First Slice 3-22-13: Georgia is the ‘pill mill’ capital of the South

And young entrepreneurs really like Atlanta ... which is probably unrelated

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1. Not only did ‘Kick Ass’ Mall Cop lose his security gig, but Darien Long also spent a few hours in the Fulton County Jail last week after a scuffle with a person in the Metro Mall.

2. Why do you think so many people bring guns into the Fulton County Courthouse?

3. Marietta Daily Journal columnist Dick Yarbrough pledges more than $1.5 million to the University of Georgia’s journalism school to help “prepare students for crisis management and make it the go-to school on the topic.” Evidently the MDJ pays its writers pretty well ...

4. How a small brown bat delayed more than $459 million worth of road projects in north Georgia for more than a year and a half.

5. Georgia has become the go-to state in the South for “pill mill” clinics known for prescribing powerful pain killers and illegal medications to dealers and other recreational users. As other states have tightened laws around the practice in recent years, Georgia’s lax regulations have kept the state open for business, the Associated Press reports, and clinic parking lots are often packed with out-of-state license plates.

6. Kennesaw officials are thinking of upping the tax on owners of blighted homes, potentially charging seven times the regular tax millage rate for homes not kept up to city standards.

7. Coca-Cola is canning about 750 workers around North America. About 25 percent of those layoffs are expected to be in the Atlanta area.

8. Young entrepreneurs like Atlanta, apparently.






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