Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Officials say the head of the government office knew his agency was targeting tea party groups in May 2012. Tell us what you think of the agency’s recent admissions.
It’s bound to be no party for Internal Revenue Officials in the coming days. The Associated Press reported Monday that IRS officials revealed that acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller knew back in May 2012 that the agency had targeted tea party groups by unfairly investigating them to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. Monday’s revelation came on the heels of last week’s acknowledgment by the agency that the groups had been targeted during the 2012 election season. Organizations that faced IRS scrutiny included those that had “Tea Party” or “Patriot” in their names. According to the AP’s report, about 300 groups were singled out for additional review; while about half of those cases had been closed and no group had …
Monday, May 13, 2013
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ suffered a skull fracture during a game last week when a line drive hit him in the head. Tell us if you think Major League Baseball or any other leagues should implement helmets for pitchers.
"I don't remember seeing [the ball]. Just immediate loud ringing in my ear. Just pressure on my ear, and I was on the ground. That was kind of it.” That, according to an Associated Press report, was how Toronto Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ described the line drive that hit him in the head during his team’s May 7 game against Tampa Bay. The impact left him with a skull fracture and a knee that was tweaked as he fell to the ground. Happ’s injury has brought attention to other pitchers who have sustained similar injuries in the past. Major league pitcher Bryce Florie was struck in the right eye by a line drive more than a decade ago. According to Paul Newberry of the Associated Press, Florie would pitch only seven more games after that …
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Flowers, vegetables, or a mix of both? Let's see photos of your garden sanctuary.
From a window flower bed to a backyard veggie patch to acres of fields - how does your garden grow? Share pictures by clicking on the "Upload photos and videos" button to add your images to our gallery. Please share!
Saturday, May 11, 2013
The suicide rate for people aged 35 to 64 increased 30 percent from 1999 to 2010, the New York Times reports.
Are Americans in the middle of their lives being stretched to the breaking point? The first decade of this century witnessed a dramatic rise in suicides among middle-aged people, The New York Times reports. The increase, about 30 percent among 35- to 64-year olds, has raised the question of whether "a generation of baby boomers who have faced years of economic worry and easy access to prescription painkillers may be particularly vulnerable to self-inflicted harm," according to the Times. The paper cites a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official who says the financial and family situations of baby boomers might be creating unique stresses, such as taking care both of their aging parents and their young adult children. The …
Friday, May 10, 2013
'Great Gatsby' is playing this weekend in Acworth.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars in Baz Luhrmann's take on "The Great Gatsby," which is at times more style than substance – just like like the novel's main character himself – say some critics. "The Great Gatsby" is rated PG-13 and runs two hours and 22 minutes. Find movies playing in Acworth by using our Moviefone locator above. Here's what else the critics are saying: Baz Luhrmann’s new film version of The Great Gatsby is stylish, slick, funny and entertaining—a bit detached at points, a bit overblown at others. That should be all that matters. — Jeremy Mathews, Paste Magazine Just because a film looks like it was dipped in 18-karat gold doesn’t mean it’s rich in quality. Take this 3-D adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel. Though …
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The home city of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects is asking a funeral home director not to request a burial there. Should cities be allowed to turn down burial requests?
It’s been nearly three weeks since his death, but it remains unclear where the body of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev will be buried. The Associated Press reports that while Tsarnaev's mother says she wants the body returned to Russia, the funeral director in charge of Tsarnaev’s body believes the country will not accept the body. The funeral home director, Peter Stefan, said he plans to ask for a burial in the city where Tsarnaev lived, but officials in Cambridge, Mass., are urging him not to do so. "The difficult and stressful efforts of the citizens of the City of Cambridge to return to a peaceful life would be adversely impacted by the turmoil, protests, and wide spread media presence at such an interment," Cambridge…
Monday, May 6, 2013
A runner’ gesture cost his high school a trip to the state championships. Tell us if you think the ruling on the gesture was right on, or if the disqualification was unwarranted.
A high school’s chance to compete in the state championships was halted last month despite a winning performance from four of its athletes. Columbus High School saw four of its athletes take first in the 4 x 100-meter relay. But the team was disqualified, according to KHOU 11 News, after its final runner, Derrick Hayes, pointed up to the sky as he crossed the finish line. The DQ was levied as the gesture violated a rule that prohibits excessive acts of celebration, and it cost the school an opportunity to make it to the state championships. Hayes’ father said he believes his son made the gesture to give thanks to God. “It was a reaction,” K.C. Hayes said. “I mean you’re brought up your whole life that God gives you good things, you’re …
Sunday, May 5, 2013
A handful of Acworth residents spoke out against the incorporation of Cobb County property inside the existing city limits. Share your thoughts with the community.
Should any city, including Acworth, have the ability to annex property, despite the landowner's opposition? Although it disagreed with a handful of residents in doing so, the city's Board of Aldermen said yes Thursday to annexing "islands of land" governed by Cobb County, but within Acworth's existing city limits, The Marietta Daily Journal reported. City officials said the pockets of Cobb property west of Main Street along and between New McEver and Hickory Grove roads confused emergency responders and road crews. But seven land owners spoke out in opposition, citing another level of government that could make future property demands on them and the addition of city property taxes, according to the newspaper. Acworth annexed parcels in …
More needs to be done to assure our safety.
For once, I agree with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, when in a press conference last week he said: “The investments we’ve made in counterterrorism operations, technology, and intelligence help reduce the possibility of a successful terrorist strike, but they certainly do not eliminate it. Nothing can do that. We don’t know if we would have been able to stop the terrorists, had they arrived here from Boston, we’re just thankful we didn’t have to find out that answer.” The news conference that Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner, Kelley were holding was to inform the people of New York they had been notified by the FBI that the two men involved in the bombings in Boston also planned to place bombs in New York City. Our nation, …
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Has math changed so much that your help is confusing your child more than helping him or her?
According to a recent story by The Daily Mail concerning parents’ ability, or more like inability, to help their middle school-age children in the UK, there is a problem. The Daily Mail reports that only one in 20 can do the math required to help their child with homework. It’s not that the parents aren’t smart, it’s just that methods have changed so much since they were in school that they can no longer explain it. They can still get to the same answer, the students just cannot understand how they got to it. According to the article, the government in the UK is considering reinstating tried and true techniques to tackle this problem. So what about here in the U.S.? Is the math homework your middle schooler brings home the math you did in …
Brian
1:03 am on Monday, May 20, 2013
Yes, it was inappropriate what words the determinations SPECIALIST (one individual) chose. Just as the exemptions officers' Director decided when he saw the choice for the first time and overrode it to put completely appropriate wording in the BOLO (which was later changed again WITHOUT APPROVAL by a group of the determinations specialist, rules manager, and technical manager to include things … more ›