Across Georgia

Student granted bond in school gun case

CANTON -- A 17-year-old Woodstock High School student charged with bringing an unloaded gun to school has been granted bond of about $36,000 and has agreed to leave Cherokee County until his trial.

A magistrate set the bond for Forrest Busby, of Canton, on Friday. Mr. Busby's attorney says she expects him to spend the weekend in jail while arrangements are made for a monitoring device.

Defense attorney B.J. Bernstein said Mr. Busby will live with his biological mother in Fulton County, pending trial on three felonies and four misdemeanors stemming from Thursday's lockdown at two Cherokee County schools. Police seized three guns and about 200 rounds of ammunition from his home.

One of the guns was found at the school. Authorities believe all three were stolen by Mr. Busby's 15-year-old co-defendant.

More than 100 laid off from Atlanta law firm

ATLANTA -- King & Spalding, one of Atlanta's oldest and largest law firms, has laid off 37 attorneys and 85 staff.

Chairman Robert D. Hays said Friday that the decline in the U.S. and global economies made the move necessary. Mr. Hays said a severance package was being offered .

King & Spalding spokesman Les Zuke wouldn't say how many of the cuts were from the Atlanta office. King & Spalding has 13 offices and was founded in Atlanta in 1885. Its clients include Georgia blue chip companies, from Coca-Cola and The Home Depot to SunTrust, in addition to General Motors and Ernst & Young .

St. Simons' Welcome Oak is brought down

ST. SIMONS ISLAND -- The welcome mat to St. Simons Island is gone with the felling of the old live oak called the Welcome Oak.

The tree was dying , and officials said Friday it could not be saved. It once was the centerpiece of a roundabout when three roads spread out from it. The roundabout was taken out decades ago.

A crowd gathered to watch it being brought down, and some were given sections of limbs as souvenirs. Officials said part of the top of the tree was ripped out by a tornado in the 1990s, and it was struck by lightning in 2007.