Traici Sexton is a private investigator and bounty hunter who will take pretty much any job that involves “sniffin ‘em out and trackin ‘em down”— you name it. She got her start when her now ex-husband hired her as an intel analyst. Along with her ex, she opened her first company, Covert Operations, in 2003, and they ran it together until their divorce in 2007. Sexton then opened her own company, Blue Dog Investigations & Services, in Acworth.

As a bounty hunter, you deal with the bondsman. You market yourself to bondsmen, you’re working for bondsmen, you go and collect your check from bondsmen. You keep bondsmen happy. On the P.I. side, your clients are the general public and attorneys.

Continue reading First Person.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

Celia: She made me watch The Exorcist when I was five and told me that was going to happen to me if I didn’t pray. I was devastated. I wore a rosary around my neck until I was seven. I have recovered. The Exorcist is no longer a scary movie — but every time I hear the soundtrack I do get a little frightened. She also told me that Jesus was watching me at all times, so when I was in a room by myself I was afraid to do something bad. I am now agnostic. And I’m afraid of Jesus Christ.

Andrew: Let me count the ways. When I was 16 my mother thought it would be a good idea to move to Key West. So instead of finishing high school with some sort of adult supervision, I finished on my own. I came home from school, got off the bus and there was a note: "I’ve gone to Key West." I have lots of issues. I can’t hold a relationship. Lots of sedation and therapy. I did inherit my mother’s love of pills. But I’m a forgive-and-forget kind of guy. I did do a bunch of mushrooms in the Virgin Islands with her.

Amy: My mother has borderline personality disorder. She’s a fuckin’ maniac. Bless her little fuckin’ PhD heart. When I was in high school, I was a singing telegram and my mother hired me for one of her lovers. She was married. So I delivered a singing telegram in a thong bikini to one of her lovers delivering balloons She was a [Washington] Redskin fan, so I came as Pocahontas  I learned the Redskin theme song.  She then proceeded not to claim me as her daughter.

Number of confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States, as of April 30: 109

Number of U.S. states with confirmed cases of swine flu, as of April 30: 13

Number of confirmed human cases in Mexico, where the unknown strain originated, as of April 30: 97

Number of cases in Georgia as of April 30: 1

Number of confirmed deaths in Mexico from swine flu as of April 30: 7

Number of confirmed deaths in U.S., as of April 30: 1

Number of Tamiflu courses the federal government has released in response to the outbreak: 12.5 million

Total number of Tamiflu courses the federal government has stockpiled: 50 million

Number of people who died from swine flu during a 1976 outbreak: 1

Sources: ajc.com, cdc.gov, who.int, abcnews.go.com, The Associated Press

1) Carnivores play 529.

2) 12 opens at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.

3) The Black Kids play the Loft.

4) M.W. Moore discusses An About Face at Outwrite.

5) Scandal! Under the Big Top opens at Dad's Garage.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

From the Southern Voice:

Phillip Rush, a longtime LGBT rights activist in Atlanta, died suddenly April 28 of a pulmonary embolism, according to his close friend, Doug Carl. Rush was 55.

“I think his passion in life surrounded community building — not just for the gay community, but for the entire community,” Carl said. “That was his life’s work.”

In almost 15 years as a program officer with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Rush helped provide funding, support and encouragement to a variety of non-profit organizations. His role included work on the agency’s Common Good Funds and leading the “Managing For Excellence” awards, according to a biography of Rush still posted on the foundation’s website.

Rush’s work included a variety of causes and issues, including serving on grant-making boards for United Way and FEMA. He also helped direct funding to gay causes. From 1994-1999, he led the Community Foundation’s Lesbian & Gay Funding Initiative for Youth, described by the agency as “Georgia’s first institutional response to the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth.” From 1994 to 2005, he worked on the National Lesbian & Gay Community Funding Partnership Advisory Committee.

Maria Saporta has memories of Rush here. Project Q Atlanta has a tribute here. Friends, family members and supporters have been signing Rush's Facebook wall to pay tribute. While no funeral or memorial service will be held, FROGS Cantina in Midtown will hold a "gathering" tomorrow at 6 p.m. to remember him. The Southern Voice reports loved ones have already begun laying flowers at Rush's favorite barstool.

(Photo courtesy the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta)

Twitter does not have a theme song.

I think it should.

Grazing: Chicharrones at Taqueria El Sori (Cliff is beside himself with the chicharrones at the taqueria inside Fiesta Foods on Buford Highway. Hint: They're )

Lunch at Varasano’s (Cliff heads back to the much-hyped pizzeria and decides once and for all that it definitely doesn't suck.)

Review: Craftbar (Besha makes a trip to Tom Colicchio's less formal downstairs' companion to Craft.)

Birth of a dining critic (Cooper Drose, a sixth grade student at Pace Academy, shares his thoughts about Rumi's Kitchen for a recent class assignment.)

Forgiveness: sweeter than revenge ("When you screw up and annoy people, just give them free ice cream.")

Read more from Omnivore

(Photo courtesy Highland Bakery)

As we blogged on Tuesday, Mayor Shirley Franklin appeared before the City Council this morning to propose a 3-mill tax increase for the city's 2010 budget, which kicks in on July 1. If approved as proposed, the unpopular furloughs for the police and fire department would end in three months.

How much is 3 mills? Franklin told the Council it was roughly a 7-percent increase for taxpayers. According to her, the way it would work out that if you own a $200,000 house, you'll pay an additional $200 this fall. For anyone with a $1 million home, the hit is closer to $1,200.

The mayor is actually proposing less spending than was approved in the current budget — $541 million, compared to $573 million. That's because city revenues have been steadily falling. Unfortunately, budget projections suggest the city will only collect about $485 million next year — hence, the proposed tax hike.

Last year, the Council voted unanimously to reject a much smaller tax increase, asking Franklin to instead cut personnel and services. The result was the furloughs. It's already quite clear that this time around, it's a whole new ball game.

This is an election year, so for some members of Council — especially those from the northern half of the city — a vote to raise taxes is tantamount to political suicide. Others, however, have likely heard enough complaints about crime that they're willing to risk giving Franklin what she wants and take their chances with the voters. Anne Fauver, who's not running for reelection, has already signaled her willingness to go along with a tax hike.

"I'm prepared to approve a tax increase to end the furloughs for all employees," announced Jim Maddox at this morning's budget meeting. In other words, he doesn't think the proposed tax hike is large enough.

Teabaggers, start your engines.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

How many CEOs in the 1970s really had a putting green in their offices? How many still do?

Here's a good look at the federal government's vaccination program that was rolled out when the last — first? — swine flu outbreak occurred back in that glorious year.