Free Republic

Outrage over a botched raid built on lies from informants followed by cover-ups by cops who killed a frightened, innocent 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston in her home — and then planted drugs in the house — led to the birth the Atlanta Citizen Review Board. The board was given investigators, subpoena power and a mandate to provide a credible, independent and “safe and welcoming place” to bring complaints and accusations of misconduct and abuse by public safety officials. More than five years later, the oversight board’s existence is threatened by resistance from the police force, an apparent lack of interest from...

Firing of Dobbs Elementary teacher upheld for aiding students on testsBy Jaime Sarrio The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 5:59 p.m. Wednesday, May 23, 2012 The firing of a fifth teacher in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal was upheld Wednesday by a tribunal. Derrick Broadwater, a teacher at Dobbs Elementary, was accused of helping students with words they didn't know and prompting them to recheck answers if he suspected something was incorrect. The tribunal voted to uphold APS' decision to terminate Broadwater after hearing recordings of the teacher talking to GBI investigators in March 2011. “I always tell my kids to go...

Test coordinator accused of ‘ultimate betrayal' of studentsBy D. Aileen Dodd The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 6:37 p.m. Friday, May 11, 2012 A Slater Elementary School teacher allowed her colleagues to cheat as they erased stray marks on 2009 state exam sheets, resulting in the "ultimate betrayal" of students, an Atlanta Public Schools lawyer said at the teacher's termination hearing. The teacher and test coordinator, Vanessa Jackson, denied the allegations, saying she went "beyond my call of duty" in her job. The termination hearing will continue next Friday as the defense presents its case. Atlanta Public Schools officials said Jackson was responsible...

Atlanta — Georgia is the first state having its “Stand Your Ground” law scrutinized by a federal court. An Atlanta civil rights leader filed a federal case challenging the law in response to the February shooting death of unarmed Florida teen, Trayvon Martin. Here’s how Georgia’s Stand Your Ground law works: If you think someone is about to kill you, you can use deadly force to defend yourself. It’s been Georgia law since 2006. But self defense can be a legal grey area. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation the number of justifiable homicides in Georgia has increased per...

APS teacher ready to fight for her jobBy Jaime Sarrio The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 6:31 p.m. Friday, May 4, 2012 An Atlanta teacher accused of cheating says she's ready to defend herself against claims she changed student answers. Camille Neely was a third-grade teacher at Gideons Elementary, where a special state investigation claims widespread cheating took place in 2009 and other years. Atlanta Public Schools is trying to fire Neely for allegedly changing answers on state exams and lying about her involvement to special investigators. **SNIP** Atlanta Public Schools is in the process of holding termination hearings to get some 90...

ATLANTA - Fire crews were battling a four-alarm blaze at Tyler Perry Studios in southwest Atlanta on Tuesday night. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, according to Atlanta Fire Department officials. There were no reported injuries as of 9:15 p.m. According to the studio website, the 200,000 square feet facility features five sound stages, a post-production facility, a back lot, a 400-seat theater, a private screening room and designated areas for entertaining and hosting events. It was moved to its current location in 2008. It was not immediately known which area the fire was located. Fire officials...

by John HillStand With Arizona A stalwart foe of illegal immigration has won a victory over sanctuary city policies in a major U.S. city. Atlanta has repealed an ordinance that recognized a particular Mexican ID - the infamous "Matricula Consular" card - for city government transactions. The city council voted to repeal the ordinance - which was adopted in 2004 - after a complaint was filed with the newly created state Immigration Enforcement and Review Board - which was created after passage of Georgia's Arizona-style immigration law H.B. 87 in July 2010. The complaint, filed in February by longtime...

One by one, they swore to tell the truth. One by one, they sat in a witness chair and told a similar tale of suggestion, persuasion and pressure. During the first day Friday of what is expected to be a two-day tribunal, former and current teachers at Atlanta's Usher Elementary School pointed a collective finger of blame at Donald Bullock Friday as the mastermind behind test cheating at that school. Bullock's attorney, Daniel Digby, said his client did nothing wrong. Atlanta Public Schools, however, laid out a 16-point letter of charges against Bullock, who served as testing coordinator at Usher...

Minus the unfortunate sports metaphor, I think Jesse Jackson has it right: "Let's not forget that Mr. Zimmerman represents a first down, not a touchdown -- the beginning of a process. But far beyond him, the victory is not in how long he stays in jail; the victory is in repealing these draconian, Stand Your Ground, self-defense, vigilante laws," Jackson told reporters along with others attending a church conference. "These laws incentivize vigilantism, take-the-law-into-your-own hands, kill or be killed. That's beneath the civility of a great nation." If you have a moment it's worth taking a listen to the Joe...

