A judge has ordered the owners of West Atlanta’s Fairburn & Gordon I and II Apartments to pay a $25,000 fine as a penalty for the more than 300 housing code and nuisance violations city inspectors have found at the residential complex. Municipal Judge Christopher T. Portis levied the fine Thursday morning after attorneys for […]
Chauncey Alcorn
Chauncey Alcorn is Capital B Atlanta's state and local politics reporter.
Posted inAsk Capital B, Capital B Atlanta, Politics & Policy
Local Elections Come With High Stakes for Atlanta’s Black Community
Rashad Brown knows the race for the White House isn’t the only important election happening in Georgia right now. The 32-year-old behavioral health counselor recently asked, through our new Ask Capital B community help desk, why local elections are important since they don’t typically garner as much attention as presidential races despite playing a “vital […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics & Policy
Why the Biden-Harris Message of Black Economic Progress Is a Tough Sell in Georgia
Vice President Kamala Harris touted a list of economic accomplishments that the Biden administration has delivered for Black Americans during her latest visit to metro Atlanta. But many Black Atlantans, feeling the lingering sting of inflation, say they’re still struggling financially. The nation’s first Black woman vice president spent a lot of time during her […]
Posted inHigher Education, Politics & Policy, Religion
Black Jewish Students and the On-Campus Divide Over Gaza
Life on campus at the Atlanta University Center has been more complicated for Spelman freshman Sara Scherlinder since the Gaza humanitarian crisis began more than six months ago. In a 24-hour period earlier this month, the 19-year-old Scherlinder, a Washington, D.C., native, attended a leadership forum for students who are both Black and Jewish, which […]
Posted inHigher Education, Politics & Policy
Planned Biden Morehouse Visit Angers Black Student Gaza Supporters
Morehouse College students packed a campus auditorium Tuesday evening to voice their anger at the decision to invite President Joe Biden to deliver the historically Black institution’s commencement address next month. Most of the estimated 50 students in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting expressed outrage and frustration at Biden’s support for Israel in its war against […]
Posted inHousing
Fairburn & Gordon Tenants Receive Troubling Letter From Landlord
Section 8 tenants waiting to be moved out of the “highly hazardous” Fairburn & Gordon I and II Apartments complex in west Atlanta are demanding answers after receiving a concerning letter from their landlord about their impending relocation. Crystal Brown is one of the Fairburn & Gordon residents who found a letter attached to her […]
Posted inHousing, Politics & Policy
Will Kemp Sign Tenant Rights and Homeless Trust Fund Bills Into Law?
Housing advocates want to know whether Gov. Brian Kemp will sign two bills to address long-running housing issues across Georgia: tenants’ rights and the state’s growing homeless population. The first bill, HB 404, or the Safe at Home Act, would bar landlords from requiring more than two months’ rent for a security deposit and establish […]
Posted inHealth, Politics & Policy
Dems Make Final, Desperate Plea for Medicaid Expansion Ahead of Sine Die
Georgia Democrats clung to hope Wednesday that there was still time to enact desperately needed full Medicaid expansion this year before the latest 40-day legislative session comes to an end Thursday. State Democratic Party leaders, including House Minority Leader James Beverly, D-Macon, and Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain, issued a desperate plea for […]
Posted inHousing, Politics & Policy
Homelessness, Housing, and Inequality Dominate Dickens’ Speech
Mayor Andre Dickens highlighted his administration’s efforts to address Atlanta’s affordable housing and homelessness crises in his annual State of the City address Monday morning. Dickens told attendees inside Midtown’s Woodruff Arts Center that his administration is well on its way toward creating 20,000 affordable housing units by the year 2030. That includes more than […]
Posted inHousing
Fairburn & Gordon Tenants Say They Look Forward to Moving Out of Unsafe Housing
Some residents of a troubled Atlanta housing complex say they welcome the news that they may soon be relocated. “I’m so happy,” said Linda Ford, a resident of the Fairburn & Gordon Apartments, when she learned U.S. housing officials plan to terminate their contracts with Fairburn & Gordon Apartments after the owners failed to bring […]
