Hear Georgia NOW

Tag: Georgia

  • ‘We need volunteers’: Salvation Army prepares for its annual Red Kettle Campaign

    ‘We need volunteers’: Salvation Army prepares for its annual Red Kettle Campaign

    ‘We need volunteers’: Salvation Army prepares for its annual Red Kettle Campaign

    The Salvation Army will kick off its annual Red Kettle Campaign on Saturday, Nov. 15, with volunteers ringing their bells outside of store fronts across the country.

    Captain Chris Powell, a corps officer for the Albany Salvation Army corps, told WALB what they need for the holiday season.

    “The biggest thing we need now is volunteers to help ring the bell,” he said. “It would also be helpful to me with the small staff I have if there’re any volunteers, bankers, things of that nature that would love to come and help me count the kettles everyday, that would be very helpful as well.”

    The funds collected are used to support operations at Salvation Army throughout the year. The Salvation Army is a Christian organization that offers assistance to people in need.

    The Salvation Army has several ways for people to participate in the event. If you would like to volunteer to ring the bell, go to registertoring.com.

    If you do not keep cash on you but would like to donate to the Salvation Army, visit centralusa.salvationarmy.org.

  • Party of Two: Ossoff and Warnock Stand Alone on Shutdown Vote

    Party of Two: Ossoff and Warnock Stand Alone on Shutdown Vote

    Party of Two: Ossoff and Warnock Stand Alone on Shutdown Vote

    The Senate took the first steps to end the longest federal government shutdown in history on Sunday, but prominent Georgia leaders did not support the move.

    Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock voted no on the funding bill because they said the proposal would double health insurance premiums for the 1.4 million Georgians who use the state’s online marketplace. The bill will temporarily fund the government through the end of January.

    “Premiums are set to double for 1.4 million Georgians and nearly half a million Georgians could lose health insurance altogether. The President refuses to fix it and withholds SNAP benefits while the House has not even to come to work for six weeks,” Sen. Ossoff said in a statement on his official government website. “With health care votes ahead, the question is whether Republicans in Congress will join us to prevent catastrophic increases in health insurance premiums.”

    This decision opens up Ossoff to criticism from Republicans as the 2026 election approaches. Ossoff is the only Democratic U.S. Senator on the ballot next year in a state that was won by President Donald Trump in 2024. 

    Eight Senate Democrats joined Republicans to pass the temporary measure on Sunday.

    Republican Gov. Brian Kemp condemned Ossoff’s decision on X.

    “Even when members of his own party chose to do the right thing and reopen the government, Sen. Ossoff did what Schumer told him to. Georgians won’t forget next November!” Kemp wrote.

    Both Ossoff and Warnock have been fighting for Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. The Senate’s vote on Sunday allows for a later vote to extend ACA tax credits that expire Jan. 1. 

     

  • Atlanta Gets Emergency Millions, Rural Georgia Gets Shuttered Daycares

    Atlanta Gets Emergency Millions, Rural Georgia Gets Shuttered Daycares

    Parents are scrambling to find childcare for their children during the federal government shutdown due to childcare services not receiving federal funding.

    Diane Rogers, the executive director of Action Pact, said they had to close 15 early childhood education facilities due to not receiving federal funds that were supposed to be paid on Nov. 1. Action Pact is a Head Start provider in rural, southeast Georgia.

    They asked for a guarantee that they would be reimbursed if they continued to provide services, but no one could give them that, Roger said. One month’s payroll for Action Pact’s Head Start programs is around $750,000.

    “That’s a huge debt to take on unless you know you’re going to get reimbursed. We’re a private nonprofit. We don’t have that kind of money laying around,” Rogers said.

    The closure impacts 548 children, and 187 employees have been furloughed. According to WABE, Action Pact Head Start facilities serve the following counties in South and Central Georgia: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Candler, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Jeff Davis, Pierce, Toombs and Ware.

    Rogers is concerned about food insecurity, parents losing their jobs due to having to stay home with their children, and negative impacts on children’s development. One in four childcare slots in the area Action Pact serves is a Head Start seat, she said.

    “We do a lot more than just play with blocks and play outside,” she said. “Children that need it receive specialized therapy.”

    They have been working with Quality Care for Children and Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students to help parents find assistance during this lapse in services, Rogers said.

    Juanita Yancey, the Executive Officer of the Georgia Head Start Association, said families across the state depend on Head Start for services. Georgia Head Start programs serve more than 25,000 children up to age 5 and their families, according to the Georgia Head Start Association website.

    “Programs are doing everything possible to keep their doors open, but they cannot run a program on reserves and goodwill, so everyday of inaction is another day of uncertainty for the families who count on Head Start,” Yancey said. “Children can’t pause their development for political gridlock, and we need Congress and the president to take action now.”

    Some Head Start programs have been able to find assistance to keep their doors open during the shutdown. The Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta and other funding partners provided an $8 million emergency loan to Georgia’s largest Head Start providers in order for them to stay open another 45 days.

    Donna Davidson, CEO of Easterseals North Georgia, told The Imprint that her nonprofit was fortunate to receive an emergency loan to remain open.

    “These are our children, we care deeply about what happens to them,” Davidson told The Imprint. “At the end of the day, families are the collateral damage of all this. It’s not right.”

    The YMCA of Metro Atlanta, Easterseals of North Georgia, and Sheltering Arms serve more than 6,500 children and their families.

