Top of the morning! Welcome to Your AM Rundown, where you’ll get updates on local news to start the day. In 400 words or less, we will bring you up to speed on top stories and other developments you might’ve missed. Here’s what to know for today:
- The Abolitionist Teaching Network and local chapter of the NAACP have been speaking out this week in support of Dana Evans, a former elementary school principal and one of 11 educators indicted in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal. The groups are pleading for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to support sentencing that would keep Evans and others out of prison. On Monday, a judge postponed a hearing to decide Evans’ future.
- Jason Lary, the former mayor of Stonecrest, along with bookkeeper Lania Boone, pleaded guilty to charges of theft of pandemic relief funds. According to a report from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, businesses were defrauded of hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID-19-related help.
- It’s official: Gov. Brian Kemp introduced the Unmask Georgia Students Act aka Senate Bill 54. Part of Kemp’s push for schools to end mask mandates, the bill would leave those decisions in the parents’ hands. Or as he put it in a tweet: “Parents know how best to care for their children.” About 45 school districts in the state currently have mask mandates.
- Do you live in Fulton County? This week, free at-home COVID-19 tests are going out to libraries and Board of Health centers. You can find more information here.
ICYMI: Did you know the country’s first Black-owned, autonomous grocery store — Nourish + Bloom Market — is up and running south of Atlanta? Jilea and Jamie Hemmings, the husband-and-wife team behind the Fayetteville concept made AfroTech’s list of Black couples working together in business.
Got tips, pitches, or other updates to include in Your AM Rundown? Hit us up at atltips@capitalbatl.org.
