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The article reports that the issue of the costs of providing an adequate defense for criminal suspects facing capital punishment has slowed prosecution of such cases to a near halt in many U.S. states. U.S. Supreme Court decisions have emphasized the importance of defense counsel during capital trials. The case of Brian Nichols, who is accused of killing three persons in a Georgia courthouse in 2005, accounted for the state's entire budget for the public defender's office in 2007.

The article examines the social and political affects in the U.S. Southeast of the region's prolonged drought in 2007. Both citizens, businesses, and governments have been slow to react to the drought, and water conservation measures have been adopted only sporadically. Georgia instituted a ban on outdoor water use in September, after reports that the Atlanta metropolitan area had only a four month supply of water remaining. Alabama, even more severely affected, has done even less.

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.

This article looks at the political campaign of Georgia Representative Cynthia A. McKinney and how a film entitled "American Blackout" might help her with the upcoming Democratic primary runoff. The movie, directed by Ian Inaba, follows McKinney around for three years and exposes alleged black voter disenfranchisement. McKinney's candidacy was marred by her alleged striking of a white Capitol police officer who tried to prevent her entry into a House office building. The movie reveals that white Capitol police made a game of stopping black representatives.

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.

The chief judge of the Fulton County Superior Court on Monday sharply criticized a state plan to lay off a large group of public defenders, saying it could cause a legal crisis. On Friday, the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, which administers Georgia's defender system, announced it would close the Metro Conflict Defender Office, one of four such offices in Georgia that handle cases in which it would be a conflict of interest for the local public defender's office to represent more than one client charged with the same crime. The issue arises when, for example, two defendants in the same bank robbery turn on each other after they are arrested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Apparently eight million gallons of water and 80,000 animals were not enough for the Georgia Aquarium, which already claims to be the world's largest. It did not have dolphins. On Tuesday, aquarium officials announced plans for a $110 million expansion, increasing itself by 1.5 million gallons, most of which will be used for dolphin windows, dolphin shows and something called ''dolphin encounters.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Gena L. Abraham, Georgia's state transportation commissioner, started her day on Tuesday by making a routine announcement via news release: $75 million would be spent to resurface roads and build bridges around a medical center in Augusta. It is likely that Ms. Abraham, 39, the first woman to run what is one of the most powerful government agencies in the state, has never been so eager to build bridges. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A narrowly divided Georgia Supreme Court declined Monday to order a new trial for a man sentenced to death in the 1989 murder of an off-duty Savannah police officer, despite recantations by seven of nine witnesses who originally testified against him. The convicted man, Troy A. Davis, 39, had collected affidavits from all seven of the recanting witnesses, some of whom said their trial testimony had been coerced by investigators who were under pressure to convict someone in that fatal shooting of a fellow officer. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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 focuses on a controversy concerning the division of Christ Church in Savannah, reportedly the first church established in Georgia. Among the congregation, 87 percent voted to split from the Episcopal diocese and join an Anglican diocese in Uganda. The rift has created two congregations, each claiming the name and assets of the church. The Diocese of Georgia filed a lawsuit in November 2007, to keep control of the church's assets resulting in a legal tangle.

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 reports on a Georgia Supreme Court ruling striking down a state law about sex offenders. On November 21, 2007, the court unanimously overturned the law that had limited the movement and residence of registered sex offenders. The court ruled that the law was running contrary to the property rights enshrined in the Constitution. The law was passed in 2006.

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 focuses on the consumption of water by a homeowner Chris G. Carlos, in Marietta, Georgia. Carlos is reported to have consumed 440,000 gallons in September 2007, about 14,700 gallons a day. The average consumption in the U.S. is about 150 gallons a day per person. Public relations specialist Joseph M.A. Ledlie said that Carlos has become aware of the water crisis and was now taking steps to conserve. Homeowners say it is not possible that he did not know about the drought conditions.

The article focuses on Howard Finster Vision House in Pennville, Georgia. The house which was made by Howard Finster, a Baptist preacher and bicycle repairman, is known for its Paradise Gardens. But the house is in a dreadful condition with its overgrown gardens. Art dealer David Leonardis, who is restoring the house, found the state of gardens frustrating. Leonardis purchased the house in 2004 and told the house was in the similar condition as the gardens are now.

