UGA Inspects Parking Decks Following Atlanta Incident

Emergency workers on the scene of the partially-collapsed parking deck in Atlanta say they have removed most of the nearly 40 damaged vehicles from Monday’s incident. In addition, almost 170 un-damaged cars have been pulled-out of the multi-level structure. It was Monday around lunchtime that four floors of a center section of the deck collapsed and pancaked downward. The good news from searches of the deck-there are still no injuries or victims reported. As for a reason for the collapse, the owner of the deck tells an Atlanta TV station a support beam fell out of place, causing the collapse.

Meanwhile, at the University of Georgia, officials there are getting inspections for two parking decks under construction at the school that have the same contractor as the Atlanta garage. One 400-plus space deck at UGA’s intramural fields and another near the Performing and Visual Arts Center on East Campus are slated for completion by fall. Atlanta-based Hardin Construction Co. is overseeing those projects. UGA officials are getting the inspections for the decks under construction-and others on campus. The independent inspections are being paid-for by Hardin.

Atlanta Hikes Property Taxes

The Atlanta City Council has voted to raise property taxes from 7.12 mills to 10.12 mills. The vote on Monday was 8-7. Officials said for the average city homeowner it will amount to a $250 annual increase, based on a $240,000 house. Mayor Shirley Franklin had proposed the tax hike to close a $56 million budget gap. Officials said the increase will end the furloughs on city workers.

(Associated Press)

Georgia Aquarium's 10 Millionth Guest

The Georgia Aquarium welcomed its 10 millionth guest Thursday, less than four years after the downtown Atlanta attraction opened its doors. The lucky guest was Annette Kalber of Atlanta, who was visiting with her mother, sister, niece and nephew.

She got a free dive in the 6 million gallon Oceans Voyager tank, free airline tickets and other goodies.

The aquarium is home to more than 8 million gallons of tanks, featuring the only whale sharks outside of Asia. The attraction is the only aquarium in the world to let visitors dive with the four whale sharks, the world's largest fish.

The attraction also plans to open a dolphin exhibit in 2010 that will include shows and conservation research.

(Associated Press)

Another College Student Robbed at Gunpoint

Another college student has been robbed at gunpoint at the same apartment complex near Georgia Tech for the second day in a row.

Eric Mills is a student at University of Phoenix, a national college with six campuses in the Atlanta area.

Mills said he was walking to his apartment in the Centennial Place complex about 1 a.m. Wednesday when he was attacked by two men wearing masks, and one was armed.

He said they asked for his phone, but he threw his backpack down and told them it contained his laptop. They later took the backpack after the man with the gun threatened to shoot Mills. Eventually several cars showed up and them men got back in their car and left.

(AP)

Insurance Rates Could Rise

Insurance rates could go up for Atlanta homeowners if the city doesn’t hire more firefighters. Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John Oxendine Cited a report by the New Jersey-based Insurance Services Office. Many companies use the rating to help determine how much homeowners should pay for insurance. It found Atlanta's public protection classification rating dropped from 2 to 4 on a scale of 10 with 1 being the best rating. Atlanta has nine months to make changes that will allow the city to keep its current rating or drop to a 3.

(Associated Press)

Atlanta One Of 30 Cities For Immigrant Reform Events

Immigrant rights advocates will hold a news conference on the steps of the Capitol this morning to launch the Georgia component of the national Reform Immigration For America campaign. The event will bring together labor, faith, business and immigrant community groups to push for comprehensive immigration reform. Similar local launches are scheduled in more than 30 other cities today. A three-day national campaign summit is set to start Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Historic Public Housing Demolition

Atlanta Housing Authority officials have set a date to begin demolishing the last of the city's large public housing developments. Officials will begin the first phase of the demolition of Bowen Homes next week. Officials will mark the occasion with a ceremony on June 3. The destruction is part of a city plan to erase concentrated poverty by demolishing what officials say have become crime-infested public housing developments. Atlanta was the first city in the nation to create public housing during the Great Depression. The city is on course to become, in 2010, the first to have eliminated all of its large public housing projects.

(Associated Press)

Clayton County School Board to Name New Superintendent

The Clayton County school board is expected to officially name the district's new superintendent Monday. The board is scheduled to vote on whether to appoint Edmond Heatley the leader of the 48,000-student district in Atlanta's southern suburbs during a specially called meeting. Heatley was named the only finalist from a pool of 60 candidates two weeks ago, but state law requires that the board wait 14 days to vote on his appointment.

Heatley is a retired Marine and superintendent of the Chino Valley Unified School District in California. The Clayton district just won back accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools after nine months
without it.

(Associated Press)

'Unhealthy' Air Pollution Levels

The American Lung Association says 60 percent of Americans live in areas with unhealthy air pollution levels and many of them are in Georgia. Atlanta ranked No. 23 among 25 cities ranked for ozone pollution. Ozone is a reactive gas molecule that's the primary ingredient of smog air pollution and is very harmful to breathe. Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb and DeKalb were among several Georgia counties that earned an 'F' grade for ozone pollution. But the report does suggest Atlanta has seen improvements in air quality over the last decade.

