Gunshots erupted and Donald Trump was pulled to the ground. About a minute later he stood up, raised his fists defiantly, and was removed by Secret Service into a car and taken from the scene.
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The founder of Coalition for Liberty, the organization funding a lawsuit brought by a Georgia realtor who was fired after making a public speech about sexually explicit materials in public libraries, told The Georgia Star News that cancel culture will be defeated when activists learn “everyday Americans” have the support of groups like his.
Coalition for Liberty is funding the lawsuit filed by Julie Mauck against LGBT activists and an activist organization, which she states made false claims about her July 2023 speech in opposition to the reading materials.
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Georgia realtor Julie Mauck was fired by her broker and accused by the Georgia Association of Realtors of engaging in discrimination after she claims a group of cancel culture activists made false claims about her remarks at a July 2023 open meeting at a public library, where she discussed the availability of sexually explicit reading materials for children.
Mauck eventually found a new broker and secured the backing of Coalition for Liberty, a nonprofit that partners with other organizations to help individuals respond to cancel culture, and successfully won an appeal to maintain her license.
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GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk says the House panel of which is chairman has found the final report of the chamber’s Democrat-led Select Committee on the January 6 Capitol Attack is so flawed that it could be invalidated.
“We’re still investigating, but at the same time, we have uncovered enough to where it really invalidates the select committee’s report,” Loudermilk, chairman of the House Admission Subcommittee on Oversight, said Tuesday on the John Solomon Reports podcast.
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The independent presidential campaigns of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West had both submitted thousands of signatures by Tuesday to secure a place on the 2024 presidential ballot in Georgia, meaning Peach State voters may see six choices on their ballot in November.
While the West campaign claimed on Monday it had already submitted the required number of ballots, Kennedy’s campaign was photographed submitting thousands of ballots on Tuesday, when Georgia Secretary of State official Gabriel Sterling confirmed the signatures have yet to be verified.
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The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday struck down an injunction blocking Georgia from enforcing a state campaign finance law against two nonprofits founded by former Democratic Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams.
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Atlanta officials are considering a new tax to target neglected properties that result in “blighted conditions and disinvestment” in some Atlanta neighborhoods.
Mayor Andre Dickens, working with Councilmember Byron Amos, announced legislation to create a “blight tax.” If approved, the legislation would allow the municipal court to tax neglected properties, which officials said would change the “economics of neglectful land speculation.”
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Democrats could face legal challenges in Georgia should they attempt replace President Joe Biden on the November ballot, according to an analysis of state election laws published ahead of his poor debate performance against President Donald Trump on June 27.
The analysis, published to the social media platform X by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project days prior to the debate, notes Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin “have specific procedures for withdrawal of a presidential nominee,” with each state differing on when a withdrawal must be filed and who can replace the nominee.
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Georgia’s Secretary of State’s office should take additional action to ensure it meets federal reporting and inventory requirements tied to federal election grants.
The Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts included the finding in a new audit following a March 2022 examination.
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Georgia Democratic Party chair and U.S. Representative Nikema Williams (D-GA-05) stated in a Wednesday interview that President Joe Biden is ultimately the “only person” who will determine whether to step down and allow another Democrat to face former President Donald Trump in November.
Williams was asked about Biden’s political future in the aftermath of his poor debate performance during an interview with 11 Alive, when the Democrat explained, “Biden is the only person who can make the decision,” and confirmed she will support the 81-year-old president until he makes such a choice.
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A federal judge on Friday afternoon halted part of a new state law barring charitable bail from taking effect while a legal challenge proceeds.
U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert issued a temporary restraining order for 14 days following a Friday hearing. The ACLU of Georgia and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center filed the lawsuit asking a judge to declare Section 4 of Georgia Senate Bill 63 unconstitutional.
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The judge in former President Donald Trump’s hush money case approved a request on Tuesday to push back the former president’s sentencing until Sept. 18.
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A federal grand jury has indicted the Newton County Board of Commissioners chairman and a commissioner-elect on federal charges of conspiring to launder money obtained from wire fraud and honest services wire fraud.
