Across Georgia

Clyburn goes against Sanford on stimulus

COLUMBIA --- U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said Thursday he's trying to find a way to get South Carolina federal stimulus money even if Gov. Mark Sanford is against such help.

"We ought to make it possible for the money to be there for the governor if he has the vision to use it on behalf of the people who he should be representing," Mr. Clyburn, D-S.C., said Thursday from in a telephone interview from his Washington office. "But if he does not have the vision to use it, then we ought to have in this legislation mechanisms by which cities and counties and councils of government and other public-private entities can access this money if it goes against he grain of the governor's political sensibilities."

When President-elect Obama met with governors last month, Mr. Sanford told him another economic stimulus package would hurt, not help, the economy.

Law allowing officials to take horses debated

ATLANTA --- A federal appeals court grappled with the question Thursday over whether a little known but often-used Georgia law that allows state agriculture officials to seize starving horses infringes on constitutional rights.

Attorneys for Edna Reams contend her due process rights were violated when state agriculture workers seized 46 horses and three donkeys from her farm in January 2006.

Her lawsuit targets the Humane Care for Equines Act, a Georgia law that allows state officials to seize ailing horses. A judge in March 2006 ordered the state to return the horses after she posted a $47,000 bond and agreed to ongoing inspections.

The law allows owners to appeal a seizure within 30 days, but attorney William Droze said authorities "misled" Ms. Reams about the filing guidelines. He said the state should have held a hearing, even an informal one, before seizing the animals.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture, though, said Ms. Reams had "adequate" time to respond. Attorney Ralph Ellis also said authorities couldn't have risked a hearing before they impounded the animals because of the health of the horses.