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

(AP) -- MAN-UNDERAGE GIRLS
    Hearing for GA man accused of molestation
   
    COLUMBUS, GA  (AP) - A Georgia man accused of paying underage
girls for sexual acts will appear in court Tuesday along with two
women authorities now say accused him of child molestation and
tried to extort money from him.
    Columbus police arrested a 35-year-old woman and a 32-year-old
woman Monday on outstanding warrants of criminal attempt extortion.
Police did not identify the women accused of trying to extort
43-year-old John Przenkop.
    He was arrested Friday on charges of aggravated child
molestation, enticing a child, pandering and child pornography.
    Przenkop and the two women are scheduled for Recorder's Court at
9 a.m. Tuesday. His hearing was originally scheduled for Monday.
   
SMOKING-ARTERIES
    Arteries improve after smokers quit, study finds
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - A new study shows that smokers who quit have
healthier arteries a year later and probably will have less risk of
heart disease as a result.
    Doctors say the improvement came even though people who kicked
the habit gained an average of nine pounds. The study at the
University of Wisconsin in Madison involved 1,500 smokers who were
given one of five methods, such as nicotine patches or lozenges, to
help them quit.
    About one-third were successful, regardless of which method they
used. Ultrasound tests were used to measure the health of their
arteries before and after the study.
    Results were reported Monday at a cardiology conference in
Atlanta.
   
GEORGIA-BIRTHERS
    Appeals court upholds 'birther' sanction
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - A federal appeals court has ruled that a leader
of the movement challenging President Barack Obama's citizenship
must pay $20,000 in sanctions.
    The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a federal
judge's October 2009 ruling that required California lawyer and
dentist Orly Taitz to pay the $20,000 fine "as a deterrent to
prevent future misconduct and to protect the integrity of the
court."
    Taitz sued in Georgia federal court on behalf of Army Capt.
Connie Rhodes. Rhodes sought to avoid deployment to Iraq by
claiming Obama wasn't born in the U.S.
    Documents show the president was born in Hawaii.
   
MASTERS-3-D
    Masters to be broadcast in 3-D on TVs, computers
   
    AUGUSTA, GA  (AP) - The Masters will be broadcast in 3-D --
although few Americans own the technology to take advantage.
    Augusta National announced Monday that next month's tournament
can be viewed on 3-D-capable television sets and computers. It will
be the first 3-D sports event on TV in the United States; previous
experiments used movie theaters.
    Few Americans currently own the capable sets, but networks
believe 3-D could be the next big thing and are starting to offer
programming.
    Comcast will broadcast the coverage for free to its customers
with 3-D sets. A feed will also be available on the Masters' Web
site.
    Two hours of live afternoon coverage, mostly of the back nine,
will be aired each day of the tournament starting with Wednesday's
Par 3 Contest on April 7th.
   
CHILD PORN
    GA  child porn sting yields 67 arrests
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia authorities have arrested 67 suspects and
seized more than 300 computers in the aftermath of a three-month
child pornography crackdown.
    The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says the arrests are the
result of the January crackdown, in which search warrants were
executed in 35 counties throughout the state.
    The sting, dubbed Operation Restore Hope, is designed as a
follow-up to an operation last year in which 27 people were
arrested and more than 100 computers seized.
    It homed in on computer users who share child pornography online
for free, using peer-to-peer software.
   
POLICE SHOOTING
    Savannah officer kills suspect who stabbed him
   
    SAVANNAH, GA (AP) - Savannah police say an officer has shot and
killed a suspect who stabbed him with a knife.
    Savannah-Chatham County police spokeswoman Gena Moore said the
shooting happened Monday morning. Moore said the officer was
chasing the on-foot suspect when the unidentified man pulled a
knife and stabbed the officer. She said the officer then drew his
handgun and shot the suspect, killing him.
    Moore said the officer was taken to a Savannah hospital with
non-life threatening injuries. He will be placed on administrative
leave pending an investigation into the shooting, per the police
department's policy.
    Police did not immediately release the names of the officer or
the slain suspect.
   
INSPECTOR GENERAL-PROBE
    IG: Worker used GA resources for private business
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia's inspector general has found that a
former state Department of Defense employee conducted a lucrative
private business on state time.
    The probe, which began last November, found that Thomas
Quarterman used state resources to help his private business gross
about $400,000 within six months.
    Elizabeth Archer, the state's watchdog, called the findings
"egregious and unacceptable."
    Quarterman was fired from his state job in January as a result
of the probe. He began working for the department in 1982 and
worked as engineering services manager, earning $55,000 a year.
    Archer forwarded her findings to the state attorney general.
    Georgia's Department of Defense is responsible for the Georgia
Army and Air National Guard.
   
CHILD PREDATOR SENTENCED
    KY man sentenced to 10 years in prison in GA
    
    DALLAS, GA (AP) - A 32-year-old Kentucky man will serve 10
years in prison after he was convicted of traveling to Georgia to
have sex with a minor.
    Paulding County Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Gurley says Jeffrey
Nickel of Louisville, Ky., was sentenced Friday in federal court.
Authorities arrested him in June 2008 after an undercover agent
posing as a 14-year-old girl online agreed to meet with Nickel in
Paulding County.
    During the conversations, Nickel sent nude photos of himself and
requested nude photos of the girl in return.
    Nickel was convicted in December 2009 of coercion and enticement
in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

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