(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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(APN) ATLANTA — On Monday, August 10, 2015, the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education (APS BOE) voted to hire Gov. Nathan Deal’s soon-to-depart policy advisor, Erin Hames, as a consultant to help prevent a state takeover of schools in the district, a likelihood presented by the legislation of which Hames herself was an architect. In crafting legislation that […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — The Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR) has filed a civil rights lawsuit against Red Hills Community Probation on behalf of indigent people who say they have been injured by the company’s bullying and abusive business practices. Red Hills operates in the municipal courts for the cities of Bainbridge and Pelham, Georgia. Both cities are in south […]
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With additional reporting by Anna Simonton and Matthew Charles Cardinale. Photograph by Steve Eberhardt. (APN) ATLANTA — The Georgia General Assembly wrapped up the 2015 legislative session on Thursday, April 02, 2015. There were a few progressive highlights in the majority-Republican Legislature, including a solar power lease agreement bill; a limited medical cannabis bill; and more flexibility for MARTA […]
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With additional reporting Allie McCullen, Special to Atlanta Progressive News (APN) ATLANTA — In 2016, Georgia voters will be asked whether to amend the state constitution “to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance.” That’s the ballot language codified by SR 287, one of two pieces of legislation that […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — The House Education Committee will soon decide whether to advance Gov. Nathan Deal’s controversial proposal to allow the state to take over and privatize struggling schools. At a hearing on Wednesday March 18, 2015, State Representatives and members of the public expressed both deep concern and some enthusiasm over the proposal, which, as Atlanta Progressive News […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — The Supreme Court of Georgia unanimously ruled, on November 24, 2014, that courts are prohibited from lengthening a person’s misdemeanor sentence beyond what was originally ordered by the sentencing court. The opinion was written by Chief Justice Hugh Thompson. The Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s finding that private probation companies do not have the legal […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — On Thursday, November 06, 2014, the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transit Authority is likely to greenlight a bidding process for private contractors to take over MARTA Mobility, the paratransit service for elders and people with disabilities. The Amalgamated Transit Union, representing well over half of MARTA’s full-time workers, has escalated efforts to […]
Read more(APN) DEKALB COUNTY — On August 28, 2014, the City of Briarcliff Initiative (CBI) recently held a meeting with Medlock Area Neighborhood Association (MANA), at the North Decatur Presbyterian Church, in hopes that neighborhood will want to become part of the proposed City of Briarcliff. The proposed Briarcliff map claims everything from I-285 at Spaghetti Junction and down, along […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — With big changes in store for the Fulton County Commission pending the outcome of the 2014 elections, Atlanta Progressive News reviewed nearly nine years of coverage of the Commission from the APN archives to develop a Fulton County Commission Scorecard for 2014, based on nine controversial votes. As previously reported by APN, the Republican-led Georgia […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Eight candidates have advanced into four Run-off races for Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education (APS BOE), Districts 5 and 6 and At-Large Seats 8 and 9. At least two of those candidates–Eshe Collins (District 6) and Jason Esteves (Seat 9)–appear to be very pro-charter. With the reelection of Courtney English (Seat 8), and the […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — It is likely no coincidence that four candidates for Atlanta Public Schools (APS) Board of Education (BOE) are alumni of Teach for America (TFA), including three newcomers and one incumbent who himself is fairly new to the Board. In fact, TFA has been pushing its alumni to run for office since at least 2008, in order to […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Twenty-three Atlanta dialysis patients’ lives hang in the balance, one year after the privatized Grady Memorial Hospital orporation decided to close its dialysis clinic and abandon its patients, now that a one-year contract that GMHC and a private clinic Fresenius had negotiated has expired. The contract expired August 31, 2011. They were told that they could […]
Read moreWednesday, Jan 5, 2011 WRFG 89.3FM Labor Forum Program with Dianne Mathiowetz Interview with David Schutten, President of the Organization of DeKalb Educators and former presidents Rosilind Taylor and Jackie Henry about the proposal to privatize school maintenance and eliminate 900 jobs.
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