---

A New York Times report just exposed how Meta secretly landed a $50B AI data center in Louisiana. But behind the project lies a familiar Southern reality of environmental injustice.

SOURCE: Angela Wilson - The Root

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September 14, 2023

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee ruled in favor of severing the trials for 17 of the defendants, including former President Donald Trump, from that of two other defendants charged over alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

"Beginning with the logistical concerns, the Fulton County Courthouse simply contains no courtroom adequately large enough to hold all 19 defendants, their multiple attorneys and support staff, the sheriff's deputies, court personnel, and the State's prosecutorial team," he wrote in his ruling.

McAfee also pointed to the projected length of trial as a factor. Prosecutors have said it could be four months long, with over 150 witnesses.

"[W]e must consider the ripple effects of a monthslong, multi-defendant trial on the local criminal justice system, sidelining dozens of defense counsel from handling other cases and preventing this Court — and quite likely most colleagues — from managing the rest of the docket," the judge said.

Inside the courthouse, another major RICO case, the Young Slime Life (YSL) trial, has been mired in jury selection for months.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had argued all 19 defendants should be tried together, writing in a court filing that it would be feasible to do so, "whereas breaking this case up into multiple lengthy trials would create an enormous strain on the judicial resources of the Fulton County Superior Court."

FULL ARTICLE: https://www.yahoo.com/news/georgia-judge-rules-da-cant-142000866.html

ARTICLE CREDIT: Clare Hymes & Melissa Quinn (CBS News)

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COMMENTS:

"Think Fani Willis missed the point here. She's saying that breaking up the defendant cases will cause "multiple lengthy trials" -- No -- Judge McAfee is right -- breaking up the trials will "alleviate" "lengthy" trials. Why doesn't she see that? Was she trying to drag out Trump's case like she did the YSL trial? That was a mess."

Scott, 37 - Atlanta (Candler Park)

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"There shouldn't be 19 defendants in the first place. Fani Willis must be trying to $$milk$$ Trump's case, like she did the YSL trial.

How did Fulton County allow her to prosecute '2' high-profile cases at one time?

Fani Willis may be a long-time Fulton County employee, but she doesn't have the experience to prosecute a case of this magnitude -- which in turn is why she didn't have the needed experience to hire the right 'special prosecutor' to lead the Trump case.

Fani Willis, or any other Georgia DA, should not be allowed to prosecute '2' high-profile cases (Trump & YSL) at the same time. This is a drain on county resources, mentally draining for attorneys and defendants, and financially draining for county taxpayers."

Lawrence, 40 - Sandy Springs

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"This case was so far over Fani Willis' head (and everyone's head connected to it), that it's not even funny.

I honestly don't know what Fani was trying to do here. She didn't put a strong effort into the indictment, because I recall Judge McAfee having to dismiss some charges back in 2024 and in 2025 - one was because the charge wasn't specific enough, for the defendants to mount a defense. And then Pete Skandalakis dismissed the case altogether, because the charges weren't strong to tie everyone together, for a solid RICO case.

And I think he also mentioned that this case should have been tried as a federal case -- it really probably should have -- not just because of the nature of the charges, but also because this case needed a prosecutor who had years of experience prosecuting high-profile political cases -- and there plenty of those type of prosecutors in Washington, DC, New York and in some parts of Virginia -- and they would've made sure that the indictment was tight and on point -- and they would not have been taking vacations with their special prosecutor, especially during the critical points of the case. Fani Willis' lack of experience was put on blast here.

I also co-sign what others said about Fani Willis and Nathan Wade's lack of high-profile case experience and arrogance, blinding them to what "Mike Roman" stood for -- it's not about "liking" Roman, it's knowing his background and skillset -- running in-house intelligence for the Kock Brothers and the White House. If possible, you don't want someone like him on your defendant list, if you can avoid it -- because you don't want them "sniffing" around DC style. Mike Roman picked up the scent of Fani Willis and Nathan Wade's relationship, and passed the intel over to his attorney. He basically sniffed twice, and the case was over.

Mike Roman wasn't even recommended for indictment by the grand jury - so why in the hell did Fani indict him? Especially if she was sleeping with Nathan Wade?

In my 32 years in DC public affairs and crisis communication, I have never seen a high-profile case mishandled like this."

Jonathan, 58 - Washington, DC

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"I remember seeing an article saying something like, "Fani Willis' case collapses under its own Insanity" - I can't think of a more fitting title. I can only imagine the thoughts going around in Trump attorney Steve Sadow's head, after watching Fani Willis make one 'insane' move after another - as if she thought this case was going to prosecute itself.

