Recent News

Councilwoman Winslow Has Unpaid Liens, Faces New Ethics Charges

(APN) ATLANTA -- Councilwoman Cleta Winslow (District 4), who is already under scrutiny for a recent arrest for Drinking while Under the Influence (DUI) and previous ethics fines, has two liens that appear to remain unpaid--one related to City o...

Atlanta Council Approves New Open Meetings Rules

(APN) ATLANTA -- In a unanimous vote of twelve to zero, the City Council of Atlanta approved new open meetings rules that are even stronger than the language of the Georgia Open Meetings Act, by clearly requiring that all Committee Briefings, Wo...

Beltline TAD Saved by Constitutional Amendment, Georgia Supreme Court Rules

(APN) ATLANTA -- In a unanimous opinion, on June 03, 2013, the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that the 2008 statewide ballot referendum, which sought to retroactively approve unconstitutional Tax Allocations Districts (TADs) in the State of Geor...

Atlantans Protest International Drone Conference in Buckhead

(APN) ATLANTA -- Late last month, from Tuesday, May 28, to Friday, May 31, 2013, a group of Atlanta activists protested the 2013 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, also known as drones, which held their convention at the Grand...

Former Mayor Bill Campbell May Run for Atlanta Council Seat (UPDATE 1)

UPDATE 1: Tom Houck, a close friend of Campbell's, tells Atlanta Progressive News that he has no reason to believe that Campbell is running for office.  He said he has never heard Campbell even talk about running.   (APN) Former Mayor of Atlanta...

Brenda Muhammad to Defend APS Board Seat

(APN) ATLANTA -- Brenda Muhammad, the longest-serving member of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education who is seeking reelection, plans to defend her seat from challenger, Leslie Grant.   Previously, Atlanta Progressive News interviewed ...

Atlanta Council Rejects Cheshire Bridge Rezoning Proposal

(APN) ATLANTA -- The City Council of Atlanta rejected the Cheshire Bridge rezoning proposal that would have eliminated grandfathered-in adult entertainment establishments from Cheshire Bridge in a nine to six vote, on Monday June 03, 2013.   Co...

(IPS) U.S. Hungry Face Major Cuts in Food Aid

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/05/u-s-hungry-face-major-cuts-in-food-aid/ ATLANTA, Georgia, May 31 2013 (IPS) - The U.S. Congress is on the brink of making billions of dollars in cuts...

Open Letter to Atlanta Council on Cheshire Bridge Rezoning Proposal

(APN) ATLANTA -- Following the Wednesday, May 29, 2013 three to two vote by the Zoning Committee of the City Council of Atlanta, in favor of the Cheshire Bridge rezoning proposal, and in anticipation of the upcoming vote by Full Council on Monday,...

(IPS) Despite Push by Obama, Minimum Wage Hike Stagnating

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website here: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/05/despite-push-by-obama-minimum-wage-hike-plan-stagnating/ ATLANTA, Georgia, May 29 2013 (IPS) - During his State of the Union address earlier this y...
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Recent Blog Items

Four New Candidates in Atlanta Council Races

(APN) ATLANTA -- In recent weeks, four new candidates have filed notices of their intent to run for seats on the City Council of Atlanta, Atlanta Progressive News can reveal. First, Andre Dickens, a community outreach director at the Georgia Inst...

Midtown's Other Councilman Opposes Cheshire Bridge Zoning Changes

(APN) ATLANTA -- Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall (District 2), whose new District 2 contains much of the southern part of Midtown, up to 10th Street in some parts, has told Atlanta Progressive News that he opposes the proposed zoning changes t...

Todd Robinson Withdraws Candidacy for Atlanta Council District 2

Todd Robinson, who had announced his candidacy to challenge incumbent Councilman Kwanza Hall (District 2), in the 2013 Municipal Elections, has withdrawn his candidacy, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. "After further consideration and discuss...

Cinco de Mayo Fest at Las Margaritas to Benefit Charities

Las Margaritas, a restaurant in Atlanta's Cheshire Bridge neighborhood owned by Oscar Valdivieso, is hosting a fiesta muy grande today for Cinco de Mayo. According to the event's Facebook page, the festivities will benefit Joining Hearts, a non-pr...

