1. Piedmont Park hanging referred to FBI.   The case of a man found hanging from a tree in Piedmont Park has been referred to the FBI, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said.  [Read here]

2. President Obama issues statement on Alton Sterling, Philando Castile deaths.   I am encouraged that the U.S. Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation in Baton Rouge, and I have full confidence in their professionalism and their ability to conduct a thoughtful, thorough, and fair inquiry," Obama said in a statement on Facebook. [Read here]

3. Famed educator Ron Clark laments after police shootings: "white privilege is real."  "My heart breaks when I think how the beautiful and strong students I work with are basically one bullet away from becoming a #‎hashtag," Clark wrote in a post that was quickly shared more than 2,000 times. [Read here]

4. Clarkston first Georgia city to set $15 minimum hourly wage. Clarkston became the first Georgia city this week to mandate a minimum $15 an hour minimum wage for its employees.  [Read here]

5. Charges dropped against North Georgia newspaper publisher, lawyer.    Appalachian Judicial Circuit District Attorney Alison Sosebee dropped today the three felony charges brought against the publisher of a local weekly newspaper and his attorney that were brought based on their efforts to see public documents.  [Read here]

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Corbin Spencer, right, field director of New Georgia Project and volunteer Rodney King, left, help Rueke Uyunwa register to vote. The influential group is shutting down after more than a decade. (Hyosub Shin/AJC 2017)

Credit: Hyosub Shin