(APN) ATLANTA — James Bell, a passionate and effective advocate for cannabis policy reform in Georgia, passed away of a sudden heart attack this morning, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. After decades of stagnation of cannabis (“marijuana”) policy reform in Georgia, Bell decided to form a new organization, Georgia CARE, to focus on lobbying, research, and education around medical […]
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(APN) MARIETTA — On Monday, August 14, 2017, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) hosted a Town Hall Meeting to answer constituents’ questions. Progressive activists nationwide and in Georgia have struggled to get meetings with Republican elected officials, in a political environment characterized by division and turmoil. Constituents thanked U.S. Sen. Isakson numerous times for holding the meeting […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Ding, Dong. V.C. Summer’s two planned new nuclear power reactors near Columbia, South Carolina are dead. The culprits include rising costs, falling demand for energy, construction delays, and the bankruptcy of lead contractor Westinghouse. After nine years, Santee Cooper and South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) are pulling the plug on the fourteen billion dollar […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — “No Medicaid Cuts, No Medicaid Caps, No Cuts to Medicaid Waivers.” These were the demands from over fifty people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) at the Georgia State Capitol, on Wednesday, july 12, 2017. Their protest highlighted how the various U.S. Congressional Republican proposals to repeal the Affordable Care Act would harm Georgia. People […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — At the Georgia Public Service Commission’s (PSC) 16th Vogtle Construction Monitoring (VCM) hearing on June 29, 2017, the PSC’s staff reported, for the first time, that it may be uneconomical to continue developing two new nuclear reactors–Vogtle Units 3 and 4–at Plant Vogtle. During cross examination, the PSC staff hypothesized several outcomes for Vogtle and the […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On June 21, 2017, the City Council of Atlanta voted, as part of the approval of next fiscal year’s budget, to raise the minimum wage for workers employed by the City of Atlanta from to $10.10 to $15 an hour over the next two fiscal years. The raise does not cover people working in the City […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — As the U.S. Senate Republican majority released their much anticipated version of “Trumpcare” or the Affordable Healthcare Act (AHCA)–which is supposed to replace “Obamacare” or the Affordable Care Act (ACA)–Georgians mobilized in opposition. Progressives are increasingly pointing to the predictable failure of the private insurance/individual mandate model of Obamacare to provide truly universal care or to […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — A recent interview with Logan Lamb, 29, the man who breached highly sensitive election data in Georgia, published by the Politico news service, reveals that the reported breach–involving the Kennesaw State University Center for Election Systems (KSU CES) website–is much more serious than the University previously stated. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/14/will-the-georgia-special-election-get-hacked-215255 The so-called “hacker” was Internet security employee, […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Sheriff Jeff Hobby’s office in Worth County near Albany, Georgia, inappropriately and apparently unlawfully searched almost 900 students at Worth County High School for illegal drugs. On April 14, 2017, some forty uniformed officers from five law enforcement agencies invaded the school and put the school on lockdown for four hours. Police dogs were used […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Georgia Public Service Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald (District 4) filed a motion to give Georgia Power ratepayers a break by asking the company to suspend collecting the nuclear construction tax, or CWIP. But it had as much chance as a snowball in hell of being honored by the PSC or Georgia Power. The Commission voted to […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta’s case for seizing the home of Tanya Washington, of Atlanta’s Peoplestown neighborhood, by eminent domain fell apart in court on Tuesday, June 06, 2017. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall heard the case. Some thirty activists from the community came to participate in a press conference before the hearing, as well […]
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With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA — Facing pressure from Mayor of Atlanta Kasim Reed, Central Atlanta Progress, and other organizations, the City Council of Atlanta has stalled on legislation that Councilman Kwanza Hall (District 2), a Mayoral candidate, introduced nearly three months ago, to lower the municipal penalties to a fine and eliminate the possibility […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Two Georgia voters and a national advocacy organization filed a new lawsuit challenging Georgia’s electronic voting regime on Friday, May 26, 2017. The Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief and Writ of Mandamus was filed in Fulton County Superior Court. The plaintiffs have also filed for an emergency injunction, for which an emergency hearing has […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On Tuesday, May 15, 2017, eight activists including pastors, students, teachers, artists, and retired workers were arrested after disrupting a Georgia Board of Regents public hearing, where they demanded an end to banning undocumented students from enrolling in public universities in Georgia. The eight community members arrested are: Rev. Jonathan Rogers, Pastor at UUCA; Laura Emiko […]
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(APN) CLARKSTON — The City Council of Clarkston, Georgia, has passed a non-detainer policy on May 02, 2017 that prohibits the federal agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from arresting people in Clarkston with a “detainer request” or an “administrative immigration warrant.” ICE must obtain a legal judicial warrant and show probable cause that authorizes an individual’s arrest and […]
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