GA Power "Pay It Forward" Plan Challenged in Lawsuit

A bill that would charge Georgia Power customers to pay early for the construction of two nuclear reactors awaits Governor Sonny Perdue’s signature. The governor has indicated he’ll sign it.

Meanwhile, it has become the target of a lawsuit by the Fulton County Taxpayers’ Foundation. The group sued Governor Perdue, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson among others last week.

The lawsuit argues Senate bill 31 is illegal because it originated in the state Senate instead of the House, and that any measure that increases revenues should originate in the House.

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Georgia Power officials say they aren’t worried about the lawsuit.

(The Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Tax Breaks Pushed to Spur Hiring

Unemployment is at a record high. To help create jobs, state House Republicans want to pass a series of tax breaks to businesses.

Businesses would get a $2,400 income tax credit for each unemployed person they hire before July 1 of next year and keep on the job for at least two years. The package also includes a $500 credit toward unemployment insurance taxes for those new hires.

House Republicans hope the measure will give businesses an incentive to hire out-of-work Georgians, as well as lure new companies to the state. Additionally, the state would reduce the 6 percent corporate income tax and eventually eliminate it.

The breaks could save businesses upwards of a billion dollars.

Opponents say there’s no guarantee the package will create good-paying jobs; the tax-breaks kick in even for those hired to work 30 hours a week.

They also criticize slashing revenue at a time when more Georgians rely on the state for health care, education and other services.

The bill will go to the House floor for a vote this week.

(The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

State audit critical of PSC oversight of moving companies

A routine state audit reports the Public Service Commission does not do a good job of licensing and overseeing in-state moving companies. The Atlanta Journal Constitution details a report from the state Audits and Accounts Department. It shows without good oversight, non-legitimate movers can entice customers with low prices, only to pry more money from them once furniture is on the trucks. The PSC is the state’s consumer watchdog agency for many industries. The AJC quotes Public Service Commission Commissioner Bobby Baker,Jr. saying they’re doing the best they can with available resources.

Georgia oysters could be dangerous

Warm waters and a bacteria risk mean the state is banning oyster harvesting in Georgia until October. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports coastal waters have reached at least 81 degrees. That is the point the National Shellfish Sanitation Program says oysters can develop a bacteria that makes people sick. Commercial and recreational harvesting is off limits.

Lewis calls for Olympics boycott

A Georgia Congressman says he will boycott part of the Beijing Olympics. U.S Representative John Lewis tells the Atlanta Journal Constitution the U.S. should not attend the opening ceremonies. Thousands of protestors have disrupted the world tour of the Olympic Torch in Paris, London and San Francisco. They accuse China of human rights abuses and of oppressing the country, culture and religion of Tibet.

Georgia surges in arrests of known illegal aliens

Arrests of illegal immigrants on the lam have quadrupled in the Southeast in the last year. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports the increase puts Georgia and North Carolina just behind Los Angeles and Miami for such arrests. Two teams of officers based in Atlanta, along with a team in Raleigh and Charlotte, arrested nearly 2, 300 people from October 2006 to October 2007. That’s up from over 500 arrests in the previous year.

Report: Third kidnapping victim comes forward

A third woman now says a man posing as a taxi driver abducted her in northeast Georgia. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports the University of Georgia student says she was taken by a man in a white van who offered to take her home. The incident reportedly happened in May. Two other women have come forward claiming a man in a white van abducted them in September at a UGA football game. One of the women says the man sexually assaulted her. Athens-Clarke County police say they have made no arrests.

Female students at the University of Georgia are signing up for self-defense classes in droves. The executive director of Safe Campuses Now says one self-defense class filled up in four hours last week after an e-mail went out to students. Athens-Clarke County police are asking taxi drivers in downtown Athens to keep an eye out for a man driving a white unmarked van.

Police bust $14M of cocaine

$14 million dollars worth of cocaine is off the street in Clayton County. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports police there seized more than 400 pounds of the drug last night. They say it was in a wooden shipping crate at a shipping company en route from Laredo, Texas.

Auditors unveil spotty record-keeping

Auditors have discovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in accounting discrepancies in bank accounts run by the Fulton County Sheriff. However, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Sheriff Myron Freeman didn’t do anything illegal. The paper says the discrepancies show a chronic lack of oversight, spotty compliance with policies and inadequate accounting staff. In one instance, auditors found one bank account was nearly $300,000 short of what jail records indicated.

Plea deal for teenage sex act

The state has offered a plea deal to the man serving a 10-year prison sentence for a teenage sex offense. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that under the deal, if Genarlow Wilson pleads guilty to a felony … he would be able to get out of prison sooner and wouldn’t have to register as a sex offender. Wilson was convicted in 2006 of having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old when he was 17. At the time the crime was considered child molestation, and Wilson got 10 years in prison and was charged as a sex offender. But since then lawmakers have downgraded the offense to a misdemeanor.

Head of state mental health resigns

The state agency that provides mental health services needs a new medical director. The previous director quit amid criticism of state-run mental hospitals.

Doctor Andrea Bradford left her post Friday as head of the Department of Human Resources’ Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Diseases.

The DHR cited a consulting team's recent report on operations at the state mental hospital in Atlanta. And, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported in January that at least 115 mental hospital patients died under suspicious circumstances from 2002 to 2006. Also, the paper reported that more than 190 patients were victims of abuse by hospital staff.

State officials say they plan to conduct a national search for a replacement "to raise the bar on our practices in the state hospitals."