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

(AP) -- MARTA STATION SHOOTING
    Man shot, killed at MARTA train station
   
   
    EAST POINT, GA (AP) - Authorities are investigating a shooting
at a MARTA station in the Atlanta area that left a man dead.
    The Fulton County Medical Examiner's office identified the
victim as 19-year-old Anthony Beavers of Jonesboro.
    Officials say the man was shot and killed Wednesday night at the
East Point train station.
    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 there hasn't
been an incident this serious at a MARTA station in four years.
   
GEORGIA UNEMPLOYMENT
    GA unemployment hits 10.5 percent
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia Department of Labor says the state's
seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to a record 10.5 percent
in February.
    The rate is up one-tenth of a percentage point from the 10.4
percent reported in January. The February jobless rate was up 1.8
percentage points from 8.7 percent at this same time last year.
    The number of payroll jobs in February decreased by 137,500, or
3.5 percent, from February of 2009. The losses came in
manufacturing, construction, trade, transportation and utilities,
along with professional and business services and financial
activities.
    Educational and health services added 5,700 jobs over the year.
    The average length of time jobless Georgians drew unemployment
benefits in February increased to a record 16 weeks. The February
2009 duration was 11.7 weeks.
   
GEORGIA LOTTERY
    GA officials to dip into lottery reserves
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - State officials are dipping into reserves to help
pay for education programs funded by the Georgia Lottery for the
first time in nearly a decade.
    At the same time, leaders in the state Senate are pushing to
expand the lottery-funded HOPE scholarship program to help 50,000
poor students pay to attend Georgia's public colleges. A bill that
would create a $30 million need-based grant program passed a Senate
committee Wednesday.
    Georgia Student Finance Corp. leaders say the education programs
- including statewide prekindergarten and the HOPE scholarship -
cost $100 million more than what lottery ticket sales can fund.
That will mean tapping into a $900 million reserve fund for the
first time since 2001.
    It will also mean reducing textbook stipends for the more than
200,000 college students on the HOPE scholarship starting in 2012.
   
JIMMY CARTER-MIDDLE EAST
    Carter criticizes Mideast effort
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter says the latest
plan for shuttle diplomacy between Israel and Palestine is a
"feeble effort" and criticized the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
    He also said Thursday he hopes the U.S. takes a more
"balanced" position in its relations with Israel.
    Carter said he still hopes diplomacy can bring lasting peace to
the Middle East, but it will require a "dramatic change" in
Israeli policy.
    The former president spoke at the Malta Forum, a two-day
conference in Atlanta.
    The conference comes as Washington has expressed rare public
outrage over Israel's plans to build new Jewish homes in a
traditionally Arab part of Jerusalem.
   
US--HIGH CHAIR RECALL
    Gov't orders recall of 1.2 million high chairs
   
    WASHINGTON (AP) - The government is announcing a recall of some
1.2 million high chairs, saying they pose a fall hazard to
children.
    The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the voluntary
recall Thursday involving the product made by Graco Children's
Products, Inc., of Atlanta.
    The regulatory agency said "screws holding the front legs of
the high chair can loosen and fall out" and said cracking plastic
brackets can cause the high chair to "tip over unexpectedly."
These tip-overs resulted in 24 reports of injuries including bumps
and bruises to the head, a hairline fracture to the arm and cuts,
bumps and bruises and scratches to the body."
    ---
    On the Net:
    www.cpsc.gov
   
PUPPY KILLINGS-SENTENCE
    GA woman sentenced in puppy killings
   
    BRUNSWICK, GA (AP) - A 50-year-old Glynn County woman who
pleaded guilty to charges she beat two 7-week-old puppies to death
with a sledgehammer has been fined $2,000 and sentenced to five
years on probation.
    Glynn County Chief Superior Court Judge Amanda Williams
sentenced Catherine Louise Tyre of Sterling as a first offender
under a plea agreement.
    Tyre pleaded guilty on Feb. 19 to two counts of aggravated
cruelty to animals.
    Glynn County police have said Tyre used a 10-pound sledgehammer.
Officers found the dead puppies in a bag. Authorities say Tyre told
officers the animals were sick, running around in circles and
falling down on their heads.
   
MUSIC STUDIO-SHOOTINGS
    1 killed in shootings at Atlanta music studio
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Atlanta police say one man is dead and another
wounded after shots were fired at a southwest Atlanta music studio.
    Police say two people were at the studio Wednesday night when
someone knocked on the door.
    Atlanta Police Maj. Keith Meadows says that when they opened the
door, someone who stood behind the person knocking pushed his way
into the studio and began shooting.
    Meadows says one man was killed and the other was shot in the
leg and fled the building.
    Police say detectives are questioning the man, who was found in
nearby East Point and was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in
Atlanta.
   
ROMNEY-EMORY
    Romney to speak at Emory University on March 30
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Former presidential hopeful Mitt Romney will
speak at Emory University later this month.
    The former Massachusetts governor will speak on "the case for
American greatness" and discuss U.S. courts during a March 30
lecture at Emory's Glenn Memorial Auditorium.
    Fellow Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue will introduce Romney. A
question-and-answer session will follow Romney's 7 p.m. speech.
    It is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Doors
open at 6:30 p.m.
    Romney ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2008,
eventually losing to John McCain. He was a governor from 2003-07

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