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

(AP) -- CHIEF RESIGNS
    DeKalb County, GA fire chief quits
   
    DECATUR, GA (AP) - Authorities in DeKalb County say the
county's fire chief has resigned.
    The resignation of Fire Chief David Foster comes about a week
after a woman died in a house fire that led to the dismissal of
four firefighters.
    Firefighters responded to a call for help, but officials say
they didn't get out of their vehicles at the scene and saw no
evidence of a fire.
    Five hours later, the house was engulfed in flames and
74-year-old Ann Bartlett died.
    A week before the Dunwoody fire, Foster announced that 64
firefighters would lose their jobs because of a budget shortfall.
    County CEO Burrell Ellis said the next day that no fire
department jobs would be cut.
    Ellis has named Deputy Chief Eddie O'Brien as acting chief.
   
GEORGIA'S GROUNDHOG
    Georgia groundhog calls for early spring
   
    LILBURN, GA (AP) - If Georgia's groundhog can be believed, the
chilly winter is about to give way to an early spring.
    Gen. Beauregard Lee gave his annual Groundhog Day
prognostication Tuesday morning from his home at the Yellow River
Game Ranch. The prediction was delayed when Gen. Lee got away from
his handlers and hid, then climbed a fence behind his mock-mansion
home.
    Legend has it that if a groundhog sees his shadow on Feb. 2, six
more weeks of winter can be expected. Otherwise, spring is at hand.
Rainy, cloudy weather kept shadows away.
    His prediction contradicts the call made by Pennsylvania's
Punxsutawney Phil, who did see his shadow.
    Official predictions call for more rain in Georgia later in the
week. Gen. Lee did not address that issue.
   
UGA INCINERATORS
    UGA agrees to $20,000 fine over waste burning
   
    ATHENS, GA  (AP) - The University of Georgia has agreed to pay a
$20,000 fine for burning medical and infectious waste in three
incinerators.
    State Environmental Protection Division enforcement officers had
proposed a $24,000 fine. The EPD has not yet signed off on the
agreement.
    The university's air-quality permit authorizes workers to burn
pathological waste, like animal bedding and animal remains.
    Agencies such as the university may be allowed to burn up to 10
percent medical and infectious waste in their incinerators. But the
EPD says UGA never got permission to burn such waste.
    The Athens Banner-Herald reports John McCollum, associate vice
president in charge of the UGA Environmental Safety Division, says
officials are applying for permission to burn medical and
infectious waste.
   
EARNS-UPS
    UPS 4Q profit nearly triples from year earlier
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Shipping giant UPS says a strong holiday shipping
season and solid international business propelled it to a
fourth-quarter profit of $757 million, triple what it was a year
ago.
    The profit reported Tuesday for the final three months of 2009
was equivalent to 75 cents a share, compared with a profit of $254
million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier.
    Revenue fell 2.5 percent to $12.38 billion from $12.70 billion.
    Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting an adjusted
profit of 74 cents a share on revenue of $12.25 billion.
    UPS, also known as United Parcel Service, delivers packages and
provides supply chain and freight services. It is based in Atlanta.
   
POLICE CHASE-SHOOTING
    Georgia police chase ends in shooting
   
    DECATUR, GA (AP) - The Georgia State Patrol says a man who led
officers on a two-county chase wound up being shot in the arm after
he rammed a patrol car.
    State Patrol spokesman Gordy Wright says the chase began in
Rockdale County late Monday night and ended in DeKalb County, south
of I-20.
    Wright says troopers chased the car along several streets in the
area with its lights out before it entered a cul-de-sac. Wright
says the vehicle turned around and rammed a police car, and that
the officer fired at the man, who fled into the woods.
    Wright says a suspect was captured a short time later and was
taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound.
   
GATES-ATLANTA SCHOOLS
    Gates Foundation gives Atlanta schools $10 million
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Atlanta Public Schools has received a $10 million
from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help continue a
program designed to attract and retain high quality teachers.
    Atlanta Superintendent Beverly Hall said the three-year grant
will help the district establish a better way to evaluate and
support teachers. In the past, the 50,000-student Atlanta school
system has also gotten $13.6 million from the Washington
state-based Gates Foundation for its high school reform program.
    With the new grant, the districts hopes to train principals to
monitor teacher effectiveness and develop performance-based pay for
educators.
   
RICHARDSON-SEAT
    3 Republicans seek Richardson's seat
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Three Republicans are vying for the west Georgia
House seat held by former House Speaker Glenn Richardson.
    The Georgia Secretary of State's office says J. Cash, of Dallas;
Ronny Sibley, of Hiram; and Daniel Stout, of Dallas have qualified
to run.
    A special election will be held on Feb. 23 in the portion of
Paulding County he had represented.
    Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
    Richardson stepped down Jan. 1 after a suicide attempt and
allegations of an affair with a lobbyist. He'd been the first
Republican House speaker in Georgia since Reconstruction.
   
CENSUS ADS
    Bus ads to encourage census participation
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - A civil rights coalition is asking hard-to-count
communities to fully participate in the upcoming 2010 census.
    The Leadership Conference Education Fund is launching a second
run of public service announcements on Atlanta area buses designed
to inform riders about the benefits of participating in the
decennial head count. The Education Fund and its coalition partners
are placing ads in transit systems across the country as part of a
national civil rights education campaign to promote a fair and
accurate census.
    The announcements will appear on 200 buses in English and
Spanish, between Feb. 1 and April 25. Ads also will appear on buses
in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New Orleans, San
Francisco, and Seattle.

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