Tuesday, June 18, 2013 | 9:53 p.m.
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Political Insider
A blog about Atlanta, Georgia and national politics from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Your daily jolt: Johnson Ferry abandons Boy Scouts -- mass Baptist exodus imminent
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, one of the largest congregations in metro Atlanta, has announced an end to its affiliation with the Boy Scouts of America over its acceptance of gay youth as members. “We didn’t pick this controversy and we’re deeply saddened by it,” the Rev. Bryant Wright, the senior ...
Verizon taps open the gap between defense and liberty wings of GOP
The gap between defense and liberty Republicans has gotten much more serious in the last 24 hours. First, your background from the Associated Press: WASHINGTON — The government has been secretly collecting the telephone records of millions of U.S. customers of Verizon under a top secret court order, according to ...
Your daily jolt: GSU prof proves 1970 Clean Air Act made Atlanta a wetter place
So now we have a link between metro Atlanta’s two greatest problems – transportation and access to water. From the press release: A Georgia State University researcher is the first to show that the Clean Air Act of 1970 caused a rebound in rainfall for a U.S. city. Jeremy Diem, ...
Sam Williams and the high cost of broccoli
Sam Williams will be forever known as the man who insisted – for the good of the public – that two Georgia governors eat their broccoli. Both chief executives, one Democrat and one Republican, duly raised their forks and swallowed. In each case, the consequences weren’t pretty. Which is why ...
Kasim Reed: Without push from Supreme Court, Georgia won’t rethink gay marriage
While he endorsed gay marriage back in December, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed on Wednesday indicated there is little chance of repealing Georgia’s 2004 constitutional ban on same-sex unions any time soon. Reed was one of several mayors participating in a conference call urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down ...
‘Cheerios’ ad featuring biracial family creates a stir
Just sent over the wire by the Associated Press: NEW YORK — A mom sits at her kitchen table writing something down when her grade schooler saunters up with a big box of Cheerios. "Mom," says the girl. "Yes, honey?" mom responds. "Dad told me Cheerios is good for your ...
Your catch-up jolt: Governor says Georgia ready to dredge Port of Savannah on its own
Note to readers: It’s more than a little frustrating to be forced offline in an online world, but those technical difficulties are now over. We’re playing catch-up, so some of these items below might be slightly dated: Consider this an indication that Georgia officialdom is growing ever more confident that ...
Saxby Chambliss on sexual assault and ‘hormone' levels in the military
Saxby Chambliss tried to say the right thing today -- but perhaps it didn't come out right. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he was part of this no-nonsense scene described by the Associated Press: U.S. military leaders said Tuesday that sexual assault in the ranks is ...
Johnny Isakson: My ‘worst’ vote in Senate was for Eric Holder
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, one of more than a dozen Republicans who voted to confirm U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, now says he was wrong. Isakson first broached the topic on Laura Ingraham’s radio show on Monday: “The worst vote I ever took in the United States Senate was to ...
GOP revolutionaries push Georgia Power to embrace solar energy
Lauren “Bubba” McDonald Jr. has spent more than four decades in and around the state Capitol. That fact alone should automatically disqualify him as a rabid revolutionary. And yet here he is, attempting to force real, radical change upon one of this state’s most staid and revered institutions. McDonald is ...
Kasim Reed’s call to focus on Senate race generates pushback
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s public contention that Georgia Democrats should focus their efforts on an open U.S. Senate seat -- and not a challenge against Republican Gov. Nathan Deal -- isn’t going over so well with some of his fellow Democrats. Including two of his former colleagues in the state Senate. ...
Your daily jolt: ATL officials say ‘loophole’ to overturn Falcons stadium decision was closed 15 years ago
On Thursday, William Perry, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, announced that his group had found a loophole in the Atlanta city code that would allow a referendum to overturn City Council approval of $200 million in public funding for a new $1 billion Falcons stadium. But Cathy Hampton, the ...
Your daily jolt: A John Barrow supporter goes big for John Boehner
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, will be in town this evening for a $2,500-a-head fundraiser designed to boost a number of Republican causes. The event is hosted by Georgia’s GOP members of Congress and Tom Fanning, chairman, president and CEO of Southern Co., the parent of Georgia Power. Which ...
PPP survey: Background checks poll well in Georgia, but….
Public Policy Polling of North Carolina is out with a survey of Georgia and two other Southern states, showing substantial support for more effective background checks for firearm purchases – even among Republicans: In Georgia there's 71/22 support for them, in Tennessee it's 67/26, and in Arkansas it's 60/31. Female ...
Mike Berlon: Resignation details to be worked out ‘over next few days, weeks’
My AJC colleague Greg Bluestein has the details here, but below is the press release from Mike Berlon, chairman of the state Democratic Party, acknowledging that he intends to resign. Details of which will be worked out “over the next few days and weeks.” The release also says that Berlon ...
Your daily jolt: In metro Atlanta, white student population down, Hispanic kids sky-rocket
Earlier this month, at the state GOP convention, Gov. Nathan Deal told his fellow Republicans that 56 percent of public school kids in Georgia are non-white – a perilous prognostication for a party with a diversity problem. “If we do not recognize that and if we don’t reach out to ...
Feds order Macon elections postponed
Big news here, which could be an indicator of more federal attention to come. From 13MAZ in Macon: The U.S. Justice Department put off the July elections for the new Macon-Bibb County consolidated government until state legislators explain how they decided the timing and non-partisan format of the election. …Local Democrats ...
GOP hits John Barrow, still waiting on a candidate
WASHINGTON -- Down in Augusta today, the National Republican Congressional Committee continued its quest to unseat Democratic Rep. John Barrow by unveiling a mobile attack billboard on a truck. It's fitting, since Barrow has been a moving target. He has survived moves from Athens to Savannah to Augusta to stay ...
Your Daily Jolt: June 6 is decision day for Mike Berlon
Mark your calendars, Georgia Democrats and observers with a strong sense of schadenfreude: June 6 is when the executive committee of the Democratic Party of Georgia will hold its next meeting and recommend a fate for Mike Berlon. The head of the party had his law license administratively suspended last ...
Going home
My father, who will turn 90 this year, left high school early for the U.S. Army, six months before Pearl Harbor. None of them were born in this country, but four of the seven Galloway brothers would scatter themselves across the globe during World War II. Dad was the youngest, ...
Today on MyAJC.com
Falcon stadium design: Fancy curves and plenty of wow (With new photos and video)
First person: Even for grownups, it's never too late to learn to swim
Nice read: Adopted daughter and father — a perfect match
Mark Arum Weekend Construction outlook
Updated every Friday, Mark Arum tells us where we can find construction, events and anything else to slow us down on the roads this weekend.
Today's top news on ajc.com
DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis charged with 14 felonies
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