(AP) -- JAIL STAFFING
    Early retirements concern DeKalb County sheriff
   
    DECATUR, GA (AP) - DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown says the
large number of county employees taking early retirement will leave
the jail understaffed and possibly unsafe.
    As of Wednesday, 76 Sheriff's Office employees - more than 9
percent of the 828 people on its staff - had signed up to retire
next month. Sheriff's spokeswoman Mikki Jones says that's more than
any other county department.
    DeKalb County offered the early retirements to help with a $100
million shortfall in this year's budget.
    County Commissioner Larry Johnson says public safety won't be
compromised.
    But Sheriff Brown says that with a growing jail population and a
smaller budget, he can't afford to lose any staff.
   
CHILD DEATH
    6-year-old GA boy found dead after search
   
    VILLA RICA, GA (AP) - Douglas County officials say a 6-year-old
Villa Rica boy who was missing has been found dead.
    Douglas County Sheriff's Deputy Capt. Bobby Holmes says the
child, Christian Dejon, disappeared from his home Wednesday. Holmes
says the boy was spotted around 3:30 p.m. by a sheriff's deputy
flying in a Georgia State Patrol helicopter over a lake in the
Mirror Lake subdivision.
    Holmes says the helicopter landed and the deputy pulled the boy
from the water and began CPR. He says emergency crews also tried to
revive the boy, who was taken to Tanner Medical Center in Villa
Rica where he was pronounced dead.
    Douglas County Coroner Randy Daniel says the death was caused by
drowning and was accidental.
   
GEORGIA-GOVERNOR
    Deal raises $201,225 in first quarter
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Republican Nathan Deal saw his fundraising slow
in the race for governor.
    Deal, who's been dogged by ethics allegations, reported bringing
in $201,225 in the first three months of the year. The former
congressman has $796,312 in the bank.
    Among Republicans, state insurance commissioner John Oxendine,
former state Sen. Eric Johnson and businessman Ray Boyd had the
most cash on hand.
    Among Democrats, former Gov. Roy Barnes leads the pack with $2.8
million in the bank.
    Attorney General Thurbert Baker and House Democratic Leader
DuBose Porter have been barred from collecting contributions since
the Jan. 11 start of the legislative session. Baker reported
$624,645 cash on hand and Porter $258,383. Former Georgia National
Guard Commander David Poythress has $305,728 on hand.
    
POLICE STANDOFF
    Standoff in midtown Atlanta ends with suspect dead
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - Atlanta police say a man involved in a standoff
with officers is dead.
    Atlanta Police Maj. R.L. Browning said police received a call at
5:30 a.m. Thursday about a suspicious vehicle in area of Peachtree
Street and 26th Street. When officers approached, Browning says the
occupant said he was suicidal and had a gun and explosives.
    A SWAT team was called in, and police say a gunshot was heard.
Browning says a robot was used to detonate an explosive to knock
out a window of the car.
    He says the man was found dead in the vehicle of a
self-inflicted gunshot wound.
    The man's name was not immediately released.
    A portion of Peachtree Street, a major thoroughfare, was shut
down for several hours and reopened at about 8:30 a.m.
   
CARTER CENTER-SUDAN
    Ex-President Carter to observe Sudan elections
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - The Carter Center says former President Jimmy
Carter will be among the official observers when Sudan conducts
national elections next week.
    The Carter Center said Thursday that the former president and
Carter Center President John Hardman will be among the leaders of
the centers delegation to observe the elections, which begin on
Sunday.
    The center says its team of more than 60 international observers
from over 20 countries will be deployed in each of Sudan's 25
states to assess the environment surrounding polling, counting, and
vote tabulation.
    The center says it began preparations to monitor the elections
two years ago at the request of Sudanese officials.
   
MASTERS
    Two champs tee off Masters, but focus on Woods
   
    AUGUSTA, GA (AP) - Two old rivals have swatted ceremonial tee
shots to begin the Masters, where all the focus is on a four-time
winner trying to rebuild his life.
    Tiger Woods is playing for the first time since a Thanksgiving
night car wreck led to revelations of numerous extramarital
affairs.
    Officials at Augusta National insist that no one player - not
even the world's best embroiled in scandal - will overshadow their
tournament. For a few moments Thursday, that was certainly the case
as Jack Nicklaus joined Arnold Palmer for the ceremonial first
shots.
    Nathan Green, Heath Slocum and Louis Oosthuizen followed in the
first group. Woods tees off with K.J. Choi and Matt Kuchar in the
next-to-last threesome at 1:42 p.m. EDT.
   
MR X
    Murder trial of 'Mr. X' resumes
   
    ATLANTA (AP) - A medical examiner is expected to testify
Thursday in the murder trial of a 49-year-old man charged with
strangling a woman and leaving a note reading, "I'm back Atlanta,
Mr. X" next to her nude body.
    The jury heard opening arguments in the case against Michael
Harvey Wednesday, with the prosecution insisting DNA evidence
points to Harvey. The defense says authorities can't prove the
handwriting at the crime scene belongs to Harvey.
    He is charged with felony murder, aggravated assault and
aggravated sodomy in the 1994 death and rape of 39-year-old Valerie
Payton.
    Payton's nude body was discovered in southeast Atlanta during
the height of several unsolved murders targeting Atlanta
prostitutes in the early 1990s.
    The medical examiner who performed Payton's autopsy is expected
to testify first Thursday.
   
OXENDINE-HEALTH CARE
    GA ruling favors doctors in dispute with insurer
   
    ATHENS, GA (AP) - State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine
says Blue Cross Blue Shield Healthcare Plan of Georgia violated the
law by refusing to allow Athens' Northeast Georgia Cancer Care to
participate in certain company plans.
    Georgia's Any Willing Provider law gives doctors and health care
providers licensed in Georgia and in good standing the right to
participate in insurance company networks.
    Oxendine said in his ruling Wednesday that consumers want more
doctors in their networks, and said he believes that's the intent
of the law.
    Dr. Mark Vrana, Cancer Care's managing partner, says the ruling
means doctors will be able to refer patients to the doctors they
think can best help them.
    The company said in a statement that the ruling goes too far and
singles out Blue Cross Blue Shield.
   
DISASTER VICTIMS-PROSTHETICS
    Mercer professor gets grants for prosthetics
   
    MACON, GA (AP) - A Mercer University professor has received
nearly $90,000 in grants to supply his specially designed
prosthetics to patients in Vietnam and Haiti.
    Ha Van Vo, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering,
will set up a prosthetic lab and clinic in and around Ho Chi Minh
City in Vietnam to help nearly 100 people who have lost limbs from
bombs leftover from the war. That project is funded by a $37,000
grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators
Alliance.
    Vo also received a $50,000 grant from the Cooperative Baptist
Fellowship to set up a similar clinic in Haiti for victims of the
January earthquake. Vo developed a prosthetic that doesn't require
customized fitting so that it is more affordable for patients in
developing nations.
    He hopes to expand the work to India and Thailand in coming
years.
   
HOSPITAL UPGRADE
    Memorial Health plans Savannah hospital upgrade
   
    SAVANNAH, GA (AP) - Memorial Health officials plan a $25
million consolidation and upgrade of the system's children's
hospital and outpatient center, in Savannah.
    This week's announcement details a planned expansion into the
fourth and fifth floors of the Heart and Vascular Building at
Memorial University Medical Center, as well as renovations to the
children's center in Backus Children's Hospital Outpatient Center.
    Officials say the new Memorial Children's Hospital is part of a
five-year strategic plan designed to keep improving as the region's
largest health care provider.

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