1. How Georgia lawmaker voted on the 'religious liberty' bill.
The Georgia Legislature passed a "religious liberty" bill Wednesday, capping two years of intense and sometimes bitter debate at the Gold Dome. The legislation, which is seen by some conservatives as an answer to the Supreme Court's legalization of same-sex marriage but by corporate leaders and gay rights activists as state-sanctioned discrimination. The bill would allow faith-based organizations to deny services to those who violate their "sincerely held religious belief" and preserve their right to fire employees who aren't in accord with those beliefs. Read more.
2. Georgia great Champ Bailey is training Tech's Chris Milton for the NFL.
Former Georgia Tech cornerback Chris Milton rehearsed his backpedal and turns, the footwork so intrinsic to his position. Dressed in Tech workout gear, he was practicing in a warehouse carpeted with artificial turf in a Norcross office park. His audience kept a close eye, watching, suggesting and encouraging. The man's relationship to Milton, depending on the perspective, either made little sense or perfect sense. Read more.
3. Cancer claims Abernathy III, ending his fight to revive dad's legacy.
Abernathy III knew what it was to be measured against a man who helped guide a movement that fundamentally changed a nation. Like so many other children of the movement, he knew that every stumble would be amplified, any misstep scrutinized. He spent his life trying to live up to a name he inherited not only from his father but from a brother who died young, Ralph David Abernathy Jr. He went from child civil rights activist, to a state senator, to a preacher, to a man who gallantly fought cancer while trying to restore the legacy of his father. Read more.
4. Theater review: Aurora delivers a sturdy 'Into the Woods.'
There are ample things to like about Aurora Theatre's solid new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's "Into the Woods." At the top of the list are powerhouse performers Natasha Drena andBernardine Mitchell. Drena — an actress who has won Suzi Bass Awards for playing Judy Garland and Annie Oakley — transforms herself into the hissing witch that will sow seeds of destruction in book writer Lapine's long, laborious fairy-tale mashup. Wrapped in a slender, slinky body envelope of a dress, with piles and piles of unruly hair and — best of all — a voice that is the epitome of wicked hauteur, she cuts a figure as regal as it is demented. Read more.
5. Thousands of dollars from Atlanta students goes missing from schools.
Thousands of dollars collected from Atlanta students for class dues, sports fees, field trips and fundraisers have gone missing from schools across the city. Financial oversight of Atlanta schools is so lax, the district can't say whether the money was stolen or just lost. Internal auditors found that Atlanta schools' handling of school activity funds, in some cases, make it all too easy for mistakes or theft to occur or money to be lost. At a middle school, hundreds of dollars collected for class dues and other fees are missing, and dozens of checks were written without proper documentation. Read more.
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