Tuesday, January 20th

Athens-Clarke County Commissioners meet tonight, a 7 o’clock session at City Hall.

There’s an afternoon meeting of the Athens Downtown Development Authority, 3 o’clock at the Chamber of Commerce on Hancock Avenue.

The Board of Trustees of the University of Georgia’s Real Estate Foundation meets today in Atlanta, a session that gets underway at 1 o’clock this afternoon.

It’s back to class today for students and teachers in the Clarke County School System and at the University of Georgia, returning after Monday’s MLK holiday.

Hundreds gathered at Athens’ Lay Park and fanned out across the community for Monday’s annual MLK Day of Service. Dozens more took part in a King Day March in Gainesville.

There are more home burglary investigations on the Athens-Clarke County Police blotter: bicycles, space heaters, and a laptop computer were reported stolen in a break-in at a home on Pulaski Street, and a woman tells police computer equipment was taken from her home on Macon Highway in Athens.

There are now vehicular homicide charges for an Athens woman, charges stemming from a car crash in Madison County: 29 year-old Selena Vickers was allegedly DUI when her car collided head-on with another vehicle on McNeese-Commerce Road near Danielsville. 56 year-old Miriam David was killed in the wreck, which happened in November.

The Hard Labor Creek Reservoir management board meets in Monroe: it’s a 1 o’clock session at the Walton County historic courthouse. The Hard Labor Creek Reservoir, when completed, will provide drinking water for Walton and Oconee counties.

Today’s Gainesville City Council session gets underway at 5:30 this afternoon at the Public Safety Complex in Gainesville.

Today’s Hall County Commission work session starts at 3 o’clock at the Hall County Government Center in Gainesville. SPLOST projects are on today’s Commission agenda.

Hall County Solicitor-General Stephanie Woodard has been appointed by Governor Nathan Deal as a new member of the state Commission on Family Violence.

Hall County Congressman Doug Collins is pitching congressional legislation he says is designed to help independent and community pharmacies. Republican Collins says his Maximum Allowable Cost Transparency Act stops Medicare and other federal programs from favoring large competitors with more resources to untangle what calls a confusing federal program. The bill sets the maximum amount a Pharmacy Benefits Manger will reimburse a pharmacy for generic drugs.

A teenager is accused of groping customers at a grocery store in Buford: the suspect is a 17 year-old student at Lanier High School. The charges stem from five incidents reported earlier this month at the store on Cumming Highway in Buford.

A court hearing is set for today in DeKalb County: Hemy Neuman, the convicted triggerman in the 2010 murder of Atlanta businessman Rusty Sneiderman, is appealing his life sentence. Sneiderman was gunned down outside a daycare center in Dunwoody. Neuman was embroiled in reports of an affair with Sneiderman’s wife, Andrea. Neuman’s attorneys will say that Andrea Sneiderman’s perjured testimony undermined their defense.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed suggests that change is coming for airport screening at Hartsfield-Jackson after airport workers were implicated in gun smuggling charges.

Sounds like an attempted robbery in Douglas County: two employees were shot and wounded at a convenience store in Douglasville.

It will be a first for Fort Benning: the Army says some five dozen women will part of the next Army Ranger training program, set to start in April at the base outside Columbus. It’s a 9-week training program approved by the Army Secretary.

Could be some new jobs for coastal Georgia: the Atlanta Business Chronicle says Daimler is looking to build a manufacturing plant in Pooler, cranking out commercial vans in Chatham County, hiring up to 1,000 workers.  Daimler is the parent company of  Mercedes-Benz, which just announced plans to move its corporate offices from New Jersey to metro Atlanta.

The state Transportation Board meets this afternoon in Atlanta, a special called session in the wake of the retirement announcement from Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Keith Golden. Golden is stepping down at the end of the month.

The Georgia General Assembly is in recess for the rest of the week while state House and Senate budget writers work on Governor Nathan Deal’s budget blueprint, the spending proposals he laid out last week. The legislative session resumes next Monday.

Triple-A South says the statewide average for a gallon of regular unleaded is now at an even $2. This time last year: $3.22.