Ken Stanford

The state Senate on Friday passed legislation aimed at curbing childhood obesity in Georgia by weighing students twice a year in order to track the state's population of overweight pupils.

A judge is granting about 15,000 retired Georgia educators back pay as part of a class-action lawsuit against the state's teachers retirement system.

Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign has raised the possibility of a challenge to Texas' primary and caucus rules just days before the contest, drawing a warning against legal action from the state's Democratic Party.

Consumer spending was essentially flat for the second straight month in January, raising new concerns about a possible recession.

Iraq's presidential council has endorsed the execution within a month of Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as "Chemical Ali," for his role in the 1980s scorched-earth campaign against Kurds, officials said Friday. But it spared the life of two other officials amid Sunni protests that they were only following orders.

The head of the state Chamber of Commerce said in Gainesville Thursday Georgia businesses are "holding their own" in the face of the state's historic drought.

President Bush said Thursday that the country is not headed into a recession and, despite expressing concern about slowing economic growth, rejected for now any additional stimulus efforts. "We've acted robustly," he said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has squashed the notion of running for president this year, declaring that he will not seek the White House but might put his support behind another candidate who embraces bipartisan governing.

Four Lanier Technical College students have been selected as the college's semi-finalists for the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL), according to Jennifer Pulliam, coordinator for the Lanier Tech GOAL program.

A water-sharing agreement among Georgia, Alabama and Florida continues to appear unlikely.