All state's counties now 'Camera Ready'
ATLANTA - Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and the Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Office said Monday that all 159 of the state's counties have been designated Camera Ready, a program that is the first of its kind in the nation and offers community-based assistance with film and television productions.
The state's Camera Ready Community program, established in 2010, helps develop and sustain the film and television industry by offering production companies access to local resources and information. The program is a special designation given to participating Georgia communities interested in cultivating and attracting the entertainment industry.
Camera Ready communities name liaisons who can assist film and television production companies on a local level.
Juvenile center had record-low intake
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - A juvenile detention facility in East Tennessee had the lowest number of intakes last year in its 27-year history.
The Johnson City Press reports 463 youth went through the Upper East Tennessee Regional Juvenile Detention Center in 2013. That's compared to a high of 1,100 youths who went through the center in the year 2000.
Center Director Ralph Sparks said there are several alternatives now to locking up wayward teens, and state law requires judges to use the least restrictive measure.
"There are more treatment programs for them now," he said.
Johnson City Juvenile Court Judge Sharon Green said electronic monitoring is just one tool she uses instead of locking teens up.
"If they are charged with an offense during the day, we might have the officer just bring them on down here to court and we can determine if they can be released to a parent. We can immediately make a referral to family support services with the Department of Children's Services to see if there's anything in the home we can put in place -- services that 10 or even five years ago we didn't have," she said.
The Detention Center is a collaborative project among seven counties: Washington, Sullivan, Carter, Unicoi, Johnson, Hawkins and Greene.
Governor hopeful wouldn't take salary
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Democrat Parker Griffith says he will give up his salary if elected governor and redirect the money to public education.
Griffith said Monday that he'd also sell the state plane and helicopter used by Republican incumbent Robert Bentley. Griffith says Bentley has made 480 flights since becoming governor, and he's wasting taxpayer dollars.
Bentley's spokeswoman, Rebekah Mason, says he uses state aircraft to fulfill the duties of governor, to meet with people outside Montgomery to understand local issues, to welcome new businesses to the state and to respond to natural disasters.
Bentley also is serving without a salary. He was elected in 2010 on a campaign promise not to take a salary until Alabama's unemployment dropped to 5.2 percent, and it's not there yet.