Category: News

Atlanta will be the home of a massive state-of-the-art soccer center, built in part by hometown billionaire Arthur Blank, according to the U.S. Soccer Federation.

“America’s top athletes deserve the best when it comes to preparing them for competition on the global stage and I’m thrilled U.S. Soccer has chosen metro Atlanta as its new home,” said Blank in a statement. “Atlanta’s incredible passion for soccer, corporate community and unmatched infrastructure make this a natural home for the National Training Center and I’m very confident our community will help America’s finest soccer players compete on a global level like never before.”

The group, which announced the plans on Friday, September 15, 2023, said the development is part of a strategic initiative to help soccer’s popularity spread across the country.

Blank is on board to contribute $50 million to support the construction of a National Training Center In Atlanta.

The center will be accessible by all 27 U.S. soccer teams, including Atlanta United, which is owned by Blank.

“The facility will serve as headquarters for the U.S. Soccer Federation, creating a central hub for the entire soccer community, including coaches and referees, to access best-in-class training, technology and infrastructure to promote successful and sustainable playing environments throughout the country,” a press release from the organization says.

Soccer’s popularity has exploded across the Southeast, especially here In Atlanta with the success of the Atlanta United team. So much so that many MARTA stations have soccer fields adjacent to them.

The training center will also serve as a hub for the community and underserved youth interested in the sport.

The news was met with excitement by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who posted on social media: “Welcome to Atlanta @ussoccer! On behalf of the entire metro area, we are honored to officially welcome you to our community and look forward to this partnership.”

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Revised population estimates indicate that more people have moved to Atlanta than previously thought.

A correction by the U.S. Census says that metro Atlanta has 5.1 million residents instead of 4.9 million residents. The adjustment was needed after it was discovered that 100,853 residents had been assigned to the Gainesville, Georgia, urban area.

Is Atlanta Full?

I can assure you that this has not always been the case. But you may be wondering how Atlanta’s population exploded through the last few decades.

Before the 1996 Olympic Games, Atlanta has a regular city in the South, albeit a progressive one. But things changed quickly with the 1990 announcement that the Games would be coming to Georgia’s largest city.

Millions and millions of people moved in. And that’s where we are today. But you may be wondering this question:

How Many People Live In Atlanta, Georgia Right Now?

According to the latest Census Bureau statistics, more than 496,000 people live inside the city limits of Atlanta. But there’s a massive population that lives on the outskirts.

When you add in the entire metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, including its three primary counties — Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton, Cobb and Gwinnett, you get 5.1 million.

What Is The Percentage Of Atlanta’s Black Population?

People of African descent make up 60% of Atlanta’s population, according to Census Bureau demographics statistics.

Most of Atlanta’s neighborhoods in the six zones are majority black, although there are pockets of predominantly white neighborhoods, especially in Buckhead and the suburbs of north Fulton County.

One major factor that continues to skew the demographic figures in Atlanta is gentrification, which has sped up over the past 10 years.

Here are the most gentrified areas of Atlanta.

Should You Move To Atlanta?

Atlanta is a place that has much to offer if you’re a young professional or even if you’re part of a middle-age family with children.

Here are some benefits to moving to Atlanta:

• The housing market continues to be one of the strongest in the nation.
• The job market is strong and has many work-from-home opportunities.
• The dining scene is the best in the Southeast.
• The city has plenty of green space that is pleasing to look at and explore.

There are some not-so-great things about living in a major metropolitan city as well. I’d say #1 is that the traffic can be a nightmare. Also, the spring pollen count can be quite high and cause your allergies to act up.

But overall, there’s a lot to love about Atlanta.

What Is There To Do In Atlanta?

One of the primary questions visitors often ask is whether there is anything to do in Atlanta. Of course, there is!

If you’ve got just 24 hours in Atlanta, here are things to pack in one day. If you’ve got more time to spend in the city, consider checking out this list of great things to see and do in Atlanta.

Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis responded in a letter Thursday to Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a critic of her investigation into former President Donald Trump. You can read the letter below.
Willis, a Democrat, has been under intense scrutiny after indicting Trump under the state’s wide-ranging RICO statutes.

Any trial of Trump and 18 other co-defendants would likely take place in Atlanta, the seat of Fulton County, and attract huge national and international interest.
Jordan, a Republican who is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has been trumpeting that he is going to open an investigation into Willis on the grounds that she has overstepped her authority.

A close ally of Trump, Jordan said his inquiry would look for interference and collusion between the Fulton DA’s Office and the Biden Administration.

In her letter, she says Jordan is trying to “obstruct a Georgia criminal proceeding and to advance outrageous partisan misrepresentations.” She also told him that he didn’t understand RICO laws.

Your letter makes clear that you lack a basic understanding of the law, its practice, and the ethical obligations of attorneys generally and prosecutors specifically,” Willis said.

Read Fani Willis’ Letter To Jim Jordan

Final Word

The letter serves as yet another chapter in what will be a legal slugfest as Willis has announced that a trial against Trump and 18 co-defendants will be done at the same time and she hopes to do it in a four-month span.

