The Atlanta Journal from Atlanta, Georgia • 22

B2 Wednesday July 3 1996 LOCAL NEWS The Atlanta Journal The Atlanta Constitution 033 3 rs ans tit smo? ri JO3 fb sgpiflci fljo TO is 2i 29r The Ven 'sIhti Vaien the Olympics are over can we the countdown sign for something really important like college football? THE WHINE LINE I hope everybody learned something from the taxicab drivers Sign up with ACOG before you try to price gouge Southerners Northerners Western ers or the next six weeks we all be' Americans? Why do car dealerships always overstock? deleted the Home Shopping Net work and like channels from my TV I noaVe tO PUt UP W'th tEat idiOCy' Ln'j Watched the Miss Georgia pageant Does anyone really care about a 20 year platform for life? you know that a Coke at the Coca Cb7a Olympic City costs I thought they eliminated the middle man I Talk about leaving town for the Olym I pics I saw three whole houses being moved out of town Think come I back after the Games? i Eleanor Roosevelt told me to call the Vent and tell you venters to leave Hillary I alone I nThe three most important parts of the paper are the Vent Top 10 a'nd the comics Speed limits rise Monday Death rates rise Tuesday They say Bill would do anything to get re elected I wonder if he would divorce Hillary I I Tike a look at all the young children coming out of rated movies That is i what our teachers have to deal with not legal to set up majority or minor ity districts when it comes to voting but it seems to be OK when it comes to setting i homeowner's insurance rates I orgive the Atlanta Hawks ather for i they know not how to draft The speed of life is not 1 1 Alive the third and fourth lanes on 1 285 on Monday morning send me flowers when I die Just give me the money now watching the Braves game and it ap pears that Bobby Cox is now closing his mouth while he is chewing The power of the Vent is amazing 3 I' NEED TO VENT? CALL 404 8338 PSC authorizes Marietta to offer fiber optic links bSQH A I By Marlon Manuel STA WRITER The state Public Service Commission on Tuesday authorized city owned electric company to provide busi nesses with fiber optic telecommunication links The high volume connections could I link businesses to long distance hubs the Internet and interactive video i The ruling also should open the door to I other municipal utilities that want to start similar services providing competition for private companies A statewide electric au I thority is trying to link its 48 members I Marietta iberNet a subsidiary of Marietta Power will not sell links direct I ly to individuals Instead private service I providers will lease space on the conduit then sell their wares to consumers I The $87 million project will take a year to complete but the first service i near the Cumberland Galleria area could be switched on in three months stipulation was imposed on Mar ietta iberNet by the PSC: iberNet will to report to the PSC the amount of txes it is able to avoid by operating as a fpblic entity Private companies are warned that the city owned company Would be at an advantage fYThe PSC intends to use the numbers to calculate whether iberNet is unfairlyundercutting private companies offering the same services TRAVEL PLANS AAA recommends alternate routes during Games To avqid the potential grid lock around the clock dur ing the Olympic Games the AAA Auto Club South recom mends travelers detour around metro Atlanta unless they plan to stop here are going to be cer tain periods when Atlanta is go ing to be terribly said Ted Allred the Geor gia regional director eat up the better part of a day just to get through town If an incident some sort of tie up or a bad accident they could be here three four five The auto club which has 15 million members in Georgia west lorida and Tennessee not ed that officials of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games predict rush hour condi tions 18 hours a day every day during the Olympics The club recommends that long distance north south travel ers take 1 95 or 1 65 instead of I 75 or 1 85 or people who take those highways AAA trip plan ners have pieced together routes bypassing Atlanta Allred said none of the alternate routes' should add more than two hours to a trip rom 1 75 South in northwest Georgia the route goes from Cal houn south to Carrollton then to Ga 16 at Newnan Travelers could pick up 1 85 near Newnan or 1 75 near Griffin rom 1 85 on the north the detour extends from US 441 near Commerce south to Athens Madison then to Monticello and back to 1 75 at orsyth Allred said he think through travelers would get bogged down in the heavy Olympic traffic ex pected in Athens because the route takes the bypass highway Road service changes: The Olympic detour is not the auto only change Because of narrowed