The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • B2

Filename: B2-METRO-AJCD0222-AJCD DateTime created: Feb 21 2013 Username: SPEEDDRIVER06 Magenta Black 2B AJCD Friday, Feb 22, 2013 METRO 2B B2 CREDIBLE. COMPELLING. COMPLETE. 3 THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION FRIDAY, FEB. 22, 2013 Metro Atlanta's interest in 2024 Games gauged Mayor voices interest in hosting Olympics and Paralympics.

cess that cost more than $10 million before they won the United States Olympic Committee's blessing as an "IOC Applicant City." Blackmun said the process to select the 2024 city would be "thoughtful but more efficient." Already, the invitation has attracted at least one high-profile detractor. Ambassador and former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, who helped bring the 1996 Games to Atlanta, said the city has other, more pressing issues. "We have other things we need to do that are going to com mand our attention-transportation, water resources," Young told Atlanta Magazine. "There are a lot of problems we need to take care of." as well as the cities in the largest 25 U.S. markets.

The letters went out the mayors of 35 cities. The USOC is "actively seeking to gauge the interest of U.S. cities that may have the ability to host an event with the scope and scale of the Olympic Games," chief executive Scott A. Black-mun wrote to Reed in a letter dated Feb. 19.

Atlanta hosted the summer Olympic Games in 1996. Reed said he planned to discuss the query with the city's civic and business leaders in the weeks and months ahead. "Atlanta was thrilled to host the Centennial Olympic Games and welcome the world to our great city in 1996," Reed said in a statement Thursday. "The games fueled the city's economic and population growth, en hanced our international reputation as a leading global city, and continue to be a source of pride after more than a decade. We are pleased to be on the short list of cities with which the U.S.

Olympic Committee will have initial conversations. "This opportunity is worthy of thoughtful consideration," he said. Blackmun said the USOC has more than two years to decide whether to submit a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, but would like to begin discussions with interested cities about possible bid themes as well as the infrastructure, financial resources and other assets. The staging of the Olympics would involve an operating budget of more than $3 billion, not including costs associated with building venues and other infrastructure. In his letter, Blackmun listed a number of requirements that the winning city would have to meet: 45,000 hotel rooms; an Olympic village that sleeps 16,500 and has a dining hall; operations space for more than 15,000 media and broadcasters; an international airport that can handle thousands of international travelers per day; public transportation service to venues; roadway closures to allow exclusive use for Games-related transportation; and a workforce of up to 200,000.

The United States submitted bids to host the 2012 games in New York and the 2016 games in Chicago. Both cities had to participate in a domestic bid pro Staging of events would involve $3B budget. By Jeremiah McWilliams jmcwilliamsajc.com Atlanta is one of dozens of cities that have been asked whether they are interested in hosting the 2024 Olympic and Paralym-pic Games. And Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is open to exploring the possibility. The United States Olympic Committee is reaching out to cities that have previously ex- pressed an interest in the games, Rescued from an escalator Atlanta firefighters Thursday rescued a man whose foot got caught in an escalator in Phipps Plaza's parking deck.

The man was conscious and alert during the rescue. It took about an hour to free his foot, and he was taken by ambulance to Grady Memorial Hospital. Atlanta fire Capt. Marian McDaniel said the man was at the mall to work on the sprinkler system. He was carrying a ladder up the escalator when "the ladder somehow slipped and created a wedge in the stairs of the escalator and that's what his foot got caught in," McDaniel said.

JOHN SPINK JSPINKAJC.COM Dalton Parks OKs expanded checks Mom pleads for clues in girl's death; reward offered Teenager was stabbed multiple times last summer. By Andria Simmons asimmonsajc.com Facing the bleak reality that 16-year-old Hannah Truelove has been dead six months, yet her killer is still at large, her mother this week spoke publicly for the first time at a press conference at the Hall County Sheriff's Office. Mona Harris' statement came in conjunction with the announcement that authorities are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Truelove's death. Truelove's body was discovered Aug. 24 in a heavily wooded area between the apartment complex in Gainesville where she lived and Lake Lanier.

The girl had been stabbed multiple times. Harris said she longed for someone to come forward and Department teams with Operation TLC to widen background reviews. By Charles Oliver Dalton Daily Citizen Coaches and other volunteers with the Dalton Parks and Recreation Department have long had to pass a criminal background check. But officials have adopted a new system just in time for spring sports that they say will be even more comprehensive. "Our top priority is keeping our children safe," said Program Manager Mike Miller.

Miller says the department at any given time can have 100 to 2,500 volunteers. "We haven't had any problems here. But there have been problems in other parts of the country. That's why we are interested in nationwide background checks," he said. The department has teamed up with the National Recreation and Park Association and Operation TLC, which provides comprehensive national background checks as well as training on safety topics for staff and The Vent Need to Vent? Go to ajc.comvent Immigrants are not a concern.

Immigrants are people who choose to come to this country by legal means. I'll support a new stadium when our roads are fixed and we're in at least the top half of the country in education. Does anybody remember President Obama vowed to veto any legislation aimed at preventing sequestration? Nowhe's complaining about the damage it will do. President Bush made several trips to New Orleans after Katrina. Obama made one trip after Hurricane Sandyjust before the election.

Ifyou're going to try to intimidate me on the highway, please don't do itinaminivan. You folks are overlooking the fact that the people in Doraville don't on the News In the Jodi Arias trial, the jury can submit questions to be answered. Do any other states allow this? -Karen Christanell, Johns Creek Arizona, where the Arias trial is being held, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana and Wyoming are among the states where jurors can ask questions of witnesses during criminal trials. The Arizona Judicial Branch's website states: "Arizona has pioneered many successful jury reform measures, such as jurors being allowed to ask written questions of witnesses in the court; jurors being allowed to discuss evidence (in civil cases) during the course of the trial; juror note taking and juror notebooks in lengthy or complex trials and supplemental pay for long trials." Arias, 32, is on trial for the 2008 murder of boyfriend Travis Alexan volunteers. The Operation TLC background checks include a national criminal history check and a check of all state sex offender registries.

