January 2012 Archives

The Augusta nuclear reactors worth $14 billion are the first reactors in the USA in three decades, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Constructed by Atlanta-based Southern Co. and its subsidiary, Georgia Power, the nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, recently received regulatory approval.

One of the benefits that the government gave the Plant Vogtle reactors, which promise clean energy, is $8 billion in loans. As a result, a majority of the cost is being covered by tax-payers.

A Cobb County jogger, Jeffery Ingram, age 32, was struck at the edge of a roadway by a 2012 Chevy Traverse and is in critical condition, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Chevy was driven by William Benton, 50, of Doraville.

While the investigation is still pending, some of the Cobb County jogging accident details are available. It occurred at 5:15 a.m. on North Booth Road near Bells Ferry Road. In Georgia, the sunrise time is around 6:00 a.m. these days.

Dutasteride, a new drug, may slow or stop prostate cancer, potentially reducing the need for surgery or radiation, reports The New York Times.

In a study published in The Lancet, dutasteride was found to shrink prostates when they enlarge, thus protecting against cancers.

A missing Atlanta woman, Stacey Nicole English, is attracting national attention for the strange circumstances of her disappearance with the investigator that worked the Natalee Holloway case now looking for her, reports CBS Atlanta.

Stacey Nicole English has been missing since December 26. Her Volvo was found with its engine running in the parking lot of the library in Lakewood. And police have had no leads for weeks.

The obesity statistics are in. And they are good.

Turns out that American obesity rates have remained unchanged over the past 12 years, reports the New York Times. In all, 35.7 percent of America's adult population and 16.9 percent of children qualify as obese. The data comes from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and published by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

There are some other interesting nuggets when you look deeper. Reports The Times:

For instance, men and boys have become fatter since 1999, and so have non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American women.

January is National Stalking Awareness Month, at least according to organs of the United States government.

The Office on Violence Against Women joined with President Obama to announce National Stalking Awareness Month or NSAM, reports the United States Department of Justice. Since most people have no direct experience with stalking, it is described for us by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics as, "a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear for his or her safety or the safety of someone close such as a family member."

Certain metal tissue holders that contain low levels of radioactive materials may be sitting in Bed, Bath & Beyond stores in more than 20 states, reports the Associated Press.

In what must be a first, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman, was made to discuss home products. And he said that Bed, Bath & Beyond had pulled the tissue holder from its stores.

"If someone has one of these, they could receive a small radiation dose from it," he told the Associated Press.

A study by the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, released through the Journal of the American Medical Association, is raising all sorts of questions about drug use. The reason is because the study found that smoking a joint once a week or a bit more doesn’t harm the lungs, reports the Huffington Post.

The results, from one of the longest studies on marijuana use, suggest that moderate use of marijuana does not harm the lungs. Heavy use, yes, that would harm one’s lungs; but on the whole marijuana is safer than cigarettes.

The car recall statistics for 2011 are out and there are some interesting finds, reports the New York Times. The numbers come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The first finding is that in 2011, Honda took the cake with the most cars recalled, specifically, 3,940,962. Honda's recalled cars include Acuras as well. The big Honda car recall had to do with a driver's side airbag that inflated too hard, which was discussed on FindLaw's Atlanta Injury News Blog.

Toyota came in second, with 3.5 million recalls, followed by Ford, with 3.3 million. General Motors did surprisingly well, recalling only 500,000 vehicles.

Braves Trainer, Jeff Porter, and his wife, Kathy Porter were involved in a serious accident that claimed Kathy Porter's life, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The especially glaring part of the accident is that they were hit by a trooper alleged to be speeding.

The police are saying that the police cruiser struck Jeff Porter's SUV at the intersection of Capitol Avenue and Memorial Drive in downtown. Kathy Porter died at the scene. Besides Jeff Porter, there were two young adults in the car, Jeff Porter's son David and a young woman named Courtney Ann Williams, ages 19 and 18, respectively.