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Today’s News

 


Jan 6, 2009 – Georgia Daily Digest. com   
NOTE TO READERS
Good morning! Georgia Trend Daily is currently being assembled. Please check back after 8:30 a.m. to read today's complete digest.

Jan 6, 2009 – Gainesville Times    
Forecasters predict heavy rain will pound region today
Brandee Thomas reports that while the moist, gray weather that many areas have been experiencing for the past few days can be depressing, don’t expect to see any improvement in the dismal conditions today. Not only is the National Weather Service predicting rain, it’s predicting a lot of it today, potentially leading to flooding in several areas.

Jan 6, 2009 – Atlanta Journal Constitution   
Flood watch posted till Wednesday
Mike Morris reports that a flood watch has been posted for parts of North Georgia —- including a chunk of metro Atlanta —- where forecasters predict as much as 4 inches of rain by midweek. The National Weather Service said the flood watch includes Cobb, north Fulton, Paulding, Forsyth and Cherokee counties. The whole watch area extends from the Alabama line west of Atlanta to east of Blairsville.

Jan 6, 2009 – Atlanta Journal Constitution   
Grady gets earful on free-care limits
Craig Schneider reports that health care activists on Monday attacked the Grady Memorial Hospital proposal to increase medical costs to some uninsured patients, saying hospital leaders were being insensitive to poor people. The plan would effectively shut needy people out of care at a hospital that they depend on as a health center of last resort, said several people who spoke at the Grady board meeting Monday.

Jan 6, 2009 – Brunswick News   
Georgia born women makes history
Anna Ferguson reports that Beatrice Farve of Brunswick has again made history. At 113 years old, the Brunswick resident is now the second oldest person in the world. Only one year separates her from the oldest. Two days into the new year, on Jan. 2, 115-year-old Maria de Jesus, a Portuguese woman who had held the No. 1 spot for about two and a half months, died. Gertrude Baines, born April 6, 1894, now claims the top title. Farve was born April 17, 1895. Baines, who resides in Los Angeles, and Farve have more in common than being April babies and being extremely elderly. Both are Georgia natives.

Jan 6, 2009 – Atlanta Journal Constitution   
MARTA may raise fares, cut back service
Ariel Hart reports that thanks to a steadily tanking economy, the deficit MARTA announced last month grew even worse this month. In response, fare increases of 25 cents, higher parking fees and service cutbacks as radical as eliminating weekend service are on the table. “It’s bad,” said MARTA General Manager Beverly Scott. “We’re in one of those real periods of realignment.”

Jan 6, 2009 – Atlanta Journal Constitution   
Terror suspect asks judge for exorcist
Moni Basu and Bill Rankin report that relatives of terrorism suspect Ehsanul Islam Sadequee accused federal authorities Monday of using mind-control tactics intended to induce a guilty plea. Sadequee and former Georgia Tech student Syed Haris Ahmed are being held without bond on charges they conspired to provide material support to terrorists. At Monday’s hearing, Sadequee asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Gerrylin Brill for an “exorcist” to free the “demons” placed in his head by authorities. Brill denied the request.

Jan 6, 2009 – Gwinnett Daily Post   
Three-year DOT project makes major impact on traffic
Camie Young reports that that first day, as drivers began to whiz along flyover bridges connecting Ga. Highway 316 West to Interstate 85 South and Pleasant Hill Road, Teri Pope's eyes began to tear. In October 2007, when the bridges opened, the Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman spent the morning rush hour with a traffic reporter in a helicopter, watching traffic move the way engineers had dreamed. "It's made the merge a lot smoother," Pope said.

Jan 6, 2009 – Atlanta Journal Constitution   
Turner called king of U.S. landowners
Richard L. Eldredge reports that if you own 45,000 bison, you need a place to put them. America’s 100 largest landowners are celebrated in the latest issue of The Land Report (the Magazine of the American Landowner), and Captain Outrageous, Ted Turner, is No.1, with 2 million acres in Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, New Mexico, Argentina and Tierra del Fuego.