shoulders on interstates AAA has told its emergency road service contrac tors not to repair cars or change tires on the roadsides of all ex pressways in metro Atlanta but to tow the cars to a safe place was brought about by the addition of the HOV lanes and elimination of emergency Allred said done this in the interest of safety for our drivers and our Allred said he recently saw someone changing a tire on the side of a freeway who was par Calhounl PICKENS Di hl 1 PIKE TROUP MERIWETHER 50 miles VERNON CARN'E Staff Alternate route Alternate route Getting around the Games The AAA Auto Club South recommends motorists take these detours to avoid getting stuck in Olympic traffic lonticello HARRIS VII Source: AAA Auto Club South Mannn i TALBOT CRAWORD BIBB 'TWIGGS A Ip i DAWSON HAU? 1 BARTolv I ORSYTH 1RomenW5 7 JACKSON Jonesboro ayetteville rMn Newnan niniw SPA PAULDING 7'OCONEU wAiroN DOUGLAS CLAYTON ROCKDALE' rn' NEWTON A I I OJ McHnnAiiah HENKY Jackson UINIB TRUTTS jjrirnn 75) LAMARR orsyth psonM zz i A 1 6) (83) I 'xsr? I fiviu MONROE DRIVE DOUG MONROE tially in a traffic lane forcing motorists to swerve The policy requires towing all vehicles with problems to a safe place or a garage Allred said the narrowed shoulders have made roadside repairs too dangerous AAA membership covers the cost of towing but other motor ists whose cars break down can expect to pay that additional ex pense to get back on the road Exit 103 follow up: State Department of Transportation offices were swamped with calls after a reader said she was con fused by Exit 103 off 1 75 south bound at the Brookwood inter change and got a ticket A spokesman said callers wanted to know how the exit works The auto club whieh has 15 million members in Georgia west lorida and Tennessee noted that officials of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games predict rush hour conditions 18 hours a day every day during the Olympics Exit 103 has three lanes The left lane is the Express Lane for vehicles with two or more pas sengers which continues south to 1 7585 (the Downtown Con nector) The other two lanes loop around and merge with 1 85 north Questions or opinions about traffic? Call 404 222 8664 or write to columnist Doug Monroe at The Atlanta Journal Constitu tion PO Box 4689 Atlanta Ga 30302 ax: 404 526 5746 mail: trafficajccom Juries prefer alternative to death penalty By Mark Silk STA WRITER Twenty years after the US Supreme Court reinstat ed the death penalty a law allowing defendants to be sent to prison for life without parole appears to be sharply reducing the number of death sentences in Georgia Since July 1993 when the new law went into effect 35 sentences of life without parole have been imposed 18 by juries and 17 through negotiated pleas accord ing to the multi county public office But during that time only five defendants eligible for life without parole have been sentenced to death ourteen others sentenced to die were ineligible for life without parole because they committed their crimes prior to July 1993 Before the life without parole law took effect an av erage of 15 convicted murderers were sentenced to death every year was in favor of the law because I thought it would reduce the number of people on death said multi county public defender Mike Mears it looks like having that That was exactly what then Rep Tom Cauthorn feared when he spoke out against the life without pa role proposal before it was adopted during the 1993 leg islative session felt like in cases where death was appropriate the jury would not fulfill their responsibilities to their fellow Cauthorn said Under the law jurors in death penalty cases no longer have to choose between the electric chair and a simple life sentence which many Georgians believe can lead to an early parole Last week a Rockdale County jury declined to order the electrocution of Markus Crowder the ringleader of a crime gang who executed a grocery store after torturing him into revealing the combination to the store safe Two months ago co defen dant Marvin Turner also received life without parole still believe these two people deserved the ulti mate said Rockdale District Attorney Cheryl Custer life without parole is an easier emotional process for jurors to go through You do the right thing for society you do the right thing for the crime and you have to get into that moral issue of choos ing life or Although Americans by a wide margin say they sup port the death penalty they would prefer the option of life without parole accompanied by restitution accord ing to a 1993 poll conducted for the Washington based Death Penalty Information Center a lot of support in America for the death penalty but also a lot of support for the safety that life without parole said Robert Dieter the director Georgia prosecutors said they willingly negotiate pleas to life without parole in death penalty cases in or der to avoid lengthy appeals families general ly agree prosecutors say major consideration is the uncertainty of the death penalty versus the certainty of knowing he will spend the rest of his life behind said DeKalb County District Attorney Tom Morgan But Attorney General Mike Bowers doubted that life without parole would establish certainty will come a day most likely when there will' be a lot of litigation over life without Bowers said only sure thing is a death Triumph of the human spirit? 