Free Republic

If my heart is with Paul Broun, my head is with Karen Handel. Whoever the nominee is will face Michelle Nunn, the great white hope of the Georgia Democratic Party. A unified front — the Democrats don’t even have a gubernatorial candidate — and a bankrupt party will throw its full weight behind her family name with a helping hand of Barack Obama’s organizational skills. Her early reviews have captured the imagination of the geriatric press corps (those still with a pulse) who swooned over her father in his day as well as the younger, liberal reporter cubs on the...

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. (CBS Atlanta) - ”At around 1:30am [sic] my family and I were awaken [sic] by the sound of loud and aggressive banging at our front door. The [a]ggressive nature of the banging frightened us so I walked into the guest room that looks over the front of our house and was shocked when I saw 3 large DeKalb County Sheriff SUV’s with large flood lights pointed at our house and windows.” That is the beginning of the description offered for a video posted to YouTube that accuses several officers with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office of harassing...

In 2002, Brian Banks was a successful high school football player, looking forward to playing in the NCAA, and eventually, the NFL. But while he would eventually go on to play for the Atlanta Falcons in 2013, that future looked impossible in 2002 when he faced a sentence of 41 years to life, after being accused of raping a classmate in high school...

A group of Woodland Park parents and educators want to get rid of the Common Core Academic Standards that are being implemented in Colorado Schools. Teller County Citizens Against Common Core Standards maintains the new academic guidelines aren't as good as the ones in place. It also argues that the system is unconstitutional because it takes local control away from school districts. It may lobby Woodland Park School District RE-2 and the state to drop out. "We want to get the word out. The standards were just a money carrot for the state to get federal money," ... Among other...

Gov. Nathan Deal complains there has been much “misinformation” spread about the new Common Core national standards that Georgia adopted in exchange for a federal Race to the Top grant. Indeed, he’s right, but not in the way he believes. One critical piece of misinformation is the claim that the Common Core math standards are more “rigorous” than our previous Georgia Performance Standards. Research shows the truth is quite the opposite. ... Common Core national standards will set our children back one to two years. The math standards specifically are markedly inferior to all three sets of standards used for...

The GOP division over whether to defund ObamaCare can be summarized in two quotes: This, from Texas senator Ted Cruz: "We can de-fund Obamacare if Republican leaders who tell their constituents they're conservative stand up and act like they're conservative." And in opposition, Ramesh Ponnuru: "[I]f Republicans stay firm in this demand [to defund Obamacare], the result will be either a government shutdown or a partial shutdown combined with a debt default. Either would be highly unpopular, and each party would blame the other. The public, however, would almost certainly blame Republicans. And which blame, according to Ponnuru and those...

Chilling video from a home in Dekalb County, Ga., shows local police entering a house illegally, berating the home’s residents and then tackling them to the ground. The entire incident took place because the mother of the home, Natania Griffin, was two weeks late on paying a $1,000 fee to the county. Griffin’s 23-year-old son, Donovan Hall, recorded the event. He was alarmed and confused when police began banging loudly on his door in the middle of the night. “I was immediately confused as to why the police would be at my house,” Hall told the Huffington Post. “The knocks...

DEKALB COUNTY, GA (CBS ATLANTA) A woman said her family got an aggressive wake up call from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department. The family told CBS Atlanta News they were startled at 1:30 a.m. when deputies beat on their front door. Fearing for their safety, the family said they took their time to open the door. Once inside an officer used excessive force and aggressive language, according to one family member. After the incident, the family posted the video on YouTube. Watch full video now The sheriff’s department claims they received a copy from an anonymous sender Wednesday morning. Both...

It’s as backwards as pineapple upside-down cake. Disgraced chef and Georgia native Paula Deen is more popular among Republicans in her home state than civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., a shocking new poll revealed Wednesday. Nearly 75% of Georgia GOPers had a favorable opinion of the celebrity chef, who has suffered a stunning fall from grace after she admitted to using the N-word, compared to the 59% of Peach State Republicans who had a favorable view of King Jr., according to a new poll from left-leaning Public Policy Polling. Only 11% of those polled had an unfavorable view...

ATLANTA (AP) — Organizers of a new event planned for several U.S. cities plan to unleash bulls to sprint through fenced-in courses as daredevils try to avoid being trampled. The Great Bull Run is inspired by the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. It's set to kick off Aug. 24 at a drag-racing strip south of Richmond, Va. A second event is planned for Oct. 19 at an Atlanta-area horse park that hosted events for the 1996 Olympics. More events are planned later for Texas, Florida, California, Minnesota, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Bull runs — when the animals are...

