News Features

Monday May 26, 2008 10:00 AM EDT

Percentage range of Georgia sixth and seventh graders who failed the state social studies exam: 70-80

Approximate percentage of Georgia eighth-graders who failed the state math exam: 40

Percentage of Georgia eighth graders who failed math exam last year: 19

Percentage of eighth graders required to pass state math exam before advancing to high school: 100

Georgia’s high...

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News Features

Monday May 19, 2008 10:00 AM EDT

Estimated City of Atlanta budget shortfall in 2009: $140 million

Percentage of Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs budget Mayor Franklin proposes cutting: 15

Positions cut from the parks department in 1993 and 1998 due to budget concerns: 137

Positions cut from the parks department in 2002 due to budget concerns: 127

Approximate number of parks department...

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News Features

Monday May 12, 2008 10:00 AM EDT

Percent of Americans who live in counties with unhealthful levels of ozone or particle pollution: 40

Rank of Metro Atlanta among cities most polluted by year-round ozone: 12

Rank of Metro Atlanta among cities most polluted by year-round particle pollution: 6

Rank of Plant Bowen, a Georgia Power coal electricity plant in Cartersville, among national producers of smog-causing...

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News Features

Monday May 5, 2008 10:22 AM EDT

Cost of one ton of Appalachian coal in 2007: $40

Cost of one ton of Appalachian coal in 2008: $90

Percentage of electricity price increase Georgia Power recently requested from the state Public Services Commission: 3

Number of times Georgia Power has requested rate increases during the past five years: 5

Amount Georgia Power parent company, Southern Co., spent on government...

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News Features

Monday April 28, 2008 06:34 AM EDT

Home foreclosures in United States in March: 234,685

Home foreclosures in Georgia in March: 11,047

Percent increase from February 2008: 44.8

Percent increase from March 2007: 63.2

Number of states with more home foreclosures than Georgia in March: 3

Percentage drop in home sales reported by Atlanta-based homebuilder Ashton Woods in early 2008: 32.1

Number of...

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News

Monday April 14, 2008 03:39 PM EDT

Days Gov. Sonny Perdue, First Lady Mary Perdue and Secretary of State Karen Handel recently spent in China on a foreign trade mission: 5

Price for one round-trip business-class ticket from Atlanta to Shanghai: $13,839.15

International business trips Perdue has taken since 2003: 14

Jobs for Georgians Perdue’s trade mission reportedly secured: 20

Georgia...

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News Features

Monday April 7, 2008 03:03 PM EDT

Current projected revenue shortfall in Atlanta: $65 million

Amount by which Atlanta exceeded its budget during fiscal year that ended June 2007: $90 million

Amount city overestimated its year-to-year budget surplus since 2003: $241 million

Estimated revenue shortfall city predicts it will face next year: __$120 million


Amount of city’s budget shortfall when...

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News Features

Sunday March 30, 2008 10:00 AM EDT

Number of games Braves finished behind division champions in 2007: 5

Seasons the Braves have finished below .500 since 1991: 1

Combined age of Braves top four starting pitchers: 150

Combined number of Cy Young Awards they’ve won: 3

Last time a Braves pitcher won a Cy Young Award: 1998

John Smoltz’s career strike-outs per nine innings: 7.95

John...

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News Features

Monday March 24, 2008 10:00 AM EDT

Tons of CO2 emitted in 2007 by Plant Scherer, a coal power plant outside Macon: 27,200,000

Since 2002, number of states with lower increase in CO2 emissions than Georgia: 48

Pounds of CO2 emission stopped annually by replacing three incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs: 300

Pounds of CO2 emission stopped annually by inflating your car tires correctly: 250

Pounds...

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News Features

Thursday March 13, 2008 09:17 PM EDT

Years since U.S. invasion of Iraq: __5


Total number of U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan: 7,284

American troops killed in Iraq: 3,987

American troops from Georgia killed in Iraq: 123

American troops from metro Atlanta killed in Iraq: 36

American troops from Georgia wounded in Iraq: 858

Youngest Georgian killed in Iraq: 19

Oldest Georgian...

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News Features

Monday March 10, 2008 10:00 AM EDT

Amount Coca-Cola Co. paid former CEO Neville Isdell in 2007: $31.9 million

Amount Coca-Cola paid current CEO Muhtar Kent in 2007: $8.7 million

Average salary of an account manager (sales) at Coca-Cola: $38,327

Amount Home Depot paid former CEO Robert Nardelli in 2006: $13.1 million

Value of Nardelli’s Home Depot severance package: $210 million

People Home Depot laid...

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News Features

Monday March 3, 2008 10:00 AM EST

Acres identified as greenspace in 20-county metro area: 170,000

Approximate acreage of DeKalb County: 170,000

Amount of money regional voters have approved for greenspace acquisition since 2003: $2.16 million

Percentage of land in 20-county metro area protected as “greenspace”: 4

Number of acres of trees in metro Atlanta that are lost to development...

