Fresh Loaf

MELTDOWN: Bailout talks crumbled Thursday night when House Republicans announced they won’t back the plan because it offends free-market absolutism. McCain, who made a fuss this week about injecting himself into the negotiations, was largely silent as the Republican revolt ripped apart consensus. Talks resume today, and Bush promised this morning that a bailout package will be passed.

THE REELING IS MUTUAL: Washington Mutual becomes the largest bank to fail in U.S. history as it’s seized by the federal government and sold to J.P. Morgan Chase.

DEBATE AND SWITCH: Obama’s in Oxford, Miss., the site of tonight’s first presidential debate of the general election; McCain is still sending mixed messages about whether he’ll attend, although surrogate Lindsey Graham hinted this morning that McCain may be there after all. And despite McCain’s announced suspension of his campaign, ongoing TV commercials, a speech in New York and media interviews make it seem rather unsuspended. UPDATE: McCain now says he will show up for the debate.

NO. 1 STUNNER: Top-ranked USC falls to Oregon State, making No. 3 UGA’s matchup Saturday with No. 8 Alabama that much more momentous.

OIL FOR FEUD: Tex Pitfield, an oilman whose name wouldn’t allow him any other line of work, has asked Gov. Perdue to cancel the Georgia-Alabama game because of the gas shortage. Perdue’s office calls the suggestion “ridiculous,” and urges people to take common-sense measures, presumably such as stealing gas from Alabama fans. UGA officials have asked fans who can’t make it to Athens and back on one tank, however, not to come.

LONG SHORTAGE: The Washington Post breaks down the regionwide fuel crisis that’s hamstrung the Southeast.

ATLANTA’S AIR FORCE: Delta and Northwest shareholders have endorsed the airlines’ merger, leaving the ball in the Justice Department’s court.

WILD BLUE HITHER: GeorgiaSkies, a new airline launched by Pacific Wings, will offer intrastate flights among Atlanta, Athens and Macon starting Monday.

(SUNK) LIKE A ROCK: The abrupt closure of all Bill Heard Chevrolet dealerships on Wednesday, which the company blames on the economy and gas prices, has left many customers in limbo.

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How many words is this worth? More than a thousand, but, really, it’s unquantifiable genius.

AccessNorthGa.com’s best news graphics don’t just illustrate or elaborate a story — they become the story. Using a complex graphical algorithm that attracts, confuses, amuses, delights and then intrigues readers, these bizarre Photoshop Frankensteins can add surprising appeal to a small-town news story. They’re the only reason I followed this summer’s rabies outbreaks in Hall County or knew about various North Georgia manhunts and car crashes.

And I keep coming back to AccessNorthGa.com for more. The creative flow has slowed considerably the last couple months, although the site does still occasionally reuse some classics. But since this is Best of Atlanta week, let’s review ANG’s hits of 2008. The top 15 are after the jump, in very little particular order.

(more…)

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BAILOUT: President Bush, looking concerned, nervous but still slightly amused, tells the nation that the “entire economy is in danger.”

PALIN: CNN’s Campbell Brown issued a rant to the McCain campaign Tuesday, calling for it to stop sheltering its VP candidate and treating her “like she is a delicate flower that will wilt at any moment,” in response to the campaign barring reporters from asking her questions at a U.N. appearance. Palin was then turned loose to Katie Couric Wednesday, and it did not go well.

MCCAIN: Suspends his campaign to focus on the economy, and asks Obama to postpone Friday’s debate if a bailout deal isn’t reached by then. Obama declines, saying “It is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.”

GAS PANIC: Still going on, and people are still fighting at gas stations.

MERGE PROTECTOR: Northwest Airlines’ shareholders this morning approved merging with Delta, whose shareholders will also vote today. Antitrust approval still awaits.

EURO TRIP: Gov. Perdue’s upcoming trip to Spain is expected to cost taxpayers $100,000 at a time when Georgia faces a nearly $1.6 billion budget shortfall and has asked state agencies, including the governor’s office, to cut back.

SHOOTING THE BREEZE: The Gainesville Times reports that relocated city slickers often are shocked this time of year by their neighbors outside, guns a-blazin’, because much of unincorporated Georgia allows residents to shoot guns on their own property.

