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

LOWERY HOSPITALIZED
    Civil rights leader Lowery hospitalized
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Veteran civil rights leader Joseph Lowery is
reported to be in an Atlanta hospital being treated for respiratory
problems.
    The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a friend of the
88-year-old Lowery says he was admitted to Emory University
Hospital Midtown in Atlanta on Saturday and was placed in an
intensive care unit as a precaution.
    The newspaper reports that Lowery's friend David Stokes says
Lowery is doing better and expects to be released from the hospital
on Monday.
    Lowery was a cofounder of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference and served as its president from 1977 to 1997. He spoke
at the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
   
SCHOOLS CLOSED
    Icy roads keep some GA schools closed
   
    BLUE RIDGE, GA (AP) - The snow and icy rain that bypassed most
of metro Atlanta during the weekend did affect some north Georgia
counties, and a couple of school districts have closed their
schools.
    School officials in Fannin and Rabun counties said schools were
closed on Monday because of icy roads.
    Several inches of snow fell in northeast Georgia Friday night
and early Saturday.
    The National Weather Service says there's a chance of more snow
in north Georgia next weekend.
   
ENDANGERED SITES
    Group lists South's most-endangered sites
   
    CHARLOTTESVILLE, GA (AP) - The Southern Environmental Law
Center is out with the second edition of its most-endangered areas
in the South, and the Chesapeake Bay is among the top 10.
    Others on the list released Monday include the southern
Appalachian Mountains because of mountaintop removal coal mining;
right whale calving waters off of Georgia where the Navy plans an
undersea training range; and the Roanoke River Basin because of the
prospect of uranium mining.
    The Charlottesville environmental organization said some of the
nation's greatest environmental threats are located in the
Southeast. It said the top 10 list is intended as a "wake-up
call" for residents and lawmakers.
   
TOYOTA RECALL
    Toyota tells dealers parts on way to fix pedals
   
    WASHINGTON (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. is telling dealers that
they should get parts to fix sticky gas pedals later this week. But
the 4.2 million customers affected by a large recall may have to
wait a while for repairs.
    Toyota tells dealers in an e-mail sent early Monday that they
will get shims to repair springs in the gas pedal systems that have
been weakened. But repairs will have to wait until technicians are
trained.
    The e-mail was obtained by The Associated Press. The repair plan
will be officially announced later Monday.
    Toyota has recalled 4.2 million cars and trucks worldwide
because gas pedal systems may stick. The company says the problem
is rare.
    Government regulators told Toyota last week that they were
satisfied with the repair plan.
   
FAMILY SHOOTINGS
    Gag order issued in GA Heidt murder trial
   
    SPRINGFIELD, GA (AP) - An Effingham County Superior Court judge
has issued a gag order in the murder trial of Craig Heidt because
of prejudicial publicity.
    The Savannah Morning News reports Sunday that Ogeechee Judicial
Circuit Judge F. Gates Peed signed the order Jan. 22. He directs
all court staff, law enforcement officials, attorneys and witnesses
involved in the case to refrain from making out-of-court public
comments on the case.
    Heidt was arrested in May 2009 in the August 2008 shooting
deaths of his father and his brother. He's also charged with
shooting and injuring his mother.
    The order does not prevent attorneys or court officers from
quoting or referring to public records of the court in the case, or
prohibit the press from reporting on events in the courtroom.
   
GA-DRUNK ASSAULT
    Police: Drunk GA men assault man outside store
   
    COLUMBUS, GA (AP) - Columbus police have arrested two men who
they say were drunk and assaulted a 26-year-old man outside a
convenience story.
    Police say 46-year-old Jeffery White punched the victim in the
throat and pushed him to the ground as 45-year-old Jeffery Lowe
"danced around" and asked when he could kill the man.
    The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports Sunday that police said
Lowe motioned like he was going to pull a weapon from beneath his
shirt while saying "Can I kill him" and "Let's kill him."
    The younger man thought he was going to be shot and went inside
the store, where the clerk locked the doors and called 911.
    Lowe and White are charged with aggravated assault, disorderly
while intoxicated and loitering. White is also charged with battery
with physical harm.
    They're scheduled for Columbus Recorder's Court at 8 a.m.
Monday.
   
UGA-EMPTY MANSION
    UGA to spend $1M on empty President's House
   
    ATHENS, GA (AP) - The University of Georgia is planning to
spend more than $1 million on the President's House this year even
though no one is currently living in the huge antebellum mansion.
    University presidents have lived rent-free in the house since
1949, when a Columbus foundation donated money to help the
University System Board of Regents acquire the property.
    But UGA President Michael Adams hasn't lived in the house for
nine years. He said his family moved to a Lake Oconee house to get
more privacy.
    Adams gets a $19,400 housing allowance from the state as part of
his $604,864 compensation package.
    The Athens Banner-Herald reports Sunday that UGA officials
documented about $220,000 in expenses last year for the house and
5-acre grounds.
    The house and property is valued at about $4.7 million on Clarke
County tax records.
   
SHOPPING CENTER-SHOOTING
    Man shot in back at Edgewood shopping center
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - One man has been injured after gunfire erupted at
a busy shopping center near Little Five Points in Atlanta.
    Atlanta Police spokesman Officer Eric Schwartz said the
30-year-old man was shot in the back at the Edgewood Retail
District.
    He said the unidentified man was taken to Grady Memorial
Hospital and was in stable condition.
    Lt. Darin Schierbaum said the Sunday evening shooting involved a
running gun battle between people in two moving vehicles. He said
police believe the injured man was a bystander.
    Witnesses said they heard as many as eight shots around 5 p.m.
    Schierbaum said there were numerous witnesses and security
cameras in the parking lot that could produce evidence.