(WSB Radio) Gwinnett County Police are trying to identify human remains that were discovered Monday by someone walking near the Gwinnett-Barrow County line.

Police say the remains were found in some woods along Georgia 316.

"At this point in time, we're trying to figure out who it is," says police Corporal David Schiralli,  "and the circumstances surrounding these bones."

Schiralli tells WSB the bones, which were scattered, had been there for a long time. They don't know if the person is a male or a female or if foul play is involved.

"The remains were found, we responded and it's now being worked on," Schiralli says.  "We don't even know if it's a homicide yet."

(WSB Radio) -- Part of a six-floor parking deck in Midtown collapsed during the lunch hour Monday, crushing at least 35 cars. Late in the day, there were no reports of injuries, but crews were stabilizing the building so firefighters could search car by car to make sure.

For the hundred's of people whose vehicles are trapped, many are asking when they might get their cars back?

WSB's Pete Combs reports many have been standing by a fence and look in on what was once a parking garage, hoping for signs their vehicle isn't damaged.

"I'm looking for my silver car, but I think I have clarification that it is gone .. but I have my life," said one woman.

But retrieving undamaged cars could take some time as firefighters aren't willing to say when .. or if .. that will happen.

(WSB Radio)  Atlanta firefighters have concluded their first search of a partially collapsed parking deck in midtown and report finding no victims.

The Centergy Parking deck, located at Spring Street and Abercrombie Place, just north of 5th Street, went down at about 12:20 this afternoon, crushing 32 cars caught in the collapse. 

The search for potential victims started slowly, as fire crews had to first shore up the deck floors to make sure that there were no further collapses.

Fire officials say the search operation will continue around the clock, but it may be a day or two before cars will be allowed to leave the garage.

As for the cause of the collapse, it's still under investigation.

OSHA has begun a probe.

The deck was built by Hardin Construction, the same company that was building the pedestrian walkway at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens that collapsed.  That accident killed one person.

About 50 firefighters are taking part in the search efforts, coming from Atlanta, DeKalb and Cobb Counties.  Extra crews are on hand due to the heat and the need to rotate search teams.

Those who were in the garage at the time of the collapse say it sounded like an earthquake.

"I was eating lunch in my car and I heard, it sounded like a building that was being demoed," says Shaun Dodson.  "Just the sound and the whole truck was shaking.  So it stopped and I got out, went around the back side of the deck and I could see down to the first floor."

Dodson, who was still shaking as he spoke after leaving the deck, says the collapse began with the deck shaking.

"The whole truck was vibrating," he tells WSB.  "When it stopped, my whole truck felt like it had gone over a speed bump or something.  It was still teeter tottering."

Chad Parker was walking to his car after working out at the LA Fitness next door.

"I heard this sound, like a truck dumping big rocks or something," he says.  "Then the dust started falling from the top floors.  I didn't know what had happened, but then the parking attendant ran out yelling for everyone to leave."

(WSB Radio) Part of a parking deck at 5th and Spring Streets in midtown Atlanta collapsed shortly before 12:30 this afternoon, when many people were headed out to lunch.

The multi-level deck services the Centergy complex, and an LA Fitness is also at that intersection. The Atlanta Fire Department arrived quickly at the scene, but a fire captain said it is too early to know whether anyone was inside, whether there are any casualties, or the extent of the damage.  There are no reports of injuries.

Four levels of the deck apparently collapsed, and several mangled cars could be seen. At least 32 vehicles have been damaged.

Judith Allen, who works for Accenture, said she was heading for lunch around 12:20 when the noise of the collapse stunned her.

"I was walking out and all of a sudden it was just a boom, lots of air, lots of dust everywhere," she said.

"My car is actually on the fourth level, which is not the part--I mean, it's right next to the section that collapsed.  Right now, we're just hoping that everyone's okay and that no one is injured, but we really don't know.  I need to head back.  I've been asked to do a head count to make sure everyone's okay.

Police, firefighters and other emergency personnel were on the scene at the multilevel parking structure.

WSB's Jon Lewis reports it is likely to be a slow, careful search and rescue effort for firefighters entering the unstable building.  They have to shore up damaged walls to make them more secure so they can enter to look for any victims.  Lewis talked to a man who was inside the deck when a portion of it buckled.

"I was eating lunch in my car and it just...I heard a sound like a building was being demoed," said Shaun Dodson.  "Just the sound and the whole truck was shaking.  So at the top, I got out, went around the back side of the deck, and you could see down to the first floor."

(WSB Radio)  The U.S. Supreme Court may decide whether to hear the case of Troy Davis before they break for their summer break.

Lawyers for the Georgia death row inmate have petitioned for a new hearing based on witnesses who have recanted testimony they gave during Davis' trial.

Davis was condemned for the shooting death of Savannah police office Mark McPhail in 1989.

McPhail was gunned down in a parking lot when he went to break up a scuffle.  Davis was arrested for the killing and convicted based on the testimony of nine witnesses.  Police never recovered the murder weapon and there was no physical evidence linking Davis to the killing.

Now, seven of those nine witnesses say they were coerced by police into testifying against Davis.

Davis' execution has been stayed three times, once just 90 minutes before his scheduled execution.

The court will decide whether to hold a new hearing for Davis.  If they reject the petition, then a Chatham County DA could pursue a fourth death warrant.

(WSB Radio)  There's a new Miss Georgia, the second in two days.

The original pageant winner, Kristina Higgins, chose to step down after winning the crown, citing her job as a middle school teacher in Gwinnett.

Miss Cobb County, Emily Cook, will now go on to compete for Miss America in Las Vegas in January.

Cook has been accepted to the UGA law school but will defer while she fulfills her duties as Miss Georgia.

(WSB Radio)  The former director of the Georgia Aquarium has died unexpectedly.

Jeff Swanagan suffered an apparent heart attack while mowing the lawn of his home outside of Columbus, Ohio on Sunday.

Swanagan, 51, left Atlanta last year to take over as executive director of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. 

He was hired to help start the Georgia Aquarium, turning the vision of founder Bernie Marcus into the world's largest aquarium.

Prior to that, Swanagan worked at the Columbus Zoo, beginning in 1980 as a zookeeper, then working as the zoo's education director until 1987.

He then worked at Zoo Atlanta before moving to the Florida Aquarium, in Tampa, in 1998.

From there Swanagan came to Atlanta as the Georgia Aquarium's director.

"(Jeff) was not only involved with its (the aquarium's) planning from the very beginning, he helped create its structure and brought aboard qualified people to lead it," Marcus said last year when Swanagan left to return to Columbus.

(WSB Radio)  The ex-boyfriend of a Stone Mountain woman is in the Gwinnett County Jail for killing a man helping her move out.

Police say 25 year old Elliot Ford shot the man Saturday night.

"Police noticed a male in the driveway who appeared to be deceased from a gunshot wound," Police Corporal David Schiralli tells WSB.  "A search of the surrounding houses revealed another male had also been shot."

Schiralli says the wound man is Ford.  He faces one count of murder.

Police believe he exchanged gunfire with the unidentified dead man.

Ford has recovered enough from his wounds to be booked into jail.  He's being held without bond.

There's no word on what led to the fatal exchange of gunfire.

(WSB Radio)  Atlanta Watershed Crews are working to fix a broken 20-inch pipe that flooded streets Sunday afternoon]

The break flooded the streets on Delmar Lane near Hemphill School Road for hours on Sunday, until crews got things under control. 

Now the repairs are underway.

"There's nobody effected," says Janet Ward, with the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management.  "There's nobody off in the area."

Ward says drinking water for the area comes in through another pipe, so it's fine.

As for the roads, part of Delmar Lane will be closed for a week while crews repair damage to the street.

(WSB Radio) -- Atlantan Bob Sustak and his wife thought the $1,000,000 they invested with convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff had grown to $3 million.  They got regular monthly statements which looked reassuring and said their money was growing steadily.

"We didn't see any of the red flags that everyone thought were supposed to be there," said Sustak.  "We weren't making crazy kinds of gains with this.  We were making reasonable gains, and when the market went up we didn't go up as high as the market did; when the market went down, we didn't go down as far as it did, either."

Today, the couple is living paycheck to paycheck and, like some other Madoff victims in Atlanta, say they're too upset to talk on the record as the man who pleaded guilty to running the nation's largest-ever Ponzi scheme is set to be sentenced Monday.  U. S. District Judge Denny Chin has already granted a prosecution request to delay for 90 days his ruling on how much restitution Madoff should pay.  The government is still tallying the damage and the number of defrauded investors.

One Atlanta woman tells WSB, "Most of us have not seen a nickel back from the government."  Their frustration over whether they will is mounting.  Ponzi restitutions give investors back the money they put in, minus any they took out--and nothing on the returns they thought they were making.

The Ponzi scheme works by using money from new, unsuspecting investors to pay off earlier investors--so the money looks like legitimate returns.  The scam continues as long as there are fresh funds coming in.

Friday, the government announced a $170 billion legal judgment against Madoff, which strips him and his wife Ruth of their assets.  Court papers say the Madoffs will give up any claim on nearly $80 million worth of property, which includes $60 million and three homes: A Manhattan apartment valued att $7.5 million, a $7 million house in Montauk, N.Y., and a $7.45 million home in Palm Beach, Fla.  The value of the assets will help repay bilked investors.  The Securities Investor Protection Corporation, which shields investors in brokerage firms, will also pay claims.

Several Atlanta victims echoed Lynn Sustak who said three months ago, "Yes, I want to see him stay in jail.  I want to see him suffer and have pain.  But I want to see these people restored."  Mrs. Sustak is among the victims who wrote letters to the judge, urging a stiff sentence.

Madoff is 71.  His lawyer is asking the judge for a lenient sentence of no more than 12 years in prison, citing his age, his life expectancy and sentences for other financial swindlers.  His scheme collapsed late last year and he was arrested in December, pleading guilty in March. 

"I can't tell you how happy it makes us feel that Bernie Madoff is finally ending up in a jail where he needs to be," Mr. Sustak said earlier this year.  Asked by Neal Boortz what he would do if he got to see Madoff, Sustak replied, "As long as I had a baseball bat, I'd be happy."

NEW YORK (AP) Convicted swindler Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison Monday for fraud so extensive that the judge said he needed to send a symbolic message to those who might imitate his fraud and to victims who need relief.

Applause broke out in the crowded Manhattan courtroom after U.S. District Judge Denny Chin issued the maximum sentence to the 71-year-old defendant, who said he sought no forgiveness and knew he must live ``with this pain, this torment, for the rest of my life.''

Chin rejected a request by Madoff's lawyer for leniency and said he disagreed that victims of the fraud were seeking mob vengeance.

``Here the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil and that this kind of manipulation of the system is not just a bloodless crime that takes place on paper, but one instead that takes a staggering toll,'' Chin said.

The judge said the estimate that Madoff has cost his victims more than $13 billion was conservative because it did not include money from feeder funds.

``Objectively speaking, the fraud here was staggering,'' he said.

Before Chin announced the sentence, Madoff, wearing a dark suit, white shirt and a tie, sat and listened as emotional witnesses described how he spoiled their security.

``Life has been a living hell. It feels like the nightmare we can't wake from,'' said Carla Hirshhorn.

``He stole from the rich. He stole from the poor. He stole from the in between. He had no values,'' said Tom Fitzmaurice. ``He cheated his victims out of their money so he and his wife Ruth could live a life of luxury beyond belief.''

Dominic Ambrosino called it an ``indescribably heinous crime'' and urged a long prison sentence so ``will know he is imprisoned in much the same way he imprisoned us and others.''

He added: ``In a sense, I would like somebody in the court today to tell me how long is my sentence.''

``The sheer scale of the fraud calls for severe punishment,'' the prosecutors wrote.

The jailed Madoff already has taken a severe financial hit: Last week, a judge issued a preliminary $171 billion forfeiture order stripping Madoff of all his personal property, including real estate, investments, and $80 million in assets his wife Ruth had claimed were hers. The order left her with $2.5 million.

The terms require the Madoffs to sell a $7 million Manhattan apartment where Ruth Madoff still lives. An $11 million estate in Palm Beach, Fla., a $4 million home in Montauk and a $2.2 million boat will be put on the market as well.

Before Madoff became a symbol of Wall Street greed, he had earned a reputation as a trusted money manager with a Midas touch. Even as the market fluctuated, clients of his secretive investment advisory business from Florida retirees to celebrities such as Steven Spielberg, actor Kevin Bacon and Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax for decades enjoyed steady double-digit returns.

But late last year, Madoff made a dramatic confession: Authorities say he pulled his sons aside and told them it was ``all just one big lie.''

Madoff pleaded guilty in March to securities fraud and other charges, saying he was ``deeply sorry and ashamed.'' He insisted that he acted alone, describing a separate wholesale stock-trading firm run by his sons and brother as honest and legitimate.

Aside from an accountant accused of cooking Madoff's books, no one else has been criminally charged. But the family, including his wife, and brokerage firms who recruited investors have come under intense scrutiny by the FBI, regulators and a court-appointed trustee overseeing the liquidation of Madoff's assets.

The trustee and prosecutors have sought to go after assets to compensate thousands of burned victims who have filed claims against Madoff. How much is available to pay them remains unknown, though it's expected to be only a fraction of the astronomical losses associated with the fraud.

The $171 billion forfeiture figure used by prosecutors merely mirrors the amount they estimate that, over decades, ``flowed into the principal account to perpetrate the Ponzi scheme.'' The statements sent to investors showing their accounts were worth as much as $65 billion were fiction.

The investigation has found that in reality, Madoff never made any investments, instead using the money from new investors to pay returns to existing clients and to finance a lavish lifestyle for his family.

In bankruptcy filings, Trustee Irving Picard say family members ``used customers accounts as though they were their own,'' putting Madoff's maid, boat captain and house-sitter in Florida on the company payroll and paying nearly $1 million in fees at high-end golf clubs on Long Island and in Florida.

Picard has sought to reclaim ill-gotten gains by freezing Madoff's business bank accounts and selling legitimate portions of his firm. (Its season tickets for the Mets went for $38,100.) He's also sued big money managers and investors for billions of dollars, claiming they were Madoff cronies who also cashed in on the fraud.

The defendants include leading philanthropists Stanley Chais and Jeffry Picower from whom Picard is seeking at least $5.1 billion alleged to have come out of victims' pockets and hedge fund manager J. Ezra Merkin. All have denied any wrongdoing.

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

LOS ANGELES (AP) Michael Jackson still had a faint pulse and his body was warm when his doctor found him in bed and not breathing, a lawyer for the doctor told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Edward Chernoff also said Dr. Conrad Murray never prescribed or gave Jackson the drugs Demerol or OxyContin. He denied reports suggesting Murray gave Jackson drugs that contributed to his death.

Chernoff told the AP that Murray was at the pop icon's rented mansion on Thursday afternoon when he discovered Jackson in bed and not breathing. The doctor immediately began administering CPR, Chernoff said.

``He just happened to find him in his bed, and he wasn't breathing,'' the lawyer said. ``Mr. Jackson was still warm and had a pulse.''

Jackson's family requested a private autopsy in part because of questions about Murray, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday. Murray also told the family an autopsy should be performed, Chernoff said.

Three days after the death of the King of Pop, celebrities descended on Los Angeles for a spectacular celebration of Jackson's life at the annual BET awards show.

Joe Jackson, Michael's father, walked on the red carpet wearing a black hat, sunglasses and a dark suit. He did not appear on stage during the show.

``I just wish he could be here to celebrate himself,'' he said. ``Sadly, he's not here, so I'm here to celebrate for him.''

In a statement read at the show, Jackson's parents said they solely had the personal and legal ``authority for our son and his children.'' It was their strongest declaration yet about their son's affairs.

A tearful Janet Jackson appeared on stage in a white dress at the end of the BET awards. After a long pause to gather herself, she spoke haltingly but deliberately to the audience.

``I'd just like to say that to you, Michael is an icon. To us, Michael is family. And he will forever live in all of our hearts,'' she said.

People close to Michael Jackson have said since his death that they were concerned about his use of painkillers. Los Angeles County medical examiners completed their autopsy Friday and said Jackson had taken unspecified prescription medication.

Chernoff said any drugs the doctor gave Jackson were prescribed in response to a specific complaint from the entertainer.

``Dr. Murray has never prescribed nor administered Demerol to Michael Jackson,'' Chernoff said. ``Not ever. Not that day. ... Not Oxycontin (either) for that matter.''

Paramedics were called to the mansion while the doctor was performing CPR, according to a recording of the 911 call.

Because Jackson was so frail, Murray ``administered with his hand behind his back to provide the necessary support,'' Chernoff said. Some have speculated the doctor botched the CPR.

``He's a trained doctor,'' Chernoff said. ``He knows how to administer CPR.''

Medics spent three-quarters of an hour trying to revive Jackson. He was pronounced dead later at UCLA Medical Center.

Murray was interviewed by investigators for three hours Saturday. His spokeswoman called Murray ``a witness to this tragedy,'' not a suspect in the death, and police described the doctor as cooperative.

The attorney said Murray will wait to speak publicly until after the police and forensics investigation is complete.

``One of his best friends just died, essentially in his arms yeah he's looking forward to telling his story,'' Chernoff said.

Chernoff also said the promoter of Jackson's 50-show London concerts, AEG Live, owes the cardiologist $300,000.

``His contract with the promoters states he would receive an amount of money each month to be his (Jackson's) personal physician and they have failed to honor that contract,'' Chernoff said. ``They are two months behind.''

Randy Phillips, president and CEO of AEG Live, acknowledged the contract called for Murray to be paid $150,000 a month, but said the contract required Jackson's signature.

``Michael never signed the contract,'' Phillips said.

He also said the doctor's claim for payment may be against Jackson's estate, not AEG which was merely advancing the money to Jackson.

A private pathologist hired by the Jackson family completed a second, private autopsy Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the case.

A second autopsy can allow the family to get some information about a death almost immediately, including signs of heart, brain or lung disease or fresh needle punctures, said Dr. Michael Baden, a medical examiner not involved in the Jackson case.

``Usually if it looks normal with the naked eye, it looks normal under the microscope,'' said Baden, who recently performed a second autopsy on actor David Carradine.

Los Angeles County coroner's officials said their autopsy found no indication of trauma or foul play. But because of additional tests, an official cause of death could take weeks to determine.

There was no word from the Jackson family on funeral plans. Many of Jackson's relatives have gathered at the family's Encino compound, caring there for Jackson's three children.

Al Sharpton, who arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, said he was heading to the Jackson compound and would talk with the family about how to memorialize the late pop star. Sharpton said they want to hold memorials in key cities around the globe and also planned a memorial service Tuesday at the Apollo Theater in New York.

It also wasn't clear what would become of Jackson's Neverland Ranch. Investor Thomas Barrack previously set up the joint venture with Michael Jackson after the singer nearly lost the ranch to foreclosure.

Barrack feels close to family members and wants to hear their thoughts on how best to honor Jackson's memory, said Owen Blicksilver, a spokesman for Colony Capital LLC, the Los Angeles-based firm where Barrack is chairman and CEO. The investor joined Jackson's brother Jackie, Jermaine and Tito for lunch Saturday at the sprawling Santa Barbara County property.

A White House adviser said on NBC's ``Meet the Press'' that President Barack Obama had written to the Jackson family to express his condolences.

Associated Press writers contributing to this report include: Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Juan A. Lozano in Houston; and Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Gillian Flaccus, Brooke Donald, Beth Harris and Mike Blood and AP Global Media Services Production Manager Nico Maounis in Los Angeles.

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

ATLANTA (AP) From the wow to the weird, Michael Jackson leaves a fashion legacy to rival his musical one.

His black fedora, silver glove and red leather jacket were worn by millions around the world who channeled Jackson's spirit and sartorial flair. Later, he made fashion choices that weren't as popular, but were no less memorable: the pajama pants during his child molestation trial, the black robes and veils while living in Bahrain, the germ masks that were a regular accessory.

All combined to cement Jackson's legacy as a pop and fashion icon.

``There are a few people who are the innovators, who set the trends that other people follow,'' said Stephane Dunn, a frequent writer of popular culture who teaches English at Morehouse College. ``Here was Michael, who understood the power of style and was able to translate it in a way that everybody wanted to copy it.''

His costumes weren't just for the stage. At a White House appearance, Jackson stood alongside first lady Nancy Reagan, looking the part of a glamorous general in a sequined military-style coat, aviator sunglasses and single, studded glove.

Few could imitate Jackson's talent, but for decades, millions around the world stole his style, and not just on Halloween. Jackson was constantly mimicked among the miniature and the mature, in classrooms, at costume parties, or at his concerts.

``He basically was the cool of the moment,'' Dunn said. ``He was creating this whole persona, and people ate it up. By themselves, these things probably would've been corny.''

But on Jackson, they were instant vintage. Growing up, 25-year-old Cinco Montoya cherished his ``Thriller'' jacket and black loafers that were Jackson's trademark.

``I tried to do my hair like him,'' Montoya said, recalling how he used to wet his black tresses, trying to coif his curls like those of his hero's. ``I watched all of his videos. I used to think he was like Superman.''

Jackson's ability as a performer electrified audiences, inspired amateurs of all ages and launched the careers of entertainers from Chris Brown to Chris Tucker, said Mark Anthony Neal, who teaches black popular culture at Duke University.

``His success was a template for them,'' Neal said of performers like Brown, Ginuwine and Justin Timberlake. ``Usher doesn't have a move that he didn't initially think about because he saw Michael Jackson do it.''

Usher and Jackson once shared the stage for a performance of ``You Rock My World,'' and Brown did a ``Thriller'' tribute performance at the World Music Awards in 2006.

Neal described Jackson's music as ``black pop,'' and credits the megastar with bringing the sound into the mainstream, which was later invoked by Madonna, 'N Sync, the Backstreet Boys and others.

But it was perhaps his unique fashions that connected him most to his fans and Jackson never even had his own clothing line.

``By wearing the clothing, he became accessible to people, especially as his celebrity got to a point where he became inaccessible,'' Neal said.

Jackson will be remembered as a style pioneer, said Keith Brown, a stylist based in Atlanta.

``He was and is still, to this day, an original,'' Brown said. ``You knew he had it. As he grew older, he proved to not be afraid to show his uniqueness, not only through his music, but through his evolution. He was ... a barrier breaker.''

Jackson's style evolved from crystal and fringe to the narrow, lean, clean silhouette inspired by American dance icon Fred Astaire with whom Jackson shared a friendship. Jackson borrowed from Astaire's look for the video ``Black or White,'' explained Deborah Landis, who also worked with Jackson on his look for ``Thriller.''

``Michael reveled in his own unique style,'' said Landis, who was friends with Jackson for decades. ``He was a style icon because he created his own fashion and followed no one.''

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

NORTH LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) Word of Michael Jackson's death Thursday sparked an angry confrontation on a bus in North Lauderdale, Florida.

The Broward County Sheriff's Office says it happened after 60-year-old James Kiernan, a Jackson fan, received a text message about the entertainer's death and announced it to everybody on the bus.

Sheriffs say another passenger, 54-year-old Henry Wideman, became enraged when Kiernan proclaimed, ``The world just lost a great musical talent.'' The report says Wideman told Kiernan to shut up, yelled obscenities at him and then threatened him with a knife.

Nobody was hurt, and the suspect ran off when the bus driver pulled over. Wideman was arrested at a nearby convenience store and has been released on $5,000 bond on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

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

Transcript of statement issued by the family of Michael Jackson through People magazine:

``In one of the darkest moments of our lives we find it hard to find the words appropriate to this sudden tragedy we all had to encounter. Our beloved son, brother and father of three children has gone so unexpectedly, in such a tragic way and much too soon. It leaves us, his family, speechless and devastated to a point, where communication with the outside world seems almost impossible at times.

``We miss Michael endlessly, our pain cannot be described in words. But Michael would not want us to give up now. So we want to thank all of his faithful supporters and loyal fans worldwide, you who Michael loved so much. Please do not despair, because Michael will continue to live on in each and every one of you. Continue to spread his message, because that is what he would want you to do. Carry on, so his legacy will live forever.

``In addition, Joseph Jackson wishes to personally convey: 'My grandchildren are deeply moved by all the love and support you have shown for them and their father, Michael Jackson.'''

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

LOS ANGELES (AP) The cardiologist who was with Michael Jackson when he collapsed is ``in no way a suspect'' in the pop singer's death, a spokeswoman for the doctor said Saturday after a three-hour interview with detectives.

Dr. Conrad Murray ``helped identify the circumstances around the death of the pop icon and clarified some inconsistencies,'' spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik said in a statement. ``Investigators say the doctor is in no way a suspect and remains a witness to this tragedy.''

Police confirmed that they interviewed Murray, adding that he was cooperative and ``provided information which will aid the investigation.''

The statement said Murray rode in the ambulance and stayed at the hospital for hours, ``comforting and consoling the Jackson family.'' It also said he has been in Los Angeles since Jackson's death, and plans to stay here until his cooperation is no longer needed.

Murray was with Jackson when the singer stopped breathing Thursday, and reportedly performed CPR until paramedics arrived.

News of the meeting came a few hours after the Rev. Jesse Jackson said the pop star's family is seeking a second autopsy of the pop icon because of unanswered questions about how he died.

``It's abnormal,'' he said from Chicago a day after visiting the Jackson family. ``We don't know what happened. Was he injected and with what? All reasonable doubt should be addressed.''

People close to Jackson have said since his death that they were concerned about the superstar's use of painkillers. Los Angeles County medical examiners completed their autopsy Friday and said Jackson had taken prescription medication.

Medical officials also said there was no indication of trauma or foul play. An official cause of death could take weeks.

The coroner's office released the body to Jackson's family Friday night. There was no immediate word on whether the second autopsy was being performed right away. Jesse Jackson described the family as grief-stricken.

``They're hurt because they lost a son. But the wound is now being kept open by the mystery and unanswered questions of the cause of death,'' he said.

One of Jackson's longtime lawyers was chosen to represent the family's legal interests, a person close to the situation said Saturday. Katherine Jackson, the singer's mother, selected L. Londell McMillan, who has represented Jackson in several cases, said the person, who requested anonymity because the matter is private.

Two days after Jackson died at a Los Angeles hospital, sisters Janet and La Toya arrived at the mansion Jackson had been renting. They left without addressing reporters.

Moving vans also showed up at the Jackson home, leaving about an hour later. There was no indication what they might have taken away.

The Jackson family issued a statement Saturday expressing its grief over the death and thanking his supporters.

``In one of the darkest moments of our lives we find it hard to find the words appropriate to this sudden tragedy we all had to encounter,'' said the statement made through People magazine. ``We miss Michael endlessly.''

The Jackson family did not respond to a request for comment from the AP.

There was also no word from the family on funeral plans. Many of Jackson's relatives have gathered at the family's Encino compound, caring there for Jackson's three children.

A person close to the family told the AP they feel upset and angry about a lack of information about those who were around the pop superstar in his final days. The person requested anonymity because of the delicate nature of the situation.

Jackson had been rehearsing for 50 London concerts aimed at restoring his crown as the King of Pop. He died Thursday at age 50 after what his family said appeared to be cardiac arrest.

Police towed Murray's car from Jackson's home hours after Jackson died and said later it could contain medication or other evidence. Coroner's officials also said Jackson was taking prescription medication but declined to elaborate.

Murray lives in Las Vegas but apparently left his practice and moved in with Jackson about two weeks ago. No one answered the door Saturday at his Las Vegas home, which property records show Murray bought five years ago for $1.1 million.

The promoter of the series of London concerts that Jackson was to begin next month has said Jackson personally insisted Murray be on the payroll.

Also Saturday, spiritual teacher Dr. Deepak Chopra said he had been concerned since 2005 that Jackson was abusing prescription painkillers and most recently spoke to the pop star about suspected drug use six months ago.

Chopra said Jackson, a longtime friend, asked him for painkillers in 2005 when the singer was staying with him following his trial on sex abuse allegations. Chopra said he refused. He also said the nanny of Jackson's children repeatedly contacted him with concerns about Jackson's drug use over the next four years.

He said she told him a number of doctors would visit Jackson's homes in Santa Barbara County, Los Angeles, Miami and New York. Whenever the subject came up, Jackson would avoid his calls, Chopra said.

Associated Press writers Sophia Tareen in Chicago, Juan A. Lozano in Houston, and Gillian Flaccus, Brooke Donald, Beth Harris and Mike Blood and AP Global Media Services Production Manager Nico Maounis in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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

By KARIN LAUB
Associated Press Writer

EDITOR'S NOTE: Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media.

Iran's opposition leader insisted that the recent bitterly contested presidential election be nullified, rejecting the latest offer of a partial recount and signaling he's not dropping his political challenge despite mounting pressures by Iran's ruling clergy.

Iran's rulers have already ruled out a repeat of the election, unleashed club-wielding militiamen to crush street protests and arrested hundreds of activists, students and journalists. Mir Hossein Mousavi's demand for a revote appeared largely aimed at maintaining some role as an opposition figure.

The latest statement by Mousavi, who is increasingly isolated in the past week, appeared Sunday on Ghalamnews, a Web site run by supporters. Mousavi-related Web sites have frequently been blocked by the government, and one was shut down by hackers last week.

Mousavi claims he is the rightful presidential winner, alleging massive fraud in the June 12 vote that proclaimed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner by a landslide.

Iran's top electoral body, the 12-member Guardian Council, has proposed recounting 10 percent of the votes. On Friday, the council offered to bring in six more political figures to oversee a partial recount, presumably to give the effort greater legitimacy in the eyes of the challengers.

However, Mousavi reiterated his demand for nullification as ``the most suitable solution to restore public confidence.'' He called for independent arbiters to settle the dispute.

Another defeated candidate, Mahdi Karroubi, also expressed doubt that a fair review is possible.

``How is it possible to answer controversies through counting some ballots?'' he wrote in a letter to the Guardian Council, published Sunday in his newspaper, Etemad-e-Melli.

A third candidate, Mohsen Rezaei, said he would only send a representative to the council, for observation of a re-count, if the other two candidates did the same.

Iran's Expediency Council, which mediates between the parliament and the ruling clerics, asked the three candidates to cooperate with the partial recount, according to a statement on state TV.

At the same time, the council, headed by influential former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, demanded that the review be ``precise and fair.''

Laub reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Cairo contributed to this report.

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

CLAYTON, Ga. (AP) Naked time got a little too public for a former Georgia mayor.

Authorities arrested Mark Musselwhite and charged him with public indecency last weekend after state Department of Natural Resources officers found him sitting nude at his Rabun County campsite.

Officers had received a complaint about a naked man walking along a nearby road earlier in the day, but the 43-year-old Musselwhite said he was not the same man. Musselwhite told the DNR officer he had been swimming in a nearby creek.

The Republican was elected to the Gainesville City Council in 2000, where he served for six years, including a stint as mayor. He lost a bid for a state Senate seat in 2006.

Musselwhite could not be reached for comment by The Associated Press on Saturday.

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

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) A woman who is 7-months pregnant has been charged with robbing an Augusta Domino's Pizza at gunpoint.

The Richmond County Sheriff's Office says 21-year-old Rochelle Margaret Hailey of Hephzibah was arrested just after the early Saturday morning incident. Police say she walked into the restaurant about 2 a.m., brandished a revolver and forced an employee to give her money from the safe.

It was not immediately clear how much money she stole.

Hailey was arrested a few minutes later when police pulled her over at a nearby intersection.

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

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) As a tyke growing up in Marietta, Ga., Melanie Oudin would watch Venus and Serena Williams on TV and tell anyone who would listen that she was going to play at Wimbledon, too, one day.

Who knew she'd be right? And do so well, so quickly?

Making her Wimbledon debut at age 17 after getting through qualifying, the 124th-ranked Oudin joined the Williams sisters in the fourth round at the All England Club by beating former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic 6-7 (8), 7-5, 6-2 Saturday in the most startling result of the tournament's opening week.

``Was just thinking that she was any other player, and this was any other match, and I was at any other tournament you know, not, like, on the biggest stage, at Wimbledon, playing my first top-10 player,'' Oudin said. ``I mean, I go into every match the exact same, you know, like, no matter who I play. It's not, like, 'Oh, my gosh, I'm playing the No. 1 player in the world.'''

