Truck Hijacking At Atlanta, Georgia

Police are searching for two men they say shot a truck driver in the head and then stole his semitrailer loaded with furniture in Atlanta, reports wjbf.com of Augusta, Georgia.

Investigators say the truck driver was leaving the Norfolk Southern train yard early Tuesday morning when he was held up by two men and shot in the head, states wjbf.com.

Atlanta police Captain Terrell Griffin said driver Warren Hardie suffered a “graze wound” to his head and was in stable condition at Grady Memorial Hospital.

WSB Radio reports that police found the cab of the J.B. Hunt Transport truck east of the city in DeKalb County, but were still searching for the trailer.

“We’re looking for a JB Hunt truck, a white cab, white trailer and the vehicle has homegood items, which is furniture,” Griffin said, according to wsbtv.com

The theives reportedly attached the trailer to a different cab. The truck’s cab had a GPS tracker but the trailer does not.

Canadian Couple Sues U.S. Sperm Bank For Misrepresentation Of Donor

Canadians Angela Collins and Margaret Elizabeth Hanson thought they were opting for a highly educated man with an “impressive health history” when they selected a donor from a U.S.-based sperm bank to start their family, states The Globe And Mail.

However, now the couple is seeking damages for pain, suffering, and financial losses from the company Xytex Corporation in a lawsuit filed in a Georgia court last week.

Years after the birth of their son, the Port Hope, Ontario, the couple learned that they hadn’t been told their donor was a schizophrenic college dropout with a criminal record, the couple claims.

It could become a “class action lawsuit” – the Canadian couple isn’t the only one affected by the situation, according to Hersh.  The suit states the donor appears to have fathered 36 children and Hersh said she had at least 15 other clients who may join the suit.

More:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canadian-couple-sues-us-sperm-bank-for-alleged-false-donor-details/article23810189/

War In Afghanistan Not Really Over For U.S.

The United States and NATO formally ended their war in Afghanistan on Sunday, December 28th, with a ceremony at their military headquarters in Kabul,  according to the New York Post.

Most of the Marine Corps left Afghanistan months ago, but a small group of Marines stayed behind, continuing the fight in the country, according to The Marine Corps Times.

“Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan exited Helmand Province in October, turning Camp Leatherneck over to local troops and departing for the States. The highly-publicized transition marked an end to the Corps’ major role in Afghanistan. Two months later, U.S. officials declared the end of combat operations in the 13-year-old conflict,” according to the Marine Corps Times.

The Marine Corps Times claims that “an unidentified number of Marines stayed on to help defend Bagram Airfield while remaining coalition troops train and assist Afghan troops and police officers.”

The Marines are part of the Georgian Deployment Program, and arrived with that nation’s 51st Light Infantry Battalion, said Marine Lt. Col. Peter Lang, the team’s officer in charge, in an email describing the rotation.

The Marines are embedded with soldiers from the ex-Soviet country of Georgia.

“In May, the Marines departed for Georgia where they embedded with the light infantry battalion, offering infantry advisers as well as experts in intelligence, communications, logistics, operations and medical aid,” states the Marine Corps Times.

The Marine liaison team was in Georgia until September.  They are reportedly now in Afghanistan.

“We are proud to be partnered with the Georgians,” wrote Lang, “there is a mutual respect and shared understanding that allows us to function as a cohesive team.”

More here

Shootings In Texas And Georgia On Sunday

A Texas shooting left four dead and one in critical condition in Texas, according to USA Today.

A police spokeswoman said a preliminary investigation revealed that a 30-year-old male suspect fatally shot a man and a woman and wounded another woman at a home late Sunday.

She said the suspect then then forced his wife into their residence.

The Killeen Police Tactical Response – SWAT Team – Unit was called in after the suspect barricaded himself inside their home. After several efforts to communicate with the suspect failed, officers went in a early Monday and found the bodies of the suspect, 30, and his wife, 28.

Killeen, with a population of about 130,000, is the home to the Army’s Fort Hood.

On November 5, 2009, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, opened fire killed 13 people at Fort Hood and wounded more than 30 others. He was shot but survived and was sentenced to death. Appeals are underway.

On April 2, a shooting spree occurred at several locations on the Fort Hood base, leaving three people dead and sixteen others wounded. The gunman, an Iraq War veteran, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Former Deputy Found Dead After Allegedly Shooting Ex-Wife, Sheriff, And Deputy In Georgia

Authorities were searching for clues in a bizarre series of events Sunday night after a former sheriff’s deputy, who was accused of fatally shooting his ex-wife and wounding a sheriff and another deputy, was then found dead with another man.

The two officers were shot while responding to a domestic abuse call in Clarksville, Georgia, at about 7:20 p.m. ET, the state patrol told NBC Atlanta affiliate WXIA.

When the officers arrived at the home of former deputy Anthony Gianquinta, they found a woman, the suspect’s ex-wife, in a garage and an armed man on the scene who took shots at them both.

The Habersham County Sheriff, Joey Terrell, and a deputy identified as William Zigan were transported to local hospitals for treatment.  The sheriff was hit in the right arm, and the deputy was hit in the upper clavicle/chest area, according to Mark Perry with the Georgia State Patrol.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that — after allegedly shooting his two former colleagues — Gianquinta didn’t get far before crashing his car, then doubling back to the house.

