Fresh Loaf

City Hall insiders were whispering on Thursday that Atlanta mayoral candidate Mary Norwood would receive the valuable endorsement from the city’s firefighters. The rumor surprised some, considering the city councilwoman’s vote in June against the three-mill property tax that has helped end police and firefighter furloughs.

But win the endorsement she did, the AJC’s Eric Stirgus reports. Jim Daws, head of the local chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters and a lieutenant with the city’s Department of Fire Rescue, told Stirgus that the union weighed Norwood’s overall support of the department in making its decision. The official announcement by the union, which boasts roughly 450 members, will be made today.

(UPDATE): Kasim Reed’s campaign chimes in about Norwood’s endorsement:

“Throughout my career in public service and over the course of this campaign, I have made Public Safety my number one priority. While I am respectful of the decision to endorse another candidate, I am unwavering in my support for our city’s firefighters. The men and women of the Atlanta fire department—who place their lives on the line to protect our families—deserve to have a mayor who will fight for them, day in and day out. If elected mayor, I would be honored to serve them.”

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The state Senate passed legislation today that would allow Atlanta residents to decide if they want to pay extra for more police officers and firefighters.

State Sen. Kasim Reed, a Democrat from Atlanta who’s also a front-runner in the mayor’s race, sponsored the bill.

Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports:

Legislation asking Atlanta voters to tax themselves to pay for additional police and fire protection cleared an important hurdle in the General Assembly Thursday.

The Senate voted 30-23 to hold a referendum in the city in November on a plan to raise property taxes to hire more police officers and firefighters.

…

Reed said the legislation is modeled after a bill the General Assembly adopted allowing a sales tax referendum in Atlanta to pay for water and sewer improvements, which won approval from 71 percent of city voters. He said the property tax increase would expire after four years unless reauthorized in a subsequent referendum.

The bill now moves to the House. If approved, Reed says the owner of a $250,000 home would pay an additional $6 a month on their property taxes. The senator received some guff from his colleagues, who said Mayor Shirley Franklin and the City Council could resolve the dispute over raising taxes vs. cutting public safety themselves. But Reed says the problem can’t wait for a new administration in City Hall.

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Late Saturday night, a Grant Park couple’s home burned for 25 minutes before firefighting crews arrived. Officials are probing why it took the City of Atlanta 911 call center so long to relay the message to fire crews. A computer malfunction has hindered the department’s ability to determine the exact time the 911 call was received.

Below is a video of the fire posted on YouTube by the couple’s neighbor.

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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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