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

(AP) -- RACIST GRAFFITI
    Sandy Springs police investigate racist graffiti
   
    SANDY SPRINGS, GA (AP) - Police are investigating after vandals
left racist graffiti including swastikas and sexual slurs on
several cars and signs in a Sandy Springs neighborhood.
    Sabah Shalabi tells WAGA-TV in a Sunday story that she woke up
to find three vehicles covered in spray paint on Saturday morning.
    Shalabi said she drove by a number of houses with cars that had
the same sort of damage.
    Some of the graffiti was too graphic for the station to show on
the air. Residents tried to scrub it off with soap and water and
covered up the graffiti when they couldn't remove it.
    Many in the neighborhood think teenagers are to blame and say
the prank isn't funny.
    Police say patrols have been stepped up in the area in response
to the crimes.
   
END OF SESSION
    Legislators head into final 2 days of session
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia legislators head into the homestretch of
this year's marathon legislative session in an unusual position:
most major pieces of their agenda done.
    A water conservation bill was approved weeks ago. A
transportation deal is finally sealed. Ethics reform legislation
has been OK'd. Gov. Sonny Perdue must still sign the bills, which
have cleared both the House and the Senate.
    Still, bitter fights could lie ahead in the session's final two
days.
    Guns. Abortion. Forcing adults to wear seat belts in pickup
trucks. And a ban on texting while driving could all come before
legislators before they gavel the 40-day session to a close.
    Lawmakers must also still hash out their differences on the
$17.8 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
   
HELPING OUT DAD
    QB Redman contributes to dad's prep program
   
    JEFFERSONVILLE, IN (AP) - Atlanta Falcons quarterback Chris
Redman has contributed a big gainer for his father's new football
team at southern Indiana's Jeffersonville High School.
    The former University of Louisville star gave the Greater Clark
County Schools Educational Foundation a $5,000 check Friday. It
could grow to $15,000 through matching grants from foundations
established by Falcons owner Arthur Blank and the National Football
League.
    The quarterback's father, Bob Redman, was hired by Greater Clark
in January after a lengthy career in Kentucky, across the Ohio
River from southern Indiana.
    District chief operating officer Marty Bell says all of the
funds will be used to buy football equipment at the school.
   
SHOPLIFTERS-JEWELRY
    Women charged with shoplifting jewelry at GA mall
   
    ATHENS, GA (AP) - Two women have been arrested and charged with
shoplifting nearly $1,500 worth of jewelry from Belk in Georgia
Square Mall in Athens.
    The Athens Banner-Herald reports Sunday that the women caught a
security guard's attention when they took the jewelry from boxes
and went into dressing rooms.
    According to an Athens-Clarke County police report, the women
removed the jewelry and offered to pay for it when confronted by
the guard on Friday, but they were arrested anyway.
   
UGA-MUSIC PROBE
    UGA police ends probe into music download scheme
   
    ATHENS, GA (AP) - University of Georgia police have ended their
investigation into a former employee's alleged scheme to extort
students.
    Police arrested Internet security analyst Dorin Dehelean in
February after he was accoff
rivals something to think about: a 107-89 drubbing Saturday,
cutting Atlanta's series lead to 2-1 heading into Monday's Game 4.
    Jennings says the Hawks came in expecting an easy win, but the
Bucks fed off a lively crowd and hot shooting to take a big lead in
the first quarter.
    Hawks coach Mike Woodson says his team must learn how to deal
with adversity on the road, calling Saturday's effort
"unacceptable" and "embarrassing."

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