Obama meets with top lawmakers but no deal on shutdown

ATLANTA (WXIA) -- On the second day of the government shutdown, Congress and the White House drew no closer to resolving the impasse, although President Obama and key congressional leaders held their first meeting to discuss the budget crisis Wednesday afternoon.

Obama met with top four congressional leaders at the White House for a meeting, where leaders reiterated their positions after the meeting: Democrats continue to seek a stopgap funding bill and a debt ceiling increase with no conditions attached, while Republicans continue to mount an effort to seek concessions on the health care law.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Republicans "keep moving the goal post" for reaching a deal. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Democrats "will not negotiate."

While they called the meeting cordial, earlier in the day Obama said he is "exasperated" by the shutdown and blamed Republicans for trying to "extort" a delay or defund of the health care law.

Local effects of federal government shutdown

Monday was an unusually quiet at the Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta due to the early morning federal government shutdown. 

Airlift crews were grounded, support staff and aircraft personnel were all sent home from the base leaving it, essentially, inoperable. About 550 of the 700 employees at the base were turned around as they arrived to work on Tuesday. 

Let local lawmakers know what you think of the shutdown.  Join the #DearCongress Twitter campaign here.

And across town at the CDC in Decatur, all non-essential staff was told not to report. Many citizens expressed their concern with the shutdown due to the impending flu season however, a spokesperson from the CDC said the agency has the power to call in workers if Americans encounter imminent health danger.  

Backlash from the federal government shutdown was even felt by some of Georgia's smallest citizens -- students at Thrive Christian Academy in Lithonia. 

FULL COVERAGE | Government shutdown
FOLLOW | Twitter coverage and add your comments
PHOTOS | Federal government shutdown

A teacher from Thrive said the effects of the shutdown hit her on Tuesday morning when she arrived at school to a classroom full of children excited to visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial site, which was closed as a result of the shutdown. 

Other national parks were closed around the metro area, including: Kennesaw Mountain National Park and Chattahoochee National Park -- some portions of the river were even closed to the public. 

VIDEO | Shutdown 2013: How long will it last?
VIDEO | Doug Richards reports from DC with lawmakers

President Obama urged congressional Republicans on Tuesday to re-open the government, saying the longer the shutdown continues, the greater the damage to the economy.

"More families will be hurt," Obama said after meeting with supporters about the program at the heart of the Washington budget dispute, the health care law.

Obama again blamed the GOP for the shutdown that began at midnight Monday, saying some party members are waging an "ideological crusade" against the new health care law.

Obama also warned the Republicans to raise the $16.7 trillion debt ceiling that comes due later this month, saying that failure to do so would lead to "an economic shutdown."

The president spoke after meeting with people who have signed up for the health care marketplace exchanges that came on line Tuesday. These exchanges are a key to financing the new health care law.

Large swaths of the government closed down at midnight after the Republican House and Democratic Senate failed to agree on a new spending plan for the new fiscal year that began Tuesday.

Most Republicans support a plan that would delay parts of the health care plan by a year. Obama and Democrats say that is a non-starter, and the GOP is trying to use the budget to gut the health care plan.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, criticized Senate Democrats for refusing to negotiate on the two plans, saying they "slammed the door" on re-opening parts of the government. Boehner said, "we hope that Senate Democrats -- and President Obama -- change course and start working with us on behalf of the American people."

While some Republicans try to roll back the health care plan, Obama used his speech to emphasize that "a big part of the Affordable Care Act is now open for business" -- the new market exchanges.

Previously funded, the exchanges are not subject to the shutdown. Obama said they force insurance companies to compete for business, lowering prices for previously uninsured Americans.

Earlier in the morning, the president met with people "who will benefit from the opening of Health Insurance Marketplaces and being able to comparison shop for the health plans as a result of the Affordable Care Act." said the White House.

(USA Today contributed to this report.)

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Clayton County responds to corruption investigation

Chairman Turner responds to the a Special Purpose Grand Jury report on allegations of corruption in Clayton County.