Another U.S. qualifier, 133rd-ranked Jesse Levine of Boca Raton, Fla., couldn't extend his run in the men's tournament, losing to No. 19 Stanislas Wawrinka 5-7, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. That leaves No. 6 Andy Roddick as the last American man in the tournament.

The only time Oudin really lost her way was when her match ended and it was time to leave Court 3, a patch of grass known as ``The Graveyard of Champions,'' because of the long list of stars upset there. She wasn't quite sure where to go and asked someone to direct her toward the exit.

Not all that surprising, when you consider that a year ago, Oudin entered the junior event at Wimbledon seeded No. 1 among the girls and failed to make it out of the second round, losing 6-1, 6-3 to eventual champion Laura Robson of Britain.

Yet there Oudin was Saturday, outlasting 2008 U.S. Open runner-up Jankovic over nearly 3 hours, then calling Mom and Dad back home to share in the revelry.

``My emotions are all over the place,'' Oudin's father, John, said in a telephone interview. ``When I think about watching Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker in their starched whites at Wimbledon, I just can't believe Melanie is there. It's hardly any words other than, 'Wow!' We've been saying a lot of that. Just, 'Wow!'''

Shortly after his daughter's victory, he and Oudin's mother, Leslie, began scouring the Internet for flights. Even Grandma who encouraged Melanie and twin sister Katherine to take up tennis might make the overseas trip to see Oudin face No. 11 Agniesza Radwanska of Poland on Monday with a quarterfinal berth at stake, heady stuff for someone who was 0-2 at Grand Slam tournaments until this week.

Then again, Oudin it's pronounced ``oo-DAN,'' on account of her father's French ancestry long has shown ambition.

``My goal has always been, since I was little, to become No. 1 in the world one day,'' she said.

The only time Oudin showed signs of nerves during the most important match of her nascent career came in the opening set. She held four set points, and blew them all with unforced errors.

``Rushed them. Played undisciplined tennis,'' said Oudin's coach, Brian de Villiers. ``She played the occasion, rather than the point. But, hey, it's understandable.''

When that 66-minute set ended, Jankovic had the lead, but she clearly was in trouble on a sunny day with the temperature in the 80s. A trainer and doctor came out to measure her pulse and blood pressure, and she began to cry. They put bags of ice on Jankovic's legs and abdomen, then the back of her neck, and gave her an energy drink to sip.

``I felt really dizzy, and I thought that I was just going to end up in the hospital. I started to shake,'' said Jankovic, who blamed her difficulty partly on what she called ``woman problems.''

``I was feeling quite weak. No power,'' Jankovic said. ``I wasn't the same player.''

While Oudin was working on her big win, five-time Wimbledon Venus Williams was enjoying a matter-of-fact contest on Centre Court, winning the first eight games en route to a 6-0, 6-4 victory over 34th-ranked Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. The only other time they played, on a hard court at the Australian Open in January, Suarez Navarro knocked off Williams in the second round.

``Completely different circumstances,'' noted the third-seeded Williams, whose younger sister Serena advanced Friday.

At Wimbledon, the elder Williams has won 17 consecutive matches and 29 straight sets, and is trying to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win three consecutive titles. Next up: 2008 French Open champion and former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, who is seeded 13th and eliminated No. 18 Samantha Stosur 7-5, 6-2.

Williams was pleased to have an American not named Williams stick around for Week 2.

``Super-good news,'' said Williams, who called Oudin ``so enthusiastic about tennis and about life, enjoying herself, very well-adjusted.''

Oudin's parents and her 11-year-old sister, Christina, gathered with about 30 other people at the Racquet Club of the South in suburban Atlanta to eat breakfast while watching Saturday's match although because U.S. TV coverage didn't begin until an hour in, they had to follow most of the first set on the Web.

``No strawberries and cream,'' John Oudin said, ``but it was still delightful fun.''

Oudin lost the first set of her opening qualifying match, and also dropped the first set in each of her first two main-draw matches, against 29th-seeded Sybille Bammer and 74th-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova. So overcoming a deficit against Jankovic didn't seem impossible.

``I was right there with her every single point,'' said Oudin, who during changeovers munched on raisins plucked from those little red boxes kids use for school lunches. ``So I knew I could do it if I just kept trying and kept fighting.''

She wasn't the only teen who turned in a significant win: 19-year-old Sabine Lisicki of Germany beat two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 7-5. When the match ended, as her parents and best friend watched from the stands, Lisicki sat in her chair, her body shaking as she sobbed.

The 41st-ranked Lisicki now meets yet another teen, No. 9-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, and No. 1 Dinara Safina will play 2006 Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo.

Williams has won five of six previous matches against Ivanovic, who nonetheless said: ``Very dangerous opponent, but I think I have a great chance.''

Sometimes, such head-to-head records are irrelevant, and sometimes past is prologue: No. 6 Roddick entered Saturday 8-0 against No. 26 Jurgen Melzer and now is 9-0 after a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-3 victory. But No. 20 Tomas Berdych improved from 0-8 to 1-8 against No. 12 Nikolay Davydenko by winning 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

Elsewhere, No. 3 Andy Murray's bid to end Britain's 73-year wait for a male champion continued with a straight-set win against No. 30 Viktor Troicki; No. 24 Tommy Haas and No. 29 Igor Andreev wrapped up victories in matches suspended Friday because of darkness; and 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt, No. 8 Gilles Simon, No. 23 Radek Stepanek and 2003 French Open Juan Carlos Ferrero also advanced. Ferrero, a former No. 1 now ranked 70th, needed a wild-card invitation to get into the field, but he beat No. 10 Fernando Gonzalez 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on Court 1 as a light rain fell.

There was some consideration given to moving the conclusion of that match to Centre Court, where the new retractable roof was closed, just in case. But Ferrero and Gonzalez finished, and the roof has yet to be used as a barrier against wet weather.

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

FORT VALLEY, Ga. (AP) A Marietta woman has died from injuries sustained in a car crash that killed her teenage son a week ago.

Peach County Coroner Kerry Rooks said that 51-year-old Jeannette Prather was pronounced dead Friday at the Medical Center of Central Georgia after being taken off life support. Her son, 15-year-old Matthew Prather, died Monday in the accident on Interstate 75 in Peach County.

Police say the Prathers were on their way home from vacation when a tire blew out on the family's van, causing the vehicle to overturn. The teen's father, Michael Prather, and 18-year-old brother, Stephen Prather, were not seriously injured.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Who would've envisioned this: Tim Wakefield joining Roger Clemens in the Boston record book?

The 42-year-old knuckleballer pitched six scoreless innings to beat the Atlanta Braves 1-0 Saturday, a worthy performance for the game that tied him with Clemens for the most career starts by a Red Sox pitcher.

``Just being mentioned with the names I'm being mentioned with is pretty cool,'' said Wakefield, who made his 382nd start for Boston. ``I'm thankful I've been here as long as I have.''

Mark Kotsay drove in the game's only run with a sixth-inning single off Javier Vazquez, who certainly pitched well enough to win but got no help from the listless Atlanta offense.

The Braves have scored only one run in two games against the Red Sox this weekend, extending their losing streak to four straight and dropping a season-worst six games under .500 (34-40).

Wakefield (10-3) became the AL's third 10-game winner, joining Minnesota's Kevin Slowey and Toronto's Roy Halladay. The knuckleball was really fluttering on a sweltering day at Turner Field that was 95 degrees at first pitch.

The Braves managed just three singles off the Wakefield.

``It feels really good to have 10 wins before the All-Star break,'' he said.

Manny Delcarmen retired all four hitters he faced, Justin Masterson got out trouble in the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon worked around a shaky ninth to complete the four-hit shutout, his 18th save in 19 chances.

But Wakefield did the bulk of the work.

``He continues to pitch his rear end off,'' manager Terry Francona said. ``That was a tough day for anybody, but he just keeps going out there doing what he's supposed to do. I'm proud of him.''

The Braves threatened against Papelbon. Brian McCann flied out to the wall in right-center and Garret Anderson doubled with two outs, but Casey Kotchman grounded out to end the game.

``It's so frustrating,'' McCann said. ``This team should win more games the way our pitching is.''

The Braves didn't get a runner past second until the eighth, and they had to scratch for that. Matt Diaz walked against Masterson, moved up on a wild pitch and took third on a groundout.

Boston took advantage of a lineup weakened by injuries to Nate McLouth and Yunel Escobar. Three of Atlanta's nine hitters came into the game hitting below .200.

McCann and Gregor Blanco both stole second after reaching on Wakefield, taking advantage of his slow knuckleball. They didn't get any further. Blanco led off the sixth with another hit and moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Martin Prado, but the Boston starter retired Atlanta's most dangerous hitters: Chipper Jones with a liner to second and Brian McCann on a slow roller to first.

With that, Wakefield's work was done.

Vazquez (5-7) struck out eight to claim the NL strikeout lead from San Francisco's Tim Lincecum (125-124), but a brief spurt of wildness in the sixth was costly.

After retiring the first two Boston hitters, Vazquez issued back-to-back walks to Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz, the latter after getting ahead 0-2 in the count. Big Papi got the call on a breaking pitch that just missed the strike zone, then managed to check his swing on a 3-2 pitch that swerved inside, nearly hitting him.

Kotsay, a former Brave filling in for Jason Bay, came through with a single to left, bringing home Youkilis with the game's only run.

``Fortunately, I won the battle,'' said Kotsay, who started so Bay could have the day off. ``(Vazquez) could have won it just as easily.''

The pitching matchup was a contrast in styles: Vazquez's 90-plus-mph fastballs and hard breaking pitches vs. Wakefield's tantalizingly slow knucklers, usually thrown in the mid-60s and once dipping down to 59 mph on the radar gun.

Vazquez went 7 2-3 innings, allowing just six hits and three walks. He left after Youkilis tripled off the wall in right with two outs in the eighth, prompting the Braves to bring on lefty Eric O'Flaherty, who walked Ortiz intentionally before retiring Kotsay on a weak fly to center.

``You've got too keep battling,'' Vazquez said.

NOTES: Boston's Mike Lowell didn't start because of an ailing hip, but he did come on as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and flied out to right. Manager Terry Francona said he's not likely to start Lowell in Sunday's series finale, either. ... The Red Sox have three shutouts this season, two against the Braves. ... Atlanta had its third straight sellout, 48,151.

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

ATLANTA (AP) The Thrashers have added eight more players on the second day of the NHL draft.

Swedish defenseman Carl Klingberg was picked by the Thrashers in the second round, 34th overall. The team also chose left wing Jeremy Morin (second round, 45th), goaltender Edward Pasquale (fourth round, 117th), defenseman Ben Chiarot (fourth round, 120th), defenseman Cody Sol (fourth round, 125th), center Jimmy Bubnick (sixth round, 155th), left wing Levko Koper (seventh round, 155th) and left wing Jordan Samuels-Thomas (seventh round, 203rd overall).

Atlanta began the two-day draft by taking Evander Kane at No. 4 overall Friday night.

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

(WSB Radio) One man was shot and killed helping a woman move out of her ex-boyfriend's house, a Gwinnett County police spokesman said.

Cpl. David Schiralli told WSB's Charley O' Brian Valencia Sims, 28, and four men were moving her things out of Elliot Ford's home Saturday night. Police think Ford and one of the men got into an argument and shot each other. Ford, 25, was wounded and later found in a neighbor's yard. He was taken to an area hospital and is listed in stable condition.

Sims and the other men ran after the shots were fired. They were later found by an officer and questioned, police said.

Gwinnett police have not released the name of the man who was killed.

Investigators aren't sure what started the argument. It happened around 8:30 p.m. Saturday at 2464 Rockwood Way in Stone Mountain.

No charges have been filed.

LOS ANGELES (AP) Most of Michael Jackson's family members have gathered in their Encino compound where they are contemplating funeral arrangements, caring for his three children and feeling confused, upset and angry by the lack of information about those who were around the pop superstar in his final days, a person close to the family told The Associated Press.

Jackson's family wants to know more specifics about what role AEG, the concert promoter that was staging his 50-date concert series at London's 02 Arena, was playing in his life, said the person, who requested anonymity because of the delicate nature of the situation. They also want to know more about the role of his advisers and representatives, who they believe were put in place by the promoter.

Randy Phillips, AEG Live president and chief executive, said earlier Friday that it was Jackson who insisted that Dr. Conrad Murray, a financially troubled cardiologist who was with the entertainer when he collapsed Thursday, be put on the tour payroll.

``As a company, we would have preferred not having a physician on staff full-time because it would have been cheaper without the hotels and travel, but Michael was insistent that he be hired,'' Phillips said. ``Michael said he had a rapport with him.''

Jackson collapsed Thursday at his rented home in Los Angeles. Police seized Murray's car in search of evidence, but have insisted that the doctor has been cooperative and do not consider him a criminal suspect.

Records reveal years of financial troubles for Murray, who practices medicine in California, Nevada and Texas; his Nevada medical practice, Global Cardiovascular Associates, was slapped with more than $400,000 in court judgments, and he faces at least two other pending cases and several tax liens.

Jackson never communicated to his family who he had in place to handle his business affairs, the person close to the family said, adding that they were told by the singer's phalanx of advisers that the singer likely had a will, but it may be many years old. The family is distrustful of what they are being told but they are determined to find out more, the person said.

``There are decisions going down without the family being in the loop; it's becoming an issue,'' the person said.

The person said that while there were reports that the singer was distant from his family, he spoke with his mother Katherine quite regularly and his father, Joe, had seen his son shortly before his death. His other eight siblings, including fellow superstar Janet, may not have talked to him recently but were not estranged.

Much of the family was holed up Friday inside the Jackson family's Encino compound, including his three children, according to the person, who described them as doing looking ``pretty good.''

``I don't think it's fully set in yet,'' the person said.

No family members were present in the mansion when Jackson died Thursday, the person close to the family said. In the 911 call released by fire officials Friday, an unidentified caller tells a dispatcher that Jackson's doctor is performing CPR.

Asked by the dispatcher whether anyone saw what happened, the caller answers: ``No, just the doctor, sir. The doctor has been the only one there.''

Coroner's officials said they released Jackson's body to his family late Friday night. The family is still trying to determine what kind of memorial to have for Jackson and when, and are debating between the idea of having a private ceremony or a grand celebration open to the public, the person close to the family said.

Jackson appeared to have suffered a heart attack, another person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity told the AP on Friday. A heart attack is a blocking of the arteries that deprives the heart of adequate blood and can cause cardiac arrest.

Jackson's brother Jermaine said Thursday that it was believed the pop singer went into cardiac arrest, an interruption of the normal heartbeat that can be caused by factors other than heart attack.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office, which completed its autopsy Friday, said there were no signs of foul play or trauma, but determining the cause of death will require further tests that will take six to eight weeks.

Phillips said AEG Live held multiple insurance policies covering cancellation of the shows, and that some time in February Jackson submitted to several hours of physicals that the insurance underwriter insisted upon, and that Jackson passed them all.

``We had pretty good coverage, but a lot of it is going to depend on the toxicology results,'' he said. ``We need to know what the cause of death was.''

AP Writers Beth Harris and Mike Blood contributed to this report.

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

NEW YORK (AP) ``Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Jackson has just died,'' the woman called out breathlessly upon boarding a Manhattan bus, moments after the news had broken. Not a word was spoken in response. But nearly every passenger reached for a BlackBerry, a cell phone, whatever device was at hand.

``People are already texting about it, putting it up on Facebook, remembering his greatest moments,'' noted Delmar Dualeh, sitting in the back. At 17, he confessed, the news didn't really move him emotionally. He was too young to recall the 50-year-old entertainer in his prime. But he was fully engaged in the cultural moment. He hurried the conversation along so he could get back to texting.

In Iran, people speak of a Twitter uprising. Was this the first major Twitter celebrity death? Because it wasn't just HOW lots of people first learned of Jackson's demise, but what they did once they found out.

``Once you knew the news, there wasn't so much more to know the rest is all comment,'' said me the spike in searches related to Jackson was so big that Google News initially mistook it for an automated attack.

Wikipedia, meanwhile, had trouble with traffic, with people getting intermittent error messages, said Jimmy Wales, founder of the online encyclopedia. He also described an online debate between users and regular editors over whether Jackson's death should be added to his entry before the news was officially confirmed.

Finally, editors intervened and prevented entries about Jackson from being modified for about six hours, Wales said.

On MySpace, Jackson's own profile was seeing an average of 100 new friends added per minute, the company said, and his friend total was on its way to being the site's highest increase in one day.

And Jackson's former wife, Lisa Marie Presley, posted a long, emotional statement on her own MySpace page. ``All of my indifference and detachment that I worked so hard to achieve over the years has just gone into the bowels of hell, and right now I am gutted,'' she wrote. She also said Jackson had long feared dying young and tragically.

The initial news of Jackson's death broke on TMZ.com at 5:20 p.m. The Los Angeles Times and then The Associated Press confirmed the death just before 6:30 p.m. EDT, and networks then led their broadcasts with the news.

``TMZ is an AP customer and a good customer, but that report did not meet our standards for putting something on the AP wire,'' the news organization's vice president and managing editor for entertainment news, Lou Ferrara, said Friday.

TMZ turned out to be right. But there were plenty of false reports circulating across the Web that mainstream news organizations had to chase: Rumors of actor Jeff Goldblum falling off a cliff, Harrison Ford falling off a yacht and, on Friday, George Clooney in a plane crash.

LOS ANGELES (AP) A concert promoter said Friday that Michael Jackson insisted the company hire the cardiologist who reportedly was in his Los Angeles mansion when the entertainer collapsed.

Dr. Conrad Murray, a physician with a tangled financial and personal history, was hired by AEG Live to accompany the pop star to London for his comeback series of concerts, said AEG Live President and Chief Executive Randy Phillips.

``As a company, we would have preferred not having a physician on staff full-time because it would have been cheaper without the hotels and travel, but Michael was insistent that he be hired,'' Phillips told The Associated Press. ``Michael said he had a rapport with him.''

The Los Angeles Times reported that Murray was performing CPR on Jackson when paramedics arrived at his home Thursday, and Murray's car was later towed by police from the home.

Murray, who was Jackson's physician for three years, was in the rented mansion when Jackson slipped into unconsciousness, and police Friday were preparing to question him about what happened in the minutes before paramedics rushed to the home.

``We do not consider him to be uncooperative at this time,'' said police Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, noting that detectives spoke with the doctor after Jackson's death. ``We think that he will assist us in coming to the truth of the facts in this case.''

Beck declined to answer questions about how long the doctor had been with Jackson before paramedics were summoned, or if any drugs had been administered to the singer.

Phillips said AEG Live advanced Jackson money to pay for Murray's services as part of the production costs. Phillips said he asked Jackson why he wanted Murray with him full-time.

``He just said, `Look, this whole business revolves around me. I'm a machine and we have to keep the machine well-oiled,' and you don't argue with the King of Pop,'' Phillips said.

The promoter said that sometime in February Jackson submitted to ``five-plus hours of physicals that the insurance underwriter insisted on. We were told he passed with flying colors.''

Based on those results and the nature of the comeback shows, all of which were to be held at the same venue from July 13 to March, AEG Live wasn't concerned about Jackson's history of medical issues.

``This wasn't as strenuous as a tour. There was no travel,'' Phillips said. ``He and the kids were going to be living in this beautiful home outside London and shows were spread out over six months. For him, it seemed like the perfect way to come back.''

Phillips attended Jackson's rehearsal at Staples Center on Wednesday night, when the entertainer was on stage for about three hours before leaving at 12:30 a.m.

``He was dancing as well or better than the 20-year-old dancers we surrounded him with,'' the promoter said. ``He was riveting. I thought we were home free. I thought this was going to be the greatest live show ever produced. He looked great.''

Phillips said AEG Live held multiple insurance policies covering cancellation of the shows.

``We had pretty good coverage, but a lot of it is going to depend on the toxicology results,'' he said. ``We need to know what the cause of death was.''

Los Angeles attorney Jerry Kroll, who represented the insurer when part of Jackson's ``Dangerous'' tour was canceled in the 1990s, said claims filed in the current case would surely be in the millions. ``This is going to be one of the most watched insurance claims in history,'' he said.

Records reveal years of financial troubles for Murray a 1989 graduate of Meharry Medical College in Nashville who practices medicine in California, Nevada and Texas.

Murray's Nevada medical practice, Global Cardiovascular Associates, was slapped with more than $400,000 in court judgments: $228,000 to Citicorp Vendor Finance Inc. in November 2007, $71,000 to an education loan company in June 2008 and $135,000 to a leasing company last September. He faces at least two other pending cases.

Clark County, Nev., court records show Murray was hit last December with a nearly $3,700 judgment for failure to pay child support in a San Diego case, and had his wages garnished the same month for almost $1,500 in a court judgment won by a credit card company. Another credit card claim for more than $1,100 filed in April remains open.

He owes $940 in fines and penalties for driving with an expired license plate and no proof of insurance in 2000.

Earlier Friday, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner, Craig Harvey, said Jackson was taking prescription medications but wouldn't comment on what drugs he was using.

``If the coroner has any unanswered questions, any physician that has rendered any care prior to the death has very critical information,'' Beck said. He added that investigators are looking at Murray's impounded car for potential evidence.

Murray did not return phone calls placed to his Nevada office Friday.

State medical regulators had no records of any disciplinary actions against him.

A woman who answered the phone Friday at Murray's Houston clinic confirmed to the AP that Murray was Jackson's cardiologist.

Murray's office in Las Vegas was locked and dark Friday. A reporter who tried to visit Murray's Las Vegas home was turned away by two armed guards at the entrance to the gated community where it's located.

Records show Murray had several tax liens filed against him in California and Arizona between 1993 and 2003.

Associated Press writers Ken Ritter, Thomas Watkins, Anthony McCartney, and Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.

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

LOS ANGELES (AP) Michael Jackson spent the last years of his life buried in debt, but the lawyer for the studio where ``Thriller'' was produced suggests that could change in a hurry.

Jerry Reisman, general counsel for the Hit Factory says of Jackson, ``Quite frankly, he may be worth more dead than alive.''

Fans are likely to snap up his music and memorabilia and perhaps one day get the chance to tour his Neverland home.

Jackson's heirs, music labels and opportunists will probably be mining his legacy for decades to come.

There are similarities to Elvis Presley, who died in 1977 at age 42.

Presley's estate was valued at just $4.9 million at the time of his death. In 2005, a company run by media entrepreneur Robert F.X. Sillerman paid $100 million for 85 percent of the estate and a 90-year lease on his Memphis mansion, Graceland.

(WSB Radio) A Rockdale County sheriff's deputy is recovering after crashing into a home Friday afternoon.

The Georgia State Patrol's Gordy Wright told WSB the deputy was responding to a burglary call when he lost control of his vehicle on McDaniel Mill Road.

"The deputy capped a hill, crossed into the northbound lane and on to the east shoulder of the roadway, striking a mailbox, street sign, culvert, overturning, striking a portion of a house and a power pole before coming to rest," said Wright.

The deputy managed to crawl out of the vehicle and was airlifted to Grady Hospital where his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

Two people inside the home, which has apparently been hit several times before, were not hurt.

(WSB Radio) Organizers with the "America I AM: The African American Imprint" exhibit at the Atlanta Civic Center have added a memorial to Michael Jackson and some artifacts following the singer's death.

Visitors will see a gold whistle Jackson wore in many performances in the 1980s. It's on loan from Detroit attorney Gregory Reed's Keeper of the Word Foundation.

There is also a letter to Motown chief Berry Gordy. It was written at the School of Panorama City in California. The letter provides details on the tuition that Gordy wanted to help pay for Michael and his brothers in the Jackson Five. The letter comes from Gordy's personal collection.

Organizers added the finds and a memorial at the conclusion of the exhibit. Visitors can leave personal messages on a wall that will travel to the exhibit's next stop in Los Angeles after it closes in Atlanta on Sept. 6.

The "America I AM" exhibit includes nearly 300 artifacts.

ATLANTA (AP) A federal judge has cleared the way for a discrimination lawsuit by a filed by a former state employee who claimed she was fired because she was undergoing a sex-change procedure.

U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story on Friday denied an attempt by Georgia legislators to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that it could lead to a new round of court scrutiny of public employees.

Vandy Beth Glenn claimed in the complaint that she was fired from her job as a legislative editor for the General Assembly because she told her boss she was going to live as a woman full time.

Lambda Legal, which filed the lawsuit, said Story's decision is a signal that the state Legislature can be challenged ``for violating her constitutional rights.''

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

ATLANTA (AP) A Fulton County jury has convicted a hit man of the murder of a 22-year-old mother who was found strangled and stabbed weeks after her wedding.

The jury on Friday found Cleveland Clark guilty in the 2000 slaying of Sparkle Michelle Rai. The sentencing phase of his trial begins next week. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Prosecutors say Clark was one of four men who conspired to murder Rai after the woman's father-in-law, Chiman Rai, ordered her death.

Chiman Rai was convicted in June 2008 of masterminding the hit and was sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors say he believed the woman brought shame to his family because she was black.

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

ATLANTA (AP) A potential fall swine flu immunization campaign may involve an unprecedented 600 million doses of vaccine, though officials said Friday they haven't figured out how to administer so many doses or accurately track side effects if a seasonal vaccine is given simultaneously.

The swine flu campaign could far eclipse the roughly 115 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine distributed each year, officials said at a national vaccine advisory committee meeting.

No final decision has been made about whether a swine flu vaccination campaign will take place or whether all Americans would get immunizations. Health officials said that a swine flu vaccination campaign could be only a few months away, and that as many as 60 million doses could be ready by September. The timing depends on how fast a vaccine can be produced and tested, however.

However, health officials are clearly getting ready for a massive vaccination effort, and worry that illnesses could continue or even accelerate in the fall or winter. Preparation discussions dominated a three-day meeting in Atlanta of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel that guides U.S. vaccination policy.

The virus already has caused at least 27,000 illnesses and 127 deaths in this country. Twelve states are seeing widespread cases, and about 6,000 cases were reported in the past week more than in any other week since swine flu first appeared in late April.

Those are just reported cases. More than a million U.S. infections probably have occurred, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

``This new infectious disease is not going away,'' said Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

A new, small CDC study found the virus can cause more serious disease than seasonal flu in ferrets, which have a similar respiratory system to humans. But it does not seem to spread as easily, at least through the droplets that infected ferrets sneeze or cough into the air, said Dr. Nancy Cox, a CDC flu scientist.

However, officials are still worried about the seasonal flu, which causes an estimated 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths each year.

Five flu vaccine manufacturers are producing 120 million doses for the 2009-2010 flu season, with a third of that available by Sept. 1 and most of the rest shipped by Nov. 1, CDC officials said. Federal officials are working to ensure a swine flu campaign doesn't force the manufacturers to scale back production of the seasonal vaccine.

The swine flu campaign could be a huge undertaking, involving as many as 600 million doses. Although about 300 million people live in the U.S., health officials anticipate children and perhaps adults under age 50 may need two doses each.

However, the logistics of such a campaign are still being worked out. The CDC relies on one company to distribute 80 million publicly financed vaccine doses for children. That company, McKesson Specialty, still has not said whether it could handle distributing as many as 600 million doses of swine flu vaccines to clinics and doctors around the country, said Dr. Jeanne Santoli, who oversees vaccine purchase and distribution for the CDC.

Officials said they'll probably need to recruit physicians who don't usually give flu shots because local health departments have cut more than 10,000 jobs. Tracking side effects could also be tricky.

Problems don't always show up in early studies. And if the vaccine is given at the same time as the seasonal flu shots, it could be difficult to figure out which vaccine is causing problems.

That happened in 1976, when officials vaccinated 40 million Americans in anticipation of a new strain of swine flu. But the pandemic never materialized, and at least 500 people who got the shots came down with a paralyzing condition called Guillain-Barre Syndrome. It's still unknown what caused the condition.

Some health officials said they'd rather start a swine flu vaccine campaign a few months after the seasonal shots to simplify side-effect monitoring. But they may not have a choice, said Cox, the CDC flu scientist.

Swine flu and seasonal flu have been circulating together, with new data from Australia which is experiencing its annual flu season indicating that flu cases there are 60 percent swine and 40 percent seasonal.

``There are too many complexities'' to say what will be done in the fall, Cox said. ``We'll have to wait and see.''

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

ATLANTA (AP) John Smoltz woke up in his own bed, made pancakes for the kids, took a dip in the pool, then headed to the ballpark.

That's where things got a little strange.

``I can't help but think about all the times I drove in here, walked through that tunnel and made a quick right,'' he said. ``This time, I had to go by it.''

Instead of going to Atlanta's home clubhouse, as he had done for the past two decades, Smoltz kept on walking to the visiting side. He now plays for the Boston Red Sox, who opened a three-game series against the Braves on Friday.

``I was honored to wear that other uniform as long as I did,'' the 42-year-old right-hander said before the game. ``I wish them well except for these three games.''

Smoltz got a chance to catch up with old friends when the Braves played a series in Boston last weekend. And he didn't have to pitch against his former team, having made his first big league start in more than a year the previous night at Washington.

Still, there was plenty of nostalgia as Smoltz returned to the city where he had so many brilliant seasons, where he expected to spend his entire career until a rather acrimonious split at the end of last year.

``This place will always be synonymous with me having some great moments,'' Smoltz said. ``Nothing can take that away.''

The only pitcher in baseball history with 200 wins and 150 saves is relieved that his first start since undergoing shoulder surgery didn't come at Turner Field. The Red Sox gave him some extra time in the minors to rehab, setting up the schedule so he would miss pitching against the Braves in either Boston or Atlanta.

``I would have loved to pitch out here for all the obvious reasons,'' Smoltz said. ``This is my favorite park to pitch in, period. I would have loved the opportunity. But I just didn't think making the first start here would have been a smart one. All the things that surrounded my first start at Washington would have been that much worse here.''

As it was, Smoltz was a little too pumped up for his first start since the injury that effectively ended his career in Atlanta and many felt would end his career for good.

He gave up four runs to the Nationals in the very first inning, but settled down after that. He retired the side in order in three of the next four innings and fanned the last three hitters he faced in the fifth. Most important, his surgically repaired shoulder felt fine the day after.

``Man, I wanted that mulligan off the first tee so bad,'' Smoltz, an avid golfer, said with a smile. ``But it went well. I finished in grand fashion. Now I'm ready to do well.''

He insists that he's over any hard feelings toward Braves' management at the way it handled contract negotiations last winter, declining to match Boston's offer, but conceded that he's yet to speak with general manager Frank Wren or team president John Schuerholz.

Smoltz's angriest point came when it was time to go to spring training with the Red Sox and he had to leave behind his Atlanta home, a 21-acre spread on a golf course in the northern suburbs.

``I sat there for 3.5 hours on the porch, then it hit me,'' he remembered. ``I started getting mad. I didn't think I would get to see it for the next seven months. That place is pretty special to me. When I retire, there won't be too many trips.''

Wren, standing on the field during batting practice not far from where Smoltz was stretching, declined to answer any questions about the team's former ace.

``To me, that's a closed chapter,'' he said.

Smoltz's old teammates are glad to see him back on the mound, though they're hardly surprised he was able to come back from such a serious operation at an age when most players have retired.

``He's a beast,'' Braves reliever Mike Gonzalez said. ``Any other person, I wouldn't give him the benefit of the doubt. ... He's not like all the other guys. He's not like all of us. He's a step above.''

Smoltz warmed up on the third-base side and watched the game from the visiting dugout a rather odd sight in light of all the years he pitched for the Braves.

``It's just weird. It doesn't seem right,'' Gonzalez said. ``It's like seeing Chipper (Jones) in a Mets uniform or something.''

Smoltz plans to remain in Atlanta an extra day, giving him more time to spend with his four children. He'll fly out on Monday, then make his next start for the Red Sox after putting the Braves in the rearview mirror.

Not that he wouldn't like to pitch against his old team.

The only way it can happen this year would be in the World Series.

