The Atlanta Police Department (APD) confirmed on Monday that the controversial Atlanta Public Safety Training Center is slated to open in January 2025 despite years of protests, demonstrations and violence aimed at preventing its construction.
A video posted to the social media platform X by APD on Monday showed former Chief Rodney Bryant and former Assitant Chief Todd Coyt viewing the site of the safety training center. Bryant was previously instrumental in pushing for the center.
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Two protesters representing the “Stop Cop City” movement were arrested at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center on Wednesday after police say they chained themselves to a crane and unfurled a banner with the words “Drop Cop City,” indicating their opposition to the training center.
The Atlanta Police Department (APD) confirmed a the incident in a post to the social media platform X.
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Georgia Right to Life’s annual event, Georgia Stand for Life – Memorial Service, Rally and March, is set to take place on Friday.
The event, previously known as the Georgia March for Life, will begin at 11:30 a.m. at Liberty Plaza in downtown Atlanta, adjacent to the Georgia State Capitol.
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A video resurfaced on Friday showing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis pledging she will not “date people that work” under her if elected to her current position.
The clip of Willis was filmed during her April 6, 2020, appearance on the Atlanta-area public access program “People TV” as she campaigned to become Fulton County’s top prosecutor.
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A recent study conducted by Vivint, a smart-home security company, shows Atlanta, Georgia as one of the top ten most “unsafe” U.S. cities during the holidays.
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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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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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A drug deal gone bad left three dead and one hospitalized over the weekend in Buckhead, according to the Atlanta Police Department (APD).
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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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The feds are sending Georgia more than $1.8 billion for fiscal 2024 for a slate of infrastructure projects, a federal lawmaker said.
The money is part of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
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The Atlanta City Council approved a plan to spend more than $40 million on public safety equipment, including new apparatus for the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department.
A spokesman for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens confirmed to The Center Square that the spending plan includes $19 million for the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department and $21 million for the Atlanta Police Department.
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Sixty one individuals were arraigned on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges on Monday as part of a racketeering case tied to an alleged criminal conspiracy related to protests of Atlanta’s new Public Safety Training Center.
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The Atlanta Professional Firefighters addressed city leaders in a strongly worded letter on Tuesday, warning the city’s fleet of emergency response vehicles is in dire condition. Its letter came after Atlanta Fire and Rescue informed the city of its decision to formally close three fire stations due to vehicle and staffing issues.
In a letter obtained by Atlanta First News, firefighters claimed that many of Atlanta’s fire stations lack an actual fire engine with water capable of extinguishing a fire. They stated that this implies the actual number of non-operational fire stations is higher than the three identified by the city on Monday.
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The metro Atlanta area has some of the highest inflation rates of any city in the country.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, compared 23 major Metropolitan Statistical Areas using two key Consumer Price Index-related metrics.
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Polling released on Friday reveals the majority of Georgia voters support the new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, with only 12 percent of poll respondents expressing support for the controversial “Stop Cop City” petition to force a public referendum on the project.
60 percent of Georgia voters back the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, agreeing with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, according to polling by 20-20 Insight. An additional 28 percent of Georgia voters are not sure, and just 12 percent support the “Stop Cop City” petition.
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) has received a $2.5 million federal grant for her office to examine a backlog of more than 4,000 rape kits, with some dating back to the 1980s, she revealed in a press conference this week.
Willis announced the $2.5 million grant in a press conference on Thursday, when she said the funding will support testing for the rape kits of “4,342 victims” who “had the very worst day of their life” but “didn’t get justice” from Fulton County.
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The Georgia Department of Transportation has found a few HEROs to help patrol metro Atlanta’s highways.
In May, GDOT officials said the agency lacked the personnel to maintain 24-hour Highway Emergency Response Operator patrols, a common sight along metro Atlanta’s busy interstates. At the time, the agency said HERO units would continue to patrol when traffic volumes are the highest — during daytime and evening hours seven days a week — and when roughly 91% of mishaps happen.
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Atlanta received a failing grade for its charter school funding gap.
A new report from the School Choice Demonstration Project, an educational research project within the University of Arkansas’ Department of Education Reform, examined funding disparities between traditional public schools and public charter schools in 18 cities nationwide.
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The City of Atlanta has the second most generous indoor and outdoor living spaces out of the 50 largest U.S. cities, according to recent research analyzed by online nationwide self-storage search website StorageCafe.
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Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens plans to use $4 million to develop “quick-delivery housing” for homeless people in the city.
Dickens issued an executive order directing the city’s chief financial officer to fund a new “Rapid Housing” initiative. The city plans to repurpose shipping containers that Georgia Emergency Management Agency used as temporary hospitals amid the COVID-19 pandemic and are now being decommissioned.
