DHR: Don't Fear Applying for Food Stamps

Officials from the Georgia Department of Human Resources say if you're out of work and receiving extended unemployment insurance thanks to federal stimulus dollars, don't be afraid to apply for food stamps.

The comments come after a newspaper report of a Marietta man who could not get food stamps because he got an extra $25 week for unemployment.

Dina Smith is a spokesperson for the Department of Human Resources. She says the man was never eligible for food stamps in the first place, because he earned too much.

"He came with the additional money already in tow, which is not the way that story sounds but I'm telling you that's the bottom line and truth. When he came, he was already getting the additional money, and he was not eligible."

Food stamp eligibility guidelines -- including income amounts -- are set by federal law. And, recipients of unemployment insurance cannot refuse the extra money provided by stimulus monies.

Hunstein to Replace Sears on Top Court

Presiding Justice Carol W. Hunstein has been unanimously elected as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. She will assume the position July 1, 2009, succeeding Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, who is stepping down from the Court June 30.

The Court has also unanimously elected Justice George H. Carley to become the new Presiding Justice.

Former Gov. Zell Miller – who appointed both Justices to the Supreme Court – will swear them into their new positions in a ceremony in the state Supreme Court courtroom on July 1, 2009.

The state's Chief Justice presides over Georgia's judicial branch, just as the governor heads the executive branch of government, and House and Senate leaders lead the legislative branch. The Presiding Justice serves in her absence. The Chief Justice is the main spokesperson for the Court, as well as for the entire judiciary. She presides over oral arguments and runs the meetings in which the Court makes its decisions, although she has only one vote as does each of the Justices.

The Chief Justice, who is eligible to serve two two-year terms, also chairs the Georgia Judicial Council, which governs all levels of the state's courts.

Justice Hunstein was a DeKalb County Superior Court Judge when Gov. Miller tapped her in 1992 to become the second woman in history to serve on Georgia's Supreme Court. She was the first woman to serve as President of the Council of Superior Court Judges. In 1989, then Chief Justice Thomas Marshall appointed her to chair the Georgia Commission on Gender Bias in the Judicial System. Gov. Miller and later Gov. Roy Barnes appointed her three times to chair the state's commission on child support guidelines in 1993, 1998 and 2001. She has served on the advisory board of several organizations, including the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, and she currently chairs the Georgia Commission on Access and Fairness.

Justice Hunstein has received many honors, including an honorary LL.D. from Stetson University College of Law where she received her juris doctor in 1976. She has three grown children and a grandson.

Justice Carley served in the Georgia House of Representatives and spent 14 years on the Georgia Court of Appeals, including as Chief Judge, before Gov. Miller appointed him to the state's high court in 1993. He received his LL.B. degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1962 and practiced law in Decatur where he was a partner in the firm of McCurdy & Candler. He also served as the attorney for the Housing Authority of the City of Decatur and as a Special Assistant Attorney General handling eminent domain cases for the state Department of Transportation. Since 1988, Justice Carley has been actively involved with the Georgia and National High School Mock Trial Competitions.

Source: GA Supreme Court Communications

Falcons Release Vick From Contract

Quarter back Michael Vick, already on suspension from the NFL, has been released from his contract with the Atlanta Falcons. Vick, just out of federal prison for running a dogfighting ring and still under house arrest, learned earlier today that his contract with the Falcons has been terminated. Vick last played for the Falcons in 2006. When he signed on in 2003, the player out of Virginia Tech received a $37 million contract. At its website, general manager Thomas Dimitroff wrote the Falcons spent "a considerable amount of time talking with other teams," however nothing materialized. Team officials informed Vick of his release by phone. No word yet from NFL officials on whether Vick will be allowed to return to the league. Now a free agent, Vick is free to sign with another team. NFL rules allow teams to sign a suspended player.

Tri-State Water Fight Now in Florida Courtroom

With the fate of metro-Atlanta's drinking water supply now in the hands of a federal judge, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson says it's time the attorneys stepped aside. And, with no quick decision expected in the case, Isakson says lawyers have argued the case for nearly two decades and nothing's been accomplished. He says it's time cooler heads prevailed.

"We've had far too much litigation and not enough conversation. People with cool heads have got to sit down. We can't start lobbing bombs at one another and trying to gotcha each other politically. It's too important an issue that has hurt this region for far too long."

And, Isakson has volunteered to kick start the dialogue.

"If we get a bad ruling, the first thing that I'm going to do is invite (the senators from) Alabama and Florida, to join Saxby and I at a lunch to sit down and talk about how we cannot afford to play gotcha politics with the drinking water … that [the] basin provides."

