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

(AP) -- CENSUS-RESIDENCY
    Census tallies inmates, GA determines home county
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - The U.S. census is tallying prison inmates
according to where they're incarcerated, but state officials will
get a chance to determine where the prisoners actually live.
    While most prisoners come from Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta and
other larger cities, they mainly do time in rural areas.
    Officials say about 63,000 people are in state and federal
lockups in Georgia.
    Assigning them to the county where they're incarcerated boosts
rural county populations. The federal government allocates some
funds according to population.
    Peter Wagner, executive director of the nonprofit Prison Policy
Initiative, says assigning inmates to rural counties also affects
legislative redistricting.
   
SENATOR-PRIVATE RESERVOIRS
    State Senate chairman not running for re-election
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - The chairman of a state Senate Economic
Development Committee says he will not run for re-election.
    Sen. Chip Pearson, a Republican from Dawsonville, announced
Friday that he won't seek a fourth term. Pearson says he needs to
spend time with his family, despite having filed paperwork to run
for re-election last week.
    The announcement comes a week after The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution reported that Pearson sponsored legislation
that could benefit one of his business partner's clients
financially. The bill would allow private reservoir developers to
bypass local authorities.
    The bill passed the Senate but stalled in the House. Pearson has
said the bill had nothing to do with his business, Pendleton
Consulting, or his partner, statehouse lobbyist Craig Lesser.
   
GEORGIA PLAYER DISMISSED
    DA: former UGA quarterback pleads guilty
   
    VALDOSTA, GA (AP) - Former University of Georgia quarterback
Zach Mettenberger has been sentenced to 12 months' probation and a
$2,000 fine after pleading guilty to two counts of misdemeanor
sexual battery.
    Lowndes County District Attorney J. David Miller told the Athens
Banner-Herald that the 18-year-old grabbed the buttocks and breasts
of a woman and was drinking underage at Remerton bar on March 7.
    In a written statement provided by his attorney, Mettenberger
apologized for his behavior. He said he hopes the woman involved
"can move on with her life."
    Other charges filed in the case - underage possession of
alcohol, disorderly conduct, obstruction and possession of false
identification - were dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea.
    UGA coach Mark Richt kicked Mettenberger off the team April 18
following his arrest.
   
SIX FLAGS FLOODING
    Six Flags flooded after rains
   
    AUSTELL, GA (AP) - Heavy rains Sunday night left Six Flags Over
Georgia submerged in standing water Monday - but officials say the
apparent flooding won't affect park hours.
    Six Flags spokeswoman Kendall Kelton says officials aren't sure
how much standing water is in the park, though broadcast reports
Monday showed a roller coaster surrounded by what appeared to be
several feet of water.
    Kelton says there is no damage and that the park has endured
flooding on its back side, which is by the Chattahoochee River, for
decades.
    She says the park is open only on weekends until May 22 . She
says the park expects to be open this weekend.
   
WAFFLE HOUSE SHOOTING
    Georgia man killed in Baton Rouge holdup
   
    BATON ROUGE, LA (AP) - Baton Rouge police say a 54-year-old
Georgia man was killed during an early-morning holdup at a Waffle
House restaurant.
    Sgt. Don Kelly says David George DeMersseman of Valdosta was the
only customer when a masked gunman who appeared to have socks on
his hands entered about 1:20 a.m. Monday.
    Kelly says DeMersseman was shot when he apparently tried to grab
the gun as the man was taking his wallet.
    Kelly says the gunman then took cash from the till and ran.
   
EARNS-BEAZER HOMES
    Beazer Homes turns profit on higher sales
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Beazer Homes USA Inc. says it turned a profit in
its second quarter, reversing a loss from a year earlier as
completed sales rose.
    The homebuilder said it earned $5.3 million, or 9 cents per
share, compared with a loss of $114.9 million, or $2.97 per share,
in last year's fiscal second quarter.
    Total revenue was $198.2 million, up 6 percent from $186.6
million in last year's second quarter.
    The builder completed 852 home sales, a year-over-year increase
of 5.6 percent. New home orders increased 49 percent to 1,673.
    Analysts polled my Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 62 cents
per share on revenue of $191 million.
   
SCHOOL SHOOTING
    Appeals court upholds decision for FL officer
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - A federal appeals court in Atlanta has upheld a
lower court's decision in favor of a Florida sheriff's lieutenant
involved in the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy.
    In an opinion published Monday, the 11th Circuit Court of
Appeals said Lt. Mike Weippert's use of force in the 2006 shooting
was "objectively reasonable," upholding the decision of a U.S.
District Court in Florida.
    The parents of 15-year-old Christopher Penley filed a lawsuit in
2008 arguing that Weippert and Sheriff Don Eslinger violated the
boy's civil rights and wrongfully caused his death.
    Court documents say school officials called authorities when the
teen brought a pellet gun to school. Weippert has said he fired the
shot when he felt threatened during a standoff.
   
GEORGIA EXECUTION
    Judge moves up Troy Davis hearing
   
    SAVANNAH, GA  (AP) - A federal judge has changed the date of a
hearing for Georgia death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis, who says
he's innocent of the 1989 slaying of a Savannah police officer.
    U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore rescheduled the
hearing for June 23. The judge had originally set the date for a
week later, but the Georgia attorney general's office said its lead
attorney had a schedule conflict that day.
    The hearing in Savannah will allow Davis' lawyers to present
evidence they say proves Davis was wrongly convicted of slaying
Mark MacPhail. The judge ordered the schedule change Friday.
    The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a hearing on Davis' innocence
claim last August. The move was extraordinary, as death penalty
appeals normally focus on process and procedure.
   
TRACKING TURTLES
    GA center tracks sea turtle travel patterns
   
    JEKYLL ISLAND, GA (AP) - Nesting season has begun for sea
turtles in Florida and Georgia, and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center
is trying to understand the patterns of where the animals go.
    Online tracking isn't cheap. Each $1,600 transmitter runs up a
bill for satellite time. The total cost for tracking averages out
to about $5,000 per turtle.
    Data collected so far has documented a circuit young loggerheads
often travel between south Georgia and the middle of Florida's
Atlantic coast, apparently foraging for crabs, whelks and other
food.
    Understanding where the animals go, and why, is a first step in
deciding whether they need special protection in some areas from
hazards like fishing lines or propellers.

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