When Willis handed down the indictments in early August, she knew she was in for a fight. Her actions over the past month have shown that she is up to the task.

Willis has taken a no-nonsense approach to prosecuting Trump, which has brought her and those in her office death threats.

In her latter, Willis said that because Jordan seems to have taken a more-than-personal interest in the business of the Fulton DA’s Office, “you should consider directing the USDOJ to investigate the racist threats that have come to my staff and me because of this investigation.”

Automaker Kia is under renewed pressure to act as thefts of its vehicles continue to rise. In Atlanta, incidents of Kia car thefts have increased 700%, according to a local news report.

Citing Atlanta police statements made at a Public Safety Committee meeting in August 2023, Atlanta News First reported that Kia thefts in Atlanta are on an unprecedented pace.

The developments come several months after Kia and Hyundai reached a $200 million settlement to end a class-action lawsuit brought by car owners whose vehicles had been stolen. The plaintiffs alleged that the automakers made their cars easier to steal.

. In October, an East Point resident initiated a class action lawsuit against the automakers, alleging that newer Kia and Hyundai models lacked immobilizers. Immobilizers are security features that prevent unauthorized individuals from using an unprogrammed key or key fob to steal a vehicle.

Initially, law enforcement attributed this increase in thefts to a social media challenge, wherein criminals stole Kia and Hyundai models and shared their actions using the hashtag #kiaboyz.

On just about any social media site, under the hashtag #kiaboyz, you’ll find some debauchery.

What Is Kia Doing About Car Thefts?

For its part Kia says it’s been working on various technologies and security measures to prevent car thefts. These efforts often include:

Keyless Entry and Start Systems: Implementing advanced keyless entry and start systems with encryption to make it harder for thieves to clone key fobs.

Immobilizers: Installing immobilizer systems that prevent the engine from starting without the correct key or fob.

Alarms and Anti-Theft Systems: Equipping vehicles with alarms, motion sensors, and anti-theft systems to deter thieves.

GPS Tracking: Many manufacturers offer optional GPS tracking systems that can help locate a stolen vehicle.

Remote Shutdown: Some advanced systems allow owners or law enforcement to remotely disable a stolen vehicle.

Secure Software Updates: Regularly updating the vehicle’s software to patch security vulnerabilities and improve overall security.

Collaboration with Law Enforcement: Working closely with law enforcement agencies to recover stolen vehicles and apprehend thieves.

Final Word

Law enforcement in the Atlanta area continues to probe the Kia Boyz but it’s going to take police as well as the public’s help to stop auto thefts in the metro area.

The automobile industry as a whole is going to have to do more to educate customers about best practices for preventing car theft, such as not leaving valuables in the car and locking doors and windows.

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Unfortunate events continue to lead to deaths this year at Lake Lanier.
According to state officials, a 23-year-old man died after falling into the water after slipping off the dock over Labor Day weekend.

After the incident, his body was recovered from 17 feet of water. The victim was identified as Gavrie Alexander Whitlock, 23, of Snellville.

The site where Whitlock drowned is Holiday Marina, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Lake Lanier has been linked with some mysterious deaths since its inception in the 1950s. One common misconception was that the lake was built on top of a black town. In fact, Georgia’s Lake Lanier was not built on top of Oscarville, but rather, the construction of Buford Dam, which created the lake, flooded the area where the historic town of Oscarville was located.

Read about the History of Lake Lanier.

One of the biggest names in the news lately has been Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who has been in the national spotlight for her vigorous prosecution of some high-profile cases.

In 2022, Willis brought RICO charges against local Atlanta rappers Young Thug, Gunna and his YSL organization.

Now she’s back in the media after charges are expected to be filed in Fulton against for President Donald Trump related to the 2020 election. But with all the hoopla surrounding this South Fulton mother of two, you might wonder who is Fani Willis?

How Old Is Fani Willis?

Willis celebrated her 52nd birthday in October 2023. At a private fund-raising event that month, Willis decried the verbal and racist attacks against her.

“I think the craziest ]lie] was that I was sleeping with a gang-banger. Like, what?! I like them old. What are you talking about?” she told the crowd as they laughed.

Fani Willis: Howard Alum Traces Name To African Roots

Willis was born and raised in Inglewood, California, but moved to Washington, D.C., with her father after his divorce. As a former member of the Blac Panthers, he was active in his community. He was also a criminal defense attorney.

Willis was raised in a household that encouraged her to be proud of her blackness. Her name — Fani Taifa — is actually Swahili and means “prosperous” (fani) “People” (taifa).

In 1992, she graduated from Howard University in Washington D.C., and went to grad school at Atlanta’s Emory University School of Law. She graduated in 1996.

In 2000, she was lead prosecutor in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal, which made regional headlines. She also became inept at applying Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act to many of her cases.

Championing father’s custody rights, Willis made a name for herself as a strong lawyer who specialized in criminal cases, especially those involving juveniles. Five years after graduating from law school, she got a job as Assistant DA in Fulton.