UGA VS. ‘BAMA: Officials warn that Athens may be flooded with counterfeit tickets Saturday, as average real-ticket prices are more than $300.

TERROR LEVEL RED HOT: The New Englandish region (touché, Jimbo) isn’t establishing a good track record with bomb recognition. First there was the 2007 Aqua Teen Hunger Force scare in Boston; now the Philadelphia Phillies blew up some hot dogs before losing to the Braves Wednesday night.

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STAYING ALIVE: Troy Davis is alive this morning, thanks to a last-minute stay granted by the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices will reconvene Monday, and if they don’t decide to hear his case, he’s back in Georgia’s clutches.

CHECK IS IN THE BAIL: Congress is listening to growing outcries to limit Wall Street executives’ lavish salaries and perks as part of the bailout. Counters one trade lobbyist: “It is not appropriate for government to be setting the salaries of executives.” Not appropriate like, say, using taxpayer money to save a corporation from its own bad investments.

WARREN PEACE: Warren Buffet soothes the weary minds of investors by throwing in on Goldman Sachs.

FUELISH HUMANS: The 2008 Atlanta Gas Crisis! is still going strong, despite the EPA’s move to allow local stations to sell heavier-polluting fuel. The AJC interviews an Emory behavioral psychologist, who reminds us that we’re panicky nitwits.

GAS FIGHT! Society is always three meals, or one tank of gas, away from anarchy.

FLORIDA: Decides it will accept Clayton students to its colleges after all.

DEKALB PLANE CRASH: One person is killed when a plane headed from Jacksonville, Fla., to Michigan crashes in a residential neighborhood near PDK.

TYLER PERRY: The Atlanta movie mogul/maven, who was once homeless himself, donates enough food to feed 1,000 Atlanta families for two weeks, helping address the recent food-donation shortage in the city.

ZOONOTIC SUGGESTION: Advocates of relocating the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility to Athens contend it would foster increased scientific collaboration on treating diseases that start in animals and spread to humans, like avian flus.

BLACK MARKET: The announcement that UGA’s high-stakes showdown with No. 8 Alabama Saturday will be the blackout game has sparked the Athens economy with a black-clothes-buying frenzy.

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TROY DAVIS: Will be killed by Georgia tonight, barring a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court.

BAILOUT: What at first seemed like a tourniquet is starting to look more like a feather pillow for Wall Street, and congressional leaders are pointing out that we’ve been notoriously fooled before by this administration under guise of looming disaster.

BLAME: More Americans, by a 2-to-1 margin, blame Republicans over Democrats for the financial crisis.

STONEHENGE: British researchers determine it was a pilgrimage site for the sick.

BRIAN NICHOLS TRIAL: Is under way, with the defense portraying Nichols as lost in fantasy during his notorious 2005 killing spree, and the prosecution arguing he knew what he was doing.

GAS SHORTAGE: Ten percent of the country’s refining capacity is still down post-Ike, leading to major gasoline shortages, especially in the Southeast.

A BLEND IN NEED: The shortage here is compounded by environmental rules requiring the metro area to use a special type of gas known as “the Atlanta blend,” which includes oxygenates such as ethanol that help fuel burn more cleanly.

LARRY MUNSON: The inimitable voice of Georgia football, who has suffered from health problems in recent years, announced his immediate retirement Monday.

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INVESTMENT BANKS: A thing of the past.

RED, WHITE AND SACRÉ BLEU: TIME magazine bears the sobering message that all this federal financial fiddling is making us kind of French.

BRIAN NICHOLS TRIAL: Scheduled to begin today.

PUMP SLUMP: Gas is hard to find in parts of the Southeast as pipelines are slow to rebound from Ike, but the current Georgia shortages should wane soon.

1400 PEACHTREE: You know what we need to solve this real-estate crisis? A new 70-story skyscraper.

HOT AND BOTHERED: A man and woman flee police in a van after being caught by police midcoitus, then crash the van and run.

