Georgia’s most famous groundhog, General Beauregard Lee, declared spring to be just around the corner after emerging from his plantation-style home at Gwinnett County’s Yellow River Game Ranch on a cloudy Thursday morning and seeing no shadow.

According to weather lore, if the groundhog sees his shadow on Feb. 2, there will be six more weeks of winter.

That’s what happened Thursday in Gobbler’s Knob, Pa., where Punxsutawney Phil made his annual appearance.

Gen. Lee got a little backup from a new weather predicting friend in South Georgia. At Albany's Chehaw State Park, Asante, an African meerkat, also failed to see his shadow.

Gen. Lee’s prediction of an early spring was a no-brainer after the warm weather that has graced metro Atlanta for most of the winter so far.

Since the Dec. 22 winter solstice, Atlanta’s average temperature has been above normal on 34 days, exactly normal on two days and below normal on only six days, according to the National Weather Service.

The warmest day so far this winter was Jan. 26, when afternoon temperatures reached 71 degrees. The average temperature that day was a whopping 18 degrees warmer than normal.

The mercury has dropped below freezing on only nine days, the coldest being on Jan. 3 and 4, when lows hit 22 degrees.

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Contrary to internet rumors here.... Reba is NOT dead!  She was hanging with the BULL backstage at the Blake Shelton concert Friday night at Gwinnett Arena!  (She was there because her husband is Blake's manger!)

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The Braves will offer season-ticket holders a 33-percent discount on food and beverages (excluding alcohol) beginning with the 2012 season, team announced Monday.

In a press release that referred to the discount as both “unparalleled” and “unprecedented,” the Braves said anyone with a season-ticket plan of 20 games or more can get the discount on food and beverages — non-booze category — at all fixed concession stands or through the in-seat food service (in those primo seats behind home plate).

The discount will not apply at the 755 Club, Chop House, Georgia’s Own Credit Union Club or through the vendors who roam through the stands.

Each season-ticket holder will have a bar code on his ticket or seat locater that can be scanned at the concession stand or by the in-seat server to activate the discount. The discount will trim $1.50 from the price of a 22-ounce soft drink and more than $2.50 off a brisket sandwich or large order of fries.

The Braves are trying to boost attendance after ranking 14th in the majors in 2011 with an average home attendance of 29,296. They sold 2,372,940 tickets at Turner Field, their lowest home total since 2.32 million paid in 2004.

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Salani:                                                                     Manono:

Nina Acosta                                                             Jay Byars

Age: 51                                                                     Age: 25

Current Residence: Clovis, Calif.                                 Current Residence: Gaffney, S.C.

Occupation: Retired LAPD Officer                               Occupation: Model

Christina Cha                                                         Colton Cumbie    

Age: 29                                                                   Age: 21

Current Residence: West Hollywood, Calif.                 Current Residence: Monroeville, Ala.

Occupation: Career Consultant                                  Occupation: College Student

Monica Culpepper                                                  Michael Jefferson    

Age: 41                                                                    Age: 30

Current Residence: Tampa, Fla.                                 Current Residence: Seattle, Wash.

Occupation: Ex-NFL Player’s Wife                             Occupation: Banker

Kat Edorsson                                                           Leif Manson

Age: 22                                                                    Age: 27

Current Residence: Orlando, Fla.                                Current Residence: San Diego, Calif.

Occupation: Timeshare Rep                                       Occupation: Phlebotomist

Chelsea Meissner                                                   Jonas Otsuji

Age: 26                                                                    Age: 37

Current Residence: Charleston, S.C.                          Current Residence: Lehi, Utah

Occupation: Medical Sales                                        Occupation: Sushi Chef

Kourtney Moon                                                       Bill Posley

Age: 29                                                                    Age: 28

Current Residence: Austin, Texas                              Current Residence: Venice, Calif.

Occupation: Motorcycle Repair                                  Occupation: Stand-Up Comedian

Alicia Rosa                                                              Matt Quinlan

Age: 25                                                                     Age: 33

Current Residence: Chicago, Ill.                                  Current Residence: San Francisco, Calif.

Occupation: Special Ed Teacher                                 Occupation: Attorney

Kim Spradlin                                                            Troy Robertson 

Age: 29                                                                      Age: 50

Current Residence: San Antonio, Texas                       Current Residence: Miami, Fla.  

Occupation: Bridal Shop Owner                                   Occupation: Swimsuit Photographer

Sabrina Thompson                                                   Greg Smith

Age: 33                                                                      Age: 64

Current Residence: Brooklyn, N.Y.                               Current Residence: Houston, Texas

Occupation: High School Teacher                                 Occupation: Plastic Surgeon

Retired Atlanta Braves pitching legend John Smoltz has put his Milton mansion on the market for a cool $7.2 million.

