Georgia News Briefly

Captain becomes first female infantry officer

COLUMBUS (TNS) — Capt. Kristen Griest, one of three women to graduate from U.S. Army Ranger School, has become the first female infantry officer, a Fort Benning official confirmed Wednesday.

Griest will graduate this week from the Captains Career Course at Fort Benning. The Army has not announced her next assignment.

Military Occupational Specialty assignments in armor and infantry were not open to women until late last year when Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter opened all military jobs to qualified personnel, male or female.

This will not be the first time Griest has blazed a trail. She and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver became the first two women to graduate from Ranger School, the Army’s most difficult combat training course, last August. They were part of a pilot program that led to the school being opened to women shortly after they graduated. Maj. Lisa Jaster, who started the course last April with Griest and Haver, graduated in October.

Griest, a native of Orange, Conn., is a 2011 U.S. Military Academy graduate.

Bill making conflicts harder to find signed

ATLANTA (TNS) — Gov. Nathan Deal signed legislation into law that critics say will make it harder for the public to find out if state lawmakers have possible conflicts of interest.

Senate Bill 199 was amended late in the 2016 legislative session and was approved after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Georgia News Lab reported that House Majority Leader Jon Burns, R-Newington, failed to properly disclose at least $120,000 in state agency payments to his private business.

Burns’ Atlanta attorney said the lawmaker has always submitted filings that were consistent with his understanding of the disclosure rules, and that the changes passed by the Legislature were necessary to “clarify the law.”

The state ethics commission, which has the power to fine and sanction officials for violations, is currently reviewing Burns’ filings to determine if he’s complied with disclosure laws.

Tucked into SB 199 is a sentence that says lawmakers and other state officials do not have to report payments from the state on both personal financial disclosure reports and business transaction reports.

Another sentence would ensure that non-statewide officials, such as Burns and other legislators, do not have to disclose payments from political subdivisions of the state, like school districts.

Both respond to issues raised by the AJC/News Lab story.

After the January story ran, Burns and his attorney argued that any payments he did not disclose on his personal financial disclosure were listed on separate business transaction reports, fulfilling, they said, his obligations.

SB 199 would explicitly sanction that practice.

Police shoot man with machete, chicken

ATLANTA (TNS) — DeKalb County police fatally shot a man who was wielding a machete in one hand and a live chicken in the other, the department said.

Authorities said officers tried to de-escalate the Wednesday morning situation, which occurred in the 3000 block of Green Oaks Circle.

But police shot the man after he attacked an officer, DeKalb Assistant Chief Cornelius Yarbo said. The man later died from his injuries at Grady Memorial Hospital. His name was not released.

Yarbo said officers tried to get the man to drop what he was carrying. He said he is not sure how many shots officers fired.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been asked by DeKalb police to look into the shooting.

Officers responded about 8 a.m. after residents reported a suspicious person walking through the area carrying a chicken and some type of object.

LaGrange bans downtown skateboarding

LAGRANGE (TNS) — Skateboard enthusiasts will have to find other places in town to ride the rails after the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday evening to approve new changes to an ordinance prohibiting skating in parts of LaGrange.

The ordinance now bans skateboarding, roller skating and similar activities in downtown parking lots and parking decks.

Mayor Jim Thornton said in the old ordinance, enacted several years ago, skateboarding was already prohibited on downtown sidewalks.

Thornton stated the new ordinance was mandated for safety reasons. City officials cited a recent complaint from a woman who claimed she almost hit a skateboarder with her car while driving through a parking deck.

But officials said they are one step closer to possibly creating a public skateboarding park somewhere else — in a safe place — within the city.

Leigh Threadgill, LaGrange city planner, said she has been flooded with phone calls since Friday after the announcement of a potential future park.

The mayor said the new changes to the ordinance will take effect immediately. LaGrange Public Safety Chief Lou Dekmar agreed to a 60 day “grace period” where police officers will issue warnings instead of citations. After 60 days, people who receive multiple citations could face fines up to $1,000.

Finalists named for teacher of the year

ATLANTA (TNS) — Most of the finalists for 2017 Georgia Teacher of the Year are from smaller school districts outside metro Atlanta.

The Georgia Department of Education announced the 10 finalists Tuesday. Three are from districts within the greater metro area, though none are from Atlanta or the big surrounding districts.

The state has been selecting a top teacher for 45 years. The winner travels around the state and the country as a spokesman for Georgia schools and also becomes the state’s candidate for national teacher of the year.

This year’s finalists were picked from 155 applicants who were chosen teacher of the year in their school districts. The winner will be announced in mid-May after selection by a panel of teachers and school officials, past winners and finalists and others.

The finalists are: Martha Villanueva Milam, AP Chemistry, Chemistry, Coweta County, East Coweta High; Casey M. Bethel, AP Physics, AP Biology, Honors Physics, Biology, Physical Science, Douglas County, New Manchester High; Heather Cocke, English Language Arts, Effingham County, Ebenezer Middle; Marlo Miranda, Automotive Technologies, Forsyth County, Forsyth Central High; Heather McConnell, Special Education, Gainesville City, Gainesville Middle; Jennifer Taylor, Science, Harris County, Harris County Carver Middle; Sara Jones Wilder, Fourth Grade, Lowndes County, James L. Dewar Elementary; Dr. Debra Russell, AP Biology, Magnet Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Rockdale County, Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology; Michelle Courtwright Ashmore, AP U.S. Government, Comparative Religion and Economics, Troup County, Troup County Comprehensive High; Joseph Cody Moncrief, Mathematics, Valdosta City, Valdosta Middle.

Ed officials: ‘15 testing woes were worse

ATLANTA (TNS) — It may not be consolation to parents whose children are experiencing computer failures during testing this week, but the Georgia Department of Education says last year was much worse.

Some schools have encountered computer snafus with this year’s administration of the high-stakes Georgia Milestones, a test used to judge both student and teacher performance. This is the second year of Milestones testing and more schools are administering the tests online.

Most complaints are coming out of Fulton County Schools. “The electronic version of the Georgia Milestones is a complete waste of time and resources. Computers shut down while students are testing. The network crashed often. On day one of testing, students took the English Language Arts portion two to three hours late and went a whole school day testing without taking restroom breaks or eating. Most students ate lunch at 3 p.m. after they finished testing,” said one Fulton teacher.

The computer meltdowns are occurring despite trial runs by districts to ensure their networks could handle the crush of student testing.

DOE spokesman Matt Cardoza said, “I don’t know if they had the same number of people getting on the servers at the same time; that is what seems to be the issue. If you did a dry run that didn’t look at capacity — and that is the most prevalent problem we have seen — it is going to be an issue for you.”