Three more Atlanta educators face firing for cheatingBy Jaime Sarrio The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 12:01 p.m. Friday, March 30, 2012 Three Atlanta educators implicated in a widespread cheating scandal were notified of the district's plans to fire them, according to letters sent Friday and Monday. **SNIP** That brings to 19 the number of educators the district has taken steps to terminate after months of delay and millions spent in payroll and legal expenses. APS is paying about $1 million a month to some 110 educators accused of cheating who remain on leave, but the system is trying to resolve the cases...

ATLANTA — The new $1.4 billion international terminal at the world's busiest airport will be a sleek launching pad for millions of passengers that's designed to help Atlanta grab a growing share of the lucrative market for global travelers. Its wavy lines, expansive windows and eye-catching artwork offer a stark contrast to the boxy design of the rest of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Airport managers are already expecting an increase in international travelers over the next decade, and they hope the terminal set to open May 16 will convince airlines to route even more of their overseas flights through the...

Suspicious test scores in roughly 200 school districts resemble those that entangled Atlanta in the biggest cheating scandal in American history, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows. The newspaper analyzed test results for 69,000 public schools and found high concentrations of suspect math or reading scores in school systems from coast to coast. The findings represent an unprecedented examination of the integrity of school testing. The analysis doesn’t prove cheating. But it reveals that test scores in hundreds of cities followed a pattern that, in Atlanta, indicated cheating in multiple schools. A tainted and largely unpoliced universe of untrustworthy...

Hearings first step to firing educators9 accused Atlanta educators to go before tribunals next week By Jaime Sarrio The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 5:38 a.m. Friday, March 9, 2012 Atlanta Public Schools next week will hold the first in a series of hearings necessary to fire educators accused of cheating, the district confirmed Thursday. After months of delay and millions spent in payroll and legal expenses, nine educators suspected of some of the most egregious of the school system’s widespread test cheating are scheduled to go before a tribunal. For the school district, it’s a chance to bring resolution to a case...

Those American flags and welcome signs won't be needed at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport anymore. Every day, for the past eight years, at least one chartered plane carrying U.S. soldiers heading home for two weeks of rest and recuperation from active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan has touched down at both Dallas/Fort Worth and Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airports. *snip* But the drawdown of troops in Iraq and the shift to shorter deployments means there are no longer two full planes of R&R-bound soldiers returning home each day. So the U.S. army has decided to consolidate the "Welcome Home a Hero"...

11 APS educators notified: You're going to be firedBy Nancy Badertscher The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 6:55 p.m. Friday, March 2, 2012 Atlanta School Superintendent Erroll Davis took the first steps late Friday to fire 11 educators suspected of some of the most egregious of the school system's widespread test-cheating. **SNIP** A state investigation, completed last summer, uncovered evidence that 180 APS educators were involved in systemic cheating focused on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, a standardized test that's been a pivotal measure of a school's achievement. The investigation concluded some APS staffers, for perhaps as long as a decade, worked in secret...

Few teachers in Atlanta cheating probe willing to resignBy Jaime Sarrio The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 5:34 a.m. Thursday, March 1, 2012 A last-ditch attempt to push Atlanta educators accused of cheating off the payroll has so far failed to convince many to resign, partly because they have little incentive to go. That means taxpayers will be on the hook for what is shaping up to be a costly firing process. The district has spent $6.2 million paying the salaries of suspended educators, an expense that increases $600,000 a month. Legal fees have cost the district at least $700,000 and will likely...

APS firing process could begin next weekby Atlanta Journal Constitution 1 day ago Educators accused of cheating in Atlanta Public Schools could be notified as soon as next week of the district's plans to fire them, Superintendent Erroll Davis said Friday. Two have resigned since the district put educators on notice Thursday that terminations were imminent. A state investigation released in July accused 180 Atlanta educators of cheating; about 120 remain on the payroll at a cost of $600,000 a month to the city school district.

APS and Dougherty Co. facing high costs for CRCT fall outBy Jennifer Emert Updated: Feb 23, 2012 6:35 PM EST ALBANY, GA - Teachers named in the CRCT cheating report in Atlanta were told Thursday to resign or be fired. The school system is meeting with 180 employees and giving them until Friday to make their decision. Both Atlanta and the Dougherty County School systems are under pressure to deal with those implicated in the state's investigations by May 15th. That's when they must decide whether to renew contracts for those named in the state reports on cheating. "The law...

Police today arrested a second suspect in connection with the videotaped beating of a gay man outside an Atlanta convenience store.