``That,'' Smoltz said, ``would be the perfect scenario.''

AP freelance writer Amy Jinkner-Lloyd contributed to this report.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Jeff Teague posed in the Hawks' 18th-floor conference room, proudly holding up his new jersey with a number that hasn't been seen very often in Atlanta.

Zero.

Less than 24 hours after going to the Hawks with the 19th pick of the NBA draft, Teague flew into Atlanta for a photo op and news conference, accompanied by his mother, father and agent.

He plans to wear No. 0 in the NBA, just as he did at Wake Forest. It's his tribute to Gilbert Arenas, who adopted the number after being told he would never make it to the pros. ``Agent Zero'' shrugged off his detractors to become one of the league's top players.

Teague has heard that he's too small to be a big-time player. He wasn't highly recruited out of high school, and arrived at Wake Forest weighing only 155 pounds.

``I started wearing zero my freshman year of college,'' said Teague, who'll be only the third player to wear zero for the Hawks. ``I wasn't highly recruited. I was kind of like the Gilbert Arenas story. He kind of reminded me of myself.''

Teague broke into the Wake Forest lineup as a freshman and led the Demon Deacons in scoring and assists this past season, proving that size wasn't a detriment at all. If anything, all the talk spurred him on.

``It was a lot of motivation,'' he said. ``When I got there, people were telling me I probably wouldn't play a lot because I was a smaller guy and they had a lot of great players there already. But when I got my opportunity to play, I did pretty well. Now, to be in this situation, I feel like all the hard work has paid off.''

The 6-foot-2 Teague is still just 178 pounds, which undoubtedly caused some teams to shy away from him in the draft. Seven other point guards went before his name was called Thursday night.

He's not complaining.

``It really didn't matter to me,'' Teague said. ``I just wanted to have an opportunity to play in the NBA.''

The Hawks plan to bring him along slowly, knowing that Teague must hit the weight room before he becomes a major contributor. The team bulked up in the backcourt just hours before the draft, trading for Jamal Crawford, and general manager Rick Sund hopes to re-sign free agent guards Mike Bibby and Flip Murray, both major contributors in Atlanta's run to the second round of the playoffs.

If just one of those players returns, Teague won't have to play major minutes as a rookie.

``I think that would be good for me,'' he said. ``It would give me the opportunity to learn from these great players. Just to be in practice and have to work every day and see what takes to be on floor, I think that would help me a lot, make me work harder so I can get my opportunity to play.''

Coach Mike Woodson is eager to get a look at his newest player.

``This was an easy pick for us,'' Woodson said. ``When we ranked all the guys, we just thought this young man fits in with how we want to play basketball here in Atlanta. He's a point guard who can score with the ball and distribute the ball. When you watch him on tape, he looks like he's NBA ready.

``Yes, he's got to fill out, and there's a major learning curve for any young player who comes into our league. But I think he has the ability to learn, pick up quickly and be a big part of what we're trying to do.''

Teague is ready to get to work.

He's ready to be the next ``Agent Zero.''

``They've always told me, 'You're small guy. You can jump, you can do this, but you're so small,''' Teague said. ``It's not the size of the guy, it's the size of the heart. That's the biggest thing. If you play with a lot of heart and passion, you can exceed any expectations.''

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

DULUTH, Ga. (AP) Tell Evander Kane that he lacks the size to play next season for the Atlanta Thrashers, and the 18-year-old doesn't exactly agree.

``I worked hard to get bigger coming into my draft year, and I think it was a benefit when I played last year,'' Kane said. ``I'm just really excited about playing for the Thrashers, and I'm eager to get down there and get going.''

The Thrashers chose Kane with the No. 4 overall pick of the NHL entry draft on Friday night.

Named by his father for Atlanta-based boxer Evander Holyfield, Kane intends to make the Thrashers' roster out of training camp by adding more bulk to his 6-foot-1, 180-pound frame.

He disagrees with some NHL scouts and television analysts that he needs a year in the minor leagues before he will be ready.

``I've worked hard the last few years to get to this point,'' Kane said. ``I can't see that being a roadblock or anything.''

Atlanta can use an adept passer to pair with captain Ilya Kovalchuk, whose 296 goals since the Thrashers drafted him No. 1 overall in 2001 are most in the NHL.

Kane scored 48 goals, second-best in the WHL, for the Vancouver Giants. In 61 games, Kane had 48 assists and led the WHL with 23 power play goals. His 10 game-winning goals ranked second.

``He's got plenty of time to make it happen,'' general manager Don Waddell. ``We like everything about this kid. He's got a tremendous future ahead of him, and he should only make us better moving the puck.''

Despite winning 12 of their last 18 games, Atlanta missed the playoffs for the sixth time in the last seven years. The Thrashers had just 76 points to finish fourth-worst overall and third-worst in the Eastern Conference under first-year coach John Anderson.

But Waddell still considers his team stocked with young talent. Last year's No. 3 overall pick, Zach Bogosian, missed 33 games last season with a broken leg, but the 18-year-old still led all rookie defensemen with nine goals.

Kovalchuk and goaltender Kari Lehtonen are both 26. Defenseman Tobias Enstrom is 25.

Center Bryan Little, drafted No. 12 overall in 2006, had 31 goals and 20 assists in his first full NHL season.

Colby Armstrong, 26, whom Atlanta acquired in the deal that sent Marian Hossa to Pittsburgh at the 2008 trade deadline, hopes to build on a career-best 22 goals.

The Thrashers have seven picks remaining, including two in the second round.

Kane grew up in Vancouver. He doesn't know much about Atlanta or his new teammates, but that will change soon enough.

``It's a hockey club that's clearly up and coming,'' Kane said. ``This is a dream come true for me, and I hope one day the Thrashers' fans will agree.''

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

NEW YORK (AP) Regulators on Friday shut down five small banks, including two in Georgia, boosting to 45 the number of failures this year of federally insured banks. More are expected to succumb in the prolonged recession.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the failed banks for Community Bank of West Georgia, based in Villa Rica, Ga. and Neighborhood Community Bank, located in Newnan, Ga.

Two banks in California and one bank in Minnesota were also shut down Friday.

Community Bank of West Georgia had $199.4 million in assets and $182.5 million in deposits as of May 15. Neighborhood Community Bank had $221.6 million in assets and $191.3 million in deposits as of March 31.

The two closures in Georgia brought to 14 the number of banks in Georgia that have failed since the beginning of last year, more than in any other state. Most of the failures have involved banks in the Atlanta area, where the collapse of the real estate market brought economic dislocation.

CharterBank, based in West Point, Ga., agreed to assume all of the deposits of Neighborhood Community Bank and to purchase about $209.6 million of the assets; the FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition. Neighborhood Community's four offices will reopen as branches of CharterBank.

The FDIC said it will mail checks to Community Bank of West Georgia depositors for the amounts of their insured funds. Direct deposits from the government, such as Social Security and veterans' benefits, will be transferred to United Community Bank in Blairsville, Ga.

The 45 banks closed nationwide this year compare with 25 in all of 2008 and three in 2007.

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the deposit insurance fund from the failure of Community Bank of West Georgia will be $85 million.

As the economy has soured, with unemployment rising, home prices tumbling and loan defaults soaring, bank failures have cascaded and sapped billions out of the deposit insurance fund. It now stands at its lowest level since 1993, $13 billion as of the first quarter.

While the pounding from losses on home mortgages may be nearing an end, delinquencies on commercial real estate loans remain a hot spot of potential trouble, FDIC officials say. If the recession deepens, defaults on the high-risk loans could spike. Many regional banks hold large numbers of them.

The number of banks on the FDIC's list of problem institutions leaped to 305 in the first quarter the highest number since 1994 during the savings and loan crisis from 252 in the fourth quarter. The combined assets of those banks rose to $220 billion from $159 billion.

The FDIC expects U.S. bank failures to cost the insurance fund around $70 billion through 2013. The agency recently adopted a new system of emergency fees paid by U.S. financial institutions that shifts more of the burden to bigger banks to help replenish the fund.

Congress has more than tripled the amount the FDIC may borrow from the Treasury Department if needed to restore the insurance fund, to $100 billion from $30 billion.

Government ``stress tests'' of the 19 biggest U.S. banks last month showed that 10 of them had to raise a total of $75 billion in new capital to withstand possible future losses.

A key government effort to ease the credit crisis reached a milestone on June 17 as 10 large banks said they had repaid a total of $68 billion in federal bailout funds.

The Obama administration on Friday established its process for pricing billions of dollars worth of warrants that large banks must repurchase to exit the $700 billion bailout program.

In addition to the $68 billion in bailout funds repaid by the 10 large institutions, another $2 billion has been repaid by smaller banks.

The closing last month of struggling Florida thrift BankUnited FSB is expected to cost the insurance fund $4.9 billion, the second-largest hit since the financial crisis began. The costliest was the July 2008 seizure of big California lender IndyMac Bank, on which the insurance fund is estimated to have lost $10.7 billion.

The largest U.S. bank failure ever also came last year: Seattle-based thrift Washington Mutual Inc. fell in September, with about $307 billion in assets. It was acquired by JPMorgan Chase Co. for $1.9 billion in a deal brokered by the FDIC.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Josh Beckett wasn't feeling well. No problem when he's facing the Braves.

Beckett pitched seven more scoreless innings against his favorite opponent and David Ortiz homered, leading the first-place Boston Red Sox past slumping Atlanta 4-1 on Friday night.

Beckett (9-3) has faced the Braves twice in the past seven days and still hasn't given up a run. He threw a five-hit, no-walk shutout at Fenway Park last weekend. This time, he allowed six hits, struck out six and didn't walk anyone before turning it over to the bullpen.

In his last seven starts against Atlanta, Beckett is 6-0 with a 0.38 ERA.

``I'm just trying to do the same things I do every time I'm out there,'' he said with a shrug.

Beckett might have taken a shot at a second straight shutout, but he started filling ill in the third inning and finally asked to come out after the seventh on a sweltering night.

``It wasn't an ideal situation for me,'' he said. ``But I made the pitches when I needed to and we played good defense.''

Ortiz continued to show signs of bouncing back from his miserable start. Big Papi is hitting .333 over his last 17 games, with seven homers and 14 RBIs, though he's still batting just .218 overall.

``He was kind of lost for a while,'' Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. ``He found himself. That's good for us. We need his bat.''

Ortiz shrugged off his surge.

``Whatever gets us ahead, gives us a chance to win the game,'' he said.

The Red Sox have won 17 of 23 to strengthen their hold on first in the AL East. The Braves, on the other hand, lost their third straight and 11th in the last 16. They have won only one series in the past month and will have to win two straight against Boston to avoid losing another this weekend.

``We hit the ball hard, much harder (against Beckett) than we did in Fenway Park,'' Braves manager Bobby Cox said. ``It just didn't happen at the right time.''

Atlanta didn't do anything against Beckett, who allowed only one runner past second base. Diory Hernandez led off the third with a double and moved up on a forceout but was stranded when Chipper Jones took a called third strike.

The Braves started the fourth with consecutive singles by Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman. They didn't get any farther Jeff Francoeur struck out, David Ross flied to right and Hernandez grounded out.

Braves starter Jair Jurrjens (5-6) allowed three earned runs in eight innings but got no offensive support, a familiar theme for the young pitcher from Curacao. He's 0-4 over his last five starts, his teammates providing only nine runs during that span. Overall, the Braves have scored three runs or less in nine of his 16 starts.

Ortiz broke up a scoreless duel in the fifth, leading off with a drive into the right-field seats for his eighth homer of the season and 297th of his career. Compounding Jurrjens' woes: He was twice called for balks, both of which contributed to Boston runs.

``Hopefully we can score some runs and win some ballgames,'' he said. ``I'm giving 100 percent every time I go out there. That's all I can do.''

Dustin Pedroia was planning to steal before both balks, which apparently caused Jurrjens to bobble ever so slightly on the mound. Pedroia wound up scoring each time, in addition to chipping in with an RBI single.

``I haven't seen a balk in a while,'' he said. ``I was actually trying to steal both times and he kind of caught me both times. I think he was going to try to go to second and just kind of froze. But it worked out for us.''

Atlanta avoided another shutout when Ross homered off closer Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth.

While the Braves have lost three of four this week to AL East teams Boston and the New York Yankees, at least they've bolstered their bottom line.

The crowd of 48,418 many of them chanting ``Let's go Red Sox!'' was Atlanta's second sellout in a row and fourth straight turnout above 40,000. The Braves had not managed a crowd that large since selling out their home opener on April 10.

NOTES: Hernandez's third-inning double snapped an 0-for-19 slump. ... Boston hitting coach Dave Magadan served a one-game suspension following his ejection against Washington on Wednesday for arguing a called strike. ... Former Braves pitcher John Smoltz received a big cheer when he jogged to the outfield to shag flies during batting practice. ... Atlanta CF Nate McLouth was day to day after leaving the game in the eighth. He strained his left hamstring running to first.

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

(WSB Radio) -- Leave early! 

A combination of concerts, Braves baseball and interstate construction projects could mean traffic gridlock this weekend for metro Atlanta.

Heavy traffic is expected around Turner Field as the Red Sox are in town to play the Braves Friday night, with afternoon games on Saturday and Sunday.

Concerts this weekend include comedian Bill Maher at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre at 8 p.m. Friday, comedian Dane Cook at Philips Arena at 8 p.m. Saturday and Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd at Lakewood Amphitheatre at 6 p.m. Sunday.

In addition, construction delays delays are expected along I-20 in DeKalb and Rockdale counties as a summer-long repaving project continues.

The two eastbound lanes will be closed from Ga. 138 in Conyers to Turner Hill Road, according to the DOT.

The $12.2 million project, which includes resurfacing and restriping of access ramps, is scheduled to be completed in the fall.

(WSB Radio) -- The Macy's store at Lenox Square Mall has become the latest in a string of smash-and-grab burglaries at clothing and other retail stores across Atlanta.

The Macy's break-in happened just before 3:30 a.m. Friday.

Investigators tell WSB's Richard Sangster that blue jeans worth an estimated $10,000 was taken by burglars from Macy's.

Security video shows the burglars smashed through a plate glass window, that the robbing crew included 9 males travelling in three vehicles.

Cox said she hopes to resolve the problem before her house is sold on the courthouse steps.

Crew have had difficulty getting to the crash site. 

"It is off in the wood about 300 yards and crews are cutting a road to the crash site," said Polk County Fire Chief Roy Anderson.

Polk County sheriff's officials identified the victims as 44-year-old John Keith of Cedartown and 46-year-old John Edgeworth of Bowdon.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating what caused the crash.

Bergen says the plane is a Quikr registered to Atlanta Sport Aviation Inc. of Cedartown, which is in northwest Georgia. The company's phone number is not listed.

Bergen told WSB the plane is a Quikr registered to Atlanta Sport Aviation Inc. of Cedartown, which is in northeast Georgia.

(WSB Radio)  Sandy Springs police are looking for a suspect in the attempted armed robbery of a Bank of America on Roswell Road.

The bank was evacuated for a time after what they thought was a suspicious package. 

"We did not know what was in it," says Lieutenant Steve Rose.  "The bank was evacuated and everything was cleared from that area until the tactical people could go in and determine there was nothing in the envelope.  Then it was safe to go back."

Rose says the suspect is a white male, "about 5'11, 180-200 pounds, with a thin beard and dark, square type sunglasses."

The suspect fled the bank without getting any money.

(WSB Radio)  The state's newest four-year college has received another feather in its cap. Georgia Gwinnett College has just received accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

GGC President Daniel Kaufman tells WSB's Sandra Parrish that it happened more quickly than expected, a process that usually takes four to five years.

"We opened our door in August 2006 and we're accredited today.  So in two years and ten months we went from opening the doors to being fully accredited," he says.

Kaufman says it means that the college can now add on to its four degree programs including three new ones this fall.  He hopes that education and nursing will then follow.

He says accreditation also mean the college can apply for grant money and its students will be able to transfer their credit hours to other institutions.

The school currently has nearly 1700 students, but Kaufman says that number is expected to grow to 3000 this fall. 

(WSB Radio)  A traffic ticket fixing scheme has been uncovered by DeKalb County prosecutors, where former county employees destroyed or dismissed tickets in exchange for a personal payment.

            According to District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming, Charlene Nettles Johnson, Stphan Roberts and Adrian Andrews, three former deputy clerks with the county's recorders court, are facing anti-racketeering charges for fixing traffic tickets. 

Up to seven others have been charged with making false statements, bribery and other charges.

            "These clerks or associates would go to the judge and tell them falsely that the officer who issued the ticket request the ticket be dismissed," Fleming told Channel 2 Action News.

            The former deputy clerks would destroy or dismiss tickets for a fee of 50 percent of the fine.

            "The deputy clerks would solicit people with traffic tickets, have them bring in their tickets and then in exchange for one half of the ticket fee, dismiss the ticket or destroy it," Fleming told Channel 2 Action News.

            Several friends of the former clerks have also been charged after they allegedly referred business them for a 25 percent finder's fee.  Fleming said clothing store called Glitzy Dazzle, owned by Sonia Williams in Stone Mountain, served as a drop box for those who wanted their tickets erased. 

            Fleming also said Marlene Findley and Rashanda Counts, employees of Fidel Salon in Dekalb County, would use the salon to recruit business for the court clerks .

            Keyes said her office has found fixed tickets dating back eight years.

(WSB Radio) A Marietta woman has been charged in connection with the death of her toddler.

Marietta Police Detective Gwen Lewis tells WSB the 14-month-old boy and his two-year-old sister were taking about just before 2am Wednesday at their home on Aviation Court.

"They were unattended in a bathtub; and when the 14-month-old was discovered, he was face down in the tub, unconscious.  That's when police were notified," said Lewis.

CPR was performed on the little boy, who was taken to Kennestone Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The child's mother, 21-year-old Tabitha Scranton, has been charged with 2nd degree Cruelty to Children.  The little girl is in the custody of the Department of Family and Children Services.

Lewis says authorities have been called to the home before.

"DFACS has two prior investigations at that residence.  The first one was unsubstantiated.  The second was not against the mother.  The person involved in that investigation has since left the country.

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson, the sensationally gifted child star who rose to become the "King of Pop" and the biggest celebrity in the world only to fall from his throne in a freakish series of scandals, died Thursday. He was 50. Jackson died at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Ed Winter, the assistant chief coroner for Los Angeles County, confirmed his office had been notified of the death and would handle the investigation.

The circumstances of Jackson's death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told the newspaper.

Jackson's death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music's premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

His 1982 album "Thriller" -- which included the blockbuster hits "Beat It," "Billie Jean" and "Thriller" -- remains the biggest-selling album of all time, with more than 100 million copies worldwide.

The public first knew him in the late 1960s, when as a boy he was the precocious, spinning lead singer of the Jackson 5, the music group he formed with his four older brothers. Among their No. 1 hits were "I Want You Back," "ABC," and "I'll Be There."

He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves and his high-pitched voice punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove, tight, military-style jacket and aviator sunglasses were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance.

"For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don't have the words," said Quincy Jones, who produced "Thriller." "He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I've lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him."

Jackson ranked alongside Elvis Presley and the Beatles as the biggest pop sensations of all time. In fact, he united two of music's biggest names when he was briefly married to Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie.

But as years went by, Jackson became an increasingly freakish figure -- a middle-aged man-child weirdly out of touch with grown-up life. His skin became lighter, his nose narrower, and he spoke in a breathy, girlish voice. He surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, often wore a germ mask while traveling and kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions.

In 2005, he was cleared of charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him. The case took a fearsome toll on his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble.

Jackson was preparing for what was to be his greatest comeback: He was scheduled for an unprecedented 50 shows at a London arena, with the first set for July 13. He was in rehearsals in Los Angeles for the concert, an extravaganza that was to capture the classic Jackson magic: showstopping dance moves, elaborate staging and throbbing dance beats.

Singer Dionne Warwick said: "Michael was a friend and undoubtedly one of the world's greatest entertainers that I fortunately had the pleasure of working with........we have lost an icon in our industry."

Hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital as word of his death spread. The emergency entrance at the UCLA Medical Center, which is near Jackson's rented home, was roped off with police tape.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Jackson has just died," a woman boarding a Manhattan bus called out, shortly after the news was announced. Immediately many riders reached for their cell phones.

In New York's Times Square, a low groan went up in the crowd when a screen flashed that Jackson had died, and people began relaying the news to friends by cell phone.

"No joke. King of Pop is no more. Wow," Michael Harris, 36, of New York City, read from a text message a friend sent to his telephone. "It's like when Kennedy was assassinated. I will always remember being in Times Square when Michael Jackson died."

LOS ANGELES (AP) Farrah Fawcett, whose stunning looks and blinding smile made her a pop icon of the 1970s, has died. She was 62.

Her spokesman, Paul Bloch, says Fawcett died Thursday morning in a Santa Monica hospital. Her 2.5-year battle with cancer was depicted in the TV documentary ``Farrah's Story.''

She burst on the scene in 1976 as one-third of the crime-fighting trio in TV's ``Charlie's Angeles.'' A poster of her in a clingy swimsuit sold in the millions.

She left the show after one season but had a flop on the big screen with ``Somebody Killed Her Husband.'' She turned to more serious roles in the 1980s and 1990s, winning praise playing an abused wife in ``The Burning Bed.''

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

(WSB Radio)  The Reverend Creflo Dollar's message doesn't come cheap. 

Now, a California businessman is suing Dollar and his business partners, saying the reverend stole an idea for texting religious messages to followers.

Devone Lawson claims he and Dollar had worked on the idea of sending devotional messages by way of text for a fee of $4.99 a month. 

.In the lawsuit, Lawson says Dollar backed out of the partnership, took the idea they had developed and began his own business called "Word on the Go."  Only this time, Dollar is charging followers $5.99 a month to receive the text messages.

Lawson says Dollar's venture is taking in $50 million a year and he's entitled to a cut.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, names Dollar and his business partners, including his son, Jeremy Dollar.  It claims breach of contract, fraud, misrepresentation, interference and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Dollar operates the World Change Church International, in College Park.

(WSB Radio)  Four men, convicted in the murder of a Southern Tech student in 2007, will likely spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

25-year-old Justin Brown was visiting friends at a Smyrna apartment complex when he got caught in the middle of botched home invasion.

Although it was never determined which of the four fired the fatal shot, all four, Louis Francis, Milton Blackledge, Miracle Nwkawana, and David Hayes were all sentenced to life plus 35 years. 

Justin's stepfather, David Barnes, testified that the suspects have never shown any remorse for the crime.

"But while he spread love and connection, these boys spread hate and destruction.  They have infected us all with an unspeakable pain," said Barnes.

The four will not be eligible for parole for at least 30 years.

(WSB Radio)  A new fiscal year is about to begin in Georgia, and Governor Sonny Perdue's budget director is telling state agencies that spending will have to be tightened some more. 

They're being asked to cut their spending by three percent in July. 

"For July, it's really a cut and survive kind of thing," says Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley.  "Nothing that we've seen indicates that there's going to be any kind of fast or rapid turnaround."

Budget Director Trey Childress says that given recent weak tax collection figures and the uncertainty of the coming fiscal year, agencies will receive their 2010 appropriations in monthly allotments. 

He says each agency will receive a full share in July, but that could change later if revenues continue to fall.

(WSB Radio)  A former Georgia congressman and two of his business associates were charged with conspiracy and telling lies in an illegal campaign contribution scheme linked to a 2005 Atlanta city council election.

Former Rep. Pat Swindall and two others were each charged Tuesday in Fulton County Superior Court with one felony count of conspiracy to commit a crime and four felony counts of false statements that were linked to an $8,000 campaign donation to Atlanta City Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd. The maximum allowed contribution at the time was $1,000.

Joyce Sheperd says she didn't learn that Swindall was involved in the donation until June of 2007.

Sheperd, who represents a southeast Atlanta district, said she soon hired a lawyer who advised her to turn the information over to prosecutors. She said she wants her constituents to know ``that I would never accept contributions in exchange for political favors.''

(WSB Radio)  A sequel to the Tea Party at the State Capitol in April has been cancelled.  It was to be held in the parking lot of the old Macy's at Gwinnett Place Mall on July 4th.

One of the organizers, Debbie Dooley, tells WSB's Sandra Parrish that the company that leases the mall, Simon Property Group, objected and forced the cancellation of the event.

"This has activated and angered a lot of people," says Dooley.

She says fireworks were planned and WSB's Herman Cain was a featured guest.

Les Morris, a spokesman for the mall, says in a written statement: "Gwinnett Place Mall is not public property, but is privately owned. In order to preserve the shopping experience for all guests, it is our standing policy not to permit political protests or rallies on mall property. To clarify the timing of our decision, mall management was not notified of the event or contacted for approval on event plans until just last week."

He goes on to say that the company just learned of the event last week.

Dooley says while the owner of the property agreed to hold the event there, Simon invoked a clause in its lease in which the mall was able to assert authority on the matter due to reciprocal property easement agreements.

She says now that the event is cancelled, she's hoping those who planned to attend will go to Cobb County's tea party July 3rd at Jim Miller Park.

Dooley says her group is planning another tea party to rival the one held in April sometime this fall.

(WSB Radio)  Gwinnett County authorities are crediting new technology for helping bust a convicted felon on weapons charges.

Gwinnett County Sheriff's Deputy has what's called a License Plate Recognition System.  When he realized a driver had a stolen tag along Indian Trail Road, he pulled him over, not realizing what a discovery he was about to make. 

"We went and talked to him and ended up leading to two shotguns, a rifle, six handguns and about 1300 rounds of ammunition," says Deputy James Redfern.  "And he's a convicted felon out of South Carolina."

There's no word on what 34-year-old William Brown, who faces nine charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, planned on doing with the guns. 

The system, which has been in place for a month, has already resulted in 20 arrests.

(WSB Radio)  Gwinnett County fire investigators are looking for those responsible for setting fire not once, but twice to a Norcross family's home while they were away on vacation.

Captain Tommy Rutledge tells WSB they got their first call of a fire at a home on Bailey Drive Tuesday morning around 9 o'clock.

"A family member, who was watching the house, discovered what appeared to be an apparent entry into the home and a burglary, and that there had also been a fire at some point," said Rutledge.

Neighbors called to report a raging fire at the house again on Wednesday around 1 o'clock in the morning.

"Gwinnett fire investigators do believe that both fires are related.  We do believe that the same individual or individuals made entry into the home unlawfully in an attempt to commit a burglary, and then hide that burglary by setting that home on fire," said Rutledge.

The first fire caused very little damage.  The second fire destroyed the home.

"It's pretty bold to set a fire once, but to burglarize a home and set a fire twice, we want to make sure that we find out who these individuals are," said Rutledge.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

(WSB Radio)  Georgia law enforcement is looking for speeders.

The Governor's Office of Highway Safety is holding an all day speed enforcement crackdown that will run all day today.

Police will be patrolling I-75, I-85. I-20 and I-285, looking for drivers who are going too fast, tailgating or driving aggressively.

Multiple departments are taking part in the operation, including police from DeKalb, Henry and Clayton Counties and the cities of Atlanta, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and Union City.

The Governor's office says the crackdown is taking place because of the upcoming July 4th holiday weekend.  Only the time around New Year's is more dangerous on the state's roadways.

In addition, DeKalb Police will be out enforcing the county's new Move Over law.  The law, which was passed in 2003, requires drivers to slow down and move over when an emergency vehicle is assisting another motorist.

(WSB Radio)  Georgia's jobless rate is now in record territory.  Atlanta's is not far behind.

The state Department of Labor is out with the latest unemployment numbers, showing the rate for the region in May at 9.67%, up six-tenths of a percentage point from April. 

Overall in the state, the jobless rate was 9.7% for May, the highest level ever recorded.  It represents an increase of 3.9% from May of 2008.

In May, 463,883 unemployed Georgians were looking for work, an increase of 62 percent from May of 2008. Of that number, 157,544, or 34 percent, are receiving state unemployment insurance benefits, while approximately another 90,000 are receiving federal extended benefits.

The May jobless rate was also above the national unemployment rate, the 19th consecutive month that has happened.

The statewide number of payroll jobs in May decreased 217,000, or 5.2 percent, from May of 2008.

(WSB Radio) -- Nearly 44 years after playing Atlanta as a member of The Beatles, Paul McCartney will play Piedmont Park this summer.

The concert, August 15, will be a benefit for the Piedmont Conservancy and was announced Wednesday at the park's Magnolia Hall.

McCartney's initial appearance in Atlanta with The Beatles was Aug. 18, 1965 at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.  The concert drew an estimated 34,000 fans and lasted about 30 minutes.

McCartney, now 67, was back in Atlanta in the mid 1970's as part of his famed Wings Over the World tour.

Most recently, McCartney played a sold out show at Philips Arena in 2005.

General admission $79.50 tickets will go on sale Monday through Ticketmaster and Live Nation.  But American Express card holders and park members will get first crack at the tickets when they go on sale Thursday morning at 10.

NEW YORK (AP) South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's mysterious disappearance from his state, topped with misinformation from his staff about where he had gone and what he'd been doing, is the latest sign that Republican governors once thought to be President Obama's most credible adversaries haven't quite lived up to their billing.

From Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's cringe-inducing nationally televised response to Obama's first budget address to Texas Gov. Rick Perry's suggestion that his state might secede, GOP governors including those said to be eyeing a potential 2012 presidential bid haven't exactly looked like the political grown-ups many party strategists had promised.

And none has had a rockier go of it than the party's best-known governor, Alaska's Sarah Palin. The 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee has been dogged by ethics complaints and has engaged in public feuds with David Letterman and with Levi Johnston, the former fiance of Palin's teenage daughter, Bristol, and the father of Bristol's infant son.

Palin, whose vice presidential bid sparked a devoted grass-roots following across the country, has also angered GOP leaders in Washington for poor communication and for canceling appearances at party events and fundraisers.

But the latest high-profile fiasco involves Sanford, whose outspoken effort to refuse part of the federal stimulus money due his state has made him a darling of conservatives and fueled talk that he harbors presidential aspirations.

Sanford planned to return to work Wednesday after a six-day absence from South Carolina, during which time his staff said he'd been hiking along the Appalachian Trail.

That information proved incorrect. Sanford emerged at the Atlanta airport Wednesday morning, telling a reporter for The State newspaper that he had traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, instead. Sanford said he had told his staff before leaving that he might go on the U.S. hike.

While Sanford's spokesman called the governor's absence an opportunity for him to unwind after a stressful legislative session, the governor's whereabouts were unknown to his security detail, and even his wife said she didn't know.

So odd was the absence that Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, another Republican, publicly complained about Sanford's lack of communication.

The 49-year old Sanford has been a fierce critic of Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package, even going to court to block $700 million South Carolina was to receive. He lost the court battle but boosted his national profile, making him a target of attack from national Democratic operatives many of whom pounced on Sanford's unusual walk in the woods.

``Being a chief executive means being on call all the time, and Gov. Sanford either doesn't get that part of the job or can't handle it,'' Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, scolded.

To be sure, not all politically ambitious GOP governors have seen their political fortunes stuck in the spring mud.

Mississippi's Haley Barbour was heading out Wednesday for high-profile visits to New Hampshire and Iowa, states with key early presidential contests. Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty announced last month he would not seek re-election next year, clearing the way for an expected 2012 bid.

Florida's Charlie Crist is running to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Mel Martinez next year and could well have a presidential bid in the future. And Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who won praise for pushing his party to diversify, was viewed as enough of a political threat to Obama in 2012 that the president appointed him to be ambassador to China.

Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a well-regarded political strategist before becoming Mississippi governor, has long insisted that GOP governors would lead the party's efforts to rebuild. He reiterated that belief in an interview Tuesday, while acknowledging some of his colleagues' recent public relations challenges.

``When Democrats have majorities in Washington, Republicans there can oppose bad things and propose good things, but can't demonstrate that Republican ideas work,'' Barbour said. ``The reason governors are so important is that they can take our ideas, implement them and show they can work.''

In a sign that the political fortunes of Democratic governors may not be faring much better than their Republican counterparts, Barbour attended fundraisers this week for GOP gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia.

