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This is a listing of all APN news items for the last couple of years.  For additional news items, please search our archives for any key term, word, name, or topic.


All News

State Rep. Tyrone Brooks Indicted for Misuse of Charitable Funds

(APN) ATLANTA -- State Rep. Tyrone Brooks (D-Atlanta), a long-time champion of progressive causes and veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, has been indicted for misuse of charitable funds in connection with the Georgia Association for Black Elec...

Raynard Johnson Running for APS School Board Seat

(APN) ATLANTA -- An Atlanta activist and Twitter-fanatic, Raynard Johnson, is running for the APS Board of Education District 5 seat currently held by LaChandra Butler-Burks.  As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News, Butler-Burks is no...

APS Board Member Butler-Burks Not Seeking Reelection

(APN) ATLANTA -- Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education Member LaChandra Butler-Burks (District 5) is not running for reelection, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.   “I am not going to run again,” she told APN in an interview. APN broke...

Wan Criticized for Cheshire Bridge Rezoning Plan, but No Challenger Yet

(APN) ATLANTA -- Atlanta City Councilman Alex Wan (District 6) has faced some severe criticism on social media websites and on commenting sections of Atlanta’s GLBTQI publications, but, to date, no one has stepped forward to challenge Mr. Wan in...

No Freedom in Atlanta’s Freedom Park for Cannabis Activists

(APN) ATLANTA -- Neither soaking rain nor the lack of permit from the City of Atlanta prevented advocates for the legalization of cannabis--commonly known as marijuana--from speaking out at the Great Atlanta Pot Festival 2013.   Paul Cornwell, ...

Atlanta ZRB Rejects Cheshire Bridge Rezoning Proposal

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Zoning Review Board (ZRB) has rejected two proposals to get rid of existing adult entertainment establishments that remain on Cheshire Bridge Road--Atlanta’s historic “red light district”--in a series of two to one vo...

New Changes to Cheshire Bridge Zoning Bill Raise More Legal Issues (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- Atlanta City Councilman Alex Wan (District 6) sent an email to constituents on yesterday, May 08, 2013, describing a second round of amendments to the proposed legislation to change the zoning for Cheshire Bridge Road.  These ...

Councilwoman Winslow’s DUI Even Worse than it First Seems

(APN) ATLANTA - Councilwoman Cleta Winslow (District 4), the second-most senior member of the City Council of Atlanta, was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), reckless driving, and other offenses last night, Tuesday, May 0...

Town Hall Meeting Held on DeKalb Cityhood Proposals

(APN) DEKALB COUNTY -- State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Dekalb County) hosted a town hall meeting on Monday, May 06, 2013, at the Clairmont Hills Baptist Church to discuss a variety of cityhood proposals involving DeKalb County.   Numerous le...

(IPS) CISPA Fails in US Senate, but Online Privacy Concerns Live On

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/04/cyber-bill-fails-in-u-s-senate-but-online-privacy-concerns-live-on/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Apr 30 2013 (IPS) - For the second year in a row, activists hav...

ANALYSIS: Cheshire Bridge Rezoning Proposal Likely Illegal

(APN) ATLANTA -- The rezoning proposals for Cheshire Bridge Road currently pending before the Zoning Review Board (ZRB)--which purport to take away the grandfather clause for existing businesses on Cheshire Bridge Road--are likely not legal and ...

(IPS) US Activists Outraged Over So-Called Monsanto Protection Act

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/04/u-s-activists-outraged-over-so-called-monsanto-protection-act/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Apr 28 2013 (IPS) - Food safety advocates are outraged over revelati...

Georgia Power Buys Wind Energy from Oklahoma

(APN) ATLANTA -- Georgia Power boldly goes where everyone else has already been, this week announcing its first purchase of wind energy to be included as part of the energy mix that serves Georgia consumers: 250 megawatts (MW) of wind energy from...

Woman Arrested at Nazi, KKK Counter-protest for Profanity on Protest Sign

(APN) ATLANTA -- As Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan rallied at the Georgia State Capitol, and as  Anonymous and anti-fascist counter-protesters clashed with them from across the street, one young female counter-protester was arrested for having the w...

Former US Rep. Cynthia McKinney Releases Autobiography

(APN) ATLANTA -- Former US Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) has written an autobiography, Ain’t Nothing Like Freedom, that is now available from Clarity Press, including in e-book format on Amazon.com. Atlanta Progressive News obtained a copy of the ...

AJC Online Content to Go Paid Subscription-Only

(APN) ATLANTA -- Freedom of the press does not mean that the press can operate for free, and, with that in mind, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper has announced that it will begin charging online viewers a subscription cost in order to ...

(IPS) Occupy Affiliate Aims at Abolishing Consumer Debt

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/04/u-s-occupy-affiliate-aims-at-abolishing-consumer-debt/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Apr 14 2013 (IPS) - Strike Debt, an affiliate of the Occupy movement, has de...

Occupy Activists Kicked Out of Fulton Government Building

(APN) ATLANTA -- Fulton County staff and a police officer escorted two activists with Occupy Our Homes Atlanta, an affiliate of the Occupy Movement, from the Fulton County Government Services Building on Industrial Boulevard, after the activists...

First Quarter Disclosures Filed in 2013 Atlanta Municipal Races (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- Candidates for Mayor and City Council of Atlanta have filed their first quarter disclosure reports.   MAYOR Incumbent Kasim Reed raised $324,361.50 this quarter, spent $75,211.93, and ended the quarter with $1,481,903.32. Al Bar...

Councilman Watson Resigns from Pension Board as SEC Investigates

(APN) ATLANTA -- Atlanta City Councilman Aaron Watson (Post 2-at-large) has resigned from the Board of Trustees of the City of Atlanta General Employees Pension Fund, as the US Securities and Exchange Commission investigates a complaint filed by ...

Judge Lee Recuses Self, Appears to Contradict Disclosure Records

(APN) ATLANTA -- Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kelly Amanda Lee, who was elected in a 2010 election covered closely by Atlanta Progressive News, has recused herself from a case involving her former campaign manager and a law firm whose addre...

Councilwoman Moore Prepares for Possible Challenger in District 9

(APN) ATLANTA -- Atlanta City Councilwoman Felicia Moore (District 9) is holding a fundraising and birthday event next Saturday, April 13, 2013, in preparation for a possible challenger for the District 9 seat in this year’s Municipal Elections....

End of 2013 Georgia Legislative Session Wrap-up

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Georgia General Assembly wrapped up the 2013 Legislative Session on Thursday, March 28, 2013, the fortieth day of the session.   During the Session, where Republicans fell just short of a supermajority in the State House, R...

Task Force for the Homeless Wins Two Georgia Court of Appeals Rulings

(APN) ATLANTA -- Within the last two weeks, the Georgia Court of Appeals has issued two separate orders benefitting the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, which is in a dispute with the City of Atlanta, Central Atlanta Progress, Manny Fi...

Some New Georgia Charter Schools Commissioners Have Pro-Charter Ties

(APN) ATLANTA -- After Georgia voters in November 2012 approved of Amendment One, the ballot initiative to authorize the re-creation of the Georgia Charter Schools Commission (GCSC), members have now been appointed to the Commission and it has no...

Rev. Fletcher, Candidate, Slams Councilman Young over Stadium Vote

(APN) ATLANTA -- Rev. Darrion Fletcher, 50, of Walking Through the Vine Ministry, is challenging Councilman Ivory Young (District 3) for his seat on City Council of Atlanta in this November 2013 Municipal Election.   Fletcher is highly critical...

(IPS) Crowdfunding Gives Boost to Renewables in U.S.

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/03/crowdfunding-gives-boost-to-renewables-in-u-s/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Mar 29 2013 (IPS) - A U.S. company called Mosaic has unveiled a new way for citizens...

(IPS) New US Congress includes Seven Openly Homosexual or Bisexual Members

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/03/u-s-congress-inches-away-from-the-straight-and-narrow/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Mar 26 2013 (IPS) - Even as the issue of gay marriage continues to make wav...

Atlanta Council Approves Controversial New Football Stadium

(APN) ATLANTA -- On Monday, March 18, 2013, the City Council of Atlanta approved the extension of the Hotel Motel tax through 2050, in order to provide public funding for the construction of a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons football team, i...

George Sossenko, 1918-2013, !Presente!

(APN) ATLANTA -- George Sossenko, a Russian-born peace activist, anarchist, lecturer, and veteran of the Spanish Civil War, who spent the latter part of his life in Atlanta, died on Thursday, March 14, 2013.  He was 94 years old.Sossenko and his w...

Richard Van Slyke, !Presente!, 1944-2013

(APN) ATLANTA -- Richard Van Slyke, an Atlanta-based progressive activist and documentary filmmaker, has passed away at the age of 68, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.  Van Slyke had a stroke and passed away last week, according to his son, I...

Report Urges Atlanta to Go Solar; Mayor’s Office Not too Keen

(APN) ATLANTA -- A new report by Environment Georgia identifies some opportunities that the City of Atlanta, not just the government sector but as a whole, can pursue to increase the proportion of solar energy in the city’s overall energy portfoli...

Overview of 2013 Legislative Session, post-Crossover Day

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Georgia General Assembly wrapped up its Crossover Day on Thursday, March 07, 2013, which was the thirtieth day of the forty-day legislative session.  This is the last day that legislation has to pass in either the State House ...

APN Issues Updated City Council Scorecard for Winter 2013

(APN) ATLANTA -- Atlanta Progressive News has updated its Atlanta City Council Scorecard for 2013, adding recent as well as past votes, including:- Two votes taken last week, in March 2013, on whether to set a limit to restrict public comment time...

Citizens Defeat Public Comment Limits at Atlanta Council Committees

(APN) ATLANTA -- Citizen activists defeated a proposal to limit public comment time at all Committee Meetings of the Atlanta City Council yesterday, after the Committee on Council voted six to one to file the ordinance, and the Full Council voted ...

(IPS) Notorious Former Super-Lobbyist, Abramoff, Urges Ethics Reform

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/02/notorious-former-super-lobbyist-urges-ethics-reform/   ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb 28 2013 (IPS) - Notorious former Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff...

(IPS) ALEC-Backed Laws Promote Controversial Charter Schools

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/02/alec-backed-laws-promote-controversial-charter-schools/   ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb 27 2013 (IPS) - The right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council ...

(IPS) Activists Converge on High Court for Challenge to Voting Rights Act

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/02/activists-converge-on-high-court-for-challenge-to-voting-rights/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb 26 2013 (IPS) - The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument...

Mayoral Candidate, Luna, Made False Statement about Open Records Request

(APN) ATLANTA -- In an interview with Atlanta Progressive News, Paul Luna, chef and mayoral candidate, made a false statement regarding the City of Atlanta and a City employee with respect to an open records request he made late last month.Luna to...

Winslow Draws Challenger, Torry Lewis, in Atlanta District 4 Race

(APN) ATLANTA -- Atlanta City Councilwoman Cleta Winslow (District 4) has drawn a challenger in this year’s Municipal Elections, Torry Lewis.Winslow has a current score of 35.71 out of 100 on the APN Atlanta City Council Scorecard, which is based ...

Hall Draws Two Challengers in Atlanta District Two Race

(APN) ATLANTA -- Two candidates, Jon Jones and Todd Robinson, have announced their plans to challenge Kwanza Hall for the District 2 seat on the City Council of Atlanta. Kwanza Hall was elected in 2005 to the seat that was formerly held by Council...

Mayoral Candidate Luna Demands Apology from APN

(APN) ATLANTA -- In a bizarre email, chef and Mayoral candidate Paul Luna requested that APN apologize to a City employee on behalf of Luna relating to a recent article published by APN.  Earlier this month, APN interviewed Luna at his downtown re...

APN Chat with Paul Luna, Chef and Mayoral Candidate

(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 Progres...

Cheshire Bridge Rezoning Debate Heats Up, with Op-eds in Georgia Voice Magazine

(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...

House Bills Would Reshape, Reform Fulton County Commission

(APN) ATLANTA -- There are three bills concerning Fulton County currently pending in the Georgia Legislature that would drastically reshape the County’s governance structure, tax base, and employee benefits to meet the wishes of North Fulton Repub...

Parent Trigger Act Another Threat to Public Education in Georgia (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- HB 123, the Parent and Teacher Empowerment Act, also known as the Parent Trigger Act, is the latest effort by some, mostly Republican, legislators, to promote charter schools in Georgia and continue to undermine the public educati...

SEC Complaint Filed over City of Atlanta Pension Investment

(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 Progressi...

City of Atlanta, APN Editor Settle Open Meetings Lawsuits (UPDATE 1)

(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 C...

State Bar: Willis Stole Thousands from Child; Special Master Appointed

(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...

Hayes-Tavares to Seek Open Seat on APS Board of Education

(APN) ATLANTA -- A parent-advocate who has been vocal during the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education accreditation crisis and who opposed the proposal to close certain public schools has entered the race for APS BOE District 6, the seat curr...

Smith, Archibong Draw Challengers in 2013 Atlanta Council Race

(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 ch...

Some Atlanta Councilmembers Seek Vote to Silence the Public, Again

(APN) ATLANTA -- Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd (District 12) and six other Councilmembers have set their sights on new public comment rules that would further limit the time allotted to citizens to speak at Council Committees, and would set other res...

(IPS) US Marijuana Lobby Sets Sights on Full Legalisation

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/01/u-s-marijuana-lobby-sets-sights-on-full-legalisation/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Jan 30 2013 (IPS) - Since the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington fully le...

(IPS) Opponents of Corporate Personhood Eye US Constitution

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/01/opponents-of-corporate-personhood-eye-u-s-constitution/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Jan 28 2013 (IPS) - There is a growing national movement to establish a 28t...

Reed Denies Recruiting Candidates; Bottoms Mum on 2013

(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-la...

Still No Resolution after Grocery Co-op Sevananda Sues Members (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- The issues surrounding the recent election for Members of the Board of Directors of grocery cooperative Sevananda remain unresolved, months after Sevananda sued three of its members: Felton Eaddy, Abdullah Muqtasid, and Brian Sher...

Willis Bar Complaint Alleges Willis Betrayed Client

(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 agains...

EXCLUSIVE: Councilman Willis Faces Bar Complaint, Investigation

(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 prov...

Rep. Kaiser May Run for Mayor of Atlanta in 2017

(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 sup...

Mayor Pushing Willis or Bottoms to Challenge Mitchell, Sources Say

(APN) ATLANTA -- Mayor Kasim Reed is pushing for either Lamar Willis (Post 3-at-large) or Keisha Lance Bottoms (District 11) to challenge Council President Ceasar Mitchell in the 2013 Municipal Elections, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.Three...

Norwood Nominated to Fulton County Elections Board

(APN) ATLANTA -- Former Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood (Post 2-at-large), who narrowly lost the 2009 Mayoral race to Kasim Reed, has been nominated by the Fulton County Republican Party to serve on the Fulton County Board of Registration a...

Task Force for the Homeless Loses Federal Appeal against City of Atlanta

(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...

Victory! Atlanta’s Council Briefings Opened to Public, Moved to Committee Room

(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, an...

(IPS) More Aging US Coal Plants Hit the Chopping Block

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/01/more-aging-u-s-coal-plants-hit-the-chopping-block/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Jan 10 2013 (IPS) - Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the ...

Supreme Court Oral Arguments Held in Perry-Bolton TAD Case

(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 ...

Atlanta Councilwoman Carla Smith to Seek Reelection

(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 ...

Fulton Judge Rules against Atlanta in Street Vendor Dispute

(APN) ATLANTA -- Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shawn Ellen LaGrua has ruled in favor of street vendors in Atlanta who were negatively impacted by the City of Atlanta when the City entered into a contract with a private firm, U.K. - LaSalle, L...

People TV CEO Demands $25K Severance as Group Restructures

(APN) ATLANTA -- People TV is moving forward with a restructuring process of letting go all former employees, and rehiring new employees at lower pay.  This restructuring process was mandated by the City of Atlanta in its recent contract and fundi...

Rep. Long May Challenge Councilwoman Sheperd in 2013

(APN) ATLANTA -- State Rep. Ralph Long (D-Atlanta), who lost his seat to State Rep. Simone Bell (D-Atlanta) after being paired against her in last year’s redistricting process, is considering running for the City Council of Atlanta during the Muni...

