Category: State News

Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones Slams ‘Ridiculous Political Attack’ After Judge Tosses Effort to Remove Him from Office over 2020 Election Contest

Tom Pappert
Burt Jones

Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson tossed an effort to remove Georgia Lt. Governor Burt Jones (R) from office on Friday. Jones told The Georgia Star News in a statement that he was happy to put the “ridiculous political attack” behind him.

The lawsuit was launched by a group that argued Jones “is an insurrectionist against the Constitution of the United States of America” due to his role as an alternative elector, which his lawyer argued in court was to preserve former President Donald Trump’s legal challenge of the election results in 2020.

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‘I Actually Feel Quite Valued’: Mentorship Program Works to Retain New Teachers

Georgia Star News Staff
Teacher and Students

Jack Fredericks is investing in new teachers because he wants to help them stay in the classroom for the long haul.

He serves as the program coordinator for the new teacher mentorship program in the West Tallahatchie School District, something he worked with his superintendent to create after researching mentorship as a Teach Plus Mississippi policy fellow. 

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Atlanta Saw Less Violent Crime in 2023, but Vehicle Thefts and Shoplifting Skyrocketed

Tom Pappert
Mayor Dickens

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Police Chief Darin Schierbaum held a joint press conference on Thursday to detail what they identified as a downward trend in crime within the city, but preliminary numbers published by the Atlanta Police Department (APD) in December 2023 reveal that not all types of crime are declining.

Dickens said during the press conference that the “major crime against people” was “down more than 15 percent,” with homicides down about 20 percent and rapes down about 50 percent since 2022.

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Mark Meadows Hires New Lawyers, Asks Appeals Court for Second Hearing to Move Georgia Election Case to Federal Court

Tom Pappert
Mark Meadows

Former Trump administration White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows made a new filing with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday evening, requesting an en banc hearing for his appeal of a lower court’s decision denying his request to have the election case against him in Fulton County, Georgia removed to a federal court. Meadows also retained new legal counsel for his attempt to have the entire circuit court hear his appeal.

Following the decision by a panel of judges on the 11th Circuit to deny Meadows’ appeal in December, his attorneys argued in the new filing that its ruling fails to conform with Supreme Court precedent and “consideration by the full court is necessary to secure and maintain uniformity of decisions in this court.”

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D.C. Bar Disciplinary Panel Holds Contentious Pretrial Hearing Before Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former DOJ Attorney Jeff Clark

Georgia Star News Staff

A District of Columbia Bar disciplinary panel held a pretrial hearing last month to prepare for the upcoming disbarment trial against President Donald Trump’s former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark. Clark (pictured above) is also being prosecuted in Georgia and is an unindicted co-conspirator in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal prosecution, due to a letter Clark drafted to Georgia election officials after the 2020 election advising them of options the Georgia Legislature could take to address the concerns about election illegalities. The letter was never sent nor circulated.

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Atlanta Road to Remain Closed Up to 10 Weeks After Possible Homeless Fire Under Cheshire Bridge

Tom Pappert
Cheshire Bridge

A section of the Cheshire Bridge Road will remain closed to traffic for up to 10 weeks after a fire that may have started in a homeless encampment under the bridge, an Atlanta City Council member confirmed in a December 29 newsletter to his constituents.

Atlanta City Councilmember Alex Wan told his constituents in his newsletter that the bridge is slated to be repaired, all at once, over a period that may take up to 10 weeks. Wan explained, “it has been determined that it is better long term to complete the entire rehab work at once” rather than partially opening the bridge to accommodate some traffic while repairs are finished.

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Federal Court in Georgia Hands Down Major Win for Election Integrity Group

Kaitlin Housler

True the Vote, a nonpartisan voters’ rights and election integrity organization, declared a “decisive triumph” in its legal battle against Fair Fight Action, a voting rights group founded by Democrat Stacy Abrams.

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Eight New Bills Become Georgia Law, State Income Tax Rates Fall in 2024

Tom Pappert

Eight new bills became law in Georgia on Monday, with the most significant allowing Georgians with health insurance coverage to see medical specialists even if they’re referred by a physician not covered by the insurance network. Last year, Georgia lawmakers also passed significant legislation that provided income tax refunds to every Georgia taxpayer, created a commission to oversee elected attorneys, and created three new district judgeships, one of which will be filled by a state legislator.

Georgia’s CATCH Act, SB 20, requires insurance providers with network plans to maintain a sufficient number of doctors, physicians, pharmacies, clinical laboratories, and other medical treatment facilities, and empowers the Georgia Insurance Commissioner to determine the adequacy of such plans. The law also prohibits health insurance companies from denying preauthorization for healthcare services if a referral came from a physician outside of the patient’s network, such as an emergency room doctor.

