Fresh Loaf

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.

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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

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Number of Georgia state legislators: 236

Number of Republican legislators in 1988: 38

Number of Republican legislators in 2008: 140

Number of Democratic legislators in 1988: 197

Number of Democratic legislators in 2008: 96

Number of legislators who were attorneys in 1988: 41

Number of legislators who are attorneys in 2008: 35

Number of legislators who worked in real estate in 1988: 19

Number of legislators who work in real estate in 2008: 18

Number of legislators who were homemakers in 1988: 6

Number of legislators who are homemakers in 2008: 0

Number of legislators who were farmers in 1988: 27

Number of legislators who are farmers in 2008: 10

Number of legislators who were educators in 1988: 12

Number of legislators who are educators in 2008: 5

Number of legislators who were motivational speakers in 1988: 0

Number of legislators who are motivational speakers in 2008: 2

Number of legislators who were funeral directors in 1988: 6

Number of legislators who are funeral directors in 2008: 1

Number of legislators who were ministers in 1988: 1

Number of legislators who are ministers in 2008: 5

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Year the Atlanta Falcons franchise came into existence … 1966

Year the Falcons won their first division title … 1980

Years the Falcons have been in Atlanta … 41

Number of years the team has had a .500 record or lower … 32

Number of full-time head coaches in franchise history … 10

Number of those coaches who left with a winning record … 2

How much money Falcons safety Eugene Robinson offered to pay an undercover cop for oral sex on the eve of Super Bowl XXXIII … $40

Number of points the Denver Broncos scored against the Falcons in that game … 34

Number of other Falcons Super Bowl appearances … 0

Number of Falcons in the Pro Football Hall of Fame … 0

Number of pages on the Falcons’ official website devoted to team history … 0

Team record since Arthur Blank bought the team in 2002 … 43-49

Sources: Wikipedia, ESPN.com

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Estimated years it will take to complete 22-mile Atlanta Beltline project: 25

Years it took to build the Great Pyramid at Giza: 20-30

Years it took to build a 31-mile tunnel and railway under the English Channel connecting England and France: 8

Years between the U.S.S.R. putting Laika the dog in space and Neil Armstrong walking on the moon: 12

Years it took to build the 5,600 mile-long Trans-Siberian Railroad: 12

Years it took to build the Hoover Dam: 5

Years it took to build first 88 miles of metro D.C.’s 106-mile Metrorail system: 25

Sources: Eurotunnel, PBS Online, NASA, BBC, Trans-Siberian Web Encyclopedia, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority

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People living with HIV/AIDS in Georgia as of Dec. 31, 2006: 29,254

Georgia’s ranking in number of AIDS cases per 100,000 cases in the United States: 8

Number of persons newly diagnosed with AIDS in Georgia in 2005: 932

Number of persons newly diagnosed with HIV in Georgia in 2005: 1,267

Percentage of Georgians diagnosed with AIDS in 2005 who are African-Americans: 77

Percentage of Georgians who are African-American: 29

Percentage of new HIV infections occurring in people under 25: 50

Number of promising HIV vaccine candidates in testing: 20

Sources: Georgia Department of Human Resources, Georgia AIDS Coalition, AID Atlanta

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Gallons of water consumed by average Cobb County household in
October: 6,510

Gallons of water used by Cobb resident Chris G. Carlos in October:
440,000

Swimming pools that much water could fill: 58

Gallons of water power plants Atkinson and McDonough consume daily from the Chattahoochee River: 862 million

Number of power plants located along the Chattahoochee River: 10

New jobs that proposed coal-fired power plant Longleaf could
bring to Early County, Georgia’s sixth poorest county: 100

Gallons of water Longleaf is expected to draw from the Chattahoochee each day, according to the AJC: 20 million

“Drops” of water Longleaf will “normally” draw from the Chattahoochee daily, according to plant project manager: 0

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The New Republic, Southern
Environmental Law Center, Greenlaw

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Pounds of trash the average American generates daily: 3.3

Pounds of trash the average Georgian generates daily: 6.6

Tons of solid waste disposed of in Atlanta in 2003: 192,363

Tons of recycling collected in 2003: 27,910

Cost of disposing Georgia’s trash in 2004: $90 million

Value of raw materials made if that trash would have been recycled: $250 million

Amount of greenhouse gases, in million metric tons, kept out of the air in 2000 because of recycling: 32.9

Tons of garbage a StarTech Plasma Converter could annihilate in one day and convert into energy: 2,000

Cost of a StarTech Plasma Converter: $250 million

Sources: Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta Department of Public Works, Popular Science, National Recycling Coalition, “Georgia Statewide Waste Characterization Study,” Georgia Department of Community Affairs

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Percentage by which Alpharetta City Council Post 4 incumbent Debbie Gibson was defeated: 2

