First Slice 8/10/12: Meanwhile, in Russia
Poverty, paywalls, a burning Megabus and more
1) Word on the street is House Republicans leaders may consider completely banning lobbyist spending on lawmakers this January. As Jim Galloway put it, “the impact on the culture of the state Capitol would be tremendous.”
2) A Megabus heading from Atlanta to Charlotte caught fire Wednesday right near the Georgia border. Of the 80 passangers on board, not one was hurt, but the bus is a shell of its former self.
3) Jonathan Bun, the Clayton County teen that shot and killed deputy sheriff Rick Daly last summer, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole plus 70 years yesterday.
4) Christian Taylor, who attended Sandy Creek High School in Tyrone, Ga., won the Olympic triple jump gold medal last night. That’s kind of cool.
5) East Cobb is lightly toying with the idea of becoming a city. Since county chairman candidate Bill Byrne’s pitched the idea of eventually bringing it to a vote in a Marietta Daily Journal piece earlier this week residents have had mixed reactions.
Fun fact, from 1961 to 1995 a strip of land about 10-feet wide and seven miles long running next to the ‘Hooch in Cobb County was incorporated as it’s own city to prevent the City of Atlanta from annexing into the county. (H/T Atlanta Reddit thread)
Not-so-fun-fact, the MDJ has instituted a New York Times-esque paywall on their website. You get a few stories for free each month, but for full access you’ll have to subscribe. As Thomas Wheatley noted:
--@--mdjonline How will I keep my finger on the pulse of Cobb County?!?
— Thomas Wheatley (@thomaswheatley) August 8, 2012
6) Meanwhile in Russia, authorities came across an underground Islamist sect near the city of Kazan. The 70-member group, including 20 children, had been underground for nearly a decade. Some of the kids had never even seen daylight until prosecutors discovered the compound at the beginning of August.
7) According to a recent Pew report, Atlanta is bucking national trends in at least one area. While pockets of poverty continue to grow around the country, ATL has seen a decrease in the percentage of low-income households living in majority low-income areas. Experts couldn’t pinpoint the reason, but it’s likely from all those housing projects the City razed.