Latest news, weather and high school sports for Albany and Southwest Georgia

(AP) -- GEORGIA COURTS
    Fulton County tempers court budget cuts
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - The state's biggest court system will soon
grapple with budget cuts that could top $2 million.
    But Fulton County judicial leaders said Wednesday they are
grateful that the county commission didn't cut the system deeper.
They worried cuts that could have exceeded $4 million would have
forced major reductions in pretrial programs that focused on
defendants with problems with drugs and mental health.
    The county's judicial leaders have launched an unusually
aggressive effort to sway lawmakers, including posting fliers
around the courthouse with signs announcing the courts are closed
below a caption that reads "Think It Can't Happen Here?"
   
APPEALS COURT
    Senate confirms Martin as new appeals judge in GA
    
    ATLANTA (AP) - The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta will
soon be getting a new judge.
    The U.S. Senate on Wednesday unanimously confirmed Beverly
Martin for a seat on the court.
    Martin is a fourth-generation lawyer from Macon who in 1998 was
named the U.S. attorney in Macon and two years later appointed as a
federal judge in Atlanta.
    She was nominated to the 12-member appeals court by President
Barack Obama last year. The busy appellate court hears cases out of
Georgia, Florida and Alabama.
   
CAR HITS TEENS
    1 killed, 2 injured when GA driver hits students
   
    STONE MOUNTAIN, GA (AP) - Police say a 14-year-old girl has
died and two other teens are in serious condition after being hit
by a vehicle near Stone Mountain High School.
    Officials said the two other victims are in serious condition
after being hit Wednesday afternoon by a 17-year-old driver.
    DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish says that one of
the victims, Tanesha Williams, was transported to Grady Hospital
where she later died.
    The students were walking when the driver apparently lost
control of his vehicle and went onto the sidewalk and hit the
teens.
    Police said the driver suffered minor injuries. It is unclear
whether he is also a student.
   
REPETITIVE BURGLAR
    Police: Milton burglar hit home twice in 1 day
   
    MILTON, Ga. (AP) - Police say a suspect who burglarized a Milton
home liked the location so much that he returned later in the day
and tried to break in a second time.
    The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Wednesday that
22-year-old David Hughes has been charged with burglary, attempted
burglary and first-degree forgery.
    Police say a 15-year-old resident overheard the alleged burglar
talking on the phone downstairs around 3 p.m. on January 9th.
    The teenager apparently recognized the man's voice as that of
Hughes, who was a former family friend. Police said the teen called
his parents but the suspect left before they arrived.
    Hughes, who was arrested Friday, is accused of returning to the
home about two hours later.
    The homeowners discovered that several blank personal checks
were missing and one of them was cashed by Hughes.
   
EDUCATION CUTS
    Cox urges flexibility for struggling GA schools
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - State schools Superintendent Kathy Cox says
Georgia's budget crisis could jeopardize the gains students have
been making in recent years.
    Even as she touted the state's progress in student achievement
on Wednesday, Cox was frustrated as she outlined the cuts to the
remainder of the fiscal year 2010 budget. The state has slashed
more than $479 million in formula funding for schools for the
current fiscal year. The cuts to the department's budget were the
least severe among state agencies.
    Cox has asked lawmakers to give school systems more flexibility
in spending and class size to help mitigate the shortfalls, which
could force local districts to increase property taxes.
    They, in turn, quizzed Cox about possible options to further
trim the budget, including shortening school weeks and
standardizing school calendars.
   
OXENDINE-HUNTING
    GA official's son shoots bystander while hunting
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - A spokesman for John Oxendine's gubernatorial
campaign says the insurance commissioner's 13-year-old son
accidentally shot a bystander during a weekend hunting trip.
    Campaign spokesman David Crim says Oxendine was hunting with two
of his sons Sunday at a quail hunting preserve in northwest
Georgia. According to an incident report from the state Department
of Natural Resources, the victim -- standing about 30 yards behind
the line of hunters -- was sprayed in the right leg with about 30
shotgun pellets.
    The victim was transported to Redmond Regional Medical Center
and was treated and released.
    The state report did not identify the juvenile who fired the
shots but Crim confirmed that it was Oxendine's son.
   
BIOENERGY PLANT
    Bioenergy plant will bring 75 jobs to south GA 
    
    ATLANTA (AP) - Governor Sonny Perdue has announced that two
European companies are bringing a $150 million bioenergy production
plant to south Georgia.
    The plant, to be named Georgia BioMass LLC and located in
Waycross, will also create 75 jobs. The facility is expected to
produce 750,000 tons of wood pellets annually. RWE Innogy of
Germany is the investor for the project and BMC of Sweden will
develop the facility.
    The companies plan to create the world's largest renewable
energy capacity of wood pellets at the plant and will use the
pellets to meet the growing European demand for renewable energy.
    The location was chosen in part because of its forests. The
facility will be built on 300 acres and production is scheduled to
begin in early 2011.
   
BUDGET-PRISONS
    GA Corrections has lost 1,500-plus jobs
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia's prison system has shed more than 1,500
jobs over the last two years.
    State Department of Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens said
Wednesday that the bulk of those jobs have been eliminated through
attrition.
    Owens told a joint legislative appropriations committee hearing
that after decades of skyrocketing growth, the state's prison
population has been leveling out. Owens said about 60,000 inmates
are currently behind bars.
    The state is shutting down three more prisons this year. It
already shuttered Scott State Prison in Milledgeville in August.
Those four prisons combined had 3,500 beds.
    The state is transferring those prisoners to private prisons and
so-called fast-track expansions at existing prisons.

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