In New Jersey, polls show former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie leading incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine, while former Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell is running a strong race against Democratic state Sen. Creigh Deeds to be the state's first GOP governor in eight years.

EDITOR'S NOTE Beth Fouhy covers politics for The Associated Press.

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

NEW YORK (AP) South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's mysterious disappearance from his state, topped with misinformation from his staff about where he had gone and what he'd been doing, is the latest sign that Republican governors once thought to be President Obama's most credible adversaries haven't quite lived up to their billing.

From Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's cringe-inducing nationally televised response to Obama's first budget address to Texas Gov. Rick Perry's suggestion that his state might secede, GOP governors including those said to be eyeing a potential 2012 presidential bid haven't exactly looked like the political grown-ups many party strategists had promised.

And none has had a rockier go of it than the party's best-known governor, Alaska's Sarah Palin. The 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee has been dogged by ethics complaints and has engaged in public feuds with David Letterman and with Levi Johnston, the former fiance of Palin's teenage daughter, Bristol, and the father of Bristol's infant son.

Palin, whose vice presidential bid sparked a devoted grass-roots following across the country, has also angered GOP leaders in Washington for poor communication and for canceling appearances at party events and fundraisers.

But the latest high-profile fiasco involves Sanford, whose outspoken effort to refuse part of the federal stimulus money due his state has made him a darling of conservatives and fueled talk that he harbors presidential aspirations.

Sanford planned to return to work Wednesday after a six-day absence from South Carolina, during which time his staff said he'd been hiking along the Appalachian Trail.

That information proved incorrect. Sanford emerged at the Atlanta airport Wednesday morning, telling a reporter for The State newspaper that he had traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, instead. Sanford said he had told his staff before leaving that he might go on the U.S. hike.

While Sanford's spokesman called the governor's absence an opportunity for him to unwind after a stressful legislative session, the governor's whereabouts were unknown to his security detail, and even his wife said she didn't know.

So odd was the absence that Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, another Republican, publicly complained about Sanford's lack of communication.

The 49-year old Sanford has been a fierce critic of Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package, even going to court to block $700 million South Carolina was to receive. He lost the court battle but boosted his national profile, making him a target of attack from national Democratic operatives many of whom pounced on Sanford's unusual walk in the woods.

``Being a chief executive means being on call all the time, and Gov. Sanford either doesn't get that part of the job or can't handle it,'' Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, scolded.

To be sure, not all politically ambitious GOP governors have seen their political fortunes stuck in the spring mud.

Mississippi's Haley Barbour was heading out Wednesday for high-profile visits to New Hampshire and Iowa, states with key early presidential contests. Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty announced last month he would not seek re-election next year, clearing the way for an expected 2012 bid.

Florida's Charlie Crist is running to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Mel Martinez next year and could well have a presidential bid in the future. And Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who won praise for pushing his party to diversify, was viewed as enough of a political threat to Obama in 2012 that the president appointed him to be ambassador to China.

Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a well-regarded political strategist before becoming Mississippi governor, has long insisted that GOP governors would lead the party's efforts to rebuild. He reiterated that belief in an interview Tuesday, while acknowledging some of his colleagues' recent public relations challenges.

``When Democrats have majorities in Washington, Republicans there can oppose bad things and propose good things, but can't demonstrate that Republican ideas work,'' Barbour said. ``The reason governors are so important is that they can take our ideas, implement them and show they can work.''

In a sign that the political fortunes of Democratic governors may not be faring much better than their Republican counterparts, Barbour attended fundraisers this week for GOP gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia.

In New Jersey, polls show former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie leading incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine, while former Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell is running a strong race against Democratic state Sen. Creigh Deeds to be the state's first GOP governor in eight years.

EDITOR'S NOTE Beth Fouhy covers politics for The Associated Press.

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

(WSB Radio/AP) -- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was in South America during a dayslong unexplained absence, not hiking the Appalachian Trail as his staff told the public when state leaders raised questions about his whereabouts, the governor told a newspaper.

The State reported that Sanford arrived Wednesday morning at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Sanford's spokesman Joel Sawyer declined to comment Wednesday morning to The Associated Press

The Republican told the South Carolina newspaper he decided at the last minute to go to the South American country. The governor says he had considered hiking on the Appalachian Trail but wanted to do something ``exotic.''

Sanford said he was alone on the trip. He declined to give any additional details about what he did other than to say he drove along the coastline.

Sanford was last seen at work Thursday. On Monday, a state legislator raised questions about where he was after hearing reports from security officials that the governor could not be contacted and his whereabouts were unknown. The governor's wife, Jenny Sanford, told The Associated Press she had not seen him since Thursday but was not concerned because he'd told her he wanted to get away and do some writing.

Late Monday, Sanford's staff said he had been hiking the Appalachian Trail. They said Tuesday that he had called in and planned to cut his trip short and return to work Wednesday because of all the attention his absence was getting.

The governor's spokesman, Joel Sawyer, said Sanford wanted to get away to clear his head after the legislative session, during which he lost a key battle. Jenny Sanford said Tuesday, ``Leave us to our privacy.''

When The State asked Sanford at the airport why his staff said he was on the Appalachian Trail, Sanford replied, ``I don't know.''

Sanford later said ``in fairness to his staff,'' he had told them he might go hiking on the Appalachian Trial.

Critics of the two-term Republican wondered why it took nine hours after reporters started asking questions for the governor's staff to say what the state's chief executive was doing.

Sanford's aides stopped answering questions about his trip, including where he was on the 2,175-mile trail, whether he was with security and if anyone else could confirm his whereabouts.

Republican state Sen. Jake Knotts started asking questions Monday about a rumor that Sanford had disappeared in a state law enforcement vehicle.

Sanford, a trim, 49-year-old former real estate investor and Air Force reservist, is typically drained at the end of a legislative session, former aides said. State Sen. Tom Davis, a Beaufort Republican and Sanford's former chief of staff, said he visited with Sanford last Wednesday and could tell the governor was ready for a break.

``It's not unusual to take off and kind of be by himself,'' Davis said. ``It's part of what makes him him.''

The governor has long been known as a loner bucking GOP leadership during three U.S. House terms and casting the only dissenting vote on Medicaid coverage for some breast and cervical cancer treatment. He clashes often with the Republicans who control both chambers of his state Legislature, once famously carrying two piglets to the door of the House in opposition to what he said was pork-barrel spending.

But past vacations never left Sanford completely out of touch, said Chris Drummond, Sanford's former spokesman. At worst, Sanford would call in daily or would respond to voice mails.

Who was in charge became the political and practical question.

Essentially, Sanford's staffers said they'd decide who to call if an emergency popped up and the governor couldn't be reached. The state's constitution says a temporary absence would give the lieutenant governor full authority in the state. But the temporary absence has never been defined.

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, a Charleston Republican, said the state's law needs to be clarified. He said state residents want important decisions to be made by elected leaders.

``In an emergency,'' he said, ``it should be those people who consult with staff to make a decision and not the other way around.''

ONTARIO, Calif. (AP) Officials say a Delta airliner landed safely in Southern California after it was forced to shut down one of its engines.

The flight from Atlanta with 190 people on board was able to land at its intended destination of Ontario, east of Los Angeles, shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Delta Air Lines spokesman Carlos Santos said Wednesday the plane experienced a mechanical problem with its right engine but was able to land safely. He says the company will investigate to see what happened.

A Federal Aviation Administration official says the pilots of the Boeing 757 declared an emergency after shutting down their right engine when it was giving off heavy vibrations.

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

(WSB Radio) Despite an increased police presence, armed robbers have struck again near the Georgia Tech campus.

This time it was at the Centennial Place Apartments, at Honeycutt and Lovejoy.  And this time the victim lost his college bookbag containing his laptop.

Eric Mills, a University of Phoenix student, was walking home early Wednesday morning when he noticed an SUV that made him suspicious.

"I continued walking and i'm on my cellphone, talking," Mills says.  "All of a sudden, I felt a presence behind me."

Mills says he turned around and saw two men approaching him in "an aggressive manner."

Both were dressed in black.  One of the two men had a gun.

"The asked me for my phone," Mills says, "and I threw my bookbag down thinking that my bookbag was more valuable."

Mills then tried running, using a car as a shield as he attempted to elude the two robbers.

"I was kind of dancing around the car as the guy is coming closer to me.  The other guy with the gun is saying he's going to shoot me," he says.

Mills says all the robbers seem to want was his cellphone.

"I take off running, because this other guy is just coming at me.  The other guy is coming at me, chases after me.  I trip and I fall and he falls on my leg.  We're both on the ground in the middle of the street.  I cut my hand.  I'm all cut up," Mills says.

Mills says he got up to run, but the second suspect, the one with the gun, was closer to him, pointing the gun at him and telling him to stop.

"He said 'I'm going to shoot you.  Stop.  What are you thinking?'"

Mills decided to run, again.

"As I take off in the middle of the street the guy that was on the floor, he gets up and he takes a couple of steps forward, to me.

"There were cars in the middle of the road, coming at me.  I stopped the cars.  No one came to help me," says Mills.  "As I turned around, I saw them jumping in their car, with my bookbag and they take off."

Mills described the suspects as two black men, about 6'1 with light skin.  He says the robbers were both wearing masks.

He believes the robbers were waiting for him, following him as he walked home.  He also believes they were out looking for a college student and spotted him.

He also wonders why, just one day after another armed robbery, there was not a larger police presence in the area.

"I don't want to say anything about the police, because they've been kind to me," Mills says, "but why aren't the police roaming around and looking into cars or seeing people hanging around?

"These guys were waiting for me," he says.  "They were waiting for someone.  They're looking for college students.  I'm as college student.  So, college students beware."

Listen to Sandra Parrish's reports: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

(WSB Radio) The fight is on to save one of the few remaining visual reminders of the 1996 Olympics.  The Stone Mountain Tennis Center, home to Olympic tennis, is set to be torn down by January when Gwinnett County will take over the site as a future park featuring the 15 outdoor tennis courts.

"It's a beautiful facility ... the outside is still as gorgeous as it was from day one," says Lee Baker, executive director of the Gwinnett Sports Council. 

He's petitioned both the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, which owns the facility, and Gwinnett County Commissioners to save the stadium and turn it into a viable economic source for the south end of the county.

"We need a survey to see the feasibility of what I'm advocating... putting a roof on it (and) attracting additional events here to this area," says Baker.

But SMMA CEO Curtis Branscome tells WSB's Sandra Parrish they've spent 11 of the last 13 years and close to $3 million trying to make a go of it, but to no avail. The facility has sat padlocked for the past two years with weeds now growing through the parking lot.

The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, ACOG, built the $16 million stadium and its surrounding tennis courts for the Olympics.  Following the games, it turned ownership of the site over to the SMMA.

But there are only 400 parking spaces for the 7000 seat stadium which Branscome says has been a stumbling block from the beginning.

"It's of no economic value that we can determine.  So it's just best to demolish it and get it out of the way so that maybe some other active recreational use can be made of the property," he says.

Branscome says the stadium, as it is, needs about $2 million dollars in repairs, and it's not an expense Gwinnett County wants to take on.

"We are having our own financial issues, if you will.  It will require major capital dollars and again you have the whole issue of operation and it's not been successful in the past financially," says Gwinnett County Director of Community Services Phil Hoskins.

Gwinnett and the SMMA reached a deal in May in which the county will pay $1 a year for 50 years to lease the site with the agreement that the SMMA will demolish the stadium by the end of the year.

Baker is not willing to give up just yet.  He's hoping the Evermore Community Improvement District which includes business owners along Hwy 78 will step in and offer help.

"It's the gateway to the community. It would serve as the biggest stimulus that this area could use to get it up and going," he says.

What it looked like during the Olympics

(WSB Radio)  DeKalb County has created a new office aimed at eliminating fraud and abuse.

During a news conference on Tuesday, CEO Burrell Ellis introduced seven board members who will oversee the development of the Office of Transparency and Accountability.

"Since taking office in January, we've been inundated with a growing number of requests from citizens and employees that a variety of county departments be investigated because of allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse," said Ellis.

Ellis hopes to choose and Inspector General by the fall.

(WSB Radio)  The State Board of Education is expected to decide Wednesday whether or not two metro Atlanta school systems can opt out of the new School Choice Law.

The controversial law allows parents to transfer their children to any school within their district if there is enough space.

Beginning July 1st, school districts will have to publish a list of schools that have space available. 

Some parents support the law, but others say it kills the community school concept and allows schools to cherry pick the best students. 

The sponsor of the bill, State Representative Alisha Thomas Morgan, tells Channel 2 Action News, that's not true.

"I don't think any of that is true.  I think that parents first and foremost, are the ones who are most empowered here and know what's in the best interest of their children," said Morgan.

Gwinnett and Forsyth County schools are considering opting out of the new school choice law.

(WSB Radio)  Another Atlanta landmark is in financial hot water... and it could mean a big blow to Atlanta's alternative music scene.

The Clermont Motor Hotel on Ponce de Leon is a study in local economics. The 85-year old hotel has been on the market for quite awhile, but there haven't been any takers.

Now, the New York company that holds the mortgage, Fairway Capital, is set to foreclose July 2nd.

The Clermont Hotel is also home to the iconic Clermont Lounge, where  the woman answering the phone didn't seem concerned.

"We're optimistic about this," she says.  "We think everything is going to work out fine."

Built in 1924, the Clermont has survived the Great Depression, urban gentrification and the latest in music trends.

A lawyer for Fairway Corporation says it's still early in the game. He thinks some sort of deal might soon be reached to save the Clermont... but he says, it's too early to tell.

(WSB Radio)  Hundreds of metro Atlanta residents are upset after they get home and find out what they thought was a video game they purchased is a blank disc.

Now, Carrollton Police say they've broken up a huge theft ring responsible for all the anger.

Police say the suspects in the ring bought the games, then returned them to several Wal-Marts, including ones in Woodstock and Marietta.  The crooks would take out the game disc and replace it with a blank one, then return the case to the stores.  

Security Consultant Brent Brown tells Channel 2 Action News Wal-Mart won't tolerate this.

"Wal-Mart is big enough that they do it right.  They have to.  If they don't,  they could be taken down by petty crimes that get bigger and bigger,"  he says.

Up to $10,000 worth of merchandise has been stolen, but it could be more since the ring is believed to have started in February.

Police have arrested the suspected ringleader, 29-year-old Lavar Thornton.  Two University of West Georgia students, Tyrell Myers and Michael Cunningham, have also been arrested.

(WSB Radio)  There's been a break in the series of armed robberies near the Georgia Tech campus.

Atlanta police have three suspects in custody, charged in last month's shooting of Patrick Whaley.

The 22 year old was shot outside of his Northside Drive apartment on May 4. 

"I feel fantastic," Whaley said after learning of the arrests.  "I love life and I love being here."

18 year old D'Angelo Love and 19 year old Maurice Brown are in custody.  The name of the third suspect has not been released.

Police say the three were actually arrested two weeks ago, but charges in the Whaley shooting were not filed at that time.

"We're very happy that an arrest was made in the case," says the APD's Joseph Spillane.  "The Zone 5 criminal investigation team worked very hard to make an arrest in the case."

Since February there have been at least nine armed robberies on or near the Tech campus, including two such hold ups this week.

Whaley thinks there has to be a connection.

"I do think it's related," he says.  "I feel like it's a lot bigger than the three guys who attacked me."

Spillane says police will now try and see if there is a connection.

"What we're hoping to do is look at the suspects and look at all the crimes that we have,"  he says, "and see if they may be implicated in other crimes."

Both Tech police and AP.D are sending out more patrols in the area.

(WSB Radio) Cobb County Police have arrested a Georgia Correctional Officer on child porn charges.

Sgt. Dana Pierce tells WSB they've been investigating this for some time.

"This was an undercover operation by a detective here in Cobb County, who posed as a 13-year-old female resident.  Apparently, during the course of his investigation, he did receive via computer, sexually explicit messages and images from 31-year-old Jason Shane Price," said Pierce.

Price, who has been charged with two counts of distributing child porn and six counts of computer porn, was a correction officer in Bleckley County.

"We're asking anyone who may have heard of this individual or through the websites of suthyrngent07@yahoo.com or boiledpenuts2001@yahoo.com - anybody who has ever gone into those different email accounts or websites to go ahead and contact authorities - so that we can determine whether or not they've been victimized by this individual," said Pierce.

Pierce says the fact that the man accused  works for law enforcement is very disappointing.

"It is very disturbing to us in law enforcement who have dedicated our whole career and lifestyle to law enforcement.  And then to have this individual basically violate his oath of office by being a part of this type of criminal activity," said Pierce.

Anyone with information can contact the Cobb County Police Department's Crimes Against Children's Unit at (770) 801-3470.

(WSB Radio) A Walton County woman who was severely beaten in a home invasion in May, has died.

Loganville Police Chief Mike McHugh tells WSB 68-year-old Epsie Ewing and her husband C.F., were pistol-whipped on May 21st, when three men came to their house, pretending to be interested in buying the couple's truck.

"It appears that robbery was the motive.   I believe we determined that they got away with $117 or so dollars," said McHugh.

Ewing, who had been in the hospital with a broken eye socket and other facial injuries, died on Tuesday.

"Obviously, a crime of this magnitude shocks the conscience of the community.  We certainly have felt for the Ewing family throughout this whole ordeal and certainly offer our sympathies at this time," said McHugh.

18-year-olds J.J. Blackwell and Barry Partee, and 28-year-old Corey Butler now face murder charges.

LOS ANGELES (AP) Ed McMahon, the loyal ``Tonight Show'' sidekick who bolstered boss Johnny Carson with guffaws and a resounding ``H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!'' for 30 years, died early Tuesday. He was 86.

McMahon died shortly after midnight at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center surrounded by his wife, Pam, and other family members, said his publicist, Howard Bragman.

Bragman didn't give a cause of death, saying only that McMahon had a ``multitude of health problems the last few months.''

McMahon broke his neck in a fall in March 2007, and battled a series of financial problems as his injuries preventing him from working.

McMahon and Carson had worked together for nearly five years on the game show ``Who Do You Trust?'' when Carson took over NBC's late-night show from Jack Paar in October 1962. McMahon played second banana on ``Tonight'' until Carson retired in 1992.

``You can't imagine hooking up with a guy like Carson,'' McMahon said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1993. ``There's the old phrase, hook your wagon to a star. I hitched my wagon to a great star.''

McMahon, who never failed to laugh at his Carson's quips, kept his supporting role in perspective.

``It's like a pitcher who has a favorite catcher,'' he said. ``The pitcher gets a little help from the catcher, but the pitcher's got to throw the ball. Well, Johnny Carson had to throw the ball, but I could give him a little help.''

``And now h-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!'' was McMahon's trademark opener for each ``Tonight'' show, followed by a small, respectful bow toward the star. McMahon's style was honed during his youthful days as a carnival hawker.

The highlight for McMahon came just after the monologue, when he and Carson would chat before the guests took the stage.

``We would just have a free-for-all,'' he said in the AP interview. ``Now to sit there, with one of the brightest, most well-read men I've ever met, the funniest, and just to hold your own in that conversation. ... I loved that.''

When Carson died in 2005, McMahon said he was ``like a brother to me,'' and recalled bantering with him on the phone a few months earlier.

``We could have gone on (television) that night and done a 'Carnac' skit. We were that crisp and hot.''

McMahon's medical and financial problems kept him in the headlines in his last years. It was reported in June 2008 that he was facing possible foreclosure on his Beverly Hills home. By year's end, a deal was worked out allowing him to stay in his home, but legal action involving other alleged debts continued.

Among those who had stepped up with offers of help was Donald Trump.

``When I was at the Wharton School of Business I'd watch him every night,'' Trump told the Los Angeles Times in August. ``How could this happen?''

McMahon even spoofed his own problems with a spot that aired during the 2009 Super Bowl promoting a cash-for-gold business. Pairing up with rap artist MC Hammer, he explained how easy it is to turn gold items into cash, jokingly saying ``Goodbye, old friend'' to a gold toilet and rolling out a convincing ``H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's money!''

Born Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. on March 6, 1923, in Detroit, McMahon grew up in Lowell, Mass. He got his start on television playing a circus clown on the 1950-51 variety series ``Big Top.'' But the World War II Marine veteran interrupted his career to serve as a fighter pilot in Korea.

He joined ``Who Do You Trust?'' in 1958, its second year, the start of his long association with Carson. It was a partnership that outlasted their multiple marriages, which provided regular on-air fodder for jokes.

While Carson built his career around ``Tonight'' and withdrew from the limelight after his retirement, McMahon took a different path. He was host of several shows over the years, including ``The Kraft Music Hall'' (1968) and the amateur talent contest ``Star Search,'' whose competitors included over the years Justin Timberlake, Usher, LeAnn Rimes, Adam Sandler and Rosie O'Donnell.

He was a longtime co-host of the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon, a Labor Day weekend institution, and was co-host with Dick Clark of ``TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes.''

McMahon and Clark also teamed up as pitchmen for American Family Publishers' sweepstakes, with their faces a familiar sight on contest entry forms and in TV commercials. McMahon was known for his ongoing commercials for Budweiser as well.

He had supporting roles in several movies, including ``Fun With Dick and Jane'' (1977) and ``Just Write'' (1997). He took on his first regular TV series job in the 1997 WB sitcom ``The Tom Show'' with Tom Arnold.

McMahon released his autobiography, ``For Laughing Out Loud: My Life and Good Times,'' in 1998. In it, he recounts the birth of ``Tonight.''

``Let's just go down there and entertain the hell out of them,'' Carson told him before the first show. Wrote McMahon: ``That was the only advice I ever got from him.''

In 1993, he recalled his first meeting with Carson after they left ``Tonight.''

``The first thing he said was, 'I really miss you. You know, it was fun, wasn't it?''' McMahon recalled. ``I said, 'It was great.' And it was. It was just great.''

Besides his wife, Pam, McMahon is survived by children Claudia, Katherine, Linda, Jeffrey and Lex.

Bragman said no funeral arrangements have been made.

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

(WSB Radio)  Clean up crews will be busy Tuesday, after violent storms ripped through the metro Atlanta area on Monday.

The storms knocked down trees and knocked out power across the region. 

The bulk of the downed trees were in Cobb County, where homes were damaged.

Kayla Newitt was in her bedroom when the storms approached and left the room just as a tree came crashing down.

"We were in here watching TV in the back bedroom," she says, "and, all of a sudden, we heard a boom and I got up to make sure the baby was ok and, by the time I got to the door, the tree had fell."

Mandy Vaughn was home with her son and says the storm came in quickly.

"No.  No warning at the time," she says.  "I just happened to look out the window, saw the wind.  It got real gusty.  It was horizontal rain and I just went to an interior closet with my one year old son."

Widespread power outages were also reported.  At the height of the storm, 5000 customers were without electricity.

(WSB Radio) Clear is shutting down at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.

The company, which offered paid security lines for frequent fliers, failed to reach an agreement with a key creditor, prompting the shut down.

Passengers who paid a free of close to $200 a year were able to pass through special airport security lines.  Clear would conduct extensive background checks as part of the annual membership.

The company went after business travelers who didn't feel like waiting in long security lines.  But the business venture failed and, according to Clear's website, the company ended operations on Monday night.

Clear began operating in Atlanta last March and listed Hartsfield-Jackson as the busiest of the 20 airports where it was in operation.  Nationwide the company says it had about 260,000 subscribers, with 20,000 in the Atlanta area. 

It has not been announced what will happen to the balances on annual memberships now that Clear has folded.

(WSB Radio)  The principal of Henry County's Walnut Creek Elementary School was arrested Monday after only three weeks on the job.
      Police arrested Jason Douglas for probation violation after a 2007 drunken driving arrest where a small bag of marijuana was found in his car. Douglas blew a .149, nearly twice the legal limit, at 2 a.m. on June 30, 2007.
     But police said the 2007 arrest was a violation of probation because of a 2004 domestic dispute incident.
     Henry County school spokeswoman told Channel 2 Action News the school performed a background check on Douglas when he was hired as a teacher in 2003. The district policy requires a background check of all employees every five years, but they failed to conduct another on Douglas in 2008.
     Chris Phillips, whose son attends the elementary school, said people who are in charge of taking care of children should be held to a higher standard.
     "Sounds like the school system should continue its background checks on employees and not come back and follow up on it," Phillips told Channel 2 Action News.
     The spokeswoman said the district is still investigating situation and would not comment on his job status.

WASHINGTON (AP) The worst accident in 33-year history of Metrorail, Washington's subway system, is under investigation by authorities trying to determine why a train plowed into the rear of another, killing at least nine people and injuring scores of others.

The District of Columbia Fire Department said rescue workers located three more bodies in the wreckage late Monday night. All three were declared dead at the scene.

Earlier Monday, officials confirmed six deaths, including the operator of the trailing train, Jeanice McMillan of Springfield, Va.

Debbie Hersman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said investigators would cast a wide net, including checking operator procedures and track signals, interviewing witnesses and inspecting the tracks themselves. She said officials also were searching the wreckage for devices on the trains that record operating speeds and commands.

``It is a scene of real devastation,'' she said of the crash, which ripped open passenger cars when the trains smashed together. More details were expected at a Tuesday morning news conference.

During the evening rush hour, one train was stopped on the tracks, waiting for another to clear the station ahead, when a trailing train plowed into it from behind, Metro general manager John Catoe said.

Catoe said an automated computer system used to run trains was supposed to keep them apart, but it was not clear whether the system was in use when the crash occurred.

People inside some of the cars were banging on the windows trying to get out, said Jervis Bryant of Upper Marlboro, Md., who was in the area at the time.

Bryant said he ran over to help, but couldn't get close enough to reach the passengers. He said some eventually began exiting the trains.

``It's a scene I never thought I would see,'' said Bryant, who frequently rides the Metro. ``It was more frightening to watch and not to be able to help.''

More than 200 firefighters from D.C., Maryland and Virginia eventually converged on the scene. Sabrina Webber, a 45-year-old real estate agent who lives in the neighborhood, said she raced to the scene after hearing a loud boom like a ``thunder crash'' and then sirens. She said there was no panic among the survivors.

The crash around 5 p.m. took place on the system's red line, Metro's busiest, which runs below ground for much of its length but is at ground level at the accident site near the Maryland state line in northeast Washington.

Officials would not say how fast the train was traveling at the time of the accident. The crash occurred in an area with a sizable distance between rail stations in which trains are allowed to travel at higher speeds, Metro spokeswoman Candace Smith said.

Each train had six cars and was capable of holding as many as 1,200 people. Hersman said the trains were bound for downtown. That would mean they were less likely to be filled during the afternoon rush hour.

The trains had pulled out of the Takoma Park station and were headed in the direction of the Fort Totten station.

The only other time in Metrorail's 33-year history that there were passenger fatalities was on Jan. 13, 1982, when three people died as a result of a derailment beneath downtown. That was a day of disaster in the capital: Shortly before the subway crash, an Air Florida plane slammed into the 14th Street Bridge immediately after takeoff from Washington National Airport across the Potomac River. The plane crash, during a severe snowstorm, killed 78 people.

In January 2007, a subway train derailed in downtown Washington, sending 20 people to the hospital and prompting the rescue of 60 others from the tunnel. In November 2006, two Metro track workers were struck and killed by an out-of-service train. An investigation found that the train operator failed to follow safety procedures. Another Metro worker was struck and killed in May 2006.

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

(WSB Radio) Smyrna police are looking for two men who allegedly shot and killed a college professor Sunday morning.

Chattahoochee Tech professor Joseph Gunn, 54, died on the way to the hospital after neighbors heard yelling and gunshots outside of his townhome.

Police said Gunn was shot after he confronted two men outside near his pick-up truck in The Highlands View subdivision.

"Just a horrible thing to happen to anybody," Steve Cudlipp, neighbor, tells Channel 2 Action News. "It seems difficult to comprehend that that kind of rage can get started with one of your next door neighbors."

Jennifer Nelson, spokeswoman for Chattahoochee Tech said students are shocked and saddened to hear of Gunn's death. Nelson tells Channel 2 Action News that Gunn was loved and respected on campus.

Gunn taught automotive and watercraft repair classes at the Marietta college.

Police believe the shooting was random.

(WSB Radio)  Two more Georgia Tech students have been robbed, the latest in a series of holdups that have raised concerns in the area.

The latest robbery happened early Sunday morning, at Hampton Street, about a block from where another Tech student was robbed and shot earlier this year.

In the latest holdup, three men jumped out of a black SUV and confronted Ryan Lorber and his friend, Jim Kenney.

"I'm a little shaken up," Lorber says, "but, for the most part, I'm glad I'm living."

Lorber was able to escape the gunmen; Kenney, whose leg is in a cast, could not.

"I said I don't want any trouble," Kenney says.  "So I laid down, emptied out my pockets and he grabbed everything I'd emptied out."

The gunmen then jumped back into the SUV and sped off.

Lorber hopes police might have the suspects on videotape.

"Where it happened, they have a video camera so, hopefully, they have something on tape," he says.

There have been three robberies in the area in the past two months and residents, like Roy Lee, are concerned.  Lee wants to protect himself, but cannot.

"Because we're within a certain distance of the Tech campus, we're not allowed to have firearms to defend ourselves," he says.

Police have no description of the gunmen.  As for the SUV, all they know is the vehicle has a broken tail light.

(WSB Radio)  Two Atlanta men are under arrest, accused of trying to steal water.  And in a rather peculiar way.

Police say the pair dug up the sidewalk to try and get to the water.

It happened at Campbellton Road, near Fort McPherson.

Officials with the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management believe the suspects were planning to dig down to a water main, then tap the line to get the water.

(WSB Radio)  A north Georgia minister is in jail, charged with child molestation.

Authorities in Gordon County say 52 year old Randy Hufstetler had inappropriate contact with an 11 year old girl.

Detectives say they're interviewing another person believed to be a victim of Hufstetler.

Hufstetler was arrested by deputies without incident.

He's being held in the Gordon County jail.

(WSB Radio)  It's a day of decision for the MARTA board.

They'll meet to decide whether to increase the fare by 25 cents come this fall.

MARTA officials say declining revenues have led to budget shortfalls, necessitating such a fare hike.

"It's very hard," says MARTA spokesman Johnny Dunning.  "The industry across the country is suffering the same thing that we are.  It's a fiscal issue attributed to the economic downtown.  And, again, it's something we never want to do."

"I hope they don't, because it's already expensive for everybody to ride," says MARTA rider Matthew Edmonson.  "It wouldn't be too good."

The board will also consider service reductions as a way to save money.

(WSB Radio) A Marietta woman was arrested after leaving her twin baby girls in a car with the window cracked open, police said.

Janesia Williams, 26, was booked into the Clayton County jail early Sunday morning. The Marietta woman was charged with child cruelty.

Clayton County police said Williams left her 4-month girls in the car in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart on Anvil Block Road around 9 p.m. Saturday.

Temperatures were still in the 80's at that time. Saturday was one of the hottest days of the year after highs reached into the 90's.

Authorities said the twins were in the car about 30 minutes before police arrived. They were able to pull the kids out of the car through the space between the window and the door.

Police said the kids are ok. They were transported to Southern Regional Hospital to be examined and  picked up by their father.

(WSB Radio) Two people were killed when their SUV hit another car and overturned several times on I-85 in Gwinnett, police said.

The victims were identified as Graciela Villamizar, 69, and Javier Mejia,15. Both victims are from Kennesaw.

The two were ejected from a 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer when the driver tried swerved to miss another car. The SUV hit a 1994 BMW in the next lane, said Cpl. Illana Spellman with Gwinnett police.

The driver of the BMW was not hurt. Six people in the SUV were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Spellman said.

The wreck happened just south of Jimmy Carter Blvd. around 1 p.m Saturday. I-85 southbound was blocked until about 4:30 p.m.

Alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the crash, police said.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Iran braced for the possibility of more bloody confrontations between protesters and security forces on the streets of Tehran as fresh images of brutality emerged Sunday despite the regime's attempts to impose a news blackout.

