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Read more: Local, State, Lawrenceville Small Plane Crsh, Immigration Laws Atlanta, Newton County Murder Execution, Decatur Georgia Murder Trial
(AP) -- SMALL PLANE-WRECK
1 dead in small plane crash
LAWRENCEVILLE, GA (AP) - Investigators say one is dead and
three suffered burns after a small plane crashed in Gwinnett County
on Monday.
Gwinnett County Fire Captain Tommy Rutledge confirmed that a
pilot died in the wreck, which happened in Lawrenceville.
Rutledge says three more passengers suffered non
life-threatening burn injuries and were transported to Gwinnett
Medical Center.
Federal Aviation Administration officials tell The Associated
Press the plane was a Beech 65 twin-engine. FAA records show it was
registered to a Robert Peter Watson Sr., of Dawsonville.
Gwinnett County firefighters are at the scene of the wreckage,
which was engulfed in flames when they arrived.
Investigators believe the plane crashed shortly after taking off
from Gwinnett County Airport at around 5 p.m.
IMMIGRATION-LAW ENFORCEMENT
GA debates incentives for federal crackdown
ATLANTA (AP) - A Cobb County lawmaker is proposing legislation
that would provide financial incentives to encourage local law
enforcement to use a federal program aimed at identifying illegal
immigrants arrested in Georgia.
The bill sponsored by Sen. John Wiles would provide a 20 percent
bonus from the state to local governments that use a federal
program that helps them identify illegal immigrants in custody.
It also would provide a 10 percent bonus for another program
that allows arrestee fingerprint information to be checked against
FBI criminal history records.
The Kennesaw Republican says people who are in the country
illegally are committing crimes in areas that do not have these
programs, costing communities money.
INMATE EXECUTION-SCHEDULED
Execution date set for Newton County murderer
ATLANTA (AP) - A Georgia death row inmate who was convicted of
killing his former girlfriend and another woman in a 1986 robbery
at the Newton County grocery store where they worked is set to be
executed this month.
Corrections officials will execute Melbert Ray Ford on Feb. 23.
The execution is scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. at Georgia
Diagnostic and Classification Prison, in Jackson.
Ford was convicted for the deaths of Martha Matich and Lisa
Chapman. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals denied an appeal in October 2008.
If executed, Ford will be the 24th inmate put to death by lethal
injection in Georgia.
EDUCATORS-PERFORMANCE INCENTIVE
Gov. pushing bill that rewards student performance
ATLANTA (AP) - Gov. Sonny Perdue is pushing legislation that
would pay Georgia's teachers based on student performance, not
their advanced degrees.
Sen. Don Balfour, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, is
introducing the bill.
Perdue says the state's current system rewards teachers for
their level of education instead of classroom achievement. Under
the proposal, teachers and principals would have the choice to opt
into the program. The State Board of Education would have to
require a statewide evaluation system that factors in student
improvement and peer observation of planning and instruction by
July 1, 2011.
HUSBAND KILLED
Mistrial declared in GA murder case
DECATUR, GA (AP) - A DeKalb County jury has deadlocked in their
deliberations on the murder case against a woman who shot and
killed her husband two years ago.
Superior Court Judge Cynthia Becker declared a mistrial after a
jury of eight men and four women deliberated almost 20 hours
without reaching a verdict.
The 47-year-old testified last week that she acted in self
defense when she fired six shots into her husband, Ralph C.
"Cliff" Scott. She said her husband had threatened to kill her
and charged at her when she fired the first shot.
But prosecutors told the jury that Scott was lying on the
witness stand. They argued she murdered her husband to gain control
of his $5 million estate.
TEENS KILLED
2 teen brothers killed in train collision
TIFTON, GA (AP) - Two Tift County teen brothers died and a
third was in fair condition after a train struck their car Sunday.
Killed were 17-year-old Austin Dawson and 15-year-old Alton
Dawson Jr. Tift Regional Medical Center officials say 17-year-old
Alex Dawson - Austin's twin brother - is recovering.
Georgia State Patrol say Alex was driving a 1994 Nissan Sentra
along Golden Road when the group came to a railroad crossing. The
cross bar was down but police say the car went around the bar and
was struck on the left passenger side by a northbound train.
TEN COMMANDMENTS-COURTHOUSE
Courthouse commandments display ignores GA law
REIDSVILLE, GA (AP) - Tattnall County officials say they didn't
know they were running afoul of state law when they let members of
a Baptist church hang a framed copy of the Ten Commandments inside
the county courthouse last week.
County Commission Chairman Frank Murphy said Monday that
officials told members of Ella Grove Baptist Church it would be OK
for them to display the biblical text inside the courthouse because
it's a historical document.
What they didn't realize is a 2006 state law requires eight
other documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, to be
posted alongside the Ten Commandments to give them a historical
context.
Murphy says county officials will comply with the law. But
Debbie Seagraves of the American Civil Liberties Union says the
county should remove the Commandments until then.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
