Atlanta Progressive News

MARTA will receive $685,980 for security officers and equipment through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s (ARRA) Transit Security Grant Program. “Securing our mass transit systems requires well-trained personnel on the ground to protect against those who seek to cause harm,” Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said Wednesday. “This Recovery Act money will create critical law enforcement jobs that […]

State Sen. Kasim Reed, a candidate for Atlanta mayor, will unveil his comprehensive public safety blueprint later today at the Chevron station on Whitehall Street where former professional boxer Vernon Forrest was killed this weekend. This is what Reed had to say Monday about Forrest’s death: There’s a crisis in this city and no one knows that better than the […]

The Atlanta, Fulton County, DeKalb County, and other Georgia police departments will be able to hire more officers thanks to the release Tuesday of millions in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Georgia will be able to hire 184 law enforcement officers with $31 million, which will cover 100 percent of salary and benefits for these officer for three years. […]

A physician who served as President Obama’s primary doctor for 22 years will appear at a Healthcare NOW! event this week in Washington as part of the group’s “D.C. Lobby Day and Rally.” Dr. David Scheiner, who served as Obama’s primary physician from 1987 to 2009, will join public health groups on Thursday to tell the president and Congress that […]

Grady Health System CEO Michael Young on Tuesday said the facility must pay Georgia $20 million in Medicaid overpayments made to the system in 2004 and 2005, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports. From The AJC report: Grady CEO Michael Young said the hospital is paying for desperate decisions made by his predecessors. He said Grady officials in 2004 and 2005 aggressively […]

Doug Heckman, Norcross resident and 2008 Democratic candidate for Georgia’s 7th congressional district, announced Tuesday that he has volunteered to return to Iraq with the U.S. Army. “I came back from Iraq in 2007 determined to bring a problem solving philosophy to our government. We have kicked the can down the road on so many issues and I was determined […]

The Senate Judiciary Committee just approved U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor by a vote of 13-6. All the Democrats on the panel voted for her while only one Republican (Lindsey Graham of South Carolina) joined them. Sotomayor now heads to the full U.S. Senate for a vote where she is expected to be confirmed in the near future.

Two high-profile crimes late Saturday night in Atlanta have once again sparked citizen outcry over public safety and how city officials react to it. State Sen. Kasim Reed, a candidate for Atlanta mayor, released the following statement late Monday: There’s a crisis in this city and no one knows that better than the family of Vernon Forrest. Vernon, a former […]

A new study from The Sentencing Project finds that 1 out of every 11 inmates serving time in state and federal prisons have a life sentence.  “No Exit: The Expanding Use of Life Sentences in America” documents 140,610 persons serving a life term in 2008 out of 2.3 million (9.5 percent) total inmates. The 2008 figure is a four-fold increase […]

The Georgia Judicial Council, the policy-making body for Georgia courts, adopted a policy last week clarifying that religious head coverings can be worn in Georgia courthouses. “We are thrilled that the Georgia Judicial Council has decided to adopt this policy, thereby ensuring that no one in Georgia will ever have to choose between their fundamental right to free expression of […]

Local and state officials in Georgia are scrambling for ideas after a federal judge ruled July 17 that the U.S. Corps of Engineers has been illegally rerouting water from Lake Lanier to meet the drinking water needs of Metro Atlanta. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson ordered the Lanier withdrawal levels to remain at their current level – but not […]

The coalition of conservative congressional Democrats known as the “Blue Dogs” are becoming a key voting bloc and are leveraging their growing strength for more campaign cash, according to a new report from The Center for Public Integrity. The Blue Dog Political Action Committee has raised $1.1 million in the first six months of 2009, more than the PAC raised […]

The federal minimum wage is set to increase Friday to $7.25 per hour. The Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign said in a press release this week that the increase is good but not enough. Their campaign calls for a $10 minimum wage in 2010.  Over 600 faith leaders from 50 states have signed onto a letter the group plans to […]

The City of Atlanta issued a press release Monday in which Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin urges all Atlantans to continue conserving water even though the statewide drought declaration has been lifted. “Our water resources are not unlimited,” Franklin said in the release. “The City of Atlanta is doing its part with the $4 billion Clean Water Atlanta water and sewer […]