The checks take 48 to 72 hours. "We've been checking through the police department, which is free. That's great, and we appreciate that. But we want to expand that and get even more information," Miller said. He said the department used the Operation TLC system in 2006 and 2007 but later dropped it for budget reasons.

He said the department expects to spend about $5,000 a year on the system. The department is also creating a "zero tolerance" policy for misbehavior from coaches and spectators. The rules bar them from unsportsmanlike conduct such as making threats or obscene comments toward players, coaches, officials or spectators. Those who violate the rules will be asked to leave and will be barred from the next game as well. A second violation brings a suspension for the rest of the season, and a third offense brings a one-year suspension.

want a stadium built there. Twain, Rogers, Buchwald, Hope and others Vented with humor which is far more effective than nastiness. Vitriol only lowers the giver and thus effectively elevates the receiver. A VENT is to let hot air out, be it in your house or your mind. New breweries, a distillery, the belt line connecting one hipster neighborhood after another via bike trail, and an upcoming street car project? Let's just rename the city Portland East.

Those kids in the pre-K lottery commercial must have graduated from college already! The vent wasmuch better and entertaining before the Tea Party took it over. We get it. You hate the president. You hate everything he does; even the good things. We get it already.

Can we please move on? der, who was shot in the head, stabbed and slashed 27 times, and whose throat was slit. How many people will lose their jobs when the post office does away with Saturday delivery? -Lil Riser, Loganville About 20,000 to 25,000 letter carriers, clerks and mail sorters will lose their jobs when the U.S. Postal Service ends Saturday delivery, beginning on Aug. 5. Some job losses will be through attrition, but there also could be buyouts and reassignments, officials have said.

Overtime pay could also be cut. The USPS lost $15.9 billion in the last fiscal year. Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We'll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email (include name, phone and city).

Redneck Games canceled for now have information important to the investigation, said Hall sheriff's Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks Wilbanks. There are some "persons of interest" in the case. There are also some individuals who have not cooperated with the investigation, Wilbanks said. A handful of puzzling messages that Truelove sent out on Twitter in the days preceding her death initially seemed like they might be tied in some way to the tragedy.

The 16-year-old tweeted on Aug. 12 that she felt pursued by a stalker. The day before she disappeared, the Gainesville High School student also messaged "I need to move out of these dang apartments." Wilbanks said none of those messages turned out to be leads. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Hall County Criminal Investigations Division tip line at 770-503-3232 or the GBI tip line at 1-800-597-8477. Tips can be submitted online at http: www.

hallcounty. orgsheriff sheriffcrimetipoff.asp. dirty during the one-day event, which included a ceremonial lighting of the grill, followed by other such home-grown contests as the hubcap hurl, seed spitting and an annual favorite, tossing toilet seats in the Redneck Horseshoes competition. In 2011, the Redneck Games hit No. 5 on the list of the "10 Wackiest Summer Events," according to the travel website TripAdvisor.

East Dublin is located about an hour east of Macon, just off 1-16. bus crash injuries. Four adults on the bus were transported to Grady with non-life-threatening injuries. Their names have not been released. They were on bus Route 181, MARTA spokesman Lyle Harris told the AJC.

The bus driver has been identified as 54-year-old Sandra Clark, McBride said. No charges have been filed, pending the outcome of the investigation, he said. Hannah Truelove was found stabbed to death last sum- 1 mer behind the Hall County apartment complex where she lived. end the family's nightmare. "I am haunted by Hannah's death, as any mother can understand," Harris said on Wednesday, her voice straining with emotion.

"Please help my family by coming forward with your information, even if that information is about your son or daughter." Investigators are still looking for a late 1990s to early 2000s four-door passenger car, possibly a Dodge or Chevrolet, that may have been in the area of Lake Lanier Club apartments the night prior to the discovery of Truelove's body. The car was distinctive because it had substantial front-end damage and the driver's door was a lighter color than the rest of the vehicle. Whoever was in that car may canceled for 2013, according to a report in the Macon Telegraph. After drawing upward of 5,000 people in past years, lackluster attendance at the 2012 games prompted organizers to take a year off with the idea of restarting the event in 2014, said Larry Drew, East Dublin's city administrator. The Redneck Games began in Dublin in 1996 as a tongue-in-cheek answer to the Atlanta Summer Olympics that year.

Participants got down and in MARTA northbound Toyota Corolla, according to investigators. When the vehicles collided, the driver of the Toyota, 33-year-old Cedrick Ford, was seriously injured, Fulton County police spokesman Sgt. Scott McBride told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ford was airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center, while his adult female passenger was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening Lackluster attendance in 2012 results in a planned year hiatus. By Fran Jeffries fjeffriesajc.com Say goodbye to the mud belly flop, the bobbing for pig's feet and the toilet seat toss, at least for this year.

The Summer Redneck Games in East Dublin have been Six injured By Angel K. Brooks akbrooksajc.com Six people were injured, including one man who was airlifted to a hospital, in an wreck involving a MARTA bus Tuesday night, Fulton County police said. A MARTA bus was traveling southbound on Roosevelt Highway in south Fulton County when it tried to turn left onto Buffington Road in front of a Magenta Black 2B AJCD File name: B2-METRO-AJCD0222-AJCD DateTime created: Feb 21 2013 User-.