Sunday sales backers find crackdown allies
ATLANTA --- An effort to allow Georgia stores to sell alcohol on Sundays is joining forces with a push to crack down on underage drinking.
Backers of Sunday sales said Thursday that linking the two issues will make the Sunday sales bill more appealing to some conservatives wary of a backlash from family values groups.
The bill is expected to begin moving in committee next week. Supporters insist it has fresh momentum, and they are stressing that the state's struggling economy could use the additional revenue Sunday sales would bring.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle -- criticized in the past for keeping the bill bottled up in the state Senate -- has said he won't stand in the way of a vote this year.
The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Seth Harp, R-Midland, would give local governments the option to permit Sunday alcohol sales. Voters would then have to approve the change.
Senate approves seat belt rule for pickups
ATLANTA --- Adults in pickups would finally have to buckle up under a bill that sailed through the state Senate on Thursday.
Georgia is the only state that exempts adults in pickups from wearing seat belts. That stance has cost the state millions in federal highway funds. The measure passed 49-4 Thursday and now moves to the House.
The change has faced opposition from rural lawmakers who see it as an unnecessary intrusion and a burden for farmers who use pickups to haul hay and other supplies as part of their work. The bill that passed Thursday carves out an exception for those who are using a pickup "in connection with agricultural pursuits."
FBI search conducted at Georgia food charity
ATLANTA --- The FBI acknowledges searching a Georgia food charity but won't release any more information on the search.
FBI spokesman Steve Lazarus said Thursday that the search of Angel Food Ministries in Good Hope, near Monroe, Ga., was conducted Wednesday.
The nonprofit, which takes in an estimated $100 million a year distributing food through churches in 38 states, is run by minister Joe Wingo and his wife, Linda. They started it in 1994, using a network of churches, including more than 30 in the Augusta and Aiken area, to sell food for just enough to keep the organization running.
The Atlanta-Journal Constitution says Internal Revenue Service documents show that Angel Food Ministries paid salaries of more than $2 million to the Wingos and two of their sons in 2006
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Oh, more double messages. Allow more alcohol to be sold (are we going to have 24/7 bars now too?), and tell the kids "it's not good for you", while the drunks pass before them (including their parents). Then folks wonder why the kids are so confused and so schizophrenic in choices, huh? This is when anarcho-capitalism is more important than even common sense.
"The bill that passed Thursday carves out an exception for those who are using a pickup "in connection with agricultural pursuits." ---- Love to see how a pot runner in his pick'em up truck loaded with pop is cited by a cop over this! lololol
"Pop"? Come on 2005, you can do better than that, can't you?
There is no law for running pop. Is there?
Government can't get ahead financially promoting sin anymore than they or we, can borrow our way out of debt. That is as dumb as telling your children to not do drugs while standing by your well stocked bar. For "no regrets living" keep the model for your children as pure as possible. They may or may not hear your words but they always see your actions.
Come on longtrain and pofwe, I might not always agree with SandyK2005 but let's not start the nick-picking. People reading her comment will know she means "pot". I know (or at least I hope) your comments are meant as a joke but this is how crap gets started on here. Someone gets their feelings hurt and then it's nothing but name calling and insults the rest of the day. For once, I'd like to read some intelligent discussions.
"An effort to allow Georgia stores to sell alcohol on Sundays is joining forces with a push to crack down on underage drinking." This makes about as much sense as the American Tobacco companies joining forces with the American Cancer Society.