For the first time, this morning in Georgia, the question of Obama’s eligibility to serve, became official. No longer the stuff of speculation, no longer dismissible by liberals as something which will never be heard in court, Obama’s eligibility became a matter of an official court record. What does it mean? To answer that, one must look at the reason for the hearing to begin with. For years, Orly Taitz and the Liberty Legal Foundation along with others, have questioned Obama’s legal right to serve. For years, that argument centered on the birth certificate and whether or not Obama...

SNIPPET: ""All I want is shahadah in Kashmir. I don't want to be famous or well known." Those were the words of Abu Adam Jibreel al Amreekee as we walked around the center in Muridke, Pakistan. As we strolled around the giant masjid and school and looked at the horses at the horse stable we talked of the difficulties in training and jihad in general. Abu Adam was only nineteen years of age when he went to the killing fields of occupied Kashmir. Born into a considerably wealthy family in Atlanta Georgia, Abu Adam had always excelled in most of...

Picture Emerges of Teen Suicide Pilot CHARLES BISHOP: To some, he was a smart, humorous student, which makes his suicide flight all the more incomprehensible. By CURTIS KRUEGER, KATHERINE GAZELLA and ED QUIOCO © St. Petersburg Times published January 8, 2002 ----------- Charles Bishop was a teacher's dream. He read Shakespeare in class, pulled together a middle school literary magazine and enjoyed a good game of flag football. Friends and family members who knew him best described Charles as a patriot. The teen who flew an airplane into the Bank of America building, carrying a note sympathizing with Osama bin...

In schools around the country, 2011 was marked by test cheating scandalsBy Associated Press, Published: December 31 ATLANTA — It was the year of the test cheating scandal. From Atlanta to Philadelphia and Washington to Los Angeles, officials have accused hundreds of educators of changing answers on tests or giving answers to students. Just last week, state investigators revealed that dozens of educators in 11 schools in Georgia’s Dougherty County either cheated or failed to prevent cheating on 2009 standardized tests. **SNIP** At President Obama’s invitation, states have begun filing waivers to get relief from the law. Under the 11...

THOUSAND OAKS (CBS) — A toxicology report found that the 18-year-old son of a former NFL quarterback died from a heroin overdose, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said. Thousand Oaks High School backup quarterback Griffen Kramer was found dead in his Agoura Hills home on Oct. 30. Friends told investigators that Kramer began foaming at the mouth while doing heroin with them. Authorities say one of his friends took him home and hoped he would sleep it off. Police have arrested five people in connection with Kramer’s death. Griffen Kramer’s father, Erik, played in the NFL for 12 years.

Shocking details have surfaced in the murder of up-and-coming rapper Slim Dunkin (born Mario Hamilton). Atlanta police has told WSB-TV, that the Waka Flocka Flame associate was shot and killed during a fight over a piece of candy. Incredulous as the story may sound, authorities are still investigating the case and the shooter remains at large.

The year was 1919, one year after the end of World War I, and the people of Atlanta, Georgia were celebrating the Christmas Season.

The year was 1919, one year after the end of World War I, and the people of Atlanta, Georgia were celebrating the Christmas Season.

The 1930s was an exciting time when everyone loved Super Star-Shirley Temple, Baseball Home Run Legend-Babe Ruth, Aviator Pioneer-Amelia Earhart and “Gone with the Wind” Author- Margaret Mitchell.

ATLANTA - Tea Party activists have been among the strongest supporters of Herman Cain, but a co-founder of the Atlanta Tea Party said she's changed her mind about a candidate she had defended. "I think he should withdraw from the race at this point but that decision is for Herman and his family to make," said Atlanta Tea Party leader Debbie Dooley. Dooley said she was troubled by Cain's denials following the FOX 5 I-Team report on Ginger White and her story of 13-year-long affair with Cain. White pointed to phone records showing repeated calls and text messages between the...

A 103-year-old woman and her 83-year-old daughter were just moments from being evicted from their home Tuesday, when sheriff's deputies and the moving company hired by the bank decided not to go through with the action. Channel 2's Ryan Young was there when the family started thanking God for the miracle. At justthree weeks shy of her 104th birthday, Vita Lee has shared her home on Penelope Road in Northwest Atlanta with her daughter for 53 years. "I love it. It's a mansion," Lee said about her house. Fulton County sheriff's deputies and movers showed up at Lee's home Tuesday...

