Feds Push For Nationwide Ban on Alcoholic Energy Drinks

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The Food and Drug Administration is under pressure to ban alcoholic energy drinks, according to the Washington Post. An investigation has been underway since last year as to whether the drinks meet the FDA’s “Generally Recognized as Safe” standard. If there is a consensus that energy cocktails are safe, they will be exempted from FDA review, according to MedPage Today. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn) along with Senator-elect Richard Blumenthal (D), who is currently Connecticut’s attorney general, sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg Monday urging her speed up the investigation. Blumenthal pushed for the agency to ban the drinks, calling them "a witch's brew of stimulants and alcohol," the Washington Post notes.

Conyers Police Plan Zero Tolerance Crackdown at Big Teen Parties

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Two teenagers have died at large house parties that got violent with little warning in the last week.  The latest, in Conyers, Ga., where 18-year old Dequavious Mapp  was shot in the chest and died early Sunday morning.  One week earlier, 18-year old Bobby Tillman was beaten to death at a house party in Douglas County. Conyers Police Chief Gene Wilson has a new plan to break up parties that get out of control before someone gets hurt.  “I spoke to the sheriff and my staff.

Another Teen Killed at House Party

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For the second time in a week, a teenager was killed at a house party in the Atlanta area. 18-year-old Daquavious Stephon Mapp was apparently caught in the crossfire of a firefight between other teenage boys. James Edwards and Tevin Williams, both 17, are charged with aggravated assault and gun charges. Police aren’t sure whose bullet killed Mapp, according the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Estimates vary widely, but most accounts say 75 kids were at a party in Conyers, Ga.

Orchestra Program Seeks To Enrich Lives of At-Risk Kids

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Dantes Rameau had some convincing to do when he approached 10-year-old Donnell Fulton about trying out a new instrument. “Would you like to try the trombone?”

Blank stare. “Have you ever seen a trombone before?”

“No.”

“Would you like to try one?”

Blank stare. Donnell still wasn’t persuaded, so Rameau’s questioning continued. “Do you like jazz?”

Blank stare.

Teen Offender says Missouri Model has Humbled Him

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He’s serving time for burglary and manslaughter in the Missouri Division of Youth Services. But instead of prison, he’s living in a small group home, and getting treatment.  Seventeen year old Carlos Dickson talks about how he got into trouble, and how he believes he can turn his life around with the help of counselors and his family - who are all part of his treatment program. Dickson is interviewed by the Campaign for Youth Justice on blogtalkradio.com, an online radio program.  The Director of the Missouri Division of Youth Services also explains why he believes his system works.  Tim Decker describes it as a developmental approach that does not typecast kids. Decker urges professionals to understand teens, their mental health needs, learning disabilities and home situations.

Guide for Pedophiles Pulled by Amazon.com; Bookseller Faces Public Backlash

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A book that gives explicit advice to pedophiles on encounters with children is no longer being sold by Amazon.com, the giant online book store.  The bizarre pubication made headlines Wednesday as an e-book for Kindle owners. Public outrage slammed into a debate about censorship and free speech rights. Some experts on child pornography declared the book repugnant, but not obscene because there are no illustrations or photos. The self-published author of the pedophile guide told TheSmokingGun.com he sold only one copy. But CBS News reports more than 3,000 copies were sold in the last two weeks.  Author Phillip Greaves claims he is not a pedophile, but says he learned about sex at the age of seven from a girl who was ten. He admits he had sexual encounters with other younger children until he was 15, when his father found out and “put the fear of God in me to stop.”

Tomorrowsbook.com points out that Amazon is reeling from the controversy, especially after first defending its position, then quietly deleting the book this morning.  Hundreds of customers have posted comments on Facebook and the company website, some pledging to boycott Amazon.

Four Teens Charged with Murder in Beating Death

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An 18-year-old boy was killed at a house party in Douglasville, Ga Saturday night, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Four other teenagers, ages 18-19, were arrested for the death of Bobby Tillman. They have been charged with murder. More than 70 kids turned up at what was supposed to be a small house party. After parents ended the party a fight broke out outside the home between two girls.

Cobb Alcohol Taskforce Targets ‘Cocaine In A Can’

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On two separate occasions this year Cathy Finck lined up energy drink cans before a group of teenagers and their parents and asked them to point out which ones did or did not contain alcohol. Neither crowd passed the informal test. (Take our test here)

“Very few got all of the answers right because the packaging for both look very much the same,” she recalls, noting that both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions typically are packaged in brightly-colored cans with eye-catching graphics. “It’s really hard to tell the difference. That’s very disturbing considering the fact that the majority of those who drink these drinks are young people.”

Finck and fellow Cobb Alcohol Taskforce members say that the outcome of their exercises conveys one of the many reasons why the caffeine-laden alcoholic energy drinks often marketed to young people should be permanently pulled from Georgia store shelves.

Committee to Study Future of Georgia Commission on Family Violence

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The Georgia Commission on Family Violence set up a governance committee Friday in the midst of ongoing questions about where in state government the agency belongs. In its 2010 session, the state legislature attached the 37-member commission’s budget to the Administrative Office of the Courts within the judicial branch, and there is strong support for having it remain there. But there are also those—reportedly including Gov. Sonny Perdue—who would like to see it come under the Governor’s Office for Children and Families in the executive branch.  The possibility of moving the agency raises questions about its future, as JJIE.org reported Thursday. At the commission’s quarterly meeting, chairwoman Peggy Walker, a Douglas County juvenile court judge, asked members to volunteer for the new governance committee which will study the benefits and drawbacks to moving the agency, and look at how other states handle similar agencies. The committee will be headed by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shawn LaGrua and will include Pardons and Paroles board member James Donald,  Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Fox, majority whip Rep. Edward Lindsey (R-Atlanta), Henry County Solicitor General Charles Spanos and Robert Thornton, criminal services director of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which includes representatives of several other agencies and councils.

Future Uncertain for Georgia Commission on Family Violence

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The Georgia Commission on Family Violence has bounced among state agencies for the last 18 years - from Human Resources to the Administrative Office of the Courts to Corrections and back to the Courts. Now there are new questions about its future. 

In the most recent change, the General Assembly voted late in the 2010 session to move the agency’s $428,000 budget from the Department of Corrections in the executive branch to the Administrative Office of the Courts in the judicial branch—but failed to amend the law to actually move the agency because time ran out. Corrections transferred management to the Courts by agreement. Now there’s discussion about moving the Commission again, this time to the Governor’s Office for Children and Families, an agency created by outgoing Governor Sonny Perdue two years ago. Supporters say services should be combined under one umbrella.