Metro news for Tuesday

The Georgia Board of Public Health, the group that will guide the new cabinet-level Department of Public Health, held its inaugural meeting Monday. The General Assembly authorized the new department to try to help improve Georgia's ongoing public health efforts at a time when the state scores poorly on problems ranging from obesity to infant mortality. The newly-appointed board members include Donald W. Venn, a former Chief of Staff of the Georgia Army National Guard; James M. Smith, an environmental health professor at Emory University; Dr. Cynthia Greene, a dentist from Gainesville; Dr. James W. Curran, dean of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University; Phillip Williams, founding dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia; Dr. Kathryn Cheek, a pediatrician and president of the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Gary Nelson, president of the Healthcare Georgia Foundation; Dr. Mitch Rodriguez, a neonatologist who is the regional neonatal medical director for the Macon region; Dr. Robert Harshman, medical director of Georgia Power. CARRIE TEEGARDIN

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Texas Gov. Rick Perry will address the second annual Georgia Legislative Briefing on Friday at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. Perry's topic will be "Taxes, Torts and Texas: the key policies supporting the growing Texas economy." Other topics at the daylong briefing include jobs, education, criminal justice, health care, transportation and taxes. The registration deadline is Wednesday. For information on all the speakers and panelists and to register, go to http://tinyurl.com/3p6qk4n.