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(AP) -- HEALTHCARE-PERDUE
    Perdue: Vote no on health care bill
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue is urging a pair of
undecided Georgia Democrats to vote no on President Barack Obama's
health care plan.
    In a letter to U.S. Reps. John Barrow and Sanford Bishop, Perdue
said the health bill's expansion of Medicaid would be devastating
to Georgia's cash-strapped budget.
    Perdue argued the proposal - which faces an expected U.S. House
vote Sunday - would delay the state's economic recovery.
    Barrow is from Savannah and Bishop is from Albany. Barrow did
not immediately return a phone call for comment Thursday. Bishop
said Thursday he is inclined to support the bill.
   
TEXTING WHILE DRIVING
    Senate green lights ban on texting while driving
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - The Senate proposal to ban texting while driving
has received unanimous support.
    The bill, approved 46-0, would prohibit the practice for all
drivers and come with a fine and driver's license penalties.
    If the law passes, it would go into effect July 1. Colorado,
Louisiana, New York, Virginia and Washington are among the states
that currently ban texting while driving. Nine states ban text
messaging for teen drivers.
    Friends and family of 18-year-old Caleb Sorohan, who died in a
car crash while texting, were on hand to witness the vote and have
urged legislators to approve proposals in the House and Senate this
session.
    Sorohan was killed Dec. 15 after crashing head-on into a Toyota
Sequoia while sending a text message on his cell phone.
   
WATER WARS-LEGISLATION
    House OK's water conservation bill
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - The House has given final passage to sweeping
water conservation legislation.
    The bill was approved 153-8 on Thursday. It now heads to Gov.
Sonny Perdue, who helped author the measure.
    The bill requires that low-flow faucets and toilets be installed
in new construction. It also puts in place a watering ban during
some daylight hours.
    A federal judge ruled last July that the sprawling metro Atlanta
area had little legal right to the drinking water from Lake Lanier.
The ruling gave Georgia, Alabama and Florida - the states that have
long feuded over the massive federal reservoir - until 2012 to
reach an agreement. If they don't, the city's access to its main
water source could be reduced to the level it was at in the 1970s.
   
ZERO TOLERANCE
    Senate approves changes to zero tolerance proposal
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - First-time juvenile violators of a school's zero
tolerance policy would no longer be designated felons under a
measure that was unanimously approved by the Senate.
    Under the proposal, items ranging from keychains to grooming
kits, which could be classified as weapons, would now only carry
that designation when used in an assault.
    State Sen. Emanuel Jones, one of the bill's sponsors, says first
offenders would now be charged with a "delinquent act" rather
than a felony, which could tarnish a student's record and be
detrimental in consideration for college scholarships, military
service and other areas. Jones says the measure is a common sense
one that he hopes school systems will now use to amend their
policies.
   
MARTA STATION SHOOTING
    Arrest made after man killed at train station
   
    EAST POINT, Ga. (AP) - Authorities have arrested a 20-year-old
Atlanta man and expect to charge him with the shooting death of a
man at a MARTA station in the Atlanta area Wednesday night.
    The suspect's name is Broderick Smith. MARTA police say they're
questioning Smith and expect to charge him with multiple crimes
shortly. There is no clear relationship to the victim, 19-year-old
Anthony Beavers of Jonesboro.
    Lyle Harris, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid
Transit Authority, says train service was interrupted and buses
were used to transport passengers between stations.
    MARTA Assistant Police Chief Joseph Dorsey says it's the most
serious incident at a MARTA station in four years.
   
HOMEMADE EXPLOSIVE
    GA man charged in homemade explosive plot
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - A Georgia man was sentenced to serve more than
five years in federal prison on charges that he sold a poorly made
homemade bomb filled with gun powder, live ammo and hypodermic
needles to an undercover federal agent.
    Authorities say 29-year-old William David Oxford was also
charged with selling methamphetamine and a sawed-off shotgun to the
informant.
    Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives took the bomb to an X-ray that showed it was made out of
a capped PVC pipe that had been filled with gun powder, .22 caliber
ammunition and the needles.
    Prosecutors say the device was inoperable because it was poorly
built.
   
MILLION-DOLLAR POT BUST
    Atlanta police seize $1.2 million in marijuana
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Atlanta Police have seized more than 700
marijuana plants in various stages of growth, more than 6 lbs of
cultivated marijuana and several packages of hashish all valued at
$1.2 million.
    Atlanta Police official Eric Schwartz says the drugs were taken
from a home in the 200 block of Baracah Walk in Fulton County
Wednesday.
    Investigators say the operation was the culmination of a
monthlong investigation involving the illegal manufacturing and
trafficking of marijuana.
    Arrested was 36-year-old Frederic Hazard, whom officers caught
fleeing out the rear door with a handgun.
    Hazard is charged with trafficking marijuana, giving a false
name and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
   
BRAVES-CARDINALS
    Hill struggles again as Cards lose to Braves 5-3
   
    JUPITER, Fla. (AP) - Rich Hill didn't do anything to improve his
bid to become the St. Louis Cardinals' fifth starter, allowing
three earned runs on two hits and five walks in a 5-3 loss to the
Atlanta Braves on Thursday.
    Chipper Jones delivered the biggest blow to Hill's afternoon.
The 37-year-old switch hitter put what he called his first
real-good right-handed swing of the spring on a 1-1 fastball in the
third, sending it bouncing off the roof of the clubhouse beyond the
left field wall.
    The only trouble Atlanta starter Tim Hudson ran into during his
five innings came in the fourth when Colby Rasmus pulled a triple
that wrapped around first base and ricocheted off the bullpen wall
into shallow right field, scoring Felipe Lopez.

(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)