December | 2011 | Atlanta Progressive News

Monthly Archives: December 2011

(IPS) Defense Act Provides for Indefinite Detention of US Citizens

December 30, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service Website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106339 ATLANTA, Georgia, Dec 30, 2011 (IPS) – Civil liberties groups and many citizen activists are outraged over language in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 (NDAA) that appears to lay the legal groundwork for indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without trial. David Gespass, president of the National Lawyers Guild, […]

Atlanta Procurement Code Questioned in Travelex Ruling

December 27, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — In a December 15, 2011, ruling, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Wright put the City of Atlanta on notice that there are problems with the City’s procurement code which make it impossible for bidders who lose contracts at the airport, or anywhere else, to appeal in a timely fashion. Travelex Currency Services, a UK-based company which […]

AP1000 Design for New Vogtle Reactors a Problem for Georgia Power

December 25, 2011 GLORIA TATUM Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA – The AP1000 Oversight Group, the North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network (NC WARN), and Friends of the Earth filed a petition November 10, 2011, to require the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to resolve design issues on the Westinghouse-Toshiba AP 1000 prior to certification. Proposed new reactors for two sites in the US South rely […]

Moore, Bond Take Issue with Secret Airport Bid Scores

December 25, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — At the Wednesday, December 14, 2011, meeting of the Transportation Committee of the City Council of Atlanta, Councilwoman Felicia Moore (District 9) took issue with yet even more secretive information related to the new concessions contracts for the Atlanta Hartsfield- Jackson International Airport: this time related to the scores assigned to each bidder by the City […]

Georgia to Receive More LIHEAP Funds for 2012

December 24, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — The State of Georgia is set to receive an additional disbursement of funding for the low-income energy assistance program, LIHEAP, now that US Congress has decided on a final budget for FY 2012. The US Department of Health and Human Services is releasing 845 million dollars in addition LIHEAP funding to the states, in addition to […]

(IPS) US Limits Mercury Pollution as Big Coal Retreats

December 23, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106301. ATLANTA, Georgia, Dec 23, 2011 (IPS) – Environmental advocates praised a recent new rule limiting pollution of mercury and other air toxins announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, one of several new air pollution standards set under the Barack Obama administration. Advocates also celebrated the announcement that after […]

Reed Rewards Donors, Guards Secrecy in Airport Contracts

December 19, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — A number of high-profile campaign contributors to Mayor Kasim Reed have received airport contracts, raising concerns about possible pay-to-play, even while Reed’s Administration guards all aspects of the bidding process with great secrecy. At stake is who will benefit from tens of millions of dollars in revenue from one of the nation’s busiest airports. Over 250,000 […]

US House Bans Synthetic Marijuana after Heated Debate

December 15, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — The US House of Representatives has voted to ban what appear to be a wide array of synethic cannabinoid strains, some which may have been used in herbal incense products in stores in Atlanta and across the US. As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News, many Atlanta stores are selling various brands of herbal incense sprayed with […]

(IPS) Federal Court Grants Legal Victory to Transgender People

December 14, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106224 ATLANTA, Georgia, Dec 14, 2011 (IPS) – When Vandy Beth Glenn, a transgender woman formerly known as Mr. Glenn Morrison, told her supervisors at the Georgia state legislature where she served as a legislative editor that she would start coming to work dressed as a woman, she was fired. […]

(IPS) Homeless Play Key Role in Occupy Movement

December 12, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106188. ATLANTA, Georgia, Dec 12, 2011 (IPS) – Homeless people make up a significant proportion of participants in the Occupy Movement in cities across the United States, from Los Angeles to Atlanta, where at times they comprise an estimated third of the occupiers. When the organisers of the Washington, DC […]

PSC Approves Ten Million in Emergency Heating Aid from USF

December 8, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — The Georgia Public Service Commission has approved ten million dollars from the Universal Service Fund, to help cover the heating costs of certain low-income people, particularly as US Congress has not yet finalized a 2012 budget nor separately funded the LIHEAP program. The funds will cover one-time payments of up to 160 dollars for up to […]

Video of Student Arrest at Emory Library Troubles Some Activists

December 7, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — Some progressive activists are concerned about a video recently posted to Youtube that shows Emory University police arresting an Emory PhD student, Joe Diaz. The video, which Atlanta Progressive News reviewed earlier today, is titled Emory Student Arrested for Trying to Help Homeless Woman. The video first shows Diaz interacting with Emory police inside the library, […]

Moore to Chair Finance Committee, Bond to Chair Public Safety

December 7, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — Two years into the four-year Council term which began in 2010 and will end in 2013, Council President Ceasar Mitchell has announced a few significant changes to the membership and leadership of Atlanta’s seven Council committees. By contrast, last year at this time, Mitchell only made slight changes to the Committee’s memberships; none to their chairmanships. […]

Amos Wins APS BOE Run-off, Raffensperger in Johns Creek

December 6, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — Byron Amos, the parent and community activist whose work promoting rap artists for UGK Records caused controversy in the community, has been elected to serve as the District 2 representative for the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education. Amos will serve through the end of the 2013 term, filling an unexpired seat for former Board Chairman […]

Help for Low-Income Atlantans Hangs in Balance as Congress Stalls

December 5, 2011 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — Inaction by the US Congress to make funding decisions regarding programs critical to Atlanta’s low-income families–particularly LIHEAP and CSBG–means that even more families than usual this year are facing lack of heating and/or homelessness. The Low-Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds heating assistance payments for low-income families. The Fulton-Atlanta Community Action Authority (FACAA), an organization which […]

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