This latest case, now being heard in a Florida court, consolidates seven cases into one and centers on metro Atlanta’s share of water from Lake Lanier. Lake Lanier is the area's primary drinking water source.

Florida would like an increase in the amount of water released from the dam to protect endangered shell fish. Alabama wants more water to cool its nuclear power plants.

Baker Set to Weigh in On PSC Tenure Vote

By a vote of three to two, the Public Service Commission elected to throw out a 16 year old state law, and increase the tenure of its chairman from one to two years. And the group choose Sam Wise to serve as its chair for two years beginning in July.

Commissioner Robert Baker was one of those who voted against the change. Long seen as a strong consumer advocate, under the old rules Baker would become PSC chairman in 2012. But, right now Baker says he’s taking a wait and see approach.

"We anticipate that we'll be getting a response back from the attorney general within a couple of weeks. We hope that will resolve the issue once and for all regarding the validity of the current statute."

Earlier this year, the Georgia House of Representatives said 'yes' to a bill that would have changed state law and increased the PSC chair's term of tenure. But the measure failed in the Senate.

And, although an official opinion has not be issued by state Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a spokesman for his office says the PSC does not have the power to invalidate a state law.

Georgia No. 3 in Nat'l Pre-K Rankings

A national education group is giving Georgia high marks for its pre-k program. But as with any report card, there is always room for improvement.

Since its inception 15 years ago, nearly one million children have graduated from Georgia's pre-kindgarten program. That's why one national group ranks Georgia near the top when evaluating pre-k programs around the country.

Steve Barnett directs the National Institute for Early Education at Rutgers University in New Jersey. It's most recent report puts Georgia in the number three position.

"The best thing that Georgia is doing with this program is making it available to as many children as possible. Without it, there would be a much larger number of children in Georgia who wouldn't get a pre-school education at all or would get a very poor quality one."

More good news, this time from the Southern Education Foundation. Steve Suitts is the group's director.

"There is an argument to be made that Georgia probably more accurately ranks second instead of third in the nation. While the state of Florida has a larger percentage of three year olds and four year olds in the program, the fact is Georgia's program is a higher quality."

All that good news however, is tempered by calls for improvement in Georgia's lottery funded pre-k program.

State education officials estimate there are eight thousand children on pre-k waiting lists. The problem is that there are not enough spots says Suits.

"We've had a participation rate in Georgia pre-k that's virtually been flat for the last five to seven years, despite the fact that there are thousands of people who are on waiting lists all over the state."

Finally, funding for pre-k has dropped -- more than one hundred dollars per child since 2007. The Southern Education Foundation says it has asked the legislature to tap into lottery reserves earmarked for education. To date, the lottery has contributed 3.6 billion dollars for early childhood education. However state education officials say there are presently no plans to increase pre-k per child spending.

Ft. Valley To Get Stimulus $$ for Superfund Site

The Superfund program was established during the Carter administration. It requires chemical and manufacturing companies to pay for cleaning up thousands of contaminated sites around the country. Sixteen such sites are in Georgia. They're part of the EPA's National Priority List or NPL.

The $5 million dollars heading toward Fort Valley is part of President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Fort Valley officials say the Woolfolk site will become the nexus of its redevelopment efforts in an area which includes downtown Fort Valley as well as Fort Valley State University.

Woolfolk sits close to downtown Fort Valley and to the state university which bears the city's name. Since the site was deemed eligible for Superfund in 1990, 27 million dollars has been spent to partially cleanup its 31-acres. Fort Valley mayor Dr. John Stumbo knows the site's history.

"The Woolfolk Chemical Plant started operations there in about 1924. They made agricultural pesticides that were arsenic lace. In those days, of course, there was no air conditioning and because of the heat, most of the mixing of this dry material was done in sheds that simply had a roof and no side walls. So, as the winds blew through there, it would carry this contamined dust all over the area. The second company came in there in the 1970s, they were called Canada in Georgia, and they were doing the same thing."

Recently, Fort Valley's City Council voted to designate Woolfolk part of its redevelopment plan. But, commercial developers have shied away from the area since in some places contaminated soil remains below the surface. So, instead the City Council is considering a recreation center and Fort Valley's mayor says he'd like a new police academy. And, there is also this idea from Fort Valley State University.

"They're trying to develop plants that indeed clean on their own by their growing process, contaminants out of soils. Well, this would be an ideal situation, because there is still some contamination in the soil."

