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So I'm sitting on the train today (with a bunch of Louisville fans, I guess the people from Michigan got closer hotels) and the little televisions on the train kept playing the same video over and over. After getting over the initial shock that the televisions on the train actually worked (thanks to a couple hundred million in renovations) I became fascinated in a slow motion wreck sort of way. Anyway, on a sad day like this I thought I'd share a bit of distraction. For maximum benefit mute the volume because of course there is none on the trains....

By now, Brian Banks is used to waiting. He sat in prison for five years, punished for a crime he didn’t commit. Freed last May after the victim admitted she had falsely accused him, the former USC recruit has been trying patiently but persistently to get a shot at the NFL. Finally, he’s getting one. Jay Glazer of FOX, who has worked extensively with Banks to get him into NFL shape, reports that the Atlanta Falcons have signed Banks to a contract. Banks, a linebacker, received tryouts last year from the Seahawks, Chargers, and Chiefs. Eventually, he joined the UFL...

Former 'Superintendent Of The Year' Could Go To Prison For 45 Years Rebecca Baird-RembaApril 2, 2013, 6:13 PM Dr. Beverly Hall arrives for her last school board meeting in 2011. Thirty-five Atlanta educators were indicted last week for allegedly participating in a cheating conspiracy involving one of America's most storied school superintendents. Retired Atlanta schools chief Beverly Hall was named "National Superintendent of the Year" in 2009 and had previously headed troubled school districts in New York and Newark. She was credited with rescuing the struggling Atlanta school system and helping it meet testing standards set by the Bush-era No...

<p>ATLANTA (AP) — Juwanna Guffie was sitting in her fifth-grade classroom taking a standardized test when, authorities say, the teacher came around offering information and asking the students to rewrite their answers. Juwanna rejected the help.</p> <p>"I don't want your answers, I want to take my own test," Juwanna told her teacher, according to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard.</p>

Atlanta (CNN) -- In what has been described as one of the largest cheating scandals to hit the nation's public education system, 35 Atlanta Public Schools educators and administrators were indicted Friday on charges of racketeering and corruption. The indictment is the bookend to a story that was once touted as a model for the nation's school districts after the district's test scores dramatically improved in some of its toughest urban schools. Among those indicted by a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury was Beverly Hall, the former schools superintendent who gained national recognition in 2009 for turning around Atlanta's school...

Blacks officials in the rapidly deteriorating city of Atlanta decided to sue rather than allow successful White “evacuees” to incorporate prosperous new cities in the Northern suburbs of Dekalb and Fulton counties. For years government scandals, rackets, political corruption and charges of bribery have plagued a city which is becoming known as “The Detroit of the South,” all culminating in the threatened 2013 loss of accreditation for the Dekalb County School System. During that time, communities in the North Atlanta suburbs “…began the process of incorporating into cities,” with 6 having been carved out of the Atlanta hinterland by 2011...

As Detroit – beset by violence, debt and social woes – prepares to undergo a historic takeover by the Michigan state government, the city of Atlanta could be sliding toward a similar fate. Some are quietly wondering whether Atlanta is in danger of becoming “the Detroit of the South.” The city has experienced an ongoing succession of government scandals, ranging from a massive cheating racket to corruption, bribery, school-board incompetence and now the potential loss of accreditation for the local DeKalb County school system. For several years, problems of this sort have fueled political reforms, including the creation of new...

As Detroit – beset by violence, debt and social woes – prepares to undergo a historic takeover by the Michigan state government, the city of Atlanta could be sliding toward a similar fate. Some are quietly wondering whether Atlanta is in danger of becoming “the Detroit of the South.” The city has experienced an ongoing succession of government scandals, ranging from a massive cheating racket to corruption, bribery, school-board incompetence and now the potential loss of accreditation for the local DeKalb County school system. For several years, problems of this sort have fueled political reforms, including the creation of new...

ATLANTA - Animal experts say the population of coyotes is growing faster than they can keep up with. The latest example comes from Midtown Atlanta, where one resident spotted and photographed a coyote. ... "Whenever they do drop down, they rebound really quick. Sixty to 80 percent of the adult female coyotes are going to have pups every year," said Elliot. Elliot warns don't be fooled by the animal's appearance; coyotes are natural predators and small pets have become prey, so he advises to be careful especially if your pets spend a lot of time outside.