(Associated Press)

Atlanta May Sue Mortgage Companies

Atlanta may take the first steps toward a lawsuit against mortgage lending companies blamed with driving up foreclosures through shady lending practices. The city council is set to consider a resolution Monday that would require the city to hire an attorney to investigate whether to file a lawsuit against mortgage lending companies and financial institutions. A report by foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac this month named Georgia among the top 10 states in the nation for foreclosures during the first quarter of 2009. If Atlanta moves forward, it will join other cities like Baltimore which have turned to the courts to fight banks they blame for skyrocketing foreclosures.

(Associated Press)

Rally for MARTA Funds

A dozen Atlanta Democratic legislators and hundreds of MARTA riders rallied in downtown Atlanta to call for a special session of the Georgia Legislature to solve the transit system's funding problems. MARTA officials have called for a special session for legislation that would allow them to tap into their reserves. The system is considering cutting services as it grapples with a $24 million budget shortfall. State Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, demanded on Wednesday Perdue call for a special session or issue an executive order to fix the problem. Others in the crowd chanted "it's our money." The governor has said "we will do our best not to call a special session."

(Associated Press)

State Pays $3-M To Bus Crash Victims

The state of Georgia has paid the maximum legal settlement--$3 million--to victims of the wreck of the Bluffton University baseball team bus accident two years ago. The wreck killed five baseball players, the bus driver and his wife. State law limits Georgia's liability to $3 million per occurrence, no matter how many are injured.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators said the bus driver thought he was staying in an HOV lane on Interstate 75 when he drove onto an exit ramp just north of Atlanta, plowing through a stop sign at highway speed and off of a bridge at the top of the ramp.

The NTSB released recommendations in August urging more clear and consistent highway signs.

Lowery Spends Night In Atlanta Hospital

The Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery spent the night at Emory Hospital-Midtown Atlanta Sunday night. The 87-year-old civil rights icon was taken there after a fall Sunday morning during services at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. A church member says Lowery became dizzy and lost his balance during the services. Lowery’s admission to the hospital was said to be only precautionary, and he should be able to go home sometime today.

Rare Snow Blankets South as East Braces For Storm (Photos)

A powerful March snowstorm blanketed much of Alabama and then marched across Georgia on Sunday, forcing some flight cancellations in Atlanta as the East Coast braced for a potential pummeling.

Peachtree Ave., midtown Atlanta on Sunday afternoon, Mar. 1, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

The weather service said winter storm warnings are in effect from northern Georgia and the Carolinas through the Mid-Atlantic states into New England.

At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways canceled some Sunday flights and a Federal Aviation Administration Web site said flights to
Atlanta were experiencing average delays of nearly two hours.

AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson said flights out of Atlanta into the Northeast may also be canceled Sunday night as the messy, developing storm took aim at walloping at wide swath of the East Coast up through Maine.

"I expect the Northeast will be hit pretty hard tonight so our expectations is that people flying into Washington, D.C., and Boston will need to call or check our Web site for possible cancellations," Hutcheson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Delta spokesman Brian Kruse said the airline is monitoring the weather and asking customers flying to, from or through Atlanta to call Delta or check its Web site for updates.

Georgia Tech students A.D. Barfield, Lily Manavi, and Candace Farr discuss the merits of their snowman. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Despite above-freezing temperatures, a heavy flurry of snow fell on downtown Atlanta, blanketing cars and creating slushy streets and sidewalks. It hadn't snowed in Atlanta for more than a year — the area received 1.4 inches of snow in January 2008, said Laura Griffith of the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Ga.

I-75/85 connector, near 14th St. bridge construction. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Georgia transportation officials warned of potential icy conditions on roadways in middle and northern counties through Monday morning. No icing on roadways, bridges or other overpasses had been reported through midday Sunday, but as temperatures drop Sunday night, officials warn motorists that ice could be a threat.

Outside the CNN Center in downtown Atlanta, Flori Kwon of Claremont, Calif. took pictures of her son Jake, 5, playing in the snow.

"He wants to make a snowman but I don't think there's enough snow," Kwon said while large snowflakes landed in her hair. "We're kind of surprised it's snowing."

The late Southern snowfall brought back memories of a large storm in 1993 that forecasters nicknamed the "Snowfall of the Century," affecting the region from Alabama to north of Washington, D.C. on March 13, 1993, Griffith said. In that storm, Atlanta received 4.2 inches of snow and 13 inches of snow fell on Birmingham, Ala.


Pedestrians and snowmen at an overpass in midtown Atlanta. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Meanwhile, tornado watches were in effect from northern Florida into coastal Georgia and southern South Carolina.