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Unmasking DeWine: Ohio Journalist Jack Windsor Dissects Shocking Veto and Its Potential Ripple Effect on 2024 Senate Race

Admin

Ohio journalist and entrepreneur Jack Windsor joined host Michael Patrick Leahy on Monday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report to discuss the connections and divides behind the shocking decision by Governor Mike DeWine to veto measure that would prohibit genital mutilation of children and transgender males competing in girls’ sports.

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Bill Allowing Rent Control Proposed in Georgia with Support of ‘Party for Socialism and Liberation’

Tom Pappert

Senator Donzella James (D-Atlanta) proposed Senate Bill 125 for the upcoming legislative session to allow local governments to impose rent controls, upending a nearly 40-year-old ban on the practice. The plan is supported by activist group Party for Socialism, whose spokesman repeatedly endorsed rent controls to local media.

Current Georgia law mandates, “No county or municipal corporation may enact, maintain, or enforce any ordinance or resolution which would regulate in any way the amount of rent to be charged for privately owned, single-family or multiple-unit residential rental property.” James’ bill proposes repealing the entire section of law, opening the door for any Georgia city or county to impose rent controls.

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Ken Chesebro Will ‘Poison’ Case Against Trump If He Testifies in Georgia Election Trial, Anti-Trump Lawyer Warns

Tom Pappert

A lawyer and author known for his critiques of the Trump administration told CNN on Friday that lawyer Ken Chesebro, who signed a plea agreement with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, would likely help former President Donald Trump if called to testify in Georgia.

Elie Honig, a former U.S. Assistant Attorney for the Southern District of New York, called Chesebro a “mixed bag” who may not help Willis prove her case.

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Georgia State Representative Who Drafted Voting Law Appointed Superior Court Judge, Setting Stage for Special Election

Tom Pappert
Barry Fleming

Governor Brian Kemp appointed Georgia State Representative Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) to become a Superior Judge in the the Columbia Judicial Circuit. Fleming drafted Georgia’s 2021 voting law, and reportedly faced reprisal from government officials because of the legislation.

Kemp revealed his judicial appointments in a Thursday press release that he appointed Fleming to the judgeship vacated with the retirement of Judge James Blanchard.

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Georgia Sees Its Population Increase by 1.1 Percent in 2023

The Center Square

Georgia saw its population increase by 1.1% from 2022 to 2023, though new numbers show the rate of its increase trailed that of several neighboring states.

According to the latest estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau, Georgia’s population stood at more than 11 million people in 2023, up from 10.9 million in 2022. Census numbers show that the state’s population has grown more than 2.9% since 2020.

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Georgia Election Board Chairman Will Be Replaced Weeks After Vote Against Investigating Brad Raffensperger

Tom Pappert

The Georgia State Senate is reportedly planning to replace the acting chairman of the State Election Board just weeks after he voted against investigating how Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) managed the 2020 presidential election. Raffensperger’s political adversary, Lt. Governor Burt Jones (R), will reportedly play a role in determining the new chairman.

Acting chairman Matt Mashburn will be replaced with another Republican by the Georgia State Senate, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which cited two sources familiar with the plan. Mashburn most recently received a two-year appointment by former Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan (R), and was confirmed by the Georgia Senate in 2021. His term expired earlier this year.

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Atlanta ‘Rapid Transitional Housing’ Project Will Offer ‘Micro-Units’ to Homeless People in January

Tom Pappert
Mayor Andre Dickens

It was confirmed on Friday that a $5 million “rapid transitional housing” project in Atlanta is on pace to accept 40 residents from the city’s homeless population beginning in January as city officials consider cracking down on homeless encampments.

The report came after Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens (D) toured the project, known as The Village, which WSB-TV reported “could house up to 40 people in individual units with private baths, social services,” and a “dog park” in “donated converted shipping containers and modular units.”

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Georgia Democrat Files Bill to Eliminate State Income Tax as Governor Plans to ‘Accelerate’ Cuts

Tom Pappert
Eric Bell

A Democratic state legislator quietly filed a bill in late November for the upcoming legislative session that would eliminate the state’s income tax by 2025.

Georgia State Representative Eric Bell (D-Jonesboro) filed HB 559 to “repeal the state income tax in its entirety,” along with any tax credits or conflicting laws. Just two pages long, Bell’s bill would declare, “For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, no income taxes whatsoever shall be levied or collected by the state or any political subdivision thereof and no income tax returns shall be required to be filed for such taxable years.”