4 By the time 'L Washington A1' IZacon'p NationsBank Torch Relay in Georgia Hiotfro'V derson SG to Hartwell Hartw'ell to Athens' Aug 12 Athens to Madison Madison to Monticello 1 Monticello to Macon Aug 1 3 Macon to Thomaston Thomaston to Woodland Woodland to Manchester Manchester to Warm Springs Aug 14 Warm Springs to Gay Gay to Haralson Haralson to Senoia Senoia to ayetteville ayetteville to McDonough McDonough to Stone Mountain GREY BLACKWELLStaff Aug 1 5 Stone Mountain to Clarkston Clarkston to Decatur Decatur to Atlanta PARALYMPIC TORCH RELAY New flame to light the way to Atlanta Coming soon: One thousand torchbearers will travel by horse foot cycle and wheelchair one thousand miles through Virginia and the Carolinas to Georgia By Anne Hart STA WRITER When the Paralympic Torch Re lay comes to Georgia Jeff Vinings and his lawn mower will be ready Vinings of Barnesville plans to car ry the torch in the Paralympic relay while riding a disabled accessible lawn mower he designed Plans for the 1996 Paralympic Torch Relay also include chiming church bells police escorts on bicy cles family oriented celebrations and maybe even a Macon water skier toting the torch Experiments in how to grasp the torch and ski rope handle while stay ing above water are ongoing said Al lyson Young director of public infor mation for the Paralympic Games or the first time in the United States the Paralympics has its own Torch Relay which begins when the torch is lighted Aug 5 from the flame at the tomb of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr and is flown to Washington rom there 1000 torchbearers will travel by foot cycle horse and wheel 1 chair in a 1000 mile trek through Virginia and the Carolinas to Geor gia Preliminary plans call for the torch to enter Georgia by kayak Aug 11 with governors from Georgia and South Carolina on the banks of Lake Hartwell relay tugs on your heart Young said Each city that hosts the torch overnight plans to peal church bells the next morning as the torch exits he said Unlike the Olympic Torch Relay Young said the Paralympic relay which is sponsored by NationsBank have tight restrictions on signs and ceremony procedure are telling the organizing committees they can do whatever they said Young Celebrations will be held in 17 cit ies on the relay route including Ath ens Macon Thomaston Warm Springs McDonough Stone Moun tain and Decatur Independent com mittees will organize each celebra tion Young said The Paralympics relay will not pass through Greenville County SC as originally planned Greenville County Council recently upheld a resolution condemning homosexual ity The Paralympic flame will by pass north Atlanta metropolitan counties including Cobb which has its own anti homosexuality ordi nance on the books not going to put our games or game related events in jeopardy of not being able to provide hospitality and the best athletic experience to our athletes and said Kay McKenzie vice president of Paralympic communication and cre ative services 7 When the six vehi cle relay caravan winds into Warm Springs Aug 14 committee members will showcase the new $112 million Center for Therapeutic Rec: reation The center to be dedicated in early August will provide a hospi tai and vocational setting for disabil ity groups according to activity ther apist Wanda Pettaway rom Warm Springs the torch will come through Coweta ayette and Henry counties to Stone Moun tain On Aug 15 the torch travels from Stone Mountain about 17 miles through Clarkston and Decatur to Phipps Plaza in Buckhead then to Shepherd Spinal Center rom Atlan ta City Hall Mayor Bill Campbell will host a torch parade to the Olyrp pic stadium for the Opening Cere monies Plans are that President Clinton will run the first leg of the relay from the White House rose garden said Bob Buehler senior account execu tive for Tortorici and Co public rela tions consultants to the Paralympic Games Applications to run in the Para lympic Torch Relay are available at branches of NationsBank Deadline for applications is July 15 Torch bearers who will include persons with and withoyt disabilities vdll be notified July 17 Alternate route Alternate route NEED TO VENT? CALL 404.