(APN) ATLANTA — Gov. Nathan Deal made criminal justice reform one of the priorities of his administration. While he has been problematic on medical cannabis issues, Gov. Deal has pushed forward of several criminal justice reform measures that came out of the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform. As reported by Atlanta Progressive News in 2012, this Council made […]
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With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA — Gov. Nathan Deal announced on Monday, March 28, 2016, that he will veto HB 757, the so-called “Religious Freedom Bill” passed by the Legislature earlier this year. http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/Display/20152016/HB/757 Many progressive advocates, faith leaders, and elected officials have responded with delight. “As a Rabbi, I’m relieved and […]
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(APN) ATLANTA – On Monday, January 25, 2016, patients and parents testified to the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee asking for their support for HB 722, a follow-up bill to HB 1, Haleigh’s Hope Act. HB 1 allowed possession of medical cannabis oil for eight conditions, but no legal means to access it in-state. http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/Display/20152016/HB/722 The bill, if […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Medicaid expansion may be dead for the year, but there appears to be bipartisan cooperation on other health policy issues. “One of the biggest concerns I have is our rural hospitals…. I have personally seen what happened when some of my friends in Dooly County, when their hospital closed. I had friends who worked there, doctors, […]
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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 Day 1 (Monday, Jan. 11, 2016) “First day of school,” is how one lobbyist described day one. The Legislature set the first thirteen days through February 01. […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Merit pay for teachers, contract workers, minimum wage, and sick leave are all issues that labor groups will be working on during 2016 while the legislature is in session. Mayor of Clarkston Ted Terry, who also serves as the State Campaign Director of Georgia chapter of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), spoke […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Thirty-one U.S. governors are refusing to cooperate in resettlement programs for Syrian refugees, most citing the coordinated attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015, as a pretext for security concerns around this refugee population. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal issued an executive order on November 16, 2015 instructing “all agencies of the State of Georgia halt any […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Georgia State Senator Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) has announced new legislation to prevent unethical arrangements like Erin Hames’s recent deal with Atlanta Public Schools. As Atlanta Progressive News previously reported, Hames was Gov. Nathan Deal’s education policy advisor until she left her post to work as a consultant for schools that face the possibility of state takeover […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On August 28, 2014 Georgia Stand Up hosted an education town hall attended by some members of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education, including Leslie Grant (District 1), Byron Amos (District 2), Matt Westmoreland (District 3), and Chairman Courtney English (Seat 7-at-large). The public pressed Board Members to take a clear stance on Gov. Nathan […]
Read moreClick on full post to access links. Georgia Energy Regulators Approved the 12th Plant Vogtle Construction Update Atlanta Business Chronicle http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/capitol_vision/2015/08/georgia-energy-regulators-approve-12th-plant.html Macon Mayor Pushes Passenger Rail Between Macon and Atlanta Atlanta Business Chronicle http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2015/08/macon-mayor-pushes-passenger-rail-between-macon.html Former Georgia Officers Charged With Murder in Death of Man Associated Press http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-former-georgia-officers-charged-with-murder-in-death-of-man-2015-8 Climate Denial and radiation Denial: Two sides of the […]
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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 […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — With the successful effort by independent candidate Bill Bozarth to petition his way onto the ballot in State House District 54, in interesting three-way race has emerged in this District that includes much of Atlanta’s Buckhead community. Atlanta Progressive News conducted telephone interviews with all three candidates over the last few weeks. This article is part one […]
Read moreWith additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA — After finally claiming victory in an open meetings dispute with the City of Cumming, Georgia, that had been going on since April 17, 2012–where Forsyth Superior Court Judge Robert Adamson ruled that the City violated her right to videotape its meetings–activist and videographer Nydia Tisdale found herself in a new […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — On September 03, 2014, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville brought down sanctions against Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens and Holly LaBerge, Executive Secretary for the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, for their failure to produce documents crucial to the Stacey Kalberman’s whistleblower case against Gov. Nathan Deal and his cronies. During […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — In the ongoing saga of the Stacey Kalberman whistleblower case, Kalberman, represented by attorney Kim Worth, has made a motion sanctions against Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens and against Executive Director Holly LaBerge, for Olens’s failure to turn over a controversial memo in the discovery phase of the Kalberman whistleblower case. As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive […]
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