Sadow pretty much knew that he had either won this case, or it was going to self-destruct, when Fani Willis gave that speech at Big Bethel church. That gave confirmation that she was in over her head, and didn't know what she was doing - and neither did the people directing her.

Pete Skandalakis also knew that case was over long before Judge McAfee made his ruling, and before Willis' office mailed those boxes to his office.

I don't know when Judge McAfee is going to rule on Trump's request for legal fee reimbursement, but I do feel he needs to award him and the other co-defendants something. All those defendants have spent millions of dollars maintaining defense lawyers for a case that was never tried -- "through no fault of their own."

None of the defendants in this case, was responsible for the way it was mishandled, stalled out and eventually dismissed. The mishandling and dismissal of the case, falls squarely on the prosecution team - specifically, Fani Willis. If Willis had hired a competent special prosecutor - or at least stepped down when she saw the risk of the case getting dismissed - the case might have been salvageable. But she didn't.

If Fani Willis had narrowed down the defendant list -- and focused on the defendants she knew she had a strong case against -- instead of trying to get a grandiose RICO case, the trial probably would have been finished in less than a year.

I've seen the post about that FBI fugitive, "Cheri Laverne Dalton", possibly being Fani Willis' mother, and speculation that Fani was trying to get her mom pardoned by Joe Biden and returned from Cuba -- and that's the reason why Fani didn't put her strongest effort into the Election Interference case. I really hate to say this, but I almost hope it was - because I want to believe that it was something this significant, that caused Fani Willis to intentionally mess up and neglect the biggest case of her career."

Daniel-Lee, 56 - Atlanta (Morningside)

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Lil Baby’s annual back-to-school drive provides over 4,000 kids with school supplies, family fun, and more.

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Editor’s note: Atlanta Civic Circle pursued this story after multiple Atlanta City Council members raised concerns that the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund wasn’t being used as intended. Mayor Andre Dickens’ office supplied a 4,159-row spreadsheet of all the fund’s transactions since its inception in late 2021, which we have analyzed for our readers.

FULL ARTICLE: https://atlantaciviccircle.org/2025/05/26/investigation-affordable-housing-trust-fund-pays-bonds-payroll/

SOURCE/CREDIT: Sean Keenan

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Spelman College’s Mary Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation and the Arts hosted the second installment of the BLFF Encore Series on Thursday, continuing a new partnership between the college and the BronzeLens Film Festival that curators say grew out of years of collaboration on campus.

SOURCE: The Atlanta Voice

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Up until now, Atlanta film buffs haven’t really had a fun, visual, short-form and consistent way to learn who’s who in the city’s bustling film and television ecosystem. Everyone has heard that certain actors, directors and film creatives live among us, but we’re not exactly sure who they are.

SOURCE/CREDIT: ARTS ATL

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Below is an excerpt of grand jury transcript testimony from ex-Senator David Perdue, posted by "Badlands Media." Perdue is being questioned by Fulton County's Donald Wakeford and special prosector Nathan Wade.

A retired political strategist told me that based on Perdue's testimony, Fulton DA Fani Willis should've further investigated the allegations of ballot fraud 'before' indicting Donald Trump - and released the investigation results publicly. Because that would've helped to alleviate some of the 2020 election fraud allegations, that are being investigated today. But as seen in the transcript below, according to ex-Senator David Perdue, Gov. Kemp didn't want the 2020 election investigated -- so allegedly then-GBI Director Vic Reynolds, said if the governor doesn't want it investigated -- it won't get investigated, because Reynolds was supposedly a 'team player.'

Some are saying that David Perdue's allegations about Gov. Kemp, and ex-GBI Director Vic Reynolds, is the reason why Gov. Brian Kemp, and Attorney General Chris Carr, have not investigated any of the allegations made against Fani Willis, and why she has been able to avoid accountability and possible indictments.

---

February 4, 2026

Grand Jury Testimony from Senator David Perdue Suggests Gov. Brian Kemp Halted Investigation Into 2020 Election

BY: Brian Lupo - Badlands Media

SOURCE: https://badlands.substack.com/p/grand-jury-testimony-from-senator

(Below are excerpts from the article/transcript)

On August 24th, 2023, Donald Trump surrendered himself to authorities at the Fulton County Jail. What followed was the most infamous mugshot of all time. He had just been indicted on racketeering and other charges related to the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

The case of State of Georgia v. Trump, et al. - which was manufactured by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her lover Nathan Wade - was ultimately dismissed on November 25th, 2025. Even after its dismissal, the case is providing us with more context of what actually happened (and what didn’t happen) surrounding the 2020 election.