In the early 1980s, citizen complaints prompted the Georgia environmental officials to investigate Woolfolk amid allegations of discharge of waste products into a drainage corridor heading away from the site. No injuries have been reported but one lawsuit forced a former Woolfolk owner to reimburse residents for declining property values.

Today, according to the US EPA, all excavation of arsenic from residential soil is complete, as well as the removal of arsennic contaminated dust from residential attics.

Finally, in 2002, then President Bush elmininated the Superfund tax for chemical companies, which generated approximately $1 billion dollars a year. The Obama administration has reinstated the program starting in 2011, which is expected to add about $17 billion dollars over ten years to the program.

Fort Valley hopes this latest infusion of $5 million dollars from President Obama's stimulus plan will complete the cleanup of Woolfolk, fulfilling its promise of downtown revitalization.

Deja vu: Transportation funding may be dead in '09

Two days left to go in the 2009 legislative session and the General Assembly remains at odds over how to fund transportation improvements both in the rural and metro areas of the state. And, with the hours winding down to sine die 2009, it appears a solution to transportation gridlock may not be possible.

The House wants a statewide transportation funding mechanism. The Senate wants a regional approach.

But as time runs out, the opportunity for compromise may soon be lost.

Senator Jeff Mullis chairs the Senate Transportation Committee.

"If we want to pass something out of the General Assembly this year, the House has got to agree with where the Senate is. It's the only way we get something. Tomorrow is the last day that we have a chance to do anything. The 40th day, that is just no way to pass a major bill. You saw what happened last year, it'll be the same scenario."

What happened last year was a transportation funding bill died minutes before midnight when the senate fell three votes short of a consensus.

Late last week, a House Transportation Committee appeared to reach a compromise on funding when it agreed to let voters decide. If voters said no to a statewide tax, neighboring communities could choose a regional Plan.

This Week's Legislative Preview

Tuesday, February 24, 2009 marks day twenty-two of the Georgia General Assembly’s 2009 legislative session. Here is a preview of some of the legislation coming up for debate in the state House and Senate this week.

• Under a proposal now being considered by the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee, the state would no longer enroll new members in Medicaid and PeachCare. Instead, Senate Bill 92 calls for the state to enroll low income residents in approved private health plans with the state picking up part of the premium costs. The proposal also includes an incentive plan where costs may be reduced for individuals who participate in certain health improvement initiatives.
• Also in the Senate this week … a proposed universal school voucher plan is being considered in the youth education committee. The measure would let parents enroll their children is any public or private school and expands the existing special needs voucher program to all public school students.
  

From the House side …

• H.B. 233 calls for a two year moratorium on increases in ad valorem taxes.
  During the two year period ending in 2011, every parcel of real property in the state will be reassessed at least once. The measure is up for consideration in this Senate this week.
• Finally, with projected 2009 revenue down more than 400 million dollars, the House is expected to approve a pair of budget bills this week. First is Governor Sonny Perdue’s midyear adjustment to the 2009 budget. House Bill 118 goes before the full House later this week and includes more than 400 million dollars to fund the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant to local governments. The second budget bill … HB 119 … for fiscal year 2010 currently still includes the Governor’s recommendations for a one point six percent tax on hospitals.

Multiple life sentences for Nichols

Fulton County Judge James Bodiford has sentenced Brian Nichols to hundreds of years in prior for the 2005 killings of four people. Nichols escaped the death penalty after jurors deadlocked earlier this week. When a jury can’t agree on the death penalty, Georgia law kicks in and requires a judge to consider life in prison with or without a chance of parole. In 2005, Nichols was on trial for rape in Fulton County, when he grabbed a guard's gun and fatally shot the judge overseeing his case, a court reporter and a sheriff's deputy in a downtown Atlanta courthouse. During his day long escape, Nichols shot and killed an off duty federal agent, and took a local woman hostage. In his defense, Nichols claimed to be a slave revolting against his captors. Judge James Bodiford sentenced Brian Nichols to seven life sentences and four sentences of life without parole plus 485 years.

5th Georigia bank fails; 2 dozen fail nationally

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance has closed Haven Trust Bank, the fifth bank in the state to close this year and the 24th nationally. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named receiver Friday and entered into an agreement with Branch Banking and Trust of Winston-Salem, N.C., to assume Haven Trust's $515 million indeposits for $112,000. Haven Trust's four branches reopen on Monday as branches of Branch Banking and Trust, and its depositors will automatically become depositors of Branch Banking and Trust. The FDIC says depositers can access all their money over the weekend by writing checks or using ATMs or debit cards. As of December 8th, Haven Trust had assets of $572 million, and about $55 million will be purchased by Branch Banking and Trust.

