First Slice 8/23/13: Delta says Obamacare will cost it $100 million next year

Plus, 2 Chainz got arrested ...


?The fact that a petition seeking a vote on the new Falcons stadium came up short on signatures isn’t stopping Common Cause Georgia’s anti-stadium push. CCA’s William Perry has started taking the message on the road, pointing out to a Savannah rotary club early this week that even though Atlanta is funding $200 million of the project it will still be a state-owned arena. The entire state deserves a say, he says.
?
?A 20-year-old man was found dead in a Midtown hotel just days after leaving a non-profit shelter dedicated to helping homeless gay teens. Staffers at Lost N Found Youth said Matthew Ralston was dropped off in Midtown, at his request, after failing a drug test and expressing an unwillingness to stop using. The exact cause of Ralston’s death won’t be known until toxicology results are returned in the coming weeks, but a Fulton County medical examiner that went to the scene said she suspects it was “due to drug overdose.”
?
?President Barack Obama has added DeKalb school bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff to his speed dial list, just above poison control. Ok, that’s probably a lie, but the POTUS did give Tuff a call on Thursday and commended her heroic actions for talking down 20-year-old gunman Michael Brandon Hill.
?
?Delta said it expects Obamacare to cost the company $100 million in 2014. That comes on the heels of the United Parcel Service, commonly called UPS, announcing its plans to drop 15,000 spouses of employees since they’ll be eligible for coverage elsewhere under the new program.
?
?In another interesting story, a man managed to save $17,000 on a surgery originally quoted at $23,000 by not using his insurance. In the Wall Street Journal opinion piece, his doctor Jeffrey Singer argues that cutting out the third-party plans is the best way to lower health care costs - and Obamacare kind of does the opposite.
?
?A Savannah woman has been awarded $12 million in a settlement with the city after a Live Oak tree limb impaled her in the passenger seat of a truck back in early July. Shanta Greene, 31, lost her right leg and pelvis, and suffered other injuries, stemming from the incident.
?
?Atlanta rapper 2Chainz, whose real name is Tauheed Epps, was arrested by Oklahoma City police along with 10 others after refusing to get off a tour bus for more than eight hours following a traffic stop. An officer arrested the driver on drug charges, but after exiting the bus someone still inside locked the door behind him. Police eventually towed the bus back to the sheriff’s office before obtaining a search warrant.
?
?For those that love catching my typos and calling me out when I erroneously say a Fulton County prosecutor has been arrested more than 100 times, do your worst! This is my very first last first slice post ever. Next week I’m off to sunny California.
?






Activism
Issues
The Blotter
COVID Updates
Latest News
Current Issue