First Slice 8/22/13: Middle Eastern mechanics wanted for 'Fast and Furious 7'

Mayor Kasim Reed, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner, and others addressed community members in Southwest Atlanta last night to talk public safety yet again following what some city residents say is a spike in crime. Reed said crime in 2012 was down 18 percent and murders were at a record low.
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?A Fulton County prosecutor is asking Inman Park residents to show up in court and push for the maximum sentence for an alleged petty thief that has been arrested more than 100 times. For his current charge, entering an auto, Ronald Lockett faces anywhere from one to five years in prison if convicted.
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?Army Private Bradley Manning was sentenced yesterday to up to 35 years behind bars for dropping scores of sensitive documents to the anti-secrecy organization Wikileaks. It's the stiffest penalty ever handed out for leaking documents to the media.
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?When it comes to keeping up your car or truck, a new study says Georgia has the highest vehicle costs in the country. One factor? The insanely long commute a lot of people make to work. (MyAJC - not yours - paywall alert)
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?Atlanta's stadium plans have caught a little more negative press as Al Jazeera tries to figure out if cities actually gain as much as they put into sports stadiums. The article is rather long and deals with the stadium boom the entire country has experienced over the past 20 years. It's worth a read, but here's a key excerpt about the ATL:
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??? Even team owners building new stadiums have begun seeking annual operating subsidies. Earlier this year, when Atlanta agreed to provide billionaire Atlanta Falcons owner (and Home Depot founder) Arthur Blank with $200 million in hotel tax money to help pay for a new stadium to replace the 20-year-old Georgia Dome, it tacked on an additional bonus: Any leftover hotel tax money after the first $200 million would spill over into a so-called waterfall fund that Blank could then tap for any future maintenance or operating expenses. Estimated cost: an extra $300 million.
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? The Atlanta deal is a perfect example of how subsidies are increasingly buried deep within lease agreements that are seldom if ever carefully scrutinized by politicians or the media. The waterfall fund was only revealed when a local business writer exposed it on her own blog - and even then, it was rarely mentioned in subsequent media stories or in legislative debates.??
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?If you're a Middle Eastern dude that knows how to work on cars, 'Fast and Furious 7' is waiting for your headshot. The septuplet sequel is about to start filming in Gwinnett and is looking for extras that fit that mold.
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