Is the Republican Party “truly” the party of limited government, less spending, less taxes and less regulation? That’s what Dalton Mayor David Pennington, who plans to challenge incumbent Gov. Nathan Deal in the 2014 GOP primary, says he intends to find out. Pennington found a receptive audience for his message of low taxes and limited government on Thursday in Chatsworth when he spoke to about two dozen people during a meeting of the Murray County Tea Party Patriots. Pennington said Republicans have controlled the governor’s office and the General Assembly for a decade now but have done little to cut...

The Talk Shows August 4th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Reps. Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Justin Amash, R-Mich.; Michael Hayden, a former head of the CIA and the National Security Agency.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Reps. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Michael McCaul, R-Texas; and Sen. Chuck U. Schumer, D-N.Y.THIS WEEK (ABC): Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y., and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md.STATE OF THE UNION...

Georgia State University’s official roster of more than 300 campus organizations includes everything from the Bengali Student Association to the Women’s Ultimate Frisbee Club. But one student group you won’t find on the list — the new White Student Union — is already making headlines nationwide. Freshman Patrick Sharp says he launched the White Student Union this summer in order to recognize and appreciate white culture. As he told the Atlanta Journal Constitution, “All we want to do is celebrate white identity. This is about being in touch with who you are as a white person and being proud of...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday that he sides with Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz because they are not afraid to ask important questions, and it is disheartening to watch establishment Republicans like Gov. Chris Christie "grow hysterical." "I consistently have been on the side of having the courage that Rand Paul and Ted Cruz have and I think it's sad to watch the establishment grow hysterical, but frankly they're hysterical because they have no answers," Gingrich said while appearing on "The Laura Ingraham Show," Politico reports. Gingrich was on Ingraham's show to offer his opinion on the...

On Monday morning, a robber walked into an Atlanta Waffle House and pointed a gun at patrons. The crook was wearing a bandana and hoodie, according to reports. Everyone in the restaurant undoubtably saw their lives flash before their eyes. That is, until one Waffle House patron pulled out his own gun and fired at the bandit. The suspect is Ashton Macafee, 20. After entering the Waffle House, he screamed. “Nobody move and open the cash register!” The incident happened around 2am in south Fulton County. The man who fired back at Macafee, and likely saved the lives of some...

VILLA RICA, GA (CBS ATLANTA) - Villa Rica police responded to a robbery and shots fired at the Junior Food Store on Dallas Highway around 10 p.m. Tuesday. "They found that the suspect had been shot. He was found dead behind the counter on the floor" said Villa Rica Police Capt. Keith Shaddix. When police arrived, they found Durante Octavious Ashley, 19, shot three times. According to Shaddix, Ashley entered the store wearing a black bandanna covering his face and a green hooded jacket covering his head. "He points the gun at the clerk. The clerk started backing out away...

Georgia said that insurance premiums for a 25-year-old male currently in a high-deductible plan would rise up to 198 percent in 2014 and rates for many others could rise by 20 percent to 100 percent. Florida's office of insurance regulation said on Tuesday that rates for individuals will rise roughly 30 to 40 percent next year. Indiana's department of insurance last week said that insurance costs to individuals under the Affordable Care Act would rise 72 percent.

An Atlanta crook picked the wrong Waffle House to target early Monday morning. That’s because when the bandana and hoodie-wearing bandit walked into the restaurant and pointed a gun at patrons, one of them reached for his gun and fired back. Police say the suspect entered the Waffle House in south Fulton County just before 2 am, brandishing a pistol and demanding money. “Nobody move and open the cash register,” the suspect, 20-year-old Ashton Macafee, allegedly said according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC). What he didn’t know was that seated together at a booth were off-duty Atlanta police officer...

President Obama, Welcome to Chattanooga, one of hundreds of cities throughout this great nation struggling to succeed in spite of your foolish policies that limit job creation, stifle economic growth and suffocate the entrepreneurial spirit. Forgive us if you are not greeted with the same level of Southern hospitality that our area usually bestows on its distinguished guests. You see, we understand you are in town to share your umpteenth different job creation plan during your time in office. If it works as well as your other job creation programs, then thanks, but no thanks. We’d prefer you keep it...

