Search

The article reports that part of the retired muppet collection owned by the Jim Henson Foundation will be donated to the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia. The gift will include some 500-700 pieces as well as funds to build an additional space to be called the Jim Henson Wing. The entire collection has not been donated due to the deterioration of some of the puppets.

The article discusses the erection of a Hindu temple and a Muslim mosque in the Atlanta, Georgia area. The Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is one of the largest Hindu temples in the world. The pieces were constructed in India and shipped to Lilburn, Georgia to be put together. The Al-Farooq Masjid mosque was built in Midtown Atlanta. Both buildings will be open for worship before the end of 2007.

The article looks at how gentrification has affected the black population of Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta has been a symbol of African-American success, including its role as the first major Southern city to elect a black mayor in 1973. For the first time since 1920's, the white percentage of the Atlanta population is increasing and the black percentage is decreasing. Atlanta is attracting affluent, mostly white populations. Demographers say that the shift is driven more by class rather than race.

The article discusses the cost of keeping giant pandas Lun Lun and Yang Yang at Zoo Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia. The pandas require an expensive diet and are attended by four persons. In addition, the zoo must pay steep annual fees to the Chinese government to rent the pandas. Giant pandas are also on loan to zoos in San Diego, Memphis and Washington, D.C. The pandas are becoming a financial headache for many of the zoos. If China will not negotiate some budgetary expenses, says Dennis W. Kelly, chief executive of Zoo Atlanta, the pandas may have to be returned.

A powerful tornado struck directly at the commercial center of downtown Atlanta on Friday night, blowing windows out of dozens of high-rise buildings, tossing trees and cars, and severely damaging many of the city's landmarks, including the CNN Center, the Georgia Dome and the convention center. At least 27 people were injured and taken to hospitals, said Capt. Bill May of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department, most with cuts and bruises from flying debris. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents information related to the arrival of African-American novelist Alice Walker's archive at the Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. According to school officials, Walker, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983, will get her archive placed at the university. According to Rudolph Byrd, a friend of Walker, Walker's papers provide an individual with a sense of the process of creating fiction and poetry.

The article reports on the involvement of the Atlanta police in Georgia in a child pornography case. Terrill M. Crane, husband of Sergeant Tanya C. Crane, was arrested in connection with the case on November 29, 2007. According to the federal investigators, some police officers have withheld and destroyed evidence. The arrest was made after the Federal Bureau of Investigation received photographs of Crane engaging in sexual activity with some girls.

The article offers information on the efforts of U.S. federal biologists at the Fish and Wildlife Service, to make drinking water available to Atlanta, Georgia. They allowed Georgia to maintain more water in a reservoir that supplies water to the city and other northern parts of the state, with the aim of reducing flows to Florida. They want Lake Lanier to fill with new rainfall water, which is shrinking in the recent drought. Experts predict that Lanier could dry without significant rains.

The article reports that prosecutor Robert E. Owens has been criticized by Georgia, Atlanta's attorney general Troy King for arguing that a man on death row should not be executed. Marcus Presley and LaSamuel Gamble were convicted of double murders wherein Gamble pulled the trigger. As Gamble's death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment as he was below 18 at the time of the murders, Owens has argued that Presley's sentence should also be changed to life imprisonment.

The article reports on the triple homicide in a middle-class suburb in Atlanta, Georgia. The police said on August 1, 2007 that in the attack a mother and her two teenage daughters were killed and two boys injured. The police are yet to determine when and how the people were attacked. The injured ones were taken to Scottish Rite Hospital in Atlanta.

The article reports that seven justices heard two appeals on behalf of Genarlow Wilson, who is serving 10-year sentence, at the Georgia Supreme Court in Atlanta, Georgia. Wilson is serving the sentence for having had consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl at a New Year's Eve party in 2003. He was convicted of child molestation, which was a felony in the state in 2003.

The article presents information about the 2007 Peachtree Road Race, which is held in Atlanta, Georgia. The race is called the largest 10K run in the world by the organizers and most of the runners take part in it. For 55,000 spots, seventy thousand people applied in 2007 and the runner number 1 in the 2007 race was William G. Halicks.