Occupy Atlanta Trial Recap

By Scott Brown, Staff Writer (APN) ATLANTA -- Over fourteen months after Occupy Atlanta protesters set up camp in downtown Woodruff Park, the fifty-two people who were arrested the night of October 25, 2011, for refusing to leave the park, finally...

Mandamus Against Mitchell, Johnson Sought in Secret Vote Case

(APN) ATLANTA -- Yesterday, December 27, 2012, the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News, the present writer, filed further litigation in the secret vote lawsuit seeking for the Fulton County Superior Court to grant a writ of mandamus, ordering ...

Activists to Push Legislature for Medical Marijuana in Georgia

(APN) ATLANTA -- A coalition of organizations that deal with marijuana policy reform have come together to push the Legislature to address the issue of medical marijuana in the upcoming 2013 Legislative Session.The new coalition, the Georgia Campa...

MARTA Promotes Safety with New Music Video

(APN) ATLANTA -- For the last four weeks, the music video for a new dance called the MARTA Slide has been going viral on Youtube.  The MARTA Slide is now showing on the MARTA  website as well as, without sound, on MARTA trains. The video is availa...

New Stadium Plan Sparks Gentrification, Neighborhood Concerns

With additional reporting by Marko Robinson, Staff Writer(APN) ATLANTA -- Arthur Blank, a billionaire and owner of the Atlanta Falcons, a football team, wants a new, better stadium, in Atlanta’s Vine City neighborhood, just down the street from wh...

Occupy Atlanta Claims City Deceived Court, Spied on Protesters

(APN) ATLANTA -- At a press conference at City Hall today, Friday, December 21, 2012, activists with Occupy Atlanta alleged that the City of Atlanta deceived them and the Atlanta Municipal Court with respect to eight hundred pages of documents tha...

(IPS) Obama’s Victory a Boon for Clear Air, Water Acts

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/12/obamas-victory-a-boon-for-clear-air-water-acts/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Dec 19 2012 (IPS) - With Barack Obama’s re-election last month as U.S. president, k...

APN Issues Atlanta Council Scorecard for End of 2012

(APN) ATLANTA -- With Municipal Elections in the City of Atlanta scheduled to take place next year, Atlanta Progressive News has added six more recent votes to the APN Atlanta City Council Scorecard.   To APN’s knowledge, the Scorecard is the most...

(IPS) Still Learning Katrina's Lessons, Seven Years Later

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/12/seven-years-after-katrina-preparing-for-the-next-disaster/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Dec 14 2012 (IPS) - Many residents are still rebuilding their lives seve...

Move to Amend Visits Atlanta, Seeks End to Corporate Personhood

(APN) ATLANTA -- On Saturday, December 08, 2012, the Georgia chapter of Move to Amend hosted a community forum on Creating Democracy and Challenging Corporate Rule, at Manuel’s Tavern in Atlanta.  The focus of the event was the need for an amendme...

Fulton Taxpayers Foundation Struggling, Future Uncertain

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation has let go of its Executive Director and other office staff and is no longer accepting new property tax appeals, Atlanta Progressive News has learned, as sources familiar with the matter say ...

Jack Jersawitz, 1934-2012, !Presente!

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Jack Jersawitz, a radical leftist activist and commentator with over thirty years of significant contributions to Atlanta and Georgia politics, has passed away, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. Jersawitz was 78.  He died ...

Atlanta Council Raises Own Pay, Supports Same-sex Marriage

(APN) ATLANTA -- The City Council of Atlanta approved a fifty percent pay raise for Council Members and a substantial increase for the Mayor of Atlanta, during its Full Council Meeting on Monday, December 03,  2012. In addition, the Council approv...

Israeli Peace Activist Visits Atlanta

An earlier version of this article was edited by Bob Goodman and circulated via the Human Rights Atlanta email group. (APN) DECATUR -- With Palestine having been recognized as a state by the United Nations on Thursday, November 29, 2012, it is cle...

People TV May Get Two More Years (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- People TV, the non-profit organization which has managed the City of Atlanta’s public access channel for community news since at least the 1980’s, might get two more years of funding from the City, Atlanta Progressive News has lea...

350.org Holds Climate Change Awareness Event in Atlanta

(APN) ATLANTA -- Tuesday, November 20, 2012, at the Variety Playhouse, Bill McKibben, President and Co-Founder of 350.org, spoke to a sold-out audience of several hundred Metro Atlantans about the global social problem of climate change. 350.org i...

(IPS) Older, Wiser, and Living with HIV/AIDS

  ATLANTA, Georgia, Nov 26 2012 (IPS) - When HIV/AIDS first emerged in the 1980s, the stereotypical image of a person living with the disease in the United States was a young or middle-aged white homosexual male. For decades, that stigma has persi...

Summary Judgment Sought in Secret Vote Case

(APN) ATLANTA -- After nearly three years of litigation, including all the way up to the Supreme Court of Georgia, all the way back down, and through six months of discovery, a dispositive motion has been filed in the secret vote case.  A copy...

Seven Years of APN, Fundraiser Update

(APN) ATLANTA -- Upon the occasion of next week's seven year anniversary of Atlanta Progressive News, News Editor and Founder Matthew Charles Cardinale released the following statement: #### If you had told me seven years ago that the online news ...

Obama, Rep. Barrow Win Reelection; Hill Defeats Sen. Stoner

(APN) ATLANTA -- Among Tuesday’s election results, President Barack Obama won reelection; US Rep. John Barrow (D-GA) won reelection; and Hunter Hill, a Republican, defeated State Sen. Doug Stoner, a moderate Democrat.  This article reviews a n...

Charter School Amendment Passes, Faces Court Battle

(APN) ATLANTA -- A controversial ballot measure that would create a new State agency to approve of charter schools that are rejected by their local school boards and by the State Board of Education, was approved by Georgia voters during Tuesda...

Ethics Office Dismisses Willis FogFuels Case

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Ethics Office of the City of Atlanta has dismissed a complaint filed by the News Editor of the Atlanta Progressive News--the present writer--against Councilman Lamar Willis (Post 3-at-large).The present writer filed the co...

(IPS) Victories for Marijuana Legalisation, Same-Sex Marriage in US Elections

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/11/victories-for-marijuana-legalisation-same-sex-marriage-in-u-s-polls/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Nov 7 2012 (IPS) - In addition to the victories of the Democr...

(IPS) Voter Suppression Tactics Likely to Affect US Elections

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/11/voter-suppression-tactics-likely-to-affect-u-s-election/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Nov 5 2012 (IPS) - Voter suppression has reached new heights in the Unite...

Out-of-State Corporate Interests Fund Charter School Amendment Push

(APN) ATLANTA -- Out-of-state corporate interests have spent millions of dollars to fund the campaign in favor of the constitutional amendment referendum related to charter schools that appears on the November 06, 2012 General Election ballot....

Beltline, TAD Bond Cases Return to Georgia Supreme Court

(APN) ATLANTA -- Two companion cases related to the Atlanta Beltline and Atlanta Perry-Bolton Tax Allocation Districts (TADs) are headed to the Supreme Court of Georgia, where the TADs and the Atlanta Beltline are no new topic, Atlanta Progres...

Councilman Willis Threatens Citizen during Committee Meeting (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- At the Tuesday, October 30, 2012 Public Safety/Legal Administration Cmte Meeting of the City Council of Atlanta, Councilman Lamar Willis (Post 3-at-large), threatened Ron Shakir, a Southwest Atlanta activist and one of the...

Closed Transportation Briefing Has Quorum, Tries to Keep Fox 5 Out

(APN) ATLANTA -- The ongoing saga regarding the City Council of Atlanta’s closed-door Committee Briefings has taken a new turn, as the City of Atlanta and four Council Members clearly violated the Georgia Open Meetings Act yesterday, October 2...

(IPS) Southern US States Inch Towards Renewable Energy

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/10/southern-u-s-states-inch-towards-renewable-energy/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Oct 29 2012 (IPS) - With the U.S. East Coast virtually shutting down Monday wit...

Mayor Reed Seeks to Silence National Website

(APN) ATLANTA -- Mayor Kasim Reed is using a high-priced law firm to attempt to silence a national website, Lipstick Alley, after some of its users on an open forum published comments that Reed claims are libelous.On October 08, 2012, J. Rando...

Charter Schools Underperform in Georgia, US, despite Potential Brain Drain

With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale.(APN) ATLANTA -- Georgia voters are currently being faced with a referendum on a possible constitutional amendment which claims as its goal to provide “for improving student achievement” by...

Common Cause Georgia Makes Progress on Pay-to-Play Reform

(APN) ATLANTA -- Just over a year since the Board of Commissioners of Fulton County rejected pay-to-play reform, and just a few months since Mayor Kasim Reed bashed the notion of pay-to-play reform during remarks before the City Council of Atl...

APN Endorses Staples, Ploeger for PSC

(APN) ATLANTA - The Board of Directors of Atlanta Progressive News is pleased to announce that APN is endorsing David Staples and Brad Ploeger for the General Election for Public Service Commission Districts 5 and 3, respectively.Staples and ...

APN Chat with David Staples, PSC District 5, Libertarian Nominee

(APN) ATLANTA -- In our continuing coverage of two statewide races this year for Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), Atlanta Progressive News sat down for an interview with David Staples, the Libertarian nominee for the District 5 PSC sea...

APN Chat with Brad Ploeger, PSC District 3, Libertarian Nominee

(APN) ATLANTA -- Brad Ploeger, the Libertarian nominee for Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) District 3, will be on the General Election ballot this coming November 06, 2012.  He faces incumbent Chuck Eaton, a Republican; and Steve Oppen...

APN Chat with Steve Oppenheimer, PSC District 3 Democratic Nominee

With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale, News Editor.(APN) ATLANTA -- Steve Oppenheimer, Democratic nominee Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) District 3, will be on the General Election ballot this coming November 06, 2012....

(IPS) US Consumer Protection Agency Begins its Work

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/09/u-s-consumer-protection-agency-takes-on-financial-tricks-and-traps/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Sep 27 2012 (IPS) - In the wake of the epidemic of home for...

Atlanta Overrides BZA in Settlement on Historic Building, Crum & Forster

(APN) ATLANTA -- The City of Atlanta has entered into a Consent Order with the Georgia Tech Foundation Real Estate Holding Corporation (GTF) to allow the demolition of the historic Crum & Forster Building in Atlanta’s West Midtown neighbor...

Atlanta: Affordable Lindbergh’s Last Stand

(APN) ATLANTA -- A controversial rezoning proposal in Atlanta’s Lindbergh community, to be considered for the second time by the City Council of Atlanta on Monday, October 01, 2012, will in part determine the fate of some two hundred low-incom...

Mayor’s Panhandling Proposal Allows 180 Days in Jail, Even on First Offense (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- Mayor Kasim Reed said that he was vetoing legislation that passed City Council concerning aggressive panhandling because it was cruel, harsh, and inhumane; however, Atlanta Progressive News has learned that the Mayor’s proposa...

Atlanta City Utilities Briefings Opened to the Public

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Committee Briefings of the City Utilities Cmte of the City Council of Atlanta are now open to the public, Atlanta Progressive News has confirmed. As previously reported by APN, for the past several years, all seven Counci...

Medea Benjamin Discusses US Drones during Atlanta Visit

By Courtney Hanson, Special to The Atlanta Progressive News (APN) DECATUR -- The Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition hosted Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink and Global Exchange and author of the recent book Drone Warfare: Killing by Remo...

Willis Threatens APN with Lawsuit as Ethics Complaint Filed

(APN) ATLANTA -- Late Monday evening, September 17, 2012, Atlanta Progressive News revealed the existence of an email which shows the CEO of FogFuels announcing that Councilman Lamar Willis (Post 3-large) had been appointed to the company’s te...

Willis Pushed Sole Source Contract despite Apparent Financial Interest (UPDATE 1)

UPDATE: APN has received an email from Willis stating "I have NEVER worked for nor have I ever been offered employment with Fog Fuels!  Further, I have never received any type of consideration or remuneration from Fog Fuels or any of its owners." ...

Adam Shapiro, ~1951-2012, !Presente!

(APN) ATLANTA -- Adam Shapiro, host of Current Events on WRFG 89.3 FM radio and a long-time progressive activist in Atlanta, who fought for social change despite obstacles associated with his being completely blind, has died.  He is believed t...

BREAKING: Simms Out at Atlanta Housing Authority

(APN) ATLANTA -- Barney Simms, the number two smiling face behind mass demolition of public housing and mass displacement of low-income residents in Atlanta, is no longer working at the Atlanta Housing Authority, Atlanta Progressive News has l...

APN, FCTF issue Joint Statement on MARTA CEO Selections Process

September 13, 2012JOINT STATEMENT BY JOHN SHERMAN, PRESIDENT OF FULTON COUNTY TAXPAYERS FOUNDATION (FCTF); AND MATTHEW CHARLES CARDINALE, PRESIDENT OF ATLANTA PROGRESSIVE NEWS (APN) Out of our mutual concerns for transparency, accountability, ...

Georgia Presidential Ballot Access Case Stalls in Federal Court (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- A lawsuit challenging the ballot access requirements in the State of Georgia for minor party and independent candidates for President of the US was dismissed, and yet the judge has yet to rule for nearly two months on a motion...

Atlanta Council Advances Sole Source Contract on Grease Processing

(APN) ATLANTA -- At the Full Council Meeting of the City Council of Atlanta on Tuesday, August 04, 2012, the Council approved legislation allowing Mayor Kasim Reed's administration to move forward on negotiating a controversial sole source contrac...

Panhandling Proposals Likely Unconstitutional; CSO Never Enforced

(APN) ATLANTA -- Today, the City Council of Atlanta is hosting a second Work Session on proposed changes to the City’s Commercial Solicitation Ordinance (CSO), which has not been enforced since its enactment in 2005.  However, Atlanta Progress...

Channel 2 Errs on Task Force, CBS 46 Errs on Panhandling

(APN) ATLANTA - Over the past few days Channel 2 WSB-TV News and Channel 46 CBS Atlanta have ran stories making major errors in regards to issues affecting homeless people in Atlanta.Channel 2 ran a report stating that the largest shelter in t...

Charter School Referendum about Local Control, State Funding

With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale.(APN) ATLANTA -- During the November 06, 2012 General Election, Georgia voters will be presented with a referendum over whether to allow a Georgia Charter School Commission (GCSC) to overri...

(IPS) Government, Industry Partner to Promote Electric Cars

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/08/u-s-government-and-industry-partner-to-promote-electric-cars/ ATLANTA, Aug 29 2012 (IPS) - A 120-million-dollar grant from the U.S. Department of En...

Beltline TADAC Report: Refine Affordable Housing Program

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Beltline is not meeting its affordable housing goals and its affordable housing program needs to be refined, according to a report commissioned by the Atlanta Beltline Tax Allocation District Advisory Committee (TAD...

Moore Opens Up Atlanta’s Finance Briefings to Citizens

(APN) ATLANTA -- Councilwoman Felicia Moore (District 9), a strong progressive leader and champion of oversight on the City Council of Atlanta, has opened up her Finance/Executive Committee Briefings for members of the public to attend, Atlant...

Davenport, Jones, Mabra win State Legislative Run-offs

(APN) ATLANTA -- In the Partisan Primary Run-off Elections held on Tuesday, August 21, 2012, State Sen. Gail Davenport (D-Atlanta) retained the State Senate District 44 seat, while LaDawn Blackett Jones “LBJ” won in House District 62, and Ronn...

(IPS) Empty Condos Hold Opportunity in US Housing Crunch

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/08/empty-condos-hold-opportunity-in-u-s-housing-crunch/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Aug 7 2012 (IPS) - Even as thousands of families in the United States remain h...

Beltline Inc.’s Leary Is Out, but Bigger Problems Persist

(APN) ATLANTA -- CEO Brian Leary of Atlanta Beltline Inc. (ABI) was terminated at a Special Call Meeting of the Board of Directors on yesterday, August 17, 2012, after a week of daily articles in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution newspaper (AJC...

Atlanta Watershed Director Macrina Faces New Lawsuits, Complaints

(APN) ATLANTA -- When Mayor Kasim Reed nominated Jo Ann Macrina to be the new Commissioner of Watershed Management for the City of Atlanta, Atlanta Progressive News received tips from numerous former employees of Macrina at DeKalb County, wher...

