Tropical storm Beryl could bring heavy rain to metro Atlanta by Tuesday as clouds stream into the area for Memorial Day.  Monday could see a possible shower and thunderstorm, mainly south and east of the city, said Channel 2 Action News meteorologist David Chandley.

At the time, Derrick Broadwater says, he didn’t know he was doing anything wrong. Only after a 2 1/2-hour interrogation by GBI agents did the fourth-grade teacher acknowledge that his actions — prompting students during state exams to recheck answers and helping them with words they didn’t know — were testing violations.

Outrage over a botched raid built on lies from informants followed by cover-ups by cops who killed a frightened, innocent 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston in her home — and then planted drugs in the house — led to the birth the Atlanta Citizen Review Board.

Frank Rockstroh was a man of many facets: a news photographer, real estate agent, advocate of left-wing causes, student of martial arts, seeker of spiritual clarity, long-distance hiker and a proud 50-percent Native American. In the early 1960s he covered the civil rights movement in Birmingham for the Black Star photo syndicate.

The Georgia coast is under a tropical storm warning this Memorial Day weekend, as a cluster of thunderstorms that forecasters expect will become Tropical Storm Beryl strengthens in the Atlantic. Beryl could dump heavy rain in the coastal counties of Georgia, and will bring a chance of rain to metro Atlanta by the end of the holiday weekend.

An alleged church burglar was caught red-handed early Saturday after an alert witness tipped police off to the break-in. “Early this morning, a citizen observed a male breaking into the Bible Christian Ministry Church on Ormewood Terrace,” Atlanta police spokesman John Chafee said Saturday.

Georgia’s mild winter and spring gave state Department of Transportation crews and contractors a head start on the summer road construction season, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of projects underway between now and the fall. David Spear, spokesman for the DOT, said there will be no fewer than 20 major projects underway this summer on Georgia’s interstate highways, many of them in metro Atlanta.

Saying it seems fruitless to try to fight a potential new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons, people who live near the likely sites are trying to get a seat at the negotiating table. Residents and civic groups in the downtown communities of  Vine City, English Avenue and Marietta Street want their concerns addressed as part of any agreement between the team and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority.

Norcross' economic development manager was concerned businesses might leave town. The police chief fretted about devoting officers to police parks for illegal smokers. The city manager wanted to know the best way to inform residents of the new tobacco ban.

This should be a stellar Memorial Day weekend, with plenty of sunshine, lots of baseball, jazz in the park and gasoline cheaper than anyone expected it to be heading into the summer vacation season. Some of the warmest temperatures so far this year are predicted, with highs climbing into the low 90s on Saturday for the first time since last September.

A Mattie's Call was issued Friday for a 66-year-old Atlanta woman who disappeared Monday, police said. Margaret Neal Taylor, who was reported missing by her family, was last known to be at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Taylor reportedly has schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, police said.

An Atlanta woman on Friday filed suit against a host of defendants for being arrested by mistake and then spending 53 days in jail before finally being released. Teresa Ann Culpepper seeks unspecified damages in her complaint against the city of Atlanta, Fulton County and members of the Atlanta Police Department, Fulton District Attorney's Office and Fulton Sheriff's Department.

Gov. Nathan Deal has signed an order continuing the work of a criminal justice reform council that was instrumental in sweeping changes enacted this past legislative session. Among the panel's new members are the governor's son, Jason Deal, a Superior Court judge who oversees accountability courts in Hall and Dawson counties.

The man accused of shooting his wife eight times outside the couple's Sandy Springs apartment may have been leading a double life, including being engaged to another woman, according to court documents. Michael Darnell Parson, 42, also claimed he was undergoing treatments for cancer on the night of April 20 when 40-year-old Adina Parson was critically injured, including being shot three times in the head, according to arrest warrants.