When officers searched for him, they found the body of Gianquinta and yet another man near the back of the house, the GBI said. The investigation is ongoing.

More:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/former-deputy-found-dead-after-allegedly-shooting-ex-wife-sheriff-n310741

‘Sam Kinison-Like’ Pastor Goes On Anti-Gay Rant

Does this pastor remind anyone of Sam Kinison?

Pastor Jim Veitch preaches to the Bible Truth Baptist Church in Georgia.

Secular Talk

Death Row Vietnam Vet With PTSD Executed

WARNING: The above video is graphic and violent.
Video by MrMikesMondoVideo

According to 11Alive.com, A Vietnam veteran convicted of killing a deputy from Laurens County, Georgia was executed on Tuesday.

Andrew Brannan died by lethal injection at 8:33 p.m., according to authorities.

Around 7:45 p.m., the United States Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for Brannan. Earlier on Tuesday, the Georgia Supreme Court also denied a request for a stay of execution.

According to CBS News, Brannan was convicted of shooting and killing Deputy Kyle Dinkheller during a 1998 traffic stop. Supporters of the veteran had argued that his life should have been spared because he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

A clemency hearing held Monday was 66-year-old Andrew Brannan’s last hope for escaping execution. In the end, his defense failed to convince Georgia’s Board of Pardons and Paroles that his death sentence should be commuted to life in prison, based on the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) his defense team says he suffered after his military service in the Vietnam war.

Brannan’s family was “profoundly disappointed,” according to a statement released by the family’s attorneys. While conceding that “[t]he death of Deputy Sheriff Kyle Dinkheller was a terrible tragedy,” the statement read, “Executing a 66-year old decorated Vietnam veteran with no prior criminal record who was seriously ill at the time of the crime only compounds the tragedy.”

Unfortunately, anyone who watches the video above will probably have little sympathy for Brannan.

http://www.11alive.com/story/news/local/2015/01/12/brannan-parole-board-hearing/21663901/

Missing Boy Discovered Behind Fake Wall At Father’s House

A woman in Georgia was reunited with her child over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, after reporting her son missing four years ago.  Police found the boy hidden behind a fake wall at the home of his father, Gregory Jean.

According to reports, the police received a tip about the child’s whereabouts after he contacted his mother early Saturday morning. Police followed up on the tip and visited the home of his father but were unable to locate the child until they received more details.

“While at the location during the second call, the victim was able to establish phone contact with his mother, and she in turn passed on additional information to the officers on the scene,” Clayton County police Sergeant Kevin Hughes told a local news outlet.

Police arrested the father, as well as another person at the house when the boy was discovered. The two have been charged with false imprisonment, cruelty to children, and obstruction of justice.

The boy was taken into custody by the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services and returned to his mother later that day for a reunion.

http://www.11alive.com/story/news/local/riverdale-jonesboro/2014/12/02/boy-found-behind-wall-/19804581/

Did Voter Registrations Go Missing In Georgia?

40,000 to 56,000 Georgia voter registrations vanished after the New Georgia Project campaigned in the state earlier this year to register people who have never voted before.

The disappearance occurred amidst the state’s close races for Governor and Senator, and most of the missing registrations were from minorities under 25 years of age.

Secretary of State Brian Kemp has refused to remedy the situation, which could have major implications on the upcoming election.

We look video of Kemp’s comments regarding the situation and how Republicans may be playing dirty in an effort to control the Senate, in this Lip News clip with Mark Sovel and Elliot Hill.

Video by The Lip TV.

AlterNet article:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2014/georgia-court-rejects-56000-missing-voter-registrations-2014s-partisan-voting-wars

Nurse’s Discharge Leaves Just One Ebola Case In U.S.

A nurse’s release Tuesday from an Atlanta hospital leaves a single person in the United States now battling Ebola, though she and others — including President Barack Obama — stressed the fight against the deadly virus isn’t over.

“While this is a day for celebration and gratitude, I ask that we not lose focus on the thousands of families who continue to labor under the burden of this disease in West Africa,” said 29-year-old Amber Vinson.

Smiling broadly and occasionally brushing aside tears, Vinson was surrounded by relatives as well as Emory doctors and nurses.

Nurse Nina Pham from Dallas, who also had Ebola, was released Oct. 24 from a National Institutes of Health hospital in Bethesda, Md.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Kaci Hickox traveled from New Jersey to Maine, where her boyfriend is a senior nursing student at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.  Hickox, who spent the weekend in a quarantine tent in New Jersey, said she never had Ebola symptoms and tested negative in a preliminary evaluation. She also sharply criticized New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for ordering mandatory quarantines.

Hickox, told CNN that her “basic human rights have been violated,” and was released Monday, two days after testing negative for Ebola.  She was seemingly powerless to challenge her banishment to a quarantine tent in Newark.

The nurse’s treatment, as well as the quarantine policies of New York and New Jersey, have been criticized as heavy-handed.

Former Ebola patient Rick Sacra, a doctor infected in Liberia, likened the mandatory quarantine for returning health-care workers in New York and New Jersey to a “police state approach.”