ATLANTA, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Prosecutors dropped felony charges against an Atlanta veteran who fired four shots into the ground outside his home to scare off a man he suspected was a thief. But while he gained his freedom Friday after seven months in the Fulton County Jail, former Marine David Sturdivant, who served four tours of duty in Vietnam and received a Purple Heart, has lost a kidney after being shot by a police officer, his home, his business and all his possessions, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Sturdivant, 64, could have been freed about two weeks ago if he...

ATLANTA (CBS Atlanta) – The home base for Occupy Atlanta has tested positive for tuberculosis. The Fulton County Health Department confirmed Wednesday that residents at the homeless shelter where protesters have been occupying have contracted the drug-resistant disease

The homeless shelter that Occupy Atlanta protesters have been camping out in has been confirmed for housing two cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis. (Spencer Platt/CBS Atlanta) Jesse Jackson just spoke at the TB camp four days ago. Public health officials in Atlanta confirmed today that the Occupy Atlanta camp has tested possitive for tuberculosis. CBS Atlanta reported: The home base for Occupy Atlanta has tested positive for tuberculosis. The Fulton County Health Department confirmed Wednesday that residents at the homeless shelter where protesters have been occupying have contracted the drug-resistant disease. WGCL reports that a health department spokeswoman said there is...

ATLANTA (CBS Atlanta) – The home base for Occupy Atlanta has tested positive for tuberculosis. The Fulton County Health Department confirmed Wednesday that residents at the homeless shelter where protesters have been occupying have contracted the drug-resistant disease. WGCL reports that a health department spokeswoman said there is a possibility that both Occupy Atlanta protesters and the homeless people in the shelter may still be at risk since tuberculosis is contracted through air contact. “Over the last three months were have been two persons who have resided in this facility who have been diagnosed with confirmed or suspected infectious tuberculosis...

ATLANTA (CBS Atlanta) – The home base for Occupy Atlanta has tested positive for tuberculosis. The Fulton County Health Department confirmed Wednesday that residents at the homeless shelter where protesters have been occupying have contracted the drug-resistant disease. WGCL reports that a health department spokeswoman said there is a possibility that both Occupy Atlanta protesters and the homeless people in the shelter may still be at risk since tuberculosis is contracted through air contact. “Over the last three months were have been two persons who have resided in this facility who have been diagnosed with confirmed or suspected infectious tuberculosis...

Five people were arrested early Monday at or near a downtown Atlanta park that has been an off-and-on site of Wall Street protests similar to the ones being held in other U.S. cities, a day after 19 demonstrators were taken to jail by officers in riot gear when a rally spilled into the streets. Atlanta police said one protester draped in an American flag inside Woodruff Park was arrested after refusing to leave by a Sunday night curfew, and four other people on bicycles were arrested near the park — three for traffic violations and one for obstruction of a...

ATLANTA -- Kasim Reed is a Democrat. He supports President Obama. He's no candidate for converting to the GOP. But whether one is a Republican or Democrat, they should be following the career of this young and vibrant man who is teaching the rest of America how to handle a crisis. Like mayors in many other cities, Mayor Reed of Atlanta was confronted with hundreds of protestors who took to the city's most prominent downtown park and made it their home, to live, eat and protest against all types of groups and for all kinds of causes. For weeks, Reed...

Atlanta schools caught up in cheating scandal get federal standing yanked over inflated scoresArticle by: DORIE TURNER, Associated Press Updated: November 2, 2011 - 9:32 AM ATLANTA - Georgia has revoked the federal standing for more than 40 Atlanta elementary and middle schools named in a massive cheating scandal. **SNIP** That means the schools can face sanctions under federal law and may have to return thousands of dollars in federal money for each year they reported inflated test scores.

Occupy Atlanta moves protest to homeless shelterThe Associated Press Updated: Sunday, October 30, 2011 - 11:59pm ATLANTA -- After being evicted from a city park last week, Occupy Atlanta says it's found a new home for its protest -- at a shelter for the homeless. Occupy Atlanta spokeswoman Sara Amis said Sunday several dozen protesters spent Saturday night on the fourth floor of a building used by the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless. She says it's possible more could join them.

NEW YORK (AP) — While more U.S. cities are resorting to force to break up the Wall Street protests, many others — Philadelphia, New York, Minneapolis and Portland, Ore., among them — are content to let the demonstrations go on for now.New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, for example, said Friday that the several hundred protesters sleeping in Zuccotti Park, the unofficial headquarters of the movement that began in mid-September, can stay as long as they obey the law."I can't talk about other cities," he said. "Our responsibilities are protect your rights and your safety. And I think we're trying to...

