MARIETTA NEWSPAPER | Cobb County real estate, Cobb homes, Marietta new homes

Marietta medical office
building sells for $15.3M

The medical center is located at 780 Canton Road and is situated on 6.3 acres. Built in 2000, it sold for $189 per square foot. The property's largest tenant is HCA, Inc., a corporate operator of hospitals and health care systems.

Board member vows to
probe school system

MARIETTA - Don't expect Alison Bartlett to sit on the Cobb school board's dais and remain silent.

Dry Georgia might be
the new Georgia

The state climatologist says it may be time to recalculate average rainfall in north Georgia because of its persistent drought.

Hartsfield-Jackson sets
2009 resolutions

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport officials have made their resolution for 2009 simple: be one of the world's best.

GA stocks
bloodied in 2008

2008 will go down in history as one of the toughest years ever on Wall Street. Of Georgia's 50 largest public companies (ranked by revenues), the shares of only seven rose in value during 2008. The other 43 all dropped, some losing most of their value.

Israel pounds Gaza,
vows to continue campaign

Israeli forces consolidated their hold on parts of the Gaza Strip on Monday, seizing three high-rise buildings on the outskirts of the territory's biggest city and killing seven children as militants fired more rockets into southern Israel.

Alaska drug case was delayed
for Palin campaign: Trooper

The Alaska drug arrest of Bristol Palin's future mother-in-law was deliberately delayed until after the November election to spare Sarah Palin embarrassment.

US opens new Iraq
embassy in symbolic move

The United States opened its new embassy building in Baghdad Monday, a step meant to symbolize its transition from occupying power to an ally of a sovereign Iraqi government.

Obama seeks major
tax cuts in stimulus plan

President-elect Barack Obama, seeking to drum up support from both political parties, plans to propose up to $310 billion in tax cuts for businesses and the middle class as part of his massive economic stimulus package, senior Democratic aides said on Sunday.

Ex-Clayton Sheriff
files for bankruptcy

Victor Hill has ended four controversial years as Clayton County's sheriff by filing for bankruptcy, saying he is unable to pay damages of up to $1.7 million from several lawsuits.

Craigslist scam
gave away my stuff!

Seventeen-year-old Chris Limbaugh watched the New Year's Day football games from a chair in the kitchen of his family's Walton County home. This year, it's a wheelchair. A spinal chord injury left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Female bomber at Shiite
shrine in Baghdad kills 38

A woman hiding among Iranian pilgrims with a bomb strapped under her black robe killed more than three dozen people Sunday outside a Baghdad mosque during ceremonies commemorating the death of one of Shiite Islam's most revered saints.

Richardson withdrawal
leaves gap in Cabinet picks

Richardson insisted he would be cleared in a grand jury probe. But he and Obama said the investigation would have likely disrupted a timely nomination to a top economic post.

Richardson scandal: Perhaps
another 'pay-to-play' scheme

Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew his name as the commerce secretary nominee amid an investigation of an alleged "pay-to-play" scheme in New Mexico.

US commercial property
in a downward spiral

Vacancy rates in office buildings exceed 10 percent in virtually every major city across the United States and are rising rapidly, a sign of economic distress that could lead to yet another wave of problems for the beleaguered financial sector.

Oil above $46 as
OPEC cutbacks take hold

Evidence that OPEC cutbacks were taking hold helped support oil prices above $46 a barrel Monday, with crude also getting support from new unrest in oil-rich Nigeria.

Daddy Bush would like
to see Jeb as president

Former President George H.W. Bush said on Sunday he'd like to see his second son, Jeb, become President of the United States some day.

San Francisco studies
fees to ease traffic

Following the lead of other congested cities like London and Singapore, officials in San Francisco are considering a plan to ease traffic by charging drivers a fee upon entering notoriously clogged sections of the city.

CSI Hunley: Fate of historic
sub a cold case file

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – It could be one of the nation's oldest cold case files: What happened to eight Confederate sailors aboard the H.L. Hunley after it became the first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship?

Abandoned toddler leads
Ohio police to slain mom

DAYTON, Ohio – Authorities were searching for the gunman who killed a woman at her home and then abandoned her 4-year-old son at a highway rest stop.

Filthy Cincinnati
overrun by bedbugs

A recent public survey found that 1 in every 6 people here has had a run-in with the biting bugs in the last 12 months.

Atlanta Civilians Heading
into Israel-Gaza War Zone

Anyone who has run in Atlanta's July 4th Peachtree Road Race knows how far six miles is, from Buckhead to Midtown.

Hikers Hit the Trail to
Remember Meredith Emerson

One year ago, Meredith Emerson took her dog and went hiking in north Georgia. The dog escaped, but Emerson fell victim to Gary Hilton, who kidnapped and murdered her.

Gas Tax Drops Four Cents,
But Will You Save Money?

Less than six months ago, a gallon of gas cost the average Georgian more than $4 per gallon. But as the year turned, many stations were below $1.50, and some were down to $1.25 per gallon of regular.

Chamblee Businesses
Burglarized, Burned

The DeKalb County bomb squad was brought in on Thursday to check out a business park in Chamblee after the windows of one of the offices there were blown out by what appeared to be an explosion. No one was injured, but there was a lot of damage.