Witnesses claimed that numerous demonstrators were injured and several allegedly killed in clashes with black-clad police wielding guns, truncheons, tear gas and water cannons on Saturday as protests over disputed elections escalated into Iran's most serious internal unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Authorities did not confirm any deaths, and the reports from bloggers and Twitter users inside Iran could not immediately be verified.

In a separate incident, a state-run television channel reported that a suicide bombing at the shrine of the Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini killed at least two people and wounded eight. Another state channel broadcast images of broken glass, but no other damage or casualties, and showed a witness saying three people had been wounded.

State TV quoted an unidentified witness as saying a man wearing an explosives belt blew himself up at the mausoleum's main gate. ``Thank God, we did not have many casualties,'' the witness said.

The reports could be not independently evaluated due to government restrictions on journalists.

If proven true, the reports could enrage conservatives and bring strains among backers of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, whose protest movement claims widespread fraud in June 12 elections robbed him of victory and kept hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in office.

Thousands of protesters defied Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to march on waiting security forces. Amateur video showed the demonstrators pelting police with stones and shouting: ``Death to the dictator!''

The extent of injuries in the street battles was unclear. Some witnesses said dozens were hurt and gunfire was heard.

Scores of injured protesters who had sought medical treatment were arrested by security forces at hospitals in the capital, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran claimed.

It said doctors had been ordered to report protest-related injuries to the authorities, and that some seriously injured protesters had sought refuge at foreign embassies in a bid to evade arrest.

``The arrest of citizens seeking care for wounds suffered at the hands of security forces when they attempted to exercise rights guaranteed under their own constitution and international law is deplorable,'' said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesman for the campaign, denouncing the alleged arrests as ``a sign of profound disrespect by the state for the well-being of its own people.''

``The government of Iran should be ashamed of itself. Right now, in front of the whole world, it is showing its violent actions,'' he said.

An eery calm descended on Tehran early Sunday, where the streets were quiet and there were no signs that security forces were massing.

Saturday's clashes along one of Tehran's main avenues as described by witnesses had far fewer demonstrators than recent mass rallies for Mousavi. But they marked another blow to authorities who sought to intimidate protesters with harsh warnings and lines of black-clad police three deep in places.

The rallies also left questions about Mousavi's ability to hold together his protest movement.

Mousavi bewildered many followers by not directly replying to the ultimatum issued Friday by Khamenei, Iran's most powerful figure. His stern order to Mousavi and others: Call off demonstrations or risk being held responsible for ``bloodshed, violence and rioting.''

A police commander sharpened the message Saturday. Gen. Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghadam said more than a week of unrest and marches had become ``exhausting, bothersome and intolerable.'' He threatened a more ``serious confrontation'' if protesters return.

Mousavi's silence was broken after the melee with another call to annul the election results. But there was no mention of the clashes suggesting he wants to distance himself from the violence and possibly opening the door for more militant factions to break away.

Amateur video also showed clashes erupting in the southern city of Shiraz and witnesses reported street violence in Isfahan, south of Tehran.

Other footage posted in the hours after the crackdown showed blood pouring from a young woman's nose and mouth as frantic people tried to help her. Two separate videos of the incident, each shot from a different angle, were uploaded onto the social networking sites Facebook and YouTube. The YouTube video described the location of the incident as Amirabad, central Tehran, and said the woman had been fatally shot.

The Associated Press could not independently verify the content of the video, its location, or the date it was shot.

``I think the regime has taken an enormous risk in confronting this situation in the manner that they have,'' said Mehrdad Khonsari, a consultant to the London-based Center for Arab and Iranian Studies.

``Now they'll have to hold their ground and hope that people don't keep coming back,'' he added. ``But history has taught us that people in these situations lose their initial sense of fear and become emboldened by brutality.''

In Washington, President Barack Obama urged Iranian authorities to halt ``all violent and unjust actions against its own people.'' He said the United States ``stands by all who seek to exercise'' the universal rights to assembly and free speech.

Obama has offered to open talks with Iran to ease a nearly 30-year diplomatic freeze, but the upheaval could complicate any attempts at outreach.

Full details of the street battles could not be obtained because of Iranian media restrictions. But witnesses described scenes that could sharply escalate the most serious internal conflict since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Police first fired tear gas and water cannons at the protesters, witnesses said. Then came a second wave. It included volunteer militiamen on motorcycles chasing down demonstrators.

Witnesses claimed some marchers were beaten with batons by security forces or metal pipes wielded by the militiamen known as Basijis, who are directed by the powerful Revolutionary Guard.

On the streets, witnesses said some protesters also shouted ``Death to Khamenei!'' another sign of once unthinkable challenges to his authority.

Khamenei sided firmly with Ahmadinejad on Friday, saying the vote reflected popular will and ordering opposition leaders to end street protests.

Late Saturday, Ahmadinejad thanked Khamenei in a letter for his support, telling the supreme leader: ``Without a doubt, you strongly raised the flag of dignity and awareness of the Iranian nation against the arrogant.''

The government has blocked Web sites such as BBC Farsi, Facebook, Twitter and several pro-Mousavi sites used by Iranians to tell the world about protests and violence. Text messaging has not been working in Iran since last week, and cell phone service in Tehran is frequently down.

But that won't stifle the opposition networks, said Sami Al Faraj, president of the Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies.

``They can resort to whispering ... they can do it the old-fashioned way,'' he said.

Karimi reported from Tehran and Kole from Cairo. Associated Press Writers Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran, Brian Murphy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Sebastian Abbot in Cairo contributed to this report.

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

WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama on Saturday challenged Iran's government to halt a ``violent and unjust'' crackdown on dissenters, using his bluntest language yet to condemn Tehran's post-election response.

Obama has sought a measured reaction to avoid being drawn in as a meddler in Iranian affairs. Yet his comments have grown more pointed as the clashes intensified, and his latest remarks took direct aim at Iranian leaders.

``We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people,'' Obama said in a written statement. ``The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.''

Obama has searched for the right tone in light of political pressures on all sides. On Capitol Hill, Congress pressed him to condemn the Iranian government's response. In Iran, the leadership was poised to blame the U.S. for interference and draw Obama in more directly.

Obama met with advisers at the White House as developments in Iran grew more ominous, with police seen beating protesters.

``Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away,'' the president said, recalling a theme from the speech he gave in Cairo, Egypt, this month.

``The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government,'' Obama said. ``If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.''

Obama's comments came as protesters outside the White House waved Iranian flags and denounced Iranian government efforts to suppress the protesters.

Protesters in Iran have demanded that government cancel and rerun the June 12 elections that ended with a declaration of overwhelming victory for hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi says he won and claimed widespread fraud.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said there was no ballot rigging. He warned of a crackdown if protesters continued their massive street rallies.

Then on Saturday, police in Iran beat protesters and fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands who rallied in open defiance of Iran's clerical government. Witnesses described fierce clashes after some 3,000 protesters chanted ``Death to the dictator!'' and ``Death to dictatorship!'' in downtown Tehran.

Obama's criticism came one day after both houses of Congress voted overwhelmingly to condemn the actions by the Iranian government against demonstrators and moves to interfere with Internet and cell phone communications. That was seen in part as a veiled criticism of Obama's response, too.

The president already was on record as saying the United States stood behind those who were seeking justice in a peaceful way. He responded to critics that he hadn't been forceful enough in support of protesters, telling CBS News: ``The last thing that I want to do is to have the United States be a foil for those forces inside Iran who would love nothing better than to make this an argument about the United States. That's what they do.''

That was Friday, before the conflict in Iran appeared to deepen.

Obama has refrained from passing final judgment on the underlying question of the legitimacy of the election itself, although he has expressed ``deep concerns'' about it.

The president returned Saturday to his theme that the world is watching the way the Iranian government responds.

Obama cited Martin Luther King's statement that ``the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.''

``I believe that,'' the president said. ``The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian people's belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.''

Police clashed with protesters around Tehran immediately after the presidential election and gunfire from a militia compound left at least seven dead, but further force remained in check until Saturday's developments.

The National Iranian American Council, a leading organization of Iranian-Americans in the U.S., called for new elections while demanding an end to the violence ``against unarmed protesters and bystanders.''

``The only plausible way to end the violence is for new elections to be held with independent monitors ensuring its fairness,'' the group said in a statement. ``Such elections would be consistent with the Iranian constitution.''

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

By The Associated Press

A protest song from decades ago rings out from the green-clad crowds supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi. Motorcycles weave through Tehran with backers of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waving Iranian flags. Protesters run wildly from the sound of gunshots.

The epic events in Iran have brought countless images to the world many of them iconic scenes that will become part of history; others are the small but powerful vignettes that will be tucked away as personal narratives.

The AP gives a street-level view of a week that shook Iran.

Friday, June 12

Election Day and the excitement in Tehran is palpable. Never mind the broiling heat. Never mind the long lines. Bearded men, women in headscarves no one seems to complain. Families bring their children to the polling stations in a carnival atmosphere. Their enthusiasm is striking. People seem genuinely eager to cast their ballots and make their voices heard. After all, this is what Iranians fought for in the 1979 revolution that toppled the shah and installed the Islamic republic even though 60 percent of the population is too young to remember the struggle. As the day fades, however, signs of conflict loom. Soon after the polls close, Mousavi declares he has won. The government news agency then proclaims President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner. Young Ahmadinejad supporters cruise through the streets on motorbikes, waving Iranian flags and shouting ``Mousavi is dead.'' Battle lines are drawn.

Saturday, June 13

Yesterday's euphoria is gone. The day begins with an ominous calm. Mobile phones and the Internet the opposition's main organizing tools no longer function. At Mousavi's headquarters, volunteers are in shock. They tell journalists that government militiamen attacked their office overnight and fired tear gas on Vali Asr Street. Angry Mousavi supporters, some wearing makeshift green masks, set fire to mounds of tires and torch a bus. Riot police in body armor swarm Tehran's wide, leafy streets, blocking traffic and beating protesters men and women with rubber truncheons. News photographers cruise the streets in cars, snapping images from open windows before speeding away to elude the police. Still, life goes on, with shoppers wandering through stores in one block while protesters battle police in another. The whole city smells of burning tires.

Sunday, June 14

The fissures in Iranian society are laid bare. A confident Ahmadinejad appears before the media, comparing the protesters to soccer hooligans. A few minutes walk away, young men are setting fire to piles of tires to block the police. It's a tactic used a generation ago in the uprising against the shah. But not every Iranian supports the opposition. In Vali Asr Square, thousands cheer Ahmadinejad. A woman weeps with emotion when the president appears. As night falls, some neighborhoods are alight with bonfires or trash cans set ablaze. From the roofs, residents hurl stones at the police or chant ``Allahu Akbar,'' or ``God is Great,'' the battle cry of the 1979 revolution. Sidewalks in front of bank offices are littered with broken glass. Ringtones of mobile phones echo through the streets as Iranians call their friends to trade information. Gunfire crackled through streets of a few neighborhoods probably police or militiamen firing in the air to disperse crowds. At one hotel, a middle-aged desk clerk complains that the Iranian people have been wronged. Opposition is clearly spreading beyond the young, Westernized class in trendy north Tehran.

Monday, June 15

Mousavi calls his followers to a mass rally at Revolution Square. But will they come? Protests so far have been small. The risk of arrest or a beating is great. By mid-afternoon, tens of thousands of people march to the square, chanting ``death to dictatorship'' and ``where's my vote?'' It's people power Iranian style. Journalists mingle freely among the crowd, protected from the police by the sheer numbers. Government militiamen and riot police relax nearby. Neither the government nor the organizers want violence. Protest leaders urge the crowd to march silently and flash the ``V for victory'' sign. For the most part, the crowd complies. A protester points to two large men among the crowd. ``Take their picture,'' he urges a photographer. ``They are the ones beating people.'' Sounds of pre-revolutionary protest songs unheard in public for decades waft through the square. When Mousavi's convoy appears, the crowd swarms around it, chanting his name. All sorts of people are there grandmothers, government workers, clerics, women in black chador robes, taxi drivers, hip young adults. Suddenly, shots ring out. People begin to run wildly. State media reports seven people were killed. One of the victims a middle-aged man in khaki trousers and a white shirt is carried through the crowd with a gaping head wound.

Tuesday, June 16

The Culture Ministry telephones international news organizations and bans them from reporting from the streets. Foreign journalists are told their visas will not be renewed and they must leave the country. Nevertheless, thousands of Mousavi supporters pour into the streets. Iranians turn to social-networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Flickr to send reports and post shaky images from mobile phones on the Internet. Callers tell news agencies that the crowd along Vali Asr avenue stretches for a mile. Mousavi urges supporters on his Web site not to resort to violence and calls for another mass rally Wednesday. Ahmadinejad attends a regional summit in Russia, seeking to portray confidence.

Wednesday, June 17

With foreign television crews shut down, Iranians post amateur video on the Internet showing thousands marching along an overpass in Tehran in support of Mousavi. Marchers flash the victory sign or carry placards. In a show of solidarity with Mousavi, several Iranian soccer players wear green tape on their wrists the color of the opposition during a World Cup qualifying match in South Korea that was televised in Iran. Nighttime cries of ``Allahu akbar'' ring out even louder than before.

Thursday, June 18

Mousavi calls his followers back to the streets to protest the election and mourn those killed in clashes. Many protesters wear black the color of mourning with green headbands and scarves. The protest is largely silent. A few men recognized as members of the secret police mingle in the crowd, watching but not interfering. One person in the crowd is overheard telling the plainclothes police that the protests won't last and opponents will grow tired of marches. Mobile phone service goes down again in the capital.

Friday, June 19

One week after the voting, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warns the opposition to end street protests and declares that the results of the disputed balloting will surely stand. Nightfall brings cries of ``Death to the dictator!'' and ``Allahu akbar.'' But the stern warning pushes the opposition movement into a pivotal moment: either back down or risk a crushing response from police and the security forces. Mousavi and his allies take stock and plan a strategy that will have enormous implications for Iran and the world.

Associated Press journalists and other witnesses in Tehran contributed to this report.

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

ATLANTA (AP) A Fulton County jury has convicted two men of murder in the shooting death of a bystander during the defendants' dispute with another man.

The two men, 23-year old DeMarcus Armour and 22-year-old Damien Norris, were found guilty on Friday of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony for the shooting death of 16-year-old Bernard Glass in 2007.

Investigators say the defendants opened fired on another man while running behind one of the apartment buildings. Jones and his brother had been involved in an earlier shooting in which the defendants relative was shot.

Glass was struck while trying to protect a 3-year-old girl, who was not injured.

The defendants were sentenced to life plus five years in prison.

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

CANTON, Ga. (AP) A woman who drowned this week in Lake Allatoona has been identified as 23-year-old Shastin Rader, an assistant softball coach at Reinhardt College.

Divers found her body Wednesday in Lake Allatoona near Shoal Creek in Cherokee County. The search began several hours earlier near Knox Bridge Highway west of Canton.

Officials say the woman and two men were on a personal watercraft Tuesday night when they apparently hit a submerged tree stump. She was not wearing a life vest.

Investigators are still looking into the fatal accident.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Eric Mongerson's kids couldn't meet his partner of two years, much less join the couple for ice cream. His friends couldn't cheer on the children at concerts or Little League games.

The divorced dad spent thousands of dollars fighting an unusual ban imposed by a county judge in 2007 that kept the three minors from having any contact with his gay friends or partners.

He felt unfairly scrutinized every moment he spent with the kids, though he never was looking to make a statement. He just wanted to spend a day with his kids and his partner, Jose Sanchez together.

This Father's Day, he finally will.

``It's a fairy tale ending,'' he told The Associated Press after the Georgia Supreme Court overturned the ban.

The ban stemmed from the bitter divorce between Mongerson and his ex-wife, Sandy, who were married for almost 20 years and had four children. Mongerson said the marriage ended when his wife discovered he was gay in November 2005, but he would not elaborate.

The dispute played out the next few years in court, as Sandy's attorney claimed he had several affairs with other men and subjected the kids to an array of ``wholly inappropriate conduct'' during a trip to Arkansas.

The arguments helped sway Fayette County Superior Court Judge Christopher Edwards to award Sandy Kay Ehlers Mongerson custody of the children. The judge also issued a blanket order banning Eric Mongerson from ``exposing the children to his homosexual partners and friends.'' A fourth child is an adult over 18 and had no restrictions on contact with Mongerson or his gay friends.

Edwards said in his ruling that the decision was meant to reflect ``the trauma inflicted upon the children'' during the Arkansas trip.

Mongerson, though, said it only made him feel like he was being targeted for coming out of the closet. For almost two years, Mongerson said he feared losing more time with his kids and walked on egg shells during their weekly four-hour visits.

He didn't hide the fact he was gay from the kids, but they couldn't be around his partner, Sanchez. He was afraid to invite straight friends who might be accused of being gay. And he wouldn't dare bring his children to his place in downtown Atlanta, even though his wife once brought a boyfriend to his daughter's concert.

``I was always afraid of the 'What if?''' Mongerson said. ``I felt isolated, alone. She could go get friends, have them watch the kids, but I could never because I was gay.''

Sanchez, fearful of somehow violating the order, would run through all sorts of scenarios.

``What if you and I are on a plane, and your kids happen to be on the plane?'' he would ask incredulously. ``Do I jump out?''

Mongerson, a restaurant manager who routinely works 13-hour shifts into the night, said he scrounged together more than $10,000 to challenge the judge's decree, partly by wracking up debt on his credit cards.

In court arguments in January, attorneys Hannibal Heredia and Kimberli Reagin contended the judge had no evidence that exposing the children to Mongerson's gay friends would damage them.

On Monday, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously agreed. Justice Robert Benham wrote in the scathing 10-page ruling that the trial court abused its discretion without evidence of harm to the children. He concluded it ``flies in the face of our public policy that encourages divorced parents to participate in the raising of their children.''

The decision was quickly applauded by gay rights advocates who say the judge's order was rooted in decades-old misconceptions about gays and lesbians. Jeff Graham of Georgia Equality called the top court's decision a dose of ``common sense and fair mindedness.''

Sandy Mongerson's attorney, Lance McMillian, said the mother does not plan to appeal.

``My client is interested in putting it behind her,'' he said. ``Other than that, we don't have anything to say about it.''

As news of the court's ruling filtered down to Mongerson on Monday morning, he picked up the phone and called his partner. It didn't take long to work out their schedule for Father's Day, when they'll finally go out for that ice cream.

``I cry at commercials he cries before commercials come on,'' Sanchez said. ``He's very emotional. He said, 'Happy Father's Day. You get to meet my children.'''

On the Net:

http://www.gasupreme.us

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

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) Two University of Georgia fraternity brothers face charges that they hid the identity of two men seen running naked into the fraternity house.

Police said an officer saw the two streakers running toward the Beta Theta Pi house on Milledge Avenue shortly before 3 a.m. Friday, chased them and ordered them to stop. The police report says 21-year-old frat house resident Andrew Wilson McCauley held the door open for the naked men and then refused to unlock the door for the officer until another man, 22-year-old Edward Morrissette Boit, instructed him to do so, according to the report.

McCauley and Boit were both charged with obstructing a law enforcement officer for allegedly refusing to identify the two streakers.

Information from: Athens Banner-Herald, http://www.onlineathens.com

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

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) The NAACP has held a rally in Savannah aimed at sparing the life of death-row inmate Troy Davis, who was convicted of killig a police officer 20 years ago.

NAACP President Ben Jealous led a small, but vocal group Saturday in 38th Street Park as part of the organizations ``I Am Troy'' Campaign.

Jealous called on District Attorney Larry Chisholm to ``Clean up the mistakes of his predecessors'' and reopen the case. Several witnesses who identified Davis as the killer of Officer Mark McPhail in the trial have recanted their testimony.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hopes to get 10,000 signatures on a petition urging Chisholm to step in.

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

ATLANTA (AP) About 300 demonstrators, mostly Iranians living in the U.S., gathered outside the CNN Center on Saturday to protest against violence stemming from disputed elections in Iran and call for democracy.

Carrying signs declaring ``Stop the Violence,'' ``Stop Police Brutality in Tehran,'' and ``No More Murders,'' the demonstrators chanted slogans and cheered wildly every time a passing car honked its horn in sympathy.

Organizers said they were not supporting any candidate or political party in the Iranian election.

``We are here to condemn the violence,'' said a man gathering signatures on a petition. He would identify himself only as Arash, and said he was a 26-year-old graduate student at Georgia Tech.

Earlier Saturday, thousands of protesters defied Iran's highest authority and marched on waiting security forces that fought back with baton charges, tear gas and water cannons. A state-run television channel reported a suicide bombing at the shrine of the Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini killed at least two people and wounded eight.

The Atlanta demonstrators were mostly dressed in Western clothing, although a few women wore traditional Islamic dress. Many wore green T-shirts, arm bands or ribbons to signify their solidarity with demonstrators in Iran protesting against the re-election one week ago of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Many supporters of his chief opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, say the election was rigged.

Dozens of the Atlanta demonstrators also carried placards saying ``Where is My Vote'' and ``Free Iran.''

In a news release announcing the Atlanta rally, Peter Tadeo, a law student at Georgia State University, said ``demonstrations in Iran over the presidential elections have shown the potential for a fully democratic Iran.''

``Not only Iranians around the world, but many Westerners as well, have seen the blatant corruption in the so-called elections,'' he said.

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

BOSTON (AP) Derek Lowe returned to face the franchise he helped win the 2004 World Series and ran into the ace of the '07 title.

Josh Beckett allowed just five singles for his first shutout since joining the Red Sox, and Jason Varitek doubled twice against his ex-batterymate to lead Boston to a 3-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.

Lowe received a loud ovation when he left in the seventh, but Beckett's came at the end of the game, and it was even louder.

``A nice gesture by the fans. They clearly didn't have to do it. They didn't come to watch me,'' said Lowe, who spent 7.5 years with the Red Sox and earned the victory in the clinching games of all three 2004 postseason rounds. ``They're great fans. They're very loyal. But you tip your hat to Beckett. It was a great game, but it was a loss.''

Beckett (8-3) rebounded after giving up a season-high 11 hits in his last outing, throwing just 94 pitches for his first complete game of the year and the sixth of his career. He struck out seven, walked none and only allowed one runner to reach second base to win for the sixth time in seven decisions.

``I thought he did everything,'' Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. ``He was economical. That was fun to watch.''

It was Boston's second shutout of the season the first shutout for a Red Sox pitcher ever in interleague play. The Braves lost for the seventh time in 10 games.

In his first appearance at Fenway since the 2004 AL championship series and his first-ever game against the Red Sox Lowe (7-5) allowed three runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out two. Boston scored single runs in the fifth and sixth and again in the seventh to chase Lowe, but the Fenway crowd rose to give him a standing ovation as he walked to the visitor's dugout and he waved his cap in appreciation.

``The Boston fans they don't forget their guys,'' Braves manager Bobby Cox said.

And Francona is among them.

``He was the guy we remembered when he was going good,'' the Red Sox manager said. ``When guys are here and they go to the Yankees, they're probably not going to cheer them. But fans here remember what guys have done and I think that was good. So often we forget.''

Varitek and Lowe came to the Red Sox in 1997 a lopsided trade for heartbreak closer Heathcliff Slocumb, and together they became the core of the team that would lead the franchise to the '04 World Series title. Lowe was bounced from the Red Sox rotation after struggling down the stretch but was pulled back out of the bullpen as Boston and the New York Yankees engaged in an epic, seven-game AL championship series.

Lowe and Beckett were locked in a scoreless game until the fifth, when Varitek doubled off center fielder Nate McLouth's glove and scored on Nick Green's double. J.D. Drew doubled to lead off the sixth and scored on Kevin Youkilis' single to make it 2-0. Varitek doubled and scored again in the seventh.

``My buddy, Varitek, who I've never pitched against before,'' Lowe said.

NOTES: 3B Mike Lowell got the day off and might get another on Sunday because he's ``feeling beat up,'' Francona said. ... The game lasted a brief 2 hours, 11 minutes. ... Both center fielders made diving catches: Jacoby Ellsbury grabbed Jeff Francoeur's liner before sliding short of the Green Monster in the third. McLouth caught Jason Bay's sinking liner just off the grass in the second. ... It was Beckett's first shutout since Aug. 13, 2005, when he was with the Marlins.

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

(WSB Radio) Three people were taken to local hospitals after what police describe as a random shooting in Northwest Atlanta.

Authorities said someone walked up to the Neighborhood Grocery on Northside Dr. at Meldrum St. around 5 a.m. Saturday and just opened fire.

Two men and a woman were hit. Atlanta police officer Eric Schwartz told WSB one victim was shot in the back, another in the leg, and a third in the ankle. Two of the victims were transported to Grady Hospital, while the other drove with a friend to Emory University Hospital Midtown.

Witness told police they saw someone drive away from the scene in a gray vehicle. Police said they have no motive and the victims don't know the shooter. There was no argument before the gunman opened fire, police said.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Iran's opposition leader received another stern warning Saturday not to encourage his supporters to take to the streets a day after the country's top leader sought to end the deepening election crisis by effectively declaring President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner.

Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have planned a massive rally in Tehran later Saturday, but it was unclear if he would attend and how large the rally would be after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered opposition leaders on Friday to end street protests or be held responsible for any ``bloodshed and chaos'' to come.

Iran's Interior Ministry reiterated the warning to Mousavi on Saturday, saying he would ``be held responsible for the consequences of any illegal gatherings.'' The ministry also accused the 67-year-old former prime minister of supporting protests that ``have lead to the disruption of security and public order,'' State Security Council secretary, Abbas Mohtaj, said in a statement on the ministry's Web site.

The warnings place Mousavi at a pivotal moment. He can either back down or risk a crushing response from police and the forces at Khamenei's disposal the powerful Revolutionary Guard and their volunteer citizen militia, the basij.

There also are questions about Mousavi's ability to control his own followers, many who are waiting for a clear response to Khamenei's edict on Friday before Saturday's planned rally.

Mousavi, who accuses the government of widespread voter fraud in the June 12 election, and the two other candidates who ran against Ahmadinejad were to meet with Iran's Guardian Council on Saturday. The council, an unelected body of 12 clerics and Islamic law experts close to Khamenei, investigates voter fraud claims.

The council has said it was prepared to conduct a limited recount of ballots at sites where candidates claim irregularities. It not clear, however, if they have initiated any investigations.

It also was unclear if the planned rally on Saturday would take place, and if so, how many people would attend. Hundreds of thousands of Mousavi supporters have flooded Tehran streets during several massive marches earlier this week that recall the scale of protests during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In a first sign of possible resistance to Khamenei's orders came shortly after nightfall in Tehran Friday. Cries of ``Death to the dictator!'' and ``Allahu akbar'' ``God is great'' rang from rooftops in what's become a nightly ritual of opposition unity.

Since the June 12 election, Mousavi has become the figurehead for a broad collection of demonstrators from the most liberal-leaning reformists to religious conservatives. Some could be prepared to take their protests to the limit, but many others have no interest in an all-out mutiny against the country's Islamic system.

Khamenei was blunt Friday about what a wider fight would bring warning those who ``want to ignore the law or break the law'' will face the consequences.

Police clashed with protesters in running battles around Tehran immediately after the election and the basij militia had a reported role in attacks at the university. Gunfire from a basij compound in Tehran also left at least seven people dead Monday.

But the full force of the police and Revolutionary Guard has remained in check. And this was Khamenei's implicit message since the Guard and the vast volunteer militia force it controls is under direct command of the ruling clerics.

A spokesman for Mousavi said Friday the opposition leader was not under arrest but was not allowed to speak to journalists or stand at a microphone at rallies. Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf told the AP from Paris it's even becoming difficult to reach people close to Mousavi. He said he has not heard from Mousavi's camp since Khamenei's address.

Iranian authorities have placed strict limits on the ability of foreign media to cover recent events, banning reporting from the street and allowing only phone interviews and information from officials sources such as state TV.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other European Union leaders expressed dismay over the threat of a crackdown.

Both houses of the U.S. Congress approved a resolution condemning ``the ongoing violence'' by the Iranian government and its suppression of the Internet and cell phones.

In an interview taped Friday with CBS, Obama said he is very concerned by the ``tenor and tone'' of Khamenei's comments. He also said that how Iran's leaders ``approach and deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to be heard'' will signal ``what Iran is and is not.''

The crowds in Tehran and elsewhere have been able to organize despite a government clampdown on the Internet and cell phones. The government has blocked certain Web sites, such as BBC Farsi, Facebook, Twitter and several pro-Mousavi sites that are conduits for Iranians to tell the world about protests and violence.

Text messaging has not been working in Iran since last week, and cell phone service in Tehran is frequently down.

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

ATLANTA (AP) The Hawks' second straight playoff appearance left Atlanta general manager Rick Sund with the team's lowest first draft pick since 2003.

Sund says he has a relatively simple strategy for the No. 19 pick in Thursday's NBA draft. ``When picking after the top six, you want to pretty much look at the best player available,'' he said this week.

The Hawks face pivotal decisions with several free agents.

Point guard Mike Bibby is an unrestricted free agent. Another starter, forward Marvin Williams, is a restricted free agent. Guard Flip Murray, who averaged 12.2 points as the top scorer off the bench, and backup center Zaza Pachulia also are restricted free agents.

It may be difficult for the Hawks to re-sign both Bibby, who made $14.9 million this season, and Williams, who made $7.4 million. Pachulia made $4 million.

Coach Mike Woodson said the trade for Bibby in the 2007-08 season was the final piece that sent the Hawks to their first playoff appearance since 1999. The loss of Bibby would create a huge void.

Sund says he'd like to keep as many players as possible.

``Of the eight teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs, we were the youngest,'' Sund said. ``Our goal is to try to get as many players back as we can within the confines of the economic pie we have. That presents some challenges. You have to do the best you can with the situation you have. We have a lot of free agents this year.''

Long-suffering Hawks fans don't have to be reminded of Bibby's value.

Point guard was a weak spot before acquiring Bibby. Former general manager Billy Knight passed on point guards Chris Paul and Deron Williams when making Marvin Williams the No. 2 overall pick in 2005. Deron Williams and Paul were the next two picks.

Marvin Williams, who averaged 13.9 points and 6.3 rebounds last season, is only 22. He hasn't matched Paul's All-Star credentials, but he is viewed by the Hawks as an important part of a young nucleus that also includes center Al Horford, forward Josh Smith and guard Joe Johnson.

Bibby, 31, averaged 14.9 points and 5 assists as the Hawks finished 47-35 and were eliminated by Cleveland in the conference semifinals.

The Hawks have consistently protected their young players in their building process, but it's not clear how age might affect offseason decisions on free agents.

Michael Gearon Jr., one of the team's owners, said in a recent interview ``Bibby to me is a young guy.''

If Sund expects Bibby to receive long-term offers from other teams, the GM might look for a less expensive option at point guard through free agency or the draft and focus on re-signing Williams, Pachulia and Murray. Acie Law, who played only 10 minutes per game in his second season, could be ready for a more important role at point guard.

The Hawks could try to clear salary room for both Williams and Bibby by trading their first-round pick, perhaps in a package with point guard Speedy Claxton. Claxton, bothered by persistent knee problems, appeared in only two games this season after missing the 2007-08 season.

Smith's name is consistently mentioned in any moves.

But the Hawks quickly matched the restricted free agent Smith's offer sheet from Memphis last summer and are not expected to part with the Atlanta native whose blocked shots and powerful jams make him one of the team's most popular players.

Smith, 23, was the team's most productive player in the playoffs, averaging 17.1 points and 7.5 rebounds. He averaged 15.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in the regular season.

Sund would not comment on trade rumors.

A trio of North Carolina players point guard Ty Lawson and forwards Tyler Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington are among the players who might be available with the No. 19 overall pick. NBAdraft.net projects the Hawks choosing Ellington.

Sund also might consider two high-scoring Georgia natives, Kentucky guard Jodie Meeks of Norcross, Ga., and Florida State guard Toney Douglas of Jonesboro, Ga.

The No. 19 pick is the Hawks' lowest first selection since taking Boris Diaw at No. 21 in the 2003 draft.

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

ATLANTA (AP) A former Atlanta police sergeant was sentenced Friday to 18 months in federal prison for breaking into and searching an apartment without a warrant in a case that grew out of the federal probe of the fatal police shooting of a 92-year-old woman.