The article reports that federal officials in the U.S. are planning to deport an elderly German man, Paul Henss, living in Georgia who they said was a guard and dog trainer in Nazi death camps at the Dachau and Buchenwald. It is informed that the case is being pursued by the Office of Special Investigations in the U.S. Justice Department.

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 decision of Christopher W. Adams to resign from his position as head of the Office of the Capital Defender in Georgia. In a letter to the Public Defender Standards Council, Adams cited that the state government had been providing less than half the financing his office needed for assisting poor people facing death penalty in the state.

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 presents news briefs from around the U.S. Physician Paul Broun was certified as the winner of a special election in Georgia to fill the seat in the House of Representatives vacated by Charlie Norwood, Republican Senator. The minimum wage in Washington rises 70 percent. Clayton C. Anderson, a space astronaut, repudiated a camera mounting and an ammonia tank at the International Space Station.

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 reports that physician Paul Broun led the runoff election held on July 17, 2007 for the U.S. House seat that became vacant due to the death of Republican Representative Charlie Norwood. After counting of 98% votes, Broun was leading with 373 votes, that is just 1%. The winner for Georgia's 10th district, however, will be announced after the counting of absentee ballots on July 20, 2007.

The article reports on the clemency hearing of Troy A. Davis who has been sentenced to death in a murder case. Davis shot dead a security officer in August 1989. He was sentenced to death in 1991 for the murder. On July 16, 2007, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles will conduct the clemency hearing. His execution is scheduled for July 17, 2007.

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 that wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and son and then himself in Fayetteville, Georgia, on June 24, 2007. Their bodies were found in the afternoon on June 25, 2007. The local authorities checked on the family at the request of Benoit's employer. The employer World Wrestling Entertainment had got some text messages from Benoit in the morning on the killing day. After killing the two, Benoit hanged himself with a cable.

The article reports on the death of a young whale shark in the Georgia Aquarium in Georgia. The whale shark was euthanized by veterinarians on June 13, 2007, as it had stopped swimming and slipped to the bottom of the aquarium. For months the shark had been swimming and eating poorly. The exact cause of the shark's death is yet to be determined.

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 that five people were killed and six were wounded in a fire at the Budget Inn motel in Riverdale, Georgia on June 7, 2007. According to John W. Oxendine, insurance and fire safety commissioner of the state, investigators have suspected that a bath tub in a room on the second floor was the cause of the fire. Oxendine said that the motel had no sprinkler system.

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 offers information on the fire that broke out on April 16, 2007 in Georgia, and efforts of firefighters to bring it under control. The wildfire is said to be the largest one in the state's history that has burnt 18 houses and more than 101,000 acres of lands. Around 900 firefighters from around the country are said to be engaged in the fire fighting process.

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 wind-whipped blaze Sweat Farm Road Fire has blackened 42,000 acres, destroyed 20 houses and evacuated hundreds of residents in southwestern Georgia in April 20, 2007. In order to control the blaze, five aircraft, two helicopters and one air tanker of the U.S. Forest Service have dumped retardant on the flames.

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 a multiple-murder lawsuit involving rape suspect Brian Nichols has drained the budget of the public defender system of Georgia by costing $1.4 million. Nichols has been accused of escaping from a courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia and killing a judge, a court reporter and two other people. It is stated that the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council is unable to pay the three private lawyers on the defense team of Nichols.

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 Jim Marshall and John Barrow, two congressmen in Georgia and election candidates for the U.S. Congressional election held in 2006, are leading by marginal votes over their Republican contenders in relection. Marshall is leading with 2,040 votes in Macon, Georgia, while Barrow is leading by 963 votes.

The article reports that Mohamed Shorbagi, the religious leader of a mosque in Rome, Georgia has pleaded guilty to providing financial support to the Hamas, a militant organization of Palestine. The government said that Shorbagi is a Palestinian, who is living in the U.S. with his wife and children. Reportedly, he has provided aid to Hamas through donations to the Islamic charity, Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.

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 a state judge ruled on September 19, 2006, that a Georgia law that require voters to show government-issues photo identification violates the state constitution and therefore cannot be enforced. The ruling was a major setback for the efforts of the Republicans to enforce a photo ID requirement at the polls in Georgia.

The article reports that a U.S. federal judge has ruled that the voter ID card law in Georgia is illegal.