Tag Archives: vincent fort

APN Endorsements 2016 Pt. 2: Shannon, Westlake, Thomas, James, Fort (UPDATE 1)

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(APN) ATLANTA — The Atlanta Progressive News Board of Directors has made decisions in two State Senate races and three State House races, with more endorsement decisions to come leading up to the May 24, 2016 Primary Election and Non-partisan General Election.   APN is endorsing two Democratic challengers: Renitta Shannon over State Rep. Rahn Mayo (D-Decatur) for House District […]

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South Fulton Cityhood Passes Senate, House, as Sen. James Defends Vote

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With additional reporting by Gloria Tatum, Senior News Writer.   (APN) ATLANTA — HB 514, a voter referendum for a new City of South Fulton, in Fulton County, passed the Georgia Legislature this year, making a last-minute come back after many years of failed attempts to get the legislation through the Senate.   http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/Display/20152016/HB/514   City of Atlanta Mayor Kasim […]

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Georgia Senate Hears “Campus Carry” Gun Bill

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(APN) ATLANTA — HB 859, Campus Carry, sponsored by State Rep. Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper), passed the House on February 23, 2016, and had its first Senate Judiciary hearing on Wednesday March 02.   HB 859 is yet another model legislative bill pushed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), along with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and local gun groups […]

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$15 Minimum Wage, Ending Local Preemption Get Hearing in State Senate

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(APN) ATLANTA — A packed room spilled out into the hallway during a hearing on several minimum wage bills Thursday, February 11, 2016.   “We got an extensive list of folks signed up… If [the committee] drop[s] below six, we can’t do anything.  So just keep that in mind,” Chairmen Charlie Bethel (R – Dalton) reiterated multiple times during the […]

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APN Capitol Journal: 2016, Week Two

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(APN) ATLANTA — This weekly Capitol Journal is a new feature Atlanta Progressive News is offering its readers, for the 2016 year of the 2015-2016 Legislative Session.   Legislative Session Budget Hearings (Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016)   Today was not an official legislative calendar day, but there was plenty of activity as various departments presented their budgets for fiscal year […]

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

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(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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MARTA Privatizes Paratransit, Despite Public Outcry

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(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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State Sen. Vincent Fort Considering Run for Mayor of Atlanta in 2017

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(APN) ATLANTA — State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) is considering a run for Mayor of Atlanta in 2017, he told multiple reporters for Atlanta Progressive News, when he attended APN’s ten year anniversary party on Sunday, November 09, 2015.   He also announced that he will run for reelection as State Senator in 2016, during a speech he gave at […]

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

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(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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Atlanta Workers Testify to “People’s Wage Board,” Modeled on New York

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(APN) ATLANTA — An Atlanta People’s Wage Board–styled upon an official recent Wage Board in New York–heard testimony from sixteen low wage workers over the course of two hours on Wednesday, October 07, 2015.   In May 2015, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York ordered the empaneling of a Wage Board to investigate and make recommendations on an increase in […]

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Emergency Vigil for Mattie Jackson, Peoplestown Block Held; Demolition Hearing Today

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(APN) ATLANTA — One dozen supporters gathered for a press conference and vigil to save ninety-three year old Mattie Jackson’s home on Tuesday, September 08, 2015.   The family coordinated the event with Occupy Our Homes Atlanta.   Currently, her neighborhood in Summerhill-Peoplestown is slated to be turned into a series of stormwater retention ponds.   “It is very sad […]

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Decatur Church Hosts Panel on Gun Reform

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(APN) DECATUR — On Saturday, August 29, 3015, Gunsense Georgia hosted a panel discussion at Columbia Presbyterian Church in Decatur, attended by dozens of organizations concerned about gun violence and the ultra-permissive gun laws in Georgia.   The panelists included students, Georgia legislators, victims of gun violence, University professors, a constitutional law expert, and others.   A Georgia poll on […]

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Activists, Mother Demand Video in Alexia Christian Police Killing

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(APN) ATLANTA — “No justice, no peace!  No tape-hiding police!” came the chant outside a west Atlanta IHOP restaurant on the morning of Tuesday, September 1, 2015.   In April 2015, two Atlanta Police Department (APD) officers shot and killed Alexia Christian in highly questionable circumstances.   APN has previously reported on the police killing in depth:   http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2015/05/15/atlanta-citizens-review-board-gets-on-activists-last-nerve/   […]

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Residents Call on Mayor to Support Community Led Development of Turner Field

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(APN) ATLANTA — Over sixty residents from the neighborhoods surrounding Turner Field delivered a letter to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed on July 07, 2015, asking him to publicly commit to making sure the area’s redevelopment is community-driven, not developer-driven.   “We are more than developers’ current neighbors and future victims,” Sohna Harzeez, a resident of the Pittsburgh neighborhood and member […]

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State Sen. Millar Opposes Sunday Voting, Black Voter Turnout; Says He Prefers “Educated” Voters

(APN) ATLANTA — In an appalling turn of events that reveals exactly why the Voting Rights Act is still needed, State Sen. Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) showed his true colors, as it were, in a recent interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Political Insider blog regarding his opposition to early voting on Sunday. Recently, DeKalb County expanded its early voting options […]

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