(Associated Press)

Lawyer wants off immigrant killing trial

Attorneys for one of two men charged with murder in the killings of six Hispanic men during robberies in 2005 have asked to withdraw. The attorneys for Stacey Sims, Converse Bright and Robert Walker, said in a motion Friday that they are unable to prepare his defense because the Capital Defender Project "fails to pay counsel fees and fees for investigators, consultants and expert witnesses." The sentencing for the other man charged, Jamie Underwood, will continue Monday after testimony four days this week. Underwoods lawyers are to begin presenting their case Monday. The state is seeking the death penalty for Underwood and Sims, but not against two women charged in the crimes. Trial dates for them and for Sims have not been set.

(Associated Press)

New twist to Nichols shooting case

The judge in the Brian Nichols murder case removed one of the jurors after two other jurors said she talked about a jailhouse beating Tuesday night of prosecution witness Willie Tiller Jr. Tiller was a Nichols cellmate who testified that Nichols planned to kill the judge presiding over his rape case. Superior Court Judge James Bodiford said Friday, "I'm scared of her going back in the jury room and saying something else." He added, "We're in trouble. This case is in trouble." Bodiford found out that three jurors had overheard Juror No. 5's remarks. The defense and prosecution in the Nichols case rested Friday after five weeks of testimony. Jurors are expected to return Wednesday to hear closing arguments from both sides. Nichols is accused of fatally shooting Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes and court reporter Julie Ann Brandau in the courthouse March 11, 2005, and sheriff's Deputy Hoyt Teasley just outside the building. A fourth victim, federal agent David Wilhelm, was killed at a north Atlanta home he was renovating.

(Associated Press)

King sibilings lawsuit heats up

A Fulton County judge has ordered Bernice King to resume documenting her mother's personal papers in accordance with an earlier decree requested by her brother, Dexter. The documents were part of a $1.4 million book deal with Penguin Group, but that deal fell though earlier this month after the family missed a deadline from the New York-based publisher to turn the documents over. It is unclear now whether the documents can or will be used for any future such deals. Dozens of supporters, lawyers and media packed the Friday court hearing for more than four hours and even waited through an emergency evacuation of the courthouse to hear from the judge. But the issue of whether Coretta Scott King's papers are the property of her husband's estate is still undecided.

(Associated Press)

Changes to GAs gun bill possible in '09

Changes to the state's gun laws could be in the works as the State Senate Firearms Committee looks at re-writing House Bill 89, passed earlier this year. One proposal under consideration … speeding up the application permit process. In a working copy of a revised gun bill, the Senate is considering cutting in half the number of days probate judges must get permits to would-be gun owners after fingerprints have been cleared by the FBI and the GBI. Current law says ten days. The proposal now being considered is five days. If a licensed is not issued within five days, the gun owner can sue.

William Self is Bibb County's probate judge. He also chairs the Georgia Probate Judges Council. He opposes the switch.

"I am quite frankly gentlemen, at a complete loss to understand why probate judges became the apparent enemies of gun rights' advocates."

Testifying before the Senate Firearms Safety Committee on Tuesday, Self asked lawmakers to remove the threat of lawsuits from gun enthusiast now hanging over the heads of the state 159 probate judges.

"This is the only statue I know of in the entire state of Georgia which purports to award attorneys fees to a plaintiff without any defense whatsoever if 10 days have expired from receipt of the reports."

Among other changes the committee will consider is including some misdemeanor offenses currently now trigger a reject on a gun permit application.

"There are literally hundreds of misdemeanors under GA law, which even with multiple convictions, do not by themselves disqualify an applicant, such as assault and battery, third degree cruelty to children…"

Here's how state Senator Don Balfour of Snellville responded to the testimony.

"Some of those things seem like whoa, we missed that one? Wow. Some of those we ought to think about putting under there."

The Senate committee now wants a list of misdemeanors to consider as part of the law. Meanwhile another idea is to leave judges completely out of the gun license procedure and hand it over to the Secretary of State. One drawback say Probate Judges is that the Secretary of State's office is not a law enforcement agency. Finally, a representative from the Georgia Council of Probate Court Judges asked the committee to consider raising gun permit application fees above the current $15, to cover actual administrative and processing costs. The Senate committee is expected to make recommendation to changes in Georgia gun laws by January.