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Report: Charter School Enrollment Increases in Georgia

The Center Square

Georgia’s public charter school enrollment has grown over the last four years while enrollment at traditional schools has declined.

That’s according to state-level data the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools studied for a new report, “Believing in Public Education: A Demographic and State-level Analysis of Public Charter School and District Public School Enrollment Trends.”

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Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon Expects ‘Absurd’ Move to Strike Trump from Colorado Ballot to Energize Republican Voters

Tom Pappert
Josh McKoon

The chairman of the Georgia Republican Party (GAGOP) told National Public Radio (NPR) on Friday that he expects the “absurd” decision of the Colorado Supreme Court to strike former President Donald Trump from the ballot will energize Republicans to vote against President Joe Biden in November 2024.

On Tuesday, a one-vote majority of the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that Trump engaged in an insurrection against the United States government on January 6, 2021, and thus is ineligible to run for president in 2024 and struck him from the state’s primary ballots, prompting widespread outrage from Republicans.

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Georgia Unemployment Rate Holds at 3.4 Percent for Third Month as Expert Predicts ‘Soft Landing’ for State Economy

Tom Pappert
Office Work

The Georgia Department of Labor revealed on Thursday that the state’s unemployment numbers remained constant at 3.4 percent for the third consecutive month in November, even as small business owners across the country report a pessimistic outlook for the economy.

A total of 14,300 jobs were added to Georgia over November, bringing the total number of jobs generated in 2023 to 103,700. Nearly 5 million jobs exist in Georgia, which the agency reported continues to be the state’s highest recorded.

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Democrat Election Attorney Marc Elias Joins ‘Stop Cop City’ Effort to Prevent Atlanta Public Safety Building

Tom Pappert
Marc Elias

Democrat election attorney Marc Elias is throwing his support behind the “Stop Cop City” referendum to prevent the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Facility where a protester shot a Georgia State Trooper in January, a Wednesday report confirms.

Elias has decided to throw “his political weight behind a proposed ordinance that aims to upend Atlanta’s petition review process,” according to Atlanta Black Star. The petition review process memo was sent by the Vote To Stop Cop City Coalition, reported left-leaning Mother Jones.

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Georgia Sec of State Raffensperger Sounds Alarm on Border Crisis’ Impact on Election Integrity

Just the News

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is sounding an alarm that the crisis at the southern U.S. border may eventually cause an election integrity crisis in America, imploring lawmakers in Congress and his state Legislature to pursue constitutional amendments to permanently ban noncitizen voting before liberal activists try to secure voting rights for the millions flooding into the county under President Joe Biden.

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Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon Rejects Calls to Run for the State’s Third Congressional District

Kaitlin Housler

Josh McKoon, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party (GAGOP), has rejected calls urging him to run for the Peach State’s third congressional district amid current congressman Drew Ferguson’s (R-GA-03) retirement.

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Gov. Brian Kemp Announces $1,000 Bonus for Georgia Teachers, New Funding For School Safety

Tom Pappert

Governor Brian Kemp (R) announced a $1,000 bonus on Monday for those who work in Georgia’s schools, and introduce legislation to provide Georgia with more school funding and fund a permanent, annual bonus.

In a joint announcement with Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington), and State Representative Matt Hatchett (R-Dublin), Kemp announced a $1,000 “state employee retention pay supplement” for more than 300,000 Georgia teachers and state employees who work in education.

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Eleven Georgia Men Sentenced to Federal Prison for Roles in Drug Trafficking Organization

Kaitlin Housler

Eleven Georgia men have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles as members of a drug trafficking organization in the metro-Atlanta area, according to the Northern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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Prosecutors Say Former Facebook DEI Executive ‘Abused a Position of Trust’ When Defrauding Company $4 Million

Tom Pappert
Facebook Money

Barbara Furlow-Smiles, a Georgia resident and former Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) executive at Facebook, admitted on Tuesday to defrauding the company of more than $4 million from 2017 until 2021.

Federal prosecutors say Furlow-Smiles “abused a position of trust as a global diversity executive” to steal “millions of dollars” from Facebook while “ignoring the insidious consequences of undermining the importance of her DEI mission.”

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Georgia U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson Will Not Seek Re-Election in 2024

Tom Pappert

Georgia U.S. Representative Drew Ferguson (R-GA-03) announced on Thursday that he will not seek another term in office, and will instead resign from Congress when his term ends in January 2025.

Ferguson announced his decision to retire from Congress in a Thursday post to X, formerly Twitter. He called his time in the U.S. House “the honor of a lifetime,” while complimenting his staff as “talented and dedicated” and constituents as “wonderful.”

