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)

Lightning Strike Hits Atlanta Airport Control Tower

Severe weather that rolled through parts of north Georgia last night also affected operations at Atlanta’s airport. Hartsfield-Jackson International sustained a lightning strike to its air traffic control tower around 8:45pm, which added to flight delays. Soon after, the entire airport lost power. Officials say the tower was back in operation around 10pm, with all runways open by midnight. The severe weather in the region was responsible for a handful of lightning-strike fires, and a few thousand residents losing electricity for a time.

Severe storms hit; planes delayed at Hartsfield

Severe storms are sweeping across much of north Georgia, generating heavy rain, hail and winds thatdowned trees and powerlines. Flights were delayed for up to 90 minutes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as dark gray clouds swirled in from the west. A possible tornado was reported in northwest Georgia's Chattooga County. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Peachtree Citywere so busy tracking the storms that they could not immediately confirm the twister. Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokesman Ken Davis says there's a report of three possible tornadoes striking in FranklinCounty, more than a 100 miles away in northeast Georgia. Heavy storms also pelted several counties south of Atlanta.

(Associated Press)

Miley Cyrus Heading to Georgia

Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that Savannah will be the filming location for the upcoming Disney film, The Last Song. The movie is expected to bring approximately 250 jobs to the state.

“I signed the 2008 Entertainment Industry Investment Act in support of our efforts to recruit film, music and digital entertainment projects to Georgia,” said Governor Perdue. “These industries are thriving and growing, boosting the state’s economy and employing thousands of Georgians.”

The script was written by noted author Nicholas Sparks. The production of the film will take place in Savannah and other nearby coastal locales. Julie Anne Robinson will direct The Last Song which is expected to start production in Georgia in mid-June and be completed by mid-August, 2009. Producer Dara Weintraub also produced another film in Savannah called The Clearing, which starred Robert Redford, Willem Dafoe and Helen Mirren.

Georgia’s new, more competitive incentives offer a 20 percent tax credit for qualified productions, which are then eligible for an additional 10 percent tax credit if they include an animated Georgia promotional logo within the finished product. The incentive covers more than just the film and television industries. The program also offers credits for commercials and music videos, as well as the first incentive in the nation to cover other areas of development including animation, interactive entertainment and video game development.

Nine feature films, two television series and one television pilot were produced in Georgia in the first quarter of 2009. A Sony Pictures produced television series began production in Georgia in April and three feature films are currently in production. Seven more feature films are slated for the state in the coming months.

The Film, Music and Digital Entertainment office, a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, assists local, national and international entertainment industries with expertise and resources. The staff points movie production companies to Georgia’s highly-trained crews, state-of-the-art facilities, and diverse locations. Georgia’s temperate climate and easy access afforded by Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, are also factors that attract the industry’s interest.

Since the inception of the office in 1973, more than 600 major motion pictures, independent films, television series and pilots, and TV movies have filmed on location in the state. As a result, over $5 billion dollars has been generated for the state’s economy.

Miley Cyrus is expected to star in the film.

(Governor's office news release)

Panel Upholds Airport Gun Ban

A federal appeals court has upheld a judge's decision to toss a lawsuit seeking to allow licensed gun owners to carry weapons in parts of the world's busiest airport. That judge had dismissed the lawsuit last year on grounds that the gun rights organization GeorgiaCarry.org failed to prove that a new Georgia law would allow weapons into unsecured areas of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. A three-judge panel found an appeal of that ruling was "meritless." The legal feud erupted when a new state law took effect in July that allows people with gun permits to carry guns into restaurants and state parks and on public transportation. Atlanta officials quickly declared the airport a "gun-free zone" and warned that anyone carrying a gun there would be arrested. GeorgiaCarry.org sued the city and the airport, claiming the airport qualifies as public transportation under the new state law.


(Associated Press)

Ga. Power: Snowstorms Cut Electricity to Over 40,000 (photos, video)

Snow falling on construction equipment in midtown Atlanta, at the uncompleted 14th St. bridge over the I-75/85 connector on Sunday, Mar. 1, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Metro Atlanta, and much of northeast, and southwest Georgia were blanketed with several inches of snow on Sunday that caused aggravation for many.