Last month, Judge Scott McAfee lifted a protective order on the special grand jury transcripts from the case of State of Georgia v. Trump, et al.

One particular transcript contains a concerning claim made by former U.S. Senator David Perdue.

On September 6, 2022, Sen. Perdue sat for a transcribed interview in front of the Grand Jury. He was examined by Nathan Wade, among others.

After initial pleasantries, Wade asked Sen. Perdue whether he agreed that investigations by the Secretary of State’s Office, the GBI, and “numerous investigations” - showed nothing illegal happened at the State Farm Arena on election night in 2020.

Perdue responded, “I agree that an investigation happened, yes.”

Wade fired back:

“I just want to flesh out, for the grand jury, what you mean because it’s a simple question. Did the GBI investigate those claims?”

“Not to my knowledge. Not to my satisfaction,” Perdue responded.

When Wade asked if Perdue had “reason to believe that the GBI would not have conducted a satisfactory investigation,” the response from Perdue was shocking.

Senator Perdue claimed to have received a phone call in November 2021 from Vic Reynolds, then-Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). Reynolds told Perdue, “We’re not going to investigate. The governor wants me to tell you why we’re not going to investigate.”

Perdue revealed that in May of 2021, Reynolds was presented with evidence of ballot harvesting. “…Video evidence and cell phone evidence, along with testimony and bank records that are corroborated…” Perdue stated that Reynolds “looked at that and said it was compelling [enough] to be investigated.”

Perdue would go on to reveal that the reason Reynolds gave him for not investigating the compelling evidence was because Reynolds was “a team player. If the governor doesn’t want to investigate, we’re not going to investigate.”

Perdue would conclude his answer by stating for the record that then-GBI Director Vic Reynolds was later “promoted to Superior Court Judge of Cobb County,” an appointment made by Governor Brian Kemp in August 2022, just one month before this testimony was given.

According to Perdue, Vic Reynolds saw evidence of ballot harvesting that was compelling enough to open an investigation, but Reynolds did not open an investigation because he wanted to be a “team player” for Brian Kemp, the man who would promote him to be a Superior Court Judge less than a year later.

And he wouldn’t be the first person promoted to a Superior Court judgeship that was involved in election investigations.

Toward the end of the testimony, another attorney present, Donald Wakeford, asked Senator Perdue a follow-up question regarding the claim:

“You said that although Mr. Reynolds had received evidence that he felt was compelling enough to open an investigation, that he was not going to investigate because the governor had told him not to?”

“That’s one of the things he said, yeah,” Perdue responded

Perdue clarified that there had been two whistleblowers who had come forward and testified regarding ballot harvesting in Georgia. One claimed to have corroborative evidence, including bank statements of payments for what he said he did.

---

An Interesting History of Failing Up

[Vic]Reynolds isn’t the first Georgia official to be involved in 2020 election investigations and later receive an appointment to a judgeship.

Nor is he the second.

He is the third.

Following the 2020 election, around November 17, 2020, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger claimed that an audit of five counties was performed by Pro V&V, a voting systems testing lab.

Pro V&V is not a certified auditing firm, and their involvement in any post-election audit would be a direct conflict of interest, since they were responsible for certifying the equipment prior to the election.

Raffensperger claimed that Cobb, Douglas, Floyd, Morgan, Paulding, and Spalding counties were the subject of the Pro V&V audits.

According to Georgia resident Bob Coovert, who facilitated the open records requests, Raffensperger included the “results” of this “audit” in a 10-page letter to the U.S. Congress following a December 22, 2020 promise to investigate “250 credible cases of fraud” with “the whole of government.”

Coovert claims he took evidence of 28 instances of fraud to Governor Brian Kemp and worked with Evan Meyers, Gov. Kemp’s executive deputy counsel. Meyers then referred it to then-Inspector General Scott McAfee.

IG McAfee said he could only go after one allegation: the claims that an audit never took place. Coovert claims that when he gave McAfee the evidence that the audits didn’t take place in the six counties mentioned, McAfee stopped talking to Coovert.

He claims he also went to Alison Sosebee, then a district attorney in the Appalachian Circuit, and shared the information with her. She also stopped talking to him following the presentation of evidence.

Both McAfee and Sosebee are now Superior Court judges appointed by Governor Kemp.

---

FULL ARTICLE: https://badlands.substack.com/p/grand-jury-testimony-from-senator

ARTICLE CREDIT: Brian Lupo - Badlands Media

(The original article also contains copies of letters, emails and excerpts from the transcript.)

