(APN) ATLANTA – On Monday, January 09, 2023, former Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Brown (District 3), and former Mayoral candidate, pled guilty to bank fraud, a violation of Title 18, U.S. Code Section 1344, according to documents obtained by Atlanta Progressive News.   By pleading guilty at a Change of Plea hearing, Brown has avoided a trial on that count (Count Six) and several other counts upon which he had been indicted in 2020.     “The Defendant admits that he is pleading guilty because he is in fact guilty of the crime(s) charged in Count 6,” the Guilty Plea and Pl ..read more

(APN) ATLANTA – In the 1990’s, the City of Atlanta expressed its policy of setting aside a substantial portion of cable franchise fee revenue paid by cable subscribers to be used for public access television, People TV Channel 24, Atlanta Progressive News can reveal based on our research of historical records, including documents obtained from the Atlanta History Center.   The revelation is significant because the City of Atlanta has defunded People TV over the subsequent decades, a process that accelerated under the administration of then-Mayor Shirley Franklin – and this defunding was a ..read more

(APN) ATLANTA – The nine-member Board of Education of the Atlanta Independent School System will appoint an individual to serve the remainder of the unexpired term for At-Large Seat 9, to be vacated by Jason Esteves on December 31, 2022.   Interested candidates must register by tomorrow, Tuesday, November 22, 2022 to secure admittance to the last mandatory orientation session to be held on Monday, November 28.    Esteves ran for State Senate District 6 and was elected in the November 2022 General Election.   Atlanta Progressive News asked Pierre Gaither of APS for the names ..read more

Images by Adrian Paulette Coleman, Atlanta Progressive News; graphics by Department of Planning published pursuant to fair use doctrine; two graphics by Department of Planning with superimposed data by Adrian Paulette Coleman.   (APN) ATLANTA – On October 17, 2022, in a unanimous vote of thirteen to zero, the City Council of Atlanta adopted City of Atlanta Ordinance 22-O-1700 to change the boundaries of the twelve Council Districts in a charter amendment to redistrict the City’s population following the 2020 U.S. Census.   Councilwoman Mary Norwood (District 8) was away, an ..read more

  With additional reporting by Matthew Charles, News Editor.   (APN) ATLANTA – The City of Atlanta’s Executive Branch, under the Administration of Mayor Andre Dickens, has taken the unprecedented step of seeking to redraw southwest neighborhood planning unit (NPU) boundaries and dissolve an entire NPU without City Council approval.    Some have criticized the proposal as a pretext to allow development to proceed unmitigated by community opposition in southwest Atlanta.   The proposed changes were first reported by the Peach Pundit blog.   In response, Council ..read more

(APN) ATLANTA – At the August 08, 2022 Public Safety/Legal Administration Committee Meeting of the City Council of Atlanta, the Committee approved a contract allowing the transfer of prisoners from South Fulton Jail to the Atlanta City Detention Center (ACDC), in a vote of five to one, despite a recent federal ruling that the jail has consistently violated the constitutional rights of the jail’s female prisoners.   https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15956148/georgia-advocacy-office-v-jackson/   “City officials have claimed that moving people from [South Fulton Jail] Union City to A ..read more

(APN) ATLANTA – In the 1990’s, the City of Atlanta expressed its policy of setting aside a substantial portion of cable franchise fee revenue paid by cable subscribers to be used for public access television, People TV Channel 24, Atlanta Progressive News can reveal based on our research of historical records, including documents obtained from the Atlanta History Center.   The revelation is significant because the City of Atlanta has defunded People TV over the subsequent decades, a process that accelerated under the administration of then-Mayor Shirley Franklin – and this defunding was a ..read more

(APN) ATLANTA – At the Monday, June 06, 2022 Full Council Meeting, the Atlanta City Council approved another year of funding for People TV, Inc., the City’s public access station, after the City of Atlanta previously took the shocking move of taking over the station.   https://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2022/04/15/city-of-atlanta-takes-over-public-access-station-from-people-tv/   City of Atlanta Ordinance 22-O-1393 was introduced by Councilmembers Byron Amos (District 3), Andrea Boone (District 10), Keisha Sean Waites (Post 3-at-large), and Antonio Lewis (District 12).   https ..read more

(APN) ATLANTA – Run-off races are set for the Democratic nominations for Georgia Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance, and Commissioner of Labor in an upcoming Primary Run-off Election to take place on June 21, 2022.     One candidate, former State Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler (D-Lithonia), decries the racism that she says she has observed on the part of the Democratic Party of Georgia.   SECRETARY OF STATE   Former State Rep. Bee Nguyen (D-Atlanta) and former State Rep. Dawkins-Haigler are in a Run-off for the Democratic nomination for Secretar ..read more

(APN) ATLANTA – Fulton County Commissioner Khadihah Abdur-Rahman (District 6) is suing the other six Fulton County Commissioners seeking to enjoin them from continuing to block her ability to introduce agenda items for consideration at meetings of the Commission.   Abdur-Rahman v. Arrington, Jr. et al, 2022CV364892, was filed on May 18, 2022 and is pending in Fulton County Superior Court before Judge Rachelle L. Carnesdale.   “The Defendants have filed an ethics complaint against the Plaintiff attempting to stop her from speaking on behalf of the citizens of Fulton County concerning ..read more