(APN) ATLANTA — Paul Luna, an Atlanta chef and business owner, is one of two candidates who have announced their intentions so far to challenge incumbent Mayor Kasim Reed in this year’s mayoral election. As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News, the other candidate is activist Al Bartell. Luna started two restaurants around 1992 called Eclipse Di Luna and Loca […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Georgia Voice Magazine ran dueling op-eds online and in its print edition yesterday, February 15, 2013, from Atlanta City Councilman Alex Wan (District 6) and APN’s News Editor, the present writer, regarding the proposal to sunset adult entertainment establishments and other so-called nonconforming establishments, on Atlanta’s Cheshire Bridge Road. Two ordinances, 12-O-1599 and 12-O-1600, introduced by Councilman […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Angela Green, a former City of Atlanta employee and member of the Board of Trustees of the City of Atlanta General Employees’ Pension Plan, has filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Atlanta Progressive News has learned. The complaint, filed on January 18, 2013, alleges that the investment consultant for the Pension Fund, Larry […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta and the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News have reached a settlement in two lawsuits, bringing an end to three years of open government litigation. The first lawsuit, filed in 2010, sought for the Atlanta City Council to disclose their secret vote regarding limiting public comment taken at the February 2010 Council Retreat. […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta City Councilman Lamar Willis (Post 3-at-large) has a second State Bar of Georgia matter that is currently pending before a Special Master appointed by the Supreme Court of Georgia, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. In the case, the State Bar of Georgia has filed a complaint charging that Willis “converted”–that is, stole–settlement funds intended for a […]
Read moreIssues for 2013 1. Education Georgia public schools have a high school graduation rate of 67.5%, the third worst in the nation. Yet the cost per public school student, $10,587, is nearly $1,000 more than the national average. Charter schools can offer parents and children an alternative to a poorly performing traditional public school. Last summer, Georgians voted to […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Two more candidates have thrown their hats into the ring for seats on the Atlanta City Council: Robert Welsh has announced his plans to challenge Councilwoman Carla Smith (District 1), and Matt Rinker has announced his plans to challenge Natalyn Archibong (District 5), in the November 2013 election. Smith is a moderate Councilmember, with a current score […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — This week Mayor Kasim Reed circulated a statement to Members of the City Council of Atlanta, and perhaps to others, denying a report in the Atlanta Progressive News that he had been recruiting Councilman Lamar Willis (Post 3-at-large) or Councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms (District 11) to run against Council President Ceasar Mitchell in the 2013 Municipal Elections. […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — A State Bar of Georgia complaint filed by Angela Hammond, owner of Ragazza Motorsports, Inc., against Atlanta City Councilman H. Lamar Willis–a private attorney with the Willis Law Group–makes several stunning allegations against Councilman Willis. As previously reported by APN, Willis is currently under investigation by the State Bar of Georgia in response to Hammond’s complaint. Willis […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta City Councilman Lamar Willis (Post 3-at-large), who is also a private attorney for the Willis Law Group, LLC, is currently under investigation by the State Bar of Georgia, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. A source provided APN with a copy of the State Bar of Georgia’s Notice of Investigation, which the State Bar sent to Willis […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — State Rep. Margaret Kaiser (D-Atlanta) may run for Mayor of Atlanta in 2017, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. Two individuals who supported Mary Norwood in her 2009 race told APN that they have been encouraging Kaiser–who supported Norwood in 2009–to run. However, Kaiser tells APN that the earliest she would run is 2017. “I’ve been in conversation […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — On Tuesday, January 15, 2013, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless in the shelter’s appeal of an earlier federal court ruling in its case against the City of Atlanta. The federal court ruling of US District Court Judge Thrash, dated September 21, 2011, had granted summary judgment […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — In another major citizens’ victory for transparency, public participation, accountability, and democracy at the City Council of Atlanta, all seven Council Committees have opened their Committee Briefings to the public for 2013, and have moved the Committee Briefings to Committee Room 1, which is accessible to the public. The seven Council Committees–City Utilities, Committee on Council, […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — The Supreme Court of Georgia held oral arguments yesterday, Monday, January 07, 2013, in the appeal of the case challenging the bond validation for Atlanta’s Perry-Bolton Tax Allocation District (TAD). The case is John Sherman and Christopher Eichler v. City of Atlanta, et al. Irwin Stolz, Jr., a former Court of Appeals Judge in Georgia, argued for […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Despite earlier information that suggested otherwise, Atlanta City Councilwoman Carla Smith (District 1) is planning to run for reelection in this year’s Municipal Elections, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. “I really love my community. I really have the best district in the city,” Smith told APN. District 1 includes numerous neighborhoods in Southeast Atlanta, and as part […]
Read more