HELL TO THE CHIEFS: The Falcons dismantled Kansas City Sunday for their second win of the season, while handing the Chiefs their 12th straight loss.

BLACKOUT: UGA holds onto No. 3 in both polls; coach Mark Richt announces the team will wear black jerseys for the third time against No. 8 Alabama this Saturday, when ESPN GameDay will be in Athens.

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HAULING ASSET: U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson held a press conference this morning about the federal government’s plan to take all those pain-in-the-ass assets off the hands of struggling financial companies. It’s expected to be the biggest federal meddling in the free market since the 1930s, and markets around the world are digging it.

HADRON COLLIDER: A 30-ton transformer breaks in the world’s largest particle collider, halting the experiment. I can only assume it’s because of black holes.

FLORIDA: Thinks it’s too good for Clayton students.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: NFL commish Roger Goodell issues a warning about helmet-to-helmet collisions following Tampa Bay cornerback Elbert Mack’s skull-rattling hit on Matt Ryan.

DICK CHENEY: Can’t get enough war.

GA. MUSIC HALL OF FAME: Accepting seven new inductees Saturday, including Ludacris and Widespread Panic.

IT’S NOT THE HUMIDITY: UGA prepares to play in the Arizona desert for the first time in its 115-year history.

COKE: Named the No. 1 brand in the world for the eighth year in a row.

LANIER: Five feet away from last December’s all-time low.

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THE VISIBLE HAND: Smugness is growing abroad over the global free-market champion — especially under such an anti-regulation Republican administration — essentially nationalizing private corporations to combat its sputtering economy.

PAIN IN THE BANK: Top central banks of the world unite to infuse $247 billion into money markets in an attempt to stave off a global financial meltdown.

GOUGING: The state has subpoenaed at least nine gas stations for price-gouging after Hurricane Ike shut down oil production on the Texas coast.

EUGLENA: A big swath of slimy plant/animal goo is floating down the Oostanaula River toward Rome.

ZONE DEFENSE: Metro Atlanta communities are more often having to deal with abandoned clear-cut lots and subdivisions that developers couldn’t afford to finish, often doing so by revisiting zoning conditions.

CLAYTON: Corrective Superintendent John Thompson meets with SACS president, says he’ll soon unveil the school system’s plan to regain accreditation in the next 12 months.

THE HOOKY CRUMBLES: Nine DeKalb parents have been arrested for educational neglect based on their children’s truancy; police have arrest warrants for 59 people in all, some of whose kids have missed 40-50 days of school.

DOT: Auditors discover the department’s financial situation is even worse than previously thought.

DENNIS QUAID: Visits Falcons practice to promote a movie.

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AIG: U.S. taxpayers save the insurance giant from its own bad investments via the Fed’s historic $85 billion bailout, which, despite its unfairness, was needed to prevent the worldwide financial bedlam that would follow an AIG collapse.

STREET CRED: Wall Street’s free fall has given Obama an opening, but while he does poll better than McCain on the economy, he doesn’t poll as well as a generic Democrat against a generic Republican.

PALIN: Not ready to be Hewlett-Packard CEO, according to former HP chief and McCain economic adviser Carly Fiorina, who then dug herself an even deeper hole by adding that McCain couldn’t lead the company either.

ALDERMAN: The convicted murderer was executed Tuesday for the 1974 killing of his wife.

ERR LIKE A SAILOR: Disgraced former Georgia lawmaker Ron Sailor Jr. is sentenced to 63 months for fraud and money laundering.

FUEL AND FAR BETWEEN: Ike has left the city of Atlanta with just 15 days worth of fuel, prompting the closure of two fueling stations and a plea to city employees to conserve.

STANDOFFISH: A fugitive wanted in a 2006 Atlanta murder is arrested in Chicago after a standoff.

THE YOST IS CLEAR: After being unexpectedly fired by the Brewers, there’s some speculation that former Braves third base coach Ned Yost could end up back in Atlanta.

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BACKS AGAINST THE WALL STREET: The Dow is suffering its worst loss since 2001 following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the buyout of Merrill Lynch, with AIG possibly next, despite recently borrowing $20 billion from its subsidiaries. The Fed today infused $50 billion into financial markets to stem the freefall.