Under the cover of Obama’s campaign to sell his budget .. it is no coincidence that his visit is occurring at the same time Volkswagen is being pressured to accept the UAW into its Chattanooga factory. The United Auto Workers have tried every other option at this point including calling in a favor with the union that resides in Volkswagen’s home plant in Germany. ... it doesn’t look like the UAW’s normal campaign of propaganda seems to be succeeding; therefore, it’s time to call in the big dog himself and hope their investment of $148,967 into the reelection of President...

The Talk Shows July 28th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Treasury Secretary Jack Lew; Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Lew; Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.; Christine Quinn, candidate for New York mayor.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Rogers; Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo.THIS WEEK (ABC): Lew; Sens. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Lew; Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.; Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

A woman in a wheelchair and a 10-year-old were the unlikely heroes at a Decatur apartment fire Thursday. A mother's desperate action to save her babies turned neighbors into rescuers. "I caught the newborn baby from falling. Before it had hit the ground I caught it," said Zna Gresham, 10. Gresham said she just did what was asked after she ran out of her burning apartment to safety outside. "Then when I was getting out, the lady from upstairs, she was dropping her babies and she asked me and my sister can she get the babies for her," Zna told...

Clarke County public schools will take a pass on a new free-lunch-for-all federal program, at least for now. Under the “Healthy, Hunger-free Kids” act of 2010, school districts with high levels of students who qualify for free or reduced lunchroom prices can opt to offer free lunches to all students this year. The Clarke County School District easily qualifies. Since 2003, the percent of pupils in Clarke schools who qualify for free or reduced lunch has jumped from 64 percent in 2003 to 82 percent as of 2013. If Clarke entered the all-free-lunch program, schools and parents would no longer...

Rep. John Lewis praised Attorney General Eric Holder's push to place the state of Texas under pre-clearance requirements for voting laws under Section 3 of the Voting Rights Act. In an interview with the AJC today, the Atlanta Democrat said he thinks North Carolina should be next. "I'm very encouraged to see the Attorney General and the Department of Justice take this position. I think it's long overdue. ... Without Section 4 I think it's so fitting and appropriate for the Department of Justice to take the action. And I wish they would take a serious look at what has...

From left, members of Game Elite: John Carlos Reyes, Avery Patterson, Antonio Lang, Shawntrez DavisLAS VEGAS -- They strolled into the auxiliary gym at Rancho High School with backpacks on and the message clear on their shirts: I AM TRAYVON. Every player on Game Elite's 17U squad was donning the T-shirts during warm-ups and didn't remove them until it was time to tip. The AAU program based out of Atlanta first displayed the shirts Wednesday night, and per program co-director Ryan Falker, they'll wear the shirts before and after games for the duration of their stay for tournament play in...

The son of disgraced Hall of Fame football legend Lawrence Taylor was arrested and charged with allegedly having sex with two underaged girls, cops said today. Lawrence Taylor Jr., 31, was locked up without bail in a Cobb County, Ga., jail, charged with sodomy, child molestation and statutory rape, according to Sheriff’s records. Two girls, both under 16 and friends of each other, told cops late Saturday that they’d had sexual contact with the sack master’s son, officials said. SNIP LT’s son - listed at 6-foot-1, 230 pounds in jail records - could be headed down the same destructive path...

The drinks giant has launched Coca Cola Life, which is sweetened with sugar and the naturally occurring, no-calorie sweetener stevia. The new product features a striking green label and is packaged in the award-winning PlantBottle. This is made with 30% plant material and is fully recyclable. Coca Cola says the bottle “looks functions and recycles just like traditional PET plastic, but does so with a lighter footprint on the planet and its scarce resources”. The new drink has 108 calories in a 600 millilitre bottle - between classic Coke with 250 calories and the zero-calorie Diet Coke. “Coca-Cola Life is...

One of the more reluctant media figures to emerge from the George Zimmerman trial was 19 year-old Rachel Jeantel, the last person to speak to unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, aside from the man who killed him. Her contentious exchanges with defense attorney Don West sparked conversations about cultural differences, and the way many in the media reacted to them. Jeantel’s unpleasant experience in the courtroom hasn’t scarred her too deeply, however, as she told radio host Ricky Smiley, last week, that she aspires to become an attorney. Jeantel’s time on the witness stand was a focal point of the trial,...