Ken Britt Running for former Rep. Ashe's Seat

(APN) ATLANTA -- Ken Britt, a political operative and former Executive Director of the Alston & Bird law firm, is running for the State House District 56 seat, the seat currently held by State Rep. Kathy Ashe (D-Atlanta), who is retiring. Brit...

Dwanda Farmer Earns PhD, Completes Dissertation on Atlanta's Public Housing Demolitions

(APN) ATLANTA -- Dwanda Farmer, a community activist who has previously run for City Council and Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education, has completed her PhD. She is now one of the few individuals in the country to have a PhD in Community Econ...

Kathy Ashe Retires from State House

State Rep. Kathy Ashe (D-Atlanta), a former Republican-turned Democrat who recently headed up the Fulton County delegation to the House, has resigned.   Dear Friends, I want you to be among the first to know of a difficult decision I have made: I ...

Beth Beskin Not Running for Senate District 6

Several months ago, APN reported that Beth Beskin was running in the Republican Primary for State Senate District 6.  Today, however, Beskin told APN that she is not running for the seat anymore.  She said that she had been on a long list of candi...

Liz Coyle now working as Georgia Watch PR person

Liz Coyle, former 2009 candidate for City Council District 6, has moved on from her position at Pedestrians Educating Drivers about Safety (PEDS), and is now working as Communications Director of Georgia Watch. There, she is replacing Jonathan Sha...

Jeff Anderson Challenging US Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA)

Jeff Anderson, who attempted to gain ballot access in 2010 as an independent candidate but failed in his effort to collect enough signatures, is challenging US Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) in the General Election.  He went on to serve as a ballot acce...
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Recent OpEds

EDITORIAL: Race, Poverty, and Nonprofits in Atlanta, a Devastating Critique

(APN) ATLANTA -- How is it that in Atlanta, Georgia, the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, the powers of corporate wealth and the bourgeoisie have managed to destroy public housing, decimate low-income communities, privatize public school...

EDITORIAL: Our Civil Liberties Are in Grave Danger

(APN) ATLANTA -- One of the most salient questions of contemporary political science has been how Germany--a democracy with so much promise--devolved so quickly into a fascist totalitarian dictatorship in the years before World War Two.   In th...

Issues for 2013

  Issues 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...

First Person: Occupying Our Homes, Fighting Foreclosures

By Robert Derenthal, Occupy Atlanta With a staggering number of homes being foreclosed upon this year and the millions of families facing homelessness, one would hope a grassroots resistance against the epidemic of foreclosures would spring up.  W...

Open Letter to Council: Disclose Your Secret Vote, The Time Has Come

  Open Letter to Council: Disclose Your Secret Vote, The Time Has Come Dear Council Members, It has been nearly one month since the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled in my favor in the case of Cardinale v. City of Atlanta (2010CV185775 in Fulton  Cou...

Letter to President Obama on the Egyptian People and Government

Open Letter to President Obama,   President Obama, how much longer are you going to sit on the fence and watch the Egyptian people suffer and their economy destroyed?  Mubarak needs to leave now - not later.  I urge you to withdraw US financial...

Atlanta Should End Suspicionless Roadblocks

By Joe Williams The following remarks were made by Mr. Williams regarding Suspicionless Roadblocks before the Public Safety/Legal Administration Committee Meeting of the City Council of Atlanta; on Tuesday, February 01, 2011, 3pm; City Hall, Commi...

Tax Reform Council Has Some Good Ideas, Grocery Tax Not One of Them

By Sarah Beth Gehl, Deputy Director, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute #### The Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness took a swing at fixing Georgia’s outdated tax system and hit a triple. The Council’s recommendations would help align Geor...

Ballot Access is a Civil Rights Issue

By Faye Coffield, in response to the Supreme Court of the US's refusal to rehear Coffield's ballot access challenge against the State of Georgia for its five percent petition requirement for non-statewide races. #### As a Black woman born in the m...

EDITORIAL: What Government Is, When Words Have No Meaning

What is government, if words have no meaning?This is the question that Jared Lee Loughner asked Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, the one that she was not able to answer, the last question posed in Loughner's Youtube video series.  Many...
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