Georgia Power spokesman Jeff Wilson said the snowstorm cut electricity to tens of thousands of homes and businesses across a major arc of the state:

"We have about 42,000 customers statewide without power, about 30,000 of these are in the northeast part of the state - the Athens and the Winder areas. About 7,000 current outage in Metro Atlanta, and the rest scattered from Columbus to Rome."

Wilson says high winds and fallen trees are hampering repairs, and wasn’t able to estimate when power would be fully restored.

"Time lapse of March 1, 2009 Georgia snow. Video was taken from a security camera in Hiram, GA."
(Courtesy YouTube member: Zacwin)

The FAA says Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport had upwards of two-hour waits for some flights, and cancellations of others.

On the ground, the Georgia Department of Transportation says about a 1,000 people were working to clear roads.

Officials at the University of Georgia said Sunday they planned to delay classes on Monday until noon.

Six Flags amusement park, which had been scheduled for its spring opening on Saturday, remained closed all weekend, due to the snow and rainy weather.

Click here for the latest National Weather Service advisories.

Click here for more GPB News coverage and photos of the sudden stormy weather.

Rare Snow Blankets South as East Braces For Storm (Photos)

A powerful March snowstorm blanketed much of Alabama and then marched across Georgia on Sunday, forcing some flight cancellations in Atlanta as the East Coast braced for a potential pummeling.

Peachtree Ave., midtown Atlanta on Sunday afternoon, Mar. 1, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

The weather service said winter storm warnings are in effect from northern Georgia and the Carolinas through the Mid-Atlantic states into New England.

At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways canceled some Sunday flights and a Federal Aviation Administration Web site said flights to
Atlanta were experiencing average delays of nearly two hours.

AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson said flights out of Atlanta into the Northeast may also be canceled Sunday night as the messy, developing storm took aim at walloping at wide swath of the East Coast up through Maine.

"I expect the Northeast will be hit pretty hard tonight so our expectations is that people flying into Washington, D.C., and Boston will need to call or check our Web site for possible cancellations," Hutcheson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Delta spokesman Brian Kruse said the airline is monitoring the weather and asking customers flying to, from or through Atlanta to call Delta or check its Web site for updates.

Georgia Tech students A.D. Barfield, Lily Manavi, and Candace Farr discuss the merits of their snowman. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Despite above-freezing temperatures, a heavy flurry of snow fell on downtown Atlanta, blanketing cars and creating slushy streets and sidewalks. It hadn't snowed in Atlanta for more than a year — the area received 1.4 inches of snow in January 2008, said Laura Griffith of the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Ga.

I-75/85 connector, near 14th St. bridge construction. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Georgia transportation officials warned of potential icy conditions on roadways in middle and northern counties through Monday morning. No icing on roadways, bridges or other overpasses had been reported through midday Sunday, but as temperatures drop Sunday night, officials warn motorists that ice could be a threat.

Outside the CNN Center in downtown Atlanta, Flori Kwon of Claremont, Calif. took pictures of her son Jake, 5, playing in the snow.

"He wants to make a snowman but I don't think there's enough snow," Kwon said while large snowflakes landed in her hair. "We're kind of surprised it's snowing."

The late Southern snowfall brought back memories of a large storm in 1993 that forecasters nicknamed the "Snowfall of the Century," affecting the region from Alabama to north of Washington, D.C. on March 13, 1993, Griffith said. In that storm, Atlanta received 4.2 inches of snow and 13 inches of snow fell on Birmingham, Ala.


Pedestrians and snowmen at an overpass in midtown Atlanta. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Meanwhile, tornado watches were in effect from northern Florida into coastal Georgia and southern South Carolina.

Crossing Peachtree Ave., in midtown Atlanta, as the snow blows around. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Despite above-freezing temperatures in downtown Atlanta, a heavy curtain of snow fell on cars and caused traffic accidents on slushy streets. The unusual weather prompted 26-year-old Jessi Prahl and Max DiPace to take their dog, Cooper, on a walk through snow-covered Piedmont Park in Atlanta.

Says Prahl: "You know us Southerners, we all freak out when it snows."

(AP)
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Send us your snow photos (in standard .jpg format), and we'll post the best ones here: dbender at gpb dot org (replace the "at" with @ and "Dot" with .)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of today's wintry weather.

