Meet Miss Georgia, Again

A second Miss Georgia has been crowned in two days. One day after winning the title Saturday night at the annual pageant in Columbus, Gwinnett County school teacher Kristina Higgins relinquished the post, now filled by the runnerup, Emily Cook, a Marietta law student. Higgins said she stepped down because her responsibilities as a middle school would not leave her time she would need to serve as Miss Georgia. Cook was informed Sunday that she was the winner after Higgins turned down the prize. The 22-year-old Cook is a recent graduate of the University of Miami and had been accepted into University of Georgia's Law School. Instead shell be competing for the Miss America crown in January in Las Vegas.

(Associated Press)

Local Districts Must Pay Charter Schools

A new state commission has ruled that two Georgia charter schools should get funding from their local school districts despite being denied money in the past. The decision means the schools will get a windfall of thousands more in funding. But, it could spark lawsuits from the Gwinnett County and Bulloch County school districts, which are being forced to hand over the money. A new law allows the state's Charter Schools Commission to require local funding for charter schools, even if they've been turned down before.

Woman Jailed For Exorcism Attempt

A Gwinnett County woman is in jail after authorities accused her of trying to perform an exorcism on her son. Sandra Alfred, 46, was arrested Friday on charges of false imprisonment and cruelty to children. Police say she used handcuffs to restrain her son and withheld food for three days while attempting the exorcism. The officer who applied for the arrest warrants noted that Alfred may suffer from schizophrenia and delusions. Alfred is being held without bond and is scheduled to return to court June 26. Her attorney, Michael Kay, said he was still investigating and didn't haven't anything to say now.

(Associated Press)

Local Governments Band Together for 'Fuel In Bulk' Plan

A coalition of north Georgia cities and counties hopes to save money by buying fuel in bulk for its government cars.

It may be the first arrangement of its kind in the state. The 14 governments involved include several from metro Atlanta, and a handful in northeast Georgia, such as Jackson County.

The idea is to band together, and lock-in better prices on gas that will run the communities fleets of vehicles. Just last summer, the budgets of many local governments were stressed when fuel prices spiked to more than $4 a gallon.

Len Bernat is purchasing manager for Jackson County. He says his county benefits from the larger county government of Gwinnett leading this coalition:

"Our advantage is, we'll be able to piggy-back off that price. So I'm getting the advantage as if I had that same number of vehicles in my fleet and that same usage, without having to show that usage."

Individual local governments can opt-out of the arrangement if they find better deals on their own.

The co-op will consider bids from fuel distributors sometime next month. Projected fuel savings for the coalition as a whole could be nearly $1 million.

DOT Holds Public Meetings On I-85 Toll Lane Plan

The Department of Transportation wants to know if people will pay for an easier route through traffic. To that end, transportation officials kick-off public meetings this week on a plan to convert carpool lanes on Interstate-85 in Gwinnett County to toll lanes.

The meetings begin Thursday at 5 p.m. at Gwinnett’s Civic Center. In all, there will be five meetings total held along the I-85 corridor. Hearings will follow in Dacula, Chamblee, Norcross and Lawrenceville.

Businesses Opening in Columbus, Norcross

Two digital imaging companies have announced plans to bring several hundred jobs to Georgia over the next few years.

YesVideo is hiring 300 people for a regional plant set to open in Norcross in Gwinnett County next month.

The Santa Clara, California-based firm converts home movies and videos to DVDs and other digital formats.

Steven Bush is the city's economic development manager. He says the jobs are quality positions:

"They are going to be a lot of tech jobs; a lot of jobs that require some training.”

Bush says salaries will be in the mid-40's. He also notes that the conversion service is available at 30,000 retail locations, including Walgreens, CVS and Costco.

The firm is the second high-tech company to open its doors in Norcross recently: Solar powercell maker Suneva opened a $75 million dollar plant in Norcross late last year.

Meanwhile, in west Georgia, Kodak is adding on a third production line at their Columbus plant.

A Kodak spokesperson says they'll add another 50 spots to the current 250 jobs over the next three years.

The plant makes digital printing plates for the packaging and printing industry.

Click here for more Georgia business stories.

Inmates To Be Deported

Deportations loom for many of the 914 foreign-born inmates discovered at the Gwinnett County jail during a 26-day review that concluded this week. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has taken custody of about a third of those inmates, while the others are being detained for possible deportation. Gwinnett County's Sheriff says no one outside the jail was checked for citizenship during the surge and that all jail inmates, who average about 2,700 per day, were screened regardless of their claim to citizenship.

(Associated Press)

Mother Fights 'Pornographic' Book

A Gwinnett County parent is trying to get a book she thinks is inappropriate for teenagers taken off school shelves. The book, "Night Talk" by Elizabeth Cox, is about a friendship between a black and a white girl during the civil rights movement. But parent Laura Booth says the book contains graphic sex scenes and "reads like pornography." A committee at South Gwinnett High School denied Booth's request in November, saying the book's instructional value outweighs her concerns.

(Associated Press)

School Board Approves Class Size Increase

The state's public schools can add more students to their classes under a measure passed by the state school board today. The board unanimously passed a temporary one-year boost to the state-mandated class size limit. The move is designed to help Georgia's 180 school districts save up to $200-million on the cost for hiring new teachers, given declining state funding.

The statewide waiver will add two students to most classes up through eighth grade for the 2009-10 school year. It does not apply to special education, English as a second language, fine arts and foreign language classrooms. The number of students in core high school classes will not change--remaining at 32 students.

