Grady Hospital's board gets tax-exempt label

ATLANTA --- Grady Memorial Hospital's nonprofit board has been granted tax-exempt status by the IRS.

The hospital's leaders said Friday the move will help the Grady Memorial Hospital Corp. better leverage its funding.

The foundation was formed with the help of Atlanta business leaders to bolster the cash-strapped hospital.

Foundation Chairman A.D. "Pete" Correll says it was a "critical step in allowing us to get Grady the help it needs to keep serving this community."

Grady Memorial is the city's only public hospital.

It has struggled financially for years as it treated the poorest of the poor.

The hospital recently reached a crisis point because of rising health care costs, dwindling government aid, a lack of paying customers and years of neglect.

CARTERSVILLE --- Authorities say two boys from North Cobb High School have drowned while swimming with friends at Lake Allatoona.

Bartow County sheriff's Maj. Bryan Keeling says as many as 10 students from the school in Kennesaw were at the lake Friday.

He said a 15-year-old and an 18-year-old failed to make it back to shore.

They were not identified. School district spokesman Jay Dillon said one was a freshman and the other was a freshman or sophomore.

"It doesn't appear they were ever at the school today," Mr. Dillon said.

He said grief counselors would be on campus Monday for students and teachers.

ATLANTA --- A federal appeals court has upheld the denial of an Australian's request that his 2-year-old be returned to him by the mother, who left Australia with the baby boy to live in Daphne, Ala.

Gareth Alexander Baran of Altona, Victoria, asked a U.S. District Court judge to force Susan Elizabeth Beaty to return the boy, Samuel, under the International Child Abduction Remedies Act of 1988.

Ms. Beaty conceded that she wrongfully removed her son in August 2006, when the child was 6 months old. But she argued that he would face a "grave risk of harm" if he returned.

"The district court was presented with evidence that Baran has been violent in the presence of his son, has made threats to the child's safety, and due to injury and alcohol abuse is unable to care properly for himself or his child," the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in an opinion filed Friday.

ATLANTA --- Smash-and-grab bandits struck an Atlanta retail store Friday, nabbing what store employees estimate is $150,000 worth of designer eyeglasses and sunglasses.

Atlanta Police Sgt. J.A. Branum said the thieves smashed through the front door of the Pearle Vision store in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood about 3 a.m. Friday.

He said a police task force set up this year to investigate a rash of similar burglaries at high-end clothing boutiques will investigate.

ATLANTA --- A judge is recommending keeping evidence found in the airport luggage of a man accused of aiding terrorists.

Syed Ahmed had argued that books and personal writings found in his backpack and suitcase during an August 2005 search at Atlanta's airport should not have been copied by authorities.

Ahmed and Ehsanul Sadequee, both U.S. citizens, are accused of discussing terrorism targets with Islamic extremists and undergoing training to carry out a "violent jihad" against civilian and government targets, including an air base in suburban Atlanta.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Gerrilyn Brill recommended Tuesday that the motion to suppress be denied. The U.S. District Court judge overseeing the case has the final say.

-- Associated Press