New Clayton County Sheriff
Fires 14 Deputies

On his first day on the job Thursday new Clayton County Sheriff Kem Kimbrough fired 14 deputies.

Robber Uses Assault Weapon
To Hold Up Gas Station

A robber armed with an assault rifle held up a Gwinnett gas station and convenience store early New Year's Day.

Stafford Helps Georgia Top
Michigan State In Capital One Bowl

Matthew Stafford threw for three touchdowns in the second half to carry the No. 16 Georgia Bulldogs to a 24-12 victory over the 19th-ranked Michigan State Spartans in the Capital One Bowl.

Sleep Through Atlanta's New Year's Eve?
Here's What You Missed

The Peach Drop, which has been the staple of downtown Atlanta's New Year Eve since 1989, saw almost 100,000 in attendance at Underground Atlanta — an 80,000 dropoff from last year. Some attendees believed the shaky economy played a part in fewer people showing for the event, but they said it wouldn't deter their spirits.

Carpet maker Interface to cut jobs,
close plant in Canada

Modular carpet manufacturer Interface Inc. said Tuesday it will restructure its global operations, cut 14 percent of its workforce and close a plant in response to slacking demand.

Report: Big bailout
recipients still shaky

Many of the financial services companies that have received the majority of taxpayer-funded capital through the U.S. Treasury are likely in worse shape than previously disclosed, according to a research report.

Final Chapter for Mystery
Writer Westlake

Prolific mystery writer Donald E. Westlake, who wrote hundreds of novels, stories and screenplays under his own name and a posse of pseudonyms, died from a heart attack on New Year's Eve while vacationing in Mexico.

CD Sales Down
20% in 2008

The music industry ends 2008 in familiar territory: Sales are down for the seventh time in eight years, the Wall Street Journal reports. CD purchases dropped by 20% to 360.6 million as labels continue to adapt to the digital revolution.

E!'s Lyons Draws Scorn
of Fellow Film Critics

In his four months as critic on E!'s At The Movies, Ben Lyons—he who called Will Smith's I Am Legend one of the greatest films in history with a straight face—has galled the critics' community and presided over a plunge in viewership of the show once hosted by Siskel and Ebert.

What's In and Out for 2009

The New Year is here, and that means it's time to clean out the cultural wardrobe. Hank Stuever of the Washington Post offers his annual take on things that are so last year, and others sure to be cool in the next 12 months.

'Green' Tops 2008's
Most Annoying Terms

Did you get your fill of mavericks this year? Or companies claiming to go green? Those words made Lake Superior State University's list of the most overused words and phrases of 2008, the AP reports. Other annoying winners.

50 Ways to Improve Your 2009

Just in case your pledge to exercise more didn't satiate your need for self-improvement resolutions, US News and World Report offers 50 more ways to improve your life in 2009. Here are a few.

Global Warming Battle
Hits Malibu Beach

Malibu's scenic Broad Beach is vanishing between the rising sea and the sea walls homeowners are building to protect million-dollar properties from global warming.

Fido's Clone Just
Ain't Fido

Lou Hawthorne's canine cloning business is well on its way—with clients paying upwards of $130,000 to duplicate their pets—but the copies of his own beloved family dog have hardly replaced her.

Baby Born on
Transatlantic Flight

Passengers on a Boston-bound plane from Amsterdam got a New Year's surprise when a woman on board went into labor, the Boston Herald reports.

Cell Phone Use Linked
to Heart Disease

Add another ill to the cell phone pile: Using one may cause heart disease and kidney stones, researchers have found.

Last-Minute Flood Jams
College Application Site

Some high school seniors submitting college applications hours before the Dec. 31 deadline encountered timeout errors and slowdowns that gave them quite a scare, the New York Times reports.

Leap-Year Bug Zapped Zunes

All 2006 model Zune30s froze up at midnight last night because of a problem handling the last day of leap years, according to Microsoft.

Geothermal Energy
Hopes Are Booming

Hot rocks beneath the Earth's surface hold much promise for the nation's energy needs, but it's going to take big money to make the science work, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

Chinese Court Sentences
Microsoft Pirates

A Chinese court has convicted 11 people of violating copyright laws and sentenced them to as much as 6 1/2 years of prison for working with a counterfeiting ring that sold fake Microsoft products around the world.

Obama to Meet With
Congress on Economy

Barack Obama's Hawaiian holiday is over, and he's now preparing to meet with congressional leaders Monday to discuss jump-starting America's economy, reports Reuters.

Steel Industry Hopes Stimulus
Will Forge Recovery

Leaders of America's sagging steel industry are hoping their operations will spearhead the economy's recovery with some major help from the US government, the New York Times reports.

BoA, Wells Fargo
Wrap Up Takeovers

Bank of America and Wells Fargo completed their respective takeovers of Merrill Lynch and Wachovia this week, expected developments that close the books on a year of unprecedented change in the banking industry, Reuters reports.

Shoppers Go Whole
Hog for Piggy Banks

Piggy banks have been flying off the shelves this holiday season, reports Reuters. Newly frugal consumers see the pigs as symbolic of the need to save, retailers say.