Jan 6, 2009 – Athens Banner-Herald   
Richt: Still no word on stars' pro choices
Marc Weiszer reports that Mark Richt has had some contact with Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno since the Bulldogs' Capital One Bowl victory last Thursday, but the Georgia coach isn't in a rush for them to make their multimillion-dollar decisions. Stafford, a junior quarterback, and Moreno, a third-year sophomore running back, are still contemplating whether to make the jump to the NFL or return for another season, Richt said.

Jan 6, 2009 – Savannah Morning News   
Georgia State signs first football player
Staff reports that Georgia State has a football team, and his name is Mark Hogan. Georgia State, which will play its first football season in 2010, on Monday enrolled Hogan as its first scholarship athlete. Hogan is the son of Mark Hogan Sr., who played for Georgia State coach Bill Curry at Georgia Tech in the 1980s.

Jan 6, 2009 – Atlanta Journal Constitution   
Falcons chart next course
D. Orlando Ledbetter reports that Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Mike Smith are done with “The Process.” Those were buzz words the two used all season as the team was being rebuilt and came together to win 11 games and end the franchise’s four-year playoff drought. With the process complete, it’s time for some new words.

Jan 6, 2009 – Clayton News Daily   
Clayton State University approaching 40th birthday
Curt Yeomans reports that the official anniversary is still months away, but Clayton State University will celebrate four decades of offering a college education to the Southern Crescent. The university, originally called Clayton Junior College, opened its doors to 942 students on Sept. 30, 1969.

Jan 6, 2009 – LaGrange Daily News   
Merged colleges to be ‘WGTC’ name
Staff reports that West Central Technical College will become West Georgia Technical College effective July 1. The name change will represent the culmination of a merger between West Central Tech and LaGrange-based West Georgia Tech. The new name was approved by Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Ron Jackson following a recommendation from both local boards of directors.

Jan 6, 2009 – Atlanta Journal Constitution   
College’s water crisis leaves team homeless
Stacy Shelton reports that, among the ripple effects of Morris Brown College’s financial problems, add another: the displacement of a junior college basketball team.

Jan 6, 2009 – Gainesville Times   
Gainesville schools may hike out-of-district tuition rate
Jessica Jordan reports that the Gainesville school board is considering multiple proposals for an out-of-district tuition increase, one of which could double tuition to $900 for some students but allow breaks for children of Gainesville alumni and business owners. At Monday's meeting, the board unanimously agreed it would put off any potential tuition increases until after July 1, but board members expressed varying views on how much out-of-city student tuition should be increased. The board likely will take action on the proposed tuition hike at its Jan. 20 meeting.

Jan 6, 2009 – Albany Herald   
Ragsdale to be named to GA BOE
Jennifer Maddox Parks reports that a new beginning will occur for the 2nd Congressional District of Georgia Thursday as Elizabeth Ragsdale will be sworn in as the district’s Georgia Board of Education member. “I am delighted for the opportunity to serve Georgia in this capacity,” she said. “I am really looking forward to new challenges.” Before retiring in 2006, Ragsdale’s 30-year career in public education included stints teaching at all levels.

Jan 6, 2009 – Macon Telegraph   
Student fund at Georgia Academy for the Blind almost tapped out
Julie Hubbard reports that a fund that helps students at the Georgia Academy for the Blind is nearly depleted, and school officials fear that if it goes dry, students’ learning and opportunities will be curtailed. Officials are trying to raise between $20,000 and $100,000 for the Macon school’s student fund, which pays students to work on campus, sends them to camp, pays for field trips and buys them canes and wheelchairs.

Jan 6, 2009 – Clayton News Daily   
BOE chooses national superintendent search
Curt Yeomans reports that Clayton County Superintendent John Thompson used few words Monday when he responded to the board of education's decision to forego extending his contract so a national search for a school chief could be conducted. Earlier in the meeting, Thompson gave a state-of-the-school-system address, which, at times, sounded like a campaign speech.

Jan 6, 2009 – Marietta Daily Journal   
Morgan highlights new goals on school board
Jon Gillooly reports that Cobb's new power couple, Cobb school board member-elect David Morgan and state Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell) recently dropped by the MDJ to talk about Morgan's goals as he takes over Betty Gray's seat on the board. Morgan said his goals include transparency, accountability, student achievement and enhanced teacher quality.


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