“Scores of Atlanta police officers moved in overnight -- some clad in riot gear, some on horseback, all under orders to clear the park of protesters,” NBC 11Alive.com reports. “The order came from Mayor Kasim Reed, who says the last straw was a man walking around Woodruff Park Tuesday afternoon carrying an assault rifle.” [T]he man…declined to identify himself. "(The gun is) a symbol of the last line of resistance against a government that's going to try to push people out because of their ideals," he said. The man told [11Alive's Jaye] Watson the weapon was a semi-automatic version of...

Woodruff Park remained quiet and empty early Wednesday morning after Atlanta police reclaimed the park, arresting 53 protesters after multiple warnings. ...Deputy Atlanta Police Chief Calvin Moss announced at 11:52 p.m. that the executive order allowing protesters to stay in the park has been revoked. Protesters were told to leave the park and any belongings left behind would be treated as abandoned property. ...Officers swarmed the park around 12:45 a.m. The arrests were orderly and peaceful, though some of the protesters had to dragged out. ...Police on motorcycles and horseback circled the perimeter as officers went from tent to tent...

He’s backed down twice before but the antagonism between him and the protesters seems to be peaking. At this point I suspect the movement would welcome a police crackdown somewhere to boost sympathy for the protesters. People are getting bored with the story and there are enough freak-show videos from the protests circulating to put off the middle-class supporters that they need. But heavy-handed action by a city could turn it around depending upon how favorable the resulting narrative is to OWS. Ideally for them, the crackdown would be ordered by a mayor who resembles the cartoon plutocracy they’re railing...

While watching the video of a group of “Occupy Atlanta” this past Saturday that instead I was watching instead something from out of a “Star Trek” tv episode and it is those feared aliens, “The Borg”. While USA House of Representatives John Lewis, (D/GA) was in attendance with members of the MSM or news media. Rep. Lewis, who was active in the American civil rights movement and is involved in liberal politics. What Rep. Lewis with MSM had seen was nothing short than shocking. It was even SHOCKING for me to even watch this video. These people were not speaking...

Atlanta student 1 of 7 charged in SAT cheating scandalReporter: The Associated Press Posted: 3:26 PM Sep 27, 2011 GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) — A Georgia college student is facing charges he stood in for New York high school students and took the SAT exam for them. Six current or former Great Neck North High School students also were arrested on Tuesday. Nassau County prosecutors say Sam Eshaghoff was paid between $1,500 and $2,500 for each exam. Eshaghoff is a 19-year-old Great Neck North alumnus who now attends Emory University in Atlanta. He spent his freshman year at the University...

ATLANTA -- Police in Atlanta are hunting several suspects who posed as FBI agents Saturday to rob and shoot a man, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The unidentified victim was leaving his Atlanta apartment with a woman at around 10:30am local time when he was approached by several men in the building's parking lot, police said.

Man-o-man...this is getting annoying. Here in North Georgia we are having some weather. Basically it's sprinkling with an occasional light breeze. Apparently there are some localized storms with heavy rain and strong winds. So instead of the usual approach of streaming the watches/warnings below the normal programming (with the occasional beep-beep-beep attention getter) - the weather dudes have taken over the channels and are making it out to be Weather WWIII. I am the last guy to diminish the danger of a tornado (lived through one) - but this weather paranoia is getting annoying. They are "urgently" reporting rain and...

. AdvoCare 500 Sunday 7:30 pm ET on ESPN Atlanta Motor Speedway SPEED Raceday at 5:00 ETESPN Prerace at 7:00 ETGreen Flag approx 7:46 ET Please visit the FR Canteen - Dedicated to our troops, veterans, and their families: The FR Canteen Please pray on this day, and every day, for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm's way around the world in defense of our liberty, and for the families awaiting their safe return.

A 12-year-old amateur sleuth beat police at their own game by cracking the case of who ransacked her late great-grandmother's home last month. Jessica Maple honed her detective skills at a Junior District Attorney camp in Atlanta this summer, sponsored by the Fulton County DA's office. Police told Jessica, and her mother Stephanie, that whoever robbed the home would have had to have entered with a key, since such large items were stolen and there were no signs of forced entry, Jessica said. But the curious 12-year-old knew something wasn't right. Her parents were the only two people who had...

Fulton County grand jury issues subpoena for probe of APS cheating scandalPosted by Miranda Sain on Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 2:15 PM A criminal investigation has begun into the Atlanta Public School cheating scandal — and former Superintendent Beverly Hall could play a large role, the AJC reports: The subpoena, issued by a Fulton County grand jury, seeks comprehensive information dating back to 1999 regarding teacher transfers and demotions, bonuses paid to employees for improved test scores and copies of complaints from parents, teachers or students of possible improprieties related to Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests. The subpoena also seeks signed...