A man killed in a shooting in south Fulton County has been identified. The incident, involving two men in a car, occurred around 1 p.m. Thursday. Isiah Archible, 19, was shot in the head and was dead at the scene; a 36-year-old was shot in the hand and taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, Fulton County police spokesman Sgt.

Metro Atlanta's first smog alert of the year has been issued for Friday. According to the state's Clean Air Campaign, the "code orange" alert was issued because the predicted concentration of ground level ozone on Friday is expected to be unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Atlanta City Councilwoman Carla Smith will dedicate Atlanta's first free Neighborhood Electric Vehicle Charging Station from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Memorial Day, May 28. The event will be held at 512 Kelly St. SE and is open to the public. Atlanta director of sustainability Denise Quarles and Clean Cities Atlanta executive director Don Francis are scheduled to give remarks.

Buckhead Coalition president Sam Massell welcomed a Bermuda marketing delegation at the Mandarin Oriental hotel on Wednesday, May 23. The occasion was a dinner hosted for travel agents here by Bermuda's tourism department. Massell, a former Atlanta mayor who once owned a travel agency in Buckhead, met with the group to emphasize the importance of tourism to Atlanta's economy.

It was teacher Camille Neely’s tribunal hearing Thursday, but retired Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Beverly Hall was, in many ways, the star of the proceedings. And Hall wasn’t even there. The former superintendent, who retired as the standardized test cheating scandal consumed her district, was subpoenaed by Neely’s attorney to testify at Thursday’s hearing.

Memorial Day weekend -- with the school year done or nearly so, and the long days of summer stretched out in the horizon -- is the traditional start to the public pool season. Large communities tend to have more options: Atlanta has 17 swimming pools, including four natatoriums and 13 outdoor facilities, while DeKalb County's 11 pools include 10 outdoor sites and one aquatic center.

Investigators continued to follow up Thursday on a possible child abduction, but no children have been reported missing by a parent or guardian, Atlanta police said. Police scaled back their search and investigation Wednesday night after the boy thought to be gone was found safe.

With the number of black Fulton County judges declining, civil rights and legal groups Thursday called on the governor to put more people of color on the bench. "This is about ensuring that Fulton County minority judges don't one day become an endangered species," Chris Stewart, president of the Gate City Bar Association, said.

A 26-year-old man wanted in Ohio for recruiting minors for sex acts was arrested Thursday by members of a joint task force of Atlanta police and the FBI, authorities said. An arrest warrant was issued May 1 for Brady D. Jackson after he allegedly recruited two juveniles, ages 15 and 16, to engage in commercial sex acts in Toledo, Ohio.

Georgia State University will lead a $10 million federal research project aimed at improving reading skills in children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The university's education college will create the National Research and Development Center for Literacy and Deafness which will work with other centers focused on special education issues.

Atlanta Public Schools is now accepting applications for single-gender academies. Parents of current APS students, and people who live outside of the city of Atlanta can apply in person until June 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Applications by  by mail or fax will not be accepted.

A federal judge in Atlanta this week sentenced a man who stole his son's Social Security benefits to 15 months in confinement. Ernest Edgar Black, 57, was sentenced to three months in prison, six months in a halfway house and another six months in home confinement.

The journey for these seniors was intense and ambitious. They juggled the demands of work, school and life with a maturity beyond their years without losing sight of graduation day. Not homelessness, illness or a full-time job could derail them from achieving their personal best.

More than half of homeowners with a mortgage in metro Atlanta owe more than the house is worth, a new report says. Their negative equity will slow a real estate recovery as some homeowners who would like to sell and move are "trapped in their homes," because they cannot afford to sell at a loss, said Zillow's chief economist Stan Humphries.

A truck leaking chemicals onto the pavement shut down all southbound lanes of I-285 near Washington Road at the height of the Wednesday afternoon rush hour. Contrary to initial reports, the spilled material was not toxic or hazardous, but slick. An East Point Police Department spokesman told Channel 2 Action News that a canister in the trailer portion of the tractor-trailer breached and spilled liquid onto two to three miles of I-285.

