Wednesday, March 11th

There is an afternoon meeting of the Georgia Bioscience Joint Development Authority, the panel comprised of representatives from Athens-Clarke, Oconee, Barrow, and Gwinnett counties. The Authority meets at 3 o’clock at the Community Center in Winder. The aim of the authority is to attract high-tech business and industry to the Highway 316 corridor.

An awards ceremony is on tap for today at the UGA campus in Griffin: the annual Classified Staff Awards will be presented, the Griffin campus employee of the year award among them.

The Athens-Clarke County Hearings Board meets today: it’s a 3 o’clock session at the Government Building on Dougherty Street.

The Georgia State Patrol is investigating a Tuesday crash on Highway 441 in Jackson County: a child injured in the accident was, at last report, in critical condition at Athens Regional Medical Center. Four adults were also injured and hospitalized, all said to be in stable condition. The wreck happened at the intersection of Highways 441 and 98 in Commerce.

A final week of early voting continues in Watkinsville and in Hall County: Watkinsville voters will settle an alcohol referendum in next Tuesday’s special election, while Hall County voters are deciding a sales tax proposal. The early voting wraps up on Friday.

A Barrow County woman is asking a court to call off her pending execution: Kelly Gissendaner, the only woman on Georgia’s death row, says she has what she calls a mortal fear of being put to death. The Auburn woman was to have died last month: one execution was put on hold because of bad weather, another because of potential problems with drugs used for lethal injection at the state prison in Jackson. Gissendaner arranged for her husband’s murder in 1997. She would be the first woman executed in Georgia since 1945.

We have this morning the name of the Hall County man who was killed in a Monday crash in Gwinnett County: John Beebout was 48 years old, from Oakwood; he was killed in the wreck on I-85 near Norcross. Gwinnett County Police are investigating.

The Gainesville Planning Commission signs off on plans for what would be Gainesville’s first micro-brewery.

Officials in the Hall County School System spell out plans to make up classroom days lost to last month’s snow and ice. Snow make-up days will be added to the Hall County school calendar on May 27 and 28.

Marshall Rice gets a 70-year prison sentence: he was convicted of trying to shoot a female Habersham County Sheriff's deputy in October of 2013. Rice grabbed the deputy and held a gun to her head during a traffic stop; another Habersham County deputy shot and wounded Rice.

Today marks the 10^th anniversary of the Fulton County Courthouse shootings: accused rapist Brian Nichols overpowered a female sheriff's deputy and opened fire in a courtroom in Atlanta, killing a judge and three other people before his subsequent capture in Gwinnett County. Nichols was convicted and is serving a life sentence.

President Obama made two Tuesday stops in Atlanta, speaking at Georgia Tech and then fundraising for Democrats. Mr. Obama talked about a crackdown on private lending companies that service government-backed college loans. It’s a presidential memorandum he signed before coming to Georgia.

A water main break closes a stretch of Northside Drive in Atlanta.

Bills to create three new cities in metro Atlanta go before the state House later today.

A big drug bust in Twiggs County: the Twiggs County Sheriff's Office says agents confiscated $50,000 worth of methamphetamine.

Two bodies have been recovered from a reservoir in Pike County, those of a father and his 3 year-old son. Investigators in the Pike County Sheriff's Office say they were apparently accidental drowning victims.

A ruling in Rome: the state Fire Marshal's Office says Floyd County has 30 days to show how it plans to fix locks and fire alarms at the county jail; otherwise, the county will have to relocate the inmates.

The Georgia Restaurant Association is backing House Bill 535: it would move the start of legal Sunday alcohol sales from 12:30pm to 10:30am.

A Georgia House committee holds a hearing on a bill that would provide free college tuition for children of public safety officials who die in the line of duty. The bill sponsor is Representative Keisha Waites, a Democrat from Atlanta.  Meantime, A busy day today in the Georgia Senate: at least 18 bills and resolutions on the floor, as lawmakers rush toward Friday's 30th day of the 40-day legislative session. Crossover Day is the last day for bills to move from House to Senate or from Senate to House.

Federal immigration officials announce a nationwide roundup of convicted criminals: 92 arrested here in Georgia.