Wilbert Stallings, 45, also was sentenced to two years of supervised release after pleading guilty last year to a federal charge of conspiracy to violate civil rights.

Stallings and other officers used a warrant to raid an apartment in October 2005. Then, after finding drugs in nearby bushes, they decided to break down the door of an adjoining apartment they did not have a warrant to search, prosecutors said.

When they found no drugs in the adjoining apartment either, Stallings told the officers to shut the apartment's door in hopes that the resident would assume it was a break-in, according to court documents.

``Today's sentence should send a message that police officers are sworn not just to enforce the law but, like all citizens, to obey it,'' said U.S. Attorney David Nahmias.

Prosecutors say the crime was part of a larger pattern of misconduct by Stallings and his team that was uncovered during the investigation into the shooting of Kathryn Johnston during a 2006 botched raid at her home.

After receiving an incorrect tip from a known drug dealer, police used a ``no-knock'' warrant to enter Johnston's house to look for drugs. As they tried to break in, Johnston fired a single shot through the door with a rusty revolver and the officers fired 39 bullets in return.

The shooting prompted an investigation of the Atlanta Police Department and closer scrutiny on no-knock warrants, which are usually used to search for drugs and weapons. The department tightened its warrant requirements and shook up its narcotics unit.

Federal prosecutors say the misconduct didn't stop at the illegal break-in. They say Stallings allowed his team to get paid on the side by working ``extra jobs'' and they were allowed to pad payment vouchers.

The officers also used unregistered drug informants as ``confidential and reliable'' sources to sway judges to give them search warrants, according to court documents.

The investigation has yielded federal prison sentences for three other former Atlanta police officers Jason R. Smith, Gregg Junnier and Arthur Tesler. The three, who were involved in the Johnston raid, received sentences ranging from five years to 10 years in February.

Nahmias said, ``Sergeant Stallings should feel fortunate that the resident in this case was not home and not armed, or this civil-rights conspiracy could have had the same tragic end as the one that took the life of Kathryn Johnston the following year.''

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

MONROE, Ga. (AP) A multimillion-dollar food charity under FBI investigation for possible financial misdeeds has settled a lawsuit with two dissident board members, a newspaper reported Friday.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday that the lawsuit against Angel Food Ministries in Walton County Superior Court concluded with an exchange of money and promises to make changes to protect the charity's finances.

The suit filed by board members Craig Atnip and David Prather accused Angel Food founder Joe Wingo and his family of enriching themselves by at least $2.7 million from the charity and directing $600,000 from Angel Food to their church as a housing allowance.

``I'm glad it's over. Now we can move ahead,'' Juda Engelmayer, an Angel Food spokesman, told the newspaper.

Prather, a former Angel food executive, said he thought the suit accomplished what it set out to do, to expose and correct bad behaviors at the nonprofit, which sells $140 million of cut-rate food through churches a year.

Wingo and wife Linda founded the ministry in 1994 to help 34 families hurt by plant closings in the manufacturing town of Monroe, about 45 miles east of Atlanta.

Under the reported agreement, Angel Food must complete a forensic audit and company credit cards used by the Wingos must be canceled.

The agreement says a jet owned by Joe Wingo and leased to Angel Food at a $10,000 a month profit must be turned over to the company; Wingo's son Andy is barred from doing business with the organization, and Angel Food must pay $45,000 in Atnip's and Prather's legal fees.

As part of the agreement to drop the suit, the newspaper said Prather will leave his position with $142,500 in salary, and Atnip, a former Angel Food CEO, will get $350,000.

An FBI investigation into the company continues. The FBI seized documents from Angel Food in February.

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

ATLANTA (AP) President Obama on Friday nominated U.S. District Judge Beverly B. Martin of Atlanta to fill a vacant seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Martin, a former U.S. attorney in Macon, has been on the district court bench since 2000, when she was appointed by President Clinton.

If confirmed by the Senate, the 53-year-old Martin would fill a spot on the 12-member appeals court left by Judge R. Lanier Anderson III, who assumed senior status Feb. 1.

She is Obama's first appointee to the court, which hears federal appeals from Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Among the other 11 active judges, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan appointed one each, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton four a piece, and George W. Bush one, Judge William H. Pryor Jr., who was the last to be named.

Martin was one of two appeals court nominations by Obama on Friday. He also nominated Judge Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. of New Jersey for a seat in the Third Circuit, based in Philadelphia.

``Judge Greenaway and Judge Martin have distinguished themselves as first-rate jurists with unflagging integrity and evenhandedness,'' Obama said. ``I am grateful for their service to the states of New Jersey and Georgia and look forward to adding their considerable wisdom and experience to the Third and 11th Circuit Courts.''

Martin grew up in Macon, graduated from Stetson University and the University of Georgia School of Law.

After private practice in Macon, she worked for 10 years as an assistant state attorney general, then served as assistant U.S. attorney and then as the chief prosecutor in the Middle District of Georgia.

As a federal prosecutor, Martin served as the government's lead counsel in a variety of criminal matters, including drug conspiracy, firearms possession, and counterfeiting cases.

Her time on the U.S. District Court bench has been largely uncontroversial. Her rulings include one upholding Georgia's method of lethal injection for executions, in April 2008.

In February 2006, she also rejected an appeal by Wayne Williams, who was blamed in a string of child murders and disappearances in Atlanta 25 years ago, and in 2002 rejected a claim by environmental groups that state and federal agencies violated the Clean Air Act by approving metro Atlanta's $36 billion transportation plan.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Tom Glavine said Friday he plans to ``hang out'' for the rest of the summer but is not announcing his retirement.

The Atlanta Braves released the 43-year-old Glavine on June 3 after finishing rehabilitation from offseason surgery on his left elbow and shoulder.

Glavine sent a text message to The Associated Press on Friday saying he won't pitch this year. He says he will ``evaluate things at the end of the season.''

The two-time Cy Young winner's career record of 305-203 includes five 20-win seasons. He was the winning pitcher in the Braves' clinching victory over Cleveland in the 1995 World Series.

Glavine told MLB.com he will not follow through with plans to file a grievance against the Braves. He has said he believes he was released for financial reasons.

The Braves said Glavine was released because all the team's reports from his minor league rehab showed he could not succeed in the major leagues.

Glavine would have received a $1 million bonus if he had been activated from the disabled list. His release helped clear the way for the Braves to call up top pitching prospect Tommy Hanson and came on the same day the team acquired center fielder Nate McLouth from Pittsburgh.

According to the collective-bargaining agreement, players can't be released because of financial reasons.

``I don't believe for a minute that it was totally a performance-related issue, which I'm totally fine with, but I would have appreciated the honesty,'' Glavine said earlier this month.

Glavine pitched his first 16 seasons for the Braves, then signed with the New York Mets for a five-year stint beginning in 2003. He returned to Atlanta with a one-year deal last season.

Glavine's 2008 season ended with surgery on his left elbow and shoulder. His 2009 comeback suffered a setback in April when he experienced discomfort in the shoulder while pitching in a rehab game for Double-A Mississippi.

Glavine said two days after his release he had ``a couple of phone calls in regards to pitching'' this season. He wouldn't identify the teams but said he would be reluctant to leave his family behind in Atlanta.

``It's going to take a lot to get me away from that,'' he said. ``I enjoy going to my kids' hockey games and ball games and all that other stuff. On the one hand, I'm kinda looking forward to having a summer for the first time in 25 years. It's just not the way I envisioned doing it.''

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

ATLANTA (AP) Georgia has received its highest marks yet for improving child welfare in Fulton and DeKalb counties in a progress report issued Friday by court monitors charged with overseeing reforms of the agencies as part of a 2005 consent decree.

``Today, there are fewer children in foster care, more children are being placed with relatives, the recurrence of child maltreatment is well below the national average and the average caseload per caseworker has significantly decreased,'' Department of Human Resources Commissioner B.J. Walker said in a news release in response to the report. ``These aren't just figures on a piece of paper these are achievements that have enhanced the lives of Georgia's children.''

That report used 28 outcomes to measure the DHR's Division of Family and Children Services' performance on things like keeping foster children in safe settings and placing them in permanent homes quickly from July 1 through Dec. 31. The report says DFCS' overall performance was the best measured in the consent decree's six reporting periods.

``The state continued to be successful in relatively quickly returning recently removed children to their families or finding them new, permanent families,'' read a copy of the report provided to The Associated Press by a DHR spokeswoman. ``With the Period VI performance, 62 percent of the children entering custody since the consent decree had, by the end of December 2008, exited to reunification or to another family-connected permanency.''

The monitoring is the result of a 2002 class action lawsuit.

Children's Rights, a New York-based advocacy group, filed the original challenge in 2002, claiming that Georgia's child protection agencies were overburdened and mismanaged. The group contended that children languished for months in dangerous shelters, and others were living in dirty and overcrowded conditions.

Officials settled the court case in 2005, agreeing to monitoring and periodic progress reports.

Friday's report showed the number of children achieving permanency after an episode in foster care improved, with the rate of re-entry into foster care within 12 months standing at 6.5 percent. That surpassed the performance threshold of 8.6 percent for the first time.

``The progress highlighted in this report is really encouraging,'' Ira Lustbader, associate director of Children's Rights, said Friday.

``Are there still real problems in the system? Sure there are,'' he said. ``But we'll continue to meet and put pressure on state officials to address them.''

The nonprofit recently accused DFCS of contempt of court for not finding homes for 500 children who have been in foster care for three years or more.

In December, Atlanta U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob ordered child welfare officials to do a better job of finding permanent homes for those children, some of whom are older or have emotional problems.

DFCS has to establish a special unit to coordinate efforts for intensive individual reviews and strategies to find the children permanent homes.

The report said state officials could improve the number of caseloads per case manager, the timeliness of permanency hearings and the monitoring of maltreatment reports in DFCS-supervised foster homes.

On the Net:

Children's Rights: www.childrensrights.org/

Georgia DFACS: http://dfcs.dhr.georgia.gov/portal/site/DHR-DFCS/

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

The wave of bank failures is expected to continue throughout the year as the weak housing market and rising unemployment rate cause more borrowers to default on their loans.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of Southern Community Bank of Fayetteville, Ga.,

United Community Bank of Blairsville, Ga., will assume Southern Community bank's five branches, its $307 million in deposits, and nearly all of its $377 million in assets.

The FDIC will retain the remaining unacquired assets to sell later. Te FDIC has entered into a ss-sharing agreement to maximize returns on the assets and minimize disruptions for loan customers.

The FDIC said it estimates that Southern Community Bank's failure will cost $114 million.

The FDIC also shut down a bank in North Carolina and Kansas.

The number of banks on the FDIC's list of ``problem'' institutions leaped to 305 in the first quarter the highest number since 1994, during the savings and loan crisis from 252 in the fourth quarter. The combined assets of those banks rose to $220 billion from $159 billion.

To be sure, most ``problem'' institutions don't fail, but the pace of failures has been much higher this year than in past years. The 40 institutions that have closed this year compare with 25 in all of 2008 and just three in 2007.

One silver lining is that while more banks are being shuttered this year than last, the size of the banks has tended to be smaller.

The largest U.S. bank failure ever was last year: Seattle-based thrift Washington Mutual Inc. fell in September, with about $307 billion in assets. It was acquired by JPMorgan Chase Co. for $1.9 billion in a deal brokered by the FDIC.

The costliest bank failure was also in 2008, when the big California lender IndyMac Bank got seized and cost the FDIC's insurance fund an estimated $10.7 billion.

The FDIC expects U.S. bank failures to cost the deposit insurance fund around $70 billion through 2013.

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

BOSTON (AP) Daisuke Matsuzaka's latest chance to stop his struggles may be his last for a while.

``If I keep going like this, I have no right to be a part of this rotation,'' Matsuzaka said through an interpreter after being shelled from the start in the Atlanta Braves' 8-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

He fell to 1-5 with an 8.23 ERA. And with John Smoltz due for his first start next Thursday after six rehab outings, Matsuzaka could be the odd man out.

``We have the ability to be a little flexible in what we do. (I) don't know if it makes a lot of sense to do something before the off day,'' Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.

Matsuzaka gave up a homer on the first pitch of the game to Nate McLouth. He let the first five batters reach base, got yanked in the fifth inning, allowed six runs and lost to his less heralded countryman, Kenshin Kawakami.

Kawakami cost the Braves just $23 million for three years when he signed in January, far less than the $103 million $51 for the right to negotiate with Matsuzaka and $52 million for a six-year contract that Dice-K cost the Red Sox.

Kawakami (4-6) allowed two hits and two runs in six innings, the ninth straight start in which he gave up three earned runs or less.

``He was pounding the strike zone. We had a great game plan,'' catcher Brian McCann said. ``He rises to the occasion.''

Jason Bay got both of Boston's hits off Kawakami before three relievers held the Red Sox hitless.

``A two-hitter in this ballpark, you don't see that very often,'' Braves manager Bobby Cox said. ``He made good pitches.''

Boston still has the AL's best home record at 23-10 but kept struggling at the plate after managing just one hit, a homer by Kevin Youkilis, in a 2-1 loss to Florida on Thursday night that ended in the top of the sixth because of rain.

Garret Anderson went 3 for 3 with four RBIs as the Braves finally gave Kawakami support with seven runs while he was in the game. They had scored just 24 in his other 69 1-3 innings.

``We were swinging early,'' McLouth said. ``I guess people had the feeling they wanted to be aggressive and we had pretty good results.''

Atlanta won its second straight game since breaking a four-game losing streak with a 7-0 win at Cincinnati in which McLouth had two hits, a homer and four RBIs.

The Braves came out swinging against Matsuzaka, who usually runs up high pitch counts, and had three hits on the first four pitches the total amount of hits the Red Sox had Thursday and Friday.

The crowd booed.

``Everybody knows that I haven't been performing well,'' Matsuzaka said. ``As a professional, I have to accept (it) when I get a reaction like that.''

After McLouth's 12th homer this season and third in 14 games since being traded by Pittsburgh, Atlanta loaded the bases on a single by Yunel Escobar, a double by Chipper Jones and a walk to McCann. Anderson's walk made it 2-0, but Matsuzaka escaped with a strikeout and double play, extending his streak to 17 straight hitless at bats against with the bases loaded.

The Braves added two runs in the fourth on McLouth's RBI double and Escobar's run-scoring single. They made it 6-0 in the fifth on consecutive doubles by McCann and Anderson that drove Matsuzaka from the game, and a sacrifice fly by Casey Kotchman off Justin Masterson.

The Red Sox finally scored in the sixth with two outs on Bay's 18th homer, a two-run shot that gave him an AL best 65 RBIs.

Anderson drove in the last two runs with a single in the seventh and a sacrifice fly in the ninth.

NOTES: Boston SS Jed Lowrie, coming back from wrist surgery, begins a rehab stint Sunday at Triple-A Pawtucket. Two weeks there ``is not out of line,'' Francona said. ``We're not going to rush him.'' ... The teams have faced other in 11 of the 13 seasons since interleague play began. ... Matsuzaka didn't reach the sixth inning for the sixth time in eight starts. ... Derek Lowe, who won the deciding game of the Red Sox 2004 World Series sweep of St. Louis, pitches for Atlanta on Saturday night against Josh Beckett, the winner of the opening game of their 2007 World Series sweep of Colorado.

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

ATLANTA (AP) With steady playing time, Sancho Lyttle is sure she can keep filling up the stat sheet.

Lyttle scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds Friday night to lead the Dream to a 93-81 victory and the Washington Mystic's first loss of the season.

Washington was the only unbeaten team left in the WNBA.

``People are going to start to see now that I can put up good numbers,'' said Lyttle, who had 20 points and 15 rebounds in Atlanta's last game against Connecticut on Sunday. ``I'm just going to keep on hustling and getting on the boards.''

Chamique Holdsclaw, selected by the Mystics with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1999 draft, scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds. Erika DeSouza had 13 points and Iziane Castro Marques and Nikki Teasley each added 12.

The height of DeSouza, Lyttle and Michelle Snow each at least 6-foot-4 gave the Mystic trouble all night. Washington was outrebounded 46-31. The Dream also shot 34-for-74 from the field (46 percent) for the game, holding Washington to 39.7 shooting (25 of 63).

``They killed us on the offensive boards and in the paint,'' said Alana Beard, who led Washington (3-1) with 20 points and three steals. ``We have to protect the paint. Those are the easy baskets and we did not do that tonight.''

Matee Ajavon had 13 points for the Mystic. Monique Currie, Nakia Sanford and Crystal Langhorne each added 10 points.

Marques' layup and mid-range jumper with 5:15 left in the third quarter to give the Dream a 53-42 lead, prompting Washington coach Julie Plank to call a timeout.

But the timeout didn't stop the surging Dream, who are one victory away from tying last season's win total. Atlanta finished with a 4-30 record in 2008, setting a league record for losses.

``Our defense carried us through,'' Dream coach Marynell Meadors said. ``We just get after it. Our height and size and energy on the boards gave them problems. That's going to be our key for the rest of the season.''

Atlanta (3-2) pulled ahead by 16 points with 2:33 left in the third quarter after Lyttle's layup, Holdsclaw's jumper from the corner and a 3-pointer by Teasley. DeSouza's layup off Coco Miller's no-look pass with 9:10 left in the fourth quarter gave the Dream a 70-49 advantage their largest of the game.

The Dream's 93 points was the second-highest point total in the history of the second-year franchise.

With the score tied at 28-28 in the second quarter, Atlanta went on a 13-6 run to close the first half.

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

(WSB Radio) Two more Gwinnett County police officers have resigned after a Waffle House waiter was tasered by one of them.

33-year-old Gary Miles, resigned on Thursday night, shortly before being arrested and charged with battery and violation of oath of office.

In February, 22-year-old Daniel Wilson claimed he was tasered by Miles, who came in to eat at the Waffle House on the Loganville Highway in Loganville.

"There was no type of provocation on Danny's part at all - just that, for lack of a better phrase, just got a bad ass cop that took his badge too far, took the power of the badge too far," said Puglise.

This was not an isolated incident.  Puglise says Wilson had been bullied before by Miles.

"Evidently, he has visited this Waffle House and in the presence of Danny, has proceeded to pull out the taser, not touch him physically, but proceeded to show off - in front of his supervisors with taser, by clicking it making the electrifying sound and using it as a toy.  Of course, it's not," said Puglise.

Gwinnett County Police were not notified about the incident until they were notified by Wilson's attorney, Mike Puglise.

"Danny came to me immediately.  He didn't know what to do.  He has the utmost respect for police officers - and he said this happened to me," said Puglise.  "Me, as a former police officer and an attorney, I was in shock and disbelief.  I had no clue that this really happened the way that Danny was telling me," said Puglise.

"I said I just can't believe this.  He showed me the marks on his back; and my first response was - son, what did you do? He said I didn't do anything."

"In our own investigation, before we made these allegations - these are serious allegations against a Corporal, a ranking officer and two ranking sergeants.   

They got a copy of the video of the incident, but it took Wilson and his attorney several months to get a copy of the video. 

Once Gwinnett Police were notified, they did an internal investigation and arrested the six-year veteran.  The two sergeants, 39-year-old Joey Parkerson and 41-year-oold Christopher Parry, have resigned.  They will not face criminal charges.

Gwinnett County Police Spokesman Corporal David Schiralli tells WSB they don't these kinds of incidents lightly.

"We take this incident and any incidents like this very seriously.  We do investigate them thoroughly, and if there is any wrongdoing on our part, we take the necessary actions towards those officers and discipline them appropriately," said Schiralli.

Puglise says he's grateful that the department listened to his story and did an investigation.

"His purpose in this case isn't one to bring remorse against or and indictment against all the Gwinnett County police officers.  That's not his case.  He wanted to take these rogue police officers off the street," said Puglise.

June 19, 2009

(WSB Radio)  The former principal of Atherton Elementary School, in DeKalb County, is under arrest, charged in the CRCT cheating probe.

James Berry resigned as principal last week, after the allegation of altering answers surfaced.

Doretha Alexander, an assistant principal at the school, was also arrested.

Berry was arrested this morning. Alexander turned herself in last night.

"Falsifying and altering government documents," says DeKalb County Chief Assistant District Attorney Don Geary when talking about the charges they face.  And the possible penalty?  "Two to ten years," Geary tells WSB.

State officials began their probe of Atherton and three other schools in the state after they discovered  a high number of eraser marks on CRCT tests.

In addition to Atherton an investigation was launched into the grades of students at a school in Fulton County, one in Atlanta and one in the city of Brunswick.

DeKalb school officials say that no students and no teachers have been implicated in the changing of answers on the math portion of the CRCT test.

The standardized test helps determine if a school meets federal standards.

According to state and local officials, an audit by the Governor's Office of Student Achievement revealed that someone at those four schools changed the answers for the students.

At Atherton, for example, the audit found that half of the school's fifth-graders did not pass a state test in the spring.  But, when the 32 students took the test again, 26 passed and with scores at the highest level.

(WSB Radio) The show will go on. Even when fire burns down the building.

The band Perpetual Groove was supposed to play on the venerable Georgia Theatre stage Saturday night. Friday's blaze took care of that. Instead, to group took its show and its fans to the Classic Center in Athens. The band turned their Saturday night gig into a fund raiser for those that may never work in the Theatre again.

"We have a lot of friends at the Georgia Theatre," band manager Ben Ferguson told WSB-TV. "We are going to be donating those proceeds to the staff to help them transition into new jobs that they may have."

Many fans did hear about the change and turned out to help the Classic City's music landmark.

"It's just a great place," said Rob Rohmiller, who attended Saturday's show. "There's just a lot of history in the Georgia Theatre."

The Georgia Theatre, known for concerts including bands such as REM and the B-52's, was engulfed in fire early Friday morning.

Fire officials in Athens said the call came in at about 7 a.m.  Upon arrival firefighters discovered black smoke pouring from the roof.

"The theater was fully engulfed with flames coming above the building," says Doc Eldridge, a former mayor of Athens and the current president of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce. 

"The silver lining is it's not a Rhode Island situation," he said, referring to the 2003 blaze at a West Warwick, R.I., music club that killed 100 people. "I don't think there are any injuries."

Eldridge, who works a short distance from the Georgia Theatre, says the building a a landmark for his city.

"It's definitely a piece of Athens history," Eldridge said. "Since I was a child, we went there to see pictures and it's been a music venue since the 1970s."

The owner says he hopes to rebuild.

(WSB Radio)  The DeKalb County Development Authority has delayed a decision as to whether to give tax breaks to the Sembler company.

Sembler is proposing a mixed use development near Oglethorpe University and is seeking a full waiver on property taxes, totaling about $52 million.

Public opposition has been vocal and the development authority has decided to put off a vote on the subsidy.

Sembler's president says they'll consider proposing smaller tax breaks for the project, if necessary.

Questions have also been raised about Sembler's campaign donations to the development authority Chairman Eugene Walker when Walker ran for, and won, a seat on the DeKalb County School Board.

(WSB Radio)  A 26 year old Atlanta man could get up to 20 years in prison, now that he's been convicted of pimping his teenage cousin.

Zaccheus Obie is due back in court for sentencing next week.

Police arrested the 16 year old girl in May of 2008 for turning tricks on Metropolitan Parkway. 

They later learned that Obie had been paying for her clothes and to have her hair done.  He also would drive her to her assignation spots.

In exchange, police say, Obie would take whatever money she made.

He still faces trial on charges he raped the teenager's younger sister.

(WSB Radio)  A Gwinnett County police officer has resigned, shortly before being arrested for tasering an employee at a Waffle House.

The incident happened in February at the Waffle House at 272 Loganville Highway, in  Loganville. 

But Police Corporal David Schiralli tells WSB, the department didn't find out about it until just last week.  That's when the investigation began.

"Through that investigation it was revealed that an officer who was in our employ went to that Waffle House," Schiralli says.  "The victim states he was tased, with provocation, by the officer."

33 year old Gary Miles, who had been an employee of the police department for six years, is now charged with battery and violating his oath of office. 

He's out of jail on $8100 bond.

"Mr. Miles resigned his employment with the department prior to his being arrested," Schiralli says.

As for what led to the tasering?  Police still do not know.

(WSB Radio) A Fulton County juvenile court judge goes to court today, not to hear a case... but to plead her own.

Authorities say Judge Jacqueline Gibson and three other relatives were arguing over who would care for her 92-year old mother.  That's when a fight broke out.

Eula Gibson says her daughter, the judge, grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her off a couch. Eula says she was injured in the scuffle.

The family says the situation is irreconcilable.

"There is not any hope," Blair King says,  "I can see no where in the near future."

Eula Gibson says her arm still hurts from when she was pulled off the couch and Judge Gibson needs to pay for what she did.

"She needs to be punished," she says.  "She needs to pay because my arm still hurts day and night."

Even the judge presiding over the Gibson family feud doubts the situation can be resolved.

He admonished both sides as court adjourned on Thursday, telling family members they can leave at the same time if they could behave in the hall.  If not, he told them, "this side can sit and wait for five minutes before leaving."

(WSB Radio)  Investigators in Florida are trying to determine whether the killer of a Georgia hiker is also responsible for two more murders.

Gary Hilton is serving a life prison sentence for the kidnapping and murder of Meredith Emerson.  Police in Ormond Beach, Florida, believe he may have committed two more killings; one in their city and another in Miami.

"There was a couple of things that popped up recently that made us real curious," says Jamie Gogarty, with the Ormond Beach police department.  "We resubmitted some evidence to have it looked at again."

Hilton is suspected in at least a half dozen murder across Georgia and Florida.  The latest cases being examined include a 2007 death in which the victim was found in a river.

Michael Lewis's dismembered body was discovered in the Tomoka River, near Ormond Beach. 

"We really have not been able to put together a solid motive as to why someone would want to do that to him," Gogarty says.

Another dismembered body was found soon afterwards in Miami.  Gogerty says the two police departments are comparing notes to determine if the killings might be connected and if Gary Hilton might be responsible.

(WSB Radio)  The Fulton County District Attorney wants bond revoked for Aimee Michael, the woman charged in the Easter Sunday hit and run crash that killed five people.

Paul Howard says they've received reports that Michael, who is under house arrest, was going out at night, a violation of her bail arrangement.

"Citizens complained to us that she was not at home," Howard says.  "She should not be on bond."

Howard believes Michael is a flight risk and is concerned she'll disappear, like former DeKalb County Sheriff's Deputy Derrick Yancey, who's wanted for murder.

Howard contacted the monitoring company that is tracking Michael's house arrest and was stunned at what he found.

"We discovered that they did not have a number to call to report if she was really missing," he says.  Howard says the company needs to either call his office or the Fulton County Sheriff if Michael isn't at home.

WASHINGTON (AP) Congress approved a ``cash for clunkers'' program Thursday to provide government incentives of $3,500 to $4,500 to motorists who trade in their gas guzzlers for more fuel efficient vehicles after Senate Democrats narrowly defeated a Republican effort to kill the plan.

Auto state senators said the program would help hard-pressed car dealers and automakers by bringing buyers into showrooms, and they got help from President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who made calls to wavering Democrats urging them to keep the plan alive.

``This is an emergency for families and small businesses for an industry that has been the backbone of our economy for a generation,'' said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who sponsored the proposal.

Opponents said it would increase the federal debt without doing much to get expensive-to-operate vehicles off the roads.

Senate supporters of the program overcame a procedural hurdle by the plan's leading opponent, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., on a 60-36 vote, winning the minimum number of votes needed to keep the program in a $106 billion war-spending plan that the Senate passed later Thursday.

The House approved the cash for clunkers bill last week on a vote of 298-119 and Senate Democrats attached it to the war-spending bill. The overall bill now goes to the White House for Obama's signature.

Four Republicans Kit Bond of Missouri, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Susan Collins of Maine and George Voinovich of Ohio voted with two independents and 54 Democrats in favor of the clunker measure, while Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska was opposed along with 35 Republicans.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., changed her vote to support the vehicle incentive plan and spoke by phone with Obama during the vote.

Cantwell spokeswoman Ciaran Clayton said Obama ``acknowledged Senator Cantwell's concerns that the cash-for-clunkers program ... did not do enough to meet our nation's urgent need to reduce foreign oil dependence'' and vowed to work with Cantwell and others to ``maximize the number of efficient cars on America's roads.''

In addition to Cantwell, Obama and Biden reached out to Democrats Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Michael Bennet of Colorado, according to two people familiar with the outreach. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Obama has encouraged Congress to approve the consumer incentives for new car purchases as part of the government's efforts to restructure General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC. The bill provides $1 billion for the program from July through November.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who supported a plan with more stringent requirements to receive the vouchers, said she received ``absolute assurance'' from Senate leaders that if the program was continued beyond November it would be modeled after the bill she pushed.

Supporters said the program, which would be implemented by the Transportation Department, was expected to be implemented by early August.

The auto industry and its union lobbied heavily for passage of the cash for clunkers plan as GM and Chrysler have received billions of dollars in government-led bankruptcies and the entire auto industry has dealt with plummeting car sales. In May, overall sales were 34 percent lower than a year ago.

Under the proposal, car owners could get a voucher worth $3,500 if they traded in a vehicle getting 18 miles per gallon or less for one getting at least 22 mpg. The value of the voucher would grow to $4,500 if the mileage of the new car was 10 mpg higher than the old vehicle. The miles per gallon figures are listed on the car window's sticker.

Owners of sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks or minivans that get 18 mpg or less could receive a voucher for $3,500 if their new truck or SUV got at least 2 mpg higher than their old vehicle. The voucher would increase to $4,500 if the mileage of the new truck or SUV was at least 5 mpg higher than the older vehicle.

Dealers participating in the program would receive an electronic voucher from the government for the trade-in to apply to the purchase or lease of a qualifying vehicle. The bill directs dealers to ensure that the older vehicles are crushed or shredded to get the clunkers off the road.

The program was intended to help replace older vehicles built in model year 1984 or later and would not make financial sense for consumers owning an older car with a trade-in value greater than $3,500 or $4,500.

The U.S. industry is expected to generate about 9.5 million vehicles sales in 2009, compared with more than 13 million in 2008 and more than 16 million in 2007.


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

CINCINNATI (AP) For the third time in their three-games series, Atlanta outhit the Cincinnati Reds. This time, Tommy Hanson and Nate McLouth made it pay off with a win.

Hanson allowed three hits over six impressive innings and McLouth homered and drove in four runs, sending the Braves to a 7-0 victory over the punchless Reds on Thursday.

One of baseball's top pitching prospects, Hanson got his first major league hit and RBI. Matt Diaz also homered for the Braves, who snapped a four-game skid and avoided a sweep in Cincinnati.

``Hopefully, I can keep building on this,'' Hanson said. ``I told myself to slow down after the second inning. (Pitching coach) Roger (McDowell) came out and told me the same thing. I cleared my mind and was able to control my fastball better.''

Hanson (2-0), who made his big league debut with a no-decision against Milwaukee on June 7, walked four and hit a batter with a pitch. But he escaped two jams in his third career start.

``That was the best start Hanson had,'' Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. ``He got himself in trouble, but he pitched out of it. He threw a lot of pitches early. I didn't think he was going to make it to the fifth inning, but he settled down and got a lot of first-pitch outs.''

The right-hander loaded the bases in the second on two walks and a hit batter, but wriggled out of trouble by striking out pitcher Matt Maloney and Willy Taveras.

``He was kind of effectively wild,'' Reds manager Dusty Baker said. ``We had the bases loaded against him, but we didn't have the right people up Maloney and Willy, who's not swinging the bat well.''

The Reds also had runners on first and second with nobody out in the fifth, but Taveras fouled out and Diaz ran down Alex Gonzalez's bid for an RBI double in the left-center gap. Brandon Phillips flied out to end the threat.

The top six hitters in the Reds' lineup were a combined 2 for 21, less than 24 hours after their top five batters went 0 for 17 in Cincinnati's 4-3 win Wednesday night. The Braves also outhit the Reds in each of the first two games of the series, but Baker wasn't considering shaking up the lineup.

