WABE’s Week In Review Update: John Lewis Dies, Kemp Takes On Bottoms, And Remembering C.T. Vivian
Updated July 18, 3:32 p.m.
On the Week in Review for July 12 to 18, WABE Managing Editor Alex Helmick highlights stories from our journalists and starts with the death of civil rights icon and longtime U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who passed away late Friday at the age of 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
WABE’s Emma Hurt has this feature piece on Lewis’s legacy as a fighter that stretches far and has inspired a generation of other politicians and activists.
Remembering another civil rights icon…
C.T. Vivian led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s inner circle. He died Friday at age 95. Vivian’s advocacy spanned over 70 years, including when he traveled to Selma, Alabama in 1965 to stand on the courthouse steps to register Black voters.
Governor versus Mayor…
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration is suing Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (and Atlanta City Council members) for returning the city back to Phase One, recommending restaurants go back to take out only for example.
Kemp has not actually sued because of masks but for the city’s rollback to Phase One. Emma Hurt spoke with Sam Whitehead about it.
School daze…?
School district officials are having a difficult time planning for the new school year. Some have waited until this week to again change plans and go all virtual. Now, schools in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and the city of Atlanta will be all online. WABE Education Reporter Martha Dalton talked about it on our podcast, “Did You Wash Your Hands?” hosted by Sam Whitehead.
Despite Gwinnett County having the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state, Georgia’s largest school district is sticking with a plan to re-open schools in person with a virtual option for families who want it.
You can read more reopening stories from Dalton and the WABE news team here.
Federal money is helping some landlords, but they aren’t helping their tenants…
Several big apartment managers in Atlanta are receiving hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars in forgivable federal loans. It’s part of the Paycheck Protection Program that Congress set up for businesses to survive the COVID-19 crisis. But our Stephannie Stokes found these companies may not be offering much forgiveness to their residents, who they are still evicting.
POTUS was here…
The news cycle moves fast these days. And with so much going on, you may have missed the whirlwind visit from President Donald Trump. He visited Hapeville Wednesday to roll out major changes to a 50-year-old federal environmental law with the goal of speeding up infrastructure development. It’s his ninth visit to the state since taking office. And this one wasn’t without controversy. WABE’s Emma Hurt and Molly Samuel covered it.
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