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)

Dalton's residents bewildered over bombing

Firefighters in Dalton facing smoke and flames from building destroyed in Friday's bombing. (Courtesy)

Barbara Russell's voice almost drops to a whisper as she tries to describe the deadly blast that interrupted her breakfast the other day.

"It was the loudest noise I've ever heard," she says, shaking her head. "You really can't believe it. It really hasn't sunk in "We're all trying to figure this out," says Steve Williams, a senior partner at the firm that was bombed. "It will be a long time before folks come to grips with this. We're just a little town in the Deep South."

The same sentiment kept coming up Sunday at the first town gathering since 78-year-old Lloyd Cantrell died when he bombed a law office that represented his son in a bitter family land dispute. The Friday morning blast killed Cantrell and injured four others at the law firm — and left residents struggling to reconcile how it could happen in their blue-collar town of 30,000.

Cantrell, easily recognized around town clad in bib overalls with a small Chihuahua in his arms, had been embroiled in a dispute with his son, Bruce, since 2006.

Bruce Cantrell had grown fearful of the father and hired a lawyer at McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle & Fordham, to file a lawsuit to keep his dad off the property. The 2006 complaint claimed the elder man stole tools, kicked in a door and threatened to kill himself. Cantrell had given the property to his son.

The Associated Press has been unable to reach Bruce Cantrell for comment.

On Friday, police were called to a disturbance at the firm, housed in a two-story, colonial-style home. An officer saw a man get out of a sport utility vehicle and run behind the building. Seconds later, an explosion tore into the office.

Four were injured, including attorney Jim Phillips, who was described as a longtime friend of Cantrell. Phillips is hospitalized with burns to one-third of his body. He was in critical condition Saturday, and officials didn't immediately return a call Sunday seeking comment on his condition.

Meanwhile, many residents shared a common realization: they simply haven't registered what happened yet.

"Nobody here in this room, nobody in this city was at fault," said Dalton City Police Chief Jason Parker. "I think we accept that. It's time for us as a city, as a community to band together."

The law firm, which has helped produce a generation of local judges and community leaders, was one of the town's "oldest and most important law firms," says Dalton Mayor David Pennington. The city has offered the firm temporary space at city hall, and the firm's lawyers say they're confident they will soon rebuild.

"I will not be run off," says Williams, the firm's partner. "I'm here for the duration." Williams and other residents quietly gathered at Dalton City Hall, talking in hushed tones about what happened — and what could have happened.

"Everybody is just sort of shocked," said Beth Campbell, a local bookkeeper dressed in her Sunday best who showed up at the meeting for some clarity after her pastor announced it at church. "In about two hours time we heard so many stories. You heard so many different things and I still haven't heard what happened."

Kermit McManus, Dalton's district attorney, predicts it could take years for the town to realize the enormity of the attack. He's clearly shaken by the blast, which he called "an attack on the judicial system."

"He was going to blow the whole building up as a result of this legal dispute," he says, shaking his head.

McManus works in a sparkling new county courthouse that fronts a large window. But if he had to build it again, he says, he'd feel safer if his office was built behind thick walls instead of glass.

"It's more devastating than we know," he says."I think it will change the way people think and it's going to change the way people do business."

His voice trails off.

"We don't think in those terms," he says. "Now we will."

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the Dalton bombing.

Dalton bombing: officials meet with residents

A Georgia Bureau of Investigation bomb technician works on a a bomb robot near the scene of a bomb blast in Dalton, Ga., Friday, Oct. 17, 2008. Four people were injured when a bomb went off in a law office. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

The Dalton police chief and district attorney are meeting with the public to discuss the Friday bombing of a law firm in the small north Georgia town.

The Sunday meeting is taking place at Dalton High School.

Officials and members of the state's crisis response team are on hand. Organizers are encouraging law enforcement, emergency personnel, counselors and teachers to attend.

