Across Georgia

Georgia to honor Bell with flags at half-staff

ATLANTA - Gov. Sonny Perdue has ordered flags on all state buildings and grounds to be flown at half-staff Wednesday in honor of former U.S. Attorney Griffin Bell.

Bell died Monday morning at age 90 in an Atlanta hospital. He is to be buried at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Oak Grove Cemetery in his hometown of Americus.

The funeral is open to the public.

Bell was for decades one of Atlanta's most prominent attorneys and served as U.S. attorney general for his longtime friend President Jimmy Carter for 2 1/2 years.

Rain helps Lake Lanier rise about 1 inch per hour

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - The National Weather Service in Peachtree City says the steady rain that rolled across north Georgia has been beneficial to Lake Lanier.

Service hydrologist Kent Frantz says the lake was rising about 1 inch an hour and had gone up about one foot by Tuesday afternoon to a reading of 1054.3. It's still well below its normal winter pool of 1,070 feet.

Frantz calls the rise "very significant for the size of the lake." He says indications are it will continue to rise from runoff from the rain expected to continue into Wednesday.

Big Creek in Alpharetta rose above its flood stage of 7.0 feet at midmorning and was expected to crest at about 8.3 feet by Wednesday.

Frantz said, "We consider it in the minor flooding category and don't anticipate it to be major.

He said other lakes and streams in north Georgia are still rising, "but whether they actually reach flood stage is in question."

Morris Brown College building avoids auction

ATLANTA - Morris Brown College officials said Tuesday they are negotiating debts related to one of the college's classroom buildings, sparing it from the auction block for now.

Jordan Hall, also home to the Ruth Hall Hodges Art Gallery, was scheduled to be auctioned Tuesday on the steps of the Fulton County Courthouse to satisfy several liens from the city of Atlanta, a real estate broker and a plumbing contractor.

But the building did not appear on the auction list and college spokeswoman Bunnie Jackson-Ransom said the school was negotiating the terms of its agreements with the lienholders.

The lienholders have given the college a 60-day reprieve and Jackson-Ransom said she expected that to be extended.

"There will be no sale today," she said. "The foreclosure has been temporarily stopped. Classes will open on schedule."

Claxton councilman accused of drug fraud

SAVANNAH, Ga. - A Claxton city councilman is accused of using forged prescriptions to purchase narcotics.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Savannah said Tuesday that 56-year-old Jerome Woody was arraigned on charges of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. Woody was named in a 25-count indictment by a federal grand jury on Dec. 11.

Prosecutors say the indictment alleges that between January and March 2008, Woody presented 25 prescriptions with the forged signature of a doctor to two Evans County pharmacies to obtain more than 750 tablets of oxycodone hydrochloride, a powerful painkiller.

School bus crash injures 5 in north Georgia

MAYSVILLE, Ga. - A school bus overturned on a Jackson County road and a county official says five people were injured.

Jackson County EMS Director Steve Nichols says three children and two adults were aboard the bus Tuesday afternoon when it rolled over and came to rest in the upright position.

Keith Everson, assistant superintendent of Jackson County schools, says the injured were taken to local hospitals. He says the students were from Kings Bridge Middle School in the north Georgia county.

Everson said he does not know the details of the accident and that school officials are contacting the families of those involved.

The Georgia State Patrol is investigating. The injuries were described as minor.

Televangelist Guido in hospital for illnesses

Longtime televangelist Michael Guido has been hospitalized in Metter, where he is fighting complications from pneumonia and diabetes.

The 93-year-old minister was admitted Saturday at Candler County Hospital.

Larry Guido said his elder brother has struggled with pneumonia for months and overextended himself during the holidays.

The Guidos' annual "Nights of Lights" program attracts nearly 50,000 visitors throughout December to view the Christmas light display at Guido Gardens, the Metter headquarters of the nonprofit Guido Evangelistic Organization.

Michael Guido spent two to three hours each night greeting and praying with visitors.