Atlanta Has Busiest Airport

For the fourth year in a row, Georgia's main airport has been named the nation's busiest. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport let the country in the number of takeoffs and landings in 2008. That's according to the Federal Aviation Administration. An FAA report shows Hartsfield-Jackson had just under 980,000 operations last year. Chicago's O'Hare International ranked second-busiest in 2008.

(Associated Press)

Airlines threaten to move flights from Atlanta

Atlanta-based Delta Airlines and discount carrier AirTran Airways are threatening to move flights from Atlanta as they negotiate new lease agreements with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

They say if their costs can’t remain competitive with the fees they must pay at the Atlanta airport, they could take their connecting flight business elsewhere.

Their lease agreements with Hartsfield-Jackson don’t expire until September 2010.

Neither Delta nor Airtran are thinking about pulling out altogether.

The two carriers represent roughly 93 percent of the traffic at the Atlanta airport. According to the airport, their business with all airlines is expected to generate about 160 million dollars in revenue for 2009.

(Associated Press)

Poor Economy Slows Atlanta Airport Project

The recession isn't the only problem for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport that threatens construction on its long-delayed international terminal.

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines warns that rising costs at the airport raise questions about the size of the carrier's future operations there. The warning comes as Delta prepares for talks with airport officials on new airline leases.

Hartsfield-Jackson's existing 30-year airline agreements expire next year, and formal talks are expected to begin in the next couple of months.

Airport spokesman John Kennedy says construction may likely be halted anyway in the next few weeks due to tight credit markets.

The $1.6 billion project is three years behind schedule. The latest projection is for a 2012 opening.
---
Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
http://www.ajc.com

(AP)

Click here for more GPB News coverage about Hartsfield-Jackson.

Cagle remarks on state gun law

Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle says he’s not for loosening the state’s gun law this year. Cagle signaled yesterday, he doesn’t want a repeat of last year’s heated gun battle that put Georgia in the cross-hairs of the National Rifle Association.

A state Senate study committee has been looking into expanding the gun law to allow Georgians to carry concealed weapons into churches and university campuses.

Last year, lawmakers approved a concealed carry law that stretched to state parks, restaurants serving alcohol and on public transit. The law spurred a legal battle at Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International Airport after gun rights advocates argued the airport qualified as public transportation.

Radar snafus at Hartsfield cause delays

Federal Aviation Administration officials say a brief outage of the ground radar at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday caused delays of about an hour on arriving and departing flights. FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the radar that allows air traffic controllers to see planes on the runways went down about 10:25 a.m. Bergen said the radar started working again about 11:10 a.m. The equipment failure coupled with low-sitting clouds meant many flights were delayed at the world's busiest airport. According to the FAA Web site, flights to Chicago experienced delays of up to 2 hours because of snow and ice there.

(Associated Press)

Fog, rain slow some flights at Hartsfield-Jackson

Delta Airlines jets line up at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. (AP/John Bazemore)

Fog and rain caused some flight delays at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport at the start of the busiest travel day of the year.

But airport officials on Sunday say they're off to a crowded, but smooth start for Thanksgiving travelers trying to get home.

National Weather Service meteorologist Patricia Atwell says weather conditions were causing low visibility that could slow aircraft arrivals.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported departure delays between 15 to 30 minutes and arrival delays of about 45 minutes Sunday morning because of clouds and low visibility.

Airport officials urged travelers to do their homework -- checking flight status, security waits and available parking -- before getting to the airport.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of travel and transportation issues.

Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com

(AP)

Chambliss vying for voters as runoff deadline nears

Chambliss speaking with reporters at a recent press conference at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. (Dave Bender/file)

Republican Saxby Chambliss likes to say he never expected to be at the "epicenter of the political world," but that's exactly where he finds himself as he battles for his political survival in the last big election of 2008.

Standing between Democrats and their long-sought 60-seat supermajority in the Senate, Mr. Chambliss heads into Tuesday's runoff against Democrat Jim Martin carrying the weight of the GOP establishment on his shoulders.

"Let's face it, the world is watching Georgia," the 65-year-old freshman senator said Wednesday at a rally in north Georgia. "We have the opportunity to make sure (President-elect) Obama doesn't move us far, far to the left."