A Delta flight to Atlanta landed safely in Phoenix on Wednesday afternoon after being diverted due to engine trouble. Flight 2267, a Boeing 757 en route from San Diego to Atlanta, had indications of possible engine trouble and the crew decided to divert the flight to Phoenix out of an abundance of caution, Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant told the AJC.

It might come as a surprise to the joggers in Piedmont Park or the dog-walkers around Chastain Park, but the city of Atlanta park system ranks below average. That's according to a study released Wednesday by the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit that conserves land for parks and playgrounds in urban and rural areas.

The firing of a fifth teacher in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal was upheld Wednesday by a tribunal. Derrick Broadwater, a teacher at Dobbs Elementary, was accused of helping students with words they didn't know and prompting them to recheck answers if he suspected something was incorrect.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed accepted a $100,000 Summer Youth Program Grant Award from Bank of America on Wednesday, May 23. The money is slated to be used to give Atlanta high school students an opportunity to get work experience. The city says it plans to continue its practice of teaming up with local businesses and civic organizations to provide youth with early exposure to work opportunities and leadership skills.

The city of Atlanta's Office of Sustainability and Atlanta Gas Light marked the completion of energy efficiency upgrades to the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center on Wednesday, May 23. The upgrades were part of the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge and have saved the facility $93,000 in utility costs over the past six months, according to a statement from the sustainability office.

The National Association for Business Resources ranked the city of Atlanta among "Atlanta’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For." The association said city offered innovative benefits and desirable amenities. The annual ranking focuses on organizations that practice innovative strategies in industries including automotive, insurance, hospitality, communications and non-profits.

With north Fulton lawmakers expecting to gain a firm upper hand next year through redistricting, some are speaking of a plan to gut the county government. Resurrecting Milton County remains their mission, the legislators have told constituents at recent public meetings, and as early as next year they'll start reducing the powers of the Fulton County Commission.

How sharp is your memory? As people age, it's not unusual for people to forget information like events, dates and names. Memory loss can stem from a variety of causes, including nutritional and metabolic disorders, depression, stroke and a thyroid imbalance.

The beluga whale calf born at Georgia Aquarium on Friday has died. The female baby, the first for 17-year-old mother Maris, had been in critical condition since birth. William Hurley, senior vice president and chief zoological officer at the aquarium, said while the calf was swimming Wednesday morning, “she just stopped and stalled.

A woman was charged with murder Wednesday after a shooting in southwest Atlanta. The victim was shot around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday at a home in the 3100 block of Empire Boulevard. Atlanta police spokeswoman Kim Jones said the man, whose name has not been released, died shortly after arriving at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Atlanta and Georgia Tech police  made a quick arrest Wednesday after an early morning pedestrian robbery. The victims, brothers aged 21 and 27, had left a club in the 700 block of Spring Street and were walking to their car in the nearby Arby's parking lot when they were approached by two men.

Crews completed repair work on a broken water main early Wednesday in northwest Atlanta. Moore's Mill Road between Peachtree Battle Avenue and Ridgewood Road, however, remained closed Wednesday, Department of Watershed Management spokeswoman Janet Ward said.

Thunderstorms headed east out of the metro Atlanta area Tuesday night, giving way to cloudy skies and temperatures dipping to the low- to mid-60s by daybreak Wednesday. "Drier air rolls in tomorrow and the rest of the week," Channel 2 Action News meteorologist David Chandley said.

Ewe won't believe the newest act to join the summer lineup at Atlanta's Chastain Park. White, fluffy, four-legged sheep, and handful of well-behaved goats. But these guests won't be bringing along wine and cheese when they arrive for about a three-week stay June 8.

Two retired educators testified Tuesday they erased answers at Deerwood Academy in 2008 and 2009 with the blessing of then-Assistant Principal Tabeeka Jordan. Jordan appeared before a tribunal of retired educators to fight efforts by Atlanta Public Schools to fire her.

