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Latest Georgia news, sports, business and entertainment
Posted: 01.06.2010 at 4:18 PM
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Here are some of the stories making headlines in Georgia
(AP) -- CAR ENTHUSIAST
Athens, Ga. antique car collector is on a roll
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Athens is known as a difficult place to park
a car. George Bugg has found space for 87 of them.
The Athens businessman owns 87 antique cars and trucks made in
1969 or before, plus a couple of ancient tractors, assorted kids'
pedal and Soap Box Derby cars, old neon signs and assorted other
memorabilia. They're tucked away in a warehouse.
Most of the cars and trucks lined up in neat, gleaming rows are
Fords, including at least one from every year between 1927 and 1969
except for the World War II years, when commercial car production
halted while the auto industry focused on war production.
Classic car enthusiasts come from all across North America to
see Bugg's fleet, one of the largest in the country.
PSC CHAIRMAN
McDonald begins term as Ga. PSC chairman
ATLANTA (AP) - Lauren "Bubba" McDonald has begun a one-year
term as chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission.
The five commissioners serve as chairman on a rotating basis.
McDonald, who became chairman on Tuesday, named Stan Wise as vice
chairman.
Last June, the commission elected Wise chairman for a two-year
term, but reconsidered the action after Attorney General Thurbert
Baker issued an opinion saying the PSC could not elect its chairman
or extend a chairman's term to two years.
McDonald served for 20 years in the state House of
Representatives and was on the PSC from 1998-2002. He was elected
to another term in 2008.
The commission regulates utilities and transportation companies
operating in Georgia.
CONTROLLED BURNS
Controlled burned planned in southeast Ga.
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) - Natural resources officials are beginning
a series of controlled burns aimed at improving wildlife habitat
and reducing the chances of wildfire in southeast Georgia.
Burns are set to begin Wednesday for 10 sites totaling about 100
acres along the Altamaha River at Penholoway Swamp Wildlife
Management Area in rural Wayne County.
David Mixon of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Game
Management division in Brunswick says crews will remove logging
debris and prepare the ground for planting longleaf pine trees.
The Florida Times-Union reports that Mixon says the DNR plans to
burn about 1,500 acres of grass fields on Sapelo Island by the end
of the month. In addition, he says 500 acres will be burned at
Clayhole Swamp Wildlife Management Area in Glynn County to thin out
underbrush.
JAIL RENOVATIONS
Ga. county commissioners OK jail improvements
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - The Athens-Clarke County Commission has voted
to earmark $84 million in future sales tax revenue to expand and
renovate the county jail.
The plan passed on Tuesday is subject to approval by voters in
November. If the measure is approved, the county will remodel its
335-bed jail into a 824-bed facility at an estimated cost of $67
million plus $17 million in interest.
The $67 million price tag is millions of dollars less than
earlier estimates.
The Athens Banner-Herald reports that commissioners have said
they do not want to pay for the jail out-of-pocket because they
want the money up front to build it quickly, heading off potential
lawsuits over conditions and overcrowding.
BINGO MACHINES-RAID
Alabama bingo center reopening after raid stopped
DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) - The Country Crossing entertainment and
gambling center in Dothan plans to reopen at 1 p.m. after being
closed for several hours due to an anticipated raid by the
Governor's Task Force on Illegal Gambling.
Spokesman Doug Rainer said employees were being called back to
work Wednesday morning and the facility was returning to normal
operations.
A circuit judge issued a restraining order at 1:30 a.m.
Wednesday that blocked a predawn raid planned by the governor's
task force. Country Crossing had shut down at midnight Tuesday in
anticipation of the raid. State law enforcement officers had
gathered in Dothan in anticipation of the raid and had obtained a
search warrant.
WINTER WEATHER CORRECTION
Cold grips much of US, Fla. races to save crops
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - A stubborn cold wave is locking freezing
temperatures in place across the central and eastern U.S. today as
far south as Florida.
Farmers in the Sunshine State are working to salvage millions of
dollars' worth of strawberries and other crops.
Arctic air is expected to hover through the weekend. In a rare
turn for the South, forecasters warn that snow and ice are possible
tomorrow from South Carolina to Louisiana and wind chills in the
region could get down to near zero at night.
Charleston, South Carolina, is expecting subfreezing overnight
lows all week. Parts of West Virginia could see four to eight
inches of snow. A dusting of snow fell in western and central
Kentucky overnight, heralding three to five inches expected in
those areas, with some locally heavier amounts.
COUNTY-TAXES
Ga. high court won't hear Gwinnett tax appeal
ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia Supreme Court has declined to hear an
appeal by Gwinnett County in its tax dispute with the county's 15
cities.
Judge David E. Barrett of the Enotah Judicial Circuit ruled in
October that the county can't use occupational taxes, cable
franchise fees and other fees to roll back property taxes for
residents of unincorporated areas.
The judge said the change would create different tax rates for
city and county residents.
The dispute involves the service delivery agreement required by
all counties with their cities. Gwinnett County's prior agreement
expired last March, and both sides have been negotiating a
resolution.
RELIGION TODAY
Louisiana prison offers ministry degree to inmates
ANGOLA, La. (AP) - Inmates in one of the toughest prisons in the
South are finding redemption through a college seminary program.
Convicted murderer Jerome Derricks was among the first graduates
of the program in 2005. The program offered by the New Orleans
Baptist Theological Seminary allows inmates to earn a Bachelor of
Arts degree in ministry.
Warden Burl Cain says the program offers hope at a prison where
many inmates are serving life sentences and is also home to
Louisiana's death row.
Graduates officiate at the prison's 18 inmate churches and also
do one-on-one ministry and grief counseling.
There are 23 graduates of the seminary who act as missionaries
in eight satellite prisons in Louisiana.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)