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

(AP) -- POLICE SHOOTING
    Man fatally shot by DeKalb County, GA police
   
    DECATUR, GA  (AP) - DeKalb County authorities are investigating
the fatal shooting by county police of a man officers say broke
into his own home after a dispute with his wife.
    County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish says the unidentified
couple had a dispute while they were out of town, and the man flew
home. Parish says his wife instructed the babysitter not to let him
in, but he entered the house on Sunday by using a brick to break a
glass door.
    Parish says the babysitter fled and called 911, and officers
arrived and attempted to subdue the man. Parish says officers shot
him after he picked up a knife.
    She says six officers have been placed on administrative leave
until further investigation.
   
CIGARETTE TAX
    Rally to push for hike to cigarette tax
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Anti-smoking advocates say they know a way to
help fill the state's $1 billion budget shortfall: hike the tax on
cigarettes by $1.
    They'll hold a rally at the state Capitol on Monday to promote
the plan. Among those set to attend is Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the No.
2 medical officer for the American Cancer Society.
    The plan wasn't given much chance of passing when the
legislative session began in January. But the state's steadily
worsening fiscal picture has legislators scrambling for additional
revenue. More than 60 co-sponsors have signed onto the bill in the
Georgia House.
    They'll be answered in Tuesday when anti-tax activists hold
their own gathering at the Capitol headlined by Grover Norquist,
president of the Washington D.C.-based Americans for Tax Reform.
   
HUNTER SHOOTS RANGER
    Forest Ranger shot, killed by GA hunter at night
   
    MACON, Ga. (AP) - The U.S. Forest Service is investigating after
a ranger was shot and killed in central Georgia by a hunter who
apparently mistook him for a coyote.
    WMAZ-TV in Macon reported that 37-year-old Christopher Arby
Upton was shot while on patrol Friday night at the Ocmulgee Bluff
Equestrian Recreation Area in the Oconee National Forest in Jasper
County.
    Ranger First Class Will Smith named the shooter as 40-year-old
Norman Clinton Hale of McDonough. Hale and another man were hunting
coyotes at night using a night vision scope that may have caught
the reflection of the ranger's eyes.
    Smith says Upton was shot once and died instantly. Hale and his
hunting partner dialed 911.
    The U.S. Forest Service and the state Department of Natural
Resources are investigating.
    ---
    Information from: WMAZ-TV, http://www.wmaz.com/
   
GAS EXPLOSION-HIGHWAY
    Busy GA highway shut by gas explosion
   
    LILBURN, GA (AP) - Firefighters in Gwinnett County are using
fans to get rid of the methane gas from underground vaults that
caused an explosion that led to the closure of busy Lawrenceville
Highway.
    The northbound lanes of the highway from Jimmy Carter Boulevard
to Pounds Road reopened overnight. Southbound lanes remained
closed.
    Gwinnett County Fire Captain Tommy Rutledge says the explosion
on Sunday damaged three manhole covers and caused slight damage to
southbound lanes of the highway. Rutledge says the methane
apparently built up in an underground vault and in sewer and storm
drains.
    Workers from AT&T were called out because the explosions damaged
some of their underground equipment in the area.
   
MISSING BOATER
    1 man rescued, another missing in Chattahoochee
   
    LAWRENCEVILLE, GA (AP) - The Georgia Department of Natural
Resources plans a recovery operation Monday for a man who fell into
the Chattahoochee River when his fishing boat capsized.
    Gwinnett County authorities began looking for the man, described
as being in his late 50s, after the accident Sunday morning. A
second man in the same boat was rescued from the river by another
boater. Gwinnett Fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge says that man was
showing signs of hypothermia and was taken to Gwinnett Medical
Center.
    Rutledge says rescuers searched for the missing man until about
6 p.m. when the search was called off. He says their aluminum boat
was recovered.
    Rutledge says the DNR will manage the search on Monday.
   
METH PREVENTION CAMPAIGN
    Georgia Meth Project to launch prevention campaign
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia Meth Project plans to launch a
statewide prevention campaign.
    Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker and U.S. Senator Johnny
Isakson both plan to attend the campaign's launch Monday morning at
the state Capitol.
    The campaign will include television, print and outdoor
advertising. Its goal is to reduce first-time methamphetamine use
in the state and to address the economic and social strains caused
by meth use.
   
MILITARY-ENERGY
    GA  military to discuss energy efficiency
   
    ALBANY, GA (AP) - Representatives of military bases across
Georgia are gathering for a conference on how to improve their
energy efficiency.
    The day-long conference will be held Tuesday at the Marine Corps
Logistics Base in Albany. Military personnel from Moody Air Force
Base in Valdosta and Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins are
expected to attend, as well as representatives from private
companies such as Chevron Energy Solutions and Southern Company.
    The Albany Marines will use the conference to highlight a new
energy-saving initiative in which the base plans to convert methane
gas from a nearby landfill into energy for the base.

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