A woman charged with murder after police said she intentionally ran over her boyfriend was denied bond during a court appearance Tuesday, Channel 2 Action News reported. Sharees Dennard, 30, has been charged with murder and aggravated assault in the death of Dwight Francis, 31, according to Fairburn police spokesman Sgt.

The son of a former Atlanta high school principal has been indicted for allegedly collecting more than $50,000 of his father's retirement benefits after his death. Eugene B. Wimby Jr., son of former East Atlanta High School principal Eugene B. Wimby, was indicted Friday by a Fulton County grand jury on 14 counts of theft by taking.

Two men were arrested and charged with burglarizing a Lakewood Avenue pawn shop Tuesday. Atlanta police spokeswoman Kim Jones said officers arrived at the Lakewood Pawn Shop just before 5 a.m. and found an air-conditioning unit sitting on the sidewalk beside the business and a display case containing several handguns shattered inside.

The state of Georgia grants thousands of dollars in tax credits for each job created within designated "opportunity zones" -- areas with high unemployment, vacancies or other signs of economic distress. Lately, Atlanta and a number of job-hungry neighbors -- including Smyrna, Alpharetta and Marietta -- have succeeded in getting parts of their cities named as such zones, or are trying to win state approval.

The United States and Mexico are negotiating plans to start deporting criminal illegal immigrants deep into Mexico rather than releasing them at the border, hoping to stop adding to the criminal chaos south of the border. Some possible outcomes are fewer repeat illegal border crossings and fewer deportations flights originating from the states, U.

East Point Mayor Earnestine Pittman and her city council allies got an earful Monday from residents and police officers about plans to cut public-safety. Residents asked the mayor and the council's voting majority aligned with her not to cut the police department to make up for a projected $8 million shortfall in the next city budget.

The 30 Deep gang member alleged to have fired the gun that killed a popular Grant Park bartender will not be released from prison any time soon, according to a spokesman with the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles. A petition requesting that Johnquavious Hood remain incarcerated until Dec.

Yet another Georgia judge -- the fifth since the beginning of March -- has stepped down from the bench while facing an investigation for alleged misconduct. On Saturday, long-serving Superior Court Judge John Lee Parrott of the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit notified Gov.

The Buckhead Coalition is marking the eighteenth anniversary of its Buckhead Guidebook by donating $7,500 in advertising revenue to three community organizations: the Atlanta History Center, Buckhead YMCA and Shepherd Center. The guidebook covers tourism, relocation and development.

It's a girl for Maris the beluga whale at the Georgia Aquarium. But no one is knitting a pink whale bib just yet. That's because the newborn remained in critical condition Monday following its birth three days earlier. At 82 pounds, the calf is small for a beluga newborn, aquarium officials said.

Georgia lawyers collected and contributed 612,497 pounds of food to the state's seven food banks during the inaugural "Georgia Legal Food Frenzy," a drive to reduce hunger statewide, Attorney General Sam Olens said. Atlanta lawyer Adrienne Hobbs collected 25,586 pounds of food and won the Attorney General's Cup.

A committee of Atlanta's City Council voted May 15 to authorize a $3 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by a blind man who tripped and fell on a city sidewalk. The plaintiff, Alex Jenkins, filed a lawsuit claiming that he suffered severe injuries from the fall and that the city's Department of Public Works was negligent in failing to repair the sidewalk before the incident.

Scattered but strong thunderstorms that prompted warnings for several metro Atlanta counties when they developed Sunday evening continued throughout the night, and forecasters are predicting a good chance of more storms later in the day on Monday. A cluster of storms that moved through west Cobb County dumped more than a half-inch of rain around 2 a.

