First Slice 2-22-13: Marietta schools to get panic buttons

Plus, half of metro ATL home owners are still underwater ...

1. Half of metro Atlanta homeowners were underwater with their mortgages at the end of 2012, according to a recent report from Zillow.com.

2. The BBC looks at why, exactly, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is the “world’s busiest.” The short answer? Delta.

3. Bloomberg’s editorial board notes that, by its own calculations, the $83 billion in taxpayer subsidies given to the 10 largest U.S. banks last year is roughly equal to the institutions’ profit margins. In other words, the largest financial giants “would just about break even in the absence of corporate welfare. In large part, the profits they report are essentially transfers from taxpayers to their shareholders.”

4. Atlanta City Council members say they want answers after it came to light that ParkAtlanta dismissed numerous tickets given to some top city officials.

5. Marietta may be the first system to install panic buttons in all of its schools. Police Officer David Baldwin told WSB Radio the buttons would be routed directly to 911 ... although I seem to remember fire alarms having a similar effect.

6. Just in time for the So So Def reunion, Daniel Blumen is turning 13 (if nothing else, jump to the 2:15 mark):






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