bike."

Pringle says she didn't call the police because she got away and Ledford never touched her.

Once the prosecution finishes, the defense is expected to pass on witness and the case should go to the jury. 

If Ledford is convicted, then the jury will decide whether he receives life in prison or death by lethal injection.

(WSB Radio)  With 13 Georgia Chrysler dealerships on the list to close, letters to GM dealers are next.

But Greg Baranco, owner of Baranco Buick, Pontiac, GMC in Lilburn tells WSB's Sandra Parrish he's not worried.

"If that happens, there's an opportunity in it somewhere and we're going to figure out how to find the opportunity and make it work for everybody," he says.

Sales have been down at his Lilburn dealership 70 percent this year.  But he says sending out letters and closing down dealerships isn't the answer. 

"Dealers cost the manufacturers nothing... we buy the products and then sell the products to the consumer.  So if we're in business now, then the customers have given us a vote of support," he says.

Baranco and another Georgia dealer met with members of Congress in Washington DC this week to explain how so many people would be affected if dealerships are forced to close.

"We don't need another 2000-4000 jobs coming out of our (Georgia's) economy. Just writing people letters saying they're going to go away by X-day isn't the solution," he says.

He also says minority-owned dealerships are especially hurting.  Two years ago there were 119 General Motors dealers nationwide, now that number is now down to 35.

"It's cruel and unusual what's happening and it's not the way we should be conducting business," he says.

(WSB Radio)  Snellville police are narrowing their list of possible suspects in the murder of a young mother in the parking lot of a Target last month.

Capt. Harold Thomas tells WSB's Sandra Parrish they're about ready to rule out Heather Strube's estranged husband as well as his girlfriend.

But they do believe the suspect is a woman and that Strube knew her killer.

"We know there was a conversation on the passenger's side of the vehicle before she was killed," Thomas says.

And while police have searched the older white Ford pickup believed to have been parked behind the retail store at the time of the murder, they're still looking for key evidence in the case.

"We're looking for the wig, the mustache, the weapon, the black bag... anything that was used at that time," he says.

 14 May 2009

(WSB Radio)  Chrysler is looking to close about a quarter of its U.S. dealerships as part of its bankruptcy restructuring.

The company, in papers filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, listed 789 dealerships it wants to eliminate.  They include 13 in Georgia, with 4 in the metro Atlanta area.

The company says it's looking to close the dealerships because many of them have sales that are too low. 

The dealerships in the Atlanta area include:

• Nalley Chrysler-Jeep, in Roswell

• Southtowne Motors of Newnan

• John Cullen Dodge, in Newnan

Premier Chrysler Jeep Dodge, in Decatur is also on the list, but that dealership has already closed.

The move, which the dealers can appeal, is likely to cause devastating affects in cities and towns across the country as thousands of jobs are lost and taxes are not paid.

Chrysler spokeswoman Kathy Graham would not comment other than to say the company will notify dealers before speaking publicly.

In its motion, Chrysler said it has many dealerships that sell one or two of its brands, with Chrysler-Jeep dealerships competing against Dodge dealers as well as other automakers' stores across the country.

"In addition, as suburbs grew and the modern interstate system continued to evolve, longstanding dealerships no longer were in the best or growing locations," the company said in its filing. "Many rural locations also served a diminishing population of potential consumers. Some dealership facilities became outdated. Other locations faced declining traffic count and declining populations."

Chrysler dealerships aren't the only ones scheduled to get bad news this week. General Motors Corp. says it is notifying 1,100 dealers that it will not renew their franchise agreements when they expire at the end of September of 2010.

(WSB Radio) For the second time in less than a week, a midtown Atlanta clothing store has been hit by blue jean bandits.

The store, eModa, on the 900 block of West Peachtree Street, was robbed around three this morning.  The same store was the target of crooks last Friday.

The boutique's owner, Dan Kogan, tells WSB, this morning's break-in netted the bandits between $20,000 and $30,000 in merchandise.  Last week's burglary cost Kogan about $50,000.

Kogan says there were six suspects involved in this morning's break in and police are telling him they may be members of the 30 Deep gang.

"It could be the same crew or parts of different crews," he says.  "The cops have already told us that it's very possible that there's an association there."

Kogan says the store's security cameras captured some good video of the suspects, down to the clothes they were wearing and even the tattoos on their arms. 

The owner says these are definitely the same criminals that broke into his store last week because one of the suspects is wearing the same shirt in both robberies.

(WSB Radio) He was on the lam for 27 years and ended up living a quiet life in Georgia.  That was until authorities finally caught up with him.

56 year old Richard Boucher, of Virginia, was arrested Wednesday in Murray County.  He had escaped from a Virginia prison nearly three decades ago.

Authorities say Boucher and his wife lived in a small trailer near the Tennessee border.  But that ended when a tip to the FBI revealed that he was an escapee.

"He was arrested without incident," says FBI spokesman Steve Emmett.  "He did not struggle.  He did not fight, nor did his wife.

"He led a very quiet, under the radar type lifestyle," Emmett tells WSB.  "He took odd jobs over the years.  He did not have steady employment that might have flagged him under an alias name."

Boucher told investigators his wife, Debbie, helped him and another inmate escape in 1982, and they abandoned their car in North Carolina and walked, sleeping in the woods, until they arrived in Murray County.

The Bouchers stayed there and raised a daughter, now 25, who knew them only as Eric and Debbie Coleman.

Authorities say Boucher escaped from a prison in Chesapeake, where he was serving a ten year sentence for robbery.

He's now also charged in Murray County with possession of a firearm by a felon because a rifle was found at his trailer home.

His 53 year old wife is charged with hindering the apprehension of a criminal.

Boucher is now awaiting extradition back to Virginia.

(WSB Radio)  Are you one of the 20,000 people in Marietta who hasn't paid your ticket after getting caught on camera running a red light?  You're in luck. 

The city has announced an amnesty program for a portion of the late fees you've incurred. 

Pamela Allen, Court Administrator for the Marietta Municipal Court, tells WSB that from 2004 to December of this year, they've issued 153,000 tickets.  Allen says under the program, you have the option to pay the original $70 fee, plus a $100 late fee.

Allen says they've already started getting responses.

"I think when they realize that if they owe a judgement of 745 and we're willing to accept 170, I believe they're going to respond quite well," she says.

You can take advantage of the program for up to 45 days of receiving your letter of notification.

(WSB Radio)  Mary Norwood appears to be the frontrunner in the Atlanta mayoral race.

A new Insider Advantage poll puts the city councilwoman ahead of the field, with her nearest competition coming from Council President Lisa Borders.

"Right now, it's Mary Norwood who appears to be outworking or, at least, out-name IDing the rest of the candidates in this field," Insider Advantage CEO Matt Towery tells Channel 2 Action News.  "If Mary Norwood would go on television on top of this, it would be a knockout blow, in my judgement."

The poll of 420 registered voters has Norwood with 37% of the vote.  Norwood has also raised more money than her opponents, with more than $310,000 in her campaign coffers.  Both Borders and Kasim Reed have less than $300,000.

The election is five months away.

(WSB Radio)  The Cobb County school board has delayed a voter on whether to allow the county to use school property for the proposed extension of Windy Hill Road.

At a community meeting on Wednesday night, the board opted not to make a decision.  The board has already voted against a pedestrian foot bridge that would go over the roadway.

"So cars coming through here are going to already be exceeding 55 to 60 miles per hour as they go by this school," says Pat Giuliani with the Georgia PTA.  "Every morning, every afternoon, as school is getting out."

The proposed extension of Windy Hill would take the four lane road right past Milford Elementary and join with Macland Road, two miles away.