The Brief from WABE

Calling it illegal governmental overreach, Georgia's Attorney General celebrates victory after the Biden administration withdraws its OSHA-enforced vaccine mandate; the GOP-controlled Georgia Senate says banning critical race theory, stipulating conditions for when and how social media companies ban politicians, and preventing women from having abortion pills mailed to them are top of their legisl...

Fulton's DA gets her wish for a special grand jury to dig deeper into Pres. Donald Trump's alleged election metaling efforts; A potential state constitutional amendment sees a majority of Senators support it. It died anyway. And how do you overcome the 90-foot elephant in the room when discussing the future of Stone Mountain Park? Point a finger and plan anyway. See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

Years into a public health crisis and state health officials still have to bargain hard to get an adequate cut of the budget pie; Fulton County writes a seven-figure check to study building a new jail; and a conversation with researchers who say Black women in rural Georgia are dying unnecessarily and disproportionately from cervical cancer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Georgia's Sec. of State said it would take a subpoena before he'd cooperate with Fulton County's investigation into whether former President Donald Trump broke Georgia election law. Mr. SOS, your wish might just be a Special Grand Jury's command; Georgia sets a new record for the number of residents with a job; and AirBnB says Midtown, Atlanta is where it's gonna set up shop for its big, corporate...

Stacey Abrams stumps for the first time since launching her gubernatorial re-bid; Behind on your mortgage or utilities because of the pandemic? Georgia has $350-million for folks in that position; and a conversation with the head of Georgia's AME Church, whose op-ed in the New York Times questions whether Democrats have abandoned the Black community because of their softness on voting rights legis...

COVID's Omicron variant shows an initial decline; Georgia's University System treats every employee like smokers; and a look at trends emerging this week at the Gold Dome as Georgia's focus turns to paying the bills. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s family says don't poach his words if you're not going to embody his beliefs; State agencies are fixin' to come to the governor with hands extended; and remembering MARTA CEO Jeff Parker, who died by suicide on Friday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The COVID-19 numbers are out, and Georgia is seeing an exponential number of new cases; What's good on the environment front as we kick off 2022; and COVID pills? What COVID Pills? Georgia's largest hospital system hasn't seen a single pill yet. But, hey--they're comin'. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The governor touts record tax revenues in his State of the State, and pledges to give a big chunk of the surplus to teachers; Democrats respond with, "Hey--Remember that Medicaid expansion thing you swore was too expensive?"; and why the head of GSU's Economic Forecasting Center says he's stocking up now on things he'll need a few months out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tax refund, everyone? Gov. Kemp brings the bacon to the annual Eggs and Issues breakfast; If the Omicron strain is less severe than other COVID-19 variants, you wouldn't know it by looking at area hospitals; and the father convicted in 2016 of purposefully leaving his child in a hot car to die will argue before the Supreme Court of Georgia that the original trial court made lots of mistakes. See o...

The reason COVID data was nonexistent this week? IT at DPH is so Y2K, apparently; The President and Vice President pick Atlanta's AUC to push for federal voting rights protections; and it's easy for UGA fans to overlook that 40+ year championshipless stretch when ya Dawgs end the season at the top. Crimson who? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The President and VP head to Atlanta tomorrow to push for federal voting rights legislation, but some voting rights groups say they should stay in DC; Georgia's COVID-19 numbers reported in one day top the six figure mark; and not that UGA fans are worked up about it, but the Bulldogs are vying for the national football championship tonight. Go Dawgs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

Life in prison. That's the sentence for three men convicted of murdering Ahmad Arbery; Georgia's tax revenue picture is so good... [How good is it?!] It's SO good, the governor wants to give every state employee a $5k annual pay bump; and what the head of Atlanta Public Schools (which holds WABE's broadcast license) has to say to parents who were upset this week at a last-minute shift to virtual l...

The person who decides what ideas get consideration under the Gold Dome says 2022 will not be the year when distracting topics like abortion get a reading. No sir, no ma'am. Instead, the GOP will stick to things like expanding access to guns and how race is taught in public schools; We can't tell you how many COVID infections the state saw today because for the second time this week, officials say...

Governor Kemp gets fired up about folks being able to carry guns without a permit; A prominent name in the state's GOP says the party will get it all wrong if it focuses on guns and abortion and other incendiary topics during the upcoming legislative session; and it's not felt like winter across the state. But is it about to? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thousands across Georgia remain without power after storms, heavy wind and even snow in some parts brought down power lines; Atlanta has a new mayor as Andre Dickens is sworn in; and if 2021 was an 'off' political year in Georgia, someone forgot to pass along that memo. Hear those stories and lots more in the first episode of The Brief from WABE for 2022. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

Infections of the record-breaking Omicron variant are starting to sound like a broken record; hospitals across the metro aren't preparing for a crisis--they say that crisis is here; and just as Gov. Kemp signs into law new, Republican-favoring legislative districts for Georgia, the ACLU sues to stop them on the basis they violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Omicron continues its rapid rampage across Georgia, with the National Guard on standby to help at state testing centers; a warning from top health officials and the state's attorney general about fake COVID tests; and the area could see a lot of rain as strong storms move through the region in the coming days. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Omicron's spread leads to the single biggest day for new COVID-19 infections so far this pandemic, with Fulton County reporting more than 14,000 cases; the peach will have to wait another year to drop; and implicit racial bias and its potential influence on Georgia's high infant mortality rates. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.