MCCAIN: Reconfigures his recent statement that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.”

PALIN: Won’t cooperate with the ongoing ethics probe because she says Obama’s campaign has infiltrated it. Actually, she didn’t say that. Despite the probe being into her conduct as governor, the announcement that Palin won’t be cooperating was made by the McCain campagin.

JUST THE TICKET: Atlanta scofflaws will have two months, starting Oct. 1, to pay old parking tickets and have all late fees waived, a measure approved by City Council in hopes of collecting at least some money they otherwise might never have seen.

GASOLINE: Prices in Georgia are the second-highest in the country, although analysts say they should settle somewhere around $4 soon.

NATURAL GAS: Prices in Georgia may rise 25 percent this winter.

BARR VS. BLOOMBERG: The Libertarian presidential candidate will appear in federal appeals court in Atlanta today to defend his defamation suit against the New York City mayor, which alleges Bloomberg libeled Barr’s client, Adventure Outdoors Sporting Goods, by calling the Smyrna store a rogue gun dealer in his famous 2006 lawsuit.

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SARAH PALIN: The NY Times examines her governing style, which includes hiring several high school friends to high-paying state jobs for which they had no relevant experience.

BEAR MARKET TO FLEA MARKET: The Lehman Brothers investment bank announces it will file for bankruptcy, and despite the possibly market-soothing buyout of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, the Dow drops 300 points.

FALCONS: Can’t overcome early deficit to the Bucs despite a near-comeback in the fourth quarter.

LAWYER MILLOY: The Falcons’ star safety was arrested on charges of DUI and speeding early this morning. No word yet on whether he will represent himself.

GALVESTON: Rendered a wasteland by Ike, with packs of stray dogs and loose steer wandering the sewage-strewn streets. Hurricane hold-outs now want off the island after lack of power and water has made it almost uninhabitable.

CUTBACKS: State lawmakers, judiciary and the governor’s office say they’ll cut back on their budgets in addition to upcoming state budget cuts made necessary by the colossal statewide shortfall.

QUORUM: The revamped Clayton school board can now move forward with official business after reaching a quorum by recruiting two former candidates for board seats.

DOG CALLS 911: To report owner’s seizure.

LANIER: Not filling back up anytime soon.

LINGERING: Linger Longer Communities says it’s making progress on plans for its Jekyll Island redevelopment, but navigating the environmental laws and public input may be bogging down the process.

UGA: Drops to No. 3 despite staying undefeated, but still has four top-10 teams on its schedule, all SEC foes.

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SHARP AS ATTACK: Obama will kick off today a more aggressive approach in campaigning and defending himself against recent truthy attacks from the McCain campaign.

HURRICANE IKE: The National Weather Service warns of “certain death” for coastal residents around Galveston who try to ride out the storm. Houston, however, is doing just that. In metro Atlanta, the specter of Ike has raised gas prices slightly.

THE BEST OFFENSE: The upcoming announcement of where the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility will be located has led to renewed discussion of bioterrorism dangers and accidental disease outbreaks. Meanwhile, NBAF proponents were joined by Gov. Sonny Perdue, who chimed in in support of locating the facility in Athens.

TROY DAVIS: Clemency hearing is today.

FALCONS: Ranked 29th in the NFL in terms of team value. But the emergence of a dynamic running game may make that a low estimate.

DOWNTOWN CONNECTOR: All work that requires lane closures is now finished.

ACCESSNORTHGA.COM: Reports that the Ga. 316/I-85 interchange is one step away from completion; crews now just need to remove the oversized road construction signs.

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BUSH: Secretly ordered the recent covert military strike in Pakistan, according to the NY Times, a major detachment from the usual U.S. tactic of using unmanned Predator spy planes to fire at suspected al-Qaeda targets in the country.

MCCAIN: Leads Obama by 18 points in Georgia.

HURRICANE IKE: Barreling toward Houston and Galveston, expected to be a Category 3 when it hits Friday night. Thousands of coastal Texans are evacuating.

CAGLE: Will run for governor in 2010.

