Cutoff for lead poisoning lowered in kids

ATLANTA (AP) - For the first time in 20 years, U.S. health officials have lowered the threshold for lead poisoning in young children.

Man points rifle at school bus in Clayton

ATLANTA (AP) - After a man aimed a rifle at a school bus and dropped a notebook that listed bus numbers, police in an Atlanta suburb are escorting school buses and guarding students at bus stops.

Funeral home looks at Civil War site

JONESBORO, Ga. (AP) - City officials are set to decide what has become a contentious fight over whether a funeral home should be allowed on the site of a Civil War battlefield.

John Edwards' lawyers present defense

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - After weeks of testimony about John Edwards' illicit affair and the money used to cover it up, his defense attorneys opened their case Monday by digging into the details of federal campaign finance law.

Copelands able to talk to daughter Aimee

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - The parents of a young Georgia woman battling a flesh-eating bacterial infection said Monday they've learned to read lips and are communicating with their daughter despite a breathing tube in her throat.

Group works to save HOPE scholarship

In the wake of HOPE scholarship changes last year, volunteers have banded together to make their voice heard.

Young adults ignoring skin-cancer warnings

ATLANTA (AP) - The warnings about skin cancer from too much sun don't seem to be getting through.

8th graders still lagging in science

ATLANTA (AP) - Eighth-graders in the U.S. are doing better in science than they were two years ago, but seven out of 10 still are not considered proficient, the federal government said Thursday.

Family says apartment invaded by opossums

GPC president steps down

NEWTON, Ga. (AP) - Georgia Perimeter College President Anthony Tricoli has stepped down over financial problems that led to the 2-year institution being $16 million in the red.

State recommends denial of charter school

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (AP) - Georgia's first charter school to win a Blue Ribbon award from the U.S. Department of Education for standardized test achievement could lose its battle to stay open.

Civil War shipwreck in the way of Ga. port project

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Before government engineers can deepen one of the nation's busiest seaports to accommodate future trade, they first need to remove a $14 million obstacle from the past - a Confederate warship rotting on the Savannah River bottom for nearly 150 years.

Justifiable homicides in Ga. increase

ATLANTA (AP) - The number of justifiable homicides in Georgia has increased since 2006, the same year state lawmakers passed a version of the controversial self-defense law that's the target of national scrutiny in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida.

New law slashes unemployment benefits

ATLANTA (AP) - Gov. Nathan Deal has signed a law that will reduce the number of weeks people would be able to collect unemployment benefits.

Gov. Deal approves funding for state's charter schools

CANTON, Ga. (AP) - Gov. Nathan Deal has signed legislation approving a funding system for Georgia charter schools created by the state.

Preschool shooter guilty but mentally ill

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) - A corporate engineer who fawned over a female subordinate was found guilty but mentally ill Thursday of killing her husband outside of a suburban Atlanta preschool.

Ga. juvenile officer accused of sex crimes

ATLANTA (AP) - A former juvenile corrections officer has been jailed after being accused of sex crimes.

Ga. bill would expand brewpub business

ATLANTA (AP) - A Senate panel has approved legislation that could be a boon for the state's brewpub business.

Atlanta leaders hope to redevelop GM plant

ATLANTA (AP) - Several metro Atlanta leaders are meeting with President Obama's so-called "car czar" as they try to move ahead with plans to redevelop an abandoned General Motors plant in Doraville.

Authorities raid alleged gambling operation

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) - Authorities on Tuesday raided seven long-distance calling card stores that prosecutors said were fronts for illegal Internet gambling cafes.

Gingrich comes up short in South

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Newt Gingrich saw his presidential hopes all but dashed Tuesday in the Deep South, where he was rejected by voters in the very region that launched his storied political career more than three decades ago.

Sparta policeman arrested for dogfighting

SPARTA, Ga. (AP) - A Sparta police officer has been arrested after authorities say he was involved in dogfighting.

Ala., Miss. votes could clarify GOP race

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Mitt Romney hoped to seal his status as the Republican presidential front-runner with a thus-far-elusive victory in the Deep South, a region that has been slow to embrace the former Massachusetts governor.

Occupy students disrupt regents meeting

ATLANTA (AP) - A group of college students who are part of the Occupy movement disrupted the state Board of Regents meeting to call for a halt to tuition and fee increases at Georgia's institutions.

New interntaional terminal to open in May

ATLANTA (AP) - Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed says a new international terminal at the city's airport will open May 16.

Deadline put on plan to merge colleges

ATLANTA (AP) - State officials have put a deadline on merging eight public colleges into four.

Rep. Broun to debate challengers later

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - U.S. Rep. Paul Broun says he will debate opponents challenging him in this summer's Republican primary, but they'll have to wait at least a couple of months.

Caterpillar taking applications for plant

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Construction equipment maker Caterpillar is already accepting job applications for its planned manufacturing plant in northeast Georgia.

Lobbyists spend in charter school debate

ATLANTA (AP) - Lobbyists on both sides of the charter school debate have spent thousands trying to woo Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike, shelling out for a documentary film screening, coffee and pricey meals, some topping $100 a person.

Occupy At. demonstrators in court

ATLANTA - Several members of Occupy Atlanta are due in court to face a variety of charges. Occupy Atlanta said in a statement that more than 75 people been arrested since last fall. Occupy Atlanta says 52 of those arrests took place after the group's initial occupation of Woodruff Park. A court hearing is set for 9 a.m. at Atlanta Municipal Court to address charges stemming from the arrests. Occupy Atlanta says Atlanta's night-time restrictions ...