UPDATE: 17-year-old Charged with Murder in Death of Inmate at Georgia Youth Detention Facility

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A 17-year-old has been charged with the murder of the 19-year-old inmate at the Augusta Youth Development Campus. Michael Everidge will be charged as an adult and is in the custody of the Georgia Department of Corrections. A statement released by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal's office calls the incident  a "travesty." “The state will fully investigate this alleged crime and report back on the facts," the statement read, "but initial reports are disturbing. A new commissioner will take over Department of Juvenile Justice next week, and I will work with her to take swift and urgent action in this case.

Alicyn and Annise Mabry 1

Series Exploring Bullying to Air on Georgia Public Broadcasting Radio

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A collaboration between the Southern Education Desk and JJIE will air on Georgia Public Broadcasting’s 17 radio stations this week. The series, focusing on bullying, was written by GPB’s Maura Walz and JJIE’s Chandra Thomas. Below is a breakdown of the series’ schedule:

Tuesday, November 8 during All Things Considered (5:50pm) and Wednesday,
November 9 during Morning Edition (between 6:00-9:00am)


1. Georgia's Revamped Bullying Law Arrives In Schools (Maura Walz)

Description:  Public school students and parents are seeing some changes
this year in the way their schools handle bullying. That's because of a
law passed by the legislature last year that schools are now starting to
put into practice.

UPDATE: Gale Buckner Named New Georgia Juvenile Justice Commissioner

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L. Gale Buckner has been named the new commissioner of the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Buckner was a long-time agent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. Current DJJ commissioner Amy Howell will join the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) as General Counsel at the request of Gov. Nathan Deal. In 2010, state and federal officials reached an agreement that places DBHDD’s focus on community-based care following a three-year investigation by the U.S. Justice Department into allegations DBHDD was violating patients’ civil rights.

Two-week old Julia Walsh receives her social security card. Photo credit: Kurt Wagner/Flickr

Children at Higher Risk for Identity Theft than Adults, Study Says

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Children, even toddlers and infants, are at risk of identity theft. In fact, kids under the age of 18 are 51 times more likely to become victims of identity theft than their parents, according to a recent report by Carnegie Mellon CyLab. Out of a representative sample of more than 40,000 juveniles, 10.2 percent, or 4,311 kids, fell prey to some sort of identity theft or fraud, compared to just 0.2 percent of adults in 2009 and 2010. According to CyLab, the main reason minors' identities are so valuable -- specifically their Social Security numbers -- is that there’s no process in place to double check what name and birth date are officially attached to each number. Thus, “as long as the identity thief has a Social Security number with a clean history, the thief can attach any name and date of birth to it.”

Minors also make a tempting target because the theft may go undetected for years, according to the credit-reporting agency TransUnion.

Occupy Atlanta Protestors Clash with Police, 20 Arrested

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Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta was once again the scene of protests and arrests Saturday night as Occupy Atlanta demonstrators clashed with police. Nineteen protestors were arrested, many for refusing to stay on sidewalks and blocking city streets, after demonstrators began an impromptu march down Peachtree Street. Occupy Atlanta demonstrators vowed to once again camp out in Woodruff Park despite a warning from Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed that anyone remaining in the park after it closed at 11 p.m. would be arrested. However, protestors began exiting the park shortly after the deadline as dozens of police officers on motorcycles and horses—some in riot gear, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution—encircled the park preparing to make arrests. A handful of protestors remained in the park and were arrested, a symbolic move by the protestors one Occupy Atlanta spokesperson told Atlanta’s WSB-TV.

Penalties For Drug Use at NCAA Schools Varies Widely

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At the end of October, three Louisiana State University football players were suspended for one game after testing positive for synthetic marijuana. This week, three University of Georgia running backs were suspended for one game when they tested positive for marijuana use. While the NCAA publishes an annual list of banned substances, each school may enforce that ban differently. In the wake of the LSU and UGA suspensions, CBS Sports surveyed nearly 70 public NCAA Division I schools about what their specific policies are. According to the CBS story, Georgia suspends players for 10 percent of games on the first positive test and 50 percent on the second positive.

Infant Mortality Down in State with Historically High Rate

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North Carolina saw its infant mortality rate drop in 2010 to its lowest level ever recorded, according to state officials. Officials there say this is tremendous progress given that nearly 25 years ago the state had one of the highest rates of infant mortality in the nation. The recent figures show a continued decline from 7.9 deaths per 1,000 infants in 2009 to 7 per 1,000 in 2010. Speaking to the Associated Press, the state’s Health Director Dr. Jeff Engle said the fall off in infant mortality was a “direct result of long-term, sustained investments in promising to reduce infant deaths and eliminate disparities in birth outcomes.”

Engle attributed much of the decline to a state program called Healthy Beginnings, which promotes safe child rearing practices. North Carolina, the AP points out, is now very close to the national average of 6.8 percent.

Judge Who Beat Daughter Says He Did Nothing Wrong

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A Texas judge who was caught on video beating his daughter says he was simply disciplining his then 17-year-old. "In my mind, I haven't done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing," Judge William Adams told a Corpus Christi television station. "And I did lose my temper, but I've since apologized." The video of Adams, 51, appeared on the Internet after the daughter, Hillary Adams, uploaded it. Hillary Adams, now 23, told the Associated Press that she has since had mixed feelings about making the video public.

Gwinnett Online Campus

Georgia’s First Online High School Looks To Reverse State Educational Trends Through Technology

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The students at Gwinnett County’s newest high school don’t have to worry about missing the bus or forgetting their locker combinations. They don’t have to worry about hall passes, finding a seat in the cafeteria or making it to their desk before the tardy bell sounds. In fact, these students don’t have to worry about showing up to the school at all. In August, the Gwinnett Online Campus became the first virtual high school to open in the state of Georgia. The charter school, located in a suburb just northeast of Atlanta, is the latest addition to the state’s largest public school system that wrangles with more than 150,000 students each year.

Want Something Really Spooky for Halloween? How About Marijuana-Shaped Candy?

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Parents, picture this: your kid is opening a mostly green bag of candy. Nothing unusual, especially for this time of year, so you probably think nothing of it. Then, they take out a lollipop, and you take a second look: It’s shaped like a marijuana leaf. How would you react? City leaders, anti-drug activists and parents across the country aren’t sweet on this new candy.