February | 2012 | Atlanta Progressive News

Monthly Archives: February 2012

(IPS) Obama’s 2013 Budget Slashes Aid for Working Families

February 29, 2012 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106894 ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb 29, 2012 (IPS) – The federal budget for fiscal year 2013 proposed by President Barack Obama severely cuts aid for working families by targeting at least two programmes, the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA), that aid the nation’s most vulnerable working […]

(IPS) US Voters Increasingly Alienated by Two Major Parties

February 26, 2012 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/02/u-s-voters-increasingly-alienated-by-two-major-parties/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb 27 2012 (IPS) – A new book shows there are now more U.S. voters who identify as independent than as Democrats or Republicans, despite the fact that the two major parties maintain their virtual stranglehold on U.S. politics and, so far, on the 2012 presidential election process. […]

PART ONE: Airport Concessions Protests Move Forward

February 25, 2012 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — Four companies that bid for food and beverage concessions contracts at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport are moving forward with their protests after the City of Atlanta denied their initial appeals, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. SSP, represented by Ken Hodges of Ashe, Rafuse, & Hill; Midfield Concession Enterprises (MCE), represented by Matt Maguire of Balch & Bingham; […]

Bill Would Promote Solar Power in Georgia by Breaking Utility’s Monopoly

February 23, 2012 GLORIA TATUM Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — Senate Bill 401 is a new, bipartisan bill introduced in Georgia’s State Senate would encourage private investment in solar power, stimulate the economic growth of Georgia, and enhance the continued diversification of the energy resources. The bill would overturn two existing laws which are standing in the way of meaningful development of solar power alternatives in Georgia. […]

Georgia Third Party Ballot Access Bill Passes House Committee

February 19, 2012 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — HB 949, a bill that would slightly reduce the number of petition signatures required by an independent or third party candidate running for office in Georgia, has passed the Georgia House Committee on Governmental Affairs. While the bill would not change the percentages required for independent and third party candidates running for office statewide or locally–that […]

BREAKING: Stay Granted in Task Force for Homeless Eviction

February 17, 2012 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless appealed an eviction ordered on Thursday, February 09, 2012, by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall. The appeal was filed with the Court of Appeals of Georgia, according to a copy obtained by Atlanta Progressive News. The case does not appear in the Court’s docket because it is […]

Advocates, Experts Blast Welfare Drug Testing Bill at Hearing

February 16, 2012 GLORIA TATUM Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — At a legislative hearing on Wednesday, February 15, 2012, at the Georgia Capitol, State Rep. Jason Spencer (R- Woodbine), one of the co-sponsors of HB 668–which would require people who receive temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) to submit to a drug test–sought to advance his bill. Instead, he met fierce opposition from advocates and experts who […]

Thirteen Arrested in AT&T Protest held by Occupy Atlanta

February 13, 2012 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — Thirteen people were arrested inside the lobby of the AT&T building at 675 West Peachtree Street today, Monday, February 13, 2012. The group said they would sit in the lobby until AT&T promised to not layoff 740 union workers across the southeastern United States. They sang several songs, in which they changed the lyrics. One of these […]

Georgia Considers Reforms to Reduce Prison Population, Costs

February 12, 2012 GLORIA TATUM Leave a comment

With additional reporting on the Special Council’s recommendations by Matthew Cardinale. (APN) ATLANTA — This year, the Georgia Legislature is expected to begin considering a package of reforms intended to reduce the state’s prison population as well as the enormous costs to taxpayers that Georgia’s mass incarceration policies have caused year after year. The Report of the Special Council on […]

Keisha Waites, Perseverance Prevail in Special Election

February 10, 2012 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — Keisha Sean Waites, 39, who has sought public office and come quite close to winning several times, finally pulled off a victory on Tuesday, February 07, 2012. Waites, who has now sought office nine times, began running for office when she was twenty-seven years old.Waites won a Special Election for the House District 60 seat, which […]

Supreme Court Bans Secret Votes across State of Georgia

February 8, 2012 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — On Monday, February 06, 2012, the Supreme Court of Georgia issued its ruling in the case Cardinale v. City of Atlanta et al., ruling that the Georgia Open Meetings Act indeed requires the listing of the names of those voting against a proposal or abstaining, even in the case of a non-roll-call vote.The present writer filed […]

Task Force for Homeless Eviction Granted, Appeal Expected

February 5, 2012 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall issued a verbal order–with written ruling forthcoming–on Friday, February 03, 2012, first, evicting Anita and Jim Beaty, Executive Director and Board President of the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, by February 15, 2012; second, ordering the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta to transition hundreds of homeless men […]

(IPS) HUD Changes Demolition Rules after Abuses by AHA, Others

February 3, 2012 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106648 ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb 3, 2012 (IPS) – Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the publication of a new notice which significantly tightens its procedures for the processing of public housing demolition applications by local housing authorities.The change – known as Notice PIH 2012-7 […]