(APN) ATLANTA — Three proposed cityhood referenda bills–Tucker, La Vista Hills, and South Fulton–are zooming through the General Assembly. All three bills have passed the Georgia House in advance of last Friday’s Crossover Day, which was March 13, 2015, and are up for consideration by the Georgia Senate. The cityhood bills were introduced on Monday, March 02, 2015; passed […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On March 05, 2015, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, through Feld Entertainment, Inc., its parent company, announced they would end the practice of using Asian elephants in their traveling circus performances by 2018 a victory for animal rights advocates everywhere. The move comes after years of criticism from animal rights activists of the circus’ […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta’s lobbyists at the Georgia Legislature last week circulated a map proposing a major expansion of the southwest quadrant of the city further to the west, through the annexation of a significant portion of unincorporated south Fulton County. While the City had been previously exploring annexation of the Sandtown and Loch Lomond communities, […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — A dispute over the former George Adair Elementary School property in southwest Atlanta has been lobbed back to Mayor Kasim Reed’s office after the City Council of Atlanta passed two resolutions at the Monday, March 02, 2015 Full Council Meeting. One of the resolutions passed by the Council seeks to evaluate all properties being used by […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — The 1.6 acreage of land underlying Manuel’s Tavern–a historic watering hole for politicians, especially Democratic ones; reporters; political junkies; community activists; and locals for the almost sixty years–is being sold to Green Street Properties. The Maloof family has owned and operated the tavern–located at the corner of North Highland and North Avenue–all these years. While […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Gov. Nathan Deal on Monday, February 23, 2015 signed the fair hiring policy, also known as “Ban the Box,” which postpones questions on a job application about a person’s criminal history until it is shown that the person is qualified for the job. This prohibits an automatic disqualification for potential state employees. It allows qualified applicants […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Carver High School students recently launched 10 Mil 4 Real, a campaign to challenge the role of police in Atlanta Public Schools (APS). APN previously reported in 2008 about activism by the American Civil Liberties Union to close an alternative education school that had been run by for-profit Community Education Partners for APS for so-called troubled […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — SB 129, the Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act, was on a fast track until, on Thursday, February 19, 2015, the Senate Judiciary Committee tabled the bill with a 5 to 3 vote. State Sen. Josh McKoon (R-Columbus) is the author of SB 129 and was also the author of last year’s SB 377 that did not […]
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With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA — On Monday, February 09, 2015, the Pak Subcommittee of Judiciary Non-Civil Committee passed the language in HB 56, commonly called the “No Knock bill,” with only minor tweaks. http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/Display/20152016/HB/56 The bill’s supporters say it will reform Georgia’s problematic practice of no knock warrants on the part of of […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — State Rep. Jay Roberts (R-Ocilla) recently introduced HB 170, a bill to increase state funding for transportation projects by one billion dollars, a measure that might seem, on its face, to be a step in the right direction. But in order to come up with the money, the State of Georgia would divert millions of dollars […]
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(APN) DEKALB COUNTY — On Thursday, January 22, 2015, the Medlock Area Neighborhood Association (MANA) held a special meeting to discuss whether to staying in unincorporated DeKalb County or whether to annex into Atlanta. The nearby City of Decatur is looking to annex business areas, so to boost their tax base, but is not seeking to annex the residential […]
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Photograph by Judy Conder (APN) ATLANTA — A 2.54 acre empty lot in Atlanta’s Kirkwood community at 145 Norwood Avenue is home to some of DeKalb County’s oldest and largest white oak trees, including one that is believed to be the oldest in the county, possibly the state. Now, the tree and its sister trees face a developers’ removal request, […]
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Photograph by Steve Eberhardt (APN) ATLANTA — On Wednesday, January 21, 2015, the fifth anniversary of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision of the Supreme Court of the U.S., State Sen. Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta) and Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates) announced the introduction of resolutions calling for a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to allow U.S. Congress to place common-sense […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — The police murders of Mike Brown of Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner of New York may be dominating national headlines–having inspired a diverse national movement against police brutality–but here in Georgia, there has been a long history of the same that has been equally as deserving of concern. A TIMELINE OF POLICE BRUTALITY AND MURDERS […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On Monday, January 20, 2015, Atlanta’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Day parade was imbued with a spirit of resistance this year, as local members of the Black Lives Matter network took action to “Reclaim MLK.” As protests have continued nationwide, in response to heightened awareness surrounding police murder of young people of color, community leaders […]
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