FAA Letters May Jeopardize Airport Concessions Contracts

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Federal Aviation Administration sent a second set of letters dated August 09, 2012, regarding the minority and disadvantaged business status of four companies that received a large proportion of airport concessions contrac...

People TV, Inc., Winding Down, Preparing Dissolution (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- People TV, Inc., is winding down as an organization in what appears to be the final months of the historic Atlanta institution, and is preparing to formally dissolve as a corporation with the office of the Secretary of State o...

Fulton Rejects Atlanta IGA without Bullhook Ban

(APN) ATLANTA -- On August 01, 2012, the Board of Commissioners of Fulton County voted down a request to enter into a new Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) to provide animal control services for the City of Atlanta.  While the vote took place...

(IPS) Waste Issue Halts U.S. Nuclear Reactor Licensing

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/08/waste-issue-halts-u-s-nuclear-reactor-licensing/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Aug 9 2012 (IPS) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees commercial nuc...

Fulton, APS Concerned about Atlanta TAD Fund Balances

(APN) ATLANTA -- Fulton County and Atlanta Public Schools are concerned about the recent performance audit by Leslie Ward, City of Atlanta auditor, regarding the ten City of Atlanta Tax Allocation Districts (TADs).TADs are systems where govern...

Thomas, Gardner, Bell, Waites Prevail; T-SPLOST Defeated

(APN) ATLANTA -- During the July 31, 2012, Partisan Primary and Non-partisan General Election, progressive candidates for State House races in the Atlanta area--including former State Rep. “Able” Mable Thomas (D-Atlanta), and State Reps. Pat G...

Mayor Reed Continues Pattern of Vicious Attacks

(APN) ATLANTA -- Joe Beasley, John Evans, Vincent Fort, William Perry, Common Cause, Tim Franzen, Occupy Atlanta: what do these people and organizations have in common?  They have all been the focal points, at different times, of vicious, publ...

Rep. Taylor’s Undisclosed Contributions Surpass 24,000 Dollars

(APN) ATLANTA -- State Rep. Rashad Taylor (D-Atlanta), who is in a heated Democratic Primary with incumbent State Rep. Pat Gardner (D-Atlanta), has undisclosed campaign contributions now totaling over twenty-four thousand dollars.  The new tot...

Copeland, Mabra, Pritchett Responses to HD63 Questionnaire

(APN) ATLANTA -- In our continuing coverage of the upcoming July 31, 2012, Partisan Primary and Non-Partisan General Election, Atlanta Progressive News sent questionnaires to all three candidates in the House District 63 race: TJ Copeland, Ron...

US Rep. Lewis Response to APN Questionnaire

(APN) ATLANTA -- As part of our coverage of the upcoming July 31, 2012, Partisan Primary and Non-partisan General Election, Atlanta Progressive News requested interviews with incumbent US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and Michael Johnson, the two can...

Bond Seeks More Prison for Aggressive Panhandlers in Atlanta

(APN) ATLANTA -- Councilman Michael Julian Bond (Post 1-at-large), who serves as Chair of the Public Safety/Legal Administration (PS/LA) Cmte of the City Council of Atlanta, has introduced legislation which seeks to increase the penalty for in...

Overview of Fulton Races 2012 Part Two: Tax Commissioner, Etc.

(APN) ATLANTA -- There are a number of races on the July 31 Partisan Primary Election and Non-partisan General Election ballot for races involving elected positions at the Fulton County level.These races include Primary Elections for District ...

Overview of 2012 Fulton County Races: Sheriff, Court Clerk, DA

(APN) ATLANTA -- There are a number of races on the July 31 Partisan Primary Election and Non-partisan General Election ballot involving elected positions at the Fulton County level.These races include Primary Elections for District Attorney f...

Judges: A. Taylor, Mabra, Johnson Not Qualified for House, Judicial Races

(APN) ATLANTA -- Administrative law judges (ALJs) have ruled in three different residency challenge cases that three respective candidates--Anne Taylor, candidate for State House District 39 (South Cobb); Ronnie Mabra, candidate for House Dist...

Arrington Jr., Carr Responses to APN HD 62 Questionnaire

(APN) ATLANTA -- In our continuing coverage of State House races, we sent questionnaires to the candidates in the HD 62 race.  Candidates Marvin Arrington, Jr., and Kip Carr provided their responses; Benny Crane failed to respond to an email a...

Phelps, Rep. Kaiser Respond to APN HD59 Questionnaire

(APN) ATLANTA -- William Phelps and State Rep. Margaret Kaiser (D-Atlanta) have provided their responses to the Atlanta Progressive News Candidate Questionnaire for State House District 59.Charter schools, as noted below, emerged as a major is...

Lawsuits Challenge Beltline Inc.'s Existence, Beltline TAD, and Perry/Bolton TAD

(APN) ATLANTA -- Three different lawsuits, where John Woodham serves as legal counsel, are pending in the courts that challenge various aspects of the Beltline, the Beltline Tax Allocation District (TAD), and the Perry/Bolton TAD, Atlanta Prog...

Rep. Taylor Still Missing 2011 Disclosure, Owes $750 in Fines (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- State Rep. Rashad Taylor (D-Atlanta) has yet to to file his Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, which was due June 30, 2011, and he currently owes 750...

Atlanta Allows Beltline, TAD Funds to be Squandered

(APN) ATLANTA -- A recent audit report reveals that the City of Atlanta has failed to exercise sufficient oversight over various Tax Allocation District (TAD) funds, meaning that taxpayer dollars from the City of Atlanta, Fulton County, and th...

APN Endorses Patillo, Thomas, Gardner, Bell, No T-SPLOST

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Board of Directors of the Atlanta Progressive News has issued the following endorsements in our first round of endorsements for this 2012 election cycle.  We are endorsing in four State House races (HD 53, HD 56, HD 57, HD...

Rep. Tinubu Now US House Nominee in South Carolina, Gave up Georgia House Seat

(APN) ATLANTA -- Former State Rep. Gloria Bromell Tinubu (D-Atlanta), a progressive Democrat who served less than one full term in the General Assembly of Georgia, is now the Democratic nominee for US Congress for the newly apportioned Seventh...

Gary Davis, Candidate in HD 60 Race, Dies Suddenly

(APN) ATLANTA -- Gary “PeeWee” Davis, an advocate for the less fortunate and candidate for the State House District 60 seat, has died, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.Davis, 36, was not aware that he had kidney failure until he went to th...

(IPS) US Sees Greatest Reduction in CO2 Emissions

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/06/u-s-sees-greatest-reduction-in-co2-emissions/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Jun 30 2012 (IPS) - According to a recent report by the International Energy Agency,...

(IPS) US Agency Gave Nuclear Industry a Sweet Deal, Documents Reveal

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/06/u-s-agency-gave-nuclear-industry-a-sweet-deal-documents-reveal/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Jun 30 2012 (IPS) - The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) ...

(IPS) Marijuana Reform May Have Hit Tipping Point

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/06/u-s-marijuana-reform-may-have-hit-tipping-point/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Jun 26 2012 (IPS) - Over the last several years, many U.S. states have quietly ad...

Race, Party, and Buckhead-Baiting in HD57 Primary (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- The House District 57 is quickly turning into one of the ugliest Atlanta political races in recent years, with the campaign of State Rep. Rashad Taylor (D-Atlanta) and his supporters apparently engaging in using political part...

“No City” Movement Opposes Brookhaven’s Incorporation

(APN) DEKALB COUNTY -- During the July 31, 2012, Primary Election, residents of a proposed new City of Brookhaven will decide whether to incorporate and form a new city out of an area that is now unincorporated DeKalb County.On March 31, 2012...

Rep. Jones Responds to APN HD53 Questionnaire

(APN) ATLANTA -- In the Atlanta Progressive News coverage of contested Primary Elections for State House races this season, APN has so far printed questionnaire responses from seven out of nine candidates in four different races.So far, APN h...

Britt, Former Rep. Thomas Respond to APN HD56 Questionnaire

(APN) ATLANTA -- In our coverage of State House races this year, Atlanta Progressive News recently sent questionnaires to nine candidates in four different races.One of those races, House District 56, involves one former legislator, State Rep...

Rep. Taylor Accuses APN of Homophobic Conspiracy

(APN) ATLANTA -- Today, State Rep. Rashad Taylor (D-Atlanta) publicly accused the Atlanta Progressive News of engaging in a two-year conspiracy, in conjunction with political operatives, to produce homophobic mailers targeting Mr. Taylor as we...

Reps. Bell, Long Responses to APN HD58 Questionnaire (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- In our coverage of State House races this year, Atlanta Progressive News recently sent questionnaires to nine candidates in four different races.One of those races, House District 58 involves two Democratic incumbents, State ...

Mayor’s Senior Aide Retraces Statements on Bullhook

(APN) ATLANTA -- As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News, David Bennett, Senior Policy Advisor to Mayor Kasim Reed and a former reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, made a false statement to the Public Safety/Leg...

Rep. Pat Gardner’s Responses to APN HD57 Questionnaire (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- In our coverage of State House races this year, Atlanta Progressive News recently sent questionnaires to nine candidates in four different races.One of those races, House District 57, involves two Democratic incumbents, State...

Esteves, Patillo Responses to APN HD53 Questionnaire

(APN) ATLANTA -- In our coverage of State House races this year, Atlanta Progressive News recently sent questionnaires to nine candidates in four different races.One of those races, House District 53, involves two challengers, Jason Esteves a...

Atlanta Council Panel Upholds Elephant Torture

(APN) ATLANTA -- In a five to two vote, the Public Safety/Legal Administration Cmte of the City Council of Atlanta, voted on Tuesday, June 12, 2012, to approve an ordinance regarding animal abuse that does not include protections for elephants...

ANALYSIS: T-SPLOST, the Beltline, and Gentrification

(APN) ATLANTA -- The T-SPLOST--a one penny sales tax measure intended to fund transportation projects in the Metro Atlanta area--will be on Metro Atlanta ballots on July 31, 2012.  One controversial project that would be funded through the T-S...

Questions Surround Rep. Rashad Taylor's Residency

(APN) ATLANTA -- Numerous questions surround the residency of State Rep. Rashad Taylor (D-Atlanta), and the legislator has not maintained complete records of his address with the office of the Secretary of State of Georgia, Atlanta Progressive...

Minor Parties Sue Over Presidential Ballot Access in Georgia (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- On Friday, May 25, 2012, the Green Party of Georgia and the Constitution Party of Georgia filed a lawsuit in US District Court against the State of Georgia and Secretary of State Brian Kemp challenging the ballot access requir...

(IPS) Election Year Sees Increasingly Polarised US Congress

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=108098. ATLANTA, Georgia, Jun 9, 2012 (IPS) - All signs are pointing to a more polarised, less moderate U.S. Congress in the near future.Th...

Mayor Reed Knocks Bain on NBC, Hired Bain Workers, Used Bain Tactics (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- Mayor Kasim Reed, as part of his apparent ambitions to join the Administration of President Barack Obama, appeared on NBC's national television program, Meet the Press, as a surrogate for the Obama Campaign.During his visit, ...

Public Defender Faints at Council Meeting after Willis Interrogation

(APN) ATLANTA -- Rosalie Joy, Interim Director of the Office of the Public Defender of the City of Atlanta, fainted while being questioned by Councilman Lamar Willis (Post 3-at-large) at a meeting of the Public Safety/Legal Administration Comm...

Overview of PSC, US House, and Statewide Judicial Races 2012

(APN) ATLANTA -- Qualifying for the upcoming July 31, 2012, Primary and Nonpartisan Elections began on Wednesday, May 23, 2012, and ended on Friday, May 25.Among the races appearing on July 31 ballots will be statewide races for the Georgia P...

Overview of State House and Senate Races 2012 (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- Qualifying for the upcoming July 31, 2012, Primary and Nonpartisan Elections began on Wednesday, May 23, 2012, and ended on Friday, May 25. Among the races appearing on July 31 ballots will be State House and Senate seats acros...

Two Arrested at Emory Protesting Chimpanzee Research

(APN) ATLANTA -- Two activists--Sarita Raturi and Julie Robertson--were arrested on Monday, May 21, 2012, blocking the entrance to Emory University, to bring attention to the plight of Wenka, a 58 year-old chimpanzee, who has been used as a re...

(IPS) Citizens Challenge Corporate Ties to ALEC, Heartland Institute

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107894. ATLANTA, Georgia, May 23, 2012 (IPS) - A coalition of advocacy groups is targeting corporate support for the right-wing Heartland Insti...

Three APS Board Members Not Planning to Run Again (UPDATE 1)

UPDATE: A previous version of this article stated that two sources had said that a fourth member of the APS BOE, LaChandra Butler Burks, was not planning to run again as well.  Burks, who had not returned a voicemail left by APN in time for public...

Part 4: Small Business Compliance Issues at New Airport Terminal

(APN) ATLANTA -- As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News, the Federal Aviation Administration sent a letter to the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the City of Atlanta, and others regarding the airport’s non-compliance with...

PART 3: Atlanta Airport Concessions Move Forward despite FAA Letter

(APN) ATLANTA -- The City Council of Atlanta voted on April 30, 2012, to move forward with new concessions contracts, instead of delaying them ninety days, despite revelations that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has determined that ...

Former State Rep. Mable Thomas Running for Ashe's Former Seat

(APN) ATLANTA -- Former State Rep. "Able" Mable Thomas, who previously served in the State House of Representatives, will be running for the seat of former State Rep. Kathy Ashe (D-Atlanta), the candidate told Atlanta Progressive News.Due to r...

Foreclosure Prevention Aid Slow to Reach Georgians

(APN) ATLANTA -- The State of Georgia has received over 339 million dollars from the Hardest Hit Fund (HHF) program and that money is intended to assist Georgians facing foreclosure.  However, these funds have been slow to reach Georgians and ...

Atlanta’s Secret Vote Lawsuit Back in Superior Court

(APN) ATLANTA -- Following a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of Georgia on February 06, 2012, the secret vote lawsuit filed by the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News--the present writer--against the City of Atlanta has returned to Fu...

3am Home Eviction in DeKalb Sparks Outrage

By Scott Brown, Special to the Atlanta Progressive News(APN) DEKALB COUNTY -- In the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 02, 2012, over twenty deputies from the Dekalb County Sheriff's Department, under orders from Sheriff Thomas Brown, drill...

CBS Richmond Examines AHA’s Demolition Model

(APN) ATLANTA -- A CBS affiliate based in Richmond, Virginia, visited Atlanta in March 2012 after Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones has said he wants the city to emulate Atlanta’s model of mass public housing demolitions and mass evictions of reside...

Activists See Gold Dome Support for Marijuana Reform

(APN) ATLANTA -- On April 20, 2012, several organizations that advocate for marijuana policy reform held their annual 420 rally at the Georgia Capitol.Co-sponsors of the event included Group Civil Disobedience (Non-violent); Georgia for Canna...

APN Chat with Michael Johnson, Congressional Candidate

(APN) ATLANTA -- Former Fulton County Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson is challenging US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) in the Democratic Primary this year for the fifth Congressional District of Georgia.In 2010, Lewis faced no opposition except Fenn ...

(IPS) Citizens Reclaim Energy Cooperatives

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107625. ATLANTA, Georgia, Apr 30, 2012 (IPS) - As the United Nations and countries around the world look at cooperatives as an alternative econ...

(IPS) In Debt Debate, Most US Voters Prefer Tax Fairness to Cuts

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107590 ATLANTA, April 26, 2012 (IPS) - A giant digital "clock" on Sixth Avenue in New York keeps track of a number, currently at 15.6 trillion ...

(IPS) Legal Challenges Counter Plans for New Nuclear Reactors

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107557. ATLANTA, Georgia, April 24, 2012 (IPS) - Until this past February, the last time new nuclear power construction was approved in the...

AHA Commissioner Wayne Jones, 1935-2012, Presente!

(APN) ATLANTA -- Wayne Jones, 77, Member of the Board of Commissioners of the Atlanta Housing Authority, who served as a resident representative since 2010, died on Friday, April 20, 2012, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.Jones was nomina...

McKinney Campaign Announcement Expected Soon

(APN) ATLANTA -- Former US Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) is expected to soon issue a formal announcement that she is running for her old seat in the Georgia’s fourth Congressional District, to challenge US Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) in the Genera...

