A racial rift has opened on Savannah City Council that could make it hard for a new chief executive to take the reigns in the port city. The divide is over the search for a new city manager. Tensions had been simmering for weeks but came into the open at a fractious meeting in which white and black council members ended up backing different candidates for the city's top administrative job.

Money for meals on wheels is on the chopping block this year as lawmakers work on the state budget. More than a hundred senior citizens rallied at the state capitol against cuts to the home-delivered meal program and other services.

The Senate has unanimously voted to override a veto by former Gov. Sonny Perdue of legislation that would hold lawmakers to use a zero-based approach to a quarter of the budget each year. The state now operates under a continuous budget, where new spending programs approved by the General Assembly are automatically rolled over into the succeeding budget.

An appeals court will hear arguments on the state of Georgia's request to overturn a ruling that could severely restrict metro Atlanta's water supply. Lawyers said the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta will hear arguments March 9 centering a long-running water dispute between Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

The President's plan to freeze federal spending could effect everything from transportation to schools in Georgia. President Obama laid out the spending freeze in his State of the Union address. Georgia will spend about about $11 billion of federal money in the coming year. The largest part goes to Medicaid, the health care program for the poor and disabled.