A federal grand jury indicted Marcello Banes, 48, of Covington, the board’s chair, and Stephanie Lindsey, 52, of Covington, a real estate broker and attorney who was elected to the county commission earlier this month, on conspiracy to launder money obtained from wire fraud and honest services wire fraud and money laundering. The grand jury also indicted Lindsey for federal income tax fraud and Banes for making materially false statements to FBI special agents.
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Georgia’s largest newspaper on Saturday night published a front page editorial pleading with President Joe Biden to step aside and embrace “the shade of retirement.”
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The head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta remains “quite optimistic that things are heading in the right direction.”
In a video message posted Thursday alongside a longer-form piece, Raphael Bostic, president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said that after the inflation rate declined rapidly in the second half of 2023, it seemed to stall early this year.
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Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser, must report to prison by Monday after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal on Friday.
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A Monday poll found former President Donald Trump holds a five-point lead over President Joe Biden in Georgia ahead of the Thursday presidential debate in Atlanta, which will mark the first time the presidents have shared a stage since their final debate prior to the 2020 election.
The poll found Trump has the support of 43 percent of Peach State voters, giving him a five-percent lead over Joe Biden, who had just 38 percent of support.
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Two groups have filed a federal lawsuit to stop elements of a state law they say bars charitable bail activity.
The ACLU of Georgia and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center filed the lawsuit on Friday, asking a judge to declare Section 4 of Georgia Senate Bill 63 unconstitutional and issue a temporary restraining order barring the law from taking effect on July 1.
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Georgia’s unemployment rate increased slightly in May, hitting 3.2%, up from a revised 3.1% in April, and a leading Georgia business group said inflation is still challenging many businesses.
However, the Peach State’s unemployment rate was lower than the national unemployment rate of 4%, Georgia officials touted.
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Georgia continues to report tax collections lower than a year ago, with May’s collections down by more than 1% as the state heads toward the end of the fiscal year, new numbers reveal.
Georgia officials said the state’s net tax collections in May surpassed $2.4 billion. However, that is a decrease of 1.1% or $26.3 million compared to last May, when net tax collections approached $2.5 billion.
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Voters in two metro Atlanta counties will decide on a tax to support transit when they head to the polls for November’s presidential election.
On Tuesday, Cobb County commissioners voted 3-2 to place the 1% 30-year Mobility SPLOST on the Nov. 5 General Election ballot. Officials previously said a 1% SPLOST could generate $10.9 billion in tax revenue for the county over 30 years.
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Georgia transportation officials appear to be letting fewer road projects and paying more for them, a possible sign of inflation’s toll on construction spending.
Georgia Department of Transportation officials previously sounded the alarm that inflation was driving up the cost of projects.
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Staffer and his friend have a watch stolen, punch another attacker in the robbery
Georgia GOP Rep. Mike Collins says a member of his congressional staff was robbed at gunpoint this past weekend in Washington D.C’.s Navy Yard neighborhood.
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A Georgia state lawmaker who says she was silenced when she switched parties last year convened a hearing to showcase how social media companies can de-platform people to manipulate messaging.
Rep. Mesha Mainor, R-Atlanta, said she called the “First Amendment, Free Speech Rally” at the Georgia State Capitol to showcase what she sees as a lack of respect for dissenting opinions.
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Georgia officials approved $16.9 million in loans and grants for five transportation infrastructure projects across the state
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and the State Road and the Tollway Authority Board of Directors approved the funding from the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank. The latest round of funding includes the fourth-largest loan amount in the program’s history.
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Several Georgia study committees will explore various agricultural issues facing the Peach State, including the potential impact of sustainable aviation fuel.
The Senate Advancing Forest Innovation in Georgia Study Committee, created by Senate Resolution 786, will examine how public policy can encourage continued investment in facilities that create sustainable manufacturing components, practices, energy sources and other high-demand products derived from Georgia’s forest products.