APS Board Votes to Close Seven Schools, Preserve Three More

(APN) ATLANTA -- On April 10, 2012, the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education unanimously voted at a meeting held at Jackson High School, to close seven out of ten schools that at the time were being proposed by Superintendent Errol Davis ...

APN Celebrates One Thousand News Articles

(APN) ATLANTA -- Upon the recent publication by Atlanta Progressive News of its one thousandth, original full-length news article, APN's News Editor, Matthew Cardinale, released the following statement:####Dear APN Readers,I'm writing to share wit...

Coan Middle School Spared in APS Closures Battle

With additional reporting by Matthew Cardinale, News Editor.  Photograph by Marko Robinson. (APN) ATLANTA -- Parents scored a recent victory when Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Erroll Davis announced that Coan Middle School was no longer...

AG Olens Ignored State EPD in Clean Air Challenge

(APN) ATLANTA -- Sam Olens, the Attorney General of the State of Georgia, sought but ultimately ignored the advice of Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD), in a legal challenge of new rules issued by the US Environmental Protection Ag...

Cynthia McKinney Running For US House on Green Party Ticket

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Former US Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) is planning to run for Georgia's 4th US Congressional seat as a member of the Green Party, the candidate told Atlanta Progressive News. McKinney is planning to attempt to gather all of some...

(IPS) Forming Coalitions, Tea Party Continues to Brew

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107266. ATLANTA, Georgia, March 30, 2012 (IPS) - In the three years since its inception, the Tea Party has cemented its place in U.S. politics, ...

Occupy Atlanta, Tea Party Patriots Defeat SB 469

(APN) ATLANTA -- Thursday, March 29, 2012, the last day of the General Assembly, began for Occupy Atlanta, unions, religious leaders, leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, community activists, and the Tea Party at 9:30am with a prayer vigil outsid...

Occupy Atlanta Claims Partial Victory in AT&T Protest

(APN) ATLANTA -- Today, Monday, March 26, 2012, Occupy Atlanta, Communication Workers of America (CWA) Local 3204, and Atlanta Jobs with Justice announced a historic victory in preventing over 250 layoffs at AT&T.  The coalition claims that th...

Atlanta Council Rejects Undermining Ethics Board’s Independence

(APN) ATLANTA -- On Monday, March 19, 2012, in a 12 to 1 vote, the City Council of Atlanta rejected a proposal by Councilman Lamar Willis (Post 3-at-large) that would have reduced the independence of the City of Atlanta’s Board of Ethics.Meanwhile...

Citizens Rally, Speak Out against SB 469

(APN) ATLANTA -- On Saturday, March 17, 2012, over forty organizations and two thousand citizens gathered at the State Capitol to "kill the bill." SB 469--which as previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News, would make protesting on private p...

(IPS) Urban Chicken-Keeping Movement Spreads Its Wings

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107097 ATLANTA, Georgia, Mar 16, 2012 (IPS) - With increasing concerns about the economy and environmental sustainability on the minds of man...

Part 2: City Misportrayed AG’s Advice on Airport Records

(APN) ATLANTA -- The City of Atlanta Department of Law misrepresented to City Council Members the advice provided to them by the office of the Attorney General of Georgia related to airport concessions bidding records and the Georgia Open Records ...

Major Changes at Creative Loafing, Atlanta Daily World

(APN) ATLANTA -- The media landscape continues to shift as Creative Loafing Atlanta magazine continues to slice its news staff by letting people go, and as the Atlanta Daily World newspaper is sold to a national chain of historically Black newspap...

Fulton Judge Refuses to Halt Airport Contracts

(APN) ATLANTA -- In a ruling, dated Monday, March 12, 2012, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Wright ruled that her court did not have jurisdiction to issue a temporary injunction on behalf of four protesting bidders for concessions at At...

Benfield to Leave Legislature, Was Paired with Incumbent

By Shane Patrick Cunningham, Special to The Atlanta Progressive News.  (APN) ATLANTA -- State Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (D-Decatur) announced on February 22, 2012, that she would not be running for reelection this year and that she would beg...

Pending Parks Legislation Would Impact Occupy Atlanta

(APN) ATLANTA -- Three proposed city ordinances, currently up for consideration this Tuesday, March 13, 2012, at the Community Development/Human Resources (CD/HR) Committee, would add new restrictions to what citizens can do in public parks.Some o...

Two Years Later, Atlanta Council Discloses Secret Vote

(APN) ATLANTA -- On Monday, March 05, 2012, the City Council of Atlanta unanimously approved a resolution to amend the minutes of the February 2010 Council Retreat, to reflect the names of those Council Members voting for or against a proposal rel...

Georgia Legislature Crossover Day, An Overview

With additional reporting by Gloria Tatum. (APN) ATLANTA -- Yesterday, March 07, 2012, was Crossover Day for the Georgia General Assembly, the final day for legislation pass either the House or the Senate to be able to pass both chambers this year...

Georgians Rally for “Quitman Ten Plus Two”

(APN) QUITMAN -- On Saturday, February 25, 2012, over five hundred Georgia citizens marched in support of the Quitman Ten Plus Two.  As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News, the twelve have been accused of voter fraud in a local Board o...

Atlanta Renews MOST; Obama, Gingrich Win Georgia (UPDATE 1)

  (APN) ATLANTA -- City of Atlanta voters overwhelmingly supported the renewal of Atlanta's eighth penny of sales tax, during today's Primary Election vote. 85.4 percent of Atlanta voters in Fulton County supported the MOST, with 14.6 percent oppo...

APN Endorsements: No on MOST, No on Primary Choices

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Progressive News Board of Directors has made the following endorsements in today's March 06, 2012, election: MUNICIPAL OPTION SALES TAX (MOST) - NO Sales tax is one of the most regressive types of taxes, meaning that i...

City Seeks One Cent Sales Tax Renewal, but Missing Water Deadlines

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Today, Tuesday, March 06, 2012, Atlanta voters will consider the second renewal of the Municipal Option Sales Tax (MOST), a one penny sales tax--Atlanta’s eighth penny--which funds water and sewer infrastructure improvements. As...

SB 469 Would Make Civil Disobedience a Felony in Georgia

(APN) ATLANTA -- SB 469, an anti-union and anti-protest bill, would turn nonviolent civil disobedience into a felony punishable by imprisonment for one year and a fine of ten thousand dollars for organizations and one thousand dollars for individu...

(IPS) Obama's 2013 Budget Slashes Aid for Working Families

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106894 ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb 29, 2012 (IPS) - The federal budget for fiscal year 2013 proposed by President Barack Obama severely cuts aid for wo...

(IPS) US Voters Increasingly Alienated by Two Major Parties

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/02/u-s-voters-increasingly-alienated-by-two-major-parties/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb 27 2012 (IPS) - A new book shows there are now more U.S. voters who ide...

PART ONE: Airport Concessions Protests Move Forward

(APN) ATLANTA -- Four companies that bid for food and beverage concessions contracts at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport are moving forward with their protests after the City of Atlanta denied their initial appeals, Atlanta Progr...

Bill Would Promote Solar Power in Georgia by Breaking Utility’s Monopoly

(APN) ATLANTA -- Senate Bill 401 is a new, bipartisan bill introduced in Georgia’s State Senate would encourage private investment in solar power, stimulate the economic growth of Georgia, and enhance the continued diversification of the energy re...

ANALYSIS: Olens's Sunshine Revisions a Mixed Bag

  (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'...

(IPS) US States Grapple with Exploding Prison Populations

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...

Georgia Third Party Ballot Access Bill Passes House Committee

  (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...

Advocates, Experts Blast Welfare Drug Testing Bill at Hearing

(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 fami...

BREAKING: Stay Granted in Task Force for Homeless Eviction

(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 ...

Thirteen Arrested in AT&T Protest held by Occupy Atlanta

  (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...

Georgia Considers Reforms to Reduce Prison Population, Costs

  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...

Keisha Waites, Perseverance Prevail in Special Election

  (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...

Supreme Court Bans Secret Votes across State of Georgia

  (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...

Task Force for Homeless Eviction Granted, Appeal Expected

  (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...

(IPS) HUD Changes Demolition Rules after Abuses by AHA, Others

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106648 ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb 3, 2012 (IPS) - Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the publication of a...

(IPS) Building Communities Around Sustainable Food

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106601 ATLANTA, Georgia, Jan 31, 2012 (IPS) - With more and more communities in the U.S. South turning to cooperatives as a way to produce and co...

(IPS) Plan for Popular Presidential Vote Quietly Advances

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106564. ATLANTA, Georgia, Jan 26, 2012 (IPS) - Unlike many of the younger democracies around the world, the United States still does not elect it...

Black Leaders Mobilize to Help the Quitman Ten

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Black leaders and elected officials held a press conference at the Georgia State Capitol  on Monday, January 23, 2012, to discuss their concern regarding the Quitman Ten, a group of Black elected officials and voters from Quitma...

APN Chat with HD60 Candidates, Middlebrooks and Waites

  (APN) ATLANTA -- With the Special Election in State House District 60 coming up on DATE, Atlanta Progressive News reached out to all three candidates for an interview on the issues.  Theresa Middlebrooks completed a phone interview and Keisha Wa...

Decatur Opposes Walmart as South Atlanta Begs for One

  (APN) DECATUR -- Good Growth Dekalb (GGD), a neighborhood group, has organized a series of Occupy Walmart protests scheduled for January 20 and 27, 2012, and February 03 and 10.  Many local residents are opposed to the proposed Walmart that will...

Ceasar Mitchell: Council "Made a Mockery" of Themselves

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Shortly after the Committee of the Whole of the City Council of Atlanta went into Executive Session on January 03, 2012, during the debate over concessions contracts at Atlanta's Hartsfield- Jackson International Airport, Counci...

APS Board's New Ethics Commission Has Three Pending Cases

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education has restructured its Ethics Commission, which is tasked with investigating ethics complaints made against Board Members, and the newly re-formed Commission is currently preparing to ...

Waites, Others Run for Vacant State House Seat in Special Election

  Waites Runs for Vacant House Seat in Special Election   (APN) ATLANTA -- Keisha Waites, who recently ran for the Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 6 seat in 2010, is running for an empty State House seat in District 60.  The election...

Shell Bluff Residents Speak Out on Nuclear Reactors

  (APN) SHELL BLUFF, GEORGIA -- On January 07, 2012, a bus carrying members of Georgia Women's Action for New Directions (GA WAND), Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, Nuclear Watch South, Grandmothers for Peace, and other concerned citizen...

Effingham County Takes Secret Vote, Atlanta Case Invoked

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The City of Atlanta's secret vote of February 2010 is having repurcussions across the State of State, just as the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News, the present writer, warned would happen in oral  arguments before the Sup...

BREAKING: Atlanta Violated Charter with Closed Airport Bid Process

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation is preparing to challenge the City of Atlanta's bid selection process and the final bid selections--approved on Tuesday, January 03, 2011, by the City Council--in court, Atlanta Progressive...

(IPS) Defense Act Provides for Indefinite Detention of US Citizens

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service Website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106339 ATLANTA, Georgia, Dec 30, 2011 (IPS) - Civil liberties groups and many citizen activists are outraged over language in the National Defens...

Atlanta Procurement Code Questioned in Travelex Ruling

  (APN) ATLANTA -- In a December 15, 2011, ruling, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Wright put the City of Atlanta on notice that there are problems with the City’s procurement code which make it impossible for bidders who lose contracts...

Moore, Bond Take Issue with Secret Airport Bid Scores

  (APN) ATLANTA -- At the Wednesday, December 14, 2011, meeting of the Transportation Committee of the City Council of Atlanta, Councilwoman Felicia Moore (District 9) took issue with yet  even more secretive information related to the new concess...

Georgia to Receive More LIHEAP Funds for 2012

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The State of Georgia is set to receive an additional disbursement of funding for the low-income energy assistance program, LIHEAP, now that US Congress has decided on a final budget for FY 2012. The US Department of Health and H...

(IPS) US Limits Mercury Pollution as Big Coal Retreats

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106301. ATLANTA, Georgia, Dec 23, 2011 (IPS) - Environmental advocates praised a recent new rule limiting pollution of mercury and other air toxi...

Reed Rewards Donors, Guards Secrecy in Airport Contracts

  (APN) ATLANTA -- A number of high-profile campaign contributors to Mayor Kasim Reed have received airport contracts, raising concerns about possible pay-to-play, even while Reed's Administration guards all aspects of the bidding process with gre...

US House Bans Synthetic Marijuana after Heated Debate

(APN) ATLANTA -- The US House of Representatives has voted to ban what appear to be a wide array of synethic cannabinoid strains, some which may have been used in herbal incense products in stores in Atlanta and across the US.As previously re...

(IPS) Federal Court Grants Legal Victory to Transgender People

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106224 ATLANTA, Georgia, Dec 14, 2011 (IPS) - When Vandy Beth Glenn, a transgender woman formerly known as Mr. Glenn Morrison, told her superv...

(IPS) Homeless Play Key Role in Occupy Movement

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106188. ATLANTA, Georgia, Dec 12, 2011 (IPS) - Homeless people make up a significant proportion of participants in the Occupy Movement in citi...

Former State Sen. Robert Brown, 1950-2011, !Presente!

(APN) ATLANTA -- Former State Sen. Robert Brown, 61, who had served as Georgia State Senate Minority Leader until earlier this year, was found dead this week in an apparent suicide.Brown graduated from Mercer University in Macon, and went on to...

PSC Approves Ten Million in Emergency Heating Aid from USF

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The Georgia Public Service Commission has approved ten million dollars from the Universal Service Fund, to help cover the heating costs of certain low-income people, particularly as US Congress has not yet finalized a 2012 budge...

Video of Student Arrest at Emory Library Troubles Some Activists

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Some progressive activists are concerned about a video recently posted to Youtube that shows Emory University police arresting an Emory PhD student, Joe Diaz. The video, which Atlanta Progressive News reviewed earlier today, is ...

Moore to Chair Finance Committee, Bond to Chair Public Safety

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Two years into the four-year Council term which began in 2010 and will end in 2013, Council President Ceasar Mitchell has announced a few significant changes to the membership and leadership of Atlanta's seven Council committees...

Amos Wins APS BOE Run-off, Raffensperger in Johns Creek

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Byron Amos, the parent and community activist whose work promoting rap artists for UGK Records caused controversy in the community, has been elected to serve as the District 2 representative for the Atlanta Public Schools Board ...

FCC Panel in Atlanta Examines the Future of Media

(APN) ATLANTA -- US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioners Michael J. Copps and Mignon Clyburn, hosted a forum at Georgia Tech on Information Needs of Atlanta, on December 01, 2011.   About two hundred pe...

Help for Low-Income Atlantans Hangs in Balance as Congress Stalls

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Inaction by the US Congress to make funding decisions regarding programs critical to Atlanta's low-income families--particularly LIHEAP and CSBG--means that even more families than usual this year are facing lack of heating and/...

Atlanta Likely to Fund People TV for Another Year

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The City Council of Atlanta appears likely to approve a funding measure to extend the life of People TV, an Atlanta public access channel, for one year. The Finance/Executive Committee unanimously approved the funding last week,...

AJC Continues Whitewashing Existence of Other Media

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper appears to be engaging in a strategy of whitewashing the existence of other news outlets, except when it serves their purposes to mention them. Previously, Atlanta Progressive News reve...

Martina Correia, 1967-2011, !Presente!

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Martina Correia, the sister of Troy Davis who was his strongest advocate, has succumbed to breast cancer.  She had been diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago and given six months to live at that time, but she fought to st...

Angela Brown Attack Mailer Distorts APN Interview

(APN) ATLANTA -- A mailer attacking Angela Brown, candidate for Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education District 2, was received by voters throughout District 2 in recent days.  It states "She says she wants Atlanta school children to cross dres...

(IPS) State Sen. Albers Discusses Welfare Drug Test Legislation

A shorter version of this article appeared first on Inter-Press Service's website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106044. ATLANTA, Georgia, U.S., Nov 30, 2011 (IPS) - At least 36 states across the U.S. are proposing laws that would require ...

(IPS) World's Tallest Solar Tower Set for Arizona

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website here: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105977. ATLANTA, Georgia, Nov 27, 2011 (IPS) - In the western desert state of Arizona, a company called EnviroMission is planning to build ...

AP1000 Design for New Vogtle Reactors a Problem for Georgia Power

  (APN) ATLANTA – The AP1000 Oversight Group, the North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network (NC WARN), and Friends of the Earth filed a petition November 10, 2011, to require the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to resolve design ...

