Georgia Briefs – Dec. 16, 2014

UGA seeks dean for forestry school

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — The University of Georgia is seeking a new dean for its Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources.

Michael Clutter has served as Warnell dean since 2007. He recently announced he is leaving effective Jan. 2 to pursue a private sector opportunity. Warnell professor and associate dean for academic affairs Dale Greene will serve as interim dean.

The university says senior vice president for academic affairs and provost Pamela Whitten has appointed a committee to begin a national search to fill the position.

The committee includes faculty, staff, student and alumni representatives and will be chaired by College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences dean J. Scott Angle.

The UGA Search Group in Human Resources will assist the committee.

Fire heavily damages church in Roswell

ROSWELL, Ga. (AP) — Authorities are searching for the cause of a fire that heavily damaged a church in Roswell, just north of Atlanta.

Firefighters responded to the blaze at the Epiphany Byzantine Catholic Church on Old Alabama Road around 2 a.m. Sunday. They said that parts of the church, and parts of the woods surrounding the building, were in flames when firefighters arrived.

WSB-TV reports that agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were at the scene investigating over the weekend.

Roswell police spokeswoman Lisa Holland said a man was taken into custody near the scene and charged with disorderly conduct, an allegation unrelated to the cause of the fire.

Georgia agencies get $70 million in military gear

ATLANTA (AP) — According to U.S. Department of Defense records, equipment ranging from an ice cream maker to grenade launchers has been given to Georgia law enforcement and government agencies through a federal military surplus program.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Georgia agencies received more than $70 million in decommissioned military gear, mostly in the last three years.

Data shows Georgia’ surplus gear acquisitions jumped from roughly $6.7 million in 2012 to more than $36.4 million worth of gear in 2014. The newspaper reports more than 2,800 automatic rifles, bayonets, riot gear, and more than 400 vehicles including Humvees have been distributed through the department’s 1033 Program.

Robert Friedmann, a criminologist and director of the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, said American police are trying to keep up with weapons that criminals are sometimes using against them on the street.

“If you look at some other police departments and agencies in other countries, the United States is an exception,” he said. “There is nowhere in the world where you have so many police officers killed on duty.”

Authorities identify pilot killed in coastal Ga. plane crash

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — Authorities in coastal Georgia have identified the pilot of a small plane who was killed when the aircraft hit a house on St. Simons Island.

Assistant Glynn County Coroner Chris Stewart tells the Brunswick News 68-year-old James Robert Wood of Brunswick died when the single-engine plane he was flying ran into a house near the McKinnon St. Simons Island Airport on Saturday.

Glynn County Director of Emergency Management Jay Wiggins says no one was inside the house at the time of the crash. Authorities say the plane didn’t penetrate the home’s exterior.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

Spelman College suspends its Cosby professorship

ATLANTA (AP) — An Atlanta college is suspending its endowed professorship with Bill Cosby amid allegations by more than two dozen women that the comedian and actor sexually assaulted them.

Spelman College is the latest school to disassociate itself from Cosby.

Spelman says in a statement that the program was established in the name of Cosby and his wife, Camille, to bring positive attention and scholars to the campus.

In the statement, the college says the current situation “prevents us from continuing to meet these objectives fully” and the program will be suspended until the goals can again be met.

Cosby has denied the allegations, but he has been mostly silent about the accusations.

Meanwhile, another Cosby performance was canceled, this time in Houston. Organizers say there is intent to reschedule, though no new date has been announced.