Fresh Loaf, Creative Loafing Atlanta

Handel slams Planned Parenthood in sitdown with — who else? — Fox News

Thomas Wheatley — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:41:28 -0500

Former Georgia secretary of state and (until this morning) Susan G. Komen Foundation executive Karen Handel spoke with Fox News Pepper Spray Correspondent Megyn Kelly in her first interview since she's been accused of swaying the nonprofit to cut funding to Planned Parenthood.

Handel, who resigned her senior vice president of public policy with Komen this morning, says to suggest that she had the sole authority in the controversial funding decision is "absurd."

“Last time I checked, private, non-profit organizations have a right and a responsibility to be able to set the highest standards in criteria on their own, without interference, let alone the level of vicious attacks and coercion that’s occurred by Planned Parenthood,” Handel said, “It’s simply outrageous.”

Notice the lengths Handel goes to to gush over Komen.…

Kemp says Obama will remain on ballot, makes birthers cry

Thomas Wheatley — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:43:17 -0500

Those thumping sounds you're hearing? Those are birthers across the country pounding their fists in anger against their Dells covered in coffee stains.…

Karen Handel resigns from Komen over Planned Parenthood debacle

Thomas Wheatley — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:41:00 -0500

Karen Handel, the former Georgia secretary of state and gubernatorial candidate who's been blamed for pushing the Susan G. Komen Foundation to stop awarding grants to Planned Parenthood, has resigned from the cancer fundraiser.

Peach Pundit points us to a resignation letter by Handel, who had served as Komen's senior vice president of public policy, posted on a Wordpress blog that's apparently dedicated to explaining the events behind the brouahaha.…

Feds get involved in homophobic beatdown investigation

Gwynedd Stuart — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:32:00 -0500

The horrifying video of three guys jumping another young man outside a Pittsburgh convenience store would appear to leave little room for debate about the attack's motive: He was beat up because he was presumed to be gay, a "faggot" as his attackers repeatedly put it.

According to WSBTV, the victim, a teenager, came forward and spoke with investigators about the incident, which he says took place on Saturday.…

First Slice 2/7/12: Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children?

Eric Celeste — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:29:24 -0500

1. An overflow crowd of parents from across the district voiced complaints to the Atlanta School Board last night about the redistricting options they've seen.…

5 things today: Dirty Hotel Sunshine, Sonic Generator

Wyatt Williams — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:00:21 -0500

1. ~~Attractive Eighties Women~~ Dirty Hotel Sunshine play 529
2.…

WSBTV kind enough to give us five months to emotionally prepare for Monica Pearson's departure

Gwynedd Stuart — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:38:00 -0500

OK, first read this:

Monica Pearson, veteran anchor for Channel 2 Action News, announced her plans to retire at the end of July after 37 years with the station. Her last day anchoring the 4 and 6 p.m. news will be Wednesday, July 25, 2012.
“Wow!” said Pearson.…
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UPDATE — Video of gruesome Southwest Atlanta gang attack hits the Internet

Gwynedd Stuart — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:20:41 -0500

UPDATE — The Atlanta Police Department released the following statement at around 3 p.m.:

“The Atlanta Police Department is working to determine more about the attack depicted in this video, including attempting to identify the victim and the perpetrators. We are also working to determine if the victim filed a police report, or if police were called to the scene.…
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Mashup of Atlanta police chatter and ambient music will help you survive work day

Thomas Wheatley — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:15:52 -0500

OK, maybe not for everybody, but some folks.

"You are listing to," a website that merges different cities' police scanners and ambient music, has finally added Atlanta to its list of options.…

Ga. Supreme Court: City violated Open Meetings Act

Thomas Wheatley — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:46:00 -0500

The Georgia Supreme Court today decided 4-3 that the City of Atlanta violated the state's Open Meetings Act when it refused to tell the editor of a local news site how members of the Atlanta City Council voted to change the rules regarding public comment at meetings. Matthew Cardinale, the editor, publisher, fact-checker, typesetter, and bookkeeper of Atlanta Progressive News, sued the city and represented himself in the case.…

First Slice 2/6/12: some post-Super Bowl banter, plus Mr. Ferdinand may take a pay cut

Chad Radford — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:38:20 -0500

Cee Lo stole the Super Bowl Halftime show, and according to CL Music Editor Rodney Carmichael, it's "the closest Atlanta will ever get to winning the Super Bowl."