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News Features

Monday February 18, 2008 10:00 AM EST

Number of registered lobbyists in Georgia, as of 2007: 1,492

Amount lobbyists spent on Valentine’s Day for legislators and their spouses last year: $16,000

Amount lobbyists spent in 2007 on meals, tickets, entertainment and other perks for legislators: $1.4 million

Amount spent during 2008 legislative session, as of press time: $311,620.58

Number of groups represented by...

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News Features

Monday February 11, 2008 10:00 AM EST

Months until 14th Street bridge replacement is supposed to be complete: 28

Southbound Downtown Connector off-ramps to Midtown now closed for bridge project: 3

Southbound Downtown Connector off-ramps to Midtown that remain open: 2

Months 14th Street bridge will be closed, starting this summer: 18

Number of bike lanes planned for replacement 14th Street bridge: 1

Number...

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News Features

Saturday February 2, 2008 10:00 AM EST

Amount former Atlanta police officer Daniel Betts illegally took weekly from an apartment complex to provide extra patrols: $120

According to the FBI, minimum amount former Atlanta police officer Gregg Junnier took weekly from several businesses to provide extra patrols: $400

Years in prison Junnier faces for his role in the 2006 killing of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston during a drug...

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News Features

Monday January 28, 2008 10:00 AM EST

U.S. unemployment rate in November 2007: 4.7 percent

U.S. unemployment rate in December 2007: 5.0 percent

Months since such a large increase in unemployment was recorded in single month: 73

Months since the 9/11 attacks: 74

Georgia’s December 2007 unemployment rate: 4.6 percent

Unemployed persons in Georgia: 236,454

Approximate weekly unemployment...

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News Features

Friday January 11, 2008 10:00 AM EST

From zero to 100, Georgia’s overall state grade for public education: 80.2

Mississippi’s overall state grade for public education: 68.9

National average grade for public education: 75.9

Average dollars spent annually on each student in Georgia: 8,658

Rank of Georgia in United States for per-pupil spending: 27

Georgia’s grade for K-12 achievement: 68.1

K-12...

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News Features

Friday January 4, 2008 10:42 PM EST

Number of Georgia state legislators: 236

Number of Republican legislators in 1988: 38

Number of Republican legislators in 2008: 140

Number of Democratic legislators in 1988: 197

Number of...

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News Features

Sunday December 23, 2007 01:20 PM EST

Year the Atlanta Falcons franchise came into existence … 1966

Year the Falcons won their first division title … 1980

Years the Falcons have been in Atlanta … 41

Number of years the team has had a .500 record or lower … 32

Number of full-time head coaches in franchise history … 10

Number of those coaches who left with a winning record...

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News Features

Friday December 14, 2007 07:34 PM EST

Estimated years it will take to complete 22-mile Atlanta Beltline project: 25

Years it took to build the Great Pyramid at Giza: 20-30

Years it took to build a 31-mile tunnel and railway under the English Channel connecting England and France: 8

Years between the U.S.S.R. putting Laika the dog in space and Neil Armstrong walking on the moon: 12

Years it took to build the...

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News Features

Monday November 26, 2007 10:00 AM EST

Gallons of water consumed by average Cobb County household in

October: 6,510

Gallons of water used by Cobb resident Chris G. Carlos in October:

440,000

Swimming pools that much water could fill: 58

Gallons of water power plants Atkinson and McDonough consume daily from the Chattahoochee River: 862 million

Number of power plants located along the Chattahoochee...

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News Features

Monday November 19, 2007 10:00 AM EST

Pounds of trash the average American generates daily: 3.3

Pounds of trash the average Georgian generates daily: 6.6

Tons of solid waste disposed of in Atlanta in 2003: 192,363

Tons of recycling collected in 2003: 27,910

Cost of disposing Georgia’s trash in 2004: $90 million

Value of raw materials made if that trash would have been recycled: $250 million

Amount of...

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News Features

Tuesday November 13, 2007 09:36 AM EST

Percentage by which Alpharetta City Council Post 4 incumbent Debbie Gibson was defeated: 2

Page views of DUIDebbie.com, a page showing video of Gibson’s March DUI arrest: 18,000

Percentage of Doraville mayoral vote received by former Doraville City Councilman Tom Hart: 18

Number of months Doraville police chief served in the Army National Guard in Iraq before Hart...

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News Features

Saturday November 3, 2007 05:32 PM EDT

Percentage of bridges in metro Atlanta rated “deficient” in a recent study: 20

Percentage of major roads and highways in metro Atlanta that are considered “congested”: 76

Percentage of Atlanta commuters who drive to work alone: 65

Total number of people killed in traffic accidents in Georgia from 2001-2005: 8,182

Projected cost of a planned “colossus of roads” for metro...

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News Features

Monday October 22, 2007 10:00 AM EDT

Amount Democratic Sen. Barack Obama has raised in Georgia for his 2008 presidential campaign: $1,105,770

Amount Republican former Gov. Mitt Romney has raised in Georgia for his 2008 presidential campaign: $963,261

Amount Democratic former Sen. Mike Gravel has raised in Georgia for his 2008 presidential campaign: $1,375

Amount Republican Alan Keyes has raised in Georgia for his...

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