GAs poverty rate relatively unchanged in 4 years

Four years after a national study found nearly one-third third of Georgia's working families living at or below the federal poverty line, newly released data show little has changed. The updated study titled "Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short," was funded in part by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Significant among its findings … thirty percent of working families in Georgia are low-income, putting Georgia in seventeenth place nationwide. Sarah Beth Gehl is Deputy Director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. With Georgia experiencing a budget shortfall, Gehl says now is not the time to consider cutting services to the poor. "During an economic time like this, there are going to have to be budget cuts. We understand that. But, for us, we think all options should be on the table, such as raising some revenue, using the rainy day fund. We think those options should be on the table and currently they are not." The report also found that nearly 30 percent of Georgia's jobs pay below the federal poverty level for a family of four. Those states topping the list of low-income working families are New Mexico, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas.

Audit: technology hampers first responders

Communication between emergency responders during a disaster could be hampered by incompatible technology. That's unless upgrades are made to the system, according to state auditors. The state’s department of Department of Audits and Accounts concluded that while more than 100-million dollars is devoted to first responders, it seems the agencies aren’t really talking to one another.

In addition to regional police and fire agencies, there are statewide organizations, including GEMA and the Georgia State Patrol, operating with different communications networks. Some equipment is old and out dated. Some agencies use cell phones, and walkie-talkies while others use radios.

But, citing the lessons learned on 9/11 when New York fire and police were unable to communicate because each uses a different radio frequency, the audit suggests a single agency coordinate emergency efforts.

One suggestion is to let Georgia Emergency Management Agency act as the central clearing house. However, the audit cites a response from the Georgia State Patrol, which believes that it best [positioned to develop the state’s so called inter operability efforts.

Training new voters in Carroll County

It will be several days before the final numbers are in, but the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office is reporting an upsurge in new voter registrations. Early estimates put the number of new voters at approximately thirty-five thousand. But, training new voters on how to use those electronic voting machines falls to local community organizers. And, that can be a challenge because some -- including newly minted American citizens -- may not be as computer savvy as their younger counterparts.

Gila Gonzalez is with Latinos United of Carroll County. Days before last year’s presidential primary, Gonzalez took a group of first time voters to visit their local polling place.

"I got them into the hall, before the primaries, and showed them and they were able to see it. and I was explaining to them how it worked, that they had to touch the screen, from to the inserting of the card, until the moment that they would be finished."

Percentage wise, while the greatest jump in first time voters has been in the Hispanic community, the smallest gain was seen in the Asian American community with less than 500 new voters registered since 2004. In the African American community, the number of new voters has increased nearly forty thousand since 2004.

GA 46th nationwide in infant mortality rates

The more education a mother has, the greater her baby’s chance of living past its first birthday. That’s according to an annual infant mortality study released today by the Commission to Build a Healthy America, part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Infant mortality is measured by the number of deaths per 1,000 births.

With a ranking of 46 out of 50, Georgia ties with South Carolina among the states with the nation’s highest rates of infant deaths -- just under 10 per 1,000. Other states with soaring infant mortality rates inlcude Delaware (48), Alaska (49), Tennessee (50) and Washington, D.C. (51).

And, although Georgia's black babies die at more than twice the rate of the state's white babies, experts say its time to dispel the myth that it’s simply a matter of black versus white.

Eileen Arkin is with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

"We want to be really cognizant of differences in opportunities by race and resources. But this report looks at infant mortality and actually childrens' health as well, considering a family's income and education. And, we found that there are huge differences in infant mortality and in childrens' good health, depending on family income and the education of the mom. And, so it's not just a racial or ethnic differences."

The report also examined the impact income has on a child’s survival rate. On that scale, Georgia came in 41st. But, as Arkin notes, it’s not just the state’s poorest kids who are unhealthy.

"We also see gaps between childen in families in middle income and children in higher income. So, we see that there is large room for improvement in the health status of children in families with a middle income as well."

The Commission to Build A Healthy America ranks the United States 28th worldwide in infant mortality rates, bypassing so called less developed nations.

Televangelist seeks love on reality show

The ex-husband of televangelist Juanita Bynum is recasting his new reality show and will be counseling couples even as he courts the would-be new Mrs. Thomas Weeks. "The Holy Hook Up: Who Will Be the Next Mrs. Weeks?" will track Bishop Thomas W. Weeks III's search for love, but he will also share the stage, coaching singles and other brokenhearted couples and drawing on his experience as an author, minister and twice-divorced man. Casting for the 30-minute show, which will feature four couples, begins Tuesday. Weeks appeared on the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning show to talk about the series and told listeners, "It's going to be a very tasteful, five-star presentation."

(Associated Press)