NATION IN BRIEF : GEORGIA : Voters to Decide on State Flag Emblem

Sidestepping a decision on whether to eliminate the Confederate battle emblem from the state’s official flag, Georgia state senators authorized a referendum on the issue. With the state polarized along black-white and urban-rural lines by the dispute, the lawmakers killed a compromise to designate two official flags. Instead, the senators voted 38 to 18 to let Georgians decide the fate of Gov. Zell Miller’s proposal to drop the 13-starred rebel emblem from the state flag. A poll shows whites oppose changing the flag by more than 2 to 1, but blacks favor the new flag by 5 to 3.