Fresh Loaf

Number of Georgia runoff elections for statewide, partisan positions in the past 20 years: 2

Of those two, the number in which the top general-election vote-getter (a Democrat, in both instances) won the runoff: 0

Of voters in the 1992 general election, the percentage that returned to vote in the Senate runoff: 55

Of voters in the 2006 general election, the percentage that returned to vote in the Public Service Commission runoff: 10

As of Nov. 20, the percentage of early voters in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff who are African-American: 22

Percentage of early voters in the 2008 general election who are African-American: 34

In past decade, average percentage of black general-election voters who voted in runoffs: 8.5

Average percentage of whites who did: 9.2

Percentage of early voters in the 2008 general election who had voted in the GOP and Democratic primaries, respectively: 25, 30

Percentage of early voters in 2008 runoff (as of Nov. 20) who had voted in the GOP and Democratic primaries, respectively: 44, 34

Source: Georgia Secretary of State

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Atlanta’s volunteer rank out of 50 major cities: 31

Charlotte’s rank: 10

Atlanta’s road rage ranking: 6

Atlanta’s “Meanest Cities Towards Homeless” ranking: 4

Number of listed charitable organizations in Atlanta: 361

Number of violent crimes in Atlanta in 2007: 7,213

Number of Facebook groups about volunteering in the Atlanta Network: 41

Number of Facebook groups about partying: 297

Sources:Volunteeringinamerica.gov; nationalhomeless.org; autovantage.com; census.gov; superpages.com; facebook.com

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Percentage of graduates in the last two Atlanta Police Academy classes who’ve been arrested or cited for a crime: 36

Of the 33 total graduates, number who became officers: 33

Number of those graduates who’d been denied jobs with other law enforcement agencies: 12

Minimum number of graduates who’d been deemed psychologically incompatible for work at another police department: 1

Number of officers the Atlanta Police Department should employ to ensure public safety, authorities say: 2,000

Number of officers currently employed: 1,700

Number of Atlanta officers indicted in a 2006 botched raid that left a 92-year-old woman dead: 3

Of those, number who blamed pressure to meet arrest quotas as the impetus for the raid: 3

Months after the raid that the city created a Citizen Review Board to review police misconduct: 4

Number of police misconduct cases that the board considered in its first 18 months: 0

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, International Brotherhood of Police Officers

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Number of major hurricanes to hit Georgia’s coast during the 19th century: 5

Number of major hurricanes to hit Georgia’s coast since 1900: 0

Number of Category 1 or 2 hurricanes to hit Georgia’s coast since 1900: 4

Years since last hurricane made landfall in Georgia: 29

People who used I-16 between Savannah and Macon to flee Hurricane Floyd in 1999: 2.5 million

Gallons of drinking water National Hurricane Center says family of four needs for a three-day evacuation: 12

Estimated damage caused by Floyd, which hit North Carolina as a Category 2 storm: $6 billion

Number of coastal Georgians who evacuated their homes in 1999 for Hurricane Floyd: 350,000

Population of coastal Georgia in 2000: 558,350

Projected population coastal Georgia in 2030: 844,161

Sources: Associated Press, Coastal Georgia Regional Development Center, Georgia Emergency Management Agency

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MARTA’s current budget deficit: $43 million

Number of positions MARTA plans to eliminate because of deficit: 180

Number of these 180 positions that are currently vacant: 130

Number of future MARTA newly created station-agent positions being offered to newly laid-off MARTA employees: 50

Amount by which MARTA’s revenue from local sales taxes was below expectations during first-quarter of 2008: $6.9 million

Amount MARTA spent on fuel last year: $13.4 million

Amount MARTA expects to spend on fuel this year: $17.6 million

Number of trips MARTA passengers took in April 2007: 11,999,867

Number of trips MARTA passengers took in April 2008: 12,800,276

Amount MARTA contributes to Atlanta’s gross regional product: $476 million

Amount state contributed this year to MARTA needs: 0

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, MARTA, GeorgiaGasPrices.com, Mass Transit Magazine, Creative Loafing

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Estimated City of Atlanta budget shortfall in 2009: $140 million

