Fresh Loaf

This photo, taken yesterday, makes it look as if all is peachy keen over at Atlanta Police headquarters. Nope, no woeful under-staffing here. Officer morale is at an all-time high!

Actually, the mood at City Hall East more closely resembles this.

Note to developer Emory Morsberger, City Hall East’s soon-to-be owner: If you were to permanently install a rainbow over the 1920s, former Sears, Roebuck & Co. distribution center, you could easily charge 20 percent more for the 1,100 lofts that will replace the dismal police cubicles. Just a thought.

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‘WITHIN REACH’: Obama gives a quasi-victory speech in Iowa without actually declaring victory, after Clinton runs away with Kentucky and he wins Oregon, leaving him about 70 delegates shy of securing the nomination.

HAMILTON JORDAN: The right-hand man of President Jimmy Carter, and part of the “Georgia Mafia,” dies at his home in Atlanta at the age of 63.

TED KENNEDY: Massachusetts senator’s malignant brain tumor is likely life-threatening, although no treatment plan has yet been announced. Reuters examines the prospects of the Kennedy legacy after his tenure.

TESLER GUILTY: Rookie cop involved in Kathryn Johnston shooting is found guilty of lying to investigators, but is cleared of two more serious charges.

BEYOND THE SHADOW OF A DROUGHT: Some Georgia pols seem unaware that being in a drought doesn’t mean it never rains.

MATT RYAN: Signs with the Falcons for $72 million over six years.

SMOLTZ: Shuts us out of his life.

AUTISM AND VACCINES: Georgia Supreme Court considers whether suits alleging vaccines caused autism are pre-empted by a federal law.

HARTSFIELD SATISFACTION DOWN: Canceled flights, lost luggage and waiting in lines while holding their shoes doesn’t satisfy airline passengers as much as it used to.

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TEACHING TO THE TESTAMENT: Bible-as-literature classes clear legal hurdles in Tennessee and Georgia.

FLOCK ENROLL: Atlanta is the No. 1 major metropolitan area in the nation for college enrollment growth over the last 17 years and No. 2 in number of degrees awarded.

OVERRIDE: City Council takes Mayor Franklin down a notch by overriding three of her recent vetoes.

TESLER TRIAL: Jury deadlocked.

LANIER: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers takes heavy fire for its water-releasin’ ways at the Lake Lanier Association’s annual meeting Monday; the association is so fed up it’s funding its own scientific study on how much water the downstream mussels need to live.

GRADY CURVE: Grady Health System is officially taken over by Grady Memorial Hospital Corp. today, and also receives the first $50 million installment of the $200 million the Robert M. Woodruff Foundation pledged.

FOOT (AND MOUTH) IN THE DOOR: The U.S. farm bill includes a provision allowing the incurable foot-and-mouth disease to be studied in a mainland U.S. facility, clearing the way for the National Bio- and Agro-defense Facility, for which Athens is one of six candidates.

COMING TO BLOWS: Sustained wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph expected today.

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MYANMAR CYCLONE: Death toll exceeds 22,000.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: Georgia’s the first state to start killing prisoners again, with William Earl Lynd scheduled to be lethally injected at 7 tonight.

GEORGIA AQUARIUM: Adding dolphins, as well as 1.3 million gallons of water for them.

NORREESE HAYNES: Clayton judge says Haynes can’t have his school board seat back and he sued the wrong group, since the school board doesn’t administer elections. Haynes says he’ll appeal and now sue the right group, the board of elections.

MORE IN CLAYTON: New corrective superintendent is making all school administrators reapply for their jobs.

FALCONS: Linebacker Michael Boley arrested in Dacula on charges he beat his wife.

KEPT ON TRUCKING: Disgruntled truck driver drives truck cab into lake.

ARTHUR TESLER: Trial underway for the only cop involved in Kathryn Johnston shooting to plead not guilty; lawyers say he was manipulated by two senior officers.

MAN FROM PLANES: Delta prez explains to surly Minnesota lawmakers that he’s going to be taking their Northwest HQ back to Atlanta.

DOT FIRINGS: WSB-TV open-records request finds reasons why Gena Abraham has fired 43 employees since taking over in December, ranging from theft, pulling a machete on another employee, bringing a gun to work and e-mailing porn.

