ATLANTA -- As temperatures remain in the mid-90s across Atlanta, it's important to remember that the heat can have serious health effects.

Dr. Leon Haley, Chief of Emergency Medicine at Grady Hospital, said the heat can strike in four ways: sunburn, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Sunburn is generally the first step, followed by heat cramps or dehydration.

"Their body is responding to it by getting a little dry," Dr. Haley said. "Their muscles begin to ache."

More serious is heat exhaustion, which usually manifests itself in patients with existing health conditions like heart disease or diabetes. Their illnesses become more pronounced and symptoms include chest pain, difficulty breathing and irregular blood sugar levels.

Heat stroke is the most severe condition.

The next years of real estate are not going to be positive for homeowners. In fact, it’s estimated that in 2012 over 60% of all home sales will be foreclosures or short sales. This means that the banks will control the pricing of more than half the real estate market and we can expect continued declining values. This idea may not sit well with many after the mortgage meltdown and moral hazard issues we had over the past five years.

Further, we at Sellect Realty believe that it will be another five to seven years before we see home values near their previous peaks and then we expect a plateau for several years to follow before growth. Currently our market is still declining. Despite month-over-month gains we have had another drastic decline in home values over the past 12 months. According to the recent statistics released by Realtor.com the average listing price decreased by 11.42% from June 2010 to $250,933.  

FULTON CO., Ga. -- The Georgia Department of Education released its annual Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report Thursday, giving a snapshot of how public schools met specific goals on standardized tests.

The report indicates that 70 of Fulton County's 102 public schools, or 68.6 percent, achieved AYP during the 2010-11 school year, compared to 63.2 percent statewide.

The 32 schools that did not meet state targets could still make their goals in the coming weeks as re-test results from the CRCT and the Georgia High School Graduation Test are calculated. Re-tests are given after remediation in May and during summer school.

"This report helps our schools see exactly where to focus their efforts," said Dr. Robert Avossa, Fulton County Schools superintendent. "We will examine the data and see how it might be used to improve our instructional approach.