Thursday, May 28th

Grant money for the West Broad Community Garden:  $10,000 from organic food producer Seeds of Change, going to expanding programs at the garden, operated by the Athens Land Trust.

The Metro Athens unemployment rate holds steady at 5.4 percent.  Labor commissioner Mark Butler says Georgia’s jobless rate was also unchanged from March to April, holding at 6.3 percent.

Jamie Hood was in Clarke County Superior Court Wednesday:  pretrial motions for the man suspected of killing Athens Clarke County Police Officer Buddy Christian in March of 2011.  Jury Selection in the death penalty trial is expected to begin Monday.

A pay raise for University of Georgia President Jere Morehead:  the State Board of Regents approve a retroactive raise of $170,000 this fiscal year, and a $74,000 pay bump when the new fiscal year starts on July 1, at which time, Morehead will earn just over $811,000.  That puts Morehead in third place in earnings among Georgia college presidents, behind Bud Peterson of Georgia Tech, and Mark Becker of Georgia State University.

There is more Taser talk tonight in Athens: the Athens-Clarke County Police Department hosts another public forum on Taser implementation. The Department is in the process of providing Tasers for all its uniformed police officers. This evening’s forum is set for 7 o’clock at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church on Old West Broad Street in Athens.

The Clarke County School District’s third annual Summer Institute begins this morning: the two-day session features Clarke County teachers. It gets underway at 8 o’clock at Cedar Shoals High School. Same time tomorrow, also at Cedar Shoals.

Jackson EMC is going solar in South Georgia:  the Jefferson-based electric cooperative is one of 27 EMC's participating in a new 52 megawatt solar array on 600 acres in Jeff Davis County near Hazelhurst.

A scam alert in Jackson County, where the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office says someone is calling, telling Jackson County residents they’ve missed court dates and need to pay fines for not reporting for jury duty.

Raises are on the table for elected officials in the Elbert County city of Bowman:  the council adopting a resolution this week to authorize the pay raises to double their current pay rates.  Mayor Pete Gibbons says the salary increases are meant to attract more interest in serving on the city council.

It could mean 200 new jobs for Stephens County:  an as-yet unidentified auto parts manufacturer is in negotiations with the Stephens County Development Authority, to set up shop in Toccoa's Haystone Brady Industrial Park.  Officials say it's a $27 million investment.

A Lithia Springs man is in the Hall County Jail, accused of sexual assault:  a Gainesville Police spokesman says 35-year old Lonzo Shafer III attacked the alleged victim at a Gainesville apartment, after making contact with her through an e-commerce website.  Shafer faces rape and aggravated sodomy charges.

A Gainesville City Council work session gets underway at 9 o’clock this morning at the Administration Building in Gainesville.

Hall County Commissioners meet this evening: it’s a 6 o’clock session at the Hall County Government Center in Gainesville.

There’s a DOT heads up for a traffic shift in Hall County: it’s for work on Brown’s Bridge Road at Cresswind Parkway in Gainesville.

Public hearings begin Monday in Gainesville:  three opportunities for public comment on the Hall County School System budget.  A proposed 2015 spending plan that includes a 2 1/2 percent property tax increase.

It appears that the City of Cornelia is close to settling with the family of little "Bou-Bou" Phonesavanh, the toddler badly hurt by a flash-bang grenade in a botched drug raid in May of 2014.  Last month, Habersham County Commissioners approve a nearly $1 million settlement with the Phonesavanh family.  Lawsuits are pending against Stephens and Rabun Counties, also involved in the regional drug task force that performed the raid on the home in Cornelia, looking for a drug suspect who wasn't there.

A Gwinnett Brave is facing kidnapping and rape charges:  infielder Elmer Reyes is accused of assaulting a woman in a hotel room in Columbus Ohio, where the G-Braves were playing  the Columbus Clippers.  Reyes is out on bond, and scheduled to appear in court next Tuesday.

A Suwanee man no doubt has a lot of new friends and relatives today:  Mark Clayton hit a Georgia Lottery instant game for $7 million.

DeKalb County investigators are hoping a $10,000 reward will lead tho the person responsible for hanging a dog off a bridge:  The medium-sized, brown and white pit bull mix was found on the morning of May 20, tied to a metal chain and hanging from a small bridge on Kelly Lake Road in DeKalb County.

A not guilty plea for alleged serial killer Aeman Pressley:  he's the 34 year old Atlanta man accused of gunning down a hairdresser last December on Decatur's downtown square.  Pressley is also accused of shooting and killing a homeless man in DeKalb County, and  two men in Fulton County.

A 37-year-old salesman from Augusta has pleaded guilty in federal court to trying to join  ISIS. Leon Davis told a U.S. District Court judge Wednesday he planned to be smuggled into Syria in order to join the Islamic State. FBI agents arrested him at the Atlanta airport Oct. 24.

UBER is headed to Hartsfield:  the Atlanta City Council is putting the finishing touches on the ordinance authorizing the ride sharing service to pick up and drop off air travelers at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.  A law passed in this year's legislative session to regulate the UBER service, also levels the playing field at the airport.

An historic find in Cobb County: A recently discovered Civil War trench will be preserved as the centerpiece of a park in a planned senior residential community in Marietta.

2016 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is headed to Atlanta today, a campaign swing through the south that began in South Carolina yesterday, and concludes tomorrow in Florida.

Walmart calls it an amicable settlement:  the retail giant and comedian Tracy Morgan coming to terms on a lawsuit over a fiery crash on the New Jersey Turnpike  in 2014, when a Walmart truck, driven by Kevin Roper of Jonesboro, slammed into the back of Morgan's limo, killing one person, and injuring three, including Morgan.

A break in a 13 year old middle Georgia murder case:  Phillip Scott Kirby was arrested yesterday in Swainsboro, accused of killing  East Georgia College professor Emily Mason at her home in 2002.

Tueday's line of severe weather spawned one tornado in South Georgia:  an EF-1 twister touched down at about 3:45 in Merriweather County, just west of Warm Springs.

Discussing dredging in Savannah:  officials with the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the Georgia Ports Authority will meet today, discuss the $706 million project to deepen the Savannah harbor to make room for larger cargo ships.

A Gallup-Healthways Obesity Index finds 25 to 29 percent of Georgians are obese.  Mississippi had the highest obesity rate at 35 percent.  Hawaii with the lowest at 19 percent.  The national obesity rate is up to 27.7 percent in 2014, from 27.1 the year before.

14  Red Cross Voluunteers are headed to storm-ravaged Texas and Oklahoma.  More are expected to follow.