Week in review for Sept. 1

Statewide

Ga. 2014 primary earliest

A U.S. district judge has agreed to the earliest Georgia federal election calendar in memory beginning next year, with the state’s primary now shifting from July to May 20.

The “game-changer” move came at the request of Georgia officials, who had been chastised just last month by Judge Steve C. Jones for not giving military residents and other Georgians living overseas enough time to return absentee ballots by Election Day.

Closed courtrooms violate law

A substantial number of Georgia judges — including some in metro Atlanta — have been violating the law by denying the public access to courtrooms for everything from bail hearings to trials, according to the state judicial oversight commission.

The organization that investigates and disciplines judges issued an opinion Wednesday that the practice of closing courtrooms had become relatively widespread across the state, which it said is illegal in most instances. There are narrow exceptions that have to be outlined in a court hearing.

Instead, courts are having signs posted on doors denying access to the general public or specific groups, such as children, or having bailiffs block entry, said Robert Ingram, chairman of the Judicial Qualifications Commission.

Metro Atlanta

Unemployment could stay at 8 percent until 2015

Job growth this year and next will be too timid to cut metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate below 8 percent, according to a new forecast for the region.

The jobless rate should stay at 8 percent or above through 2014 before dropping to 7.2 percent the following year, said Rajeev Dhawan, director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University.

In metro Atlanta, which accounts for more than half the state’s jobs, the rate now is 8.6 percent. That’s down from 9.3 percent a year ago, but up since the spring.

Dhawan, speaking at the center’s quarterly conference, said job growth is simply too tepid to push the rate down faster. The only way it will likely fall faster, he said, is if significant numbers of job seekers get so discouraged they stop looking for work — which can also push the rate lower, though for an unwelcome reason.

MARTA expansion may be in pipeline

MARTA is laying the groundwork for expansion in case future funding becomes available.

The transit agency filed a notice to the Federal Transit Administration last week that it will hold a public meeting to get input about the potential for adding buses, light rail or heavy rail along a 12-mile stretch of Ga. 400 from Dunwoody to Alpharetta.

The last stop on the MARTA red line currently is the North Springs station directly off Ga. 400 in Dunwoody.

The plan to expand northward is pie-in-the-sky for now because MARTA doesn’t have the money and has not identified another source of local, federal or private-sector investment.

As it’s being shaped, the Ga. 400 transit expansion plan could involve adding rapid-transit bus service, with a dedicated lane where buses could bypass congestion. The current MARTA and Express bus service fights the same traffic congestion automobile drivers do.

Or, it could involve light rail (such as streetcars) from the existing North Springs MARTA station to Windward Parkway. That would include constructing as many as six stations, at Northridge, Holcomb Bridge, Mansell Road, North Point Mall, Old Milton and Windward Parkway.

A third option is to extend the existing heavy rail line, which would involve constructing all of those stations except the one at Old Milton.

Atlanta

Tipster in APS case revealed

The former principal at North Atlanta High School revealed in court Tuesday he was the one who exposed how an Atlanta Public Schools administrator allegedly planned to tell investigators looking into cheating to “go to hell.”

Mark MyGrant took the stand for the prosecution in the trial of former regional schools director Tamara Cotman, who’s accused of influencing a witness during the investigation of widespread cheating in the school system.

Prosecutors claim Cotman retaliated and demoted another principal, Jimmye Hawkins, who Cotman thought blew the whistle. But MyGrant said he reported that Cotman instructed principals to snub GBI agents who were looking into suspiciously high standardized test scores.

Gwinnett County

New twist in bribery probe

Developer Mark Gary on Tuesday received a reduced prison sentence for bribing a county commissioner in exchange for his cooperation in the ongoing federal corruption probe — help that will lead to the indictment of at least one other person, according to a federal prosecutor.

Gary, 40, was sentenced to two years in federal prison, to be followed by three years of probation, for bribing former Gwinnett County Commissioner Shirley Lasseter for her vote in favor of his proposed $4 million garbage transfer station.

Gary, who said the culture of corruption in Gwinnett forced him to choose between paying bribes or abandoning his plans, could have been sentenced to up to 57 months under federal guidelines.

His sentencing is the latest in a series of scandals in Gwinnett government, including Lasseter’s prison sentence, former commissioner Kevin Kenerly’s indictment on bribery charges, and former commission Chairman Charles Bannister resigning under threat of a perjury indictment.

Asian trip yields jobs

Gov. Nathan Deal and a delegation of about 40 government and business representatives wrapped up a weeklong trade and tourism mission to Asia Thursday with the announcement of three more Japanese companies opening offices in Gwinnett County.

The delegation, which traveled to China and Japan, is expected to return to Georgia today.

Deal’s office announced HAMACO Industries Corp., Okaya USA Inc. and Idaka America Inc. have opened offices in Gwinnett, joining more than 70 Japanese companies that already have operations or offices in the county.

HAMACO, a subsidiary of Hamada Industry Co. Ltd., designs and manufactures material-handling equipment, such as hydraulic foot-operated lift tables and carts. The subsidiary opened an office in the Gwinnett Corporate Center in Norcross.

Okaya, which also opened an office in the Gwinnett Corporate Center, processes, imports and exports iron and steel products.

Idaka America, which has an office in Duluth, distributes machinery and spare parts to the automobile industry.

Georgia opened its first international economic development office in Tokyo in 1973. There are about 350 Japanese companies operating in the state today.

Fayette County

Experts to help in voting issue

A federal judge Tuesday tapped state redistricting experts to help in redrawing voting lines in Fayette County, the first step in changing a voting system that has historically made it harder for black candidates to be elected to county-level office.

Judge Timothy Batten’s order calls for the Georgia Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office to help him evaluate new district maps or “remedial plans” submitted by the school board, County Commission and the NAACP, which sued Fayette two years ago over its at-large voting system.

Batten’s latest decision comes three months after he ordered Fayette to move to a district voting system that includes one majority-minority district to give black candidates a better shot at being elected. No black person has served on the school board or commission in Fayette’s 192-year history.

Roughly 20 percent of Fayette’s population is black, with most black residents living in the northern half of the county. Fayetteville, in the northeast part of the county, is 24 percent black, and Tyrone, on the northwest border, is a third black.