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Georgia Moves to Block Noncitizen Voting in State Constitution

Georgia Star News Staff

Georgia’s top election official is pointing to the Biden administration’s failure to secure the southern border as a reason the state Legislature must act to prevent voting by foreign nationals in state elections. 

“With open borders, citizenship verification for voter registration is more important than ever,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said Monday in a public statement. 

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Fani Willis Maintains She ‘Is Not Responsible’ for Fulton County Jail, Argues Georgia Senators ‘Should Worry About the State Prisons’

Tom Pappert

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asserted in a Tuesday interview that Georgia state senators investigating the conditions at the Fulton County Jail should instead investigate the state prison system, though she said she “is not responsible” for the jail.

Willis made the remarks to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in response to an investigation launched in the Georgia Senate earlier this year over the conditions at the Fulton County Jail, where 10 inmates have died in 2023. One of the defendants in Willis’ high-profile Young Slime Life (YSL) racketeering case was stabbed in the jail this week, delaying the ongoing trial until 2024.

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Georgia City Bans New Massage Parlors Amid Human Trafficking Crackdown

Tom Pappert

The Roswell City Council issued a temporary moratorium on Monday to prohibit the city from granting new licenses for massage parlors in the Fulton County suburb located north of Atlanta. The moratorium follows a number of September human trafficking arrests and law enforcement actions at six massage parlors.

The city approved a resolution “instituting a temporary moratorium on new massage establishment licenses and occupational tax certificates” for 90 days “or until the City has properly amended its ordinances regarding massage establishments.”

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CNN Poll: Trump Leads Biden in Georgia

Kaitlin Housler

A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS shows former President Donald Trump leading incumbent President Joe Biden in a hypothetical head-to-head 2024 matchup in Georgia.

The poll, published Monday, shows Trump leading Biden by five points, with the former president receiving 49 percent compared to the current president’s 44 percent.

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Trump Expands Lead in Georgia as Poll Shows Biden Struggles with Young People

Tom Pappert

Former President Donald Trump has expanded his lead over President Joe Biden in Georgia, according to a new CNN-SRSS poll, which suggests the current president is struggling with voters in key demographics.

The poll showed Trump winning with 49 percent of the vote, while just 44 percent of voters said they would vote for Biden. The polling was conducted between November 30 and December 7, and pollsters reported a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percent.

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Federal Dollars Flow to Study Georgia Rail Projects

The Center Square

The federal government has awarded $1.5 million to study the possibility of running passenger trains on a trio of corridors in Georgia.

The Federal Railroad Administration awarded $500,000 to the Georgia Department of Transportation to study a possible Atlanta-to-Savannah line. It also provided $500,000 to the North Carolina Department of Transportation to evaluate a Charlotte-to-Atlanta line and $500,000 to the city of Chattanooga to study an Atlanta-to-Chattanooga-to-Nashville-to-Memphis route.

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Former Trump DOJ Official Jeffrey Clark Appeals Denial of Removal of Bar Disciplinary Trial to Federal Court

Rachel Alexander

Jeffrey Clark, an attorney who served at high levels of the Department of Justice under former President Donald Trump, is undergoing both prosecution and bar disciplinary proceedings for his slight involvement with the 2020 election challenges. The District of Columbia Bar, its disciplinary panel, and the federal trial court judge refused to let Clark remove the disciplinary proceedings to federal court, despite the fact there is a federal law providing for removal when the actions in question involve a federal official, so Clark filed an appeal with the D.C. Court of Appeals on Thursday.

Clark is being disciplined and prosecuted for drafting a letter to Georgia election officials after the 2020 election advising them of options the Georgia Legislature could take to address the concerns about election illegalities. The letter was never sent or even circulated. 

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Georgia Lawmakers Sign Off on New Congressional Maps

The Center Square

The Georgia House of Representatives passed revised congressional districts, capping the end of a special session that put partisan divides front and center.

The House voted 98-71 to send Senate Bill 3EX, which the state Senate passed on Tuesday, to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature. The revised districts ostensibly maintain the 9-5 Republican edge in the U.S. House.

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New Fulton County Jail Expected to Cost over $1.7 Billion, Finish in 2031

Tom Pappert

If funding for a new jail in Fulton County is approved next year, the facility could open in 2029, but will not be finished until 2031, according to a presentation received by Fulton County commissioners on Wednesday. The county considers a new jail as the Georgia State Senate investigates the conditions at the troubled Fulton County Jail.

