(APN) ATLANTA -- Subcommittee Two of the Georgia House Judiciary (Civil) Commmittee, chaired by State Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-DeKalb), will be considering HB 397 today, Wednesday, February 22, 2012, HB 397, legislation to drastically revise Georgia'...

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106837 ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb 21, 2012 (IPS) - Budget constraints combined with exploding prison populations are prompting a number of U.S. st...

  (APN) ATLANTA -- HB 949, a bill that would slightly reduce the number of petition signatures required by an independent or third party candidate running for office in Georgia, has passed the Georgia House Committee on Governmental Affairs. While...

  (APN) ATLANTA -- At a legislative hearing on Wednesday, February 15, 2012, at the Georgia Capitol, State Rep. Jason Spencer (R- Woodbine), one of the co-sponsors of HB 668--which would require people who receive temporary assistance for needy fa...

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless appealed an eviction ordered on Thursday, February 09, 2012, by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall.  The appeal was filed with the Court of Appeals of Georgia, according ...

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Thirteen people were arrested inside the lobby of the AT&T building at 675 West Peachtree Street today, Monday, February 13, 2012.  The group said they would sit in the lobby until AT&T promised to not layoff 740 union w...

  With additional reporting on the Special Council’s recommendations by Matthew Cardinale.(APN) ATLANTA -- This year, the Georgia Legislature is expected to begin considering a package of reforms intended to reduce the state’s prison population as...

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Keisha Sean Waites, 39, who has sought public office and come quite close to winning several times, finally pulled off a victory on Tuesday, February 07, 2012.  Waites, who has now sought office nine times, began running for off...

  (APN) ATLANTA -- On Monday, February 06, 2012, the Supreme Court of Georgia issued its ruling in the case Cardinale v. City of Atlanta et al., ruling that the Georgia Open Meetings Act indeed requires the listing of the names of those voting aga...

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall issued a verbal order--with written ruling forthcoming--on Friday, February 03, 2012, first, evicting Anita and Jim Beaty, Executive Director and Board President of the Metro Atla...

  "My decision to explore a candidacy for this particular office is grounded in my deep commitment to God, our great nation, the people, and a strong desire to create a powerful-- prosperous 4th Congressional District. I believe that I am the bett...

State Rep. Sheila Jones (D) of House District 44 is facing a challenger, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.  Robert Patillo, according to his website, is an attorney and previously worked for the Ken Hodges for Attorney General campaign in 2010.

  According to the Financial Times, which reviewed the minutes of the December 13, 2011, meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, part of the Federal Reserve, said they believe the following remarks mean that QE3 could be coming: "A number of...

According to the Georgia Public Service Commission: "Georgia Public Service Commissioner Stan Wise today requested that Georgia’s natural gas marketers file briefs with the Commission by Wednesday January 11, 2012 to explain the contradiction betw...

Today, the City Council of Atlanta decided to consider a Map 6, after numerous concerns were raised about Map 5. Many Midtown-area parents were concerned about Grady High School ending up in Atlanta Public Schools District 1.  APS's six Board Memb...

Lance Robertson, an activist who has done work with Rev. Joseph Lowery and the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, is running for Georgia Public Service Commission, the candidate told Atlanta Progressive News.  He said he is not sure which ...

A Special Election will be held on February 07, 2012, in House Districts 60 and 107. "The elections are non-partisan special elections with no party primaries. However, each candidate’s party affiliation, if any, will be listed on the ballot," acc...

President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 into law last night, New Year's Eve. As previously covered by APN, the NDAA contains controversial provisions regarding the detention of US citizens suspected of "belligerent ac...

  So... last year, the General Assembly did allow for cities and counties to pass legislation allowing for Sunday alcohol sales.  And in the November 2011 General Election, City of Atlanta voters voted to approve allowing Sunday alcohol sales in t...

Creative Loafing Atlanta magazine's newest Editor-in-Chief, Eric Celeste, provided perhaps the most honest and straightforward statement about the current state of the publication as well as its plans for the future. As APN has been noting rather ...

Wherein Matthew Cardinale, News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News, submits questions in writing to Beltline Inc., via the CD/HR Cmte of the City Council of Atlanta.

Produced by Brandon Sutton.  UGA Gulf Oil Spill Symposium.

Wherein Matthew Cardinale, News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News, reveals how all 15 Council Members voted in the secret vote, and briefly sings "If you amend the minutes," a remake "New York Minute" by Don Henley.

Courtesy of Clyde Bradley, Voice of the Voiceless

Courtesy of Bruce Dixon: "The Concerned Coalition to Protect Prisoner Rights held a press conference on January 6th, 2011 to discuss the physical assaults perpetrated on inmates by prison staff. The attacks took place in the wake of fact finding visits by the Coalition to Macon State Prison and Smith State Prison, following last month's inmate led work stoppage that spread to nine of Georgia's prisons.

"This piece includes interviews by Bruce Dixon of BlackAgendaReport.com with Edward DuBose, President of the Georgia Conference of NAACP Branches, Ajamu Baraka with the U.S. Human Rights Network, Chara Jackson with ACLU Georgia, Kenneth Glasgow of The Ordinary People Society, Charles Muhammad of the Nation of Islam and Hugh Esco of the Georgia Green Party."

Wednesday, 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.

Courtesy of State Sen. Donzella James.  James discusses her thoughts on priorities for the 2011 General Assembly.

Wherein Matthew Cardinale, News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News, presented a 2011 wish list of 14 public policy proposals for transparency, accountability, and public input at City Council, to the Committee on Council at the first meeting of 2011.

Wherein Matthew Cardinale, News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News, addresses the Full Council and criticizes the "two minute rule" which limits citizens who are "late" to CD/HR Cmte to two minutes of public comment time.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

By State Sens. Robert Brown and Jeff Mullis #### The geography of Georgia has always presented its residents and visitors with an abundance of resources: from the mountains in the north, to the commercial centers in Atlanta, to the coastal plain o...

By Tom Ferguson.  Remarks presented to the Georgia Public Service Commission in recent opposition to the rate increase. #### There are many reasons to oppose pouring scarce public resources into nuclear projects:   1. the high cost ...

It seems the values of the loudest and/or the values of who has the most money is what gets legislated in Congress.  Such as, Congress allowing the ban on assault weapons to expire in 2004, due in part from the loud voices of gun advocates and...

By Dr. Shameka McElhaney #### Despite the passage of health care reform, the challenge here in Georgia is balancing rising health care costs while trying to improve the health of our citizens.  True comprehensive health care reform will always all...

By Sarah Beth Gehl, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute #### One of the most obvious questions whenever taxes are discussed is “Who pays?”   It’s especially important to ask that now, as Georgia leaders consider changes to the state’s tax system. ...