THE POACH STATE: Georgia is among the fast-growing states poaching teachers from more economically strapped states, such as Michigan.

EXCELLENCE DEFICIENCY: The Commission for School Board Excellence, formed at the request of the Georgia Board of Education, is recommending that Georgia should have more power to intervene in dysfunctional local school boards such as Clayton’s.

BOBBY COX: Will return next season.

TOUCH AND GO: A Fulton Superior Court judge dismisses a lawsuit by VOTER GA challenging the fraud-proofness of the state’s touch-screen voting machines. VOTER GA’s Garland Favorito says the group may appeal.

CUMBERLAND ISLAND: Will begin tours of its north end, which had previously only been accessible to visitors via a 17-mile hike.

UGA: Will face its first real test of the season as it enters SEC play against Spurrier’s Gamecocks in Columbia Saturday.

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HYPERCAMPAIGNING: The late conventions combined with unprecedented early voting in various states has drastically changed the formula for how to campaign on the home stretch.

SMASHING SUCCESS: The Large Hadron Collider — the $9 billion, 17-mile atom smasher that will replicate the moments following the Big Bang and which some skeptics worry will create Earth-swallowing black holes — was successfully started outside Geneva this morning.

IKE: Leaves Cuba reeling as it hits the Gulf, where it may strengthen to a Category 3 before hitting Texas.

FIREFIGHTERS: Atlanta Fire Union president warns of a mass exodus of firefighters to the suburbs.

KNOWSHON MORENO: UGA’s star tailback has become a hit on YouTube for his hurdle over a Central Michigan defender Saturday, but ESPN and FOX are in Mark Richt’s doghouse for not including the highlight in their top-10 reels.

CROC HUNTER: The parents of a boy whose Croc-clad foot was mangled by a Hartsfield-Jackson escalator are suing the Colorado-based shoe company for not including warning labels.

BALD IS BEAUTIFUL: Conservationists in North Carolina are experimenting with using desert goats to reclaim the natural mountain balds, which have become overgrown due to human overhunting of the natural grazers like elk and bison.

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DAVID FRANKLIN: The ex-husband of Mayor Shirley Franklin and a chief architect of the Maynard Jackson political machine died Sunday at 65.

TRAVELATROCITY: Atlanta and several other U.S. cities are suing 17 online travel sites including Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia, alleging the companies have cheated the cities out of millions in taxes.

REVACUEES: Gulf Coast residents who fled Hurricane Gustav may be repeating the ordeal less than two weeks later as Ike heads west-northwest.

OH, THE HEWED MANATEE: Four manatees are killed in the Savannah River, presumably by a large commercial or military prop boat.

HOSCHTON: The northeast Georgia city has broken Cincinnati’s world record for scarecrows in a single ZIP code, with nearly 5,000 at last count.

CLAYTON NOT APPEALING: The school system has decided not to appeal SACS’ accreditation-removal decision, instead focusing on getting its accreditation reinstated by September 2009.

ZONE COVERAGE: Former UGA and Cincinnati Bengals dynamo linebacker David Pollack, whose football career was ended in September 2006 with a broken neck, has signed on to host a sports talk show on 790 the Zone.

CONNECTING THE DOT: DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham and former DOT chairman Mike Evans were married Saturday night in Alabama.

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ELECTORAL CURRENT: The Christian Science Monitor examines this year’s swingingest states, and how swinging they are compared with 2004.

HURRICANE IKE: Hits Cuba, downgraded to a Category 2. It’s expected to head Gulfward from there, meaning Georgia’s streak of dodging major hurricanes will likely stay intact. The downside of that is Lake Lanier won’t get much rain from it.

FALCONS: Win their season opener against Detroit behind breakout performances from their two new stars. QB Matt Ryan threw a a 62-yard touchdown on his first NFL pass and had an unrookielike afternoon, while RB Michael Turner set a team rushing record to power a surprisingly potent offense.

BEGGARS CAN BE BOOZERS: Atlanta city officials are starting a new campaign to discourage downtown pedestrians from filling handled pans, and giving the money to charities instead.

FOOD BANK: The Atlanta Community Food Bank is suffering from the lowest food supply of its 30-year history.