His political career began when he won a seat in the U.S. House in 1994. In 2001, he launched what many thought was a hopeless bid to oust Democratic Sen. Max Cleland, a triple amputee wounded in the Vietnam War. A bad knee kept Mr. Chambliss out of the Vietnam conflict.

Mr. Chambliss -- a virtual unknown statewide -- ran a tough campaign against Mr. Cleland, unleashing a TV ad that questioned the veteran's commitment to national security and flashed a photo of Osama bin Laden.

The ad infuriated Democrats, but Mr. Chambliss won the 2002 contest with 53 percent of the votes, helped along by shifting political winds in Georgia. After generations of Democratic control, the state began its swing Republican that year.

In the Senate, Mr. Chambliss emerged as a strong opponent of abortion and supporter of gun rights. He is also known as a reliably pro-business vote and was largely in lockstep with the Bush administration.

As a freshman senator, he rose quickly to become the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. He has been the ranking Republican on the panel since the Democrats won control of the Senate in 2006.

Mr. Chambliss also was handed the reins of the influential Republican Majority Fund, a political action committee that raises money for GOP candidates. Fundraising trips for the PAC have allowed him to indulge his love for golf. In Golf Digest's April ranking of Washington's top 200 golfers, he tied for No. 41.

Still, Mr. Chambliss has not always endeared himself to conservatives. He drew boos at a 2007 gathering of Georgia Republicans for supporting a compromise immigration package, which critics likened to amnesty. He later withdrew his support for the plan.

His work championing a bipartisan energy measure was lambasted by radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh and other conservative commentators.

This year, he co-authored the five-year, $300 billion Farm Bill derided by some for being loaded with giveaways and rich subsidies for wealthy farmers.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will join Chambliss on Monday at several rallies across the state.

Click here for more GPB News election coverage.

(AP)

Martin in 11th-hour, cross-state voter race

Martin, speaking with reporters at a recent press conference at his campaign headquarters in Atlanta. (Dave Bender/file)

Democratic Senate challenger Jim Martin made an appearance in Macon and Savannah Saturday in his hotly fought Senate bid against incumbent Saxby Chambliss.

Martin, speaking in front of a now-closed tobacco plant in east Bibb County, told reporters:

“Economic prosperity is based on capital investment. We’ve had a financial situation where the financial sector has been virtually unregulated and it’s resulted in a disaster for American industry,” he said.

“We need to make sure that whatever stimulus package is passed will focus on creating jobs for Americans and stimulating the economy.”

The press conference was Martin's second of the day: he'd appeared at a veterans rally in Savannah that morning, Macon.com reports.

Martin's 72-hour rally continues Sunday afternoon in Columbus.

The candidate and House Chief Deputy Whip G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina will host a veterans and military benefits roundtable at the Muscogee County Democratic Office. The two will hold a rally for supporters later in the evening, according to a statement released by Martin's office.


Chambliss speaking with reporters at a recent press conference at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. (Dave Bender/file)

Rival Chambliss will be joined by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin on Monday at several rally around the state.

Both candidates have buffed the closing days of their campaigns with national political heavyweights in an effort to swing more voters, and convince the party faithful to actually get to the polls and vote on Tuesday.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the runoff race.

Thanksgiving travel period underway

Many travelers hit the roads, and the skies Wednesday as the Thanksgiving holiday period began at 6pm, running through midnight Sunday. At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, officials expect to see a slight increase for the 102-hour stretch over last year, to about 1.7 million travelers moving through the airport. On the road, officials predict more than a million Georgians will travel more than 50 miles this weekend--a bit down from last year.

Early holiday travel off to good start

The early start to Thanskgiving holiday travel looks good for Georgians. The state Department of Transportation says most construction involving lane closures will be suspended from now until midnight Sunday. Current gas prices are friendly to drivers--the average in Georgia for regular unleaded is in the $1.70 range. It's the lowest for the Thanksgiving holiday in four years. And for people using Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International airport, security wait times early Wednesday morning were listed at 10 minutes.

Bill Clinton coming to stump for Martin

Chambliss and Martin squared off, along with Libertarian candidate Allen Buckley, at a Georgia Public Television debate on the Sunday before the Nov. 4th elections. (Dave Bender)

Former President Bill Clinton will headline a rally for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Martin in Georgia.