Spelman College graduates got one last lesson in success Sunday from a woman who knows something about it. Oprah Winfrey, who created a media and philanthropic empire, urged more than 550 graduates at the historically black college for women to strive for excellence and make service the focus of their lives.

At 80, Andrew Young — who has been a civil rights giant, congressman, U.N. ambassador, big city mayor, television executive, businessman, and global entrepreneur — is finally slowing down. At least that is what he is saying. “I have done everything everybody else wanted me to do.

Carl Wells sat in traffic for as much as an hour driving home from work every day when he first moved to Atlanta five years ago. He lost family time with his wife and four children. And he gained 30 pounds. Most Americans typically gain about a pound per year as they age.

If voters say yes to the July 31 sales tax referendum, they will trigger the biggest single transportation investment the Atlanta region has seen in generations. The money, collected from taxpayers over 10 years to build projects across 10 counties, would be vast.

With a little help from Bobby Brown, south Fulton's Wolf Creek Amphitheater finally lived up to its promise this weekend, offering a ray of hope to countywide taxpayers who've poured millions of dollars into the outdoor concert venue. Brown, with the reunited 1980s R&B boy band New Edition, performed a Friday show that sold more than 5,300 tickets — just short of a sell-out.

East Point maintenance supervisor Otis Burton attacked an apartment building with a backhoe Saturday as the city knocked down the first abandoned property on its hit list. The owners of the boarded-up Los Erken Apartments had failed to keep the building habitable and safe; East Point Fire Chief Rosemary Cloud got a court order to flatten it as a safety hazard.

A Georgia State University basketball player who was arrested on a rape charge earlier this month was set to be released from the Fulton County Jail on Friday night, Channel 2 Action News reported. Tony Kimbro Jr.'s bond was set at $50,000 earlier in the day.

The weather will be just about perfect for an outdoor concert on Saturday, and metro Atlanta music lovers will have several to choose from. The “Party in the Park,” with headliners the Flaming Lips, begins at 3 p.m. Saturday at Centennial Olympic Park and continues into the evening, while south of town, the Wolf Creek Amphitheater near College Park will be hosting the Funk Fest, a two-day festival that begins Friday night and features R&B acts such as the New Edition, Doug E.

A 68-year-old woman accused of fatally shooting her husband after he did not take her to the store was found guilty, the Fulton County District Attorney's Office announced Friday. Ruby Durham was sentenced to life plus five years in prison Thursday evening for killing 60-year-old Leroy Durham, her husband for almost 40 years.

A suspect was arrested Friday in the fatal shooting of a man in southwest Atlanta last month. Cartez Dwayne Tye was taken into custody for allegedly killing Delance Blunt, Atlanta police said. He is in the Fulton County Jail. On April 24, a wounded Blunt was found while walking along I-20.

Police are investigating the shooting death of a northwest Atlanta man early Friday afternoon. Around noon, police responded to a report of shots fired at a boarding house in the 800 block of North Avenue. “A male inside the dwelling was shot multiple times and was dead on the scene,” police homicide unit commander Lt.

The family of a native southwest Atlanta man killed two years ago when he returned home is asking for help solving the crime. Gregory Smith was shot to death outside his mother’s home on Campbellton Road on Aug.  7, 2010, the victim of mistaken identity, investigators believe.

Four years after an Atlanta man who brokered a sizable marijuana deal was gunned down, the second of two buyers who turned on him now faces life behind bars, Fulton County prosecutors said Friday. Authorities said Kasey Cogburn knew he was in trouble on Oct.

And now, she waits. Vanessa Jackson's 12-year career in education and her good name in that field lie in the hands of three tribunal members now that the Atlanta Public School system has laid out its case that Jackson knew or should have known about cheating at Slater Elementary School when Jackson was testing coordinator there.

Sandy Springs police said two suspects in a robbery outside a Bank of America were captured Friday, but the search continued for others. The robbery victim told Channel 2 Action News that he was headed into the bank in the 8700 block of Roswell Road to make a deposit when a money pouch was grabbed from his hands.

