The Brief from WABE

Omicron promises to fuel an exponential increase of COVID-19 infections in metro Atlanta; Gov. Kemp seeks to make Juneteenth a state holiday; and metro Atlantans tell us how their yuletide celebrations look different amid the pandemic and its latest variant. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Atlanta is bringing back a mask mandate. Georgia is not; Georgia's Gov and Atty General sue the Biden Administration. Again; and the state looks to educate a workforce to fit the electric vehicle wave coming. It's all in today's Brief from WABE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Georgia lawmakers from both sides of the isle remember former U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson as a statesman invested in reaching common ground. This, a day after the Republican died at the age of 76; COVID's latest variant is coming in a big way; and federal officials give the green light to Camden County to move forward with a spaceport. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oh, my! [cron] Officials predict the latest COVID variant could spread extremely quickly, especially with holiday gatherings upon us; GOP Senate hopeful Herschel Walker never graduated from the Univ. of Georgia, although you'd think otherwise if you'd read his website; and the "Super Bowl of HBCUs" is back in Atlanta after a year off for COVID. Want a ticket? Too late. Seats are sold out, promisin...

Georgia announces it's wooed the biggest car company you've never heard of; if there ever was a time to be jobless in Atlanta, November was it; and it's taken two years to clean up one shipwreck, but Georgia (finally) bids adieu to the Golden Ray. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Infectious disease experts are urging Georgians to get a Covid-19 booster to help better protect themselves from the omicron variant. Feral hogs, a nuisance on the Georgia coast for years, are now being blamed for making marshes more vulnerable to climate change. An Atlanta actor discusses the state of the film industry in Georgia; and ground is broken near city hall for a memorial to the victims...

Six million Georgia residents have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine over the past year, but state health officials are still hoping to persuade millions more to roll up their sleeves as holiday travel season continues. Georgia’s Republican House Speaker previews the upcoming legislative session; and a new center in Atlanta will help address those who stutter, thanks to the financ...

Hospitalizations from Covid-19 are on the rise across Georgia, especially in the northwest part of the state. The Red Cross says Georgians can help tornado relief efforts across the South and Midwest by donating blood. Gov. Brian Kemp faces a primary challenge in 2022 after falling out of favor with former President Donald Trump. And Atlanta’s Peach Bowl returns to full capacity Dec. 30th, meaning...

Georgia's Republican Party "is going to suffer a bloodbath," claims one of the state's top Republicans after former U.S Senator turned GOP gubernatorial hopeful David Perdue sues to overturn the 2020 election; Georgia Republicans are making Buckhead cityhood a statewide issue; and what housing affordability looks like in a neighborhood where housing prices have become anything but. It 's just a sa...

Atlanta’s mayor-elect and Georgia’s Republican governor met in person Thursday, hoping to mend the relationship that was strained under the current mayoral administration; another case of the Omicron variant is detected in Georgia; Atlanta continues to outpace the nation when it comes to the rate of inflation; a financial analyst in the “poultry capital of the world” weighs in on the state of the...

Georgia’s state income tax makes up between $13-14 billion of the state’s budget, but some 2022 Republican candidates are campaigning to do away with it; new documents reveal Cobb County schools surveyed parents about Covid-19 testing this summer, but then ignored the results; and an organization focused racial equity in the South is out with a new report. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

The transition period between Atlanta mayoral administrations will likely be filled with questions about the Buckhead city movement; a judge in Georgia puts the vaccine mandate for federal contractors on hold for now; an Emory University professor says the baseball lockout isn’t likely to curb fan enthusiasm following the Braves’ World Series title. Plus...dancing robots. See omnystudio.com/listen...

Former U.S. Senator David Perdue draws strong reaction from both parties after he announces a run for governor in 2022. Georgia educators explore ways they can help students re-capture learning lost during the pandemic shutdown; and how will supply and labor issues affect future foreign investments in Georgia? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Atlanta's Mayor-Elect is ready to keep Buckhead from becoming its own city; Democrats canvas the state to drum up support for Pres. Biden's Build Back Better Bill; and the urgent message from those who run Atlanta's animal shelter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gov. Brian Kemp says he's prepared to fight Stacy Abrams' bid for Georgia governor. He almost says the same thing about a potential challenge from fellow GOPer, former U.S. Sen. David Perdue. For Mayor-Elect Andre Dickens, it's fixing the current out-of-control housing market that's on his plate; and speaking of that market. Is it about to fix itself? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

Separate police shootouts end in multiple deaths and serious injuries, including one officer; Stacey Abrams announces her run for Georgia Governor; and a shift is coming to Atlanta City Hall after Andre Dickens wins the contest for mayor, and Doug Shipman beats a longtime incumbent for council president. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Election Day across the metro. Again; Nine billion dollars in federal road and transportation funds might not go as far as it used to, thanks to labor shortages and high materials prices; and after years of pushing for a memorial at the former Chattahoochee Brick Company, advocates could soon get their wish. That's if the City of Atlanta can pull off the land's purchase. See omnystudio.com/li...

A local sheriff asks a federal judge to dismiss his indictment over use of excessive force related to a restraint chair; No cases of the Omicron version of COVID-19 are in Georgia. Yet; and "Take This Job and ...." reshape it into something flexible and equitable, says a Clayton State professor. And if CEOs do, many fewer employees will leave. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A verdict in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery- -GUILTY. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The fate of three white men accused of killing Amhaud Arbery last year is now in the fate of the jurors; the legal wheels are in motion for Robert Aaron Long, the person behind this spring's Atlanta-area spa shootings; and this Thanksgiving will be remembered as the year of high gas prices and low food supplies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Attorneys in the Brunswick murder trail of Ahmaud Arbery's accused killers present their final arguments; a new poll shows a potential toss-up in the runoff for Atlanta mayor; and two Democratic representatives but just one seat. Um. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Georgia's GOP redraws the state's 14 U.S. House districts, rebuffs allegations that the new map gerrymanders out Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath; You get a booster. You get a booster. EVERYONE(ages five and up) gets a COVID-19 vaccine booster under CDC guidelines released today; and closing arguments could begin in Brunswick next week as the trial of three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery. See omn...

The defense calls just one of three defendants in the trial for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery; School's back in session, and not on Zoom this year. What that means for students and teachers who have to re-adapt; and a Buckhead Bye Bye is one step closer to being a thing after key legislation was filed under the Gold Dome today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Georgia sues the federal government over the Biden Administration's vaccine mandate; a North Georgia private boarding school settles a lawsuit with 20 former students who say a former educator molested them; and a conversation with the CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which seemed to thrive despite the pandemic. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.