    However, Action Pact’s Head Start programs in rural Georgia have not been so lucky.

    “To my knowledge, we’re the only program in the state that had to shut down. We don’t have lots of foundations down here,” Rogers said. “We’re kind of at a place now where we don’t know what else to do.”

    Action Pact accepts donations on their website at myactionpact.org.

  • From Milton Tragedy to Statewide Impact: Supreme Court Weighs Municipal Liability

    From Milton Tragedy to Statewide Impact: Supreme Court Weighs Municipal Liability

    From Milton Tragedy to Statewide Impact: Supreme Court Weighs Municipal Liability

    Joshua Chang was home from college in Milton, Georgia, when his car crashed into a concrete planter on the shoulder of Batesville Road. 

    His parents sued the City of Milton for wrongful death and won.

    The Fulton County State Court found the city liable for negligence and nuisance and awarded the family more than $32 million in damages. After the Georgia Court of Appeals sided with the trial court, the Georgia Supreme Court decided to get involved.

    The Georgia Supreme Court heard arguments in October regarding the case, and the court’s decision could impact cities across Georgia.

    The Georgia Supreme Court cited three issues that it was particularly concerned with: the ministerial duty of a city, whether the placement of a planter is a defect, and whether municipal immunity can be waived in these circumstances.

    Georgia cities have “sovereign immunity,” meaning they are shielded against civil liability with some exceptions. One of those exceptions is failure to perform its “ministerial duty,” which is following normal laws and procedures. Immunity is also waived if the city has insurance to cover the injury. 

    According to Capital Beat, the City of Milton’s insurance only covers $2 million in damages.

    During the hearing in October, an attorney for the city, Harold Melton, argued that the city cannot be found negligent in its duties just because a car lost control and hit a planter.

    “It is perfectly permissible to place features, items on a shoulder, that must be circumnavigated,” Melton said.

    Naveen Ramachandrappa, a lawyer for the parents, argues that the planter was in a dangerous position and the City of Milton had a responsibility to remove the planter.

    “For more than a hundred years, the well-established rule in this state is that a municipal corporation is bound to keep its streets and sidewalks in a reasonably safe condition,” Ramachandrappa said. 

    Back in January, the Georgia Municipal Association filed an amicus brief asking the Georgia Supreme Court to review and reverse lower court decisions that they say could impose “significant burdens” on cities across Georgia.

    “If upheld, municipalities across Georgia could be forced to remove or relocate countless objects from public rights-of-way, from planters and benches to traffic control boxes and monuments, even if they’ve never been deemed hazardous,” a press release from GMA said.

    The Georgia Supreme Court is expected to make a decision by the end of March.

  • Georgia’s Blame Carousel: State Leaders Trade Jabs as Federal Shutdown Drags On

    Georgia’s Blame Carousel: State Leaders Trade Jabs as Federal Shutdown Drags On

    Georgia’s Blame Carousel: State Leaders Trade Jabs as Federal Shutdown Drags On

    The blame game continues amid the federal government shutdown, and Georgia political leaders from both parties are pointing fingers at each other.

    Republican leaders in the Georgia General Assembly sent a letter to Democratic U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock accusing them of “hurting Georgians” by not voting yes on a plan to reopen the government.

    “We have two Democrat Senators that neither one of them are willing to buck their party to open the government is disappointing,” State Rep. Houston Gaines, a Republican of Athens, told Atlanta News First. “Senator Ossoff, he’s up for election next year. I think he’s going to pay the price at the ballot box.” 

    Rep. Rich McCormick, a Republican of Georgia’s 7th Congressional District, published a press release on Wednesday calling on the Georgia Senators to “stop blocking government funding that would keep food assistance flowing.” 

    “The government shutdown has now become the longest in U.S. history because Senate Democrats refuse to do their job,”said McCormick in the release.“It’s time for them to put the political games aside and put Georgians first.”

    Democratic state representatives and senators also sent a letter to Georgia’s Republicans in the House of Representatives, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The 80 Democrats accused U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins of failing to negotiate. 

    “It is unfathomable that the House of Representatives has been absent from work, as Georgians are already receiving notices about their health insurance premiums skyrocketing,” the letter reads. 

    The letter cites coverage from the AJC, which indicates that a 60-year-old couple in Fulton County could see their Affordable Care Act monthly premium rise from $800 to $2,200.

    At a press conference last week, State Rep. Ruwa Romman placed the blame for the shutdown on Republicans.

    “Every shutdown has happened when Republicans controlled the Senate in my lifetime,” Romman said. “What we’re actually seeing is that people are correctly and rightfully pointing to where the pressure should be, which is Republicans who have not been working for over 40 days.”

    State Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes spoke at a press conference last week calling on Gov. Brian Kemp to use some of the $14 billion surplus to continue funding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the state and criticized the governor for using technical difficulties as an excuse for not sending the funding.

    “He’s the governor of Georgia. I’m asking him to figure it out and get the billions and billions of dollars that we have in a surplus, and we can take that and we can actually help Georgians,” Islam Parkes said. 

    Fallon McClure, Deputy Southeast Regional Director for Working Families Party, speaks at a press conference on Oct. 30 about the misconceptions surrounding those who use food assistance programs. She stands with State Rep. Ruwa Romman (left) and State Rep. Gabriel Sanchez.