Week in review Nov. 25-Nov. 30

Hundreds of people attend the annual event at the historic Georgia Railroad Freight Depot, and lawmakers often bring family members and supporters to pose for pictures with the governor and other leaders.

The format is expected to remain the same, with the important exception that legislators will not be provided free tickets.

The change comes as lawmakers and lobbyists enter a new era. This year the General Assembly passed House Bill 142, setting the first-ever limits on spending by special interests on public officials.

The bill caps individual gifts at $75 and outlaws some pure entertainment expenses. The new law takes effect Jan. 1.

Tickets are $20 in advance through the association’s website or $25 at the door. Anyone with a ticket and a nonperishable food item can attend.

Metro Atlanta

Actor gets deportation reprieve

A Mexican immigrant who developed an improbable acting career while living illegally in the Atlanta area has been granted a one-year reprieve from deportation.

Tony Guerrero, 40, of Dunwoody said the government recently informed him he had been given a form of relief called “stay of removal” and that he may apply for it again in a year.

In a twist of art imitating life, Guerrero starred in a low-budget film about a naive illegal immigrant from Mexico who achieves his American dream of landing a top corporate job. “Undocumented Executive” was shot in the Atlanta area and premiered last year.

Guerrero overstayed a visa after he entered the U.S. from Mexico in the 1990s. In 1999, police arrested him on a charge of driving without a license in DeKalb County. He voluntarily returned to Mexico, but he illegally re-entered the United States a month later to be with his first wife and son.

Guerrero got divorced and then remarried. And in 2011 he applied for legal status, citing his marriage to a U.S. citizen. Authorities arrested him on the spot.

Atlanta

Audit turns up possible fraud at Georgia Tech

An internal audit has uncovered suspected fraudulent financial activities involving Georgia Tech Research Institute employees.

The report found procurement card purchases that appeared to be split between two employees — James Fraley and Alan Golivesky — to circumvent the university’s purchasing policies. A third employee, Stephen Blalock, approved the card statements, the audit said. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained a copy of the September audit from Georgia Tech.

The suspected fraudulent transactions totaled about $1.5 million.

The state attorney general has been notified about the alleged malfeasance, a school spokesman said.

Fraley, a senior research technologist, and Golivesky, assistant director of financial operations, have resigned from the university, the spokesman said. Blalock, a principal research engineer, is on administrative leave.

Clayton County

Clayton schools introduce security app

Hoping to head off trouble, the Clayton County school district is offering an app for smartphones called iWatch. It lets students, parents or people in the community anonymously report suspicious or criminal activity. It also enables the school district to send alerts, such as notices of school shootings, to the community.

The app, which can interpret 32 languages, is the brainchild of the head of the school district’s new police force. Chief Clarence Cox III got the idea after hearing about similar crime-watch apps being used by two school districts in Texas. Creating one for Clayton became imperative after an August shooting in DeKalb County at Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy, Cox said.

The Android version of the app is available now. An Apple version should be available next week. To download the app, go to iWatchClaytonCountyPublicSchools.com. For more details or to text tips, call 404-800-7427.

DeKalb County

Board members’ ouster upheld

In a unanimous opinion, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld a 2010 state law that gives the governor the power to replace school board members who run afoul of an accrediting agency. The law was challenged by former DeKalb school board Chairman Eugene Walker.

Deal suspended Walker and five other members of the nine-member DeKalb board in February after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed the district on probation. The governor then replaced those members through a nominating process.

One of the ousted board members didn’t live to see the decision. Donna Edler, who represented District 7, died in October after battling cancer.

Former board member Nancy Jester resigned her seat on the board after the ouster. She has announced plans to run for state school superintendent in 2014.

FULTON

Balfour trial set for Dec. 16

Responding to a request for a speedy trial, a Fulton county judge set a trial date of Dec. 16 for indicted state Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville.

Balfour is charged with 18 counts of filing false expense claims and theft. He was indicted in September after allegations that he charged the state for expenses on days he did not have expenses.

The senator has said repeatedly that he made mistakes on his expense reports but did nothing wrong intentionally.

Gwinnett County

Indictment upheld in bribery case

The Georgia Court of Appeals upheld an indictment against former Gwinnett County Commissioner Kevin Kenerly that accuses him of accepting bribes.

Kenerly was first charged in October 2010 with accepting $1 million to secure the County Commission’s approval of a land purchase benefiting developer David Jenkins. Kenerly, who suspended himself from the commission in November 2010, denies the accusation. Jenkins was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony.

The appellate court had thrown out the initial indictment filed against Kenerly, ruling that a special grand jury was not authorized to indict. Last week though, it upheld a Gwinnett Superior Court judge’s decision denying Kenerly’s request to dismiss the charges against him in the second indictment.

Kenerly’s attorney, Patrick McDonough, argued that the second indictment should be nullified because Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter sought it while the first one was still under appeal.

The initial indictment followed a 10 month-long investigation conducted by a special purpose grand jury impaneled to look into suspicious parkland purchases by the county. The investigation began after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a series of stories questioning some of the deals.

The special grand jury ultimately concluded that Gwinnett commissioners had paid millions of dollars too much for some parcels of land in several deals that used taxpayer money to benefit commissioners’ friends and political allies.

FDA seizes $2 million in supplements

Federal authorities have seized more than $2 million worth of dietary supplements from a Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals in Norcross in the wake of an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation that revealed Hi-Tech has been selling products containing the stimulant DMAA.

The FDA has been working to purge the amphetamine-like ingredient from the market. DMAA has been linked to dozens of serious medical conditions, including heart attacks and strokes. At least eight deaths in the U.S. have been tied to products containing the stimulant.