A man scared of a burglar Saturday morning after he fired off a warning shot. A police report says that an officer was responding to the 900 block of Washington Street at about 3:53 a.m. Saturday for a residential alarm call when he learned that a gun shot had been fired from the residence. Officers arrived at the location where the owner and neighbor of the location was carrying a 12 gauge shotgun. The man told police that when he learned of the alarm going off next door at the area in which he used for storage, he grabbed his...

A Douglas County family was dealing with the violent deaths of their two cats Saturday after two dogs broke into their home, killed their two pets and tried to attack the wife.The dogs came from a neighboring house Saturday morning and broke through a second story screen door of Patrick Vermilya’s home. Once inside, they killed one cat sitting on the screen porch, then went further into the home and killed a cat inside, according to Vermilya, who was not at home at the time.Patty McMahon, Vermilya’s wife, came inside the house and saw the cats lying in pools...

Neither Kathy Sanders nor her son, Rico, had ever attended a political rally before, but they joined thousands of people in downtown Atlanta Saturday afternoon to pay tribute to Trayvon Martin and call for an end to racial profiling. “Showing this kind of togetherness, maybe we can make a change,” said Kathy, a College Park resident and U.S. Postal Service clerk. Rico Sanders, home for the summer from Jacksonville State where he’s a senior and a shooting guard on the basketball team, was selling T-shirts; five dollars of each sold would be donated to the Trayvon Martin Foundation, he said....

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. —A Georgia woman accused in her neighbor's stabbing death appeared in court, threatened a judge and demanded to be released from jail. Sahara Tabriz Fakhir, 32, is charged with murder in the death of Jerry Wheeler, 66. Fakhir appeared in court Thursday morning. When a judge asked if Fakhir planned to get an attorney, she said Allah was representing her and would seek vengeance if the judge didn't release her from jail. Wheeler, who owned an auto shop, was found dead June 19 when his son came to check on him. Authorities have not disclosed a motive in...

The Romeikes, a German family granted legal asylum in the United States by a U.S. immigration judge in 2010, will petition the Supreme Court to hear its case to be granted permanent legal status in the country. Uwe and Hannelore Romeike fled Germany after their family was vigorously prosecuted with steep fines, threats of loss of custody of their children, and imprisonment—all for homeschooling. Homeschooling is largely illegal in Germany. Though the family was granted political asylum in the United States, the Obama administration appealed that decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals, and that Board decided in favor of...

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt and the attorneys general of 11 other states sued the Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday, demanding that the agency turn over documents the states allege will show the agency cooperates with environmental groups as part of a "sue and settle" legal strategy to develop regulations. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City, alleges that binding consent decrees between the EPA and environmental groups that have sued the agency over the years have led to new rules and regulations for states without allowing their attorneys general to defend their interests and those of its...

In an Interview today with an Atlanta news anchor, former president, Jimmy Carter, said the Jury in the case against George Zimmerman made the right decision in finding him not guilty.

Joe Carr believes a day is fast approaching when pastors will be charged with hate crimes for preaching that homosexuality is a sin and churches will face lawsuits for refusing to host same-sex weddings. “It’s just a matter of time,” said Carr, the pastor of Waynesville Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia. “What’s happening in Europe – we’re going to see happen here and we’re going to see it happen sooner rather than later I’m afraid.” And that’s why the congregation will be voting next month to change their church bylaws – to officially ban the usage of their facilities for...

A judge has temporarily stayed a Georgia inmate’s scheduled execution Monday, after attorneys raised questions involving the state’s supply of execution drugs. … It wasn’t the first time (Warren Lee) Hill’s scheduled execution has been halted by a challenge to Georgia’s execution method. Last July, a previous execution date was put on hold by an earlier challenge to the state’s plan to change from a three-drug injection to a single dose of pentobarbital. …

Falcons wide receiver Roddy White caused another digital firestorm with a tweet last night after the outcome of the George Zimmerman trial was announced. White called for the jurors to kill themselves.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - A Georgia killer who was sentenced to die on Monday for the beating death of a fellow inmate won a temporary reprieve just three hours before his scheduled execution by a judge who cited concerns over the state's new law governing lethal injections. Warren Lee Hill, 53, had been sentenced to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m. (2300 GMT). But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Gail Tusan stayed the execution until at least Thursday so she could hear more arguments from Hill's lawyers who say the new law is unconstitutional because it shrouds in secrecy...