JONESBORO, Ga. --11Alive is holding the powerful accountable and Clayton County is on the hot seat following a Special Purpose Grand Jury investigation into corruption. 

Several indictments have been handed down as a result of their investigation but we have yet to see elected county officials being held accountable. 

That's why we sat down with Clayton County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jeffrey Turner. 

"Have you had an opportunity to see the report?" asked 11Alive reporter Ross McLaughlin. 

"Yes I have," Turner responded.

"What do you think?" McLaughlin asked.

"Disheartening, discouraging," he said.  

SPECIAL PURPOSE GRAND JURY DELIVERS REPORT

The Special Purpose Grand Jury investigated the County Commissioners over allegations of corruption. In the report they state: 'The common theme - abuse of power, misuse of taxpayer money, misconduct and nepotism.' 

"I do feel like there was a lot of intimidation of department heads going on," Turner said. 

Turner was called to testify about intimidation from county officials while he was Chief of Police.   

"Did you answer all their questions?" McLaughlin asked. 

"Yes," Turner replied. 

"Did you ever plead the 5th?" McLaughlin questioned.

"No I did not," Turner replied. 

But others did. Special Grand Juror, Keturah Henley was bothered by that.  

"That spoke volumes," she said. 

That's why we reached out to Commissioner Sonna Singleton for comment on the report. She was on the board during the time of the alleged corruption. 

She responded by email stating: 'No sir my name is not mentioned in this report. I have no reason to discuss this.'

However, no one's name is mentioned in the report. Why?

"There are on-going investigations and I will make the determination whether or not further indictments should be sought," said Clayton County District Attorney, Tracy Graham Lawson. 

Commissioner Michael Edmondson was also n the board during the alleged corruption. He responded to our email stating:

Yes, I was subpoenaed twice, appeared twice and answered questions twice in front of the grand jury.

Michael Edmondson

Vice Chairman

Chairman Turner was elected to the County Commission last year. His mission - to run a clean operation. He's bothered by those who make decisions who plead 'the 5th'.

"Absolutely it makes me very uncomfortable," he said. 

The grand jury has made 58 recommendations to hold officials accountable. Such as, taxpayer money should not be used for personal travel, commissioners should not collect voter status information and should not purchase property for which they refused a zoning request from the owner.

"What would be the benefit be?" McLaughlin asked Turner.

"Later, profit," he replied. 

"Profit?" McLaughlin responded.

"Profit driven," he emphasized. 

"For personal gain," McLaughlin reiterated.

"Personal gain," Turner confirmed.

That's been at the center of the allegations. We will continue to follow the investigation to see if any new criminal charges will be brought against any current or former county officials.

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Walton Co. teen arrested after GBI finds two bombs in his bedroom

MONROE, Ga. -- Investigators say the white pipe and pink duct tape used to make one of the devices found inside the bedroom of a Monroe teen wasn't what had them concerned. It's what they say, he stuffed inside.

"He packed them with shrapnel and the shrapnel was only there to do harm to people," said Captain Greg Hall with the Walton County Sheriff's Office.

Hall says the boy's mother was cleaning his room when she found a pipe bomb packed with BB's and an empty box of shotgun ammunition. He says she also found a six inch knife sewn into his jacket. The GBI bomb squad found another crude device.

"The second one was an old inert grenade that he had packed with some powder and some more shrapnel," explained Hall.

Even though the teen is in custody, parents at Carver Middle school where he attends, said Wednesday they were still nervous about their children's safety.

"Our kids nowadays they are very curious and they learn on the internet how to make these things. We don't take these things lightly and we shouldn't," said Andrea Roberson while waiting to pick up her child.

The district says the principal made a robocall to parents letting them know there had been no threats. Hall says school resource officers interviewed some of the teenagers friends and searched his locker. They're convinced whatever the motive, the school wasn't involved.

Hall says the mother had been trying to get help for her son, but that in such a rural area, hadn't found many options.

An officer's report said the boy had been cutting up furniture in the family's house and throwing the knives into the wall, indicating problems long before his arrest.

