Probation for Airport Sex Charge

A MARTA board member has been sentenced to a year on probation after pleading no contest to charged he had sex in a bathroom at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Court records show that a state court judge in Clayton County sentenced Edmund J. Wall to 12 months of probation, a $500 fine and 64 hours of community service. Wall had been scheduled for a jury trial starting on Monday. Attorney Keith Martin said Wall pleaded no contest to one count of public indecency last week, canceling the trial. Police said they found Wall and Michael Reid Pettry of Indianapolis engaged in oral sex in an airport restroom on March 13, 2007. Pettry pleaded no contest in February and was given the same sentence given to Wall.

(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)

2nd Georgia Swine Flu Case Confirmed

State health officials say Georgia now has a 2nd case of swine flu, or the H-1/N-1 virus. It has been confirmed in a 14-year-old boy in Henry County - his illness prompted the closing of a private school there for 14 days. Meanwhile, the director of the State Division of Public Health says there are 3 more suspected cases, and they're likely to be confirmed for the virus. Those cases involve a 3-year-old boy in Cobb County, an 8-year-old Clayton County girl, and a 36-year-old pregnant woman in DeKalb County. Officials stress that the three and the 14-year-old in Henry County, all have mild symptoms of 'H-1/N-1', and are at home. The first case in the state was a Kentucky woman who traveled to La Grange, and landed in the hospital there.

Governor Sonny Perdue on Monday gave an update on the virus in Georgia:

"...We are still taking all precautions for those who have flu-like symptoms. At this current time there seems to be no pandemic, epidemic of flu symptoms over the state... The fact is, aside from the visitor that we had in La Grange, none of these patients are hospitalized, they are being treated at home..."

Perdue says rapid result testing kits for the virus will soon be available in Georgia.

Clayton Cty Schools Regain Accreditation

Clayton County schools have regained accreditation eight months after losing it. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools announced its decision at a news conference on Friday following a recent review of the 48,000-student district. The agency's Council on Accreditation and School Improvement sent a review team to the county last month where it interviewed school board members, interim Superintendent Valya Lee and others. The district lost its accreditation for reasons including a dysfunctional school board, which has since been replaced. If the schools win back certification with the agency, students who graduate next month will have accredited diplomas.


(Associated Press)

Clayton Cty Hires Adviser to Protect Bond Rating

Clayton County, trying to prevent a downgrade in its bond rating that would cost taxpayers millions of dollars, has hired a financial adviser. The county’s financial advisor will negotiate with Moody's Investor Services in an attempt to convince the rating company that the county's finances are strong. Moody's threatened to downgrade Clayton County's credit rating amid concerns about the county's record keeping, fund balance and spending.

(Associated Press)

Chatham Co. improves warning sirens

Savannah's Chatham County has completed a $600,000 upgrade to its warning siren system. The improvement comes as safety from severe weather remains on the minds of many.

When tornadoes struck March last year, the county had 30 warning sirens and many people complained that they didn't hear them. County officials then made siren funding a priority. And today those leaders stood beneath a newly installed siren at Savannah's Forsyth Park to announce the county now has 60 sirens.

"We have 95% of the land mass of Chatham County covered," says Clayton Scott, the director of the county's emergency management agency. "It's important because it's designed for places like this, where people are playing tennis, if there's a hazardous materials spill, if all of a sudden, the weather turns bad, so we can warn them."

Scott says, the sirens are only meant to be heard outdoors. Indoors, residents should have a weather radio with localizing technology. Sirens are tested on first Wednesdays in clear weather. In a real tornado warning two-weeks ago, the new sirens clearly could be heard in areas previously unserved by sirens.

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Clayton Schools Re-hire Some Teachers

Clayton County has re-hired 100 of 400 teachers who were told they would not have jobs in the next school year. Earlier this month, former superintendent John Thompson laid-off teachers amid budget cuts for the district. Only days later, he was fired and replaced by interim superintendent Valya Lee. She appointed a committee which found dozens of special education teachers were let-go without a performance review. Clayton officials say in addition to the 100 teachers brought back, some of the other 300 could be re-hired based on vacancies. The district south of Atlanta employs roughly 4,000 teachers.

Clayton County Still Fighting for Accreditation

2,300 Clayton County seniors are set to graduate in May. Meanwhile, the school district is still fighting to win back its accreditation.

The Clayton County school district was the first to lose its certification with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools last year. This district is one of the largest in the state.

Since then a new school board has been put in place. Policies have been revamped and they are searching for a new superintendent.

The accreditation agency blames the district’s problems on a “fatally flawed” school board. They have been accused of bickering and harassing school employees.

All nine board members either resigned or were ousted last year.

(AP)

Clayton Schools To Cut Jobs, Salaries

Clayton County will cut 200 teaching jobs from its school system and effectively slash salaries for administrators and other employees. 100 staff members are also slated to lose jobs, although a county official says the hope is to trim jobs through attrition.