Clinton is the first big name Democrat to stump for Martin in his Dec. 2 runoff battle with Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Republican U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss at a recent press conference at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. (Dave Bender)

Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain lent his star power to a Chambliss rally Thursday and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will stump with Chambliss Sunday.

McCain claimed Georgia's electoral votes on Election Day and Huckabee won the state's Feb. 5 presidential primary.

Clinton won Georgia in his 1992 presidential bid, the last Democrat to carry the state in the race for the White House.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Martin during a recent press conference at his headquarters in Atlanta. (Dave Bender/file)

Martin said Saturday that Clinton - who balanced the budget - would underscore the failures of Republican leadership in Washington when it came to the economy.

Click here for more GPB News election coverage.

(AP)

Chambliss, Martin rev up for runoff

Republican incumbent Senator Saxby Chamblis and Democratic Senate candidate Jim Martin and at the GPBTV pre-election debate. (Dave Bender/file)

Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin were in full campaign mode this weekend, trying to coax enough votes to prevail in a Dec. 2 runoff election.


Republican incumbent Senator Saxby Chamblis talking with reporters at a press conference held at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. (Dave Bender/file)

Chambliss’ camp is preparing for a visit from former GOP presidential candidate John McCain. Martin is meeting with Cobb County Democrats and planned to visit a party phone bank operation in Decatur.

Democratic Senate race candidate Jim Martin, talking to reporters at a press conference in downtown Atlanta. (Dave Bender/file)

With less than four weeks until they face voters again, neither campaign was waiting for Secretary of State Karen Handel to make it official when she certifies election results next week.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting throughout Georgia, neither Chambliss nor Martin accumulated enough ballots to pull above the needed 50 percent plus one of the vote. The Moultrie Republican is just short, with 49.8 percent. Martin, a former state lawmaker from Atlanta, has 46.8 percent. The race also included Libertarian Allen Buckley, who drew 3.4 percent.

Military and overseas ballots were among the last to be tallied by county officials. To be counted, they had to arrive by Friday.

The state’s most populous county had been set to certify its results Saturday. But a spokesman for Fulton County’s Board of Elections said problems with a faulty memory card delayed the effort.

Voters register to cast their ballot in advance voting at the Fulton Co. Government Center polling station in downtown Atlanta. (Dave Bender)

Fulton County Board of Elections spokesman Mark Henderson said the problem had been resolved but officials decided to audit the process before making the elections results official. The certification is now expected to take place Sunday or Monday, Henderson said.

Handel’s office has criticized Fulton County for being slow to count thousands of absentee ballots and her office is investigating. Henderson said county workers were exhausted after a marathon Election Day and were sent home for a few hours to rest.

The expected Chambliss-Martin contest is already drawing a national spotlight to Georgia.

The race is one of three unresolved Senate contests nationwide, along with Minnesota and Alaska. All involve Republican incumbents. If Democrats capture all three, it would give them a 60-seat majority in the Senate, a margin needed to block Republican filibusters.

Chambliss’ campaign said they’ve also been in touch with McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, about a possible Georgia visit.

McCain carried Georgia on Election Day by 52 percent to President-elect Barack Obama’s 47 percent.

Nonetheless, Martin has asked Obama to help out, but no word yet on whether he’ll stump for Martin.

Then President-elect Bill Clinton came to Georgia to campaign for Democratic Sen. Wyche Fowler in his 1992 runoff race. But even with the high-profile help, Fowler went on to lose to Republican Paul Coverdell in what was the last U.S. Senate runoff in Georgia.

Martin and Chambliss arguing a point during the GPBTV pre-election debate. At bottom is Libertarian candidate Allan Buckley. (Dave Bender/file)

Click here for more GPB News election coverage.

Macon gets second airline

Over the weekend a second airline began flying from Macon to Atlanta.
Wings Air follows Georgia Skies that began flying out of Macon in September. Wings Air also flies from Athens to Atlanta. The airline uses nine-passenger planes to make the thirty minute flight.
Wings Air just reached an agreement with American Airlines to handle its ground operations at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The airline flies into Atlanta using the "T" gates.
Right now Wings Air only accepts carry on baggage. The two airlines replace Atlantic Southeast Airlines that pulled out of Macon citing a lack of passengers.