Crossing Peachtree Ave., in midtown Atlanta, as the snow blows around. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Despite above-freezing temperatures in downtown Atlanta, a heavy curtain of snow fell on cars and caused traffic accidents on slushy streets. The unusual weather prompted 26-year-old Jessi Prahl and Max DiPace to take their dog, Cooper, on a walk through snow-covered Piedmont Park in Atlanta.

Says Prahl: "You know us Southerners, we all freak out when it snows."

(AP)
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Send us your snow photos (in standard .jpg format), and we'll post the best ones here: dbender at gpb dot org (replace the "at" with @ and "Dot" with .)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of today's wintry weather.

Ga. Senate Outlaws Sanctuary Cities

The Georgia Senate has voted to outlaw sanctuary cities - where officials are prohibited from reporting illegal immigrants.

The bill's sponsor Sen. Chip Pearson, a Dawsonville Republican, said Tuesday that while there are no sanctuary cities in Georgia, there are some 60 across the country. Pearson says several more are in the works and the bill is a pre-emptive strike to make sure none crop up in the state.

The measure drew criticism from some Democrats.

State Sen. Emanuel Jones of Decatur, called it a bill "in search of a problem." State Sen. Nan Orrock, of Atlanta, said it sends "an increasingly hostile message to the international community."

The bill passed 37-9.

S.B. 20: www.legis.ga.gov

(AP)

Home Depot Posts $54-M 4th-Q Loss

Home Depot’s $54 million loss in its fourth-quarter represents the first net loss for the nation’s largest home retailer in 27 years.

The loss is tied to Home Depot’s closure of its EXPO design center chain and related side businesses. But excluding that one-time charge, the Atlanta-based retailer says it had earnings of 19 cents-a-share. Even though it represents a drop of more than 50-percent from the previous year, that still beat analysts’ forecasts of 15 cents a share.

The home improvement giant’s recent shuttering of its EXPO stores included layoff’s of 7,000 employees. It’s part of the company’s scale-down of operations, including a focus more on its signature stores.

Home Depot CEO Frank Blake says he expects the home improvement market to be just as challenging this year as in 2008. The company projects total sales to fall about 9 percent going forward.

2 Crime Victims Kill Suspected Assailants

Police say two crime victims in metro Atlanta killed their attackers in separate incidents on Saturday.

Cobb County police say a Marietta resident, who was shot in his own garage Saturday night, grabbed the wound-be robber's gun and shot and killed the man.

Officials identified the would-be robber as 33-year-old John Harrison of Palmetto. Harrison shot and wounded 38-year-old homeowner, Richard Ellis, in the leg.

In Atlanta, police say a woman fatally stabbed a robbery suspect who broke into her apartment while her 11-year-old child slept.

The suspect was identified as 34-year-old Jerome Davis of Atlanta. The woman's name was not released.

No charges were filed in either case.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says over 120 thousand gun applications were submitted in 2008, an almost 80-percent jump from the roughly 68 thousand the year before.

Click here for more GPB News crime coverage.

(AP)

Delta Posts 4Q Loss

Delta Airlines reports a net loss of $1.4 billion for the final quarter of last year. It comes within a weakened economy and the carrier’s recent merger with Northwest.

The loss of $2.11 a share was a big spike compared to the year earlier--an 18-cents-a-share loss for the carrier. For the full year of 2008, Delta lost nearly $9 billion. Other major carriers such as American and United Airlines last week reported fourth-quarter losses due to weak travel demand tied to the global financial crisis.

For Delta, much of its negative balance sheet last quarter involved $900 million given in employee stock awards relating to the merger with Northwest.

But while predicting a "sizable loss" for the first three months of this year, Atlanta-based Delta is forecasting a "solidly profitable" 2009, driven by lower fuel costs and its plan of reducing capacity.

Delta says it will cut its flight volume by an average 6-8 percent across its system this year.

Rail Service Linking Atlanta to Charlotte is Possible

Transportation officials are considering the development of rapid passenger rail service linking Charlotte and Atlanta.
A federal study released this month found that officials could realistically develop service that travels between 90 and 110 mph without needing major changes to the existing rail corridor.
The study assumed there would be as many as nine stops between Charlotte and Atlanta as it crosses through South Carolina.
Officials in the three states are now preparing to conduct a more detailed study to assess ridership and costs.

(AP)

Home Depot Cuts More Jobs

Home Depot announced it will cut another 7,000 jobs from its national workforce. The move by the world’s largest home improvement retailer is part of a restructuring that closes its remaining specialty design stores.

Home Depot is closing its 34 EXPO Design Center stores saying they were not strong performers even during the housing boom. And company officials did not expect the stores to do better financially anytime soon given the current economic downturn. Another handful of yard or bath remodeling outlets run by Home Depot will also close.

The retailer says 5,000 of the job losses will come from the specialty-store closings. Another 2,000 jobs will be cut from "store support" in the company, including a scale-back at its Atlanta-headquarters of 500 positions.

Home Depot has been trimming staff since last January, including previous cuts at headquarters.

The retailer has nearly 2,000 flagship stores in the U.S., employing more than 300,000 workers.