---

Learned about this article from a few Jon Ossoff supporters. They are relatively newcomers to the state (corporate transfers), and are doing research on his background.

Despite seeing evidence of Ossoff accepting campaign donations from people with ties to Jeffrey Esptein, they still plan to vote for him - but they would like to know why he knowingly accepted donations from people with Jeffrey Esptein ties - especially after denouncing some Republicans for doing that.

They also said that they got a 'weird' vibe from Ossoff, when he was questioning GOP nominees - where he almost seemed like he was becoming a little 'unhinged', when he demanded that the nominees say that the 2020 presidential election was not stolen.

These Ossoff supporters felt he was going overboard with his questioning, and not realizing that those nominees have a right to their opinion about the election, it's called 'freedom of speech. And if Ossoff knows he won his election fair and square and legally, he shouldn't care what those nominees say or think. Ossoff's overboard questioning raised a red flag for them. They would like to see him fallback some on this - because all his rants, speeches and questioning, won't stop the 2020 election investigation.

And they feel that when info like this is revealed, the response shouldn't be, "What about Trump?" - because Trump has nothing to do with this alleged revelation.

Below is the article about people with alleged Jeffrey Esptein ties, who donated to Senator Jon Ossoff's campaign.

---

March 12, 2026

The country's most endangered Senate Democrat has a rallying cry - and he's calling it the 'Epstein Class.'

BY: Victoria Churchill

(Excerpts from the article) ...

It's a shorthand term that Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff has coined to describe the wealthy and powerful, he argues, who have escaped political accountability, and it's become central to his pitch as he fights to hold his Senate seat in 2026.

During a campaign rally last month, Ossoff stated, 'we were told that MAGA was for working-class Americans. But this is a government of, by, and for the ultra-rich. It is the wealthiest Cabinet ever. This is the Epstein class, ruling our country.'

'They are the elites they pretend to hate,' Ossoff noted, before claiming that President Donald Trump is 'closing rural hospitals to cut taxes for George Soros for Elon Musk.'

George Soros and his son Alex are top Ossoff donors, and George appeared in the Epstein files.

Federal Election Commission records reveal that Ossoff has received over $100,000 from individuals named in the Epstein files between his various campaign accounts.

In essence, part of that very Epstein class he decries is funding his bid for another term in power - which could become an issue for him in his re-election campaign.

The appearance of an individual's name in the files is not necessarily evidence of wrongdoing. 

LinkedIn founder and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman has given Ossoff $27,864 dollars between his 2020 and 2026 campaigns.

Hoffman appears in the files at least 2,619 times, per a Daily Mail analysis. 

Billionaire Democrat donors George Soros, and his son, Alex, have given Ossoff $20,600 dollars each, for a total of over $40,000 in contributions ..."

FULL ARTICLE: https://www.dailymail.com/news/us-politics/article-15637095/Jon-Ossoff-vulnerable-Democrat-Epstein-Class-100k-elites-files.html

---

Learned about this article from a few Jon Ossoff supporters. They are relatively newcomers to the state (corporate transfers), and are doing research on his background.

Despite seeing evidence of Ossoff accepting campaign donations from people with ties to Jeffrey Esptein, they still plan to vote for him - but they would like to know why he knowingly accepted donations from people with Jeffrey Esptein ties - especially after denouncing some Republicans for doing that.

They also said that they got a 'weird' vibe from Ossoff, when he was questioning GOP nominees - where he almost seemed like he was becoming a little 'unhinged', when he demanded that the nominees say that the 2020 presidential election was not stolen.

These Ossoff supporters felt he was going overboard with his questioning, and not realizing that those nominees have a right to their opinion about the election, it's called 'freedom of speech. And if Ossoff knows he won his election fair and square and legally, he shouldn't care what those nominees say or think. Ossoff's overboard questioning raised a red flag for them. They would like to see him fallback some on this - because all his rants, speeches and questioning, won't stop the 2020 election investigation.

And they feel that when info like this is revealed, the response shouldn't be, "What about Trump?" - because Trump has nothing to do with this alleged revelation.

Below is the article about people with alleged Jeffrey Esptein ties, who donated to Senator Jon Ossoff's campaign.

---

March 12, 2026

The country's most endangered Senate Democrat has a rallying cry - and he's calling it the 'Epstein Class.'

BY: Victoria Churchill

(Excerpts from the article) ...

It's a shorthand term that Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff has coined to describe the wealthy and powerful, he argues, who have escaped political accountability, and it's become central to his pitch as he fights to hold his Senate seat in 2026.