Percentage of Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs budget Mayor Franklin proposes cutting: 15

Positions cut from the parks department in 1993 and 1998 due to budget concerns: 137

Positions cut from the parks department in 2002 due to budget concerns: 127

Approximate number of parks department employees today: 315

City recreation centers that will close temporarily this summer: 11

Recreation centers that will close permanently this summer: 2

Percentage total land in Atlanta devoted to public parks: 4.5

Park-related spending in Seattle per resident in 2005: $266

Park-related spending in Atlanta per resident in 2005: $91

Sources: City of Atlanta, Park Pride, Trust for Public Land

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Percent of Americans who live in counties with unhealthful levels of ozone or particle pollution: 40

Rank of Metro Atlanta among cities most polluted by year-round ozone: 12

Rank of Metro Atlanta among cities most polluted by year-round particle pollution: 6

Rank of Plant Bowen, a Georgia Power coal electricity plant in Cartersville, among national producers of smog-causing sulfur dioxide: 1

Days in 2007 when Atlanta’s air quality was rated “Good” based on Environmental Protection Agency standards: 113

Days in 2000 when Atlanta’s air quality was rated “Good” based on EPA standards: 76

People in Atlanta’s five core counties with asthma or chronic bronchitis: 384,547

Population of metro Atlanta in 2007: 4,029,400

Projected population of metro Atlanta area in 2030: 5,261,534

Sources: American Lung Association, Atlanta Regional Commission, Environmental Integrity Project, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division.

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Cost of one ton of Appalachian coal in 2007: $40

Cost of one ton of Appalachian coal in 2008: $90

Percentage of electricity price increase Georgia Power recently requested from the state Public Services Commission: 3

Number of times Georgia Power has requested rate increases during the past five years: 5

Amount Georgia Power parent company, Southern Co., spent on government lobbying in 2007: $14.5 million

Number of new coal plants planned for Georgia: 2 Amount of energy, in megawatts, the two coal power plants can produce: 2,050

Amount of energy, in megawatts, that one wind turbine among many located off the Georgia coast could generate in clean energy: 160

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Augusta Chronicle, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Public Service Commission, Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute, OpenSecrets.org

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Home foreclosures in United States in March: 234,685

Home foreclosures in Georgia in March: 11,047

Percent increase from February 2008: 44.8

Percent increase from March 2007: 63.2

Number of states with more home foreclosures than Georgia in March: 3

Percentage drop in home sales reported by Atlanta-based homebuilder Ashton Woods in early 2008: 32.1

Number of property liens filed against Atlanta home developer Hedgewood Properties in the first quarter of 2008: 75

Number of liens filed against Hedgewood in 2007: 86

Sources: Atlanta Business Chronicle, U.S. Census Bureau, RealtyTrac.com, 11Alive.com

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Current projected revenue shortfall in Atlanta: $65 million

Amount by which Atlanta exceeded its budget during fiscal year that ended June 2007: $90 million

Amount city overestimated its year-to-year budget surplus since 2003: $241 million

Estimated revenue shortfall city predicts it will face next year: $120 million

Amount of city’s budget shortfall when Mayor Franklin took office in 2002: $82 million

Percent property tax hike imposed in 2002 to cover city’s budget shortfall: 51

Percent by which the city has rolled back property taxes since then: 22

Percent by which all 15 city departments were recently asked to cut their budgets: 25

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, City of Atlanta Dept. of Finance

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Years since U.S. invasion of Iraq: 5

Total number of U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan: 7,284

American troops killed in Iraq: 3,987

American troops from Georgia killed in Iraq: 123

American troops from metro Atlanta killed in Iraq: 36

American troops from Georgia wounded in Iraq: 858

Youngest Georgian killed in Iraq: 19

Oldest Georgian killed in Iraq: 57

Sources: Military Times, Brookings Institution, U.S. Dept. of Defense, National Archives

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Amount Coca-Cola Co. paid former CEO Neville Isdell in 2007: $31.9 million