APN Celebrates Six Years of Publication

  Hey everybody.  It’s me - Matthew Charles Cardinale - News Editor and President of the Atlanta Progressive News.I have great news - yesterday, November 23, 2011, we celebrated our sixth year of publication, which means we are now in our seventh ...

Two Arrested at Stewart Detention Center, One at Fort Benning

  (APN) FORT BENNING, Georgia -- On Friday, November 18, 2011, Chris Spicer from Chicago, Illinois, was arrested at Stewart Detention Center for crossing the police barricade in an act of civil disobedience.  Spicer recently finished serving a si...

41 Days to Black for People TV; Council Slow to Act

  41 Days to Black for People TV; Council Slow to Act By Matthew Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA -- People TV will end its programming on December 31, 2011, if the City Council and Mayor of Atlanta do not take action. As previously reported by Atlanta Pro...

Felicia Moore Draws Early Challenger for 2013

(APN) ATLANTA -- Pastor Stanley Calloway, 45, is planning to challenge Councilwoman Felicia Moore for her District 9 seat in 2013, the candidate told Atlanta Progressive News. "My contemplations are over.  I'm gonna run," he said. Calloway is the ...

Outwrite Books to Leave 10th and Piedmont Location

    (APN) ATLANTA -- Outwrite bookstore, Midtown Atlanta's iconic gay bookstore, will be leaving its  10th and Piedmont location within the next few weeks, signaling a key milestone in Midtown's second-wave gentrification process.  The store opene...

Georgia Legislators Seek to Drug Test Welfare Recipients

  With additional legal reporting by Matthew Cardinale. (APN) ATLANTA -- Yesterday, November 15, 2011, State Rep. Jason Spencer (R - Woodbine) and State Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell) introduced, or pre-filed, legislation requiring drug tests for ap...

Rally to End Marijuana Prohibition Held at Georgia Capitol

(APN) ATLANTA -- About one hundred opponents of marijuana prohibition rallied at the State Capitol on Saturday, November 12, 2011, to help educate the public and to dispel old, worn out myths and misinformation about marijuana.   Organizations rep...

Alleged Homophobic Fraudulent Robocalls in Milton Election

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Alan Tart, the City Councilman in Milton whose election in 2007 was seen as remarkable-- given that Tart is an openly homosexual man living in Georgia's most Republican city--says two robocalls may have led to his recent loss to...

Sunday Sales, E-SPLOST IV Pass; Amos, Brown in APS Run-off

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Sunday alcohol sales passed overwhelmingly in cities across Fulton County, including Atlanta, Alpharetta, East Point, Hapeville, Johns Creek, Milton, Roswell, Sandy Springs, and Union City. Atlantans approved Sunday alcohol sale...

APD Officers Run Motorcycle into Protesters, Charge Horse at Senior

  With additional reporting by Matthew Cardinale. (APN) ATLANTA -- Over one hundred Atlanta Police were out in full force again on the night of Saturday, November 05, 2011, after Occupy Atlanta reoccupied Woodruff Park [also known as Troy Davis pa...

Khaatim El, David Dorsey Fund Brown's APS Campaign

  (APN) ATLANTA -- In the five-person race to elect a replacement for former Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education Chairman Khaatim El (District 2), El has indicated which candidate he is supporting, with his dollars: Angela Brown's October 20...

(IPS) Occupy Movement Divides Civil Rights Activists

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105667   ATLANTA, Oct 31, 2011 (IPS) - While some veterans of the Civil Rights Movement have joined forces with the Occupy Movement, other ci...

Caldicott Discusses Nuclear Power's Health Effects during Atlanta Visit

  (APN) ATLANTA -- On October 02, 2011, Georgia Women's Action for New Directions (WAND) hosted the world's leading anti-nuclear activist, Dr. Helen Caldicott, at the 7 Stages theatre in Atlanta's Little Five Points community.</p>     Caldic...

Broadbent Inconsistent in Fulton, Milton Statements

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Steve Broadbent, who was the Republican nominee for Chairman of Fulton County in 2010, has made statements in his campaign for Johns Creek City Council which are inconsistent with statements he made in 2010 regarding Fulton Coun...

52 Occupy Atlanta Protesters Arrested

  With additional reporting, including information requests to APD, by Matthew Cardinale. (APN) ATLANTA -- After three previous threats of evictions from the Mayor's office and a continued build-up of police present around Woodruff Park--unoffical...

(IPS) ANALYSIS: Why Innocence Didn't Matter for Troy Davis

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105613. ATLANTA, Georgia, Oct 26, 2011 (IPS) - "Innocence matters" is one of the slogans used by activists opposing the U.S. state of Georgia's e...

Recall Effort Underway after Mayor Reed's Response to Occupy Atlanta

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Joe Beasley, a veteran activist of the Civil Rights Movement, is organizing an effort to recall Mayor Kasim Reed, after several heated exchanges yesterday between Reed and the Occupy Atlanta Movement. Since declaring his intent ...

Schwall Reverses Own Eviction Order, after Task Force Appeals

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall reversed his own disspossesory order against the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless after the Task Force filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Georgia. "The Court hereb...

APN 2011 Endorsements: Farmer for APS, Yes on Sunday Alcohol, No on E-SPLOST IV

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Progressive News Board of Directors has issued the following endorsements for the upcoming General Election on November 08, 2011. ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION DISTRICT II (SPECIAL ELECTION): DWANDA FARME...

Alex Wan Now Ranks as Least Progressive Atlanta Councilmember

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Following two votes at the Full Council meeting on Monday, October 17, 2011, Atlanta Progressive News has revised its scorecard of Atlanta City Council Members, which now includes eighteen votes on legislation or other matters. ...

Judge Schwall Issues Dispossessory against Homeless Task Force

  (APN) ATLANTA -- On Monday, October 17, 2011, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall issued a dispossessory against the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless and Anity Beaty, which allows Premium Funding Solutions-- the building's ...

Atlanta Council Rejects Two Minute Speaking Request after 40 Minute Debate

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The City Council of Atlanta took an extraordinary vote Monday, October 17, 2011, on whether to grant an additional two minutes of public speaking time to NAME President, an advocate for People TV, the endangered public access st...

(IPS) Occupy Movement Heats Up U.S. South

This article was first published on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105512 ATLANTA, Georgia, Oct 18, 2011 (IPS) - As the Occupy Movement spreads like wildfire across the United States and around the world, pr...

Emory University Issues Response to Task Force Lawsuit

(APN) ATLANTA -- Emory University and Emory Health Care have issued a statement in response to a request from Atlanta Progressive News concerning the lawsuit filed by the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless regarding Emory's alleged particip...

Task Force for the Homeless Sues Emory University

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless has sued Emory University and Emory Healthcare for allegedly engaging in a conspiracy to sabotage the shelter, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by Atlanta Progressive News. ...

Activists React to Glover's Confirmed AHA Resignation

  (APN) ATLANTA -- On Monday, October 03, 2011, Renee Glover, CEO of Atlanta Housing Authority, confirmed a report published the day before, October 02, in the Atlanta Progressive News, and stated her plans and intentions to resign from AHA. APN r...

Gay Milton Councilman, Alan Tart, Seeks Reelection

(APN) ATLANTA -- City of Milton Councilman Alan Tart (Post 6), an openly homosexual man living with his male partner, David, in the most right-wing city in the State of Georgia, is seeking reelection in the upcoming November 2011 General Election....

Georgia Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Secret Vote Case

Photographs courtesy of Todd Rehm. (APN) ATLANTA -- The Supreme Court of Georgia heard oral arguments in Cardinale v. City of Atlanta, S11G1047, on Tuesday, October 04, 2011, at 240pm.Atlanta Progressive News's Editor--the present writer--appeared...

Happening Now: Occupy Atlanta Occupying Woodruff Park

(APN) ATLANTA -- Occupy Atlanta, the Atlanta branch of the Occupy Together movement, has occupied Woodruff Park, following a General Assembly, which began earlier today at 6pm, Friday, October 07, 2011. A group of 150 activists decided to stay in ...

Fulton, DeKalb Voters to Consider School Sales Tax Renewal

(APN) ATLANTA -- In upcoming the November 08, 2011, election, Atlanta, Decatur, DeKalb, and Fulton voters will decide whether to renew a one percent, or one penny per dollar, sales tax for educational infrastructure.  If approved, this would b...

Glover May Soon Resign from AHA

(APN) ATLANTA -- Renee Glover, the CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority who presided over the demolition and destruction of nearly all of Atlanta's public housing, may soon resign from AHA, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. One member of AHA's...

Atlantans Launch Chapter of Occupy Together

(APN) ATLANTA -- For fifteen days, activists have been protesting on Wall Street in New York against corporate greed, in a protest with no end date called Occupy Wall Street.  The protests have been the Left’s attempt to respond to the right-w...

(IPS) Some Activists Regret Obama, USDOJ Inaction on Troy Davis

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service at: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105286. ATLANTA, Sep 28, 2011 (IPS) - During the last days of Troy Davis's life, activists intensified what was already significant pressure on bot...

Olens, First Amendment Group File Briefs in Atlanta Secret Vote Case

(APN) ATLANTA -- Attorney General Sam Olens and the Georgia First Amendment Foundation have filed amicus briefs in the case, S11G1047, currently before the Supreme Court of Georgia, and brought by the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News--the p...

Federal Court Clears Atlanta in Homeless Task Force Lawsuit

(APN) ATLANTA -- US District Judge Thomas Thrash ruled against the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless in a Motion for Summary Judgement in its claims against the City of Atlanta, and ruled in favor of the City in its counterclaim for unpaid...

Beskin, APS Liaison, Running against State Sen. Stoner

(APN) ATLANTA -- Beth Beskin, a Buckhead attorney who previously ran against State Sen. Horacena Tate (D-Atlanta) in the 2010 General Election, and who was appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal as one of his two liaisons to Atlanta Public Schools during t...

(IPS) Numerous Protests, Arrests as Georgia Executes Troy Davis

An earlier version of this article first appeared on Inter-Press Service's website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105207 ATLANTA, Georgia, Sep 22, 2011 (IPS) - The U.S. state of Georgia executed Troy Davis at 11:08 p.m. on Wednesday, Sep. ...

APN Chat with Angela Brown, APS Board Candidate

  (APN) ATLANTA -- In continuing a series of interviews with candidates for the Atlanta Public Schools District 2 Special Election, Atlanta Progressive News sat down with Angela Brown. APN previously interviewed candidates Byron Amos, Dwanda Farme...

AJC, WSB Memo Unveils Insidious Cross-Marketing Plan

(APN) ATLANTA -- Cox Enterprises, the media company which owns the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, WSBTV Channel 2, and WSB Radio, distributed a memo to its reporters unveiling a deliberate attempt to influence the perception of readers, v...

Atlanta Council to Redistrict for Midtown, Buckhead Growth

  (APN) The City Council of Atlanta has begun the process of redistricting the twelve Council Districts following the 2010 Census results.  The Council held a public hearing to discuss redistricting on Wednesday, September 14, 2011. Atlanta Progre...

APS Candidate Byron Amos Responds to UGK Youtube Controversy

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Byron Amos, a candidate for the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education District 2 Special Election, responded to the controversy surrounding his appearance in Youtube videos related to UGK Records, in a statement issued to At...

APN Chat with Donald Walker, APS Board Candidate

  (APN) ATLANTA -- In our continuing series of candidate interviews for the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education District 2 Special Election, we sat down with Donald Walker to learn about his qualifications and positions on issues. Previously...

North Fulton Officials Oppose Beltline's Sales Tax Funding

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Several North Fulton officials are opposed to the inclusion of 601 million dollars of funding for the Atlanta Beltline in the draft list passed by the Executive Committee for the upcoming penny transportation sales tax vote in J...

Former Mayor Franklin's Privatization Schemes Go National

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Former Mayor of Atlanta Shirley Franklin is now the CEO of an organization called Purpose- Built Communities, whose goal is to promote demolitions of low-income housing and privatization of public schools, in emulation of Atlant...

Teachers' Union Pulls Amos Support over Youtube Videos

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The Georgia Federation of Teachers withdrew the support of Byron Amos, one of the two candidates who they were supporting in the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education District 2 Special Election, after learning that Amos app...

Broadbent Seeks Johns Creek Council Seat, Pushes Milton County

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Steve Broadbent, the Republican nominee for Fulton County Chairman in 2010, has announced his candicacy for the City Council of Johns Creek, District 2 seat. Councilman Dan McCabe (Post 2) has decided not to run for reelection. ...

(IPS) Family of Troy Davis Hopeful for Pardon

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105046.  This article includes some material previously used in a September 07, 2011, article in Atlanta Progressive News, adding a new interview...

APN Chat with Dwanda Farmer, APS Board Candidate

(APN) ATLANTA -- In our ongoing series of interviews with candidates for the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education District 2 Special Election, Atlanta Progressive News sat down with Dwanda Farmer. Previously, APN has interviewed Byron Amos.  ...

Troy Davis Faces Execution Fourth, Likely Last, Time

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Troy Davis, the Georgia man whose death row case has drawn international attention, has again been scheduled for execution for September 21, 2011, but advocates hope to convince the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant ...

Dialysis Patients Abandoned by Grady Hospital Told One Year to Live

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Twenty-three Atlanta dialysis patients' lives hang in the balance,  one year after the privatized Grady Memorial Hospital orporation decided to close  its dialysis clinic and abandon its patients, now that a one-year contract th...

APN Chat with Byron Amos: APS Board Candidate, Organizer, Rap Producer

(APN) ATLANTA -- With two months left until the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education (District 2) Special Election to fill the seat formerly held by Khaatim El, Atlanta Progressive News sat down with Byron Amos, one of the five remaining cand...

Task Force for the Homeless in Mediation with City, Other Parties

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, which has sued the City of Atlanta and other parties for conspiring to sabotage and destroy the shelter, is in mediation talks with several parties, Atlanta Progressive News has learn...

Georgia Supreme Court Seeks Olens's Opinion on Atlanta's Secret Vote

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Supreme Court of Georgia has requested the opinion of Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens in a letter dated September 01, 2011, regarding the lawsuit currently before the Court, Matthew Cardinale v. City of Atlanta et al., whic...

(IPS) Five Nations Execute Homosexuals, Two More Considering It

This article appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=104945. ATLANTA, Georgia, U.S., Aug 31, 2011 (IPS) - Five nations still outlaw homosexuality and carry out executions of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and ...

(IPS) First Federal Reserve Audit Reveals Trillions in Secret Bailouts

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=104913. ATLANTA, Aug 28, 2011 (IPS) - The first-ever audit of the U.S. Federal Reserve has revealed 16 trillion dollars in secret bank bailou...

City Attorney Defends More Atlanta Closed Meetings, on Eagle Raid

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Senior Assistant City Attorney Kristen Denius defended two closed-door meetings involving the Atlanta Police Department LGBT Advisory Board, Mayor Reed and his staff, and APD, in a memo prepared for Glen Paul Freedman, Chair of ...

Food Not Bombs Feeds Hungry on Sundays on Ponce in Midtown

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Chapter of Food Not Bombs is about to celebrate two years of feeding hungry people on Ponce de Leon Avenue each Sunday at 1:30pm, on the sidewalk near the Whole Foods and Home Depot shopping center. That means they h...

Fulton Declines to Limit Contractors' Campaign Donations

  (APN) ATLANTA -- On Wednesday, August 17, 2011, the Board of Commissioners of Fulton County voted down  a proposal, 2 to 4, by Commissioner Emma Darnell (District 5), which would have prevented contractors  from making donations to any County Co...

Council Office Calls Security on APN Editor

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The City of Atlanta's City Council Office called security on Atlanta Progressive News's News Editor--the present writer--while the Monday, August 15, 2011, Full Council Meeting was going on, and only minutes before a court heari...

Nkromo Withdraws from Atlanta School Board Race (UPDATE 1)

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Kwabena Nkromo, a candidate for the Special Election for Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education District 2, has withdrawn from the race. Previously, Atlanta Progressive News reported that Nkromo did not live in District 2 fro...

City of Atlanta Loses Bid for Secret Memo Injunction, Contempt

  (APN) ATLANTA -- In a victory against the City of Atlanta's ongoing, multifaceted attack upon the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News--the present writer--prevailed in court again...