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The Northern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney’s Office organized an initiative to provide law enforcement training for more than 40 police officers from school systems in the northern district of Georgia to prevent and reduce delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office partnered with the Georgia Alliance for School Resource Officers and Educators, the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, and the Georgia Gang Investigators Association to provide the officers with Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.).
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Two individuals who were refusing to leave a Home Depot were arrested Thursday, according to the Atlanta Police Department (APD).
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One individual was arrested for throwing spoiled meat at Atlanta police officers during a protest against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center on Wednesday, the Atlanta Police Department (APD) announced in a press release.
The Atlanta City Council approved the training center in September 2021, and it has been a source of controversy ever since.
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Atlanta city leaders have signed off on the largest budget in the city’s history.
The $790 million fiscal 2024 general fund budget is a nearly 4.8% increase from the city’s $754.2 million adopted fiscal 2023 budget and a more than 7.8% increase from the nearly $732.7 million in fiscal 2022 expenditures.
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The Atlanta Police Department (APD) announced Sunday that they were working with the department’s Homeland Security Unit (HSU) to investigate antisemitic flyers that were distributed around the city, according to a press release.
The flyers were distributed over the weekend in East Atlanta and reportedly had a “large rainbow-colored Star of David” as well as antisemitic and “transphobic” messages, according to 11Alive, an Atlanta-based news outlet. APD announced in a press release Sunday that they were “made aware of antisemitic and transphobic flyers” and were investigating the incident alongside the HSU.
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As the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority advances its More MARTA Atlanta Program, the agency’s position is bolstered by what an executive called “unprecedented” state funding.
MARTA officials said the agency is advancing a program estimated to cost $2.7 billion over 40 years. It is partially funded by a half-penny sales tax Atlanta voters passed in 2016.
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As a lifelong Atlantan, state Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, has experienced MARTA’s past.
Now, he’s positioned to help shape its future.
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The Atlanta Police Department said 35 people are in custody after a violent mob attacked police officers and destroyed construction equipment at the site of the proposed law enforcement training center.
Police said Sunday “a group of violent agitators used the cover of a peaceful protest of the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center to conduct a coordinated attack on construction equipment and police officers.”
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One of the wealthiest suburbs in the city of Atlanta is pursuing secession from the city, citing the rise in violent crime under the city’s Democratic leadership.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, state-level and local Republican lawmakers passed two bills on Wednesday formally proposing that the neighborhood of Buckhead be turned into its own “Buckhead City.” The bills are currently being considered by the State Senate.
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A group of Georgia lawmakers has introduced legislation to incorporate a portion of Atlanta as Buckhead City.
Senate Bill 114 has been assigned to the Senate Committee on State and Local Governmental Operations-General. A similar measure failed during the last session.
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Former President Donald Trump released a video statement Friday prompted by the riots in Atlanta, calling out the perpetrators and declaring what his actions would be as president under the same circumstances. Protests against the construction of a new police training facility on January 18 turned violent days later when a man allegedly shot a state trooper during a law enforcement operation at the site. When police shot back, the man died, The Georgia Star News reported. Seven out-of-state people were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism and criminal trespass, and a handgun, pellet guns, edged weapons, fireworks, gas masks, and a blow torch were recovered.
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Georgia state and Atlanta officials criticized a violent protest in the city on Saturday; Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said that some business’ windows were broken and a police car was set on fire, but said that no citizens or officers were injured.
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Atlanta once had a robust transportation network, with streetcars rumbling along the city’s streets and interurban lines connecting suburbs like Marietta and Stone Mountain.
But 75 years ago, the lines shuttered, replaced by new forms of transportation: Automobiles.
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A new analysis has identified the most dangerous roads in Georgia, all in the metro Atlanta area.
Moreover, a fifth of deadly crashes involved drunken driving, while a similar amount (19%) were connected to speeding, the analysis from MoneyGeek, a personal finance technology company, revealed.
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The city of Atlanta launched its guaranteed income pilot program earlier this year in the wake of the COVID pandemic that gives $500 a month to 300 Atlanta residents.
According to the city, the guaranteed income program “is meant to supplement rather than replace the existing social safety net and can be a critical tool for improving racial and gender equity.”
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Federal data shows the Atlanta area has the country’s second highest local metropolitan inflation reading. As the national Consumer Price Index climbed an average of 8.3% over the past year, that of Atlanta climbed a whopping 11.7% during the same time period
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The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority plans to spend $176 to 215 million to extend Atlanta’s streetcar line eastward.
The agency plans to use money from the More MARTA Atlanta half-penny sales tax voters in Atlanta approved in November 2016 to fund the two-mile extension, which won’t open until 2027. The agency expects to start construction in 2024.
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Governor Brian P. Kemp (R) tapped Bill Hamrick to serve as the Georgia State Business Court Judge on Wednesday.
“Having served with Judge Hamrick in the State Senate when I first entered public life, I witnessed firsthand his dedication to the law, to its fair application, and to our state,” Governor Kemp said.
