Friday, January 20, 2012
Public hearings may be announced within the next couple of weeks.
Public hearings may be announced as soon as next week in the effort to redraw DeKalb County commission and school board districts. The redistricting is mandated by the federal government every 10 years when a new Census is completed and released. State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, who represents a portion of Druid Hills, is also attempting to reduce DeKalb’s school board size from nine to seven members. Oliver’s HB671 “addresses the issue of just how we go about reducing the board’s size,” she said. “We can’t just decide to suddenly shorten the term of office of someone who has been duly elected by DeKalb citizens without taking the proper steps. So this bill is designed to work out all of those questions.” Oliver’s proposed …
Thursday, January 5, 2012
House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams held a pre-legislative breakfast on Thursday morning.
About 50 constituents, lobbyists and supporters attended a pre-legislative breakfast Thursday morning sponsored by House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (D-Atlanta). The event was held at the Radial Café on DeKalb Avenue in Atlanta. “The job of the minority party is to compete where we can and collaborate when we should,” said Abrams, whose District 84 includes the Fernbank and Mary Lin elementary school constituencies. “But we also hold the majority party accountable.” The Georgia General Assembly is set to convene for the second half of its 2011-12 legislative session next Monday. Fewer Democrats serve in the state House and Senate than at any other time since Reconstruction. The party also has no statewide elected officials at any level…
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Replay Patch's coverage of Thursday night's redistricting public hearing.
The Atlanta City Council held its second - and final - public hearing on the city's redistricting process on Thursday night at City Hall. Cities, counties and states are required by law to redraw and adjust their electorial boundaries when a new Census is completed, to reflect new population numbers and demographics. The Atlanta City Council Committee of the Whole will begin debating three proposed, redrawn maps on Monday, 21, at 11 am in committee room at City Hall. The council itself will formally choose a final map on Monday, Dec. 5. The final map will then go to Mayor Kasim Reed for approval, and then onto the U.S. Department of Justice.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
A roundup of the top stories on area Patch sites.
Welcome to Tuesday’s Patch Cast, a daily roundup of the region’s top stories. Dunwoody Patch: Regis Philbin Among Headliners at MJCCA Book Festival Decatur Patch: Trying to Change Lives: By providing sanitary pads, a nonprofit called 50 Cents. Period. aims to improve education for young women in developing nations. Cascade Patch: Ex-NBAer's Tavern at Phillps Racial Discrimination Trial Continues Today Sandy Springs Patch: North Springs Student in Police Custody; School Released from Lockdown Midtown Patch: City Council to Hold Redistricting Meeting Wednesday
Saturday, August 27, 2011
The week's top headlines for August 22-26, 2011
Vinings Would Join Cherokee, Bartow in Redrawn District. Seismic Images of Virginia Earthquake. Locals Report Feeling Earthquake in Metro Atlanta. Earthquake Tremor Felt in Atlanta. Apartment Fire in Sandy Springs. Police Detonate Suspicious Package, Find Nothing Inside Box. Dunwoody Prep Shooting: Neuman's Estranged Wife Takes Witness Stand. Isakson Outlines Deficit Reduction Steps. Cascade Firefighter Among Cyclists Leaving for Ground Zero. Freedom Ride Kickoff Dinner.
Monday, August 15, 2011
The day's top headlines for Monday, August 15, 2011
Package at Sandy Springs School Not A Threat. VaHi, Druid Hills Districts, Lawmakers at Center of Debate. Plan Redraws House Districts in Cascade. Buckhead Could See Partisan Fight. Dunwoody Prep Shooting: Defense Questions Interview With Police. Grand Finale Race in Buckhead. Living Walls at the Goat Farm.
Friday, August 12, 2011
The day's top headlines for Friday, August 12, 2011
Virginia Highland Divided Under New Map, Lawmaker Says. Stuckey-Benfield: My District Targeted. Druid Hills Lawmaker A Central Figure in Redistricting Fight. Fire Damages Buckhead Bar. A Look Inside Ponce City Market. Sandy Springs Church Committed to Annual Back to School Block Party. DeKalb Firefighters Raise Funds for Sept. 11 Memorial.
State rep. Pat Gardner will have to face another Democrat if she hopes to stay in office.
State Rep. Pat Gardner, D-Atlanta, whose district 57 includes most of Virginia Highland, will have to square off against another Democrat if she hopes to continue her 10-year House legislative career. Gardner has been paired in the same district with another Democratic incumbent, state Rep. Rashad Taylor, whose current district 55 includes the historically black neighborhood of Washington Park in northwest Atlanta. “They’ve just cut Virginia Highlands into halves and thirds,” Gardner said. “It’s such a disappointment to see the neighborhoods that I represent split into pieces. These are neighborhoods that are diverse, but work so well together. It’s terribly disappointing.” Newly redrawn legislative maps were released on Friday, and state…
On Monday, the state legislature will convene to redraw maps that will change Georgia's political face for the next decade.
State Rep. Stacey Abrams (D-Atlanta), who represents much of Druid Hills and Virginia Highlands under the gold dome, will be making a lot of news in the coming weeks. As Minority Leader, Abrams is the state House's top ranking Democrat, and will likely be front and center when the General Assembly convenes a special session next week to redraw Georgia's legislative and congressional maps. States are required to redraw and adjust their political boundries each time a new census is completed, to reflect those changes in population and demographics. The dominant party in the state legislature is in charge of redrawing the maps, and the process can be bitterly partisan and drawn out. In Georgia, Republicans have a solid majority in the House …