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The Georgia Court of Appeals officially put the racketeering case against former President Donald Trump’s case on hold.
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Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz hammered Attorney General Merrick Garland Tuesday for calling claims that the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) directed former President Donald Trump’s conviction a “conspiracy theory,” but refusing to say whether he would turn over the department’s communications with prosecutors.
During his opening statement at the House Judiciary Committee hearing, Garland slammed “baseless” attacks on the DOJ’s work, specifically calling out “false claims” about the DOJ’s involvement in Trump’s Manhattan case, which ended last week with a jury convicting Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Gaetz pressed Garland on whether the DOJ would turn over communications with Bragg’s office, as well as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and New York Attorney General Letitia James, noting Garland was making the case for collusion appear stronger by not answering the question.
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Georgia could see a more than $1 billion reduction in how much federal money it receives for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
According to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 includes a $30 billion reduction in SNAP funding. The group pointed to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finding that Georgia would see a nearly $1.1 billion reduction over a decade.
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The man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley pled not guilty during an arraignment hearing on Friday.
Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan national living unlawfully in the United States, pled not guilty to charges that he killed Riley during his arraignment hearing in a Clarke County courtroom, according to local reporters on the scene. The not guilty plea now means the case will head to trial.
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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says Democrats have tipped their hand to their desire to unleash noncitizen voting by opposing his state’s citizenship verification in court and he is urging elections chiefs in other states to fight such lawsuits.
Georgia’s citizenship verification system has prevented noncitizens from getting on state voter rolls, but the state had to defend it in court against a group founded by former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
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A whistleblower who worked in the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office says she was fired after raising concerns about the misuse of federal grant funds.
Amanda Timpson worked with the office from 2018 until 2022 and served as the director of gang prevention and intervention under previous District Attorney Paul Howard. Timpson told the Senate Special Committee on Investigations she faced retaliation under District Attorney Fani Willis after raising concerns about how the office planned to spend a federal grant.
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A series of Georgia Senate study committees will probe hot-button issues, ranging from safe firearm storage to preserving Georgia’s farmlands to artificial intelligence.
Lt. Governor Burt Jones appointed members to seven 2024 Senate Study Committees. The committees will make recommendations that could guide lawmakers’ actions during next year’s legislative session.
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Georgia’s Regional Commissions saw their unemployment rates tick downward in April.
Statewide, the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission, which includes 13 counties around Gainesville and the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, reported the lowest unemployment rate at 2.3% in April, up from 2.1% last year.
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Federal authorities are giving up to $75 million in federal tax dollars to a private company to help Georgia semiconductor manufacturing.
The money, part of the roughly $54 billion CHIPS Act of 2022, will go to Absolics, a subsidiary of South Korea’s SKC, to support the construction of a 120,000-square-foot facility in Covington. Officials said the project should create roughly 1,200 manufacturing and construction jobs.
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Promoting the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center as a way of militarizing the police is a “false narrative,” Gabriel Nadales, national director of Our America, told The Georgia Star News on Tuesday.
The “safety center is about improving all first respondents. This means having better trained firefighters, EMTs, and yes that includes police officers,” Nadales said.
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Voters turned out to cast their ballots in the high-stakes primary election on Tuesday to decide who will represent them in the general election in November.
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A Cobb County School District (CCSD) spokesperson told The Georgia Star News on Friday that a complaint from the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) repeats “made-up narratives espoused and circulated by a small community group which includes candidates for local office.”
NWLC’s complaint accused the school district of violating students’ civil rights by removing inappropriate books from school libraries. The complaint was filed on Monday against CCSD for creating a “hostile environment” for students by allegedly “censoring” books written by or about LBGTQIA people and people of color (POC).
The spokesperson said, “Local political candidates, including those running for Board, repeating a made-up narrative doesn’t make it true and community groups who want to promote access to sexually explicit content for minors, doesn’t make it right.”
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As Fulton County officials reportedly consider a sales tax to fund a $1.7 billion Fulton County Jail replacement, some groups have an idea to save taxpayers money: keeping people out of jail.