Willis Unseats Longtime Fulton DA Paul Howard

Willis had been a lawyer for nearly a quarter-century before she decided to try to unseat who many people had thought could be unseatable, six-term Fulton DA Paul Howard. But Howard, whom Willis worked under for six years, had been rocked by a number of scandals, all of which he dutifully put out, but workplace issues, including sexual harassment lawsuits, spelled the end of his career.

Willis, who had been asking God if challenging Howard was the right thing to do, soon saw the many problems at the Fulton DA’s Office as her opportunity to change things for the better.

“I have gotten calls from South Fulton, North Fulton, Buckhead just begging me to run,” she said.The office under Howard’s leadership is broken, she told reporters at the time. “I believe I’m the right person to fix it.”

When she defeated Howard in August 2020, a new day had dawned in Atlanta.

““I always knew that I wanted to be the district attorney, but in my mind, I would never run against the sitting DA,” she told South Atlanta magazine, “but the cries got louder and louder and louder… and I just took the leap of faith and did what God called me to do.”

Willis took over for Howard, the first African-American to win election as a district attorney in Georgia. Willis is now the first African-American woman to serve as district attorney in the state.

Photo credit: Fulton County District Attorney’s Office

Willis Takes On Trump

In January 2021, when it was clear that America was turning the page on his presidency, Trump made an illicit phone call to a Georgia election official in search of more than 11,000 votes. Days later, Willis vowed that she would be looking into whether any tampering was done to “influence” the election.

Her quest has led to what many people say is the strongest indictment against Trump. At issue, is the former Republican president’s attempt to seat fake electors to overturn the results of the 2020 election that put President Biden into office.

But Trump has not taken the charges quietly. He has built up a considerable narrative about Willis that he tells to large crowds. According to him, Willis is sleeping with a gang member.

Why is ‘Phoney’ Fani Willis, the severely underperforming D.A. of Fulton County who is being accused of having an ‘affair’; with a gang member of a group that she is prosecuting, leaking my name in regard to a grand jury pertaining to election fraud and irregularities that I say took place in Georgia,” Trump posted on a social media network on August 13.

Willis responded with an email to her staff, swatting the allegations away as “derogatory and false” as she awaits to bring indictments against Trump.

““You may not comment in any way on the ad or any of the negativity that may be expressed against me, your colleagues, this office in the coming days, weeks or months,” Willis wrote. “We have no personal feelings against those we investigate or prosecute and we should not express any.”

Despite the allegations, Trump remains the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

Another summer, another death at one of Georgia’s most popular watering holes: Lake Lanier.

Over the last week of July, a 24-year-old man has died in Lake Lanier, according to authorities.

Thomas Shepard Milner leaped off a dock and into the water and was shocked to death by electricity on Thursday, July 27, 2023, according to a press release from the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office is still investigating events around the presumed electrocution as they await the official cause of death from the coroner.

A family friend tried to pull Milner out of the water, but was unsuccessful, according to the sheriff’s office. Finally, a neighbor was able to pull Milner out of the lake, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

The neighbor who helped pull the victim out of the water “reported feeling a burning sensation which they immediately recognized as an electric shock,” according to Atlanta News First.

The victim’s mother told the TV station that the dock had been built less than three years ago and was outfitted with electricity.

Milner would later be pronounced dead at Northside Forsyth Hospital.

Another person, 61-year-old Tracey Stewart, also died on Lake Lanier over the weekend after drowning.

Lake Lanier has been linked with some mysterious deaths since its inception in the 1950s. One common misconception was that the lake was built on top of a black town. In fact, Georgia’s Lake Lanier was not built on top of Oscarville, but rather, the construction of Buford Dam, which created the lake, flooded the area where the historic town of Oscarville was located.

Read about the History of Lake Lanier.

Following the Amplify Music Festival, which was held in April, the nonprofit Amplify My Community has given a combined total gift of $25,000 to Decatur Cooperative Ministry (DCM), Decatur Education Foundation (DEF), and Giving Kitchen, the group recently announced.

Amplify Decatur Music Festival, which is one of the best festivals in metro Atlanta, featured an all-day festival Saturday, April 29 on the Decatur Square with performances by St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Patty Griffin, James McMurtry, The Suffers, Town Mountain, Jackson County Line, and The Sundogs.

Amplify My Community has directed more than $575,000 to community-based nonprofits since 2011 and more than $575,000 in unrestricted gifts to locally oriented anti-homelessness and poverty-focused organizations — including more than $360,000 in Decatur.

“Amplify has proven to be one of the best homegrown music festivals around– with an incredibly talented and musically-diverse line-up, high-quality production, and the best local food and craft beer offerings,” says Drew Robinson, Board President of Amplify My Community. “Thanks largely to Amplify board members Christine Mahin and Mike Killeen as well as the incredible Lenz team, our festival continues to improve year after year. We’re especially excited to expand our beneficiaries this year to include Decatur Education Foundation and Giving Kitchen, in addition to Decatur Cooperative Ministry.”

For more information on upcoming events and to donate to Amplify My Community, please visit AmplifyMyCommunity.org.