It's getting heavy in Cobb County.
Chairman Tim Lee's attempt to address concerns over police practices - including a controversial cop who told a black motorist "I don't care about your people" - imploded on Thursday evening.
Lee criticized Commissioner Lisa Cupid, who called for a citizen review committee since she had a run-in with the same officer in the summer. She fired back, accusing him of mounting an attack "on the only commissioner that has called for us to even take the kind of steps that the chairman has presented.”
At one point, Cupid appeared to faint outside the meeting, WSB reported.
And then the leader of the local NAACP chapter declared "war" on Cobb County.
And then there was this:
"Tonight you devolved to the lowest level by communicating through your words that the rogues in the department need not have any fear because you got them covered," Williams said to applause. "It is clear to me that you were speaking to a segment of our community and that is low down. That is a lack of leadership and the ultimate example of disrespect."
The newspaper reports that Lee ended the meeting by apologizing for his tone.
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It sounds like Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle has a broader vision for MARTA. Here's what he told the Gwinnett Daily Post:
"We really need to look at, in my opinion, a new structural model for MARTA with a different brand and somewhat of a different mission," Cagle said. "We really do need a commuter rail option with in our state and I think MARTA, with the existing infrastructure that's there, may be able to be retooled and looked at to create a value added for the citizens …
"The existing model needs to be changed. A lot of people don't see value in stopping every five minutes. You show value by people being able to guarantee people delivery times and being a transit option where there's limited stops. That kind of infrastructure is very, very needed."
The lieutenant governor's comments on transportation also came in a year that saw the General Assembly approve sweeping changes to the way transportation projects are funded, but he added that issue will still linger in the 2016 session. Although the reforms approved in the 2015 session created new revenue streams for transportation projects, state leaders still have to sort out how those options can be used, Cagle said.
"Now, it's about where that money is going to be spent — the strategic plan focusing on where those dollars are utilized, and to bring us better outcomes," he said. "That's the important part. Money doesn't solve all of your problems if it's not deployed in the most efficient and effective way, so that strategic plan will be a big topic next year."
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Donald Trump's campaign parted ways with its first Georgia state director, Seth Weathers, but Weathers' fondness for the front-runner is undiminished, and he is launching a Super PAC called "Will Not Bend" that could help Trump.
From Nick Fouriezos at OZY:
When OZY reached out, Trump press secretary Hope Hicks reiterated that the billionaire has denounced all existing super PACs "that were claiming to support" him. (The campaign declined to return messages seeking comment on Weathers.)
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Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., did not win the water wars fight in Congress' omnibus spending bill -- the full play-by-play is in today's premium edition -- but he was able to slip plenty of other goodies in there. And yet he's strongly against the bill, leading Politico to name him the chairman of the "hope yes, vote no" caucus:
McCain complained that Shelby never spoke to him first about the provision.
"Of course not, of course not, of course not. That's not the way Sen. Shelby does business," McCain told POLITICO on Wednesday.
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The omnibus also includes a big boost for Atlanta-based Southern Company and its "clean coal" project in Mississippi. From the Associated Press:
One project left standing is being built in Kemper County in eastern Mississippi, represented by Republican Sen. Thad Cochran, the powerful chairman of the Appropriations Committee. It's suffering from huge cost overruns, threatening consumers with higher electricity rates.
In response, Cochran stepped in to redirect at least $160 million in leftover funds from failed projects, including FutureGen, to the Kemper facility. The funds are tucked into the Energy Department's budget to redirect money to "previously selected demonstration projects."
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