Page views of DUIDebbie.com, a page showing video of Gibson’s March DUI arrest: 18,000

Percentage of Doraville mayoral vote received by former Doraville City Councilman Tom Hart: 18

Number of months Doraville police chief served in the Army National Guard in Iraq before Hart voted to fire him: 18

Number of times Doraville Mayor Ray Jenkins forbade Hart to speak to city clerk Betty Cloer because of his alleged penchant for verbally abusing her: 1

Number of votes by which 20-year-old Libertarian Joshua Patterson lost his bid for City Council in Hampton: 3

Number of “Friends” Patterson has on MySpace: 30

Sources: AJC, DUIDebbie.com, city of Alpharetta, Dora-blog

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Cost of Skystream 3.7 power-generating wind turbine atop a 45-foot tower installed by Mann family in Grant Park: $15,000

Average wind speed Skystream 3.7 turbine requires for “best results,” according to manufacturer: 12 mph

Average wind speed in Atlanta, according to U.S. Department of Energy wind maps: 0-9.8 mph

Size of “unobstructed” property Skystream 3.7 requires to work, according to manufacturer: 0.5 acre

Size of Grant Park neighborhood residential lot on which Skystream 3.7 was erected: 0.1618 acre

Amount of electricity Skystream 3.7 could produce on an ideal site in Atlanta: 0.15 kilowatts per hour

Amount of electricity saved by replacing two 100 watt light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs: 0.15 kilowatts per hour

Cost of 23 watt Mini Twist Compact Fluorescent Bulb at Lowe’s closest to Grant Park: $7.27.

Sources: AJC, Southwest Windpower, Fulton Board Of Assessors, U.S. Department of Energy, TreesYesTowersNo.org, Lowe’s

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Amount of the 10-year contract Michael Vick signed with the Falcons in 2004: $130 million

Average price of a house in Sugarloaf Country Club, where Vick lives: $1 million

Amount of Vick’s signing bonus the Falcons could reclaim: $22 million

Approximate number of e-mails sent to Nike before the company suspended its contract with Vick: 165,000

Betting pool for a fight in 2002 that included a female pit bull named Jane who was owned by Vick: $2,000

Amount lost in wagers on a dog that Vick’s co-defendant says he and Vick later executed by wetting it down and electrocuting it: $13,000

Amount in cash Vick allegedly paid in a gambling loss to a cooperating witness when his dogs lost two fights: $23,000

Number of dogs Vick allegedly helped execute in April because they weren’t good fighters: 8

Years of jail time Vick faces if the state of Virginia, as promised, pursues animal cruelty and dogfighting charges against him: 40

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ESPN.com, federal court documents

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According to the 2007 “Kids Count” data book, the number of states ranked lower than Georgia in childhood well-being … 9

Of the 10 major categories, the number in which Georgia fared better than the national average … 0

Number of Georgia high school dropouts … 49,000

Number of Georgia children without health insurance … 285,000

Number of Georgia children living in poverty … 469,000

Total Personal Income (TPI) of Georgia … $282,321,951

Georgia’s rank in TPI among U.S. states … 11

Georgia’s rank among U.S. states in providing for children … 41

If children are the future, the number of states with a brighter future than Georgia … 40

Sources: “Kids Count” Data Book (www.kidscount.org) Bureau of Economic Analysis U.S. Department of Commerce (www.bea.gov), AJC

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Number of years until the next Atlanta mayoral election … 2.5

Approximate number of dollars Councilwoman Mary Norwood spent on a recent public opinion poll … 12,000

Number of potential voters polled … 400

Percentage of polled voters who knew who Norwood is … 54

Number of potential mayoral candidates Norwood says she leads in public support … 5

Percentage of polled voters who said they’d elect Norwood mayor … 15

Percentage of polled voters who said they’d elect Robb Pitts mayor … 14

Percentage of polled voters who said they’d elect Lisa Borders mayor … 13

Percentage of polled voters who said they’d elect Cathy Woolard mayor … 11

Percentage of margin of error of poll … 5

Number of references to potential candidate Clark Howard in a Norwood press release about poll … 0

Percentage of polled voters who had favorable impression of Howard … NA*

Source: Lake Research Partners polling firm

* Figure not released

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Max number of years behind bars Michael Vick could receive in Virginia if charged with dogfighting and animal cruelty … 5
Max number of years behind bars “Pacman” Jones could receive for his alleged involvement in a Las Vegas strip club melee … 12
Cumulative days singer Bobby Brown has spent in jail … 80
Years former state school Superintendent Linda Schrenko was sentenced to federal prison … 8
Days in prison former Braves shortstop Rafael Furcal served for parole violation … 21
Total months Bill Campbell will serve in jail for tax evasion … 30
Years each of the above would spend behind bars if they divided jail terms equally among themselves … 4.9
Max number of years Genarlow Wilson was sentenced to prison for having oral sex with a 15-year-old when he was 17 … 10

