Georgia Gazette Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Join host Rickey Bevington tonight for Georgia Gazette. On tonight's show… Skyrocketing health care costs in Georgia... a new reports explains why. Thousands of Georgia veterans at risk for HIV and other diseases. Is the VA to blame? We visit the Georgia Dome's first natural grass field.These stories and more tonight on Georgia Gazette at 6, 7 in Athens, re-broadcast at 11, hear our show any time at www.gpb.org/georgiagazette , and download a free podcast on iTunes.

Governors up ante in SEC showdown

The SEC football showdown between Florida and Alabama is coming to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta tomorrow. And the governors of Florida and Alabama have upped the ante on the outcome. The Sunshine State's Gov. Charlie Crist has agreed that if the Gators lose to the Crimson Tide on Saturday, he'll send Alabama Gov. Bob Riley a box of Florida oranges. If the Gators prevail, Riley will ship over a rack of ribs from the famous Dreamland Barbeque in Tuscaloosa. The game is being billed as a showdown between a team known for its power and one famous for its speed.

(Associated Press)

UGA honors former governor

At the University of Georgia campus in Athens, a student activities center is set to be named after former Gov. Joe Frank Harris. Harris led the state from 1983 to 1991. During his two terms as governor, Harris secured funding for the Georgia Dome and helped lead Atlanta to win the bid to host the 1996 Olympics. Harris, who graduated from the university in 1958, will speak at the naming ceremony October 10th. UGA also has plans to name another building for former Gov. Zell Miller later this month.

Atlanta: The clean-up and the accounting

Two cars are partially buried under the rubble of a twister-hit building. Centennial Olympic Park area, March 16, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Georgia officials say cleaning up the debris from the streets of downtown Atlanta won't take as long as repairing the financial damage caused by the tornado that ripped through the city's core.
Scrap metal dealer Jessie Callaway cautiously picks his way through the rubble of a brick building ripped apart by the tornado, March 16, 2008. Centennial Park area. (Dave Bender)

Scrap metal dealer, Jessie Callaway was born and grew up in the neighborhood. He's rummaging through a pile of metal shards in an old building. The twister ripped off two of the corner building's brick walls:

“Yeah, I clean up more ways than one. I'm fixin' to clean that up right now (laughs). It was devastating out here -- I just couldn't believe it -- I ain't never seen nothin' like this before in the state of Georgia.”

Several landmarks, including the Georgia World Congress Center, were in the path of the storm, which danced along the Atlanta skyline for about 20 minutes on Friday night. The city's main convention center and two major hotels find themselves hobbled as the convention season begins.

CNN Center and the Omni Hotel. TV trucks and cranes were a common sight in downtown Atlanta on Sunday morning. Centennial Olympic Park area, March 16, 2008. (Dave Bender).

With the closing this weekend of the complex which includes the huge convention center, the Georgia Dome and Centennial Olympic Park, the facility lost the Atlanta Home Show, a dental convention and much of the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament.

Workmen at the Georgia World Congress Center sweep up shards of glass, as glazier crews behind them replace windows shattered in the storm. March 16, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Dan Graveline, executive director of the Georgia World Congress Center, said today on a walking tour with reporters and that it's still too early to add up the damage. Graveline says he hopes repairs will begin soon, starting with the areas that can be fixed most quickly. Graveline says the damage that can't be seen at a glance is also a concern.

Atlanta resident Terry Lewis, who came downtown to survey the mechanized clean-up wearing a hard-hat, compared it to the havoc in her East Atlanta Village neighborhood, where a number of families suffered significant damage to their homes and vehicles:

“This is stunning ... [but] it was actually kind of more heart-wrenching to see what was happening with my neighborhood and my neighbors; the amount of home damage and car damage... yeah – there's not a lot of people here, so you're not seeing the human toll you're seeing in the neighborhood.”

Governor Sonny Perdue, who also was at the news conference, expressed relief and gratitude for the minimal loss of life and quick response of emergency workers.


A sign company crew re-welds a fallen billboard behind a car, its roof collapsed from falling debris. Centennial Olympic Park area, March 16, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Hotel officials say they are most concerned about getting the Georgia World Congress Center back into shape as a conference venue. They say their own facilities had minor damage in comparison.


The Westin Hotel is framed by a sign company's stinger truck cranes. Many of the hotel's windows were blown out by the winds. Centennial Olympic Park area, March 16, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Daniel Shmittou, whose renovation firm was called in to save a tornado-damaged structure on Saturday, has one word for the results:

“Devastating. I've been here since '79, and I've never seen anything like it. It's truly a sad day.”

Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, who toured the area Saturday estimates the damages at upwards of 200 million dollars.

Click here for more GPB coverage of the storm and its aftermath.

(With The Associated Press)

Severe storms leave two dead

Blown out windows can be seen behind the rubble of a heavily damaged building in downtown Atlanta, caused by a tornado which struck the area late Friday night. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

At least two people have died in Polk and Floyd counties from powerful storms near the state border with Alabama. The latest severe weather comes after a Tornado with winds of up to 130 miles per hour trashed downtown Atlanta last night. At least 27 people were hurt.

Governor Sonny Perdue and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin declared a state of emergency in several areas in Atlanta.

Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine estimated damage from Friday night's storm at $150 million to $200 million, most of it at the Georgia World Congress Center, a state convention facility near the CNN Center and the Georgia Dome.

People walk away from the Omni Hotel in downtown Atlanta Saturday morning. The hotel was damaged from a tornado which struck the area late Friday night. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the storm damage in downtown Atlanta Friday evening.

Click here for tornado and severe weather alerts from the National Weather Service for the Atlanta area and statewide.

(The Associated Press)

Latest High School football scores

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Falcons wing past 49ers, 20-16

Atlanta defenders DeAngelo Hall (21) and Lawyer Milloy (36) go for an interception as San Francisco receiver Vernon Davis (85) gets turned the wrong way in the second half. Milloy intercepted the ball in the 20-16 Falcons win. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

The Falcons actually won another game, even though most of their fans didn't get to see it.

Warrick Dunn became the first Atlanta back to run for 100 yards this season, Ovie Mughelli had the first TD rushing of his career and the Falcons won a matchup between two of the league's worst teams, holding off the San Francisco 49ers 20-16 Sunday.

The game was blacked out locally the first time that's happened in Atlanta since 2001. The Georgia Dome was far from packed after 56 consecutive sellouts, the city clearly losing interest in a losing squad that no longer has Michael Vick to liven things up.

Dunn rushed for 100 yards on 27 carries, including a 9-yard touchdown. Mughelli, a fullback who essentially serves as another offensive lineman, scored on a 1-yard plunge with just his third carry of the season. Morten Andersen handled the rest of the scoring for the Falcons (2-6) with a couple of fourth-quarter field goals.


Falcons QB Joey Harrington (13) runs for a first down as he is pursued by San Francisco defenders Patrick Willis (52) and Derek Smith (50) in the fourth quarter. Atlanta won 20-16. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

San Francisco (2-6) lost its sixth in a row with another dismal offensive performance. Leading rusher Frank Gore (sore ankle) didn't play and Alex Smith, playing with a taped-up throwing shoulder, completed only 17 of 38 passes for 149 yards, with three interceptions.

(The Associated Press)

New football stadium for Atlanta?

A new football stadium could be coming to Atlanta. The idea is part of possible plans for expanding the Georgia World Congress Center. Officials are exploring a new master plan for the center that includes the Georgia Dome, the convention center and nearby Centennial Olympic Park. The plan could call for re-building the Georgia Dome.