Will the Super Bowl ever come to Atlanta again? Got an extra $700 million to spare?

It's good to be Arthur Ferdinand: Fulton County's tax commissioner is the state's highest-paid elected official, but that might soon change.…

5 things today: Lawrence Millman, The Body

Wyatt Williams — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 07:00:58 -0500

1. Lawrence Millman discusses his work at Emory's Woodruff Library
2.…

5 things today: 12th Planet, That Game

Wyatt Williams — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 07:00:15 -0500

1. 12th Planet plays Masquerade
2.…

Most popular damn posts o' the week

Thomas Wheatley — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:25:21 -0500

Today's weird. It's unusually warm.…

5 things today: Big Freedia, Yelawolf

Wyatt Williams — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:00:49 -0500

1. Big Freedia plays the Earl
2.…

Beatys, Task Force is out of Peachtree-Pine in 10 days — UPDATE

Scott Henry — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:56:00 -0500

In the end, it was Occupy Atlanta and an apparent sweetheart tax dodge that did in Anita Beaty and the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless.

"I'm going to enter an order to close the shelter in 10 days," Judge Craig Schwall told a packed courtroom just minutes ago, after two hours of heated arguments by attorneys. Then he called a 20-minute recess and walked back into his chambers even as Task Force lawyer Steve Hall was still calling out his objections.…

Familiar story, new headline: Local woman gets what she deserves

Gwynedd Stuart — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:04:21 -0500

Every day or so — give or take a day or so — one of the local news stations brings us the story of some sad sack who was bilked out of his or her hard-earned money by some guys selling phony electronics out of their car. And, as obedient viewers, we all wring our hands and say, "Oh, how awful people can be to other people."…

AJC seemingly out to derail Atlanta Streetcar

Scott Henry — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:39:05 -0500

A little more than a year ago, longtime business journalist Maria Saporta took her former employer to task in a blog post titled, "Gift of building does not absolve the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s downtown departure." Saporta zeroed in on the paper's treatment of the news that Atlanta had won a federal grant to help build a proposed downtown streetcar to boost the long-neglected Auburn Avenue corridor:

Look at how the AJC has covered Atlanta’s significant win of $47.6 million for a $72 million streetcar project to connect Centennial Olympic Park with the King District.…
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First Slice 2/3/12: What would Phil Gingrey do?

Thomas Wheatley — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:30:14 -0500

1. Congressman Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., walked out on yesterday's National Prayer Breakfast during President Barack Obama's speech because the commander-in-chief apparently went a bit too heavy on the politics.…

5 things today: Precious Things, Ani Difranco

Wyatt Williams — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:00:13 -0500

1. Jennifer Schwartz exhibits Precious Things
2.…

Task Force for Homeless court hearing on Friday…finally

Scott Henry — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:27:46 -0500

You know what I love about tomorrow? It's always a day away.…

Metro Atlanta is still a vast sea of foreclosures where real estate investors are looking at what could be former brothels

Thomas Wheatley — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:16:00 -0500

If you didn't read yesterday's excellent New York Times piece that says metro Atlanta ~~is home to the world's hottest royal since Prince Albert~~ trails the rest of the country when it comes to home sale prices, we strongly urge you to do so. And yes, you read that second paragraph right.…

You won't believe it, but the Rabbi who anointed Eddie Long is full of it

Gwynedd Stuart — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:25:00 -0500

In a ritual that was about as authentic as William Shatner's hairpiece (#freshhumor), the Bishop Eddie Long was crowned king last Sunday by a fella calling himself "Rabbi Ralph Messer" before a crowd of thousands at New Birth Baptist Church.

The video — which we posted yesterday evening — is good for a laugh.…

Canada goose don't give a shit

Gwynedd Stuart — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:39:38 -0500

No one likes Canada geese. They honk.…

First Slice 2/2/12: General's shadow not visible

Scott Henry — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:08:43 -0500

1. Spring is ready to get sprung, according to Gen. Beauregard Lee, groundhog-in-residence at Gwinnett's Yellow River Game Ranch.…