An F.B.I. agent searches property belonging to the suspect in the explosion at a small-town law firm in northern Georgia in Dalton, Ga., Friday, Oct. 17, 2008. The suspect died in the blast that also injured four people at the office, authorities said. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

A bitter family dispute over property erupted Friday when 78-year-old Lloyd Cantrell threw an explosive into a law firm that represented his son, causing a blast that killed the father and injured four people in the office. One victim, attorney Jim Phillips, is in critical condition at an Augusta burn center.


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(The Associated Press)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of this story.

Explosion Update

At least one person is dead and still on the scene, while four were severely injured after an explosive device was detonated at a local downtown office.

The explosion was set off at 10 a.m. this morning at McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle and Fordham. Local officials are not confirming other media reports that a suspect is in custody, however, Whitfield county official told GPB there’s no need to worry about “a bomber on the loose.”

An employee at the US Post Office next store said the blast rattled the walls, ringing her ears for about fifteen minutes.

The explosion sparked a fire that was extinguished by the afternoon. Three victims were transferred to a Dalton hospital. Two have been released, the third has been admitted and is listed in stable condition. The fourth, told to GPB to be an attorney at the firm, has been flown to the Joseph M. Still burn center in Augusta.

Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms officials are searching the grounds for explosives, with the cooperation of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The agencies prevented Dalton fire crews from responding to the fire. Two bomb squad trucks, along with three fire engines, are still nearby the scene.

The explosion occurred near City Park Elementary in Dalton. The school was briefly on lockdown, before students were evacuated unharmed.

A Dalton city police spokesman says they have contacted a person of interest who was on the scene. There was a disturbance at the law firm. Someone in the firm called 911, and when police showed up at the scene a person in an SUV ran out of is car and behind the building. The explosion occurred immediately afterward.

GPB has learned law enforcement officers are executing a search warrant at a residence in Varnell, a small rural area just north of Dalton. A spokeswoman for the county would not confirm or deny whether the search warrant was part of the investigation.

Beaverdale Road and Prater Mill Road near Varnell is going to be closed for an unknown amount of time. GPB has learned the road closing is connected to the bombing investigation, although spokespeople won't officially confirm the connection.

Supect dead, 4 wounded in Dalton bombing

Police say a bomb blew up at the Dalton, Ga., law office of McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle & Fordham today, killing one and injuring four others. (Courtesy WGCL)

Georgia investigators say a 71-year-old man suspected of setting off an explosion at a small-town law office has died.

Four other people were injured in the explosion that blew out the windows at McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle & Fordham around 10 a.m. Friday.

Police say there was some kind of disturbance at the office before the blast. An officer saw someone get out of a sport utility vehicle and run behind the building. Then something exploded.

Firefighters are still battling a small blaze that flared up after in initial blast.

The suspect's body is still in the building in Dalton, about 25 miles southeast of Chattanooga, Tenn.

Two of the injured were treated at a hospital and released, one was admitted and a fourth was taken to a burn center.

Officials said in a statement that:

“Dalton police received a 911 call regarding a disturbance at the law firm. The first police officer, to arrive on the scene spotted a person in a small SUV. When this person saw the officer, he jumped out of the SUV and ran behind the law firm, at which time the explosion occurred. The police officer was not injured. One fatality has been reported and is still at the scene.

Police Lt. Bruce Frazier said the blast was caused by some type of explosive device. Investigators were looking into a person of interest in the case, but no one had been arrested, he said. He declined to provide more details.

Bomb squads were checking for sweeping the premises for other explosives, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said.

Four people hurt in the explosion were in stable condition at Hamilton Medical Center, spokeswoman Emily Michael said. One of the four was being taken to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, spokeswoman Beth Frits said.

The eight-lawyer firm, founded in 1932, works out of a two-story, colonial-style house. Police cordoned off the block and shut down a post office near the law firm, which specializes in personal injury and wrongful death cases, according to its Web site. An elementary school across the street was locked down, though it wasn't damaged.

State and federal investigators were assisting local authorities.

(The Associated Press)