(AP) -- DOG ATTACK-OWNER
    Owner of dogs that attacked girl is charged
   
    DECATUR, GA (AP) - Authorities in DeKalb County say the owner
of the dogs that attacked a young girl has been charged with
reckless conduct.
    Eight-year-old Erin Ingram was playing in her front yard last
week when she was attacked by two dogs belonging to Twyann Artell
Vaughn.
    A DeKalb County police officer had to shoot one of the dogs. The
other dog ran off but was eventually caught by animal control.
    Erin has been in critical condition at Children's Healthcare of
Atlanta at Egleston.
    DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish says Vaughn has
been cooperative throughout the investigation. Reckless conduct is
a misdemeanor.
   
US--PLANE KILLS BEACHGOER
    Plane kills beach jogger in SC emergency landing
   
    HILTON HEAD, S.C. (AP) - A 38-year-old jogger from Georgia is
dead after a single-engine plane making an emergency landing hit
him as he ran on a South Carolina beach listening to his iPod.
    The coroner said Tuesday that Robert Gary Jones of Woodstock,
Ga., apparently did not hear the troubled plane that struck him
from behind on Monday on Hilton Head Island. The plane had lost its
propeller and the pilot's vision was blocked by oil on the
windshield.
    Beaufort County Coroner Ed Allen says he plans to conduct an
autopsy. He says Jones was married and had two children.
    Hilton Head fire and rescue spokeswoman Joheida (Joh-HI'-da)
Fister says the identities of the pilot and a passenger on the
Experimental Lancair IV-P plane were not released. They were not
injured.
   
TRAIN FIRE-CARS
   GA  firefighters battle rail car blaze
   
    BRUNSWICK, GA (AP) - Glynn County firefighters battled a fire
on a train trestle after at least two rail cars carrying
Mercedes-Benz vehicles caught fire.
    The two rail cars, which caught fire Monday afternoon, were
carrying the vehicles from the Mercedes plant in Vance, Ala., for
shipment to dealers. The train cars belong to Norfolk Southern.
    No injuries were reported in the blaze. It was not immediately
known how badly the trestle was damaged.
    The fire comes just two months after Mercedes-Benz USA opened a
processing facility on Colonel's Island. The trestle is in the
middle of a marsh and connects the port and the mainland.
   
WARFARIN-GENE TESTING
    Study: Gene testing helps get warfarin dose right
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Doctors are reporting an exciting win for gene
testing and personalized medicine. Checking patients' DNA before
starting them on the blood thinner warfarin (WARF'-uh-ren) helps
get the dose right and avoid complications.
    About 2 million Americans start on warfarin each year to prevent
blood clots after surgery or for other medical conditions. The
right dose can vary widely. Gene tests can guide how much someone
needs.
    A study found that people given gene testing had a 30 percent
lower risk of being hospitalized in their first six months on the
drug compared to other patients whose dose was set by trial and
error.
    Results were reported Tuesday at an American College of
Cardiology meeting in Atlanta.
   
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 the
mothers of the victims who authorities now say accused him of child
molestation and tried to extort money from him.
    Forty-three-year-old John Przenkop was supposed to appear Monday
following his arrest last week on charges of aggravated child
molestation, enticing a child, pandering and child pornography.
    But Columbus police say the case took a turn when they ended up
arresting the victims' mothers - a 35-year-old woman and a
32-year-old woman - on outstanding warrants of criminal attempt
extortion.
    Przenkop and the two women are scheduled for Recorder's Court at
9 a.m.
   
OFFICER STABBED
    Jury deciding if GA man can stand trial to resume
   
    ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - A jury hearing testimony on whether a man
charged with trying to kill an Athens-Clarke County police officer
in December 2007 is competent to stand trial will resume Tuesday.
    It's the second time a jury has considered whether 46-year-old
Steven Eberhart should be tried for allegedly stabbing Sgt.
Courtney Gale, who was working as an off-duty security guard at
grocery store.
    Eberhart was indicted on a criminal attempt to commit murder
charge and 10 other felonies. A jury in 2008 ruled he was competent
to stand trial, but his attorney said recently that he is unable to
defend his client adequately because Eberhart is still delusional
and can't help prepare for the trial.
    Eberhart is being held at a state psychiatric hospital.
   
BUDGET TASK FORCE
    Budget task force set to turn over recommendations
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Senate leaders are expected to get dozens of
ideas for saving billions of dollars from a group of business
leaders assembled to bring fresh ideas to Georgia's fiscal crisis.
    Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle announced in January the creation of a
seven-member Budget Task Force in January that was tasked with
looking at how to further slash the state's budget without drastic
cuts to essential services or raising taxes.
    Most of the recommendations, which will be submitted on Tuesday,
are focused on long-term budget solutions, though some of the
recommendations will bring immediate cost savings. Others may take
between two and five years to fully implement.
    According to the task force, the recommendations would amount to
more than $3 billion if they are fully implemented.
   
NUCLEAR POWER-AIR
    Group will hold meetings on reactor air permits
   
    AUGUSTA, GA (AP) - Georgia's Environmental Protection Division
will hold a public meeting in April to discuss draft air quality
permits associated with the $14.5 billion addition of two new
reactors to Plant Vogtle.
    Builders need the permits because of air pollution that could be
created by the plant's emergency diesel engines, which will be kept
at the site in case electrical power is unavailable whenever the
nuclear plant is shut down.
    Georgia's Air Protection Branch proposed approval of the permit
application after concluding that the engines "will not cause
adverse impact on ambient air quality" or create any health risks.
    Tom Moorer, the environmental affairs manager for plant operator
Southern Nuclear says there would be 13 engines and diesel fuel
storage tanks as well.

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