1. Falcons draft Keanu Neal in first round.
The Falcons, with an eye toward adding an enforcer to their defense, selected Florida safety Kenau Neal with the 17th pick in the NFL draft Thursday. Neal was one of the fast climbers during the pre-draft process. The buzz around Neal and the Falcons grew loudest in the final days preceding the draft. Neal was partially recruited by Falcons coach Dan Quinn before he left Florida to return to Seattle. Neal played special teams for the Gators as a freshmen in 2013. Neal said that teams had told him he was a late first-round or a second-round pick. The Falcons are in need of a strong safety after releasing William Moore. Read more.
Hundreds of University of Georgia students and employees gathered at multiple vigils Thursday evening to mourn the loss of the UGA students involved in a Wednesday night car crash that left four of them dead and one in critical condition. Like an impromptu vigil in the early afternoon, an evening service at UGA was full of emotion, made even more impactful by comments from fellow students, sorority sisters and family members who knew the women involved in the crash. Kayla Canedo, 19, of Alpharetta; Brittany Feldman, 20, of Alpharetta; Christina Semeria, 19, of Milton; and Halle Scott, 19, of Dunwoody all died. The driver of the car, Agnes Kim, 21, of Snellville, was in critical condition Thursday at Athens Regional Medical Center. Read more.
3. Fulton County 'in better shape,' chairman says in address.
There was a time, Fulton County Chairman John Eaves said Thursday, when the county "did not always leave the best of impressions." In recent years, though, leaders decided to change their priorities and the way the county does business. It's made a difference, Eaves said. Fulton County "is in better shape now than it has ever been, in many years." As recently as this legislative session, the county has contended withproposals to split it into two, and create Milton County from the northern portion. The legislature, in years past, has worked to wrest away some local control, so displeased were lawmakers with the county's direction. Fulton's leadership was plagued by constant in-fighting and issues like botched elections and poor oversight that allowed money to be misspent. Read more.
4. Harris trial loses a juror over scholarship claim.
With the end of jury selection in sight, the number of citizens qualified to serve on the Ross Harris murder trial actually decreased by one Thursday with the dismissal of Juror #22. The state called Chattahoochee Tech's athletic director, who testified that the Marietta school doesn't have a baseball program, contradicting a claim by the juror that he had received a baseball scholarship from the school. Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley struck Juror #22 — a porn enthusiast, by his own account — for cause, accusing him of playing "fast and loose with the truth." That leaves 37 qualified jurors. Read more.
5. Citizens want DeKalb road repairs funded with sales tax.
Money raised from a proposed DeKalb County sales tax should primarily go toward repaving hundreds of miles of bumpy, pothole-ridden roads, according to a list of proposed projects approved Wednesday by a citizen panel. The citizens also said money should be dedicated to replacing run-down fire stations, building a county government center and constructing a police academy. Their priorities will be considered by the DeKalb Board of Commissioners before they finalize infrastructure projects that would be funded by a proposed special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) that's planned to be put before voters in the Nov. 8 election. Read more.
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