(APN) ATLANTA — The Atlanta Progressive News Board of Directors has made decisions in two State Senate races and three State House races, with more endorsement decisions to come leading up to the May 24, 2016 Primary Election and Non-partisan General Election. APN is endorsing two Democratic challengers: Renitta Shannon over State Rep. Rahn Mayo (D-Decatur) for House District […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — HB 859, Campus Carry, sponsored by State Rep. Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper), passed the House on February 23, 2016, and had its first Senate Judiciary hearing on Wednesday March 02. HB 859 is yet another model legislative bill pushed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), along with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and local gun groups […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — This weekly Capitol Journal is a new feature Atlanta Progressive News is offering its readers, for the 2016 year of the 2015-2016 Legislative Session. Legislative Session Budget Hearings (Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016) Today was not an official legislative calendar day, but there was plenty of activity as various departments presented their budgets for fiscal year […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — As next year’s General Assembly legislative session quickly approaches in Georgia, Atlanta Progressive News is taking a look back on what took place under the Gold Dome earlier this year, in 2015, updating the Legislative Scorecard we first published in 2014. We again rated State House Representatives and State Senators representing areas wholly or partially in […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) is considering a run for Mayor of Atlanta in 2017, he told multiple reporters for Atlanta Progressive News, when he attended APN’s ten year anniversary party on Sunday, November 09, 2015. He also announced that he will run for reelection as State Senator in 2016, during a speech he gave at […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — One dozen supporters gathered for a press conference and vigil to save ninety-three year old Mattie Jackson’s home on Tuesday, September 08, 2015. The family coordinated the event with Occupy Our Homes Atlanta. Currently, her neighborhood in Summerhill-Peoplestown is slated to be turned into a series of stormwater retention ponds. “It is very sad […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — “No justice, no peace! No tape-hiding police!” came the chant outside a west Atlanta IHOP restaurant on the morning of Tuesday, September 1, 2015. In April 2015, two Atlanta Police Department (APD) officers shot and killed Alexia Christian in highly questionable circumstances. APN has previously reported on the police killing in depth: http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2015/05/15/atlanta-citizens-review-board-gets-on-activists-last-nerve/ […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Following three months of senior-led activism and a court order, the air conditioning is finally repaired and working at Friendship Towers, a senior high-rise subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Atlanta Progressive News previously reported that fed-up tenants took their complaints to HUD after the building manager, Glass Ratner, and the […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — A University of Georgia (UGA) student, Adam Veale, was found not guilty by the school’s Student Judiciary, part of its Office of Student Conduct, for his non-violent civil disobedience and arrest at the State Capitol while advocating for Medicaid Expansion with Moral Monday on March 02, 2015. http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2015/03/04/twelve-protesters-arrested-at-capitol-demanding-medicaid-expansion/ Veale was offered a deal to avoid […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Yesterday, Thursday, March 26, 2015, the House Judiciary Civil Committee voted to amend SB 129, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) bill, to expressly state that eradicating discrimination is a compelling government interest, thus prohibiting religious freedom being used as a justification for discrimination. LGBTQI equality advocates celebrated the amendment, introduced by State Rep. Mike Jacobs […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — When HB 29 and SB 129 were introduced in the Georgia House and Senate this year, respectively, advocates of LGBTQI equality immediately waxed hyperbolic, calling it the Hate the Gays bill. Atlanta Progressive News ran a lengthy analysis in early January 2015 explaining that the bill was more broadly encompassing and more substantively complex than its […]
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With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA — On Thursday, March 05, 2015, the full State Senate voted to engross SB 129, the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Bill, in a vote of 38 yeas to 17 nays. The bill passed the Senate in a vote of 37 to 15. Engrossment means that the bill cannot be changed; […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On Wednesday, March 04, 2015, the Senate Judiciary Non-Civil Committee passed out of Committee, SB 159, by State Sen. Jesse Stone (R-Waynesboro), the No-Knock Search Warrant Bill, by a seven to one vote. Only State Sen. Mike Crane (R- Newnan) opposed the bill. As reported by Atlanta Progressive News, the stated intent of the bill […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On Monday, March 02, 2015, the Senate Judiciary Civil Committee passed an amended version of SB 129, the Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The amended version states in the legislative findings but not in the operative text of the bill that courts “have consistently held that government has a fundamental, overriding interest in eradicating discrimination.” […]
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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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