Atlanta Cauldron To Be Lit For First Time Since 1996 Olympics

Atlanta's Olympic flame will burn again this weekend for the first time since 1996 for the 2020 Olympic U.S. Marathon Trials.

Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic cauldron during the opening of the 1996 Games, and Athletics Director Charlie Cobb will ignite the flames Saturday, Georgia State University announced.

The cauldron, which will burn from 11:50 a.m. Saturday until the end of the trials around 3:30 p.m., towers over the intersection of Capitol Avenue and Fulton Street, just outside the stadium.

Read more from GPB's Ellen Eldridge here.

A female pitbull with a broken leg found during an investigation of dogfighting U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE

Federal Officials Seize 168 Dogs In Massive Dogfighting Bust

Federal law enforcement officials executed 11 search warrants in Middle Georgia Wednesday in a massive dog fighting investigation.

In the process they rescued 168 dogs who were injured and severely malnourished.

The animals are now in the care of the U.S. Marshals Service and officials said the dogs' care and housing location will not be made public. One severely malnourished, female pitbull was found chained with broken legs and other dogs required surgery.

U.S. Attorney Charlie Peeler said people who choose to violate the Animal Welfare Act face serious consequences, including federal prison time, where there is no parole.

Read more from GPB's Josephine Bennett here.

Wanda and David Scott's walkway floods more and more frequently as sea levels rise. They're worried the water is also reaching their septic system. STEPHEN MORTON

Aging Septic, Rising Seas Threaten Georgia Waterways

To get to Wanda and David Scott’s dock, you take a gravelly walkway that cuts through the marsh beyond their yard. Unlike their neighbors’ elevated, wooden walkways, it’s down close to marsh level, so sometimes it floods, which can make it tough to have friends over.

“Like today, I would have thought, are they gonna have to wade in water to get to the dock?” Wanda Scott said on a recent afternoon. “We knew that maybe two or three times a month [it would flood] before. Now it's pretty regular.”

Like most people in their Whitemarsh Island neighborhood, the Scotts rely on a septic system. And the ever-encroaching tide has Wanda Scott worried.

“It makes sense to me that if septic is this close to the marsh and the marsh floods at high tide more regularly now, then the outflow of all these houses...it’s being part of the part of the outflow,” she said.

Read more from Emily Jones and Mary Landers here.

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