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The U.S. Coast Guard said it was notified at approximately 2 a.m. on Sunday that the 656-foot vehicle carrier Golden Ray was disabled and listing heavily with a fire on board in the St. Simons Sound. The ship had a total of 24 people on board, including 23 crew members and 1 pilot.

On the Motion to Invoke Cloture on H.J. Res. 59 (Vote Number 206) - http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00206 - 25 republicans voted “yea”: Alexander (R-TN)-Up for re-election in 2014-needs to be primaried Cochran (R-MS)-Up for re-election in 2014-needs to be primaried Collins (R-ME)-Up for re-election in 2014-needs to be primaried Cornyn (R-TX)-Up for re-election in 2014-needs to be primaried Graham (R-SC)-Up for re-election in 2014-needs to be primaried McConnell (R-KY)-Up for re-election in 2014-needs to be primaried Chambliss (R-GA)-Retiring in 2014-needs to be replaced Johanns (R-NE)-Retiring in 2014-needs to be replaced Ayotte (R-NH) (not up for re-election) Barrasso (R-WY) (not up for re-election)...

Forty-six years after being killed in action, the U.S. Navy honored Lt. Dennis Peterson of Huntington Park during an interment ceremony on May 2. Lt. Peterson was 27 when he left to serve in the Vietnam War on March 27, 1967.

S. 649: Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013 Cloture on the Motion to Proceed Summary of today's Senate vote for Senators up for re-election in 2014: - AK-Democrat-Mark Begich-Nay AR-Democrat-Mark Pryor-Nay - CO-Democrat-Mark Udall-Yea DE-Democrat-Chris Coons-Yea HI-Democrat-Brian Schatz-Yea IA-Democrat-Thomas Harkin-Yea IL-Democrat-Richard Durbin-Yea LA-Democrat-Mary Landrieu-Yea MA-Democrat-William Mccowan-Yea MI-Democrat-Carl Levin-Yea MN-Democrat-Al Franken-Yea MT-Democrat-Max Baucus-Yea NC-Democrat-Kay Hagan-Yea NH-Democrat-Jeanne Shaheen-Yea NJ-Democrat-Frank Lautenberg-Not Voting NM-Democrat-Tom Udall-Yea OR-Democrat-Jeff Merkley-Yea RI-Democrat-John Reed-Yea SD-Democrat-Tim Johnson-Yea VA-Democrat-Mark Warner-Yea WV-Democrat-Jay Rockefeller-Yea - GA-Republican-Saxby Chambliss-Yea (retiring) ME-Republican-Susan Collins-Yea SC-Republican-Lindsey Graham-Yea TN-Republican-Lamar Alexander-Yea - AL-Republican-Jeff Sessions-Nay ID-Republican-James Risch-Nay KS-Republican-Pat Roberts-Nay KY-Republican-Mitch McConnell-Nay MS-Republican-Thad Cochran-Nay NE-Republican-Mike Johanns-Nay OK-Republican-Jim Inhofe-Nay SC-Republican-Tim Scott-Nay TX-Republican-John...

This is a northeast suburb of Atlanta in Gwinnett County SUWANEE — Five Gwinnett County firefighters are being held hostage at home in Suwanee. Gwinnett County police spokesman Cpl. Edwin Ritter said that, as of 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, a gunman was holding the handful of firefighters hostage at a home at 2440 Walnut Grove Way, not far from the intersection of Collins Hill and Taylor roads. "It appears that the fire department responded to this residence for some type of medical call," Ritter said. "I have very little information on the motive at this time." The police department's SWAT team...

"...block people who are suspected of being dangerous from possessing a firearm..." "...allow psychologists, nurses, family therapists and counselors to ask that a person's name be entered into the national background check system..."

Dennis Fleming, 61, of Farmington, New Hampshire, who fired his handgun into the ground to scare an alleged burglar... is now facing a felony charge... The single grandfather had returned home to find that his home had been burglarized and spotted Joseph Hebert, 27, climbing out of a window at a neighbor's home... Fleming said he yelled "Freeze!" before firing his gun into the ground, then held Hebert at gunpoint until police arrived... ...when the police arrived, they made two arrests. Hebert was charged with two counts of burglary and drug possession... Fleming is scheduled to be arraigned March 20...

Woodruff Park remained quiet and empty early Wednesday morning after Atlanta police reclaimed the park, arresting 53 protesters after multiple warnings. ...Deputy Atlanta Police Chief Calvin Moss announced at 11:52 p.m. that the executive order allowing protesters to stay in the park has been revoked. Protesters were told to leave the park and any belongings left behind would be treated as abandoned property. ...Officers swarmed the park around 12:45 a.m. The arrests were orderly and peaceful, though some of the protesters had to dragged out. ...Police on motorcycles and horseback circled the perimeter as officers went from tent to tent...