The Georgia Senate Public Safety Subcommittee on Fulton County Jail is preparing to file a report with recommendations that could guide legislative action when lawmakers return to Atlanta next year. WSB-TV reported county officials plan on asking state lawmakers to allow a new sales tax to pay for a jail replacement.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed a measure that would bar foreign nationals from making political contributions.
While such contributions are already prohibited by federal law, Senate Bill 368 would have mandated that agents of “foreign principals” register with the Georgia State Ethics Commission.
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Republican voters in Georgia told MSNBC in a segment aired on Wednesday that former president Donald Trump’s legal battles have made them more passionate about voting for him.
A recent poll shows Trump beating Biden by 9 percent in Georgia even as he faces an election interference case in the state among other legal issues, such as an ongoing trial in New York. The voters told MSNBC the cases have increased their support for Trump as it seems like persecution to them, with the former president appearing to be a fighter.
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Voters will go to the polls for Georgia’s general primary election on May 21 to choose the candidates representing them in the November election for U.S. House of Representatives, State Senate, State House of Representatives, district attorney, and court justices.
Some congressional races are already set for November, but many are still to be determined based on primary election results.
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A new “blue ribbon” committee will probe reported issues with the Secretary of State’s Professional Licensing Boards Division, with backers saying the office is failing Georgians and the agency’s head saying it needs more of the money it takes in for the state.
House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, and Republican Lt. Governor Burt Jones announced the committee and sent a letter to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
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Georgia tax officials collected more than $3.9 billion in April, a decrease of 5.4 percent or $225.7 million from last year.
So far this fiscal year, net tax revenue of more than $27.4 billion is down about 1.2 percent or $341.3 million from last year. While fiscal 2024 collections have decreased from fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2022 numbers, they remain higher than they were at the same time in fiscal 2019, fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021, according to unaudited numbers released at the time.
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Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a measure to allow Georgia voters to decide whether to increase the threshold for paying the state’s tangible personal property tax.
House Bill 808 sets a Nov. 5 referendum, the same day as this year’s presidential election, for Georgia voters to decide whether to increase the tangible personal property tax exemption from $7,000 to $20,000. If approved, it would apply to all tangible personal property except motor vehicles, trailers and mobile homes.
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The Georgia Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit on Thursday that challenged the constitutionality of the Cobb County Commission’s authority to draw its own electoral map, overturning the boundaries previously created by the State Legislature.
Cobb County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said she was “pleased” with the case outcome.
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The Georgia State Election Board voted 2-1 on Tuesday to send a Letter of Reprimand to Fulton County for numerous violations of state law during the 2020 election and recount and direct the establishment of a monitor for the November 2024 general election, which, if not completed by July, would require referral to the Georgia Attorney General.
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The Georgia Court of Appeals granted former President Donald J. Trump’s request for an interlocutory appeal in the disqualification case against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Wednesday.
The official document from the Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia states, “Upon consideration of the Application for Interlocutory Appeal, it is ordered that it be hereby GRANTED.”
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed off on the state’s fiscal 2025 budget, a spending plan that includes pay raises for public school teachers and state law enforcement officers.
“This budget in particular will help us further promote economic prosperity in communities all across the state, provide Georgia students a quality education, care for the health and wellbeing of our families, and ensure the safety of our neighborhoods,” Kemp, a Republican, said during a Tuesday signing ceremony, according to his prepared remarks. “And because we’ve budgeted conservatively and refused to spend beyond our means, we’re able to invest in these core areas while cutting taxes at the same time.”
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Emory University declared on Monday it will not hold its 2024 commencement ceremony on the university’s campus, instead relocating all events to the Gas South District in Duluth, Georgia amid the anti-Israel protests at the school.
University President Gregory Fenves confirmed the move in a Monday announcement to the university’s website, confirming Emory would hold its commencement despite protests, but nonetheless acknowledging “concerns about safety and security” prompted a total relocation of all commencement events.
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