Sources: Associated Press, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Percentage increase in the number of African-American Georgians who enrolled in college from 1995 to 2005, according to a June 2007 study: 63

Percentage increase in the number of whites who did: 16

Total number of Georgians who enrolled in college in 2005: 426,650

Of those, the percentage that was African-American: 31

Percentage of Georgia’s overall population that’s African-American: 31

Out of 16 Southern states, the number with a higher percentage of African-American college enrollment than Georgia: 1

Of those states, the number that exceed Georgia in the percentage of African-Americans who hold bachelor’s degrees: 1

Percentage of African-American Georgians who enrolled in historically black colleges in 1995: 28

Percentage who enrolled in historically black colleges in 2005: 15

Sources: Southern Regional Education Board Fact Book on Higher Education, U.S. Census Bureau

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Moscow was recently named the world’s most expensive city in a study by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Stateside, New York City tops the list. How does Atlanta rank?

Income needed for comparable lifestyle in Manhattan if earning $50,000 in Atlanta: $106,198

Monthly rent for a NYC SoHo two-bedroom apartment: $4,713

Monthly rent for an ATL SoNo two-bedroom apartment: $1,840

Average cost of parking spot per day in Atlanta, Moscow and Manhattan, respectively: $10, $30, $40

Cup o’ joe in Moscow: $4.20

Cup o’ joe at Atlanta QuikTrip: $.89

Bootleg bottle of vodka in Moscow: $1.50

Legal liter of Smirnoff in Atlanta: $14

Sources: CNNMoney, The Real Estate Group New York, Kaplan Properties, Colliers International, BBC News, Euromonitor

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Percentage of high school males and females, respectively, in Georgia who graduated high school in 2004: 48.3, 58.7

Percentage of high school students nationwide who graduated high school in 2004: 69.9

Georgia’s 2005 national ranking for average SAT score: 50

Georgia’s 2006 national ranking for average SAT score: 46

Number of students who earned the HOPE scholarship for the 2004-2005 school year: 236,368

Number of students who earned the HOPE scholarship for the 2005-2006 school year: 212,940

Number of freshmen in public colleges who earned the HOPE scholarship in 2006: 38,660

Number of seniors in public colleges who earned the HOPE scholarship in 2006: 19,997

Sources: The Graduation Project, “2007 Diplomas Count,” Georgia Department of Education, Georgia College 411, Georgia Student Finance Commission, College Board

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Number of murders in Atlanta in 2006 and 2005, respectively: 110, 90

Percentage increase of homicides in the past year in Atlanta: 2

Percentage the murder rate increased nationwide in the last year: 0.3

Percentage the murder rate increased in large cities with 1 million people or more in the last year: 6.7

Overall violent-crime percentage increase in Atlanta in the past year: 4.6

Overall violent-crime percentage decrease in New York in the past year: 5.3

Number of years that crime has declined in Atlanta, according to a Georgia State criminologist: 10

Number of murders in the first quarters of 2006 and 2007, respectively: 21, 21

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Amount of money Grady Health System lost in 2006 and 2005, respectively: $20 million, $13 million

Amount consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal recommended Grady cut from its budget: $48.5 million

Total amount, over six months, Alvarez & Marsal was paid for its services: $2 million

Amount Alvarez & Marsal hoped Grady would save by offering early retirement packages to senior employees in March: $15 million

Number of Grady-operated neighborhood clinics Alvarez & Marsal recommended Grady sell: 9

Number of outpatient visits to those clinics in 2005: 888,594

Number of counties in Georgia that fly trauma patients to Grady: 14

Number of counties that contribute to Grady’s operating budget: 2

Sources: Georgia Watch, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Grady Health System

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Number of names on the waiting list for a condo at Trump Towers Atlanta in Midtown, the first phase of which is slated for completion in 2010: 1,000

Total number of condos, starting at $400,000, to be built in both towers: 560

Going price on Craigslist.org for a ticket to Ivanka Trump’s (Donald’s daughter) May 11 “Creating Wealth Summit” in Atlanta: $149

List price of 10-acre plot on the Savannah marsh offered by Sotheby’s International Realty, an offshoot of the ritzy New York auction house that will open its first Atlanta office in June: $2.8 million

Percentage increase in the number of $1 million-plus homes sold in Atlanta, 2004 to 2006: 100

Number of Atlanta hotels featuring rooftop heliports, once the downtown W is completed next year: 1

Cost of lobster tail francaise at the Ashton Kutcher-owned Dolce Enoteca in Atlantic Station: $55

Percentage of jobs in metro Atlanta in 2004 paying less than $40,000 per year: 63

Sources: Atlanta Business Chronicle, atlanta.craigslist.org, Sotheby’s International Realty, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, the Dolce Group

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