Hall also said the boy had a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday on a separate criminal charge, but due to his age couldn't say more.

The boy remains in juvenile detention, charged with possessing explosives.

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POLL | Who is to blame for the government shutdown?

WASHINGTON (USA Today) -- Tuesday was an unusually quiet at the Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta due to the early morning federal government shutdown. 

Airlift crews were grounded, support staff and aircraft personnel were all sent home from the base leaving it, essentially, inoperable. About 550 of the 700 employees at the base were turned around as they arrived to work on Tuesday. 

And across town at the CDC in Decatur, all non-essential staff was told not to report. Many citizens expressed their concern with the shutdown due to the impending flu season however, a spokesperson from the CDC said the agency has the power to call in workers if Americans encounter imminent health danger.  

Backlash from the federal government shutdown was even felt by some of Georgia's smallest citizens -- students at Thrive Christian Academy in Lithonia. 

A teacher from Thrive said the effects of the shutdown hit her on Tuesday morning when she arrived at school to a classroom full of children excited to visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial site, which was closed as a result of the shutdown. 

Other national parks were closed around the metro area, including: Kennesaw Mountain National Park and Chattahoochee National Park -- some portions of the river were even closed to the public. 

President Obama urged congressional Republicans on Tuesday to re-open the government, saying the longer the shutdown continues, the greater the damage to the economy.

"More families will be hurt," Obama said after meeting with supporters about the program at the heart of the Washington budget dispute, the health care law.

Obama again blamed the GOP for the shutdown that began at midnight Monday, saying some party members are waging an "ideological crusade" against the new health care law.

FULL COVERAGE | Government shutdown
FOLLOW | Twitter coverage and add your comments
PHOTOS | Federal government shutdown

Obama also warned the Republicans to raise the $16.7 trillion debt ceiling that comes due later this month, saying that failure to do so would lead to "an economic shutdown."

The president spoke after meeting with people who have signed up for the health care marketplace exchanges that came on line Tuesday. These exchanges are a key to financing the new health care law.

Large swaths of the government closed down at midnight after the Republican House and Democratic Senate failed to agree on a new spending plan for the new fiscal year that began Tuesday.

Most Republicans support a plan that would delay parts of the health care plan by a year. Obama and Democrats say that is a non-starter, and the GOP is trying to use the budget to gut the health care plan.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, criticized Senate Democrats for refusing to negotiate on the two plans, saying they "slammed the door" on re-opening parts of the government. Boehner said, "we hope that Senate Democrats -- and President Obama -- change course and start working with us on behalf of the American people."

While some Republicans try to roll back the health care plan, Obama used his speech to emphasize that "a big part of the Affordable Care Act is now open for business" -- the new market exchanges.

Previously funded, the exchanges are not subject to the shutdown. Obama said they force insurance companies to compete for business, lowering prices for previously uninsured Americans.

Earlier in the morning, the president met with people "who will benefit from the opening of Health Insurance Marketplaces and being able to comparison shop for the health plans as a result of the Affordable Care Act." said the White House.

(USA Today)

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Who's getting your money: The state's highest paid officials

WXIA -- You can spin the wheel in the game of life, but to land on this list of top money makers, choose your career wisely.

There's sports. We all know college coaches score financial touchdowns. Mark Richt, the head football coach for UGA reportedly made $2.8 million in 2012. Paul Johnson, the head football coach for Georgia Tech made $2.4 million.

While they are considered public employees, the bulk of their salaries are paid by the school's athletic associations, showing how complicated it can be to determine just how much tax money any given employee is paid.

SEARCH THE 11ALIVE DATABASE | Georgia's top paid public officials City and county data comes in part from the state's survey of salaries.  It reflects the MAXIMUM allowed for the position, which is not always the actual salary paid.

The same is true for many of the university professors that show up among the top paid in the state.

Marketing professor Dr. Viswanathan Kumar made $949,000 in 2012, and accumulated nearly $50,000 in traveling expenses.  Georgia State says at least $400,000 of that came from companies that paid to take specialized classes taught by him.