``I don't think I can shake it up any more than I have been shaking it up,'' he said. ``I've been shaking it up all year long.''

Peter Moylan, Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano each pitched an inning to finish the five-hitter, Atlanta's fourth shutout this season. The Reds were blanked for the second time.

Maloney (0-2) also was making his third career start, and he's allowed six hits each time. The left-hander allowed six runs in 5 2-3 innings.

After the start was delayed 36 minutes by rain, the Braves grabbed the lead in the second on Casey Kotchman's sacrifice fly.

Diaz made it 2-0 with a homer to left in the fourth, his third of the year and first since April 20. The homer came on an 0-2 pitch from Maloney that was supposed to be a fastball away.

``It went in,'' Maloney said. ``That was bad pitch selection on my part. I'm still learning. It wasn't that bad of a pitch. It just wasn't the right pitch.''

McLouth added a two-run shot into the right-field seats in the fifth, his 11th this season and second since being traded by Pittsburgh to Atlanta on June 3.

``It was nice to get some runs,'' McLouth said. ``When you're in an extended slump like we were, you start to press. This could help us relax a little. We got a great pitching performance. He's tough. I can see the ball from my position in center field. He doesn't throw that hard, but he's unpredictable.''

The Braves broke it open in a three-run sixth. With two outs, Hanson drove in one run with a bases-loaded single and McLouth blooped a two-run single to right giving him as many RBIs in one day as he had in his previous 14 June games.

It was the third time this year that McLouth had a home run and four RBIs in a game.

NOTES: The Reds resume interleague play Friday with a three-game home series against the Chicago White Sox. Cincinnati goes into the series on a nine-game losing streak against the White Sox and is just 2-12 in the series. ... The Braves wrap up their nine-game road trip with a three-game interleague series at Boston. Atlanta is 14-7 all-time against the Red Sox. ... Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan batted fifth, the first of his 57 career starts in a spot higher than sixth.

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

(WSB Radio) -- Gwinnett County residents will get a chance to voice their concerns when it comes to garbage collection at a public hearing Saturday at Lenora Park. It's the second of eight the county is holding through late next month.

"What we hope to do is get some scientific data together that tells us the message what the citizens are thinking... what they want, what they like, what they don't like, what they don't want," says County Administrator Jock Connell.

Gwinnett is currently operating under a temporary solid waste plan after a judge threw out the old one which assigned certain waste haulers to certain parts of the county.

Connell tells WSB's Sandra Parrish that residents will continue to choose their own garbage collection companies until the end of the year when hopefully a new plan will be approved.

A consultant is currently working on a recommendation for commissioners that will include comments from the public hearings.

ATLANTA (AP) Nearly half a million Georgians are still waiting on their income tax returns from the state as the agency tries to process filings with a much smaller staff.

Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham says the department has cut 155 workers in the processing division as part of a plan to make up $12 million in budget cuts. The department has lost 280 employees total to the cuts.

Returns received by mail in early April are taking up to 14 weeks to process. Those received later could take up to 20 weeks.

Electronic filings are taking a week to 10 days to process.

He says the agency has processed 2.6 million refunds so far this year.

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

(WSB Radio) -- The Georgia State Patrol is working to determine why an Atlanta area man in a work truck drove the wrong way along the Buford-Spring Connector in northeast Atlanta, causing nine seperate accidents. 

47-year-old Richard Jernigan's alleged path of destruction began just before 5 o'clock Wednesday afternoon at the Peachtree Road overpass.  It ended about a half mile later, near Monroe Drive.

Georgia State Patrol Lt. Paul Cosper tells WSB "after that last crash, the suspect jumped out of his vehicle and over the wall and went into a wooded area where the citizens involved, or witnesses, pursued him down there and held him until we got there and placed him under arrest."

Grady Luckey was one of the citizens who chased Jernigan down.  He tells Channel 2 Action News "I was just doing what I thought I had to do.  He hurt alot of people from what I hear, so it was just one of those kinda things you don't let that kinda guy get away."

Only one person was hurt.  A woman was taken to Atlanta Medical Center with serious but non-life threatening injuries. 

Jernigan is charged with DUI, reckless driving, hit and run, leaving the scene of an accident and driving on the wrong side of the road.

(WSB Radio) -- For the first time in more than a year, southbound I-85 drivers will be able to exit to 10th Street starting on Thursday.

The $88.5 million, three-year project to rebuild the 14th Street Bridge and its Downtown Connector ramps has been jamming and rerouting traffic near Georgia Tech and Midtown neighborhoods since 2007. That included closing one of the few arteries over the connector, the bridge itself.

The 10th Street ramp is the project's first major opening. The new bridge should open later this year, and DOT expects a new ramp to 17th Street from I-75/I-85 northbound to open by spring 2010.

ATLANTA (AP) DeKalb County authorities are investigating whether to bring criminal charges against two elementary school administrators accused of changing answers on Georgia standardized tests.

Those responsible could be charged with tampering with state documents, which is a felony, chief assistant district attorney Don Geary said Wednesday.

The allegations came to light in a state audit released last week, revealing discrepancies on the fifth-grade math Criterion-Referenced Competency Test answer sheets in four school districts.

The audit led to the resignation of Atherton Elementary principal James Berry and the reassignment of assistant principal Doretha Alexander in DeKalb County. Neither has returned repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Geary said his office, the DeKalb County police department and the school district's police are conducting the investigation. DeKalb County school and police officials did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.

Geary said he is unsure how long the investigation will take, but the case is a priority for the police.

``I've asked them to put that into the front because it's such a hot topic,'' Geary said.

Other than DeKalb County, no districts have identified who was responsible for altering the tests. Along with Atherton, the schools under review are Burroughs-Molette Elementary in Glynn County, Atlanta's Deerwood Academy and Parklane Elementary in Fulton County.

The district attorneys in Glynn and Fulton counties did not immediately return calls for comment.

Meanwhile, state Senate Education Committee Chairman Dan Weber, a Republican from Dunwoody, is calling for a new law that would make it a crime to change students' answers on standardized tests. Weber called the behavior ``deplorable.''

The governor has indicated he may be willing to support such a law.

The audit, released by the Governor's Office for Student Achievement a week ago, found higher scores helped all four schools meet standards and avoid sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind law. The state school board is expected to vote next month on whether to toss out the scores. That would mean none of the schools made ``adequate yearly progress'' on federal benchmarks.

Schools that don't meet standards must offer extra tutoring and allow parents to transfer their children to higher performing schools.

The audit also found the answer sheets of the altered tests had up to 40 erasures, compared with the average of two per student on tests that were not changed. Most of the answers were changed from wrong to right.

State officials do not believe students are to blame.

The Georgia Professional Standards Commission, the state agency that oversees licensing educators, will investigate the cheating allegations. If teachers or principals are found at fault, they could lose their jobs and their state certification.

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

WOODSTOCK, Ga. (AP) A spokeswoman for the state Department of Natural Resources says the body of a missing 24-year-old woman has been found in Lake Allatoona.

Kristina Summers, spokeswoman for the DNR's Wildlife Division, says the woman's identity has not been released. She had been missing since Tuesday night when the watercraft she was riding in with two men hit a submerged tree stump.

Summers says the body was found Wednesday afternoon in Cherokee County waters.

Authorities say the watercraft's driver was hospitalized with head injuries and the second male was treated at the scene and released.

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

ROSWELL, Ga. (AP) A Georgia liquor store clerk credits his police officer son with giving him two life-saving gifts a cell phone and a gun.

Joseph Wescott says the phone he slipped into his shirt pocket stopped a knife to his chest when a robbery suspect attacked him at the store in a northern Atlanta suburb. He then reached under the counter for the .40-caliber handgun and shot the man.

``The knife that he had looked like it was about 10-foot long,'' the 67-year-old Wescott exclaimed.

When the suspect lunged at Wescott, he fell back and the knife struck the battery area of the phone, the clerk said. He then fired one shot at the man Monday night.

``That was the first time I had ever fired that gun,'' he said.

Police said Carlos JeanPeirre, 34, is recovering from non-life threatening wounds and faces multiple charges including aggravated assault and attempted robbery.

Wescott's son, Jason, said he gave both gifts to his father to keep him safe.

``Something like that can happen in a split second and it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it,'' Jason Wescott said.

After the attack, Joseph Wescot said he used his cell phone to call 911.

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

CINCINNATI (AP) All Micah Owings needed to get on track, apparently, was to face the Atlanta Braves.

The Cincinnati right-hander hit a three-run homer and pitched six effective innings to overcome Javier Vazquez's complete game and lead the Reds to a 4-3 win over Atlanta on Wednesday night.

Owings (4-7) improved to 4-0 with a 2.77 ERA in four career starts against the Braves while hitting his third career homer out of a total of seven against them.

``Sometimes, you can't explain how things work,'' said Owings, who was 0-4 in six starts since a 3-1 win at Arizona on May 12. ``I'm just going to keep working on getting better.''

Jay Bruce also homered and Ryan Hanigan had two hits to help the Reds squeeze out the win despite no production from the first five batters in the lineup, who went a combined 0 for-17. The only baserunner among the top five batters was Brandon Phillips, who walked in the fourth inning, but manager Dusty Baker didn't mind.

``I wasn't counting,'' he said. ``I was just trying to get to the finish line with the lead. We needed to get Micah a win. That was a huge performance by him offensively and pitching-wise.''

Vazquez (4-6) allowed four hits, two walks and struck out seven in eight innings. It was the 24th complete game of his career and first since a 3-2 loss to Oakland last July 3 while pitching for the White Sox. He is 0-3 in five starts since a 12-4 win over Colorado on May 20.

``It is frustrating,'' Vazquez said. ``It happens too much. You have to keep battling out there. I feel good. When you lose a game when you feel good, it is frustrating.''

Yunel Escobar had two hits, including his seventh homer of the season, but the Braves still lost their fourth consecutive game and sixth in their last seven. Atlanta outhit the Reds while losing for the second consecutive game, leaving manager Bobby Cox scratching his head.

``You pitch a four-hitter in this ballpark, you think you're going to win,'' Cox said. ``Vazquez walked the first guy, and the next guy hits a blooper to right. In any other ballpark, that homer might have been a double. I don't know.''

With the Reds trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Jerry Hairston drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on Hanigan's second single of the game. Owings followed with his second homer of the season, reaching the first row of seats in right field.

On May 10, his pinch-hit solo home shot tied the game in the ninth inning of an eventual 8-7 loss in 10 innings to St. Louis.

``I don't think the pitch to Owings was a bad pitch, but in this ballpark, it is,'' Vazquez said. ``This is a small stadium.''

Owings, who also laid down a sacrifice bunt in the third inning, allowed two runs on six hits and two walks.

Bruce gave the Reds a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a two-out solo home run, his 16th of the season and first in 21 at bats since June 10.

Nate McLouth walked to lead off the third before Escobar homered. Escobar was hitless in his previous nine at bats and 2 for 14 in the previous five games of Atlanta's road trip.

McLouth doubled with one out in the seventh and came around to score on two wild pitches by Nick Masset. Arthur Rhodes and David Weathers shut the Braves down before Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his 16th save in 17 opportunities.

Cincinnati's pitchers did not record a strikeout for the first time since a 6-5 loss to the Dodgers at Los Angeles on Aug. 28, 2006.

NOTES: Before the game, the Reds placed RHP Mike Lincoln on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Saturday, with a bulging disc in his neck. RHP Josh Roenicke was recalled from Triple-A Louisville. ... Reds 1B Joey Votto, on the disabled list since May 30 with stress-related issues, was expected to leave Wednesday night for a minor-league rehab assignment. ... The Reds scored more runs while winning their last two games than they scored while losing the previous four. ... Atlanta OF Garret Anderson extended his hitting streak to seven games. ... Rhodes struck out looking to end the seventh inning in his first plate appearance since 2001, for Seattle at Colorado.

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

(WSB Radio)  -- Dunwoody Police are looking for a man who sexually assaulted a woman at an office park.

Sgt. Mike Carlson tells WSB the 36-year-old victim was working late when a man, wearing what looked like a security uniform, knocked at the door around 1am June 12th.

"She opened the door and a white male in his 20's, forced the door open.  He ended up sexually assaulting the female and tying her up before leaving," said Carlson.

The suspect, who is approximately 6'4", approximately 250 pounds, with a muscular build and a pimply face, took money and her wedding band.

Police are looking at surveillance video in hopes of getting some leads in the case.

Carlson says there are no reports of any similar incidents in the area.

A nearby apartment complex sent letters to residents, warning them of the incident.

(WSB Radio) -- A Good Samaritan is being credited with saving the life of a woman and her infant daughter.

Raquel Hernandez tells WSB she a woman screaming for help and saw her being dragged beneath her car.

Clayton County Police 20-year-old Dana Jones of Riverdale, went under her car Wednesday afternoon to check something.  The car was not car completely in park, and started to roll, catching her by one of her feet.

"Really, nobody went out to help because they couldn't see anyone; so, I ran toward her and I put the car in park and then turned it off.  She had her eight-month-old baby with her," said Hernandez.

She grabbed the baby and another man came and helped move the car out of the way before it rolled into a busy intersection at Jonesboro Road, near Highway 138.

Raquel is just glad she could help.

"It was really scary.  I panicked.   I didn't know what to do or where to go; but I heard from someone that she was fine.  She had a rib that was broken, and I guess her leg is okay now," said Hernandez.

(WSB Radio) -- Georgia's unemployment rate jumped to 9.7 percent in May, the highest rate ever recorded in in the state, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.

The jobless rate was up five-tenths of a percentage point from a revised 9.2 percent in April.

"Georgia's record unemployment rate of 9.7 percent is a stark reminder that the road to economic recovery will be long and difficult" said State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond.

The May jobless rate was up 3.8 percentage points from 5.9 percent at this same time last year. Georgia's unemployment rate remained above the national rate of 9.4 percent for the 19th consecutive month.

 The increased number of unemployed workers in May included many discouraged workers who reentered the labor force. Last month, 463,883 unemployed Georgians were looking for work, an increase of 62 percent from May of 2008. Of that number, 157,544, or 34 percent, are receiving state unemployment insurance benefits, while approximately another 90,000 are receiving federal extended benefits.

(WSB Radio) -- Three metro Atlanta construction companies have been cited and fined in connection with the deadly pedestrian walkway collapse at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Hardin Construction Co. of Atlanta, Williams Erection Co. of Smyrna and Southeast Access of Kennesaw a total of $26,250.

Crews were pouring concrete for part of the elevated walkway when it collapsed, dropping workers as far as 40 feet to the ground.

Angel Chupin, 66, of Marietta, was killed in the Dec. 19 accident.

The collapse injured 18 other workers. The injuries ranged from bruises to spine and brain trauma.

MACON, Ga. (AP) Budget cuts will reduce the amount of mowing that the state Department of Transportation does along Georgia highways.

Beginning July 1, grass on the sides of state routes will be mowed once a year instead of twice, and interstates will be cropped three times annually rather than four.

DOT spokesman Mark McKinnon said the steps are expected to save almost $11 million over the next year.

McKinnon said the exception to the new mowing schedule will be when there is a potential hazard, such as grass growing too tall and blocking a road sign.

He says there also will be less pickup of trash along the roads, except for things that could be dangerous to vehicles.

McKinnon says the DOT does not expect the cuts to be permanent.

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

ATLANTA (AP) Zoo Atlanta officials say they need to raise $500,000 to keep their popular giant pandas.

The zoo's 10-year lease with China is up this year.

The zoo said Wednesday it has launched a fundraising campaign to help pay for a new 5-year lease.

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

WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama wants to strengthen the government's authority over financial institutions in a sweeping attempt to modernize a regulatory latticework that failed to detect early signs of a worldwide crisis.

The president was to detail the administration's overhaul plan on Wednesday, recommending new powers for the Federal Reserve; a new consumer protection agency to govern lending and credit; and new rules that would reach into currently unregulated regions of the financial markets.

An 85-page draft of the administration's plan details an effort to change a regulatory regime that Obama's economic team maintained had become too porous for the innovations and intricacies of the today's financial markets.

With Congress already embroiled in health care legislation, Obama has set an ambitious schedule, pushing lawmakers to adopt a new regulatory regime by year's end.

Obama said Tuesday his administration was going to put forward ``a very strong set of regulatory measures that we think can prevent this kind of crisis from happening again.''

The financial sector and lawmakers from both parties concede the need for significant changes in the rules that govern the intricate and interconnected world of banking and investment. But the details of Obama's proposal already are facing resistance, signaling a tough sell for a president who is spending major political capital on his health care overhaul.

Under Obama's plan, the Fed would gain power to supervise holding companies and large financial institutions considered so big that their failure could undermine the nation's financial system. But even as it gains new powers, the Fed also would lose some banking authority to a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Obama's proposal would require the Fed, which now can independently use emergency powers to bail out failing banks, to first obtain Treasury approval before extending credit to institutions in ``unusual and exigent circumstances.''

The expanded Fed role and the new consumer regulator are likely to be the two main political flash points in the administration's proposal. Many bankers oppose a new consumer protection regulator and many lawmakers worry the Fed could become too powerful. Friction over those points could slow any major overhaul.

Besides having the Federal Reserve supervise ``systemically significant'' institutions, Obama will recommend a council of regulators, which would include the Fed, to monitor risk throughout the broader financial system. The arrangement is designed to prevent crashes like those that felled AIG and Lehman Brothers.

In conjunction with the Fed's authority over large financial institutions and the new consumer agency, Obama also will propose:

Additional protections for investors, including greater disclosure by hedge funds; regulation of credit default swaps and over-the-counter derivatives that previously operated outside of government oversight; and new conditions on brokers and originators of asset-backed securities.

A system for the orderly disposition of any troubled, interconnected firm whose failure poses a risk to the entire financial system, together with rules that insist that financial institutions hold more capital to avoid over-leveraging.

Obama's plan does not attempt major consolidation of turf-conscious regulatory agencies and does not inject itself into an ongoing debate over whether to bring some insurance companies under federal oversight.

``We don't want to tilt at windmills,'' Obama said on CNBC.

Obama's decision to create a consumer agency comes amid criticism that mortgage lenders and credit card companies have taken advantage of unwitting customers and saddled them with debt.

The new regulator would have the power to demand that customers have the option of simple financial products, to impose fines and to allow states to pass laws that are stricter than the federal standards. Consumer protections are now spread among various state and federal authorities, including the Fed, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and banking regulators.

Financial lobbyists rallied against the new agency, saying it's impossible to separate bank regulation from oversight of the products they offer.

``We're supposed to be trying to plug holes and connect dots'' with the regulatory overhaul, said Scott Talbott, top lobbyist with the Financial Services Roundtable. ``The consumer regulator idea moves in the opposite direction.''

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the new consumer products agency ``the cornerstone of regulatory reform.'' The Fed and other banking regulators, he said, were too focused on the ``safety and soundness'' of the institutions they oversee, and ``did not do a very good job of protecting consumers.''

Rep. Bill Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat who has helped write a consumer protection bill in the House, said: ``Here we are just beginning to extract ourselves from this mess that was on the cusp of total collapse, and the banks don't want further regulations. Give me a break.''

The administration will also have to use its political skills to strengthen the Fed. While Democrats generally agree with a need for regulatory changes, many oppose a Fed with expanded powers.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has advocated an alternative plan to strip the Fed of its regulatory role entirely and create a new consolidated bank regulator that would assume the roles that the Fed and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. now play in helping regulate state-chartered banks.

Dodd, however, is a strong proponent of a consumer protection agency and is likely to champion that component of Obama's plan.

Associated Press writers Anne Flaherty, Dan Wagner and Jeannine Aversa contributed to this report.

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

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Taylor Swift opened Tuesday's Country Music Television awards with a skit about living out her dreams. The 19-year-old country and pop sensation went a long way toward doing just that by winning video of the year and female video of the year for ``Love Story'' and by performing with one of her favorite rock bands.

``I want to thank Shania Twain for always making such theatrical videos, and Garth Brooks for always putting the fans first. I take my cues from you,'' Swift said in accepting video of the year honors. ``I thank the fans for giving me video of the year when my whole family is here watching.''

Swift won the fan-voted award over Brad Paisley's ``Waitin' On a Woman,'' Trace Adkins' ``You're Gonna Miss This,'' Carrie Underwood's ``Just a Dream'' and Sugarland's ``All I Want to Do.'' Swift won video of the year and female video of the year for ``Our Song'' last year.

Her ``Love Story'' video is an elaborate production with period costumes that echoes the story of Romeo and Juliet.

``This is for everybody who still believes in love stories, because I do,'' Swift said earlier in winning female video.

She closed the awards show by performing ``Pour Some Sugar On Me'' with the British rock band Def Leppard.

Brad Paisley was the night's other big winner, taking home awards for male video (``Waitin' On a Woman''), collaborative video (``Start a Band'' with Keith Urban) and performance of the year (Alan Jackson's ``Country Boy'' with Jackson, George Strait and Dierks Bentley).

``Start a Band'' features two youngsters playing the Rock Band music video game. Paisley and Urban accepted the award together and urged young viewers to really learn to play.

``Learn guitar kids the real thing,'' Urban said.

``Rock Band never got anybody a date never,'' Paisley added.

In his acceptance speech for male video, Paisley thanked TV legend Andy Griffith, who passes on some wisdom to a younger man in the video.

``He has changed my life in so many ways, and to be on film with him you can imagine what that would be like,'' Paisley said of Griffith, who was not at the show.

Rascal Flatts won group video of the year for ``Every Day.'' The band's bassist Jay DeMarcus called country fans ``the greatest fans on the entire planet.''

In accepting the award for performance of the year, Jackson said he signed his record deal 20 years ago this week.

``I've made I think about 45 country music videos in that time,'' Jackson said. ``CMT and the fans have been with me ever since.''

Earlier, Sugarland won duo of the year for their island-themed video ``All I Want to Do,'' and the Zac Brown Band won breakthrough video for ``Chicken Fried,'' their snappy song about life's simple pleasures.

``Thank you for following us wherever we've been going,'' Sugarland's Kristian Bush said of the soulful song and video, which features singer Jennifer Nettles on a surfboard.

In accepting the award, Nettles said Urban leaned over to her as the nominees were being announced and told her, ``I like your odds.''

Kid Rock won wide open country video for ``All Summer Long,'' which samples Lynyrd Skynyrd's ``Sweet Home Alabama'' and Warren Zevon's ``Werewolves of London.'' The video, set on a lake in northern Michigan, features bikini-clad dancers on a pontoon boat.

``I think this was based on creativity, this award, because what's more creative than a strip pole on a pontoon boat?'' said Kid Rock, who hugged Sheryl Crow as he walked up to accept the award. A few years ago, Kid Rock and Crow teamed for the hit ``Picture.''

The show kicked off with a skit featuring Swift and host Bill Engvall that had Swift rapping with T-Pain, appearing in a ``Star Trek'' movie and playing for the NFL's Tennessee Titans.

In his opening remarks, Engvall poked fun at Jessica Simpson's lackluster country career, saying T-Pain doesn't wear boots or a cowboy hat ``and is still more embraced by country fans than Jessica Simpson.''

The comedian also had a few cracks for John Rich of the duo Big Rich. Rich was recently charged with misdemeanor assault charges. The singer recently told Larry King that he may run for governor of Tennessee next year.

``It's not that he likes politics that much. He just thinks it might be easier asking for a pardon,'' Engvall said.

Of Swift's video performance with Def Leppard, Engvall found humor in a ``girl young enough to be my daughter with a band I was listening to when I conceived my daughter.''

There were other lighthearted moments. Dierks Bentley got a big kiss on the lips from actress Melissa Peterman. ``I thought that was supposed to be on the cheek. You got me on that one,'' Bentley told Peterman.

There were also some unusual combinations with the presenters. Ted Nugent teamed with Alison Krauss, Kid Rock joined model Karolina Kurkova, and Naomi Judd paired with Bill O'Reilly.

``I try to live in the No Spin Zone all the time,'' Judd told O'Reilly.

Musical performances were a big part of the show. Brad Paisley punctuated his hit ``Then'' with bluesy guitar solos. Swift brought out a stage full of cheerleaders for ``You Belong With Me.'' Keith Urban ran up into the stands during ``Sweet Thing'' and also joined Jason Aldean for the thumping rocker ``She's Country.''

The topper, though, may have been Sugarland bringing out fellow Georgia greats the B-52's for a performance of ``Love Shack.''

Sugarland led all the nominees for the fan-voted awards with five, followed by Paisley and Swift with four each.

Viewers cast more than 2.5 million votes to decide the four finalists in most categories.

The video of the year competition was done a little differently. Fans could vote for their favorites throughout the show.

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

(WSB Radio) -- DeKalb police are looking for the driver of a car that may have been drag racing along I-285 and caused a deadly wreck Tuesday night.

Two people were killed and two others critically hurt in the wreck in the northbound lanes between the Lawrenceville Highway and LaVista Road exits.

Investigators tell WSB that the driver of a Corvette lost control of the vehicle, hitting a guard rail and an SUV.

Two passengers inside the Corvette were killed in the accident while two people inside the SUV were hurt.

Police are looking for the driver of the Mustang, who left the scene of the accident, according to investigators.

The accident happened around 8 p.m. and closed three lanes until about 11 p.m.

(WSB Radio) -- Divers with the Cherokee County Fire Department are searching for a 23-year-old woman who fell off a jet ski following a Tuesday night accident on Lake Allatoona.

The woman went missing after the driver of the personal watercraft hit a tree near Knox Bridge Road. 

Cherokee County Fire Department spokesman Tim Cavender tells WSB's Mark Alewine the driver was airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center where's he's being treated for severe head trauma.  Another passenger, a 22-year-old man, was treated at the scene for non-life threatening injuries.

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Department is investigating to see if alcohol or drugs played a role inn the accident, which happened just before 10 p.m.

(WSB Radio) A MARTA train conductor has been given the maximum penalty for allegedly texting while he was driving a train.

A rider saw Damien Whatley texting and took a picture of the incident on his cell phone.

MARTA's Director of Rail Operations, Dave Springstead, tells WSB the Whatley was given the maximum penalty of three days suspension.  They are reviewing the policy in light of similar events across the country.

"In relationship to what's transpired in L.A. and Boston, and the incidents they've had, we're basically going through all of our procedures to make sure that they're as robust as possible and providing maximum safety for the public and employees," said Springstead.

Springstead did not say how long Whatley had been with the company, but said he was qualified.

"He was trained.  He was an experienced operator.  As far as his qualifications go, he's fully qualified to operate the train," said Springstead.

Springstead says they are reviewing a new policy, but could not say if the incident happened again if it would result in dismissal.

"We are looking to make the policies more stringent in light of the scenarios that are popping up around the country related to texting incidences involving rail cars, trolleys, buses, and any form of transportation.  We're looking to boost the disciplinary action and or consequences of such an action," said Springstead.

6/16/09

(WSB Radio) It's a national trend and Atlanta is one of the cities leading the way.

A survey is out ranking the worst cities for road rage and Atlanta has landed in the top 5.

It's the fourth year that AutoVantage, a national auto club, has commissioned the Driver's Seat Road Rage Survey.  It attempts to find out why some drivers are more likely to snap behind the wheel than others.

Atlanta, with its four interstates and Georgia 400, along with clogged streets and maddening intersections, trails only New York, Dallas-Fort Worth and Detroit on the list.  Minneapolis-St. Paul ranked fifth.

Portland, Oregon had the most courteous drivers, followed by Cleveland, Baltimore, Sacramento and Pittsburgh.

The survey was conducted by an independent polling company, which called people in 25 cities, asking 2500 drivers about their habits.

"This survey is another way we assist drivers by revealing the latest driving trends and attitudes to educate and influence safer and, perhaps, more courteous driving habits," AutoVantage vice president Brad Eggleston said in a statement.

(WSB Radio)  America's money crisis has placed another business into bankruptcy.

Extended Stay Hotels, which operates midpriced hotels, has filed for protection, blaming the downturn in business travel for their losses.

The hotel chain has more than 680 properties in 44 states, including 25 in the metro Atlanta area.

The chain said it had $7.1 billion in assets and $7.6 billion in debts at the end of last year, according to papers filed today in United States Bankruptcy Court in New York.

Extended Stay says its been hurt by cutbacks in corporate and leisure travel during the recession.

The hotel industry is enduring its "weakest year on record," according to PKF Hospitality Research, a research firm based in Atlanta.

Hotel occupancy in the United States fell 14 percent in the week ended June 6 from a year earlier and average daily room rates were down 11 percent, to $95.90.

The news comes as a new report shows frequent travelers are redeeming more miles, due to the recession.

United Airlines says the number of reward program members who cashed in their miles went up 12% in 2008 compared to the previous year.  Hotel chains, such as Best Western, have also seen a significant increase in the number of travelers using points for rooms.

Travelers say they're using points for airline upgrades that their businesses will no longer pay for.  Some business travelers are using their points for hotel stays or free flights for their family vacations.  Some are even using the points for shopping at a time when money is tight.

Thousands of people, some travelling hundreds of miles, converged on the Georgia Dome Tuesday to pre-register for Thursday's first round auditions.

This will be the fifth time Atlanta has been an audition site.

The show used Atlanta for its first three seasons, attracting singers such Tamyra Gray from Norcross for the first season, second-season runner-up Clay Aiken from North Carolina and third-season winner Fantasia, also from North Carolina.

The eligibility requirements are the same as in recent years. Hopefuls must be between ages 16 to 28 as of last Friday to qualify and cannot have any professional recording or acting contract.

Producers do not encourage people to camp out overnight like many did in the show's early years. They ask people to arrive at 5 a.m. Thursday. Auditions will begin inside the Dome after 8 a.m.

(WSB Radio) -- Atlanta is now the biggest Wi-Fi hot spot in the country. 

WSB's Pete Combs reports Clearwire has turned on its WiMax service, blanketing 1200 square miles of metropolitan Atlanta.  It is an area about the size of Rhode Island.

But that kind of high speed access comes at a price.

To hook up a laptop requires a special USB modem, which goes for $59.99. There's also a $35 activation fee and service subscription rates that start at $10 a day and go to $50 a month.

Marietta telecom analyst Jeff Kagan tells WSB that Clearwire's speed makes it well worth the price tag because wherever you go inside the company's wireless footprint, you'll almost certainly have access. Kagan figures with so many people so anxious to pack up their lap tops and roam, this is a  very good idea even in a very bad economy.

ATLANTA (AP) The standings which show the Atlanta Braves falling fast in the NL East are not the only cause for concern.

The stories behind the won-loss totals a lack of hitting and lackadaisical play also are troubling for Atlanta, which has lost seven of its last 11.

The Braves (30-32) were off on Monday after losing two straight games at Baltimore to fall below Florida into fourth place in the NL East, 6.5 games behind Philadelphia. The Braves' road trip resumes at Cincinnati this week before a weekend series at Boston.

Starting pitching has been the team's strength, but ace Derek Lowe didn't make it out of the third inning in Sunday's 11-2 loss to the Orioles.

Perhaps more notable than Lowe's short stint was manager Bobby Cox making the rare move of benching shortstop Yunel Escobar during the game.

Cox believed Escobar, who committed four errors during a nine-game homestand before the weekend series at Baltimore, was slow to react on Sunday when the Orioles pulled off their first steal of home since May 23, 2007.

With the Orioles ahead 4-0 in the second inning, Brian Roberts was caught off first. Escobar was about to tag Roberts before realizing too late that Robert Andino was running from third base. Andino easily beat Escobar's throw.

``We pride ourselves on doing things right, being in the game and (we) don't do things lackadaisically,'' said Cox, who moved rookie shortstop Diory Hernandez into the game in the third inning.

Escobar also was slow to react on a throw to the plate in the Braves' 3-2 home loss to the Pirates on Wednesday night. Pittsburgh's Craig Monroe kept running around third after taking off from second as Kelly Johnson made a diving stop of a grounder and flipped to Escobar for an attempted force at second base.

Monroe scored as Escobar was wild on his belated throw to the plate.

``It wasn't heads-up,'' Cox said of Escobar's play last week.

