"Peanut Power Hour" held in Georgia

GEORGIA: Lawmakers work to revive peanut's image

Georgia is the nation's leading peanut producer, and the nationwide salmonella outbreak has consumers shunning the legume. Lawmakers are publicly guzzling down bags of peanuts, organizing peanut butter events and offering the legumes boiled, shelled and just about any other way to all who are willing to eat them.

On Tuesday, tables at the state Capitol were filled with peanut butter, cookies, candies, apples with peanut butter, boiled peanuts and buckets of shelled, roasted peanuts for anyone to eat.

"This is to convince the public , the best way we know how , that peanuts are safe," said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin, licking the remnants of a peanut snack off his lips. "There are some skeptics out there that don't know this is the result of one bad player."

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: Senate to consider bill on required judge experience

ARKANSAS: Gov. Beebe signs tobacco tax increase of 56 cents a pack into law

FLORIDA: South Florida hopes Obama's foreclosure plan will help with crisis

KENTUCKY: Largest bank in the state, PNC Financial, calls for moratorium on foreclosures

LOUISIANA: The Stanford Group faces 'massive' fraud charge

MISSISSIPPI: Four school districts in danger of going bankrupt

NORTH CAROLINA: Dempsey Benton named to head office overseeing stimulus funds

SOUTH CAROLINA: Senate passes bill to restructure State Ports Authority

TENNESSEE: Lawmakers to decide how to spend stimulus funds by June

VIRGINIA: Smoking bills to be considered, negotiated today

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