Still, at a time when many college students are struggling to find ways to pay for the rising tuition burden, the fact the state's top paid employees predominantly work for the University system is frustrating to some.

According to salary data reported to Open Georgia, the average professor made $118,000 last year.  The university defends Kumar's salary, by referencing his five page resume and long list of international accolades, not to mention his eight lifetime achievement awards.

They also cite the prestige and recruitment tool the University acquires from his work with several Fortune 500 companies.  According to a university spokesperson, twelve of his doctoral students have won international recognition for their dissertations.

Outside of the University system, three employees to make the list are Investment Officers with Georgia's Teachers Retirement System. If you're a state employee or teacher, they're the guys that manage your retirement savings. The Chief Investment officer made $616,000 in 2012 to do it.

Executive Director Jeff Ezell, whose name is not on the list, says the salaries are necessary to attract and retain people who are going to give employees a real return on the $70 Billion they've entrusted to the system.

"If you take it in context of the industry that they work in, it's a very fair salary. We're rather unique being a pension plan and having a stand alone investment operation," said Ezell.

CIO Charles Cary makes about twice as much as any CIO in our surrounding states. The closest comparison is North Carolina, where the CIO makes about $320,000. But North Carolina admits, it contracts out most of its stock trades. Ezell says his office does about 85% of it in house, giving the state one of the lowest expense ratios in the country.

Gwinnett County's School Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks is also on the list.

Wilbanks heads the largest school district and gets by far, the largest paycheck, nearly $414,000. The district says it's not fair to compare his salary to others in the state because the student population served is smaller.

So we looked at the largest districts in the country. New York City serves 1.1 million students, nearly six as many as Gwinnett. The head of that district, made only $212,000 dollars last year and had access to a car.

The second largest school district in the country, Los Angeles, paid its Superintendent $330,000 including bonuses.

Sabrina Smith leads a coalition of parents questioning the district's spending. She says her group has yet to hear anything from the district justifying Wilbank's salary.

"Any school system with a graduation rate of 69% I think is a school system in crisis and I think that emergency action should be taken," said Smith.

Then, there's Fulton County Tax Commissioner, Arthur Ferdinand, the highest paid elected official in the state.

Governor Deal made $139,000 last year. The county says Arthur Ferdinand made $383,000.

Representative Lynne Riley says he did it, by using legal loopholes to get paid three times for one job. There's his county salary, a fee on property owners who are billed together for their city and county property taxes, and a kickback from debt collectors for handing over the bills that end up past due.

Riley stresses, it's all legal. But she believes it shouldn't be. She's introduced legislation to make his position appointed, and place the money he and other tax commissioners currently personally pocket, into the county's general fund.

*HOW WE OBTAINED THE DATA: The Help Desk pulled together city and county data from open records requests and the state's Salary and Wage yearly survey.  The state data reflects the MAXIMUM salary allowed for each position, which 11Alive has learned can be very different than the actual salary paid.  The maximum salary allowed for the City Manager in Jefferson is reported at $175,000.  His actual salary is $98,400.  The database is currently being updated to help viewers know where the data for each city and county is derived.

N/A means the city or county either did not provide data for that position or that the position does not exist in that community.  Open Records requests have been filed with Clayton County, as well as the cities of Lawrenceville and  Atlanta, but we have yet to receive the information.

OTHER STORIES FROM REBECCA LINDSTROM:

Century old building demolished

Teen previously denied, now placed on transplant list

City says it could take up to a year to get lights back on

WHERE WE OBTAINED THE DATA: The Help Desk pulled together the city and county data came from open records requests and the state's Salary and Wage yearly survey.  N/A means the city or county either did not provide data for that position or that the position does not exist in that community.  Clayton and DeKalb counties, as well as Atlanta and Lawrenceville have yet to provide 11Alive with their data.

WHERE WE OBTAINED THE DATA: The Help Desk pulled together the city and county data came from open records requests and the state's Salary and Wage yearly survey.  N/A means the city or county either did not provide data for that position or that the position does not exist in that community.  Clayton and DeKalb counties, as well as Atlanta and Lawrenceville have yet to provide 11Alive with their data.

