Feds could take courthouse shooting case

ATLANTA - Courthouse gunman Brian Nichols avoided a death penalty when a Fulton County jury failed to return a unanimous sentence, but local prosecutors are encouraging their federal counterparts to bring additional charges in hopes that Nichols could still face lethal injection.

Federal prosecutors would face higher legal standards to pursue death charges against Nichols based on the fact that one of his four victims was a federal agent. And the U.S. Attorney must first begin the lengthy process of getting approval from the Justice Department.

No injuries in Savannah explosion

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - An explosion in underground electrical cables blew off manhole covers and started several fires in downtown Savannah Monday morning, prompting police to evacuate several stores and restaurants, many of which were without power. No injuries were immediately reported, police said.

Police received calls around 8:49 a.m. reporting that manhole covers had been blown off at the an intersection in the heart of the downtown district, said department spokesman Gene Harley. About an hour later, firefighters had put out three separate fires where the covers blew off.

Gas prices tumble across state

ATLANTA - Gasoline prices across Georgia are at their lowest level in nearly five years, and may continue to fall.

AAA Georgia said Monday, the statewide average price for a gallon of regular is $1.53, down 20 cents since last month.

Savannah businesses being evacuated

SAVANNAH - Police are evacuating businesses in downtown Savannah after an apparent underground explosion.

Businesses on Bay and River streets are being evacuated after the explosion at 8:45 a.m. Monday that police said blew off three manhole covers.

Judge sentences courthouse shooter to life

ATLANTA (AP) - A judge on Saturday sentenced the man who killed four people in a brazen courthouse escape to multiple life sentences with no chance of parole and hundreds more years on more than fifty charges.

Brian Nichols, 37, was found guilty last month of murder and dozens of other counts for the March 2005 rampage that led from a downtown courthouse to an Atlanta neighborhood and ended with his capture the next day in a suburban county.

White powder sent to Capitol

ATLANTA (AP) - Suspicious white powder found Thursday at Georgia's Capitol does not appear to be toxic, authorities said.

An envelope containing the powder arrived at a state Capitol office that processes mail from constituents to state officials. It was not immediately clear Thursday to whom the envelope was addressed.

Atlanta newspaper cutting back

ATLANTA - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will reduce its circulation area to 27 counties around metro Atlanta and cut 156 jobs in its third cost-cutting move since early 2007.

The newspaper said Wednesday that effective Jan. 11 it will eliminate distribution in 22 counties: Banks, Butts, Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Greene, Habersham, Haralson, Heard, Jackson, Lumpkin, Morgan, Pickens, Rabun, Spalding, Towns, Troup, Union, and White in Georgia, and Cherokee, Clay and Macon in North Carolina.

Many school districts don't comply with safety law

ATLANTA - Nearly a decade after Georgia passed a law requiring school systems to get state approval of security plans, nearly 20 percent of the state's districts haven't complied.

The list of schools that have not complied with the law does not include Liberty and Long counties'. The closest schools not in compliance are McIntosh County's.

Much of south hit by violent storms

JACKSON, Miss. -- Fickle December weather prepared to deliver the second blow of a one-two punch to much of the deep South on Wednesday, threatening to blanket some areas with snow after a night of unseasonably warm temperatures produced torrential rains and tornadoes across the region.

Sleet was possible in areas of Louisiana and the National Weather Service issued a winter weather watch for parts of Mississippi, warning that a rare snowfall accumulation was possible.

Troy Davis seeks another day in court

ATLANTA - The risk that Georgia could execute an innocent man should compel the state to hear his claims of innocence, Troy Davis' lawyers told a federal panel on Tuesday.

Attorneys in the case argued for about an hour before a three-judge panel at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, wrangling over whether Davis' lawyers had used the proper protocol in exhausting his options for a new hearing and whether evidence uncovered after his conviction warranted a fresh look at the case.

Hearing starts in immigrant attacks

TIFTON -- A sentencing hearing for one of the people charged in the 2005 killings of six Mexican immigrants in brutal attacks in and around Tifton began Monday and is expected to last at least a week.

Jamie Underwood pleaded guilty in September to all four indictments against him. Tift County Superior Court Judge Gary McCorvey sentenced him at the time to 120 years in prison on three of the four indictments. The sentencing on the fourth indictment, which includes murder charges, is being held separately because the prosecution is seeking the death penalty.

Lawmakers to forego raise

UGA economists see long recession ahead

ATLANTA -- Georgia economic forecasters offered another dose of bad news Wednesday, predicting that the recession will last a year-and-a-half - the state's longest economic slump since the Great Depression - and won't start to turn around until late next year.

Robert Sumichrast, who heads the University of Georgia's business school, also predicted unemployment will spike, housing prices will continue to plummet and the economy will be "dreadful" through the first half of next year.

Republican leading PSC voting

ATLANTA -- The U.S. Senate race may have grabbed much of the headlines, but voters also quietly decided heated contests to fill open seats on the Court of Appeals and the Public Service Commission.

With 46 percent of precincts reporting, Republican Lauren "Bubba" McDonald had 59 percent of the vote to Democrat Jim Powell's 41 percent of the vote in the contest to fill the open seat on the Public Service Commission.

Chambliss takes early lead

ATLANTA -- Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss jumped out to an early lead Tuesday over Democrat Jim Martin in Georgia's U.S. Senate runoff that attracted light voter turnout despite the contest's high stakes on the balance of power in Washington.

With 16 percent of precincts reporting, Chambliss had 65 percent of the vote to Martin's 35 percent. The early returns came mostly from rural counties where Republicans traditionally wield significant sway in a still-overwhelmingly red state. None of the urban Democratic strongholds had yet reported results an hour after the polls closed.

Deal: Finances rebounding, port work starting

Gov. Nathan Deal outlined the dimensions of Savannah's harbor deepening Monday for a Statesboro audience and sized up the state government's financial recovery, now underway.