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WABE’s Week In Review: Boosters, Birds And Overlooked Mayor Candidates

September 24th, 2021

The fate of Georgia’s so-called “heartbeat” abortion law, which bans the procedure as early as six weeks into pregnancy, seems tied to the fate of a different abortion case set to go before the U.S. Supreme Court.

A federal appeals court in Atlanta heard oral arguments in the Georgia case on Friday.

State leaders, including Gov. Brian Kemp, brought the suit to the appeals court looking to overturn a ruling from a lower court that blocked the state’s abortion law.

Just moments into the hearing, a member of the three-judge panel invoked another abortion case concerning a Mississippi abortion law set to go before the U.S. Supreme Court later this year.

A three judge federal appeals court in Atlanta just wrapped a hearing on Georgia’s so-called “heartbeat” abortion law, which bans the procedure in most cases at about six weeks.

The big takeaway? The upcoming SCOTUS case on abortion will impact this one.

1/n

— Sam Whitehead (@sclaudwhitehead) September 24, 2021

The judge said to wait for a decision in the Mississippi case, which could overturn the abortion protections set out in Roe v. Wade, before even considering Georgia’s law.

The state’s law remains blocked in the meantime.

Boosters on my mind…

This week, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee approved COVID-19 booster shots for some populations.

But scientists at the National Institutes for Health started talking seriously about the issue all the way back in January, according to recent reporting from Sarah Jane Tribble, with Kaiser Health News.

Tribble spoke on this week’s “Did You Wash Your Hands?,” our podcast about the coronavirus.

School is out for some…

Metro Atlanta school districts are facing a shortage of workers. To speed up hiring, most school systems are offering financial incentives to bus drivers, substitute teachers, school nurses and other employees.

More ink, please…

Candidates for Atlanta mayor (left to right) Glenn Wrightson, Roosevelt Searles III, Rebecca King, Kenny Hill, Mark Hammad, Nolan English and Kirsten Dunn. WABE/ Emil Moffatt

Several candidates for Atlanta mayor say they’re being excluded from mayoral forums and media coverage of the race. And they came together in front of city hall this week to air their grievances.

Former DA on the Arbery case…

Former Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes is speaking out about the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. Courtesy of Joyette Homes.

After a series of prosecutors recused themselves in the murder trial of the three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery, former Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes was appointed to try the case.

But Holmes lost her re-election bid, so the case now goes to a fifth prosecutor, Flynn Broady.

Now Holmes is speaking out about the high-profile killing of Arbery, a Black man who was jogging when he was shot and killed after being chased by three white men.

The birds!

Hey Atlanta, did you know you can check the bird migration forecast like you can check the weather https://t.co/JsgqVBALlS pic.twitter.com/8IGCqYEXSz

— Molly Samuel (@mollyis) September 23, 2021

For a deeper exploration of Ahmaud Arbery’s story, listen to WABE’s podcast, “Buried Truths.” Hosted by journalist, professor, and Pulitzer-prize-winning author Hank Klibanoff, season three of “Buried Truths” explores the Arbery murder and its direct ties to racially motivated murders of the past in Georgia.