The proposed facility will cost nearly $1.76 billion, and will boast enough room to provide accommodations and services for 4,416 inmates, according to the presentation delivered by consultants from architecture firms TreanorHL and STV.

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Fani Willis Reportedly Wants Mike Pence to Testify Against Trump in Georgia Election Trial

Tom Pappert

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) reportedly plans to call former Vice President Mike Pence as a witness in the Georgia racketeering trial of former President Donald Trump.

Willis reportedly lists Pence among nearly 150 witnesses she intends to call at trial, according to a CNN report published Wednesday. Citing sources “familiar with court documents that remain under seal, the outlet reveals that Willis’ latest witness list includes Pence’s name.

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Democratic Georgia State Senator Calls for Fulton County Sheriff to Resign for Jail ‘Crisis’

Tom Pappert

Georgia State Senator Joshua McLaurin (D-Sandy Springs) called for embattled Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat (D) to resign on Monday in response to the “crisis” at the Fulton County Jail.

McLaurin cited Labat’s recent controversies, which include allegations he used the jail’s Inmate Welfare Fund as a “slush fund” and questions about why medical bracelets purchased from a company tied to Georgia legislators were not being used at the facility, before calling for his resignation.

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Audit: King Center Spends State Money on Facility Repairs, Updates

The Center Square

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change has received roughly $2.2 million in state funds over the past six years and has spent about three-quarters of it.

That’s the finding of an audit the Georgia Department of Audits & Accounts conducted at the request of the House Appropriations Committee. The center received the money — allocated through the Department of Economic Development’s tourism program — between fiscal 2017 and October, primarily for facility repairs and updates.

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Georgia State Senate Overwhelmingly Votes to Support Atlanta Public Safety Training Center Despite ‘Stop Cop City’ Petition

Tom Pappert

The Georgia State Senate voted on Friday to approve a symbolic senate resolution expressing support for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, with the measure receiving universal support among Republicans, and support from all but seven Democrats.

Introduced by State Senator Mike Hodges (R-Brunswick), the resolution expresses “support for the” safety training center and condemns “acts of violence and domestic terrorism,” referencing the violent clashes between law enforcement and protesters that saw a Georgia State Patrol trooper shot and a protester killed in January.

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Fulton County Jail Moves Up to 70 Inmates to Forsyth County amid Severe Overcrowding, ‘149,200-Case Backlog’

Tom Pappert
Inmate Behind Bars

News broke on Thursday that Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat inked an agreement with Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman in April to allow up to 70 detainees at the troubled Fulton County Jail to be relocated to the nearby county, with the agreement reportedly citing Fulton County’s 149,200-case backlog.

Reports indicated Labat planned to send some of the inmates in Fulton County to other jails earlier this year, but Appen Media Group published details about the agreement struck with Forsyth County for the first time on Thursday.

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Trump Seeks Dismissal of Georgia Election Case Citing First Amendment, Notes DA Willis’ Election Claims in Indictment

Tom Pappert

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump submitted a legal filing in Fulton County Superior Court on Monday arguing the First Amendment protects Trump from prosecution for the statements he made during his contest of the 2020 election results in Georgia.

Trump’s lead attorney, Steve Sadow, wrote in the filing that Trump genuinely believes he won the 2020 election in Georgia, despite Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ repeated claims he “falsely” made statements to that effect.

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NBC Claims Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman ‘Takes Digs’ at Him, Cites No Evidence

Rachel Alexander

Constitutional legal scholar John Eastman, who served as an attorney to former President Donald Trump during the 2020 election lawsuits, is being prosecuted in both Georgia and Washington, D.C., and has undergone a disciplinary trial by the State Bar of California due to his role. Eastman’s criminal attorney filed a pleading in the Georgia RICO prosecution on Monday asking to move up the date to accept a plea agreement in that case so his trial can proceed sooner, explaining that his situation was different than Trump’s which needs a later date. The mainstream media claimed Eastman was attacking the former president, with NBC reporting that Eastman “takes digs” at Trump.

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Georgia Judge Will Hear Motions from Trump Co-Defendants Mark Meadows and Jeff Clark to Delay Court Dates

Tom Pappert

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee agreed on Tuesday to hear motions from two co-defendants in the Georgia racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and those who helped him contest the 2020 election. If granted, the motions would see a significant delay in court deadlines that could impact the proposed August 5 trial date.

McAfee agreed to hear motions last week filed by attorneys for former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Jeff Clark, who was the acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Division of the Apartment Justice during the 2020 election. Both men have filed for the charges against them to be removed from Fulton County to a federal court, and seek to delay Georgia court dates until those decisions are made.

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