• A Cherokee County teen claimed his scorched snack touched off a fire which damaged five townhomes in Woodstock.  The 15-year-old said he was heating pizza in the oven when it burned and he threw it outside--setting dry grass on fire, which in turn burned backyard decks, which touched off a series of explosions from several propane tanks on gas grills.  Authorities now say the teen has admitted he was playing with fire--and that he doused an action figure in flammable liquid, then set it afire.  He did it because he was "bored."  Five homes were moderately to severely damaged.  Police and fire officials say no charges are being filed, but the boy will have to take a fire safety class.
  
  
• Georgia Tech students and neighbors are on edge as campus police send out their third crime alert in four days.  The neighborhood's been rocked by a rash of robberies, a home invasion, and early this morning, a carjacking on Lynch Street, one block off campus.  An armed man jacked the male student's gold Honda Civic and drove off, and as the victim walked away from the crime scene, ha and his roommate were confronted by another suspect who stole their wallets.
  
  
• Hours later, an Atlanta police officer shot and killed one of the suspected carjackers in south Fulton County.  Two others in the car were taken into custody, and a gun was taken off the dead man.  Atlanta and Fulton County Police are working together to determine if these men were connected to Friday's early Georgia Tech robberies.
  
  
• An agency watchdog says government-wide ethics rules were violated by senior Securities and Exchange Commission staffers who used official computers to surf for porn, sometimes for hours. It happened during the economic meltdown, and involved staffers being paid to police the crashing financial system.  One senior attorney spent up to eight hours a day downloading porn, and when his hard drive space was filled up, he burned the files to DVDs and kept them boxed in his office.  He's agreed to resign.
  
  
• The Transporation Secretary says a new rule limiting how long passengers can be kept waiting on airport tarmacs goes into effect April 29 with no exceptions.  Five airlines had requested exemptions at some airports in New York and Philly because of chronic congestion there, but Ray LaHood turned them down.  The rule says passengers can't be kept on the tarmac more than three hours, or the airlines could be fined as much as $27,000 per person.
  
  
• An out-of-work Connecticut cook is accused of taking a feud with a neighbor lady way too far.  The 42-year-old posted a Craigslist ad inviting strangers to a rowdy orgy with a bored soccer mom who wanted to..."please as many as I can before I go to work!"  The fake listing drew countless men to the woman's house; one man went to the wrong door, though, and groped a teenage girl.  No word what the original fight was all about.  Philip Conran is charged with reckless endangerment, harassment, criminal trespass and risk of injury to a minor.  The man who groped the teenager faces charges, too.
  
  
• Former Fox5 Atlanta anchor Roy Hobbs was arrested over the weekend in Birmingham for possession of crack cocaine and a crack pipe.  Reports say the arresting officer had previously stopped him with a known prostitute and a suspended license.  He was given a warning and let go.  He's out on $800 bond for the Saturday drug charge.
  
  
• More than 730 Cobb County school district employees are being let go after a unanimous decision by the Cobb County School Board--and 579 teaching positions are among them.  Many teachers are upset that job performance, not seniority, will be used to decide who stay and who goes.  The board has until May 15 to identify and inform the employees who are losing their jobs.
  
  

• The 29-year-old father of three who won the $258 million Powerball jackpot this week says he doesn't know yet if he'll quit his Missouri convenience store job .  Chris Shaw had less than $30 in his checking account when he decided to buy the $5 ticket at the end of his shift.  Shaw says he's planning to use the money to pay off bills and a $1,000 truck he just bought from a friend, go to Disney World with his girlfriend and their kids, and get his missing front teeth replaced.
  
   
• The KISS 104.1 weather forecast:  mostly sunny high of 83 today, low tonight 61.  Saturday, a 40% chance of morning showers, scattered showers 80% likely at night, some possibly severe; Saturday's high 75.  Sunday, partly cloudy with a 30% chance of isolated showers and a breezy high of 79.
  
  

THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2010

• Battling a record $137 million deficit, the Cobb County School Board is taking an axe to jobs, salaries, even the amount of pens and paper they buy.  Nearly 580 teachers are expected to lose their jobs and class sizes will be hiked to the max when the board votes tonight.
  
   
• DeKalb Police look for the person who fired nearly 30 shots into a south DeKalb park during a Wednesday soccer game on Hillvale Road.  One person was hit in the ankle as everybody ran for cover.  Police aren't sure who the gunman's target was.
  
  
• When the Atlanta Falcons start the season at Pittsburgh September 12, they will not be facing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.   NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says even though Roethlisberger didn't commit a crime, he's suspended for six games without pay.  The suspension could be reduced to four with good behavior.  The Falcons have the 19th pick overall when the NFL draft kicks off tonight in prime time.
  
   
• A bill that just cleared the Arizona House would make President Obama produce his birth certificate if he wants his name on the state ballot in 2012.  The bill now moving to the state senate would require citizenship documents from any presidential candidate.  Critics say it makes the state look ridiculous.
  
  This comes as the Hawaii legislature appears ready to pass a bill allowing state agencies to ignore requests for copies of the president's birth certificate.  It's in response to a near-constant barrage of requests from birthers who claim Mr. Obama isn't a citizen.  Hawaii has repeatedly said Barack Obama was born there in 1962.
  
  
• As many as 400 high-paying jobs are heading to Cobb County.  General Electric's $15 million Smart Grid Center of Excellence will open in the fall near the Galleria and employ researchers and engineers.  Smart Grid is a way of delivering electricity more efficiently and long-term, could make green energy easier to get.
  
  

• Oprah Winfrey tapes an episode of her show next week at Georgia Tech.  The hourlong panel discussion focusing on distracted drivers--those who text or talk behind the wheel--will be moderated by actress Holly Robinson Peete.  The taping will be at 9:00 April 30 at the Ferst Center for the Arts on Tech's campus.



• The Fulton County sheriff's deputy videotaped slugging a Braves fan decides to retire.  Sergeant Looney Jones got mad when the drunken fans started posing for pictures on his motorcycle.  Jones has been with the department 25 years.
  
  
• Don't take a cue from Old Mother Hubbard.  You may think a steak bone is a good doggy treat, but the FDA is out with a new warning against it--saying feeding dogs cooked bones could cause anything from broken teeth to digestive problems requiring surgery.
  
  
• A Lithonia woman's accused of getting racially rowdy on a Delta flight from Atlanta to New York. Staten Island native, 38-year-old Kim Goodwine, was apparently drunk when she boarded Sunday's flight and fell asleep in the wrong seat.  She allegedly yelled racial epithets and cussed out the pregnant woman who woke her up and asked her to move over.  Goodwine allegedly then bit an FBI agent who tried to cuff her--drawing blood.
  
  
• Metro Atlanta can expect a visit from some infamous church protesters next month.  The Westboro Baptists of Topeka Kansas are staging demonstrations at Grady, Douglass and Druid Hills High Schools because they consider the students "rebellious brats."  These are the same church members who show up with inflammatory signs at military funerals, saying American soldiers deaths are God's punishment for homosexuality.