The mansion sits on about 20 acres of land in the Greystone community. It boasts separate tennis and basketball courts, baseball and football fields, a jogging trail and an 18-hole golf course. The estate also has a stocked fishing pond with its own oxygenation system.

Click here for a link to more pictures, courtesy of 11 Alive news...

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is warning patients about a potential mix-up between powerful prescription pain drugs and common over-the-counter medications like Excedrin and Gas-X made at a Novartis manufacturing plant.

The problem stems from major manufacturing problems at a Lincoln, Neb., facility which triggered a sweeping recall of the company's over-the-counter drugs on Sunday. The company has received complaints of broken and chipped pills and inconsistent bottle packaging that could cause pills to be mixed up. Consumers should not use the products and can contact the company for a refund.

FDA officials warned Monday that some of Novartis' over-the-counter pills may have accidentally been packaged with powerful prescription painkillers made at the same facility. The opioid drugs are sold by Endo Pharmaceuticals as Percocet, Endocet, Opana and Zydone.

Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., of Chadds Ford, Pa., said it is not aware of any confirmed product mix-ups that reached patients or caused any injuries.

FDA officials say they are not recalling the painkillers because they are essential medications for many patients and the risks of stray pills are low.

"The likelihood of finding a wrong tablet in an opiate pain medication dispensed to patients is low and patients should not be unduly alarmed," FDA's Dr. Edward Cox told reporters. Cox said FDA inspectors are currently inspecting the plant and uncovered a manufacturing problem that could allow pills to become stuck in the machinery and carry over to the packaging of other products. FDA officials said the investigation is ongoing and would not comment on potential penalties against Endo or Novartis.

Cox said regulators are also concerned about a shortage of Endo's painkillers in coming weeks due to the shutdown of the Nebraska facility. Novartis voluntarily halted production at the plant last month.

"FDA is working with Endo and Novartis to minimize the degree of impact. The degree of shortage will depend upon how quickly safeguards can be put in place to prevent this manufacturing issue from happening in the future," the FDA said in a statement on its website.

FDA inspectors cited Novartis' plant for a dozen quality control problems last summer, in a report posted to the agency's website. Company officials failed to properly investigate 166 consumer complaints of mixed-up pills in Novartis bottles since 2009, according to inspectors. The inspectors also concluded that none of the 223 complaints received by the plant last year were adequately reviewed, according to the report.

Novartis AG said in a statement said that it issued the recall "at the appropriate time ... as a precautionary measure in the best interest of consumers." The Basel, Switzerland-based company said it is working to upgrade and improve manufacturing and training at the Nebraska plant.

The company announced Sunday it would recall certain bottles of headache medicine Excedrin and caffeine caplets NoDoz with expiration dates of Dec. 20, 2014. The company is also recalling some packages of pain medicine Bufferin and stomach medicine Gas-X with expiration dates of Dec. 20, 2013, or earlier.

Customers can also call the company at 1-888-477-2403 Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST.

The FDA and Endo Pharmaceuticals recommend patients examine their prescriptions to make sure all the tablets are similar in shape, color, size and marking. If one or more of the tablets look different, patients should return the medicine to their pharmacist.

Patients can call Endo Pharmaceuticals' call center at 1-800-462-3636.

Web security company ZoneAlarm says that more than 20 percent of Facebook newsfeed links open a computer virus.

ZoneAlarm also says that  600,000 Facebook users are compromised each day.

Click here for a great guide on the top online scams and how to protect yourself!

Chancellor Hank Huckaby will propose merging eight existing colleges into four as part of a sweeping plan to cut costs and give students more access to academic programs, University System of Georgia officials confirmed exclusively to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday morning.

The recommendation does not include any campuses in metro Atlanta, nor will it affect any of the state's historically black colleges.

The mergers have the potential to save taxpayers millions while affecting thousands of students.

The proposal, which will be released Thursday afternoon, affects the following colleges

-- Augusta State University and Georgia Health Sciences University, the state's only public medical school. The two colleges are about three miles apart, and Augusta State's president is retiring June 30

-- Gainesville State College and North Georgia College & State University. Gainesville's president is retiring June 30.

-- Macon State College and Middle Georgia College.

-- Waycross College and South Georgia College in Douglas. Waycross has had an interim president since July.

"These proposed consolidations are the right approach for us to take at the right time in the system's and state's history," Huckaby said.

The State Board of Regents is scheduled to vote on the recommendation Tuesday. The system expects to have the mergers complete by fall 2013, system spokesman John Millsaps said.

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