Amount Coca-Cola paid current CEO Muhtar Kent in 2007: $8.7 million

Average salary of an account manager (sales) at Coca-Cola: $38,327

Amount Home Depot paid former CEO Robert Nardelli in 2006: $13.1 million

Value of Nardelli’s Home Depot severance package: $210 million

People Home Depot laid off from its Vinings headquarters in January: 500

Amount Southern Co. paid CEO David Ratcliffe in 2006: $7.8 million

Annual salary for “utility worker” position advertised on Southern Co.’s website: $24,696

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, PayScale, Executive PayWatch Database, CFO magazine, Fortune magazine, Athens Banner-Herald, New York Times

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Acres identified as greenspace in 20-county metro area: 170,000

Approximate acreage of DeKalb County: 170,000

Amount of money regional voters have approved for greenspace acquisition since 2003: $2.16 million

Percentage of land in 20-county metro area protected as “greenspace”: 4

Number of acres of trees in metro Atlanta that are lost to development daily: 50

Cost of plot of “greenspace” on DeKalb Avenue area residents want to save from development: $1 million

Price the land was sold for last year: $297,900

Number of condo units planned on the lot: 10

Minimum lot size, in acres, Atlanta Parks and Recreation will purchase: 2

Size, in acres, of the DeKalb Avenue lot: .33

Number of days residents were given to raise that money: 30

Rank of Atlanta, out of 10, for cities with least amount of park space as a percentage of city acreage: 2

Acres of greenspace the Beltline is poised to create: 1,200

Acres of greenspace in Atlanta per 1,000 people: 7.9

Acres of greenspace in Raleigh per 1,000 people: 35.6

Sources: Atlanta Regional Commission, NASA, Trees Atlanta, Beltline, Trust for Public Land, DeKalb County Tax Assessors

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Of the few politicians who write blogs, state Senate President Pro-Tem Eric Johnson does a great job — and I really mean that. Often times the posts legislators write are rambling or appear half-hearted. Sometimes they overuse exclamation points. Johnson writes these bizarrely captivating bullet-point posts about his day and the political process, what it means, and how it works. And believe it or not, they’re actually entertaining. This one yesterday really made me scratch my head, though. I have to wonder if our most recent Add It Up was his muse.

(more…)

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Amount former Atlanta police officer Daniel Betts illegally took weekly from an apartment complex to provide extra patrols: $120

According to the FBI, minimum amount former Atlanta police officer Gregg Junnier took weekly from several businesses to provide extra patrols: $400

Years in prison Junnier faces for his role in the 2006 killing of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston during a drug raid: 10

Years in prison former Atlanta police officer Jason Smith faces for his role in Johnston’s killing: 12

Number of cases involving the indicted officers now being reviewed by the Fulton County district attorney: 40

Men convicted on Junnier’s and Smith’s testimony who’ve been released from prison: 4

Cases dropped by Fulton County district attorney because they relied on Junnier’s and Smith’s testimony: 41

Age of middle-schooler Atlanta police officer Wilson Carstaffin is accused of molesting: 12

Sources: AJC, 11 Alive, New York Times

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U.S. unemployment rate in November 2007: 4.7 percent

U.S. unemployment rate in December 2007: 5.0 percent

Months since such a large increase in unemployment was recorded in single month: 73

Months since the 9/11 attacks: 74

Georgia’s December 2007 unemployment rate: 4.6 percent

Unemployed persons in Georgia: 236,454

Approximate weekly unemployment insurance benefit for someone laid off from full-time job paying $10/hour: $138

Portion of that $138 owed in state and federal income taxes: $22

Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Georgia Department of Labor, National Employment Law Project

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From zero to 100, Georgia’s overall state grade for public education: 80.2

Mississippi’s overall state grade for public education: 68.9

National average grade for public education: 75.9

Average dollars spent annually on each student in Georgia: 8,658

Rank of Georgia in United States for per-pupil spending: 27

Georgia’s grade for K-12 achievement: 68.1

K-12 achievement grade for Massachusetts: 85

Percentage of Georgia high school students who graduate: 56.1

Number of states with higher high school graduation rates than Georgia: 48

Source: EPE Research Center 2008 Quality Counts public education survey