The school Board today also approved Gwinnett County as the first district in Georgia to take advantage of "flexibility contracts". The move allows the largest district in Georgia to operate free of most state education laws and implement new methods for improving student achievement.

Gwinnett Schools Gain 'Flexibility'

Georgia's largest school district will become the first to take advantage of a new law giving more flexibility on class size and teacher pay. Today the state school board unanimously approved a plan for Gwinnett County to have more say in how to organize schools, how large classes should be and how to use state funding. In exchange, the county promised that students will perform better than is required under federal No Child Left Behind standards. Gwinnett County parents and teachers expressed concern over the proposal, worried that classes could grow too large and that the district won't have enough state oversight.

(Associated Press)

Not recycling? Pay a fine

People in a metro Atlanta county could be fined for not recycling. Gwinnett County may start charging non-recyclers $500. A new solid waste ordinance penalizes those who throw recyclable items in the trash. But it's not about recycling for recycling's sake – it's to avoid state penalties on landfill. The aim is to meet a state policy that requires counties and cities to reduce solid waste by 25 percent.

(Associated Press)

County applies for looser school rules

The first school system in the state has applied for leniency in state education rules. Gwinnett County would be the first to take advantage of the Educational Excellence law. It allows school systems to opt out of some mandates in exchange for greater accountability for student achievement. The county school board wants more flexibility in teacher pay, class sizes, and using aides in place of teachers.

(Associated Press)

Absentee vote problems in Gwinnett County

19,000 absentee ballots have been reprinted in metro Atlanta’s Gwinnett County. Officials found problems with the forms after routine testing last week--ovals on the ballot voters use to mark their choices were too thick for optical scanning machines to read. Gwinnett officials say they will also have to hand-copy votes from at least 10,000 absentee ballots onto new ones that can be read by a machine. Members of each political party will monitor the transfer of the votes. An elections official says the issue will not interfere with votes counted in the general election.

GBI criminal tip sheets go 'Minority Report'

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is joining seven other state law-enforcement agencies using an automated intelligence-gathering and evaluation system.

“We required a system that could help us improve our decision-making capabilities and operational effectiveness,” said Don Robertson, GBI Project Administrator. “We also manage vast amounts of data across multiple systems, so breaking down barriers to real-time data sharing is of paramount importance.”

The system analyzes numerous sources of collected data, according to the manufacturers, Memex, Inc., of Vienna, Va.

The system “enables law enforcement to efficiently predict, prevent and respond to threats in real-time,” company officials say, by allowing officials to sift through massive amounts of intelligence data, including emails tips, leads and other clues, in order to predict patterns of possible future criminal behavior.

Police departments in Albany, Cobb County, Columbus, Gwinnett County, the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office, and the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office are also using the system, the company said in a release.

The system's touted prediction abilities echo the 2002 science fiction film, Minority Report, in which a “precrime” unit apprehended criminals just prior to the commission of their deeds.

In the movie, however, psychics were relied upon for their ability to visualize a violent crime before it occurred.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the GBI.

Toll road plan too unpopular

A controversial highway proposal for northeast Georgia is no longer on the table. The plan called for making Georgia Highway 316 a toll road. 316 runs between Gwinnett County in northeast Atlanta to Athens. A state Department of Transportation spokesperson says the proposal is "dead in the water" because of public opposition.

Drug cartel active in North Atlanta

A north Atlanta suburb is a center of Mexican drug cartel activity, says a US attorney for North Georgia. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports Gwinnett County has seen an increase in drug-related kidnappings this year. The area attracts cartels because of easy transportation on I-85 and a large Hispanic population which makes it easier for traffickers to blend in. Federal officials say the cartels are clashing with each other, leading to more violence.

Gwinnett County set for immigrant screening program

Authorities in Gwinnett County say they will begin screening county jail inmates for immigration violations. A five-million dollar program approved last week by the Gwinnett county commission will train deputies to use U.S. Department of Homeland Security databases to search inmate records. Deputies will also have training for beginning the deportation process for those inmates in the country illegally. The screening program could start in October. It’s part of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement program to help local authorities across the country find illegal immigrants in their detention facilities.

State says bridges are safe

Months after two state bridge inspectors admitted to falsifying bridge inspections, state transportation officials say they have completed re-inspections of bridges. The state says the bridges are safe. The Georgia Department of Transportation had to direct all its bridge inspectors from across the state in February to reinspect bridges in Rockdale, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties.

Video of high school fight posted on Internet

Six Gwinnett County high school students have been suspended and could face criminal charges after a large fight that was recorded on a cell phone video camera and posted on the Internet. According to a Gwinnett County School Police report, the fight at Mill Creek High School began Tuesday morning in a hallway before classes started. The principal says the video of the fight posted on YouTube shows four teachers and two administrators trying to break up the fight.

Perdue confirms opposition to Sunday alcohol sales

Governor Sonny Perdue says he does not support the bill now in the State House that would allow alcohol sales in grocery and convenience stores on Sundays.

On Wednesday a House committee attached a Sunday sales provision to the bill that would allow alcohol sales at a new baseball stadium to be built in Gwinnett County. Perdue says it's not fair to put the two measures together.

"I was hoping Gwinnett County could have a stand-alone bill for their economic development out there. I haven't supported (Sunday sales) in the past, I don't now and frankly I'm very concerned. It puts Gwinnett County's business in jeopardy if the House chooses to take that up".

Perdue says people have six days to gather-up alcohol and store it if they want to drink on Sundays. The Governor did not say whether he would veto the bill if it passes.

Lobbyists for grocery and convenience stores have been banking on public opinion to sway the Governor and State Senate.