LEAVING HOME: Richard Blais leaves his job at Tom Catherall’s restaurant to focus on several personal business ventures, including FLIP, his new burger joint.

EXOTIC GECKO: Found in Savannah.

BLACK BEARS: Are attacking people more often throughout their ranges in North America, including Southeastern forests such as the Great Smoky Mountains.

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I swear I don’t normally say things are “tops.” I was going to just write “Atlanta No. 1 for singles,” but this way I get “singles” into the first four words, so maybe Google bots will help this post lure away some of the unsuspecting-loner demographic from True.com.

From the Biz Chronicle:

“To those who know ‘Hotlanta,’ the ranking should come as no surprise,” Forbes.com noted. “In the eight years that we have been ranking America’s largest urban areas in terms of their friendliness to the nation’s 74 million single adults, only once did Atlanta place outside the top 10.”

“Hotlanta.” Thanks, Forbes.com. That’s like our mom calling us “sweetie” in front of our date. There go all our singles.

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“FIGHT WITH ME”: Says John McCain during his speech accepting the Republican nomination for president. I haven’t listened to the audio of his speech, but I assume he emphasized “with,” and not “fight.”

WARRIN’ POLICY: The New York Times examines how the hawkish and moderate wings of the GOP are vying beneath the surface to influence McCain’s foreign-policy compass, and what to make of his bellicose statements about Iran and Russia.

FIRING RANGE: After her aides improperly peeked at her sister’s ex-husband’s personnel files in an effort to get the Alaska state trooper fired, and then unsuccessfully pressured the public safety commissioner to fire him, Gov. Sarah Palin just fired the public safety commissioner, according to the Alaska state police union.

GATOR CHOMPED: The alligator that’s been sporadically spotted around Lake Lanier during the past month has been caught.

MASS TRANSIT: Can save the average Atlanta household $9,129 a year, according to the American Public Transportation Association. But APTA assumes the household would also get rid of a car, so those estimated savings include no longer paying to register and insure it.

NO BLACKOUT: Three Falcons sponsors bought the remaining 1,500 tickets to Sunday’s season opener to prevent a TV blackout. The game marks the beginning of the Mike Smith era, which players are thrilled about, especially when compared with the Bobby Petrino error “era.”

HOT PANTS: In addition to the ongoing rash of high-priced blue-jean thefts in Atlanta, four Gustav evacuees from New Orleans were arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with yet more blue-jean banditry. Hours earlier, Atlanta police arrested three other smash-and-grab suspects after a car chase.

HANNAH: Will bypass the Georgia coast today, bringing just wind and rain, but Savannah officials hope the false-ish alarm won’t discourage future hurricane wariness.

IKE THE DICKENS: The hurricane, which had been a Category 4 storm, is “extremely dangerous,” according to forecasters, even though it’s weakened to a Category 3.

TURF WARS: California’s attorney general and the nonprofit Center for Environmental Health are suing artificial-turf makers in Georgia and Florida for their turfs’ lead-based coloring, which the lawsuits claim violate California’s environmental laws.

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PALIN: Excites the crowd at the RNC with an aggressive speech aimed at Obama’s experience and celebrity. McCain makes a surprise appearance to support Palin, and reminds those in attendance of her national security experience.

OBAMA: Will give a prebuttal to McCain’s acceptance speech tonight on “The O’Reilly Factor.” Maybe this will come up.

KWAME KILPATRICK: The embattled mayor of Detroit has accepted a plea deal and will resign.

HANNAH: Takes a northward turn, and is now expected to bypass the Georgia coast and hit land on the Carolina coast. Savannah’s unlikely to be evacuated, but the Hostess City is still preparing for the uninvited guest.

HAITI: “The situation is as bad as it can be,” according to a U.N. official in Gonaives. The country has been hit by three tropical storms in two weeks, and more than 100 people have died amid flooding and mudslides.

PAKISTAN: Mad at the U.S. for an alleged cross-border raid that it says killed 15 villagers in the northwestern part of the country.

