Umenyiora signs with 'most talented' Falcons

Submitted by The Associated Press on Thursday, March 28th, 9:52 pm

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Osi Umenyiora is looking for another ring with the Atlanta Falcons.

The free-agent defensive end Thursday signed a two-year, $8.5 million contract with Atlanta. Umenyiora, who won two Super Bowl championships in his 10 years with the New York Giants, says the Falcons are "probably the most talented team I've seen in my life."

The Falcons made the playoffs four of the last five years, but their first-round win over Seattle this year was the team's only postseason win in that span. Umenyiora says he wants to share his postseason experience to help the Falcons reach the Super Bowl.

The 31-year-old Umenyiora will replace John Abraham as the team's pass-rush leader. He says it was "a blessing" to sign with Atlanta, where he already has an offseason home.

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Metro jobless rate drops to 8.3 percent

Submitted by Associated Press

Thursday, March 28th, 2013, 9:19am

ATLANTA -- Metro Atlanta's unemployment rate declined to 8.3 percent in Februray.

That's down from 8.7 percent in January and well under the jobless rate of 9.3 percent from February a year ago.

Hall County's unemployment rate was 6.9 percent in February.

The new numbers were released early Thursday by the Georgia Department of Labor.

Officials say the rate declined because the number of jobs increased and there were fewer new layoffs.

The number of jobs in metro Atlanta increased by 6,400, climbing to 2.37 million from 2.36 million in January.

Most of the growth was in professional and business services, and education and health care. Some seasonal jobs were lost in trade, transportation and warehousing.

The metro Atlanta unemployment data is not seasonally adjusted.

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Osi Umenyiora agrees to deal with Falcons

Submitted by The Associated Press on Wednesday, March 27th, 10:34 pm

ATLANTA (AP) - The Atlanta Falcons have found a replacement for John Abraham by reaching an agreement with free-agent defensive end Osi Umenyiora on a two-year contract.

The Falcons released the 34-year-old Abraham, who led the team with 10 sacks in 2012, on March 1.

With the 31-year-old Umenyiora, the Falcons have a slightly younger replacement at defensive end. Umenyiora had only six sacks for the Giants in 2012. He had a career-high 14½ sacks in 2005, but has reached double figures in only one of the last four years - 11½ in 2010.

Umenyiora, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, was a second-round pick by New York in 2003.

Terms of the deal weren't released. Umenyiora's agent, Tom Condon, couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

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State Road and Tollway Authority announces new head

Submitted by Holly Pennebaker, Community Web Producer

Wednesday, March 27th, 2013, 4:04pm

State Road and Tollway Authority announces new head

(ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE) -- A longtime lawyer for various state agencies was named Wednesday to head the State Road and Tollway Authority.

SRTA's board unanimously appointed Chris Tomlinson, who has been serving as the agency's deputy executive director and general counsel, to succeed Gena Evans as executive director.

In his current role, Tomlinson was providing oversight of day-to-day operations as well as legal issues for SRTA, which operates Georgia's toll roads.

Before joining SRTA, he served as general counsel for the Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Technology Authority, Georgia Building Authority, State Properties Commission and Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission.

Tomlinson has a bachelor's degree from Morehouse College and a law degree from Georgia State University.

Evans is leaving the state government after heading both SRTA and, before that, the DOT.

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National Quilt to visit Mall Of Georgia March 28-30

Submitted by Atlanta News on Monday, March 25th, 5:24 pm

The Make Some Noise Foundation’s National Angel Quilt will visit The Mall of Georgia Thursday, March 28 – Saturday, March 30 for the Atlanta stop on its tour of cities across the United States.

The memory quilt honors children who have lost their lives to pediatric cancer and any family that has lost a child to cancer may add a memory square to the quilt. It will be on display in Dillard’s Court from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. On Saturday, March 30, free children’s Easter crafts will take place for children and adults alike.

Join us and help support this initiative to fight pediatric cancer!

MORE INFO: http://on.fb.me/108SO4W

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Falcon 4 Life: McClure retiring after 14 seasons

Submitted by Jenna Herb, Sports Producer

Monday, March 25th, 2013, 5:04pm

ATLANTA -- Center Todd McClure will officially announce his retirement at a news conference Monday after spending his entire 14-year career with the Atlanta Falcons.

The 36-year-old McClure said on Twitter, "Hope I can get through it with out getting (too) choked up." He added a hashtag with "falcon4life."

While McClure had hoped to play another year or two, the team is looking to build a younger roster after losing to San Francisco in the NFC championship game. He said on Twitter nearly two weeks ago that he planned to retire.

McClure was a seventh-round pick out of LSU in 1999 and went on to become one of the team's most durable players. He set a franchise record with 148 consecutive starts and missed only four games over the last dozen seasons.

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