WABE's Week In Review

The University of Georgia easily won its second national football championship in a row this week. And Governor Brian Kemp was sworn in on Thursday and then dropped a spending plan on Friday... that really does spend. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We explore if Georgia is becoming more of a battleground state. There is strong evidence on both sides of the argument. Plus, we look at a local charity making sure foster kids get gifts this holiday season. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock held off Republican challenger Herschel Walker to become the first Black U.S. Senator from Georgia elected to a full term. It also has some in the Georgia GOP looking at the direction moving forward. Walker was backed by former president Donald Trump and joins scores of other candidates backed by Trump who lost. Meantime, Governor Brian Kemp, who was a target o...

We are just days away from Georgia's runoff election day that will decide the state's next U.S. Senator. We hit the campaign trail with both Warnock and Walker. Plus, the high-profile shooting in Atlanta that killed two kids and injured four others still has investigators and a community looking for answers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Georgia Supreme Court is allowing the state’s ban on abortion at around 6-weeks of pregnancy to once again take effect. Meantime, Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker faced more evidence of an alleged relationship with a woman who claims he paid for her abortion. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Fulton County judge blocked Georgia's restrictive ban, a move that will likely see it go to the Georgia Supreme Court and maybe back to lawmakers. Meantime, Governor Brian Kemp, fresh off his re-election, is using his machine to boost Republican Senate challenger Hershel Walker in the runoff against incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We breakdown the Georgia's midterm elections, including the U.S. Senate race going into overtime and Republicans taking all statewide offices by 5-10 percentage points. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The midterms are coming and our Politics team breaks down the scenarios that await in the biggest races in the state as once again Georgia will be in the spotlight come election day. Plus, we look at how a small bureaucratic error can cost some folks their homes in a system that appears to be broken. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Hershel Walker is facing a second allegation that he forced a woman to have an abortion. He denies the claim. Meantime, Georgia's abortion law, H.B. 481, is at the courts as opponents say banning the procedure after just six weeks is a violation of patients' privacy. And former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows must testify in a Fulton County special grand jury loo...

Georgia's U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock says his church has not evicted anyone from property connected to it, as his opponent Republican Hershel Walker claims. Plus, celebrities and big political names are coming to Georgia to support their candidates. And we have a look at a Georgia company looking to create a solar super highway along stretches of roads. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

We take a look at how the Atlanta suburbs that helped put two Democratic U.S. Senators and Joe Biden in office are leaning for the midterms. We also take a look at how some are campaigning on gun rights and access to Asian American voting blocs. Plus, the Veterans Affairs department is finally making changes to how it treats sick vets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Georgia Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Herschel Walker is denying reports that he paid for an ex-girlfriend's abortion. Walker is running on an anti-abortion rights with no exceptions platform. Meantime, his son called his father a liar. Plus, Fulton Sheriff Pat Labat is calling on Atlanta officials to let his department start housing inmates in the city's jail ahead ASAP. See omnystudio.com...

State regulators held hearings this week on Georgia Power's request for significant rate increases. The utility also prepared for Hurricane Ian, which ultimately seemed to spare the state from the most severe damage. We also look at a Democratic candidate who says she's not getting the love from her own party. And Jimmy Carter turns 98 years old. We look at how politics in Georgia have changed in...

Georgia officials moved through a long-stalled final approval for low-THC cannabis oil. We also look at what some experts say will test Georgia's elections. And we are with the final tenants as the move out of the dilapidated Forest Cove apartments. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Governor Brian Kemp and his Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams weigh in on the closing of the Atlanta Medical Center, leaving the city with just a single level one trauma facility. We also examine the education plans for the two gubernatorial candidates. Plus, WABE staff remembers our legal analyst Page Pate who tragically drowned last Sunday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Law enforcement from around Georgia and the country are mourning the deaths of two Cobb County Sheriff's deputies on Thursday night. They were attempting to deliver a warrant. Plus, northwest Georgia saw torrential rain that led to flooding and the closure of a local water treatment facility, cutting off water to thousands. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We look deeper into the special grand jury in Fulton County's election-meddling investigation, including big names battling subpoenas. Plus, some worry Georgia's abortion law could impact treatment to those who suffer a miscarriage. And what Cobb County schools still needs to do to educate students, parents and administrators about an important history. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

Charges were dismissed this week against two Atlanta Police officers involved in the deadly shooting of Rayshard Brooks outside a fast food restaurant in 2020. More of former President Trump’s White House and campaign aides could be forced to appear in front of a special grand jury in Fulton County. Plus, we have an interview with USG Chancellor Sonny Perdue, a look at a controversial mine plan mo...

Rudy Giuliani became the most high profile ally of former President Donald Trump to testify this week in Fulton County’s special grand jury investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia. Fulton commissioners back a controversial plan to use Atlanta's city jail to house inmates. And South Dekalb residents at a public housing complex can stay in their homes for now....

We look at how construction workers are doing their jobs as Atlanta is experiencing its hottest summer yet. And as temperatures rise, some people suffer without air conditioning. Plus schools are back and educators are having to deal with Georgia's new "divisive concepts" law. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We look at the short eternity until Georgia's high-profile election, and how the state's gun laws reportedly caused the cancellation of one of the city's most popular music festivals. And we continue our look at how extreme heat is impacting Georgia, including if Atlanta needs a Chief Heat officer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Candidates in Georgia's midterm elections are focusing on different priorities: economy versus abortion rights. And we highlight the first three episodes of "The Heat Effect," our series on the impact of extreme heat on Georgia, which includes how peach farmers are adapting to a warming climate. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A federal court removed the block on Georgia's six-week abortion ban and with it, created "personhood" for the embryo/fetus. We also look at the political wrangling the ruling has caused among candidates for the heated midterm election in November. Plus, the Chattahoochee River could see a cash infusion to continue its development. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cobb County's school board voted this week to allow some personnel (not teachers) to carry guns in schools. It is a move facing opposition from many parents. Plus, four detainees at Stewart Detention Center say they were sexually assaulted by a staff nurse. And what, if anything, can convince hardcore conspiracy theorist that Georgia's 2020 election was not rigged? See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Georgia Democrats look to make their primary for selecting a president more significant by moving it up the calendar. And then we have a look at why salt marshes on Georgia's coast are so important to birds, critters and climate change. Plus, how the Muscogee Creek Nation is shaping development in the Okefenokee Swamp some 200 years after they were forced out of Georgia by the U.S. government. See...