The action for the county just south of Atlanta will save more than $20 million from next year’s budget. Clayton already knows it will get $23 million less in funding from the state next year.

Clayton's school board voted 8-0 Monday night to approve the plan.

State Recovers From Winter Weather

A Sunday full of snow, and an overnight of gusty winds across parts of Georgia have mixed to present Monday morning problems for parts of the state.

Officials with Georgia Power this morning tell GPB they still have about 28,000 customers without electricity as of 8am. The bulk of those outages are in the Athens-area, with strong winds causing numerous downed tree limbs onto power lines.

From the group of electric membership cooperatives in Georgia, serving four-million residents--they report about 29,000 customers without power. Along with outages in metro Atlanta, outages also are reported in middle and west Georgia. Georgia EMC says its biggest challenge involves extensive damage to a transmission line and two substations in Jackson and Madison Counties, which has impacted about 16,000 customers. Last evening, this area received nearly seven inches of snow, prompting repairs that could extend into early to late Monday evening.

The state Department of Transportation says they’ve been working through the night to handle trouble spots in Georgia when reports of icy patches on roads come in. Brian Gunter is with the DOT says about 100 trucks right now are on duty:

"Over the last 24 hours all over Georgia we've had over a 1,000 employees and 200 pieces of equipment just rolling around checking out the icy spots and laying down sand and salt."

There are dozens of county school system closings across Georgia, along with numerous private school and city school closures. The list of county school system closings as of 8:10 am:

Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Clarke, Clayton, Coweta, DeKalb, Dodge, Elbert, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hancock, Hart, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Madison, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Pike, Putnam, Rockdale, Spalding, Taylor, Telfair, Troup, Twiggs, Upson, Walton, Wheeler, Wilkes.

Winter Weather Closings

--Updated 8:10am--
County school systems closed in Georgia Monday:
Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Clarke, Clayton, Coweta, DeKalb, Dodge, Elbert, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hancock, Hart, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Madison, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Pike, Putnam, Rockdale, Spalding, Taylor, Telfair, Troup, Twiggs, Upson, Walton, Wheeler, Wilkes.

In addition, numerous city school systems and private schools are closed today.

The University of Georgia is closed to classes today.

New Regulations Possible for Local School Boards

Georgia lawmakers are looking at overhauling how the state regulates school boards. The move comes in the wake of Clayton County school district losing accreditation last year. The bill would give the governor the power to remove misbehaving school board members, limit how many members a board can have and require training. Local school boards have opposed the legislation, saying it unfairly targets them because it doesn't include city councils and county commissions.

(Associated Press)

School Dance Numbers Scrutinized for Racy Content

Clayton County school administrators are cracking down on student performances after a high school dance team's provocative performance drew calls from angry parents.

Clayton County Superintendent John Thompson announced Thursday that all dance, cheerleading and band groups must have their routines approved in advance by an administrator.

The Jonesboro High School dance team was disbanded for the rest of the school year and their coach removed after a performance at a Jan. 13 basketball game where the eight girls wore tiny, tight shorts and danced on chairs.

A video of the girls made it on YouTube. The dance was screened in advance by an assistant principal, but administrators say she saw only a portion of it.

There's a new sheriff in town in Clayton County

The new sheriff of Clayton County has kept his campaign promise to clean up the department on his first day in office by firing 14 deputies. Sheriff Kem Kimbrough said the previous sheriff hired "outcasts, thugs and rejects." Kimbrough has also instituted a new code of conduct. The fired deputies responded saying they were targeted because of their connection to outgoing Sheriff Victor Hill. On Hill’s first day in office, 34 deputies were fired and snipers posted on the courthouse roof as the officers were escorted out of the building. Clayton County spent more than $7 million dollars to settle lawsuits arising from the action.

(Associated Press)

Dire economy led Georgia news in '08

The vast economic crisis has left scores of Georgia's houses empty, its banks shuttered and sent thousands of its residents searching for jobs even as its unemployment rate balloons to heights not seen since Ronald Reagan was president.

The nationwide recession was the top Georgia news story of 2008, according to state editors and news directors voting in The Associated Press' annual survey.

Other stories high on most lists included an energy crisis that sent gas prices on a roller-coaster ride, the U.S. Senate runoff that thwarted Democratic plans for a super-majority in the Senate and the months-long trial of courthouse gunman Brian Nichols.

Yet the economic doldrums was the top choice for seven of 12 Georgia AP members participating in the news cooperative's survey.

Georgia residents began feeling the economic fallout early this year as a growing number of homes remained unsold and credit grew tighter. Firms fired workers, governments furloughed staffers, foreclosures spiked and the state unemployment rate soared to 7.5 percent - the highest in 25 years.

The bleak economy forced regulators to close down five state banks, and led Gov. Sonny Perdue to order spending cuts of at least 6 percent to narrow a deficit that could top $2 billion in 2009.

The new year is unlikely to bring much relief. State economists warn unemployment will climb higher and housing prices will continue to plummet through the first half of 2009.

