Georgia News Roundup

Man wanted in Boston shooting

ATLANTA (TNS) — A man was in the Cobb County Jail Tuesday awaiting extradition to Boston, where authorities there say he was involved in a “brazen daytime shooting” that left a 20-year-old man dead.

Keith Anthony Cousins was arrested in a unit at the Campus Edge apartment complex right by Kennesaw State University’s Marietta campus Friday at 7:30 a.m., according to a warrant by a Cobb sheriff’s deputy.

The warrant lists Cousins as living in the Marietta apartment, but police didn’t say how long he’d been there.

Cousins has been charged as a fugitive from justice wanted on a homicide count and has no bond.

The 30-year-old Cousins, and another man now in custody, are accused of shooting 28-year-old Christopher Austin at 10 a.m. June 28 in Dorchester, according to Boston police.

Austin died several days later at a hospital.

Police said Boston homicide detectives were headed to Atlanta to interview Cousins.

Elderly jewel thief arrested at Walmart

ATLANTA (TNS) — Doris Payne, the notorious 86-year-old jewel thief who has stolen about $2 million worth of goods over the last six decades, has been arrested again.

But this time, she’s not accused of shoplifting from a high-end store. Police say she stole $86.22 worth of goods Monday night from the Walmart on Chamblee Tucker Road in DeKalb County, according to a police report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

A store employee notified a Chamblee officer who was working in the store that Payne was shoplifting about 5 p.m., police said in the report.

The employee told the officer that Payne grabbed items from the pharmacy, electronics and grocery departments, put them in a shopping cart and concealed some of them in her purse as well as a Walmart shopping bag.

According to the report, Payne went to a checkout line, pulled more goods from the shopping cart and tried to hide them, too. All of the items were eventually returned to the store, and Payne was arrested on a charge of theft by shoplifting, police said.

She was taken to the Chamblee jail, where police discovered she was wearing an electronic ankle monitor. She was released after posting bail.

Payne, who has been open about her habits of theft, was the subject of a Netflix documentary called “The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne.”

UGA creating 115 new scholarships

ATHENS (TNS) — University of Georgia officials announced Monday the university’s ongoing fundraising efforts have created 115 scholarships, saying most of them will be awarded to needy students this upcoming semester.

The scholarships will be given to first-year students with unmet financial need, officials said in a news release.

The university recently began a campaign to raise $1.2 billion by 2020. UGA has collected $227.8 million in new gifts and pledges in the first year of the public phase of the program, which officials said is a record.

Few Fulton teachers opt for bonuses

ATLANTA (TNS) — In an effort to entice the district’s highest performing teachers to its lowest performing schools, Fulton County chose a bold course: Launch a pilot program in which the teachers earn a $20,000 stipend if they agree to transfer.

Announced in 2014, the pilot has quietly faded away, failing to yield the desired results, an outcome similar experiments elsewhere in the country also saw.

“We ultimately do not view this as a scalable model for Fulton County Schools at this time,” said a spokeswoman.

Yet school systems are still considering incentives to entice teachers to problem schools. The problem is that few teachers are tempted by such bonuses.

Judge blocks school system suit delay

MACON (TNS) — A federal judge denied a request Tuesday to delay a civil case while prosecutors pursue criminal charges related to technology purchases by the Bibb County school district.

During a hearing, U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell considered whether a lawsuit filed by the Bibb County school district against former school Superintendent Romain Dallemand, technology company owner Isaac Culver and others should be put on hold while prosecutors pursue a criminal case against Culver, his company and his business partner.

Culver’s lawyers also asked the judge to issue an order restricting access to financial records subpoenaed by the school district.

The school district’s multimillion-dollar suit alleges that Dallemand, Culver and his company; former school district technology director Tom Tourand; Culver; Culver’s company, Progressive Consulting Technologies Inc.; Comptech Computer Technologies Inc. and its president and CEO, Allen J. Stephen; and Pinnacle/CSG Inc. and and its president, Cory McFarlane, participated in a series of fraudulent acts concerning 2012 technology purchases for the district. Tourand died July 2.

A federal grand jury indicted Culver, Progressive Consulting Technlogies Inc., and Culver’s business partner, Dave Canty, on fraud charges last month stemming from the sale of 15,000 Ncomputing devices to the district that were delivered without key, necessary components to make them functional.

Lawyers representing Culver and his company contended that issues in the civil and criminal cases are related to the same key facts. Portions of the indictment are identical to an amended complaint filed by the school district in the civil case.

Gunman shouts ‘Police,’ fatally shoots man

MACON (TNS) — A young father was in bed with his child when he was fatally shot in the head early Tuesday.

Casey Harvey was asleep when someone started banging on the door just after 6 a.m. at unit B-3 of Rockland Apartments at 2295 Recreation Road in Macon.

The gunman yelled, “Police!” and kicked in the door of the upstairs apartment were Harvey, his girlfriend and three children were sleeping, deputies said.

A neighbor who arrived at the apartment shortly after the shooting said the gunman first approached the girlfriend, then went to another bedroom where Harvey was sleeping and shot him at least once.

Medical Center, Navicent Health, EMS pronounced him dead.

Bibb County sheriff’s deputies guarded the scene as crime lab technicians gathered evidence.

As Harvey’s body was removed, emotions ran high and tensions escalated between families of the victim and his girlfriend, deputies said.

No one was in custody Tuesday, but investigators were following leads.