The article reports on the court order over the prison sentence of sex crime convict Genarlow Wilson in Atlanta, Georgia. On June 11, 2007, a judge ordered Wilson's release. Wilson is serving 10-year prison sentence without parole for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he himself was 17. But soon after the order, Georgia's attorney general, Thurbert E. Baker, said that he would appeal the order in the state supreme court.

The article reports on the restructuring of the narcotics unit of the Police Department in Atlanta, Georgia. According to Police Chief Richard J. Pennington, 14 officers and three sergeants would replace the current team of the narcotics department. It discusses two officers being indicted for lying about evidence of drug purchases that led to the killing a 92 year old woman. Information is provided on the newly appointed officers receiving two weeks training before taking up their posts.

The article reports that Shirley Franklin, the mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, has defended city's police chief Richard Penington against the charges made by federal prosecutors. Federal prosecutors have claimed that a culture of misconduct in the police department of the city was responsible for the shooting death of an elderly woman in a botched drug raid.

The article reports that public prosecutors in the U.S. have been investigating corruption prevalent in the police department of Atlanta, Georgia. According to the prosecutors, the police officers regularly lied to obtain search warrants and fabricated documents related to drug purchase. Narcotics officers of the department have admitted to planting marijuana in the home of elderly woman Kathryn Johnston after her death. The woman died after police shooting in a drug raid.

The article reports that the heirs of theologian Martin Luther are dissatisfied with the auction of the documents of Luther by an auction house in Atlanta, Georgia. The documents were given to Paul Brown, owner of the auction house, by an anonymous woman from Maryland. According to Isaac Newton Farris, nephew of Luther, the documents belonged to his family unless the woman had some sort of written transfer of ownership signed by Luther himself.

The article reports that the bill aimed to help a student athlete Genarlow Wilson of Atlanta, Georgia, may face trouble in the Georgia General Assembly. Wilson is serving a 10-year prison sentence for committing a sex crime or oral sex with a 15-year old classmate. The bill was sponsored by senator Emanuel D. Jones.

The article reports on the indictment against three narcotics officers placed by district attorney Paul Howard in the shooting of Kathryn Johnston. The family members of Johnston are not happy with the charges as they would impede a federal investigation into violation of civil rights by the Atlanta Police Department. Niece of Johnston, Sarah C. Dozier requested Howard to withdraw from the case in a letter.

The article presents information on the arrest of two disc jockeys (DJ) from Atlanta, Georgia who were accused of selling copyrighted music. The accused people include Tyree Simons, who works under the name of DJ Drama along with his fellow guide, Donald Canon of the Aphilliates Music Group. According to a clerk of the Fulton County Superior Court, no overture was entered and no further were decided.

The article offers information about the death of a whale shark, which was known as Ralph, at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia. According to chief executive of the aquarium Jeffery S. Swanagan, the shark showed signs of stress. A necropsy has been begun by some veterinarians, biologists and pathologists. The death of shark led scientists to explore different characteristics of whale shark. Comments of Rachel Graham, a scientist, have been included in this regard.

The article reports that several advisors have quit the Carter Center's advisory board in Atlanta, Georgia, as a mark of protest against the views espoused by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." The joint letter of resignation criticized the stand taken by Carter on Israel and American Jewish political power in his book.

The article presents information on a report related to the killing of Kathryn Johnston, resident of Atlanta, Georgia, issued by Alan J. Dreher, Assistant Chief of Atlanta Police Department, at a press conference. Johnston, 92 year old woman, died after shooting three police officers, who forced open the door of her house with an intention to arrest a man who had illegal drugs.

The article reports that a collection of 10,000 papers, books and other items that belonged to theologian Martin Luther King Jr. will go on public display in January 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. The collection includes historical gems. Some of the mundane items include canceled checks, college transcripts, and a tan briefcase.

The article reports that near about 40,000 people gathered at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia for Resurrection Sunday, which was billed as the world's largest Easter service.

The article reports on the funeral of healer Coretta Scott King at New Birth Missionary Baptish Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

The article reports on the presentation of the puppet show "Anne Frank Within and Without" at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia.

The article reports that the long-awaited federal corruption trial of former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell has opened with the prosecution accusing him of using contractors like automated teller machines during his time in office in Georgia.

The article reports on the trial faced by former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell on criminal charges including bribery, tax fraud, and perjury in Georgia.