Volatile energy prices were the No. 2 story of the year. The topsy-turvy fuel market sent the price of crude soaring to as high as $150 a barrel in July before crashing to $33 this month.

The jump in prices, which soared after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike shuttered Gulf Coast refineries, sparked panic among Georgia drivers. Gas stations advertised fuel at $8 a gallon, while some drivers camped out at gas stations to be first in line for new deliveries.

Georgia's seemingly endless U.S. Senate campaign notched the No. 3 spot.

Residents headed to the polls four times to vote on the Senate contest, beginning with the July primaries and ending with a Dec. 2 runoff when Saxby Chambliss was elected to a second Senate term. The Republican's victory over Jim Martin deprived Democrats of a 60-seat filibuster-proof majority.

The conviction and sentencing of Brian Nichols for a deadly shooting spree that began in the Fulton County Courthouse was the year's No. 4 story.

After more than three years and a tangled trail of legal delays, a jury found Nichols guilty of murder. But it deadlocked over whether he deserves the death penalty, forcing a judge to sentence him to life in prison without parole. Now some legislators are intent on changing the state's death penalty rules.

The stubborn drought still squeezing parts of the state emerged as the No. 5 story of the year. While a soggy December helped elevate most of the region from the epic conditions, much of north Georgia - including devastated Lake Lanier - remains in a "severe" drought.

The No. 6 story was the deadly explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in February near Savannah that killed 14 workers and injured dozens more. Investigators determined the blast was caused by sugar dust that ignited like gunpowder in the plant's storage silos.

The presidential election, which dominated national headlines, was voted the No. 7 story in Georgia. Democrat Barack Obama's campaign recruited thousands of volunteers focused on turning the state blue, but Republican John McCain managed to claim Georgia's 15 electoral votes.

The No. 8 story of the year broke just hours after New Year's Day.

Meredith Emerson was abducted while walking with her dog that day in the north Georgia mountains, and police later found her body. Authorities soon arrested Gary Michael Hilton, who is now serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to her murder.

The Delta Air Lines merger with Northwest Airlines took the No. 9 slot, as the combination made the Atlanta-based carrier the world's largest airline. It completed a remarkable turnaround for Delta, which had filed for bankruptcy in 2005.

Clayton County's education woes was the year's tenth-ranked story. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools revoked the county's accreditation after it failed to meet a range of recommendations. More than 3,200 students have since bolted.

Stories close to making the list included convicted murderer Troy Davis' efforts to get a new trial and avoid execution, a legislative session that again ended in gridlock and an explosion at a Dalton law firm that killed the person responsible and injured four others.

(AP)

Hancock Georgia's poorest county

A new ranking of Georgia counties according to economic health puts Hancock County among the poorest in the state and Oconee County as the richest. The rankings issued Tuesday by the Department of Community Affairs classify all 159 Georgia counties based on economic factors such as unemployment rates and per capita income. The counties are divided into tiers from one - the lowest performing - to four, which is the highest performing. Local companies can get job tax credits based on the rankings. Five counties are improving. Those are Brantley, Clayton, Pulaski, Rabun and Houston.

(Associated Press)

Clayton County hospital on the brink

Clayton County’s only hospital may need to ask for federal help or call for layoffs to keep its doors open. Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale south of Atlanta will not get help from the county—commissioners last night rejected a 40-million dollar bond request. Without help, hospital officials likely will have to write to check to creditors by the end of the month. Southern Regional’s president and CEO says the hospital costs 20-million dollars a month to operate. Officials say the 331-bed hospital ended fiscal year 2008 with a 7-million dollar loss.

Clayton schools to lose 27-million dollars

Clayton County schools’ loss of accreditation will cost the district $27-million in state funds over the next two years. Already, more than 3,200 students have left schools in the district south of Atlanta since a certification board revoked accreditation September 1st. Without accreditation, students could have trouble getting into some colleges and universities and earning scholarships. Along with the flight of some students, over 500 employees have left the district. Clayton County officials now are considering layoffs among other cutbacks to help deal with the state funding loss.

Another county could lose accreditation

Another Georgia school district is facing accreditation problems. Haralson County schools in west Georgia on educational probation. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, or SACS, found governance problems by Haralson school board members, including micromanaging, not following their own policies and ethics violations. The problems are similar to those that led to Clayton County schools' accreditation loss on Sept. 1.

(Associated Press)

2 Ga. counties consider extended voting hours

Voting instructions at the Fulton County Government Center. (Dave Bender)
undefinedVoting instructions at the Fulton County Government Center. (Dave Bender)
[collapse expanded text]
Fulton County elections officials decided against asking for federal permission to extend voting hours on Election Day.

But officials in Clayton County are still considering whether to ask for expanded hours because of the heavy turnout in early and advance voting.

The Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections said Monday that the number of voting machines is enough to handle the crush of voters.

Polls are normally open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Georgia.

More than 2 million people have voted so far - or about 36 percent of the state's 5.6 million registered voters.

Click here for more GPB News election coverage.

(AP)