Police have killed 672 people in the U.S. so far this year, but law enforcement agencies fail to provide the public with even basic information about the lives they take, according to data scientist Samuel Sinyangwe. To rectify that, he founded Mapping Police Violence to create a comprehensive national database with real-time statistics on killings […]
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EXPLAINER: APS Budget 101
How the City Council votes earns most of the headlines, but the Atlanta Board of Education’s budget is a much bigger deal in terms of tax dollars spent. The price tag for APS’s current 2023-2024 fiscal year is $1.69 billion—more than double that of the City of Atlanta’s $790 million general fund. That’s a major […]
Posted inHousing Affordability
Millennia: Protracted legal feud hurts Forest Cove’s “saleability,” hinders condemned complex’s cleanup
‘The owner of this property is underwater right now, because of the position it’s been placed in by the city’s lawsuits.’
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Here are key issues facing the Atlanta school board
A lot has changed for Atlanta Public Schools in two years. In 2021, the last time that Atlanta School Board seats were up for grabs, Lisa Herring was the Atlanta Public Schools superintendent, and the COVID-19 pandemic was still significantly disrupting classrooms. Now, as Atlanta voters decide who should fill five of the nine seats […]
Posted inHousing Affordability
Reynoldstown’s disputed apartments for homeless could break ground in December
A controversial plan to build 42 apartments for people experiencing homelessness in Reynoldstown is advancing, despite pushback from neighborhood leaders.
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What community members are looking for in Atlanta School Board elections
This story was produced in collaboration with Capital B Atlanta. Early voting starts in less than a month for Atlanta School Board elections, with 10 candidates vying for your vote — and the opportunity to help shape the city’s public school system. These elections have extremely low turnout but come with high stakes — especially for the more […]
Posted inHousing Affordability
Millennia heads back to court over Forest Cove’s unsafe conditions
By taking the mega-landlord back to municipal court over housing code infractions, the city could be teeing up another demolition order.
Posted inDemocracy
Union Doings: Georgia labor actions heat up around coffee, beer and donuts
As labor movements build power and momentum nationally, Georgia is feeling the energy, despite the state’s low 4.4% union membership rate. Atlanta Civic Circle is launching a periodic roundup of local labor actions for a quick insight into what’s happening around the state. Growing union activity at Starbucks and Amazon – along with unions’ fights […]
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Chronic absenteeism has more than doubled in Atlanta Public Schools
At first glance, the Back 2 School Bash looked like Atlanta Public School’s version of DragonCon. Over 12,000 families milled around the Georgia World Congress Center’s convention floor on July 22 to collect free school supplies and haircuts, health screenings for kids, and explore a host of exhibitions. Much of the festivities were aimed at […]
Posted inHousing Affordability
Georgia Democrats prepping for uphill battle over rent regulation
State Sen. Donzella James, D-Atlanta, proposed Senate Bill 125 last February to do away with a 1984 law that bans Georgia counties and municipalities from enacting any measures to regulate rents.
Posted inDemocracy
Ranked-choice voting’s boom in popularity met with aggressive bans in recent years. What is it? And why are the major parties trying to stop it?
*This article was updated Sept. 29 at 4:27 p.m. to correct grammatical errors. Ranked-choice voting continues to grow in popularity — and so have the efforts to ban it. Advocates believe it has the potential to make voting more representative of the majority, ease intense conflicts between political parties and make gerrymandering nearly impossible. Despite […]