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Local teacher found dead in Castleberry Hill neighborhood

ATLANTA -- Authorities are investigating the suspicious death of a man discovered in the Castleberry Hill neighborhood on Saturday night. 

According to Atlanta Police, authorities were originally dispatched to a call of a person injured near Peters Street and Fair Street when they discovered the body of 37-year-old Joe Frierson IV of Jonesboro lying in the grass, nearby. 

Frierson taught social studies at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in DeKalb County. The school sent a letter home with students on Monday afternoon and provided grief counselors for students on Tuesday morning. 

Officials from the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office say Frierson looks to be a victim of a homicide and that he died from a gunshot wound. 

An investigation is on-going. No further information was immediately released. 

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Government Shutdown showdown intensifies

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government is teetering on the brink of a partial shutdown and congressional Republicans are vowing to keep using an otherwise routine federal funding bill to try to attack the president's health care law. 

MORE | 66 questions and answers about the gov't shutdown

BLAME GAME | Finger pointing continues over shutdown

Congress was closed for the day Sunday after a post-midnight vote in the GOP-run House to delay by a year key parts of the new health care law and repeal a tax on medical devices, in exchange for avoiding a shutdown.

The Senate is set to convene Monday afternoon, just hours before the shutdown deadline. Majority Leader Harry Reid has already promised that Democrats would kill the House's latest volley.

FULL COVERAGE | Answering your Obamacare questions

Since the last government shutdown 17 years ago, temporary funding bills known as continuing resolutions have been noncontroversial, with neither party willing to chance a shutdown to achieve legislative goals it couldn't otherwise win. But with health insurance exchanges set to open on Tuesday, tea-party Republicans are willing to take the risk in their drive to kill the health care law.

How would you grade the Georgia delegation? Take our poll:

Associated Press

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11Alive learns TomorrowWorld will return to Georgia next year

ATLANTA -- The day after TomorrowWorld ended, our Center for Investigative Action went back looking for answers to questions about drug use.  It's important, because 11Alive has learned that the festival will return next year. 

"Organizers are no longer here,"a security worker said.

However, later in the evening, we received a call from the project director, Shawn Kent, who answered all of our questions.

RELATED | Thousands turn out for Day 1 of TomorrowWorld

VIDEO | TomorrowWorld drug use a concern

PHOTOS | Electronic music fans pour into Fairburn

"We had taken a lot of precautions," Kent said, "there were no drug related medical issues."

He said 140,000 people attended the event.

We wanted to know what festival organizers had done to control the designer drug Molly, which has been associated with the dance music scene.  

Why? Because of what we observed in our undercover investigation.

The Drug Enforcement Agency put out a warning about illegal drugs there at the electronic dance music festival in south Fulton County, TomorrowWorld.  

11Alive investigative journalists Ross McLaughlin and Shawn Hoder went to the event, bought two tickets, and took a small camera along. They captured activity right out in the open.

DEA agents say Molly is a purer form of the designer drug ecstasy or MDMA.  The problem is people overdose and many times the drug is cut with other dangerous substances.

Shawn Hoder asked one attendee, "Do you find that it's easy to get at a place like here?"

"Uh, very easy to get at a place like this. People walking around like hey I got Molly, I got Molly," he says on the undercover tape.

While no one would openly admit using, 11Alive watched as people pulled baggies out of cigarette boxes and took substances out that weren't cigarettes.

"There were a couple of drug arrests that's true and there were a couple things of Molly," said Tom Reed, Mayor of nearby Chattahoochee Hills.

Fulton County Police confirmed five total arrests. Three for simple assault and two for narcotics - one for possession of MDMA or Molly and one for the sale of Molly.

Kent says TomorrowWorld has successfully run 9 dance festivals and limiting the age to 21 made a big difference. He said drug sniffing dogs helped to cut down on illicit drug use and he was pleased there were only two narcotic arrests.

"We had 1200 individuals working the site and some of them are trained spotters to identify problems," he said.