Judge J.L. "Larry" Edmondson has told President Barack Obama he will take senior status on July 15, opening up another Georgia vacancy on the federal appeals court in Atlanta. The only question is whether there will be enough time for Obama to fill it before the November elections.

The Georgia Historical Society has named "Writing the South Through the Self: Explorations in Southern Autobiography" as the recipient of the 2012 Malcolm Bell Jr. and Muriel Barrow Bell Award. The book, written by John C. Inscoe, was cited as the best book on Georgia history published in the previous year.

Parts of metro Atlanta could see a repeat Friday of strong storms similar to those that left scattered damage across the area Thursday evening. Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton said  the storms -- like those Thursday -- will be widely scattered Friday afternoon and evening.

Atlanta police are investigating an officer-involved shooting Friday on Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. Police spokeswoman Kim Jones said that just after 5 a.m., Officer Joseph Daniels stopped a vehicle at Hollowell Parkway and Ozburn Road that did not have on headlights.

A 26-year-old man was arrested Thursday for allegedly selling "junk" cars he didn't own to recycling companies, Atlanta police said. Investigators were at the scene in the 1000 block of Donnelly Avenue. Ameen Jones was taken into custody by the auto theft task force after authorities were alerted by a recycling company.

Two women gave birth to two healthy girls two years ago. But before that, they both lost their jobs as Fulton County 911 operator trainees because of their pregnancies, they said. After a lengthy investigation, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission agreed with them that they were discriminated against, Channel 2 Action News reported.

Fulton Superintendent Robert Avossa on Thursday shared a strategic plan that will set new long-term goals for the district and make it more competitive nationally as it becomes the state's largest charter system. Avossa said the district will use its new-found freedom from state education laws to boost student achievement.

After an experiment to provide commuter relief on Ga 400 resulted in slower traffic on its first two days, the state transportation department said the third day saw marked improvement. The Department of Transportation isn’t claiming success yet but officials said opening the southbound shoulder as an extra commuting lane from Holcomb Bridge to the North Springs MARTA station during rush hour is starting to ease congestion.

A 19-year-old was convicted and sentenced to life plus five years' probation Thursday for his role in the fatal shooting of a cab driver in 2009, the Fulton County District Attorney's Office announced. A jury found Samuel Ellis guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in the death of 57-year-old Stephen Anim of Austell.

A Georgia Tech fraternity that has been part of campus life since the early 20th century has been suspended for two years after reports of a hazing, Channel 2 Action News reported. The Gamma Eta Chapter of Beta Theta Pi fraternity is losing its privileges, its house on campus and more as a result of last month’s incident.

A federal judge in Rome on Thursday overruled school officials and said the senior class president at East Paulding High School can attend his graduation ceremony. Jacob Zimmerman, 17, was among two dozen who faced felony charges for an early-morning spray-painting raid outside the high school.

For all the tens of millions of dollars that taxpayers pour into the Fulton County jail every year, the lockup can't perform the basic function of keeping inmates locked up in cells. The 23-year-old jail has such shoddy door locks that inmates can jam them with soap, toilet paper, shards of cloth or other trash and leave their cells at will.

Hundreds of Georgia children will get free lunches this summer through a nutritional initiative by Action Ministries. The Atlanta-based nonprofit launched "Smart Lunch, Smart Kid," a program that will rely heavily on volunteers to buy, make, bag and deliver lunches five days a week.

All eastbound lanes of I-20 in downtown Atlanta were closed for over an hour Thursday morning after a Georgia State Patrol cruiser was struck by another vehicle. The crash happened shortly after 9 a.m. on I-20 eastbound at the Downtown Connector. The interstate reopened shortly after 10 a.

A group of 25 French students are visiting Atlanta as part of a cultural exchange program and are searching for host families to house them. The students, who hail from areas throughout France, will be in Atlanta from July 5 through July 25. LEC, their Paris-based sponsor, is providing the students with medical coverage for their trip to the U.