CLAYTON BOE: Gets one step closer to a quorum by appointing Jessie Goree to fill the vacant District 3 seat, but takes two steps back by holding another controversial closed meeting, which two members refuse to attend in protest. Meanwhile, Gov. Perdue is looking into how he could gain more power to intervene in troubled school systems, even if by constitutional amendment, but the earliest that could happen is November 2010, likely too late for Clayton.

WAREHOUSE FIRE: Shuts down North Avenue this morning near City Hall East.

SHOCKLEY AND AWE: Terence Moore fantasizes for UGA/Falcons fans how the beloved former Bulldogs QB could ascend now that he’s the No. 3 behind an unproven No. 1 and a mediocre No. 2.

BAD SPORTS? Spencer Hall at the Sporting Blog defends “the Atlanta sporting landscape” in response to mockery of the Falcons reducing ticket prices in hopes of avoiding a TV blackout for the season opener.

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RNC: Fred Thompson, Joseph Lieberman and a not-too-close President Bush regaled John McCain during the first full day of convention festivities in St. Paul Tuesday. Meanwhile, Ron Paul held his own convention outside Minneapolis Tuesday, rallying his troops behind his libertarian conservatism.

SAVANNAH: May need to evacuate for Hannah, which is expected to be a Category 1 hurricane when it makes landfall Friday. Some scrambling for flood insurance find out it’s too late.

ROTARY CUB: The newborn panda at Zoo Atlanta is back out of the incubator and with its mother, Lun Lun.

TYING UP JUICE ENDS: Coca-Cola is hoping to capitalize on its recent Beijing marketing blitz by making a bid for China’s largest juice company, which would be its second-largest acquisition ever.

DECORUM, BUT NO QUORUM: The new, relatively uncontroversial Clayton school board has just three members, two short of a quorum, but has 45 days to appoint additional members.

UGA: Falls to No. 2 in both major polls despite winning Saturday, as USC’s rout of Virginia leapfrogs the Trojans to the top spot.

CHIPPER JONES: Atlanta third baseman’s quest for the NL batting title is the only silver lining left on the Braves’ dismal season.

CHENEY: The vice president will speak Sept. 19 in North Georgia at the opening-day ceremony for the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga.

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HURRICANES: The high seas continue to use the Southeastern U.S. as their chipping green, with three more storms en route. Hanna was downgraded to a tropical storm this morning but may become a hurricane again; Savannah and cities from the Outer Banks to Miami are preparing for impact. Meanwhile, Gustav dawdles over Texarkana after sparing New Orleans the feared devastation. Still, Mayor Ray Nagin says it won’t be safe to return until at least Wednesday.

RAIN BARRELS: Especially useful during hurricane season.

RNC: Resumes today in St. Paul, with President Bush delivering a via-satellite speech at 9:30 tonight. Police have arrested nearly 300 protesters, and have charged 130 with felonies.

GRAY’S ANATOMY: Gray’s Reef, located 40 miles off the Georgia coast, shows effects of human pollution but is generally healthier than researchers had feared.

LOVE IN THIS CUB: The newborn panda cub at Zoo Atlanta has been put in an incubator for closer monitoring based on the behavior of it and its mother, Lun Lun.

BRIAN FINNERAN: Knows he’s lucky to be back on the Falcons’ roster after being out since 2005 with back-to-back knee injuries.

THE CHROME STRETCH: Google readies Chrome, its new browser it hopes will compete with Internet Explorer 8.0.

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Georgia’s two most prominent football teams head into the season with very different prospects. The rebuilding Atlanta Falcons are expected to scrape the NFL’s dregs; the Georgia Bulldogs enter today’s opener as No. 1 in the NCAA.

“[U]nless Richt is holding that crystal football in Miami at around 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 8, 2009, this season will be a failure.”
– Pete Fiutak, FOXSports.com

“Our goals won’t be measured in wins and losses this year. We need to move forward and grow as a team.”
– Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff

“I think everybody is expecting good things.”
– Georgia head coach Mark Richt

“He’ll be running behind a shaky offensive line that looks as if it’s held together by duct tape purchased from one of [Arthur] Blank’s old stores.”
– The Sports Network’s Scott Garbarini, on new Falcons running back Michael Turner

“It’s cool to say you were part of that team that was preseason No. 1, but it would be a lot nicer to say it at the end of the season. There’s a lot of time between now and then.”
– Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford

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MCCAIN: Picks Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. He’ll introduce her in Dayton, Ohio today.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH: Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination for president in Denver with a speech CNN analyst David Gergen calls a “political masterpiece.”