City of Atlanta Attorneys Want Their Memos Back

(APN) ATLANTA -- The City of Atlanta Law Department has requested that Atlanta Progressive News return four memoranda to their offices, after APN obtained the controversial memos and published their contents earlier this week. One memo, dated Apri...

Ex-Girlfriend Threatens APN Libel Suit over Nkromo Sex Tape Reference (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- The ex-girlfriend of Kwabena Nkromo, who is now a candidate for Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education District 2, has threatened Atlanta Progressive News with a libel suit following an August 03, 2011, article in APN concernin...

City Attorneys Saw Meetings Violations, Memos Show

  (APN) ATLANTA -- City attorneys for the City of Atlanta advised Council Members in a series of internal memos that the Council had violated the Georgia Open Meetings Act, and advised Council Members to change their practices, Atlanta Progressive...

Attorney General's Office Warns Atlanta over Closed Briefings

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Senior Assistant Attorney General Stefan Ritter advised the City of Atlanta and Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter's office that Attorney General Sam Olens's Office believes the City Council violated the Georgia Open Meetings Act...

Beltline, Not MARTA Line Extensions, on Penny Tax Proposed List

  Beltline, Not MARTA Line Extensions, on Penny Tax Proposed List By Matthew Cardinale, News Editor, The Atlanta PRogressive News (APN) ATLANTA -- On Thursday, August 04, 2011, the Executive Committee of the Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundta...

EXCLUSIVE: Nkromo Ineligible for School Board Seat (UPDATE 2)

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Kwabena Nkromo, a community activist who recently announced his intention to run in the November 2011 Special Election for a vacancy in the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education District 2 seat, is not eligible to run for th...

Hearing Monday in Atlanta Council Closed Briefings Lawsuit

(APN) ATLANTA -- On Monday, August 08, 2011, there will be a hearing before Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter in the case concerning the City Council of Atlanta's practice of holding seven closed-door Committee Briefings every two weeks and not al...

Crowded Field of Candidates in APS Board Special Election

  (APN) ATLANTA -- At least five people have expressed interest in running for the vacant Atlanta Public School Board of Education (District 2) seat, left vacant by Khaatim El, who resigned from the Board on July 11, 2011. District 2 is located in...

(IPS) New Clean Air Rules Force Some Coal Plants to Close

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56683 ATLANTA, Georgia, Jul 29, 2011 (IPS) - Utility companies across the U.S. have announced plans to shut down and retire several coal-fired po...

Dangerous Synthetic Cannabinoid "Incense" Floods Market

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Spice.  K-2.  Head Trip.  Spaz.  Spiz.  Mr. Miyagi's Warpaint Zero.  These are just a few of the many herbal incense products which have flooded Atlanta markets, as some citizens look for a way to get a legal buzz. The incense p...

Community Gardening Gets a Boost in Atlanta

  By Stephen Wing, Special to The Atlanta Progressive News (APN) ATLANTA -- Facing an uncertain future, people across the country seem to instinctively grasp two things: They want a greater sense of community in their lives and  they want to grow ...

City of Atlanta Covering Up for Clerk's Ethical Lapses

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The City Council of Atlanta is considering a written reprimand for Municipal Clerk Rhonda Dauphin Johnson for misuse of City property; however, the reprimand inexplicably fails to address  a number of findings involving Johnson,...

(IPS) Iranian Man Faces Death over Religious Conversion

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56522. ATLANTA, Georgia, U.S., Jul 18, 2011 (IPS) - Faith leaders in the U.S. representing 25 million citizens have expressed outrage about ...

Georgia Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Secret Vote Case

  Georgia Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Secret Vote Case By Matthew Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA -- The Supreme Court of Georgia agreed on Monday, July 11, 2011, to hear a case brought by the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News--the present writer--...

APN Issues 2011 Atlanta Council Member Scorecards

  APN Issues 2011 Atlanta Council Member Scorecards By Matthew Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA -- Following several important, split votes by the City Council of Atlanta in late 2010 and so far in 2011, Atlanta Progressive News has issued a revised Atlant...

Georgia PSC Can't Silence Nuclear Power Debate

  (APN) Doug Everett, Member of the Georgia Public Service Commission, attempted to limit the scope of public remarks at a recent meeting of the PSC, on Wednesday, July 06, 2011, but could not prevent citizens from stating they do not want two new...

Atlanta Council Rejects 4am Bar Hours

  (APN) ATLANTA -- In an 11 to 3 vote, the City Council of Atlanta rejected a proposal by Kwanza Hall (District 2) to re-extend the City's bar closing hours from 3am to 4am. Those voting nay on the motion to adverse the legislation--or, in support...

ANALYSIS: Moore, Sheperd Crucial to Pension Compromise

  (APN) ATLANTA -- When the City of Atlanta passed a compromise pension reform proposal it was hailed as a shining new example of the City Council coming together in a unanimous vote. But the unanimous vote covers up a non-unanimous count of a vot...

Atlanta Council Delays Watershed Vote following APN Article

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The City Council of Atlanta, which was expected to vote today on the confirmation of Jo Ann Macrina, Mayor Kasim Reed's nominee for Commissioner for the Department of Watershed Management, delayed the vote following recent reval...

Atlanta's Watershed Nominee at Issue in Alleged Retaliatory Firings

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Today the City Council of Atlanta is likely to consider the nomination of Jo Ann Macrina as Commissioner of the Department of Watershed Management. After being nominated by Mayor Kasim Reed in April 2011, she is already serving ...

(IPS) Undisclosed Beheading at Heart of Indonesian, Saudi Row

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56319. ATLANTA, Georgia, U.S., Jun 30, 2011 (IPS) - Indonesia, which has an estimated 1.2 million emigrants in Saudi Arabia, is deeply troubled th...

Atlantan Unveils Unique Aquaponic Farming Ecosystem

  (APN) ATLANTA -- On Saturday, June 25, 2011, there was a ribbon cutting ceremony, and Open House commemorating the site installation of an aquaponic-bioponic  sustainable farming ecosystem.  The event was held at the Bush Mountain Outdoor Activi...

Federal Judge Throws Out Two Provisions of Georgia's Immigrant Law

  (APN) ATLANTA -- On June 27, 2011, US District Judge Thomas Thrash, Jr., put on hold two core parts of HB 87 which would have gone into effect July 1.  His ruling blocks police from asking about immigration status during investigations of crimin...

(IPS) Public Workers Fight to Preserve Pensions

A previous version of this article appeared on the Inter-Press Service at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56311. ATLANTA, Georgia, Jun 30, 2011 (IPS) - Municipal workers across the United States are fighting to preserve their pensions amidst a...

Atlanta Proposes Charging for Collected Rainwater

(APN) ATLANTA -- A currently proposed City of Atlanta ordinance would begin to charge residents who use rainwater catchment systems, raising concern among some Atlanta citizens who see the ordinance as taxing the water which falls from the sky.Ord...

(IPS) Iran Executes Hundreds in "War on Drugs"

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56248. ATLANTA, Georgia, U.S., Jun 27, 2011 (IPS) - Iran is drawing international criticism for its continued mass executions of people con...

City of Atlanta Answers Committee Briefings Lawsuit

(APN) ATLANTA -- The City of Atlanta and seven Council Members have responded to a lawsuit filed by the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News--the present writer--challenging their practice of holding seven closed-door Committee Briefings every ...

NAACP, GCPA Sue Georgia for Neglecting Low-Income Voter Registration

  A lawsuit was filed on June 6, 2011 in federal court  to force Georgia's state public assistance offices to comply with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) that requires all public assistance offices to offer voter registration forms to p...

AHA Board Slashes Alisias Contract, Chastises CEO Glover

(APN) ATLANTA -- Sparks were flying today, Wednesday, June 15, 2011, at the Atlanta Housing Authority Board of Commissioners meeting, as the Board voted to slash the fiscal year 2012 budget item for the Alisias PR firm from 750,000 dollars to 84,0...

APS Ethics Panel Member Resigns to Protect Chairman El

(APN) ATLANTA -- A fourth member of the Ethics Commission of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education, David Dorsey, has resigned, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. In Dorsey's letter of resignation, he writes that APS BOE Chairman Khaati...

Mitchell, Moore, Bond Blast Mayor Reed's Pension Scare Tactics

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Council President Ceasar Mitchell and Council Members Felicia Moore (District 9) and Michael Julian Bond (Post 1-at-large) criticized Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed in scathing comments during the Full Council Meeting of the City Coun...

Wan, Council Sit Silently Through Anti-Gay Rant

(APN) ATLANTA -- At the last Full Council meeting of the City Council of Atlanta, on June 06, 2011, citizen activist, Dave Walker, used his two minute public comment portion to make a series of anti-gay remarks."Mr. President and Council Members, ...

(IPS) Bahrain's Tribunal-Issued Death Sentences Cause Outcry

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service at http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56035. ATLANTA, Georgia, U.S., Jun 11, 2011 (IPS) - Democracy advocates in the United States are troubled by the pending execution of two men who took par...

Atlanta Councilwoman Winslow Draws Early Challenger

  Atlanta Councilwoman Winslow Draws Early Challenger By Matthew Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA -- Kwabena Nkromo has announced his intent to challenge Atlanta City Councilwoman Cleta Winslow (District 4) in the 2013 Municipal Election, according to an e...

MARTA Rail Proposals in All Directions but South

(APN) ATLANTA -- When the Atlanta Regional Roundtable considers proposals to include as part of the finalized regional wish list for the 2012 penny sales tax vote, there will be several MARTA Heavy Rail Line Extensions on the table: East, North, N...

GDOT Returns Revised Transportation Wish List to Atlanta Region

(APN) ATLANTA -- The second step in the process which will lead to a Metro Atlanta region vote in 2012 on whether to levy a one penny sales tax to support transportation projects in the region, has been completed.The Georgia Department of Transpor...

Lawsuit Filed to Challenge Georgia's Anti-Immigrant Law

(APN) ATLANTA -- On Thursday, June 02, 2011, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Georgia, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Asian Law Caucus, and a coalition of other organizations includin...

Fulton County Bans Use of Elephant Bullhooks in Circuses

(APN) ATLANTA -- On Wednesday, June 01, 2011, the Fulton County Commission banned the use of elephant bullhooks in circuses, after months of lobbying by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Georgia Animal Rights and Protection (G...

Right-Wing City, Milton, Elects Homosexual Councilman Under the Radar

This article first appeared on The Beacon website at: http://www.beaconcastmedia.com/politics-/Can-A-Gay-Man-Win-ReElection-To-Georgias-Most-Conservative-City-060111-2930 (APN) ATLANTA -- Alan Tart is a successful professional employee with the fe...

Georgians Rally for Marijuana Policy Reform

  (APN) ATLANTA -- About thirty activists from around the State of Georgia gathered in Atlanta's Little Five Points neighborhood on Saturday, May 07, 2011, to rally for marijuana policy reform The rally began at Freedom Park and ended up in Findle...

State Rep. Rashad Taylor Comes Out of the Closet

By Arit Essien, Special to The Atlanta Progressive News, with additional reporting by Matthew Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA -- In a noon press conference today, State Rep. Rashad Taylor, who has worked extensively with Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, told re...

(IPS) Prison Lobbyists Help Spread Anti-Immigrant Laws to U.S. South

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55802 ATLANTA, Georgia, May 26, 2011 (IPS) - Earlier this month, Georgia became the third state to enact some of the most anti-immigrant legislation in...

APAB Votes to Request Atlanta Committee Briefing Records

(APN) ATLANTA -- At the Saturday, May 21, 2011, meeting of the Atlanta Planning and Advisory Board (APAB), the citizens' advisory group to the City of Atlanta, APAB voted to request information related to one of the City Council of Atlanta's seven...

Pat Chapman, 1926-2011, !Presente!

(APN) ATLANTA -- Pat Chapman, 85, a lifelong advocate for the less fortunate who continued her activism on the computer after becoming home-bound, passed away from complications from a stroke, on Monday, May 16, 2011. Over the last fifteen years, ...

Deal, Reed, Muhammad Nudge Atlanta BOE Chairman El towards Resignation

(APN) ATLANTA -- On various occasions over the last few weeks, key political players at the local and state levels have been nudging Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education Chairman Khaatim El towards resignation; and a Board vote on a new Chair...

APN Editor Sues City of Atlanta for Closed-Door Briefings

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The News Editor for the Atlanta Progressive News--the present writer--has filed a lawsuit against the City of Atlanta, to bring openness, public access, and transparency to the City Council of Atlanta's seven closed-door, privat...

Rev. Lowery Sues over North Fulton Cities, Claims Black Vote Dilution

This article first appeared on The Beacon website at: http://www.beaconcastmedia.com/news/-Rev-Lowery-Sues-over-North-Fulton-Cities-Claims-Black-Vote-Dilution-2887 (APN) ATLANTA -- Rev. Joseph Lowery, one of the few remaining veterans of the Civil...

Governor Deal Poised to Sign Divisive Immigration Bill in Georgia

(APN) ATLANTA -- Governor Nathan Deal is poised to sign the controversial racial profiling immigration bill, HB 87, into law.  He has until May 24, 2011, to sign or veto the bill before it automatically becomes law, that is, forty days since it wa...

Activist Group Targets Bad Employers, Slum Landlords

(APN) ATLANTA -- A new, underground activist group called the Atlanta Solidarity Network (ASOL) is using collective force to fight back against bad employers and slum landlords."The Atlanta Solidarity Network is a group of volunteers seeking to he...

Former CIA, McGovern, Speaks in Atlanta on Osama, Clinton, and Erosion of Rights

(APN) DECATUR -- Ray McGovern, 71, former CIA analyst and current anti-war activist, visited Decatur on Monday, May 02, 2011, at the Atlanta Friends Meeting House, for a forum organized by the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition's Atlanta chapter....

Atlanta Council Opposes APS Board Replacement Law

(APN) ATLANTA -- The City Council of Atlanta voted Monday, May 02, 2011, to express their opposition to SB 79, which Republican Governor Nathan Deal has signed, and which gives Deal the power to recommend removal of the Atlanta Public Schools Boar...

BREAKING: Midtown APD Chief Ousted for Opposing Patrol Cuts

(APN) ATLANTA -- Major Khirus E. Williams was apparently ousted from the Atlanta Police Department after a recent email he sent to Midtown Atlanta residents warning of proposed cuts to community patrolling, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.Wil...

Newsmakers Journal Fires Editor who Fabricated MARTA Attack

(APN) ATLANTA -- Newsmakers Live, an online news entity geared primarily toward Black readers in Atlanta which also has a live interview component, fired its editor, Maynard Eaton, for fabricating an attack against him on MARTA which never occurre...

For Activists, Architects, 9/11 Questions Linger Ten Years Later

With additional reporting by Matthew Cardinale, News Editor. (APN) ATLANTA -- It will be ten years since September 11, 2001, in just a few months.  And yet some of the most basic and fundamental questions about what happened that day--based upon p...

(IPS) Death Penalty in Limbo after US DEA Confiscates Lethal Drugs

This article first appeared on Inter-Press Service at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55438. ATLANTA, Georgia, Apr 29, 2011 (IPS) - The death penalty is in limbo in several states since the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency confiscated several st...

Three APS Ethics Panel Members Resign, Halting Four Cases

(APN) ATLANTA -- Three members of the Ethics Commission for the Atlanta Public School Board of Education have resigned, Atlanta Progressive News has learned, causing pending investigations and hearings to come to a screeching halt.Two of the Membe...

Attorney General Reprimands Savannah for Non-Quorum Meetings

(APN) ATLANTA -- Attorney General Sam Olens's office criticized the City Council of Savannah this month for having a series of meetings without quorums, and not allowing the public to attend.The practices of the Savannah Council are quite similar ...

The Beacon, North Fulton Newspaper, Ceases Publication

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Beacon, a far right-wing newspaper that primarily served North Fulton County, but also had a statewide audience, has ceased print publication as of today, April 25, 2011, amidst a Chapter Seven bankruptcy filing.The print news...

Seven Students Arrested at Emory during Tent City Stand-off

(APN) DEKALB COUNTY -- Seven students were arrested during a stand-off with the Emory University administration tonight, Monday, April 25, 2011, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. Last week, APN reported that 150 students protested at Emory reg...

Grady Plans to Close Community Clinics, Fulton Opposes Closures

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation (GMHC), the privatized, non-profit Board that took over management of Grady Hospital two years ago, has decided to close two community clinics, drawing the opposition of the Fulton County Co...

