Posted: 11:29 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011
Sweep Nets Violent Fugitives; Woman Tries Priority-Mailing Puppy; Mom Charged For High School Fight
By Veronica Waters
- A sweep by Atlanta Police and federal marshals nets 10 of the city's most violent fugitives. Marshal James Ergas of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force says among the violators are accused murderers and armed robbers. Some face drug, aggravated assault and carjacking charges. The feds call these offenders "the worst of the worst."
- A priority mail package bound for Atlanta suddenly falls off the post office counter in Minneapolis. They investigate, and find a panting four-month-old poodle inside. Seems 39-year-old Stacey Champion decided to pay $22 to mail the puppy in two to three days to someone in Atlanta. The dog would have died in the unpressurized compartment where the mail goes, according to the Postal Service; Champion told postal workers that there was nothing perishable in the box. Even so, she didn't have any food or water in the box with the pup. Champion is charged with animal cruelty.
- Police say a Clayton County mom knows how to pick a fight. She and her teen son and daughter face charges over a Monday incident at North Clayton High. Police say 34-year-old Sharee Cullins piled several relatives into her car and drove to the school, looking for a fight. The alleged target was a boy she accused of robbing her son. She's facing charges including disorderly conduct, and her 17-year-old son Dwight and 19-year-old daughter Chiquita are also charged.
- In KISS news about your health: about one in three Americans has high blood pressure or bad cholesterol--and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that half of them are not getting it under control. The CDC's Dr. Thomas Frieden says there are an estimated 100,000 deaths each year from high blood pressure or high cholesterol that could be prevented. People without health insurance showed the lowest rates of control, the CDC said; however, 80% of those with uncontrolled high blood pressure or cholesterol had either public or private health coverage.
- Senate Republicans will try to bring the health care repeal up for a vote today--the repeal the House already passed. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says it's not happening. The GOP has attached the repeal effort as an amendment to an FAA bill in Congress.
- Cities across middle America are virtually paralyzed this morning from a colossal blizzard making its way from the heartland to New England. In Chicago, one driver says he was stuck on Lakeshore Drive for nearly 12 hours! Schools in Chi-town have been closed for the first time in 12 years, and thousands of flights are canceled across the country. Delta and AirTran say they will let travelers change their flights without fees.
- Those weary of winter will find something to smile about with today's Groundhog Day predictions: Punxsutawney Phil emerged just after dawn in Pennsylvania to predict an early spring. Same forecast from General Beauregard Lee, Georgia's groundhog, who also failed to see his shadow at the Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn.
- They've heard your complaints; now, the Transportation Security Administration is testing new body scanners at Hartsfield-Jackson and at aiports in Washington and Vegas which they say will use images that are less intimate--a generic view, says the TSA administrator, instead of a very specific one. Plus, you'll get to see the image along with the TSA screener.
- Is your child being prepped for the right future? A Harvard study says America's education system is not preparing many young adults for successful careers because it takes a one-size-fits-all approach. Researchers say more emphasis should be on occupational instruction, and not just prepping students for a four-year college.
- College money's in the spotlight under the Gold Dome. Georgia lawmakers are beginning to tackle ideas of how to salvage the HOPE scholarship. One idea is to require a higher percentage of lottery dollars to be devoted to the program--and to prevent lottery officials from collecting bonuses unless those benchmarks are met. One lawmaker, Republican Mitch Seabaugh, says when the program was set up, 35% of sales were to be set aside for the scholarships. He says that the number has been more like 24%--shorting HOPE an estimated $2.8 billion it would have in reserves otherwise.
- The first bill set to pass this legislative session will benefit the widow of murdered state trooper Chadwick LeCroy. The measure will allow his widow, or the spouse of any state employee killed in the line of duty, to keep their health insurance. The unlikely allies at the center of the push: gubernatorial rivals Roy Barnes and Nathan Deal. Barnes is Mrs. LeCroy's attorney, and when he went to Governor Deal with the idea, the governor agreed to help.
- A 17-year-old boy in Karachi, Pakistan is arrested for something he wrote on his exam paper. The teen says he was frustrated that he couldn't answer the question, so he scribbled something which school administrators say violated anti-blashphemy laws. Those laws say someone can be put to death for insulting Islam. A policeman declined to tell what the boy wrote--in case he got cited for blasphemy, too.
- Parking valets in metro Atlanta complain women are much worse tippers than men, but female valets get tipped better than their male counterparts. A survey by Atlanta-based Americapark finds tips average $3 per vehicle; that tips get higher in bad weather; and that the #1 most-parked vehicle at Lenox and Phipps is a Mercedes Benz.
- The KISS 104.1 weather forecast: a mix of clouds and sun, with a windy high of 46.
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