With the alleged shooter in custody, friends of the man shot to death at the Starlight Six Drive-In were still struggling to make sense of the tragedy. And one lingering question remained unanswered. Why? “The only person that can answer that question can’t answer that question," Valerie Hammond with the Georgia Renaissance Festival told the AJC.

Common Cause Georgia insists it's not out to put lint on the lollipop of the shiny new international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. But the watchdog group's leaders on Wednesday -- the day the terminal opened -- said the $1.5 billion complex was a prime example of too much money flowing from contractors to campaign coffers.

The extended suspension of Florida A&M University’s famed yet troubled marching band has the Atlanta Football Classic scrambling for a halftime replacement. The game, one of Atlanta's biggest after the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, will pit FAMU's football team against Southern University on Sept.

Cherokee County's River Ridge High School is one of 240 schools in the nation to receive the Yearbook of Excellence Award from Jostens Yearbooks. The award recognizes yearbook staffs for creating an inclusive yearbook, generating school engagement and successfully managing the yearbook creation process.

Emily Lam of SKA Academy in Duluth and Raquel Charles of Sequoyah High School in Cherokee County have received National PTA Reflections Outstanding Interpretation awards. Emily won for visual arts and Raquel won for dance choreography. Winners are chosen in six arts categories along with 188 awards of excellence and merit.

Two suspects were  in custody following a bank robbery Wednesday morning in northwest Atlanta. The SunTrust branch on Chattahoochee Avenue at Defoor Place was robbed just before 9:30 a.m., according to Atlanta police. Police spokeswoman Kim Jones told the AJC that one person was taken into custody immediately, and a second suspect was arrested a short time later.

Pamela Cleveland, a Dunbar Elementary School teacher accused of erasing student answers on the 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, resigned today, said Keith Bromery, spokesman for Atlanta Public Schools. Cleveland was scheduled to face a tribunal today that was considering a variety of charges against her, including willful neglect of duty, immorality and violating district policies on ethics and integrity.

A suspicious package prompted authorities to evacuate a south Fulton County Wal-Mart Tuesday night. Fulton County sheriff's Lt. Robert  Abercrombie told Channel 2 Action News that security video showed a man placing a briefcase on the ground in the parking lot of the store on Old National Highway near College Park, then driving off.

Two men, just one year apart in age, probably didn't know each other. But both likely died within minutes of one another following a quick string of events in DeKalb County. After a martial arts expert and entertainer was shot and killed at the historic Starlight Six Drive-In, a man headed to babysit for a family member was hit and killed by a DeKalb County police officer headed to the homicide scene early Tuesday, police said.

Atlanta residents surveyed on their satisfaction with city services gave the Fire Rescue Department the highest marks, with 85 percent positive feedback on average. Among the 478 responses, several other city departments received between 42- and 43-percent positive responses, including the police, parks department, the planning and community development department and the public works department.

Atlanta City Councilmember Kwanza Hall is inviting Atlantans to a "grand community cleanup" focused on Boulevard on Saturday, May 19. Participants are scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. for refreshments in the parking lot of Fort Street United Methodist Church, 562 Boulevard NE 30308.

Atlanta City Councilwoman Joyce M. Sheperd, the city's public safety agencies and Atlanta BeltLine Inc. are inviting residents to the grand opening of a new water splash pad at Perkerson Park, 770 Deckner Avenue SW. The event will being at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 19, and is scheduled to include a neighborhood jazz concert from 3-6:30 p.

Three people were wounded after exchanging gunfire late Tuesday morning in West End. The shooting happened shortly after 11 a.m. in the 700 block of Lee Street  in the Bank of America parking lot across the street from the West End MARTA station. The men apparently met in the parking lot for a transaction involving computers, Atlanta police spokeswoman Officer Kim Jones said.