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Thursday, November 23, 2006
Airport Delays on Thanksgiving
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Weather and poor visibility are causing departure delays from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport to four northern destinations, according the Federal Aviation Administration’s web site. Passengers will have to wait just over two hours to leave for Philadelphia and Newark.
Flights to New York City are running 45 minutes behind to John F. Kennedy Airport and 92 minutes to nearby LaGuardia Airport. Other flights, however, are within 15 minutes of scheduled departures or arrivals, federal aviation officials report.
Security check point times at Hartsfield-Jackson remain at 10 minutes or less, according to the airport’s web site.
Police: Shootout Home Contained Drugs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta Police have obtained an arrest warrant for the male subject they say sold illegal drugs to undercover operatives Tuesday afternoon at the house where a 92-year-old woman later died in a shootout with police.
Kathryn Johnston died in a hail of bullets when she fired at three undercover agents with a “no knock” warrant who broke down her door.
Police say they found illegal drugs in the northwest Atlanta home after the shootout. “Yes, narcotics was found at the location,” said Officer James Polite, spokesman for the Atlanta Police. He declined to elaborate further, citing an on-going investigation.
The shootout is under investigation by Atlanta Police, the Fulton District Attorney’s office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which had evidence trailers at the Johnston home Wednesday night.
Police say they do not know the identity of the suspect who allegedly sold them drugs at the residence earlier in the day. The warrant, issued in the name of “John Doe”, also known as “Sam.” charges him with selling illegal narcotics He is described as a black male, 33 to 36 years old, weighing about 250 pounds. He is about six feet tall, with black hair and brown eyes.
According to her relatives, Johnston was a frightened old woman who had burglar bars on her windows and doors and rarely let friends and neighbors into her home. Five of her shots from a revolver hit the three officers, who were all treated and released from Grady Hospital Wednesday.
She was hit twice in the chest, according to the coroner’s report. Bullets also hit her extremities. Police declined to say how many shots were fired by police.
Airport Stuffed Early Thanksgiving
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Travelers who had hoped to avoid the traffic madness of Thanksgiving Eve crammed the Hartsfield Jackson International Airport on Thanksgiving morning.
As early as 7 a.m., folks showed up to check in on time only to find thousands of others who’d had the same idea. Lines leading to the security check point stretched to the food court of the Atrium. But lines were moving fast and no major delays were reported by 8 a.m.
“I wasn’t expecting the line to be this long,” sighed Dawnita Jenkins, 35, of Atlanta, who was trying to catch a flight to Florida.
Sue Corcoran and her three teenage boys had flown on standby from Ann Arbor to Atlanta last night to go to Ashville and visit her parents. The family had to spent a night at a hotel near the airport because they couldn’t find enough seats on the connecting flight on Thanksgiving Eve.
Corcoran wasn’t rattled by the delay or the wait Thursday. “I don’t think it’s too bad. It’s moving,” she said.
Tiffany Davis, a Smyrna resident, arrived at the airport at 6:45 a.m. to catch a 9:25 a.m. flight to Baltimore, fearing the worst. An hour later, she was relaxed and reading a book in the Atrium.
“I expected a lot of delays, but it’s smooth,” said the 31-year-old. “I was way too early.”
Daily passenger volume is expected to peak at more than 290,000 on the Sunday and Monday after the holiday as travelers return home.
Teen, baby kidnapped in Marietta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A man armed with a pistol showed up in a house in Marietta early Thanksgiving morning and kidnapped a 15-year-old girl and a 8-month old boy, authorities said.
Around 4:30 a.m., Sergio Hernandez, 21, came to the house at 472 Chamberlain Circle and abducted the two after hitting a teenager at the house, said Officer Wayne Delk, spokesman for the Cobb County police department.
Authorities have begun an Amber Alert for the Red Pontiac Hernandez was said to be driving. Hernandez, who is known to use several aliases, is 5 feet 9 and 170 lbs, with black hair, a mustache and several tattoos. He is considered armed and dangerous, Delk said.
Hernandez is the father of the baby, authorities said.