New York Giants star receiver Victor Cruz tweeted an ominous prediction for George Zimmerman shortly after Zimmerman was acquitted of murder, and then quickly deleted the tweet. And later apologized for it. The NFL star tweeted to his more than 334,000 follwers, “Zimmerman doesn’t last a year til the hood catches up to him.” The tweet has since been deleted. In a series of follow up tweets, the Giant said that his angry tweet was “my initial interpretation of the reaction I was reading on twitter.I immediately realized my tweet was a mistake and I apologize.” Cruz was not the...

ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) - Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed issued a statement following the juror's verdict of not guilty in the State of Florida vs. George Zimmerman case. Mayor Reed stated, "The genuine tragedy of the Trayvon Martin case is that a mother and father lost their son senselessly. I find it troubling that a 17-year-old cannot walk to a corner store for candy without putting his life in danger. I find it more troubling that a citizen could not see a young African-American youth without immediately concluding that he was up to no good. While I disagree with the jury's...

A new billboard in Canton, Ga., says South Carolina welcomes illegal aliens. A brand-new Georgia billboard proclaiming South Carolina’s alleged affinity for illegal aliens is raising eyebrows this week. The sign, posted in Canton, Ga., declares: “South Carolina welcomes the undocumented. Sen. Lindsey Graham says his state has a labor shortage and wants more immigrants. For job tips, call his office at (864) 646-4090. Located in Pendleton, S.C. Only 2 hours from Atlanta!” Sen. Graham, R-S.C., sits on a bipartisan committee that just passed a sweeping immigration-reform bill. “These people must have been off the planet for the last five...

Tea Party groups and environmentalists plan to rally in support of a proposal that goes before the state Public Service Commission later today that would force Georgia Power to use more solar energy long-term. The proposal by Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald would force the utility to include solar energy as part of its 2013 Integrated Resource Plan.

A few different hotel chains are coming under criticism from pro-lifers for cooperating with an Atlanta, Georgia abortion business and offering women discounts for staying at the hotel if they are in town for abortions.Atlanta Center for Women’s Choice, which does abortions to 24 weeks, advertises that it is “providing pregnancy termination support for the entire family.� The abortion clinic’s web site lists the hotels that provide the abortion discounts.“The following are Hotels in the immediate area which offer reduced rates to our patients. You need only advise them that you are a patient at Atlanta Center for Women’s Choice,�...

When it first came to life, the tea party movement burst on the scene with energy and pure direction that seared many a mind with images of huge crowds waving the red, white and blue. It was all about taxes, and curtailing government spending, and liberty. And it worked. The crowds at tea party movement protests grew month-by-month in 2009 and became larger in 2010. The GOP establishment slowly started to get the message that it was time to put the foot down on the ways of Washington and start speaking up for the conservative movement. But the "tea party"...

Anna Benson and former major league pitcher Kris Benson have been working through a divorce for the past year, and apparently its not going very well. The “Baseball Wives” star was arrested on Monday after she allegedly donned a bulletproof vest, barged into her estranged husband's Marietta, Ga. home, and threatened him with a gun and a metal baton unless he ponied up some cash.

This Day in Georgia History Compiled by Ed Jackson and Charles Pou Carl Vinson Institute of Government The University of Georgia 1793 Future Georgia governor and supreme court justice Charles J. McDonald was born in Charleston, S.C. His parents moved to Hancock County, Georgia, the year after his birth. Here, McDonald began a varied career that would include lawyer, prosecutor, judge, state militia general, state representative, state senator, governor (1839-43), wealthy planter, and finally supreme court justice (1855-59). As early as 1848, McDonald predicted that southern states would form a confederacy, and in 1850 he ran again for governor...

Ending months of speculation, Dalton Mayor David Pennington filed paperwork on Monday in advance of a run for governor in 2014, when he would take on a sitting Republican governor in the GOP primary. Pennington filed with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, which will allow him to raise money for a gubernatorial run. Asked how much he needs, Pennington said enough to be competitive but did not give a specific figure. Qualifying for the June 2014 primary starts in April 2014.

Four south Cobb teenagers are in custody in connection with the beating death of a 36-year-old Mableton man on Mableton Parkway early Sunday morning. The incident initially was reported by police as a hit-and-run death over the weekend, but the narrative changed drastically Tuesday after the arrests of four teenagers on murder charges.

EAST POINT, Ga. (AP) - An audit has revealed that $200 million in taxpayer money has gone missing in the city of East Point over the past 12 years. ... Felton says all accounts payable documents from the time period are also missing.