The anniversary of the killing of Trayvon Martin has led to a number of commemorative events in various cities around the country. The 17-year-old high school student was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, on Feb. 26, 2012, sparking a national controversy. In the aftermath of the teenager’s death, there were a number of rallies in support of his family and denouncing racial profiling and gun violence. A candlelight vigil will be held on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. in New York City’s Union Square Park, with a moment of silence to begin shortly after...

Forbes put Detroit Mayor Dave Bing on its cover in 2011 for a story with the optimistic headline: “City of Hope.” The premise was that the city had hit rock bottom and was poised for a turnaround. “Right now, it’s all about survival,” Bing told Forbes. Two years later, Detroit’s problems continue to multiply, sadly. It is still dealing with high levels of violent crime and unemployment. Home prices, already at historic lows, plummeted a further 35% during the past three years to a median of $40,000 as net migration out of the city continued. The latest blow was Tuesday’s...

Prime Minister Stephen Harper Will Never Let Canada Become A Safe Haven For Zombies Says John Baird The NDP’s Pat Martin raised the question Tuesday about how the government was prepared for an attack from zombies and he actually got an answer. “I rise today to salute the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and the province of Quebec for putting in place emergency measures to deal with the possibility of an invasion of zombies,” Martin said. “I do not need to tell you, Mr. Speaker, that zombies do not recognize borders and that a zombie invasion in the United...

<p>ATLANTA (AP) — A student opened fire at his middle school Thursday afternoon, wounding a 14-year-old in the neck before an armed officer working at the school was able to get the gun away, police said.</p> <p>Multiple shots were fired in the courtyard of Price Middle School just south of downtown about 1:50 p.m. and the one boy was hit, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said. In the aftermath, a teacher received minor cuts, he said.</p>

Someone altered Fulton County voter records after last year’s presidential election, using a red pen to add names to tally sheets of voters using paper ballots and marking that their votes all counted. Who is responsible remains a mystery, but it happened after managers from at least two precincts had signed off on the documents and submitted them to the main county elections office. “I know for certain that these additional names were added after,” Rosalyn Murphy, who served in November as an assistant poll manager at Church of the Redeemer in Sandy Springs, told the State Election Board during...

New horrifying video footage has emerged showing a woman being Tasered by a security guard after she and her children antagonized and threatened the man outside an Atlanta strip mall. The five-minute video shows a security guard chastising young kids for making noise and playing outside the 5 Points Plaza shopping mall in downtown Atlanta. That's when the mother steps in and starts yelling profanities and threatening, 'Don’t yell at my motherf***ing kids! You’ll get beat!' The security guard then repeatedly tells them to “back it up! You better back it up!' At that point, the children, encouraged by their...

Bishop-designate David P. Talley. Credit: Archdiocese of Atlanta. Atlanta, Ga., Jan 3, 2013 / 10:54 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI has named Atlanta priest Monsignor David P. Talley, a convert to Catholicism, as the newest auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory said Jan. 3 that he announced the appointment “with great joy.” “The Holy Father has selected a wonderful member of this zealous local presbyterate for the episcopacy and I know that he will bring all of his many gifts and talents to this new office,” he said in a statement. The...

Several sources are reporting a "chemical bomb threat" at the CNN Center in Atlanta. The local FOX affiliate and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution are both reporting the story.morning due to a bomb threat. A caller said he had planted a chemical bomb at CNN Center, Atlanta Police Capt. Adam Lee said. Police have closed off several streets around CNN Center, including Marietta Street, Centennial Olympic Park Drive, Andrew Young International Boulevard and Walton Street.

ATLANTA — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta had told its parishes, schools and other organizations to end their support for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer charity over a lingering abortion dispute. That directive from religious leaders came in a memo Monday. It criticized grants given by some Komen officials to Planned Parenthood to support breast screenings. Planned Parenthood also provides abortions, which are against Catholic religious teachings. But that’s not the case in Atlanta. The local Komen affiliate told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that it has never given funding to Planned Parenthood Southeast. “Komen Atlanta remains...

Two races to go and the Chase slot chasers are taking it to the wire.. Who makes it and who breaks it? Bring your poncho and the squeegies.. might be wet off and on.. See ya there..

A former fifth-grade teacher implicated in a cheating scandal reportedly gave students the illegal assistance because she thought they were “dumb as hell.”... Schajuan Jones, who taught a fourth-grade class across the hall from Smith’s former room, overheard her talking to another teacher about the test. “The words were, ‘I had to give your kids, or your students, the answers because they’re dumb as hell,’” Jones was quoted as saying about the interaction between Smith and the unidentified third teacher.