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(AP) -- GEORGIA TERROR ARRESTS
    2nd Georgia  man sentenced in terror case
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - A second Georgia man has been sentenced for
conspiring to support terrorist groups by videotaping U.S.
landmarks and sending the videos overseas.
    Syed Haris Ahmed was sentenced to 13 years in prison Monday for
sending the tapes of U.S. landmarks to terror suspects overseas.
The 25-year-old faced up to 15 years in prison after his June
conviction.
    Ahmed was also sentenced to 30 years supervised release.
    Ahmed's friend Ehsanul Islam Sadequee was sentenced to 17 years
in prison earlier Monday on stiffer charges. Prosecutors say
Sadequee also tried to aid a Pakistani-based terror group while on
a trip to Bangladesh.
    Both Ahmed and Sadequee said they never considered following
through on boasts they made online.
   
SOLDIER DIES
    Fort Stewart soldier dies in Iraq
   
    AUSTELL, GA (AP) - An Army soldier from Cobb County has died in
Iraq.
    Department of Defense officials say 29-year-old Pfc. Jaiciae
(JAY-cee) L. Pauley died Dec. 11 in Kirkuk, Iraq, from a
"non-combat related incident." The Fort Stewart soldier's death
is being investigated by defense officials. No further details were
available.
    Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson said Pauley joined the Army
in June 2008 and was on his first deployment to Iraq. He was an
ambulance driver.
    His step-grandfather, Marshall Bias of Muncie, Ind., says
funeral arrangements are pending and Pauley likely will be buried
in Indiana.
   
MEDICAID FRAUD
    Florida man sentenced for Georgia Medicaid fraud
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - A Florida man has been sentenced to 12 years in
federal prison for a fraudulent prescription scheme that cost the
Georgia Medicaid program $1.1 million.
    U.S. District Judge Charles Pannell Jr. ordered the sentence
Monday for 36-year-old Varian V. Scott of Miami. He also directed
Scott to pay $1.1 million in restitution.
    Scott was convicted in October of health care fraud and
conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Prosecutors said he forged
doctors' prescriptions for expensive cancer and HIV medications to
make purchases at dozens of Atlanta-area pharmacies using the
identities of Georgia Medicaid recipients. Then he took the
prescriptions to South Florida for sale.
    Scott's cousin and co-defendant, 29-year-old Hezron Collie of
Atlanta, is scheduled for sentencing Tuesday
   
SOLDIER SLAYING
    Soldier sentenced to life for Ft. Benning slaying
   
    FORT BENNING, GA  (AP) - A Fort Benning soldier has been
sentenced to life in a military prison for the slaying of an Army
trainee who was repeatedly stabbed with a knife in his barracks
last year.
    Pfc. George MacDonald of Floyd, Va., was sentenced Saturday, one
day after a court-martial convicted him of premeditated murder.
    Army prosecutors say MacDonald stabbed 23-year-old Pvt. Rick
Bulmer, who was undergoing basic training at Fort Benning, multiple
times with a knife on May 18, 2008. He was apprehended by a drill
sergeant after struggling with soldiers who had responded to the
victim's cries for help.
    Fort Benning officials said MacDonald will serve his sentence at
the military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
   
RECORD RAINFALL
    Columbus tops 45-year record for rainfall in 2009
   
    COLUMBUS, GA (AP) - The year 2009 is the wettest in 45 years
for Columbus.
    According to the National Weather Service in Peachtree City -
which also tracked rainfall for the five wettest years for Atlanta,
Athens and Macon - Columbus broke its record at midnight Saturday
after more than 2 inches fell during the day. Columbus' total for
the year stands at 73.63 inches since Jan. 1, breaking the previous
record of 73.22 set in 1964. None of the other cities tracked came
close to breaking their records this year, though all were well
above their average annual rainfall totals.
    Rainfall records have been kept for nearly 130 years. Columbus'
record rainfall comes after much of north and central Georgia has
been in a drought for the last three years.
   
CABLE THEFT
    Georgia police find $1 million in stolen equipment
   
    McDONOUGH, GA  (AP) - Police in Henry County say that found more
than $1 million in stolen cable equipment in a home in McDonough.
    Police Capt. Jason Bolton said police searched the home of
31-year-old Dallas Goddin on Monday morning and charged him with
theft by receiving. Bolton said victims included Comcast Cable,
Charter Communications and Georgia Power.
    Police described Goddin as the owner of Communications Industry
Services Inc.

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