...Porsche plans to consolidate several of its U.S. operations at a new $100 million complex in Atlanta...

FRIDAY MARCH 4th We love you, Mark!

Mock Georgia Militia soldiers and Civil War-era civilians will re-enact the surrender of the Augusta Arsenal of 1861 at the Augusta Museum of History Jan. 22. Members of the Palmetto Riflemen & New York Zouaves reenactment group will perform the free demonstration at 10a.m. and again at noon, said the museum’s executive director Nancy Glaser. The performers will bring to life the events of when 82 Federal troops were stripped of their weapons and positions and the 600-man Augusta Independent Battalion volunteer militia took over. The surrender occurred five days after Georgia left the Union, according to The Historical Marker...

Another Georgia Democrat defects to GOP (WGST) Yet another Georgia Democrat is defecting to the Republican Party. Hall County Commissioner Ashley Bell made the announcement Thursday morning, making him the first African American lawmaker in Georgia to switch from the Democrats to the GOP. "I think the Republican Party has consistantly expounded the ideals and values that I think are going to speak more to African Americans in the future," said Bell. "And I think this is the start of a very competitive fight." The 30 year old Bell adds the Republican Party's agenda is more in line with the...

U.S. Senators up for reelection in 2012 are: 21 Democrat seats + 2 Independent seats + 10 Republican seats = 33 Senate seats total.

<p>ATLANTA - "The Georgia Supreme Court delayed the execution Tuesday of a convicted killer who attempted suicide hours before he was to be put to death by injection.</p>

Theodore Van Kirk is sitting at his desk in a detached bungalow in the gated community outside Atlanta, Georgia, where he lives. The room is cluttered with boxes, trinkets, shelves full of books on wartime history and photographs of planes on the walls...

"Yea" Votes on H.R. 3962:LA-2 Cao, Anh [R]AR-1 Berry, Robert [D]AR-2 Snyder, Victor [D]AZ-1 Kirkpatrick, Ann [D]AZ-4 Pastor, Edward [D]AZ-5 Mitchell, Harry [D]AZ-7 Grijalva, Raul [D]AZ-8 Giffords, Gabrielle [D]CA-1 Thompson, C. [D]CA-10 Garamendi, John [D]CA-11 McNerney, Jerry [D]CA-12 Speier, Jackie [D]CA-13 Stark, Fortney [D]CA-14 Eshoo, Anna [D]CA-15 Honda, Michael [D]CA-16 Lofgren, Zoe [D]CA-17 Farr, Sam [D]CA-18 Cardoza, Dennis [D]CA-20 Costa, Jim [D]CA-23 Capps, Lois [D]CA-27 Sherman, Brad [D]CA-28 Berman, Howard [D]CA-29 Schiff, Adam [D]CA-30 Waxman, Henry [D]CA-31 Becerra, Xavier [D]CA-32 Chu, Judy [D]CA-33 Watson, Diane [D]CA-34 Roybal-Allard, Lucille [D]CA-35 Waters, Maxine [D]CA-36 Harman, Jane [D]CA-37 Richardson, Laura [D]CA-38 Napolitano, Grace...

Excerpt: Charles Lollar, a conservative Republican from Charles County, announced this week his candidacy for the District 5 congressional seat held by House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D). “We’re going to speak the truth. We’re going to speak about what matters. There are people hurting out there,” Lollar told about 80 supporters gathered Wednesday at the American Legion banquet hall in Greenbelt, where he announced his run that was expected after he set up an exploratory committee several months ago. Lollar, 38, a Newburg resident and regional general manager for Cintas uniform company, is the first official challenger to...

As he makes a real impact in pushing conservative fringe attacks on Obama administration officials into the mainstream, Glenn Beck’s Twitter feed has become a must-read. In a message from last night, Beck told his followers to “FIND EVERYTHING YOU CAN ON CASS SUNSTEIN, MARK LLOYD AND CAROL BROWNER.” They are, respectively, the nominee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer of the FCC, and the Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change. Browner was also administrator of the EPA for all eight years of Bill Clinton’s presidency....

So I went walking at lunch today, about noon time, and low and behold, I came across a tea party in progress in front of the Equitable building on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta. Is it a coincidence that this is where Rep. John Lewis's office is located? Hmmmmm, I think not. There were maybe 30 or so folks walking with signs ranging from: 'Fair Tax' to 'No Socialized Medicine' to 'Get Us Out Of The UN'. I don't know who any of these people are or who organized it.