Johnson said Escobar ``probably assumed (Monroe) wasn't going to score. You've just got to peak in at the runner. Certainly it was the last thing on my mind too, that he (Monroe) would be going.''

Cox sighed when asked Sunday if benching Escobar will make a point.

``I've talked to him an awful lot since he's been here,'' Cox said.

Escobar's bat makes him an important part of the lineup. He is hitting .293 with six homers and leads the team with 33 RBIs and 35 runs.

The Braves probably can't keep Escobar out with the lack of offensive support for Chipper Jones, who is in an 0-for-21 slump, and Brian McCann in the middle of the lineup.

``I'm tired of being frustrated,'' Jones said after the Braves scored a combined three runs in consecutive losses to Pittsburgh to end a 4-5 homestand last week.

``We've certainly pitched well enough to be leading this division right now,'' Jones said.

Jones said the Braves struggle if he and McCann are held without a hit or take a day off.

``This has been the story of our whole season,'' Jones said. ``This is nothing new. If Mac is not playing and I go 0-fer, we're in trouble. If I'm not playing and Mac goes 0-fer, we're in trouble.''

Left fielder Garret Anderson is hitting only .254 with three homers and 18 RBIs. Right fielder Jeff Francoeur is hitting .250 with four homers and 29 RBIs.

Braves general manager Frank Wren tried to help the lineup by acquiring center fielder Nate McLouth from the Pirates on June 3.

In his first 10 games with the Braves, McLouth is hitting .244 with one homer, two RBIs and two stolen bases. McLouth already is tied for second on the team in steals, and he has scored seven runs.

Wren said Monday the team expects first baseman Casey Kotchman to come off the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday. Kotchman has been out since June 7 with a right calf strain.

Wren said the Braves would wait until Tuesday on the Kotchman transaction ``and make sure he feels OK.''

The Braves are expected to send first baseman Barbaro Canizares back to Triple-A Gwinnett to clear a spot for Kotchman. Cox could choose to keep Canizares on the roster to serve as the designated hitter in the weekend series against the Red Sox.

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

(WSB Radio) -- Atlanta police are investigating claims by witnesses that the department's response to a deadly crash in the West End was less than urgent.

According to WSB's Richard Sangster, a car being chased by police wrecked just before 1 a.m. Tuesday at the intersection of Fair and Lawton streets in southwest Atlanta.

Two occupants in the car were pronounced dead at the scene, while a third is in critical condition at Grady Hospital.  All three were apparently teenagers.

According to Sangster, the car had been reported stolen Monday afternoon and there are unconfirmed reports that one of the crash victims was wearing an ankle monitor.

Although an Atlanta police supervisor at the scene admits officers were pursuing the suspects, he says the officers, a male and a female, broke off the chase when speeds became too dangerous for the road conditions at that time.

NEW YORK (AP) Whether it's around the dinner table or just in front of the TV, U.S. families say they are spending less time together.

The decline in family time coincides with a rise in Internet use and the popularity of social networks, though a new study stopped just short of assigning blame.

The Annenberg Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California is reporting this week that 28 percent of Americans it interviewed last year said they have been spending less time with members of their households. That's nearly triple the 11 percent who said that in 2006.

These people did not report spending less time with their friends, however.

Michael Gilbert, a senior fellow at the center, said people report spending less time with family members just as social networks like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are booming, along with the importance people place on them.

Five-year-old Facebook's active user base, for example, has surged to more than 200 million active users, up from 100 million last August.

Meanwhile, more people say they are worried about how much time kids and teenagers spend online. In 2000, when the center began its annual surveys on Americans and the Internet, only 11 percent of respondents said that family members under 18 were spending too much time online. By 2008, that grew to 28 percent.

``Most people think of the Internet and (our) digital future as boundless, and I do too,'' Gilbert said.

But, he added, ``it can't be a good thing that families are spending less face-to-face time together. Ultimately it leads to less cohesive and less communicative families.''

In the first half of the decade, people reported spending an average of 26 hours per month with their families. By 2008, however, that shared time had dropped by more than 30 percent, to about 18 hours.

The advent of new technologies has, in some ways, always changed the way family members interact.

Cell phones make it easier for parents to keep track of where their children are, while giving kids the kind of privacy they wouldn't have had in the days of landlines.

Television has cut into dinner time, and as TV sets became cheaper, they also multiplied, so that kids and parents no longer have to congregate in the living room to watch it.

But Gilbert said the Internet is so engrossing, and demands so much more attention than other technologies, that it can disrupt personal boundaries in ways other technologies wouldn't have.

``It's not like television, where you can sit around with your family and watch,'' he said. The Internet, he noted, is mostly one-on-one.

Likely because they can afford more Web-connected gadgets, higher-income families reported greater loss of family time than those who make less money. And more women than men said they felt ignored by a family member using the Internet.

The center's latest survey was a random poll of 2,030 people ages 12 and up was conducted April 9 to June 30, 2008, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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

(WSB Radio) -- A cell phone may have saved the life of a Roswell liquor store clerk.

Police Lt. James McGee tells WSB that when a would-be robber tried to stab the clerk at Beverage Mart on Holcomb Bridge Road, the knife dented the cell phone in the clerk's pocket, but did not injure him.

Further, the clerk then pulled the pistol, given to him by his Roswell police officer son for protection, to shoot and wound the suspect.

The incident began about 8:30 p.m. Monday, when the suspect entered the store and waved a knife at one of two customers inside.

"He then turned toward the clerk and lunged at him with the knife," McGee said. "Luckily, he had the cell phone in his pocket, which deflected the knife.

"If not, it would have cost him serious bodily injury, and maybe his life."

The suspect is being treated at North Fulton Regional Hospital for what have been described as non-life threatening wounds.

A leading state senator says it should be a crime for Georgia educators to change students' answers on standardized tests, and the governor has indicated he may be willing to support such a law.

Sen. Dan Weber, who chairs the Senate's education committee, is calling for the new law in response to a state audit released last week showing that answers had been altered on the fifth-grade Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests to improve scores at four elementary schools last summer. At one of the schools Atherton Elementary in DeKalb County the principal resigned and the assistant principal was reassigned late last week after officials determined tampering had occurred.

``I think it's awful what they've done. It cheats the kids, and it's not good for their school systems and not good for the state of Georgia,'' said Weber, a Republican from Dunwoody. ``That kind of behavior is obviously deplorable.''

The cheating allegations came to light in the preliminary results of an audit presented to the state Board of Education on Wednesday. Other than DeKalb, no districts have identified who was responsible for altering the tests. State officials have said students were not involved.

Those found responsible for the cheating could face criminal charges under an existing law that prohibits tampering with state documents, said Bert Brantley, spokesman for Gov. Sonny Perdue. Officials with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the DeKalb County district attorney's office said they have no plans to investigate the cheating at this point.

Brantley said the governor would also support creating a new law if prosecutors do not feel existing statutes are adequate to press criminal charges.

``If there's some hesitation from prosecutors because it's not a specific language on testing and school documents, and they would prefer to have a specific statute, the governor would be very willing to look at crafting something that prosecutors could use,'' Brantley said late last week.

The audit found higher scores helped all four schools meet standards and avoid sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind law. The state school board is expected to vote next month on whether to toss out the scores. That would mean none of the schools made ``adequate yearly progress'' on federal benchmarks.

Schools that don't meet standards must offer extra tutoring and allow parents to transfer their children to higher performing schools.

The audit, conducted by the Governor's Office of Student Achievement, also found the answer sheets of the altered tests had up to 40 erasures, compared with the average of two per student on tests that were not altered. Most of the answers were changed from wrong to right.

Kathleen Mathers, head of the Office of Student Achievement, said formal complaints against anyone found responsible will be filed with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, the agency that oversees licensing educators. If teachers or principals are found at fault, they could lose their jobs and their state certification.

Along with Atherton, the schools under review are Burroughs-Molette Elementary in Glynn County, Atlanta's Deerwood Academy and Parklane Elementary in Fulton County.

Atherton principal James L. Berry resigned and assistant principal Doretha Alexander was reassigned last week. Neither have returned repeat requests for comment.

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

ATLANTA (AP) The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that the city of Columbus has the right to impose occupancy taxes on the amount online travel companies charge customers for hotel rooms.

The 4-3 decision handed down Monday upholds a Muscogee County court ruling against Expedia Inc.

Columbus charges a 7 percent occupancy tax on hotel and motel rooms. The city-county government of Columbus sued Expedia in 2006 saying the company must pay the city occupancy taxes based on the room rate it collects from its customers, not on the lower wholesale price it pays to the hotels.

Columbus' lawsuit is similar to one filed by the city of Atlanta and dozens of others. Many of the other suits have been dismissed by federal or state judges.

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

(WSB Radio) A MARTA train conductor has been given the maximum penalty for allegedly texting while he was driving a train.

A rider saw the driver texting and took a picture of the incident on his cell phone.

MARTA's Director of Rail Operations, Dave Springstead, tells WSB the operator was given the maximum penalty of three days suspension.  They are reviewing the policy in light of similar events across the country.

"In relationship to what's transpired in L.A. and Boston, and the incidents they've had, we're basically going through all of our procedures to make sure that they're as robust as possible and providing maximum safety for the public and employees," said Springstead.

Springstead did not say how long the conductor had been with the company, but said he was qualified.

"He was trained.  He was an experienced operator.  As far as his qualifications go, he's fully qualified to operate the train," said Springstead.

Springstead says they are reviewing a new policy, but could not say if the incident happened again if it would result in dismissal.

"We are looking to make the policies more stringent in light of the scenarios that are popping up around the country related to texting incidences involving rail cars, trolleys, buses, and any form of transportation.  We're looking to boost the disciplinary action and or consequences of such an action," said Springstead.

6/15/09

(WSB Radio)  Mark Milota had a good job, working at a medical billing company.  Then, in November, he joined millions of Americans who are unemployed.

Milota tried finding work, but jobs are scarce.  He applied at one business that was advertising for a customer service position.  Milota was told he was among 1000 applicants.

So the Marietta father did something he'd never thought he'd have to do; he applied for food stamps.  That's when Milota's story takes a strange, but almost predictable turn.

Milota was refused food stamps.  Thank the federal stimulus bill for that.

"Because of the stimulus money and everything, they said I made too much money," Milota says. 

It seems that among the provisions of the stimulus bill was an increase in unemployment benefits in the amount of $25 a week.

That extra cash placed Milota's monthly income, by way of state and federal jobless benefits, at $1538 --- $18 too much to qualify for food stamps.

"I could have gotten about $300 in food stamps whereas I get $100 through the stimulus," Milota tells WSB.  "So I lost about $200 per month.

"It's not a lot of money, but it's more than I have right now," says the 47 year old divorced father of a son.

Milota went to different state agencies for help and was told the same thing at each stop.

"This is incorrect, it's not right, but nobody had the power to make any changes or to know where to make the changes," he says.

State officials are aware of the problem and have sent out letters explaining the situation.

It seems that when Congress passed the stimulus package, thus raising the unemployment benefit, they did not raise the eligibility limit for food stamps. 

And thousands of people, like Mark Milota, got caught in the middle.

The stimulus law was intended not just as a jolt to the economy but also to ease the burden on people in Milota's situation. Besides unemployment benefits, the law also increased food stamp benefits -- just not the income cap.

Neither Milota nor state agencies can do much about his situation.

"We have to pay him that $25 a week," said Brenda Brown, assistant commissioner at the Georgia Department of Labor. "And he doesn't have the option not to accept it."

For Milota, applying for food stamps was difficult.  But now, without them, things are getting even more worrisome.

"I'm doing things I've never done before: I'm going to food pantries. I've gone to places for assistance on bills," Milota said. "Some bills are just not being paid. I'm three months behind on my mortgage."

As for a remedy to the problem of raising unemployment benefits but not the eligibility cap for food stamps, it is being looked at in Washington.

Officials say they're aware of stories like Milota's. Changing things, however, requires changing the law. States could do this one by one, or Congress could do so.

(WSB Radio)  51 Georgia high schools land on Newsweek's list of the best in the country.

Walton High School, in Cobb County, is the highest ranking Georgia school, placing 90th. 

12 schools in Cobb, 13 in Gwinnett and 7 in north Fulton County make the magazine's top 1500.

All but 8 of the 51 Georgia schools are located in the metro Atlanta area. 

Newsweek bases its rankings on the number of graduating students and the advanced placement and other standardized tests the students take.

(WSB Radio)  Trial is scheduled to begin today in Gwinnett County for a Norcross man charged with killing his girlfriend with an ax.

The incident last February led to a 12 hour standoff with police at the victim's home on Edgemoor Drive.

34 year old Shannon Marlow was later found hiding in the attic. 

He's charged with murder, aggravated assault and theft, the last charge coming because he had allegedly stolen Patricia Rabold's car.

(WSB Radio)  Despite the end of the drought, Atlanta has no plans to lower its water rates.

"The city of Atlanta does not anticipate lowering the water rates," Mayor Shirley Franklin tells WSB.

The Mayor is hoping that people won't go back to using more water. 

The city dropped its usage by 10% during the drought, which was officially declared over last week.

"Conservation is part of the plan," Mayor Franklin says.  "Not using, not wasting water is part of the city's long term plan.

"While we have saved 20%, in terms of water usage, we want to maintain that savings at the same time we're making improvements," she says.  "Because we need to be sure that there's enough water 40 or 50 years from now."

The Mayor says rates for the city are set four years in advance. 

She admits Atlanta has the highest rates of any major U.S. city, thanks to its $3 billion overhaul of its water and sewer system.

The Mayor says the city's new mayor and the city council may have to look at lowering water rates next summer.

(WSB Radio)  Cobb County students will have to keep on the straight and narrow this fall.

The school system has put in place new standards for out of school activities that could mean suspension from sports or extracurricular activities when the new school year begins.

"In some areas it toughens the stipulations for participation in extracurricular activities and inappropriate behavior," school spokesman Jay Dillon tells WSB,  "such as drinking, smoking and those types of activities."

Dillon says there was not one incident that led to the changes.  Instead, the school system sees it as a way of making the rules standardized.

"What it really was making sure that we have a more uniform approach to applying discipline from high school to high school and from school to school," he says.

A first offense for drinking, DUI or drugs will mean a 25 day suspension, including practice and regular season.  It also means a suspension from at least 30% of regular season games.

A second offense will result in a one year suspension from activities, while a third offense means permanent suspension from activities.

Use of tobacco during the season will carry different penalties.

A first offense will mean a two day suspension, a second offense equals a five day suspension and a third offense will result in a 10 day suspension, plus sitting out 20% of activities.

A fourth offense for tobacco will mean a 90 day suspension.

"All the coaches will get this information out to the students right at the start of the school year," Dillon says.  "We want students and parents to be aware of it.  It will go home in the handbooks at the beginning of the school year, as well."

(WSB Radio)  Atlanta and its residents are under attack from tiny particles of soot, far smaller than what we usually see.

"If you see a smoky, diesel vehicle going down the highway, and there's big black things of smoke coming out, those are much larger particles," says Dan Greenbaum, president of the Health Effects Institute, in Boston. "And, in fact, they're less harmful."

The reason, according to Greenbaum, is because your body has ways of blocking them out. 

But not the particles of "micro-soot."

"These very, very fine particles can get deep into the lung," Greenbaum tells WSB.

The Health Effects Institute has recently released the first comprehensive study of these fine particles, looking at 116 American cities, each with at least 500,000 residents, along with the people living there.

"It was really looking at people," he says.  "Following them for 20 years.  Finding out whether they died and what they died of."

The study determined that, once the particles got down into the lungs, they could cause some deadly problems.

"Increasingly, they actually have the ability to get into the bloodstream, because they're so small," he says, "and to have effects on the blood and heart."

The review found that the risk of having a condition that is a precursor to deadly heart attacks for people living in soot-laden areas goes up by 24 percent rather than 12 percent, as particle concentrations increase.

And, when it comes to the microsoot particles, Atlanta ranks near the bottom of the list.

"It has very high levels," Greenbaum says.  "It's not the highest in the country.  Los Angeles and that area is much higher.  But it is, probably, second or third highest in the country."

Other areas with extremely high levels of microsoot include Birmingham, Alabama; Pittsburgh and the Ohio River Valley.

A variety of sources produce fine particles, and they include diesel engines, automobile tires, coal-fired power plants and oil refineries.

The institute was created by the Environmental Protection Agency and the industries that it regulates with the goal of obtaining unbiased studies.

As for solutions, the EPA is looking over the study to determine whether air quality standards should be tightened to combat the tiny particles and make the requirements for reducing them even greater.

The study also found that state and local governments can do more to filter the particles from the air, but those solutions hinge on a financial committment.

"They're not free.  They do cost some money," Greenbaum says.  "But there is also a cost, as this study shows, to not taking action."

(WSB Radio)  A 13 year old boy is home from the hospital and talking about how 3 dogs attacked him in Athens Friday afternoon.

Johnchavious Echols says a pit bull jumped out of an apartment window, knocked him down and started biting him.  Then two other dogs joined in.

"I saw the dogs," the boy says.  "They saw me, I turned around and started running."

As the dogs approached, Johnchavious hit the largest of the pit bulls on the nose with a stick and was able to get away. 

The boy will need plastic surgery once the stitches are removed from his face.

The boy's father says he's concerned, but not angry at the dogs or their owner.

"I teach him not to hate," Johnifer Echols says.  "Even though stuff happens, you still don't hate."

Animal Control has the dogs.  There's no word on their fate or if there will be charges against  the owner.

(WSB Radio)  An arrest has been made in the murder of a Newton County man whose body was found in a creek.

22 year old Pablo Maldonado, of Covington,  is in custody, charged in the killing of 55 year old Timothy Clements.  His body was dumped, police say, in Snapping Shoals Creek.

"Investigators with the Sheriff's Department and the GBI traveled to Anniston to interview him, then served him with the murder warrant," GBI spokesman John Bankhead tells WSB.

Newton County deputies will bring Maldonado back today. 

Investigators say the suspect and the victim worked together in landscaping, but there is still no word on what led to the killing.  The investigation is also trying to determine whether Maldonado acted alone.

And there's no word on how Clements died. His truck is still missing and investigators think it could have important clues.

(WSB Radio) College Park police are investigating a Sunday night shooting that wounded four people.

The victims, who were all in a Toyota Corolla, were allegedly shot around 9pm by a man with a high powered rifle in the parking lot of the Hampton Place Townhomes on South Hampton Road.

The suspect, a black male, fled the scene with a black female in a red Pontiac G6, but witnesses were unable to give investigators a tag number.

The victims apparently tried to get to a hospital, but the driver pulled over at the Wachovia Bank on Old National Highway at Old Bill Cook Road in south Fulton County.

Three occupants of the car were taken by ambulance to Grady Hospital where they're being treated for multiple gunshot wounds.  A fourth victim ran away from the scene on Old National Highway and his whereabouts are unknown.

ATLANTA (AP) Members of the North Avenue Presbyterian Church in Atlanta learned in 2005 that worship wasn't the only thing going on in the neighborhood: teenage prostitutes had begun working within a few steps of the church's doors, according to a mayor's report.

In the four years since then church has helped build a wide-ranging coalition with the goal of eradicating child prostitution from the streets of Atlanta.

Included in the fight are Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, conservative Christians, feminists, Jews, Muslims and others united over the issue despite differences in other areas.

``When you talk to a girl who is 15 and has been prostituted, it doesn't matter anymore if you are pro-life or pro-choice,'' said Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford), who has become active in the campaign. ``You just want to help.''

The group isn't waging their battle on the streets. Instead they have taken the campaign to the Legislature and waged fundraising efforts to help.

They provided hundreds of volunteers this year to lobby at the Capitol for anti-trafficking legislation and members also are paying for safehouses for child prostitutes, tripling the number of beds from seven to 23.

The nonprofit Juvenile Justice Fund estimates that 200 to 300 children are serving as prostitutes in Atlanta each month. The children's backgrounds typically include chaotic home lives, abuse, acting out in school and expulsion, poverty, running away and being ``rescued'' by men who later pimp them.

North Avenue Presbyterian Church's Rev. Scott Weimer remembers the mayor's report, which contains stories like that of a 12-year-old Atlanta girl who was imprisoned by an adult pimp in a bedroom with barred windows. The girl was rescued by an aunt as the pimp was preparing to take her out of Georgia.

``If we are a congregation that extends the love of Christ first to our community, then to the world, what does this mean for us?'' Weimer asked.

His congregation connected with members of the Regional Council of Churches, Concerned Black Clergy of Atlanta and a group of largely suburban nondenominational churches that had formed Unite!, an organization dedicated to justice and social issues.

Together they formed ``Street Grace,'' the latter word an acronym for Galvanizing Resources Against Child Exploitation.

``Being a self-proclaimed feminist, I haven't had much chance to work with the far right,'' said Stephanie Davis, policy adviser on women's issues for Mayor Shirley Franklin. ``But the issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children creates an automatic response in any human being.''

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

(WSB Radio) -- Seven Dunwoody Boy Scouts have tested positive for swine flu and 7 others from the same troop have showed symptoms of the H1N1 virus, according to their troop leader.

The boys, with Troop 434 from All Saints Catholic Church, got sick after a week at Camp Daniel Boone near Asheville, North Carolina, assistant scout leader Ed Cerbone said.

All of the scouts are expected to recover, he said.

The Dunwoody scouts were among about 700 campers who arrived June 7 at the camp. They were planning to spend a week at the camp.

The next day, several scouts from a Florida troop had temperatures in the low 100s, and were experiencing mild flu-like symptoms. Camp Director Dan Rogers said Saturday that he thought the boys were sick when they left home.

A notice on the camp's web site says only two campers have been confirmed to have H1N1. However, the camp encouraged parents to monitor children because it can take up to 10 days for symptoms to develop. Symptoms include fever, sore throat, nasal congestion, cough, body aches, chills, fatigue, diarrhea and vomiting.

(WSB Radio/AP) -- Every time you swipe your credit card and wait for the transaction to be approved, sensitive data including your name and account number are ferried from store to bank through computer networks, each step a potential opening for hackers.

And while you may take steps to protect yourself against identity theft, an Associated Press investigation has found the banks and other companies that handle your information are not being nearly as cautious as they could.

The government leaves it to card companies to design security rules that protect the nation's 50 billion annual transactions. Yet an examination of those industry requirements explains why so many breaches occur: The rules are cursory at best and all but meaningless at worst, according to the AP's analysis of data breaches dating to 2005.

It means every time you pay with plastic, companies are gambling with your personal data. If hackers intercept your numbers, you'll spend weeks straightening your mangled credit, though you can't be held liable for unauthorized charges. Even if your transaction isn't hacked, you still lose: Merchants pass to all their customers the costs they incur from fraud.

More than 70 retailers and payment processors have disclosed breaches since 2006, involving tens of millions of credit and debit card numbers, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Meanwhile, many others likely have been breached and didn't detect it. Even the companies that had the payment industry's top rating for computer security, a seal of approval known as PCI compliance, have fallen victim to huge heists.

Companies that are not compliant with the PCI standards including one in 10 of the medium-sized and large retailers in the United States face fines but are left free to process credit and debit card payments. Most retailers don't have to endure security audits, but can evaluate themselves.

Credit card providers don't appear to be in a rush to tighten the rules. They see fraud as a cost of doing business and say stricter security would throw sand into the gears of the payment system, which is built on speed, convenience and low cost.

That is of little consolation to consumers who bet on the industry's payment security and lost.

It took four months for Pamela LaMotte, 46, of Colchester, Vt., to fix the damage after two of her credit card accounts were tapped by hackers in a breach traced to a Hannaford Bros. grocery store.

LaMotte, who was unemployed at the time, says she had to borrow money from her mother and boyfriend to pay $500 in overdraft and late fees which were eventually refunded while the banks investigated.

``Maybe somebody who doesn't live paycheck to paycheck, it wouldn't matter to them too much, but for me it screwed me up in a major way,'' she said. LaMotte says she pays more by cash and check now.

It all happened at a supermarket chain that met the PCI standards. Someone installed malicious software on Hannaford's servers that snatched customer data while it was being sent to the banks for approval.

Since then, hackers plundered two companies that process payments and had PCI certification. Heartland Payment Systems lost card numbers, expiration dates and other data for potentially hundreds of millions of shoppers. RBS WorldPay Inc. got taken for more than 1 million Social Security numbers a golden ticket to hackers that enables all kinds of fraud.

In the past, each credit card company had its own security rules, a system that was chaotic for stores.

In 2006, the big card brands Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB International formed the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council and created uniform security rules for merchants.

Avivah Litan, a Gartner Inc. analyst, says retailers and payment processors have spent more than $2 billion on security upgrades to comply with PCI. And the payment industry touts the fact that 93 percent of big retailers in the U.S., and 88 percent of medium-sized ones, are compliant with the PCI rules.

That leaves plenty of merchants out, of course, but the main threat against them is a fine: $25,000 for big retailers for each month they are not compliant, $5,000 for medium-sized ones.

Computer security experts say the PCI guidelines are superficial, including requirements that stores run antivirus software and install computer firewalls. Those steps are designed to keep hackers out and customer data in. Yet tests that simulate hacker attacks are required just once a year, and businesses can run the tests themselves.

``It's like going to a doctor and getting your blood pressure read, and if your blood pressure's good you get a clean bill of health,'' said Tom Kellermann, a former senior member of the World Bank's Treasury security team and now vice president of security awareness for Core Security Technologies, which audited Google's Internet payment processing system.

Merchants that decide to hire an outside auditor to check for compliance with the PCI rules need not spend much. Though some firms generally charge about $60,000 and take months to complete their inspections, others are far cheaper and faster.

``PCI compliance can cost just a couple hundred bucks,'' said Jeremiah Grossman, founder of WhiteHat Security Inc., a Web security firm. ``If that's the case, all the incentives are in the wrong direction. The merchants are inclined to go with the cheapest certification they need.''

For some inspectors, the certification course takes just one weekend and ends in an open-book exam. Applicants must have five years of computer security experience, but once they are let loose, there's little oversight of their work. Larger stores take it on themselves to provide evidence to auditors that they comply with the rules, leaving the door open for mistakes or fraud.

And retailers with fewer than 6 million annual card transactions a group comprising more than 99 percent of all retailers do not even need auditors. They can test and evaluate themselves.

At the same time, the card companies themselves are increasingly hands-off.

Two years ago, Visa scaled back its review of inspection records for the payment processors it works with. It now examines records only for payment processors with computer networks directly connected to Visa's.

In the U.S., that means fewer than 100 payment processors out of the 700 that Visa works with are PCI-compliant.

Visa's head of global data security, Eduardo Perez, said the company scaled back its records review because it took too much work and because the PCI standards have improved the industry's security ``considerably.''

``I think we've made a lot of progress,'' he said. ``While there have been a few large compromises, there are many more compromises we feel we've helped prevent by driving these minimum requirements.''

Representatives for MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB which, along with Visa, steer PCI policy either didn't return messages from the AP or directed questions to the PCI security council.

PCI's general manager, Bob Russo, said inspector certification is ``rigorous.'' Yet he also acknowledged that inconsistent audits are a problem and that merchants and payment processors who suffered data breaches possibly shouldn't have been PCI-certified. Those companies also might have easily fallen out of compliance after their inspection, by not installing the proper security updates, and nobody noticed.

The council is trying to crack down on shoddy work by requiring annual audits for the dozen companies that do the bulk of the PCI inspections. Smaller firms will be examined once every three years.

Those reviews merely scratch the surface, though. Only three full-time staffers are assigned to the task, and they can't visit retailers themselves. They are left to review the paperwork from the examinations.

The AP contacted eight of the biggest ``acquiring banks'' the banks that retailers use as middlemen between the stores and consumers' banks. Those banks are responsible for ensuring that retailers are PCI compliant. Most didn't return calls or wouldn't comment for this story.

Mike Herman, compliance managing director for Chase Paymentech, a division of JPMorgan Chase, said his bank has five workers reviewing compliance reports from retailers. Most of the work is done by phone or e-mail.

``We have faith in the certification process, and we really haven't doubted the assessors' work,'' Herman said. ``It's really the merchants that don't engage assessors; those get a little more scrutiny.''

He defended the system: ``Can you imagine how many breaches we'd have and how severe they'd be if we didn't have PCI?''

Supporters of PCI point out nearly all big and medium-sized retailers governed by the standard now say they no longer store sensitive cardholder data. Just a few years ago they did leaving credit card numbers in databases that were vulnerable to hackers.

So why are breaches still happening? Because criminals have sharpened their attacks and are now capturing more data as it makes its way from store to bank, when breaches are harder to stop.

Security experts say there are several steps the payment industry could take to make sure customer information doesn't leak out of networks.

Banks could scramble the data that travels over payment networks, so it would be meaningless to anyone not authorized to see it.

For example, TJX Cos., the chain that owns T.J. Maxx and Marshalls and was victimized by a breach that exposed as many as 100 million accounts, the most on record, has tightened its security but says many banks won't accept data in encrypted form.

PCI requires data transmitted across ``open, public networks'' to be encrypted, but that means hackers with access to a company's internal network still can get at it. Requiring encryption all the time would be expensive and slow transactions.

Another possibility: Some security professionals think the banks and credit card companies should start their own PCI inspection arms to make sure the audits are done properly. Banks say they have stepped up oversight of the inspections, doing their own checks of questionable PCI assessment jobs. But taking control of the whole process is far-fetched: nobody wants the liability.

PCI could also be optional. In its place, some experts suggest setting fines for each piece of sensitive data a retailer loses.

The U.S. might also try a system like Europe's, where shoppers need a secret PIN code and card with a chip inside to complete purchases. The system, called Chip and PIN, has cut down on fraud there (because it's harder to use counterfeit cards), but transferred it elsewhere to places like the U.S. that don't have as many safeguards.

A key reason PCI exists is that the banks and card brands don't want the government regulating credit card security. These companies also want to be sure transactions keep humming through the system which is why banks and card companies are willing to put up with some fraud.

``If they did mind, they have immense resources and could really change things,'' said Ed Skoudis, co-founder of security consultancy InGuardians Inc. and an instructor with the SANS Institute, a computer-security training organization. Skoudis investigates retail breaches in support of government investigations. ``But they don't want to strangle the goose that laid the golden egg by making it too hard to accept credit cards, because that's bad for everybody.''

(WSB Radio)  A Cobb County church wants to warn other congregations that a man who stole thousands of dollars from them may not be posing as a pastor himself. 

Jarvis Haugabook was an administrator with New Life Missionary Baptist in Mableton, and when he came to the 300-member church as a volunteer, said he was a Morehouse grad who'd recently finished a stint working for an Atlanta megachurch.  After $11,000 went missing, New Life found out that Haugabook was the thief--and he'd never even graduated high school.

The church's pastor, Rev. Ron McCrary, says Haugabook is now out of jail and on 10 years probation--but they've yet to be paid any of the court-ordered restitution.

"We forgive him, and we're praying for him, but he needs help," says McCrary.

McCrary tells Channel 2 Action News that according to a posting they saw recently online, Haugabook may now be trying to pass himself off as a minister, too.

NEW YORK (AP) The amusement park company Six Flags is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it needs to reorganize and shed $1.8 billion of debt.

Mark Shapiro, the New York-based company's chief executive officer, says the move won't affect the operation of its 20 theme parks in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Six Flags says it actually had a great year in 2008. It saw 25 million visitors and posted record revenues. But executives are trying to lighten a $2.4 billion debt load that they say is unsustainable.

Saturday's bankruptcy filing came after an earlier plan to negotiate an out-of-court deal with creditors failed.

Six Flags shares have traded below $1 since September. They closed at 26 cents on Friday.

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

(WSB Radio) Three people were killed in two separate crashes near the interchange of I-285 and I-20 in DeKalb County, authorities said.

The DOT said two people were killed and two transported to a hospital after a vehicle was found about 100 feet down an embankment on the I-285 southbound ramp to I-20.

The crash happened around 5 a.m. Sunday. The cause of the crash and the extent of the victims' injuries were not immediately known.

A few hours earlier, one man was killed and another person injured after a two-car crash on I-285 northbound just before I-20 (pictured), a fire department spokesperson said.