Georgia News Roundup

Child left at Atlanta airport

ATLANTA (TNS) The Maryland woman who allegedly left her 4-year-old daughter with a couple at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has been found, Athens-Clarke County police said Saturday.

“Officers with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department have located 29-year-old Maranda Harvey,” according to a statement.

Just before 10 a.m., Athens police received a 911 call from the Graduate Hotel, saying they believed Harvey was an occupant at the hotel, police said.

Officers made contact with Harvey and positively ID’d her, according to police. She’s being evaluated by medical personnel.

Harvey, of Odenton, Md., drove from her home and arrived at the airport Thursday evening, Atlanta police Sgt. Warren Pickard said earlier. When she got to the airport atrium, Harvey asked a couple to watch her child while she shopped, Pickard said.

Harvey left and never returned. About 7:15 a.m., the couple called police.

Police say Harvey rented a white Nissan Versa with a Florida license plate and left town. The plate number was not released.

It is not known what ties, if any, Harvey has to Atlanta.

The child was with police until relatives in Maryland can be reached.

Carjacked man alive ‘by grace of God’

ATLANTA (TNS) — The man who was carjacked by the two escaped inmates in Putnam County said he forgives them for what they did to him.

“I’m not mad at them,” Phillip Beasley told Channel 2 Action News.

It happened Tuesday morning on Highway 16. Beasley, who was en route to work, said he normally would’ve had his 3-year-old with him but fortunately did not that day.

Beasley said the prison transport bus was stopped on the road when he pulled up behind it, Channel 2 reported. Then he saw two inmates with guns running toward him screaming, “Get out.”

“By the grace of God I’m here,” Beasley said.

Beasley said as inmates Donnie Russell Rowe and Ricky Dubose ran toward him, he thought of hugging his wife and kids — ” ‘Cause I knew they were not going to have their daddy anymore.”

Beasley didn’t make eye contact with the men, just got out of his green Honda Civic and waited. He heard the car drive off, dropped to his knees and prayed, and then went to a nearby store and called 911.

He learned later two guards were killed.

“I am very sorry they lost their lives,” Beasley said. “I can’t imagine what their families are going through. Why they left me, I don’t know.”

Food truck makes Friday spicy

WARNER ROBINS (TNS) — There was a big turnout for Food Truck Friday at the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins as civilian and military personnel alike kept the three vendors busy and the atmosphere lively.

In addition to its usual routine of serving up tasty foods to both those on-the-go and those with a little time to linger, last week’s event included a special Father’s Day raffle, providing one lucky dad with a free lunch.

Food Truck Friday is a weekly event held by the museum to provide a fun change of pace for those on base and in Middle Georgia. The lineup for trucks changes weekly and features a variety of offerings from Southern barbecue to hot wings to vegetarian cuisine.

Mitch Johnson, owner of Johnson Boys BBQ, said that he enjoys working the Food Truck Fridays as “a nice way to get outside” and away from the usual humdrum desk work.

Food Truck Friday takes place from 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. weekly.

Grady workers get thank and pizza

ATLANTA (TNS) — Emergency and trauma workers at Grady Memorial Hospital got a collective pat on the back — and stomach — Friday for their work in connection with last week’s deadly bus crash in south Fulton County.

The emergency staff at Huntsville Hospital in Huntsville, Ala., sent 25 large pizzas to the Grady workers in a show of appreciation, Grady spokeswoman Khara Persad said.

“We know what it’s like to be there, so this gesture is the least we can do to recognize the people who step up in an emergency to save lives,” said Joyce Thomas, emergency preparedness coordinator at Huntsville Hospital.

The bus from Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Huntsville was on its way to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for a mission trip to Botswana when it crashed on Camp Creek Parkway, killing a 17-year-old girl and injuring dozens of other passengers.

“Our physicians, nurses and staff worked together to provide lifesaving care — everyone who came to Grady is in stable condition, and some have returned home,” Persad said.

For the past 10 years, Huntsville’s emergency staff has anted up to send pizzas to other hospitals that do similar emergency work, Thomas said.

“In 2006 we activated our disaster plan when a high school bus filled with students plunged 30 feet off a bridge,” Thomas said. “A few days after the crash, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston sent over pizzas for all our staff who worked during the accident, and we have been paying it forward ever since.”