Wednesday, May 22, 2013
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn’t think so. What do you think?
There has been many a report of college grads taking menial jobs during the recent economic downturn. Yet others have moved back in with parents, unable to support themselves or pay off college loans. According to a story in The Daily Mail, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, famous for his nanny tactics with constituents by making laws restricting what he considers bad habits, is now suggesting that not everybody go to college. But does he have a point? The Daily Mail reported that Bloomberg, speaking on his weekly radio show on May 17, suggested that students who aren’t necessarily top of their class should rather go to trade school than take on an expensive college degree. His example, the Daily Mail reports, is the career of a plumber. "…
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Although last week was a tough one for the Obama administration, the president's popularity doesn’t seem to have been affected.
After scandals plagued the White House last week, this week began with yet another one. However, according to the Huffington Post, President Barack Obama appears to have weathered the storms relatively unscathed – at least according to a recent poll. The Huffington Post reported that the poll, from CNN and ORC International, found that 53 percent of Americans approve of the job the president is doing while 45 percent disapprove. This is the same as he was doing in the polls before the scandals hit. This recent poll was taken on May 17 and 18, and has a 3 percent margin of error, the Huffington Post reports. The scandals began when the White House faced continued scrutiny on Benghazi then expanded to news of the IRS unfairly targeting …
Monday, May 20, 2013
The federal government is proposing a drop to a .05 percent blood-alcohol level.
The National Transportation Safety Board wants to reduce deaths caused by drunken drivers, and one of its ideas is to change how states measure drunkenness. The board has proposed reducing the blood-alochol limit to .05 percent, down from the .08 percent states enforce now, according to Fox News. That limit could mean one drink for a lot of women, and two drinks for a lot of men. "Our goal is to get to zero deaths because each alcohol-impaired death is preventable," NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said in the Fox story. Among those who oppose the idea: Groups that sell alcohol. "Moving from 0.08 to 0.05 would criminalize perfectly responsible behavior," American Beverage Institute Managing Director Sarah Longwell said in a statement quoted …
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Gov. Nathan Deal ordered the return of Bibles to cabins and lodges at state parks. A citizen complaint prompted the state Department of Natural Resources to remove them.
Georgia's governor has ordered that Bibles be returned to cabins and lodge rooms at state parks. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources removed Bibles from such rooms across the state following a citizen’s complaint, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. Parks officials said they were removing the Bibles "until managers can fully investigate the issue and make an informed decision." But, Gov. Nathan Deal stepped in and ordered the Bibles back inside cabins and lodges. In a statement, he said this: "Out of an abundance of caution to avoid potential litigation, the commissioner removed the Bibles from rooms – though they were still available on site – after a complaint from a visitor. The attorney general and I agree that the state is on firm …
Friday, May 17, 2013
One critic calls visual effects and stuntwork impressive, but exhausting for audience.
The premise, courtesy of the film's official website: When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew. Here's what critics are saying: "Star Trek Into Darkness" is rated PG-13 for PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and …
It was for a man recently arrested in a Loganville Walmart.
You're out shopping -- wearing some new jeans you bought at another store and forgot to remove the tag from. A store employee gets suspicious, and police ask you to step into the loss-prevention office so they can check out your pants to make sure you're not shoplifting them. You're not shoplifting, so you say no, you can't check out my pants. And out come the handcuffs. The charge for not cooperating, you're warned, is disorderly conduct. What do you do? A Loganville man recently opted for the disorderly conduct charge rather than agree to take his tag-on jeans to the loss-prevention office. A review of security tapes showed he hadn't been shoplifting the pants, but the disorderly conduct charge stuck. Did he commit a crime? Share your …
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Some legislators acknowledge the freebies can look bad, but they say the state's new ethics law will make it harder to mingle with constituents.
Georgia legislators who want to sit in the president's suite above the hedges at Sanford Stadium next year will have to pay their own way, thanks to ethics legislation signed by Gov. Nathan Deal last week. The law forbids elected officials from receiving gifts or event tickets exceeding $75. University System of Georgia lobbyists gave state and local lawmakers more than $14,000 in football tickets in 2012, the Athens Banner-Herald reports. The paper quotes state Sen. Bill Cowsert, whose district includes Athens, saying the football games have been a good way for him to mingle with his constitutents. “I think it’s really going to change things," Cowsert is quoted saying of the new ethics law. "I think it’s going to make it tougher for the …
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The agency apologized last week for automatically sending Tea Party and similar groups through multiple hoops before the 2012 election.
President Obama this week said efforts by IRS employees to target new conservative groups for extra scrutiny were "outrageous," echoing many administration critics who charged that the measures were politically motivated. "I have got no patience with it, I will not tolerate it, and we will make sure that we find out exactly what happened on this," Obama said in a news conference Monday. The Wall Street Journal reported that an Inspector General's report concludes there was widespread targeting of conservative-linked groups for aggressive questioning, but that no one outside the IRS was involved in establishing the practice. (The report was released Tuesday.) Former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, an appointee of President George W. Bush…
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Politicians, Republicans especially, are scrambling for position to replace Saxby Chambliss.
Republican 10th District U.S. Rep. Paul Broun is running for Senate in 2014. So is Republican 1st District U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston. And Republican 11th District U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey. But Republican Tom Price, who represents the 6th District, announced Friday that he's not. Which might open the door for former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, a pal of Price's, who said in a statement last week that she'd end the suspense "in the very near future." Meanwhile, John Barrow, the only white Democrat from the Deep South in the U.S. House of Representatives, announced recently that he won't seek the seat being vacated by the retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss. Which might mean tough 2014 sledding for Democrats, who have yet to put forth a …
Monday, May 13, 2013
What's your favorite spot in Duluth?
The weather forecast for the entire week is perfect, with clear skies and an average of 80 degrees. What do you like to do in Duluth during the spring? Living in Gwinnett County, we're lucky to have a large number of parks and green spaces. Take our poll below and vote for your favorite picnic spot! You can also upload photos to this story.
Sharon Swanepoel
1:08 pm on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
I have three plumbers in my family - two who went to college and one who did it through an apprenticeship - all three graduated from Loganville High School about 10 or 11 years ago. The one who did it through an apprenticeship is further up the chain, makes more money and certainly has no college loans to pay off - in fact he was paid while he learned and is still learning in an effort to move … more ›