Georgia to Begin Medical Marijuana Research Trials

(APN) ATLANTA -- "Yes We Cannabis" was the rallying cry of many individuals and organizations on the grounds of the State Capitol, Wednesday, April 20, 2011, in support of marijuana policy reform in the State of Georgia.   The group also celebrate...

Emory Students Occupy Building over Cafeteria Workers' Rights

(APN) DECATUR -- About 150 students occupied the Administration Building at Emory University on Wednesday, April 20, 2011, for several hours.The students later left after numerous police arrived on the scene and threatened to arrest them, while th...

EDITORIAL: Article Did Not Cause Lower Eagle Pay-Outs

(APN) ATLANTA -- In previous editorials I have written about the interrelationship between media and society.  While the theory of objective media purports that reporters are to sit on the sidelines observing society, in fact news outlets are a pa...

Metro Atlanta Transportation Wish List Sent to State

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) has submitted to the planning director of the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) a "wish list" of transportation projects for the Metro Atlanta region.This is a critical step in a pro...

Legislature Empowers Governor to Replace APS Board Members

(APN) ATLANTA -- Earlier today, on the last day of the 2011 legislative session, Thursday, April 14, 2011, the State Senate approved, on a vote of 34-12, a version of SB 79 which was substituted by the House on Monday, April 11.The legislation, wh...

Downtown Horse Carriages Protested as Inhumane, Abusive

(APN) ATLANTA -- About 15 activists protested near Peachtree Center on Saturday, April 09, 2011, from 5 to 7pm, regarding the use of horse-drawn carriages as a tourist attraction.Atlanta Progressive News obtained photographs and observed as severa...

Labor Activists Recall Dr. King's Murder 43 Years Later

By Brian S. Sherman, Special to The Atlanta Progressive News (APN) ATLANTA -- More than six hundred unionists and pro-labor activists participated in the We Are One march and rally on Monday, April 04, 2011, in Atlanta.  The event was organized ...

Seven Undocumented Students Arrested for Wanting an Education

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Seven undocumented students from around the nation were arrested today while staging a sit-down protest on Courtland Street at Georgia State University for over an hour.  Risking prison and deportation these brave students pract...

City Hires former Reporter, Ramage, as Citizen Advocate

(APN) ATLANTA -- In an interesting twist of events, the City of Atlanta has hired Stephanie Ramage, former reporter, editor, and columnist for the Sunday Paper magazine, as its first Citizen Advocate. As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive ...

Beltline to Clarify Statement to Council Cmte, BAHAB to Give Update

(APN) ATLANTA -- At the Tuesday, March 29, 2011 meeting of the Community Development/Human Resources Cmte of the City Council of Atlanta, Council Members Natalyn Archibong (District 5) and Michael Julian Bond (Post 1-at-large) requested that Atlan...

APS Ethics Panel Declines to Sanction Mr. English 4-3

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Ethics Commission of the Atlanta Public School Board voted 4-3 against a final determination that APS Board of Education Member Courtney English failed to communicate honestly and openly with stakeholders, during a six hour he...

Atlanta Council Held Briefings With Quorums, Kept No Minutes

(APN) ATLANTA -- The City Council of Atlanta holds seven private, closed-door Committee briefings every two weeks, and has consistently told members of the public they cannot come in.Under the current Georgia Open Meetings Act they are allowed to ...

Chernobyl Experts Speak in Georgia about Nuclear Risks, Disasters

(APN) ATLANTA -- Last week, Wednesday, March 23, 2011, at Manuel's Tavern, Georgia Women's Action for New Direction (WAND), hosted Dr. Nataliya Miranova and Natalia Manzurova, for the purpose of them sharing their expertise on the risks of nuclear...

(IPS) US Supreme Court Rejects Troy Davis Appeal after New Hearing

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service at: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55050 ATLANTA, Georgia, Mar 29, 2011 (IPS) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that it would not hear an appeal by death row inmate Troy Davis, i...

Attorney General Proposal Would Ban Secret Votes, Private Briefings in Georgia

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Making good on a campaign promise to strengthen Georgia's Sunshine Laws, including the Open Records Act and Open Meetings Act, Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, a Republican, has proposed a series of significant changes to bot...

8,000 Rally against Georgia Anti-Immigrant Bills

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Over 8,000 activists rallied outside the State Capitol on Thursday, March 24, 2011, to show their outrage and disgust over Georgia's Arizona-type  immigration bills.  As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News, legislati...

Councilwoman Moore Defends Closed-Door Committee Briefings

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Atlanta City Councilwoman Felicia Moore (District 9), Chairwoman of the Committee on Council (COC), defended the practice of closed-door, private  committee briefings, during the March 07, 2011, Cmte meeting, in response to an i...

Parents' Group Calls on El to Resign as APS Board Chair

  (APN) ATLANTA -- On Friday, March 18, 2011, a group of Atlanta Public Schools parents called Step Up or Step Down--which was formed after AdvancED/SACS CASI put APS on probation in January 2011--called upon Board of Education Chairman Khaatim El...

200 Protest in Midtown over US Occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan

    (APN) ATLANTA --  Yesterday, on the 8th anniversary of the criminal US "shock and awe" attack on Iraq, 160 Atlantans marched in Midtown to bring awareness that the US  still has troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that these continued occupati...

Larry Collins, 1954-2011, Drycleaner to Politicos, Friend to Many (UPDATE 1)

UPDATE 1: Statement from Councilman Willis:  "He was an all-around great guy.  He was very thoughtful- he treated every one of his customers the same, if you were a City Councilmember or an attorney or a judge, you felt like you were walking into...

Senate Democrats Vow To "Take To The Streets" In Battle over HOPE Reforms

This article first appeared on The Beacon website at: http://www.beaconcastmedia.com/politics/Senate-Democrats-Vow-To-Take-To-The-Streets-In-Battle-over-HOPE-Reforms--2851 (APN) ATLANTA -- Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signed HB 326, a major reform package...

Sterling Sweeps To Victory In Sandy Springs Special Election

This article first appeared in The Beacon at http://www.beaconcastmedia.com/news/Sterling-Sweeps-To-Victory-In-Sandy-Springs-Special-Election-2849. (APN) SANDY SPRINGS -- Former Sandy Springs Councilwoman Ashley Jenkins met newly elected Sandy Spr...

APS Ethics Commission Investigating English, Johnson, Meister over Alisias

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Ethics Commission of the Atlanta Public Schools voted in a meeting today, Wednesday, March 16, 2011, to open three investigations into complaints against Board of Education Members Courtney English, Yolanda Johnson, and Nancy ...

Councilwoman Sheperd Protects Beltline, Perpetuates Fraud

(APN) ATLANTA -- Atlanta City Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd (District 12), Chairwoman of the Community Development/Human Resources (CD/HR) Cmte, continues to protect Beltline Inc. from oversight and scrutiny, while allowing them to use her Cmte to pe...

Street Car May Endanger Auburn Avenue Small Businesses

(APN) ATLANTA – If all goes according to plan, Atlanta’s historic Auburn Avenue will get a street car line by July 2012.  [Of course, US House Republicans could attempt to pull all federal funding for the project, so aside from that.]The Atlanta S...

Three Vie for Sandy Springs Council Seat

This article first appeared on The Beacon website at: http://www.beaconcastmedia.com/news/Three-Vie-for-Vacant-Sandy-Springs-City-Council-Seat-2821 (subscription-only)   (SANDY SPRINGS, Ga.) -- Three candidates debated their qualifications and att...

Democrats, Republicans Diverged on HOPE Scholarship Reforms

Editor's note: This article by APN's News Editor was commissioned by, and will also be appearing on the Beacon Online, a North Fulton County publication.  In a unique partnership, the Beacon is also syndicating some of APN's articles both in print...

College Student Activist Arrested at HOPE Debate in Georgia House

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Andrew Epstein, a graduate student in history at the University of Georgia, was arrested today, Tuesday, March 08, 2011, at the Georgia State Capitol during the State Senate floor debate of HB 326, the Republican bill to amend t...

Some Georgia Immigration Bills Advance, Others Stagnate or Fail

  (APN) ATLANTA -- With several immigration-related bills introduced this year in the Georgia Legislature, some of the most sweeping measures--modeled after recently passed immigration reforms in Arizona--are advancing to passage, while other bill...

APS Ethics Panel: Evidence Mr. English Not Truthful with Public

  APS Ethics Panel: Evidence Mr. English Not Truthful By Matthew Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA -- The Ethics Commission of Atlanta Public Schools announced its initial findings in the ethics case involving Atlanta Board of Education Member Courtney Engl...

Georgia Power Charging Late Fees on LIHEAP Payments

(APN) ATLANTA -- Georgia Power is assessing late fees to customers across the State of Georgia who are approved for heating assistance through the federal Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) program, during a six week processing time...

Delk, English Defiant in Response to APS Ethics Investigation

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Atlanta Public Schools Board Member Courtney English was defiant in the face of an APS Ethics Commission  investigation regarding his apparently defrauding the public, according to documents filed by English's attorney,  Glenn D...

(IPS) EPA Moves to Regulate Carbon Dioxide, Holds Atlanta Hearing

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54603 ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb 24, 2011 (IPS) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun the initial stages of a process that may lead to th...

Mitchell Orders Security for all Council, Committee Meetings

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Ceasar Mitchell, President of the City Council of Atlanta, has ordered security at all meetings of Full Council and Council Committees. The security officers began appearing two weeks ago at the last Full Council meeting.  Activ...

Prison Firms, Suspected Hate Group behind Georgia's Immigrant Bills

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Private prison firms and right-wing hate groups have supported, lobbied for, and--either directly or indirectly--helped to craft several bills pending  in the Georgia legislature this Session, including HB 87, the Illegal Immigr...

APS Ethics Panel to Hold Hearing on Mr. English with Independent Officer

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Last night, Wednesday, February 16, 2011, the Ethics Commission for Atlanta Public Schools voted to hold a hearing regarding the pending complaint that Board of Education Member Courtney English deceived the public. At issue is ...

Beltline Inc. Attempts to Deceive City Council about BAHAB's Original Recommendations

  Beltline Inc. Attempts to Deceive City Council By Matthew Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA -- Beltline Inc. attempted to deceive the Community Development and Human Resources Committee of the City Council of Atlanta in a series of responses to questions ...

Phillip Rush Center Emerges as Shared GLBTQI Community Space

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Since its grand opening in 2009, the Phillip Rush Center, located at 1530 Dekalb Avenue, has emerged as a new, shared community space for Atlanta's gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and intersex community. ...

PETA Activists, "Elephant" Block Entrance to City Hall, 3 Arrested

(APN) ATLANTA -- Four Atlanta activists with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals blocked the entrance to Atlanta City Hall today, as part of a demonstration against the alleged abuse of elephants by the Ringling Brothers circus. Three acti...

Persistent Plane Contrails Cover Atlanta Skies, Raise Concerns

With additional reporting by Matthew Cardinale, News Editor.   (APN) ATLANTA -- Over the last several months, Atlanta Progressive News and Atlanta residents have been documenting an increase in white lines left from airplanes flying overhead, some...

APS Ethics Panel Pursuing El Cases, Considering Outside Officer for English Case

(APN) ATLANTA -- Several Atlanta Public Schools parents have contacted Atlanta Progressive News to report significant progress at last night's Atlanta Public Schools Ethics Commission meeting, of Wednesday, February 09, 2011. First, the Commission...

APS Member English Hasn't Paid Ethics Fine

(APN) ATLANTA -- Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education Member Courtney English has yet to pay his ethics fine, two weeks since it became due, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. Howard Grant of APS confirmed to APN in a phone conversation th...

APS Board Chair, El, Faces Two Ethics Complaints about Alisias

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Khaatim El, Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education Chairperson, faces two ethics complaints filed with APS today, Atlanta Progressive News has  learned. One of the complaints El filed against himself, while another was filed ...

Former Norwood Staffer Seeks Sandy Springs Council Seat

(APN) ATLANTA -- Chiteka Jackson, a former campaign staffer for former Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood (Post 2-at-large) in her bid for Mayor of Atlanta in 2009, has announced a bid for the open fourth district seat on the City Council of S...

APS Ethics Commission Votes to Review New Courtney English Complaint

(APN) ATLANTA -- At last night's meeting of the Ethics Commission for Atlanta Public Schools, the Commission voted to initiate an investigation into new allegations that Board of Education Member Courtney English defrauded the public regarding his...

Rental Assistance Funds Stagnate, Still Available in Atlanta

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Several Atlanta non-profit agencies did not disburse rental assistance and other homelessness prevention funds in a timely manner and risked having the funds taken back by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Atla...

2011 to See Another Legislative Push for Milton County

(APN) ATLANTA -- With the 2011 legislature in session, there are several reasons to believe that some North Fulton residents, County Commission Members, and state legislators will ramp up their push for the re-creation of Milton County, splitting ...

Atlantans Protest in Solidarity with Egyptian People

(APN) ATLANTA -- About 300 people gathered at CNN Center to stand in solidarity with the Egyptian people.  The crowd chanted "30 years is enough - Mubarak must go.""The rally at CNN was extremely positive support, whether from the non-Egyptians wh...

FBI Raids Georgia Tech Student's Dorm over Wikileaks Chat Room (UPDATE 1)

UPDATE: A roommate of Chen called APN to say that the roommate had received the note left by APN.  He said he would forward the note to Chen.  He said that Chen had met with the university's administration yesterday and was advised not to speak to...

(IPS) Lethal Drug Shortage Creates Ethical Quagmire for Death Penalty

This article was first published by Inter-Press Service at: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54281 ATLANTA, Georgia, Jan 28, 2011 (IPS) - As the domestic and overseas sources that U.S. states relied upon for sodium thiopental (ST), a key d...

Students Organize Protest at Bank of America Tower

(APN) ATLANTA - It was a cold, rainy, and dreary day, on Wednesday, January 26, 2011, as approximately 25 activists gathered in front of the Bank of American (BOA) headquarters building at 600 Peachtree Street.  They held signs stating, "BOA ...

SWEET Green Energy Training Center Opens in Midtown

(APN) ATLANTA -- On October 26, 2010, a new facility called the Southeast Weatherization and Efficiency Training (SWEET) Center opened in Atlanta's Midtown on Piedmont, south of North Avenue, next to the post office.The SWEET Center is a project o...

Courtney English Faces New APS Ethics Complaint

(APN) ATLANTA -- An Atlanta parent, Kim Kahwach, has filed what is now the second ethics complaint against Atlanta Board of Education Member Courtney English, this time for defrauding the public regarding his misuse of an APS credit card, accordin...

(IPS) Bird, Fish Kills Quite Common - and That's the Problem

This article originally appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54214 ATLANTA, Georgia, Jan 24, 2011 (IPS) - The New Year brought a spate of incidents across the United States and around the world in wh...

Update: Glover Plan Preempted

(APN) ATLANTA -- Renee Glover, CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority, today said she was not interested in leaving AHA nor in becoming the Superintendent of APS. APN's source indicates that Glover indeed was being pushed and considered for APS Supe...

Renee Glover May Be Angling for APS Superintendent

(APN) ATLANTA -- According to sources, Renee Glover, CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority, may be angling to become the next Superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools, and some Board of Education Members are considering proposing her for the positi...

PSC Releases Emergency Low-Income Energy Assistance for Seniors

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) released five million dollars from the Universal Service Fund fund on January 18, 2011, to help low-income seniors pay their energy bills this winter. Georgia Watch had made a formal r...

APS Board Member Mr. English Apparently Lied over Credit Card Use

(APN) ATLANTA -- Courtney English, an Atlanta Public School Board Member, appears to have lied to the public and the media regarding his use of an APS credit card for personal expenses, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.Further, the APS ethics ...

Reed's Political Clique at Center of APS Board Takeover

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Two state legislators held a press conference yesterday to denounce the report by AdvancED/SACS CASI regarding the Atlanta Public Schools.  The two legislators--State Sen. Vincent Fort and State Rep. Rashad Taylor--have been act...

SACS Report Criticizes APS Chairman El, Alisias Contract

(APN) ATLANTA -- AdvancED, the parent company for the K-12 division of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)--the division known as the Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (CASI)--released its findings regarding its i...

