Georgia Pundit

This is great local coverage of a statewide issue, and is worth reading in its entirety by following the link at the bottom of this post.

Early in his career, Gov. Nathan Deal served as a juvenile court judge in Hall County.

“My great frustration was when a young person came before me and something needed to be done, I had only two choices. I could send them to be incarcerated … Or I could send them back home to be in the environment that got them into trouble in the first place,” Deal said here on Thursday. “Neither of those sometimes was the appropriate solution.”

At the Elbert Shaw Regional Youth Detention Center in Dalton, Deal signed into law House Bill 242, an overhaul of the state’s juvenile justice system that he said will provide better options for dealing with juvenile offenders. State Sen. Charlie Bethel, R-Dalton, sponsored HB 242 in the Senate.

Approved unanimously by the General Assembly earlier this year, the law is designed to keep nonviolent juvenile offenders out of youth detention centers and in community-based programs.

via Reaching them earlier » Local News ».

State Schools Superintendent John Barge is coming to Cobb County on Saturday to address concerns about the controversial Common Core standards.

The announcement of Barge’s visit to Cobb comes on the heels of a 4-3 vote by the Cobb Board of Education last week to reject the purchase of $7.5 million in math textbooks aligned with Common Core. This rejection at the local level came after the state had already committed to implementing the nationwide standards under the past two governors, Sonny Perdue and Nathan Deal, even though the Legislature has never voted on the issue.

That Barge would come to Cobb to face what is likely to be a room full of fellow Republicans with deep-seated suspicions about a federal program is a sign that worry is building in Atlanta about the possibility of a grassroots revolt against Common Core.

via The Marietta Daily Journal – Schools chief to visit Cobb weigh in on Common Core.

Flowery Branch City Council gave its blessing Thursday night to the Lanier Islands Parkway Community Improvement District, a self-taxing district that would run along a western portion of Ga. 347 in South Hall County.

Mack Burgess, the district’s director, said the Buford City Commission is now set to vote Monday on the CID. Buford’s OK would clear the way for the organization to move forward with creating a board and setting a tax rate for the district.

The district, which spans from the Lake Lanier Islands resort to just east of Hog Mountain Road, received the Hall County Board of Commissioners’ approval in April.

via Flowery Branch City Council OKs improvement district.

By Bruce Smith
Associated Press
Friday, April 26, 2013

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has a slight edge in cash heading into the final days of the heated congressional race in the state’s 1st District although his Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, has raised more money, Federal Election Commission filings show.

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The reports filed this week show that the Republican Sanford had about $285,000 in his campaign war chest as of April 17. Colbert Busch had about $255,000.

via Sanford has slight cash advantage in run up to 1st District special election | The Augusta Chronicle.

May 2, 2013

Today at the Dalton youth detention center, Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law House Bill 242, landmark legislation that will improve Georgia’s juvenile justice system through innovative practices and methods proven to yield positive results.

“This morning marks a milestone in my first term as governor,” said Deal. “I hope that, years from now, my cumulative work with the legislature and others on justice reform will prove to be one of the rocks in my administration’s Stonehenge, standing the test of time. First, we tackled the criminal justice system together. Then, last week, I signed into law the sequel to our adult justice reforms, making our criminal justice system even more effective and efficient.”

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