1. Teen killed in crash with deer leaves legacy of strength.
Chris Basden received a call from a Forsyth County deputyinforming her that her youngest child was dead, killed in a freak accident. Trenton was driving on Ga. 369 when a Toyota Scion in the opposite lanecollided with a deer and sent it flying toward Basden's Honda Civic. He was pronounced dead on the scene, just three weeks away from graduating, with honors. Chris Basden had planned to surprise her son by coming back to Georgia a week before his graduation. Being separated from him for the last 10 months had been difficult enough. It was a decision the Basdens made reluctantly, knowing that a move to Washington state, with just one year of high school left, would be even tougher on Trenton. Read more.
2. Retest or not, schools react to computer malfunctions on state tests.
There were stories of children crying and even vomiting as they were repeatedly logged out of the state testing system software. Computers froze. Internet service went down. Tests went unfinished. Withering social media posts and emails from outraged parents ensued, and the state and local systems reacted, but in an unstandardized way. This caused more confusion and more questions about the wisdom of such high-stakes "accountability" tests. The Georgia Board of Education allowed schools to waive the test results in decisions about holding younger students back a grade, and some districts are taking the waiver while others may not. Also, some districts are going to retest students who failed while others will not, and some are waiting to see the scores before they decide. Read more.
3. Ruling against Obmacare a win for GOP, but impact for Georgia on hold.
Congressional Republicans scored a political victory Thursday when a federal judge ruled the Obama administration was improperly funding a portion of the president's namesake health care law. But what does the ruling mean for the nearly 600,000 Georgians currently enrolled in Obamacare through health insurance exchanges? Nothing, for now. But major changes could be possible should the courts ultimately rule in favor of the House GOP, according to several health care and legal experts. Read more.
4. No criminal charges filed in shooting death of 3-year-old Paulding boy.
The inquisitive toddler had found his father's pistol in a backpack and shot himself in the chest. He had celebrated his third birthday on March 31, and on April 26 Holston David Cole died after being taken to the county hospital. The unspeakable tragedy left the Coles and their community in shock, including a large church congregation that united to help. On Thursday, the Paulding Sheriff's Office announced that no criminal charges would be filed in Holston's death, calling the incident an accidental shooting. But that decision highlighted the inconsistencies in similar cases in Georgia, where there are no laws in place regarding how a gun should be stored. Read more.
5. Mark Richt speaks in Atlanta at Miami event.
Mark Richt will always have a lofty place in Georgia annals. And, for the moment at least, he's riding high as the new head coach at Miami. In fact, he was 49 floors high over Atlanta on Thursday as he spoke to a gathering of Miami alumni and fans at the Commerce Club at the 191 Peachtree Building downtown. This was the latest stop on the Hurricanes' spring speaking tour. On Tuesday, Richt was in Amelia Island, Fla., with the rest of the ACC football coaches at the league's spring meetings. From here stops await in Chicago and New York. Read more.
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