US Supreme Court Declines to Hear Ballot Access Case

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) decided today that it would not hear the Georgia ballot access case, Faye Coffield v. Brian Kemp.  According to the court's website, it denied Coffield's petition for a writ of certiorari. ...

Council Committee Seeks AHA Eviction, Relocation Data

(APN) ATLANTA -- Councilman Ivory Young (District 3) of the Community Development/Human Resources Committee of the City Council of Atlanta requested the Atlanta Housing Authority provide data and information on the status of displaced families and...

Clayton County Votes in Favor of Joining MARTA, What Next?

(APN) ATLANTA -- In the General Election on November 02, 2010, Clayton County voters voted in a nonbinding referendum upon whether or not to join the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), which since its inception has served only F...

CD/HR Council Committee Relaxes Public Input Limitations, Somewhat

(APN) ATLANTA -- In a victory for public input, the Community Development/Human Resources Committee of the City Council of Atlanta will no longer limit public input to two minutes for individuals who arrive after the meeting begins. Citizen advoca...

Progressive Legislators Oppose Sales Tax on Groceries Reinstatement (UPDATE 2)

(APN) ATLANTA -- Five progressive state legislators--State Sens. Vincent Fort, Donzella James, and Curt Thompson, and State Reps. Stephanie Benfield and Tyrone Brooks--are opposing some of the major recommendations of the 2010 Special Council on T...

Heating Assistance Funds Near-Exhausted in Fulton

(APN) ATLANTA -- Since January 03, 2011, the Fulton Atlanta Community Action Authority has temporarily stopped accepting new applications for heating assistance through the federal LIHEAP program, due to exhaustion of funds. The program runs ...

Kemp Appoints Two Ballot Access Supporters to Elections Council

(APN) ATLANTA -- Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp has appointed two ballot access advocates to his Elections Advisory Council, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. They include State Rep. Rusty Kidd, the only independent to serve in ...

Georgia Proposal Would Deny Birthright Citizenship to Children of Undocumented

(APN) ATLANTA -- Georgia State Sen. Jack Murphy, a Republican, participated in a press conference at the National Press Club on Wednesday, January 05, 2011, with legislators from four other US states--Arizona, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Car...

Sunday Paper Ceases News Coverage, Lets Ramage Go

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Sunday Paper magazine, an alternative newsweekly founded in 2004, will cease publishing news, and is switching to a focus on coupons and arts and entertainment, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.While the paper overall seem...

Archibong Joins CD/HR Cmte; Bond, Wan Join Public Safety Cmte (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Committee assignments for the City Council of Atlanta are out for 2011, and it appears that Council President Ceasar Mitchell has made several changes. UPDATE: Since this article was published last week, Mitchell put Yolanda A...

Georgia to Get a 14th US Congressional District

(APN) ATLANTA -- As a result of the 2010 US Census, the US government has determined that Georgia's population has experienced sufficient growth in the last ten years to warrant the allocation of a 14th US Congressional District to the state.Georg...

Ballot Access Case Appealed to US Supreme Court

(APN) ATLANTA-- The lawsuit challenging Georgia's ballot access law requiring a five percent petition for non-statewide independent and political body candidates, brought by Faye Coffield, an independent candidate for Georgia's 4th Congressional D...

Thousands Apply for Heating Assistance in Fulton

(APN) ATLANTA -- Things were chaotic for the first couple weeks after Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program funds became available to the general public on December 01.  The LIHEAP funds--which are administered through counties across t...

Nine Democratic Legislators Have Switched to Republican Party Post-Election

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Nine Democratic legislators have now switched to the Republican Party since the November 2010 General Election. State Rep. Mike Cheokas is the latest, as of December 20, 2010. “I made this decision in careful consultation with m...

(IPS) Prisoners Coordinate Statewide Strike via Cellphones

This article was first published by the Inter-Press Service at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53916   ATLANTA, Georgia, Dec 20, 2010 (IPS) - In what some are calling the largest prison strike in U.S. history, inmates in the state of Georgia c...

APS Receives Bill for Alisias PR Work for Board Majority

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Glenn Delk, a Buckhead attorney and pro-privatization advocate who some have described as an enemy of Atlanta Public Schools, billed APS for the cost of representing the new Board Majority in the recent lawsuit brought by the Bo...

Activist Arrested at Millen Prison Groundbreaking

(APN) MILLEN, Georgia -- Activist Ayman Fadel, 42, was arrested Wednesday, December 15, 2010, at a protest of the groundbreaking of a new prison facility in Millen, Georgia.  Millen is in Jenkins County, Georgia. Gov. Sonny Perdue was present at t...

Atlantans Protest in Support of Wikileaks

  (APN) ATLANTA -- On Wednesday evening, December 15, 2010, over 75 activists and concerned citizens braved freezing rain at the CNN Center to publicly stand up for the right to dissent.   Their demands were to stop government harassment of antiw...

Alisias PR Firm Aided Delk, Played Covert Role in APS Board Crisis

  (APN) ATLANTA -- An Atlanta PR firm and think tank which is a force for privatization in Atlanta, Alisias, has been engaged in a covert media and publicity campaign  involving the Atlanta Public Schools. Alisias's clients appear to include Khaat...

Concerned Black Clergy Opposes APS Witch Hunt

  (APN) ATLANTA -- The Concerned Black Clergy held a press conference on Monday, December 06, 2010, denouncing what they characterize as a witchhunt against the Atlanta Public Schools. "This morning the Concerned Black Clergy call on local and st...

PS/LA Committee Sorry to Some Eagle Victims, Not Others

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Public Safety/Legal Administration (PS/LA) Committee of the City Council of Atlanta approved a substitute to a resolution proposed by Councilman Michael Julian Bond (Post 1-at-large) regarding an apology related to the Atlanta...

Georgia Power, PSC Sticks it to Ratepayers (UPDATE 2)

    (APN) ATLANTA -- The Public Service Commission (PSC) is currently considering Georgia Power's purposed 844 million dollar rate increase, despite the fact that the country is in the middle of a recession with historically high unemployment and ...

Judge to Reconsider Warrant for Grady CEO on Open Records

  (APN) ATLANTA -- Fulton County Superior Court Judge Constance Russell denied a warrant application for Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation CEO Pete Correll on Monday, November 29, 2010, that had been sought by Petitioner, Jack Jersawitz. As prev...

APD Policy Changes in Store, Bond to Push Council Apology

(APN) ATLANTA -- After a federal judge signed off on the settlement between 28 Plaintiffs and the City of Atlanta in the Eagle raid case, details emerged of significant policy and practice changes for the Atlanta Police Department. Mayor Kasi...

Pro-Charter School Activist Aiding New APS Majority

(APN) ATLANTA -- A Buckhead activist who has been a staunch supporter of privatization, especially of public schools, has been aiding the new Board Majority of the Atlanta Public Schools. Glenn Delk, who wears many hats, has been representing...

Midtown Gym Displaced by Beltline, Other Businesses Endangered

(APN) ATLANTA -- A Midtown gym is being forced to relocate after a gravel pathway the business had been renting from the Beltline--and from the railroad company before that--for its parking lot, is now being used for part of the Beltline's East Co...

Excluded Eagle Plaintiff Files Claim after Council Approves Settlement

  (APN) ATLANTA -- One of two victims of the Atlanta Eagle raid who were excluded from the federal lawsuit, Christopher Lopez, has filed a claim with the City of Atlanta alleging that he suffered some of the same violations as the Plaintiffs who w...

People TV Public Access Ends Live Programming after Funding Cut (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA -- People TV, a community-run and operated public access channel that appears on Comcast Cable channel 24, aired its last day of live programming yesterday, December 04, 2010, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. "It's not the last...

Eagle Settlement Heads to Public Safety Committee

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Public Safety/Legal Administration Committee of the City Council is expected to consider the proposed settlement reached yesterday between the City of Atlanta and the Plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit regarding the Atlanta Eag...

Settlement Reached in Atlanta Eagle Case (UPDATE 1)

UPDATE: This version of the story corrects to note that the next meeting of the PS/LA Cmte is on December 14. (APN) ATLANTA -- A settlement has been reached in the Atlanta Eagle raid lawsuit, according to court documents cited by Georgia Voice mag...

Downtown Shelter Opens Coffee Shop on Peachtree Street

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, the largest homeless shelter in the Southeastern US located on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta, has opened a coffeeshop, Blend, on its Peachtree Street entrance. The coffeeshop i...

Fulton Class Action Challenges Foreclosures involving MERS

By Cheryl Rosenblum and Matthew Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA -- On October 15, 2010, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of foreclosed homeowners in Fulton County who had their mortgage title transferred to MERS, an entity that is alleged t...

(IPS) Federal Reserve Conjures - and Redefines - Money

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53706 ATLANTA, Georgia, Nov 29, 2010 (IPS) - The private central bank of the United States, the Federal Reserve, has begun purchasing $600 billion of long-term U.S. Treasury Bonds, essentially subsidising the fe...

Despite Lee's Claim, Fulton Democrats Deny Offering Support

(APN] ATLANTA -- Kelly Amanda Lee, a candidate for Fulton County Superior Court Judge, appears to have made a misleading statement in an interview with Atlanta Progressive News. Lee had claimed that she received the support of the Fulton County De...

City of Atlanta Now Insists Straw Poll Was Vote After All

(APN] ATLANTA -- In a recent Brief of Appellees to the Georgia Court of Appeals, the City of Atlanta and individual Defendants--including several Council Members and the Municipal Clerk--have now completely reversed their argument and are insistin...

Fulton GOP Phonebanking for Lee, Superior Court Judge Candidate

(APN] ATLANTA -- The Fulton County GOP has been using its offices and resources to do phone-banking for Kelly Amanda Lee, a candidate for Fulton County Superior Court Judge, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.Lee is facing Shelitha Robertson in ...

Grady CEO Faces Open Records Warrant Hearing Monday

(APN] ATLANTA -- Pete Correll, the CEO of Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation, the privatized form of Grady Hospital, will face a warrant hearing Monday, November 29, 2010, before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Constance C. Russell, Atlanta Pr...

Undercover Cops Infiltrate SOAW Protest Planning

Photographs by Al Viola, Staff Photographer, The Atlanta Progressive News (APN) FORT BENNING, Georgia -- Five undercover officers infiltrated a planning meeting of seven School of the Americas Watch protesters in the days leading up to last week...

Reflections on Five Years of APN; Party Tonight at 7pm

(APN) ATLANTA -- Tonight, Tuesday, November 23, 2010, Atlanta Progressive News will celebrate the five-year anniversary of the publication, at Manuel's Tavern, Eagle's Nest room, from 7-930pm. The Facebook event page for the event is here: http://...

26 Arrested, Most in Error, at SOA Rally

(APN) FORT BENNING, Georgia -- At the School of the Americas protest last year, 2009, the Puppetistas--a group of artists and activists dressed up in costumes, some on stilts--decided to participate in a nonviolent civil disobedience action by ma...

Update 2 on Possible Eagle Raid Settlement

(APN) ATLANTA -- Yesterday, the Atlanta Progressive News reported that according to two anonymous sources, the Plaintiffs in the Eagle Raid lawsuit had received settlement letters from the City of Atlanta. Since then, two additional sources have c...

Eight Activists Arrested at Immigrant Prison in Lumpkin (UPDATE 1)

With additional reporting by Matthew Cardinale. (APN) LUMKPIN, Georgia -- Approximately 100 people gathered today, Friday, November 19, 2010, at the square in Lumpkin, Georgia to make the 1.7 mile walk to the Stewart Detention Center (SDC) wher...

BREAKING: City Proposes Possible Settlements in Atlanta Eagle Raid

(APN) ATLANTA -- The City of Atlanta has sent letters proposing possible settlements to the individual Plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit alleging violation of US Constitutional rights during the September 2009 raid of the Atlanta Eagle, a gay leat...

APN to Celebrate Five Years of Publication

(APN) ATLANTA -- On Tuesday, November 23, 2010, Atlanta Progressive News will celebrate five years of publication. APN readers are invited to help us celebrate on November 23 from 7-9:30pm, at Manuel's Tavern - Eagle's Nest Room, 602 N. Highland A...

Lack of Progress on Beltline Affordable Housing

(APN) ATLANTA -- Despite the allocation of fifteen percent of the bond proceeds from the first Beltline Tax Allocation District (TAD) bond issuance to the Beltline Affordable Housing Trust Fund, an investigation by Atlanta Progressive News shows t...

Four Arrested Protesting Regents' Ban on Undocumented Immigrants

(APN) ATLANTA -- Four activists were arrested at the Georgia State Capitol on Wednesday, November 10, 2010, in protest of the decision by the Board of Regents to ban undocumented immigrants from attending competitive Georgia colleges and universit...

Fulton Superior Judge Candidate Had Two D.U.I.'s

(APN) ATLANTA -- A candidate for Fulton County Superior Court Judge, Kelly Amanda Lee, has had two D.U.I. (Driving while Under the Influence) charges, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. Lee is in a Run-off with Shelitha Robertson.  Lee came i...

Sheperd Took PAC Money while Opposing Sustainability Ordinance

(APN) ATLANTA -- City Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd (District 12), Chairwoman of the Community Development/Human Resources (CD/HR) Committee, took a 1,000 dollar contribution from the Atlanta Realtors PAC while opposing the proposed Sustainable Build...

Democrats Suffer Major Losses, Begin Regrouping in Georgia

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Democratic Party of Georgia suffered major losses in the General Election this year, losing representation among every statewide constitutional office and losing a US Congressional seat. Democrats lost in every statewide ra...

Developer's Attorney Co-hosted Councilwoman's Fundraiser as City Hall East Debated

(APN) ATLANTA -- Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd (District 12), Chairwoman of the Community Development/Human Resources (CD/HR) Committee of the City Council of Atlanta received donations from Sharon Gay, the attorney representing Jamestown in its a...

(IPS) Mortgage, Foreclosure Paperwork Errors Not a New Problem

This article originally appeared on the Inter-Press Service at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53413. ATLANTA, Georgia, Oct 31, 2010 (IPS) - The discovery of apparent massive fraud in mortgage and foreclosure documents has called into questi...

APN 2010 General Election Endorsements

(APN) ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Progressive News Board of Directors is pleased to announce the following endorsements for the 2010 General Election. US SENATE: MIKE THURMOND (D) GOVERNOR: ROY BARNES (D). In the Democratic Primary, we endorsed Davi...

Norwood's Yardsigns: Broadbent, Pitts, Beskin, Hodges

(APN) BUCKHEAD -- Former City Councilwoman Mary Norwood (Post 2-at-large), who previously ran for Mayor of Atlanta and attempted to gain ballot access as an independent candidate for Fulton County Chairperson, is supporting one Democrat and on...

APN Overview of Proposed 2010 Georgia Amendment 5, Referendum A

(APN) ATLANTA -- There are five proposed amendments to the Constitution of the State of Georgia on the ballot in about one week, as well as a statewide referendum. Atlanta Progressive News spoke with several state lawmakers and local advocates ...

Council Sells City Hall East, Despite Secret Plans, Housing Questions

(APN) ATLANTA -- The City Council of Atlanta voted 11-2 on Monday, October 18, 2010, to sell City Hall East, the historic building which Council Member Kwanza Hall (District 2) described as the largest building in the Southeast US. Council Memb...

APN Overview of Proposed 2010 Georgia Amendments 3 and 4

(APN) ATLANTA -- There are five proposed amendments to the Constitution of the State of Georgia on the ballot in two weeks, as well as a statewide referendum. Atlanta Progressive News spoke with several state lawmakers and local advocates to le...

APN Overview of Proposed 2010 Georgia Amendments 1 and 2

(APN) ATLANTA -- There are five proposed amendments to the Constitution of the State of Georgia on the ballot in two weeks, as well as a statewide referendum. Atlanta Progressive News spoke with several state lawmakers and local advocates to le...

Pitts, Broadbent, Henry Debate Fulton County Issues

Photograph by Dwanda Farmer (APN) ATLANTA -- Three candidates for at-large seats on the Fulton County Commission participated in a debate sponsored by Atlanta Progressive News yesterday, October 19, 2010, at the Spring4th Center in Midtown. Inc...

APN Endorses Chastain, Libertarian, for Secretary of State

(APN) ATLANTA -- Atlanta Progressive News's Board of Directors was pleased to endorse David Chastain in the General Election for Secretary of State of Georgia because of his commitment to restoring the integrity of our elections. In 2006, APN e...

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