Local

Animal activists are still waiting on final word from DeKalb County on the location of a new animal shelter. After weeks of delay, residents are frustrated and concerned about the shelter being built on one of the proposed sites.

Two weeks ago, DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis was set to recommend a site for a new shelter.

Instead, three sites were proposed, and the final recommendation was supposed to come Tuesday at the county commission meeting. But the county presented further evaluations.

A grand jury Tuesday afternoon indicted DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis on felony charges of extortion, theft, and conspiracy.

Hours later, Ellis turned himself into the sheriff's office and was released on $25,000 bond.

In a business-like manner, DeKalb District Attorney Robert James read off the 15-count indictment at a late afternoon press conference in Decatur.

In this Atlanta Sounds audio slideshow we meet Bo Bradshaw.  He’s been collecting tractors since the 1990’s.
While modern tractors have electric starters, Bradshaw’s 1938 AW John Deere tractor has no key, but requires a hand crank to start.  Bradshaw grew up in a small town in Indiana, where his love of tractors originated. Today he is a resident of Inman Park where you can sometimes find him giving hay rides.

Today the Southern Christian Leadership Conference denounced what it says is a legal attack on Representative Tyrone Brooks. Brooks was recently charged in a 30-count federal grand jury indictment. The indictment alleges Brooks misused nearly $1 million dollars from a charity he founded in 1990 and the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference CEO and President Emeritus Charles Steele did not want to get into specifics about the charges against Brooks.

“I’m not here to be the judge nor the jury.”

Later this morning a hearing will continue regarding a challenge to the indictment of 35 former Atlanta Public School educators.

It stems from the state’s investigation into cheating which led to the 65-count indictment.

Monday, after a full day of arguments and testimony, the presiding judge left the prosecution with a stinging statement. 

WABE’s Rose Scott has more:

Over the seven hours, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter allowed a 45-minute lunch break and a quick 10-minute stretch-your-legs break.

Starting next month, Georgia school boards will have to pay more for health insurance for employees in their school systems. That’s due to a recent resolution unanimously approved by the state Board of Community Health.

The largest increase boards will pay is for employees who are non-certified, such as school bus drivers, janitors and cafeteria workers. Those costs are going up by more than 33 percent.

A dozen Atlanta high school students are spending their summer in research labs at Georgia Tech.

While the thought would make many teens cringe, there were about three applicants for each opening in Tech's “ProjectENGAGE” (Engaging New Generations at Georgia Tech through Engineering) program.

But Tech grad students don’t want the high schoolers who weren’t selected to lose interest.

That’s why a group is organizing a science club that will go out to schools to give students hands-on research experience. 

MARTA is inviting the community to learn about proposed transit projects in the I-20 East Transit initiative.

The transit agency plans to hold open houses on the projects later this month. 

The meetings will give participants a chance to review the locally preferred alternative that has been identified based on studies, public input and preliminary findings from environmental studies.

The open houses feature both formal presentations and a question-and-answer session.