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PENNSYLVANIANS: Vote today to determine which candidate’s cable-news-fueled faux controversies have most distracted them.

COMIC RELEAF: Hagar the Horrible, Snuffy Smith and 43 other comic strips unite for Earth Day-themed strips today.

STUNNING: Byron, Ga.-based company indicted for allegedly relabeling and selling faulty stun grenades to the FBI.

TESLER TRIAL: Judge closes jury selection to media and public, sans explanation.

REVOLTING DEVELOPMENT: Hall County would like the drought to end so it can start sprawling again.

SMOLTZ: Four strikeouts away from No. 3,000; could get it tonight in Atlanta.

ANDRUW JONES: Flailing.

PANS: Being handled more often in Atlanta, according to ACVB study.

KEEP ON TRUCKIN’: Truck crashes into bank branch in Gainesville. And in case you can’t quite picture what this looked like from the driver’s point of view, AccessNorthGa has you covered.

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OBAMA: Getting snarkier, outspending Clinton 2-to-1 on TV ads in Pa. on Primary Eve.

GRACE UNDER FIRES: Okefenokee Swamp open, still recovering from last year’s forest fires; boat tours survey remaining damage.

A NICE METH YOU’VE GOTTEN ME INTO: CNN reporter arrested in Central Park with meth in his pocket while returning to his hotel room with friends.

THE TRIALS OF ABRAHAM: Smitten DOT commish to announce today whether she plans to stay in her post, will then be voted in or out by the board.

KATHRYN JOHNSTON SHOOTING: Jury selection for Arthur Tesler’s trial begins today.

THE NEGOTIATOR: Jimmy Carter gets Hamas to agree to hypothetical peace deal, gets snubbed by Israelis.

HAWKS: Lose Game 1 handily.

JUNK FEUD: NBA players LeBron James and DeShawn Stevenson hold proxy feud via rappers Jay-Z and Soulja Boy.

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Deciding between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama won’t be Rep. John Lewis’ only challenge this spring.

The Rev. Markel Hutchins, the 30-year-old minister and activist best known for being the public spokesman for the family of 92-year-old police shooting victim Kathryn Johnston, on Wednesday will announce his bid to unseat the 11-term congressman.

In a letter to friends and supporters, Hutchins calls Lewis a mentor, but pointedly refers to him as an icon of “yesteryears.” Hutchins faults Lewis in his letter for failing to bring federal dollars to the 5th Congressional District, as well as for formally endorsing Sen. Clinton’s run for president.

Hutchins will announce his candidacy at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday from the run-down bridge portion of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, adjacent to the Russell Federal Building. The location’s bridge/crumbling infrastructure/MLK symbolism is intentional.

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(photo by Joeff Davis)

KATHRYN JOHNSTON ANNIVERSARY: FTP vigil outside Johnston’s home

Thanksgiving eve was the first anniversary of the killing of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston by Atlanta police. Johnston was shot multiple times during a bogus drug raid, after which cops planted drugs to cover up their crime.

Shortly before the mayor and Chief Pennington’s photo-op memorial ceremony outside her home, a group calling itself FTP held its own vigil. Part of the group’s “Cease Fire: Stop Police Terrorism Campaign,” the gathering included speakers from Operation Lead, New Order, International Action Center and Coalition for Justice, all speaking out against what they call an epidemic of police shootings of African-American victims in major cities across the United States.

Among the speakers was ex-Rep. Cynthia McKinney, who told the crowd about the four unarmed African-Americans who had been killed by Miami police in the 19 days prior to the vigil.

FTP spokesman Kalonji Changa mocked the prison sentences the two white officers who’ve already pleaded guilty for the shooting will receive. If he (Changa), an African-American, had burst into a woman’s home and killed her, he asked, “Would I be facing only 10-12 years?” “No!” was the crowd’s response.

The vigil ended with a march through the streets to the chants of “Rise up! We are not going to take it anymore.”

Several hours later, the crowd at Mayor Shirley Franklin and Atlanta police Chief Richard Pennington’s vigil was larger, but police officers outnumbered members of the community. In a ceremony called “Remembrance and Healing,” and heavy on photo opportunities, two white birds were released and candles were lit.

Asked about the two separate gatherings, FTP spokesmen Kalonji Changa said, “The cease-fire campaign is about justice for the people. We feel the city event was more a mockery of justice.”

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