However, there appeared to be lot of interest in the drug.

In fact, someone showed us their drug testing kit make sure what they were getting was pure Molly and not adulterated.

"This is a chemical test...an indicator," said an unidentified man who showed us his kit.

"If this was Molly what color would it turn?" asked Ross McLaughlin.

"Dark black or purple-ish", he said,"The kids here, they don't know and a lot of this stuff is Methylone."

He said he was also concerned about Molly being cut with dangerous substances.

The signs at TomorrowWorld said 'no drugs', bag searches were done and there was supposed to be an amnesty bin at the entrance to drop off contraband, without consequences.

"Where are the amnesty bins?" McLaughlin asked of a Dance Safe volunteer.

"Oh, uh, yeah that's a great...yeah we were supposed to have them at the entrance,"she said.

The volunteer group was handing out all kinds of literature about illicit drugs and the precautions to take.

Kent says there were two amnesty bins at each entrance. However, we didn't see any and neither did some of the festival goers who we talked to.

Yet in spite of the signs of Molly use, Mayor Tom Reed was quite impressed by the way the festival was organized and the few problems that were reported.

"I think they did a fantastic job with the bag searches on the way in. There was more pot smoke at Music Midtown here just a weekend ago," he said.

TomorrowWorld organizers have a signed a 10 year contract with the private landowner and they plan to return next year. 

See more stories from the 11Alive investigative team. 

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Congress misses deadline for averting shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress has missed the deadline for averting the first partial government shutdown in 17 years.

As the clock struck midnight Monday, House Republicans were demanding that the Senate negotiate their demand for a one-year delay in making millions of people buy health insurance under President Barack Obama's 2010 health care law. Minutes before midnight, the White House ordered a shutdown.

The Democratic Senate on Monday twice rejected GOP demands to delay key portions of what has become to known as Obamacare as a condition for keeping the government open.

An estimated 800,000 federal workers faced furloughs though many were told work a half day Tuesday. Critical functions like air traffic control and military operations will continue. Social Security benefits will be paid. National parks and most federal offices will close. 

Obama addresses military as gov't shuts down 

President Barack Obama is telling members of the military he'll work to get Congress to re-open the government as soon as possible.

Obama is addressing troops in a video message after Congress missed a midnight deadline to avert a partial government shutdown.

Obama says troops in uniform will remain on duty as usual. He says he's signed a law ensuring troops get paid on time. He says ongoing operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere will continue and the U.S. will ensure those in harm's way have what they need.

But Obama says Defense Department civilians may be furloughed. He says that compounds the damage from spending cuts that have already affected the military.

Hundreds of thousands of government workers will be off the job Tuesday, but some essential services will continue. 

Associated Press

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11Alive sends undercover cameras to investigate drugs at Tomorrowworld

ATLANTA -- The Drug Enforcement Agency put out a warning about illegal drugs there at the electronic dance music festival in south Fulton County, TomorrowWorld.  That warning focused on a designer drug called Molly. 

11Alive investigative journalists Ross McLaughlin and Shawn Hoder went to the event, bought two tickets, and took a small camera along. They captured activity right out in the open.

RELATED | Thousands turn out for Day 1 of TomorrowWorld

VIDEO | TomorrowWorld drug use a concern

PHOTOS | Electronic music fans pour into Fairburn

DEA agents say Molly is a purer form of the designer drug ecstasy or MDMA.  The problem is people overdose and many times the drug is cut with other dangerous substances.

Shawn Hoder asked one attendee, "Do you find that it's easy to get at a place like here?"

"Uh, very easy to get at a place like this. People walking around like hey I got Molly, I got Molly," he says on the undercover tape.

While no one would openly admit using, 11Alive watched as people pulled baggies out of cigarette boxes and took substances out that weren't cigarettes.

However, someone did show us their drug testing kit make sure what they were getting was pure.

The signs said no drugs, bag searches were done and there was supposed to be an amnesty bin at the entrance to drop off contraband, without consequences.

See more stories from the 11Alive investigative team. 

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