CLAYTON: School system loses accreditation, but can get it back at any point during the next school year if it can meet the SACS mandates. Superintendent John Thompson plans to appeal the SACS decision.

GUSTAV: Bearing down on Cuba as it becomes a hurricane, with a Tuesday landfall in Louisiana expected.

LANIER: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has slowed flows from the lake because tributaries and reservoirs south of Buford Dam were replenished by Fay.

UGA VII: The new mascot will be announced today and debuted tomorrow when Georgia hosts Georgia Southern in Athens.

RAMBLIN’ WRACK: Fay pushed excessive wrack, or decomposing seaweed that’s naturally washed ashore, beyond normal high tide in coastal Georgia, and it’s filled with trash.

RAMBLIN’ WRECK: Tech beats Jacksonville State 41-14 to open the season.

MEDAL OF SCIENCE: The nation’s highest science award will be given to Georgia Tech chemistry professor Mostafa El-Sayed, who’s working to treat cancer with cylindrical gold nanorods and lasers.

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OBAMA: Officially becomes the Democratic nominee for president, the first black person ever nominated by a major party. He’ll give his acceptance speech tonight.

MCCAIN: Has picked his running mate, whom he’ll inform of his decision today and introduce Friday in Ohio.

UNDERDRIVE: As gas prices and environmental worries have driven down driving, highways and other transportation projects, including commuter rail, have lost a major source of funding — gas taxes.

CLAYTON IS THE HARDEST PART: SACS will announce its accreditation decison at a 1 p.m. press conference today. [UPDATE: Accreditation lost.] Meanwhile, a state judge has recommended that Gov. Perdue remove four Clayton school board members from office for violating Georgia’s open-meetings laws and ethics code. 

FREE REFILL: Fay has now added two feet back to Lake Lanier, as rainwater continues to move downhill through the basin. It’s still 15 feet below full pool, but that one storm has made up for the month of August so far, which has been especially dry.

FUNNEL VISION: The National Weather Service says up to four tornadoes may have touched down in Hall County as Fay passed through.

OUR DEERLY DEPARTED: Rome’s world-famous six-legged deer died last week after surgery to remove his two unnecessary legs.

PAUL JOHNSON: The New York Times profiles Georgia Tech’s new skipper and his stubbornly distinctive coaching style, which he’ll debut in Atlanta tonight as Tech hosts Jacksonville State to open the season.

BRAVES: Call up minor-league outfielder Josh Anderson after trading CF Mark Kotsay to Boston Wednesday for minor-league outfielder Luis Sumoza. Atlanta also signed journeyman relief pitcher Elmer Dessens.

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CLINTON: Addresses the Democratic National Convention by pleading for unity in supporting Obama, telling her supporters, “I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me?” Bill speaks tonight, along with Biden.

GLITCH, PLEASE: A computer glitch at an FAA facility south of Atlanta is blamed for delaying hundreds of flights across the country Tuesday.

SAXBY ON THE BEACH: Saxby Chambliss, who helped secure federal funding for the pork project, attended a coastal ceremony on Tybee Island Tuesday to announce a restoration plan for its eroding beaches. “I’m a beach bum,” he announced. “I love the beach.”

KOTSAY: The Braves’ center fielder may be headed to Boston, with Atlanta unlikely to get much besides a free roster spot in return.

SPELMAN: Gets an anonymous donation of $17 million.

ROCK YOU LIKE A TROPICAL DEPRESSION: Fay flooded Helen, Ga., and battered Hall County, but she also put a dent in our drought and raised Lake Lanier by a foot.

NO. 1 WITH A BULLET: UGA’s offense and defense say they’re ready to live up to the hype, but the loss of OL Trinton Sturdivant and “sloppy” blocking in practice has raised some nerves.

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