Author Archives: ANNA SIMONTON

Mayor Reed Refuses to Budge on Peoplestown Demolitions for Remaining Two Families

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(APN) ATLANTA — Mayor Kasim Reed remains determined to force Peoplestown residents out of their homes in order to build a stormwater detention pond and park.   On December 01, 2015, homeowners who have been fighting to save their houses from demolition convened at City Hall for meetings with the Mayor that were scheduled after a sit-in at his office […]

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Over 500 Atlantans March For Climate Justice In Lead Up To Paris Negotiations

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Photograph by Steve Eberhardt.   (APN) ATLANTA — Before world leaders began critical climate negotiations in Paris, France, on November 30, 2015, Atlantans joined more than half a million people worldwide who rallied to demand a stop to global warming.   On Sunday, November 29, 2015, 550 people marched from a park in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood to the […]

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Jill Stein, Cornell West Visit Atlanta to Promote Green Party Ballot Access in Georgia

jill stein

(APN) ATLANTA — Jill Stein, who is seeking the Green Party’s nomination for President and who was the party’s nominee in 2012; and renowned academic Cornel West are pushing for third-party ballot access in Georgia.   The pair visited Atlanta on November 20, 2015 to stump for Stein’s campaign and work on collecting the required 50,000 signatures to get her […]

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APN Issues State House, State Senate Scorecard for 2015 (UPDATE 2)

margaret kaiser

(APN) ATLANTA — As next year’s General Assembly legislative session quickly approaches in Georgia, Atlanta Progressive News is taking a look back on what took place under the Gold Dome earlier this year, in 2015, updating the Legislative Scorecard we first published in 2014.   We again rated State House Representatives and State Senators representing areas wholly or partially in […]

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Ben Howard Back at NPU-R, Elected Secretary, Atlanta Tells NPUs: No More Banished Activists

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(APN) ATLANTA — Earlier this year, two Atlanta activists, Ben Howard and Ron Shakir, were banned from participating in the public meetings of Atlanta’s Neighborhood Planning Unit R (NPU-R), a move that appears to have violated Georgia’s Open Meetings Act.   http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2015/07/15/atlantas-npu-r-illegally-bans-members-from-open-meetings/   Ricardo Jacobs, the Chair of NPU-R, initiated the ban because, he claimed, Howard and Shakir repeatedly disrupted […]

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Long-Time Education Advocates Launch New Organization, Public Education Matters Georgia

public education matters georgia

(APN) ATLANTA — With controversial changes to public education coming down Georgia’s legislative pipeline, parents and teachers are ramping up their organizing efforts, among them three Atlanta women who recently launched a new group called Public Education Matters Georgia (PEMG).   Former Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education Member Cecily Harsch-Kinnane (District 3), Janet Kishbaugh, and Carolyn Wood have been […]

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APN Celebrates Ten Years Of Radical Reporting and Rabble Rousing

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(APN) ATLANTA — For ten years, Atlanta Progressive News has served as a voice for the Left and a source of information on labor, education, local politics, the environment, economic justice, and many other issues that too often receive short shrift in Metro Atlanta’s corporate media.   APN will officially turn ten on tomorrow, November 23, 2015; then the online […]

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MARTA Privatizes Paratransit, Despite Public Outcry

keep marta public

(APN) ATLANTA — Despite public outcry, MARTA Mobility, the paratransit service for Atlantans with disabilities, will soon be run by a private company instead of the local transit authority.   On November 05, 2015, the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) unanimously to approve a three-year, 64.9 million dollar contract to MV Transportation Inc. to […]

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Peoplestown Homeowners Get Meetings with Mayor Reed after Holding Sit-In

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(APN) ATLANTA — Residents fighting to save their homes in Peoplestown held a sit-in at City of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s office on November 04, 2015.  As a result of their action, they have a series of back-to-back meetings scheduled with Mayor Reed for December 01, 2015.   As Atlanta Progressive News previously has reported, Tanya Washington, and Robert and […]

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Atlanta Council Committee Approves Housing Ordinance Drafted By APN Editor

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(APN) ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta is one step closer to adopting a tool to measure how the City Council’s public policy decisions affect the City’s affordable housing stock.   On Monday, November 09, 2015 the Community Development/Human Resources Committee (CD/HR) unanimously approved an ordinance that requires the City’s Office of Housing to prepare Affordable Housing Impact Statements for […]

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Sen. Fort Announces Ethics Bill in Response to APS Erin Hames Contract

vincent fort rise up

(APN) ATLANTA — Georgia State Senator Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) has announced new legislation to prevent unethical arrangements like Erin Hames’s recent deal with Atlanta Public Schools.   As Atlanta Progressive News previously reported, Hames was Gov. Nathan Deal’s education policy advisor until she left her post to work as a consultant for schools that face the possibility of state takeover […]

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Mayor Reed Defends Lack of Public Input on Turner Field, Noting All Projects Lack Such Input

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(APN) ATLANTA — At a meeting of the City Council of Atlanta’s Finance/Executive Committee on Wednesday, October 14, 2015, Council Members heard from the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority (AFCRA), which oversees Turner Field, as well as residents who are fighting to have a say in how their neighborhoods are impacted when the Braves leave.   AFCRA recently invited developers to […]

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Bond Granted for Latausha Nedd as New Details Undermine State’s Case

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(APN) JONESBORO, Georgia –– A Clayton County magistrate judge has granted bond to Latausha Nedd, the first victory in a case that raises serious concerns about free speech rights and the power of law enforcement and vigilantes to destabilize social movements by targeting activists.   Atlanta Progressive News previously reported that Nedd, a Clayton County resident with a long track […]

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Peoplestown Residents Camp at City Hall To Save Their Homes

mattie city hall

(APN) ATLANTA — Residents of Peoplestown who are fighting to save their homes camped out at City Hall with supporters on October 22, 2015.   They are neighbors of Mattie Jackson, 93, a community leader whose home was facing demolition to make way for a park and water retention pond conceived by the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management as a […]

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Clayton Activist Charged with Illegal Speech, Making Terroristic Threats

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(APN) CLAYTON COUNTY, Georgia — In a case that raises serious concerns about citizens’ free speech rights under the federal and state Constitutions, Latausha Nedd, a Black woman from Clayton County, is charged with criminal solicitation and terroristic threats for talking about killing White people in videos she posted online.   The charges seem disproportionate, considering that White supremacist Dylann […]

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