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GA-07 Republican nominee Mark Gonsalves challenged his opponent, Lucy McBath, on her change in position with respect to the viability of Atlanta as a host city for large public events.
“Lucy McBath and her fellow DC Democrats don’t take the people they represent seriously. Atlanta wasn’t good enough to host the MLB All-Star game, but it’s suddenly good enough to host the DNC? Lucy advocates for her state only when it’s convenient to Democrat causes,” Gonsalves said.
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Georgia Governor Brian P. Kemp and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster led Republican governors in a response today in opposition to the $740 billion spending proposal to fix inflation.
“The Democrats’ solution to a 40-year high inflation is passing another reckless tax and spending spree to the tune of $74 billion, affecting Americans in every tax bracket,” the Republican gubernatorial coalition said in a statement Thursday.
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Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker publicly challenged incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock to a debate in Savannah on Tuesday.
“Senator Warnock, I’m ready to debate. In fact, I just accepted a debate in your backyard, Savannah, where you’ve got home-field advantage, and it’s going to be broadcast statewide. I’m not a politician, I don’t look like a politician, I don’t sound like a politician, and frankly, I’m tired of politicians,” Walker said.
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Governor Brian Kemp (R) signed two executive orders on Wednesday that extended the gas tax suspension and renewed the state of emergency for supply chain disruptions. These executive orders will be effective through September 12th.
“I have extended the temporary suspension of the state’s motor fuel tax to alleviate the financial burden placed on Georgians due to the federal government’s gross mishandling of inflation,” Gov. Kemp said.
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City of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and other Georgia Democrats welcomed DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison in a tour of State Farm Arena on Friday as part of their attempt to win the bid for Georgia’s capital to host the 2024 DNC National Convention.
“This week, Atlanta welcomed Democratic National Convention officials to promote its bid to host the 2024 convention. Our city is clearly the place to be!” The City of Atlanta Government said in a Facebook post on Friday.
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A poll published Friday by Beacon Research, found that Governor Brian Kemp (R) has extended his lead over Democrat nominee for Governor, Stacey Abrams, by eight points.
“I’m not surprised about his lead over Abrams. I know for a fact a lot of people are disgusted about the Democrat policies,” Barrow County GOP Executive Committee Rep. Laura Petcu (04) told The Georgia Star News on Friday.
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Republican GA-07 nominee Mark Gonsalves spoke with The Georgia Star News at length on Thursday about the ever-increasing influence the Spanish-speaking populace has on the Republican Party.
“What the Hispanic communities have come to realize is that what they work so hard for here is really being squandered in Washington D.C., that their hard work is not being treated with a level of respect,” Gonsalves said.
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Georgia Senate Nominee for the Republican Party, Herschel Walker, released several statements on Thursday where he criticized his opponent, incumbent Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock (D), on law enforcement support, crime rates, and his history of support for Joe Biden in the days that lead up to Friday’s press conference with U.S. Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.
“Raphael Warnock has consistently worked to support criminals instead of keeping our communities safe,” spokeswoman Mallory Blount said. “Crime is rising across the country and Georgia is no exception Atlanta has one of the highest crime rates in the country and Georgians are sick and tired of it. Warnock has done more for Joe Biden than law-abiding Georgians and it is time Georgia had a Senator who takes public safety seriously.”
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The Georgia State Senate’s office announced that State Senator Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta), chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans, Military, and Homeland Security, has been appointed to the new Subcommittee on Veteran Nursing Facilities.
“I am honored to serve as chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans, Military, and Homeland Security as we work to ensure our service members get the best quality of life possible,” Congresswoman Kirkpatrick said.
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U.S. Representative Andrew Clyde (R-GA-09) led a group fellow congress members in a letter to National Public Radio (NPR) that questioned their newly minted ‘disinformation reporting team.’
“NPR has absolutely no authority to be arbiters of truth, which is why I led 13 colleagues in a letter raising concerns about NPR’s track record of spreading disinformation and demanding answers about the media organization’s new Disinformation Reporting team,” Congressman Clyde said.
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Georgia 6th Congressional District Republican Nominee Rich McCormick challenged Bidenomics and President Biden’s definition of the word ‘recession’ in a statement on Monday.
“‘Two quarters of declining GDP doesn’t mean we are in a recession’ is the new ‘Inflation is transitory.’ The Biden Administration should try to spend as much time trying to fix the economy as they do making excuses for it,” McCormick said.
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Republican Georgia Senate Candidate Herschel Walker challenged his opponent, Senator Raphael Warnock (D), on his track record of supporting President Joe Biden in a statement on Monday.
“Reverend Warnock, since we’re asking questions today: Why do you vote with Biden 96% of the time? Why do you support abortion up until the time of birth? Why do you believe our law enforcement officers are thugs? Why do you believe men should compete against women in sports?” Walker said to Warnock.
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