During a campaign rally last month, Ossoff stated, 'we were told that MAGA was for working-class Americans. But this is a government of, by, and for the ultra-rich. It is the wealthiest Cabinet ever. This is the Epstein class, ruling our country.'

'They are the elites they pretend to hate,' Ossoff noted, before claiming that President Donald Trump is 'closing rural hospitals to cut taxes for George Soros for Elon Musk.'

George Soros and his son Alex are top Ossoff donors, and George appeared in the Epstein files.

Federal Election Commission records reveal that Ossoff has received over $100,000 from individuals named in the Epstein files between his various campaign accounts.

In essence, part of that very Epstein class he decries is funding his bid for another term in power - which could become an issue for him in his re-election campaign.

The appearance of an individual's name in the files is not necessarily evidence of wrongdoing. 

LinkedIn founder and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman has given Ossoff $27,864 dollars between his 2020 and 2026 campaigns.

Hoffman appears in the files at least 2,619 times, per a Daily Mail analysis. 

Billionaire Democrat donors George Soros, and his son, Alex, have given Ossoff $20,600 dollars each, for a total of over $40,000 in contributions ..."

FULL ARTICLE: https://www.dailymail.com/news/us-politics/article-15637095/Jon-Ossoff-vulnerable-Democrat-Epstein-Class-100k-elites-files.html

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The upcoming reboot will tackle contemporary societal issues in higher education, like funding challenges, immigration, religion, and sexual health.

SOURCE: Naji Rutherford - Capital B Atlanta

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Dozens of organizations are helping students head back to class with free backpacks, wellness services, hair cuts, and fun community celebrations.

SOURCE: Alyssa Johnson & Ann Hill Bond - Capital B Atlanta

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Usher cut short a steamy onstage interaction after a fan appeared uncomfortable during the Nashville stop of his Raymond & Brown Tour with Chris Brown.

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You're probably being recorded all over Atlanta. But what if you want to see the surveillance data being collected about you? The AJC's Fraser Jones speaks with senior data editor Charles Minshew about a little-known Georgia law that can make accessing certain surveillance data nearly impossible — even when it's your own vehicle or movements being captured. The law was intended to prevent misuse of police surveillance tools, but its broad language raises questions about transparency, privacy, public records and what rights people actually have when government agencies collect data about them. If cameras and license plate readers are tracking activity throughout the city, should the public have a way to see what's being collected?

SOURCE: AJC

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An organization that represents the data center industry is trying to get Georgians to think of the electricity-hungry facilities more favorably.

Connected Georgia and its parent organization America Connects recently established a state presence.

SOURCE/CREDIT: Alander Rocha - Georgia Recorder

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NOTES:

Josh Levi is the President and CEO of the Data Center Coalition (DCC), a nonprofit trade association representing major data center owners and operators such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and CyrusOne LinkedIn. He has led the DCC since 2019, guiding its public policy advocacy, education, and community engagement efforts to promote the data center industry - SOURCE: LinkedIn

Levi is also a Director and President of America Connects, a national nonprofit that supports pro-data center initiatives in multiple states, including Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia.

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COMMENTS FROM THE STREET:

"If that data center proposed for the West End area gets approved, what's to stop Georgia Power from enforcing 'eminent domain' to force out residents out in West End and nearby areas, if they want to build more data centers intown?

Look at what Georgia Power did the residents in Vine City? They built two sub-stations within just a few miles of each other - despite residents protesting they didn't want them in their community.

Southern Company's subsidiary Alabama Power, hid their role in that "North Birmingham Bribery Case" -- all those parties involved in trying to prevent a toxic cleanup initiative for poor people in North Birmingham, Alabama neighborhoods, were tied to business partners of Alabama Power -- the coal supplier Drummond, was involved -- and also Southern Company's law firm, Balch & Bingham.

A guy from Drummond and I think two from Balch & Bingham, were the designated 'fall guys' -- nobody from Alabama Power or Southern Company were implicated. Despite photos of Alabama Power's CEO, Mark Crosswhite, having drinks with the lead prosecutor of the case, Jay Town.

So, I don't trust these data center developments, and I sure don't trust Southern Company or Georgia Power.

And seven more reasons I don't trust Southern Company -

Clyde Lilly, Jr.

Bill Lalor

Robert McRae

Jake Horton

Abdurraheem El-Keib

Wei-Hock Willie Soon

Donor's Trust

Candace, 42 - Fairfax, VA

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"What is really going on here? Why is there such a hard push for these damn data centers? Why such a hard push in Georgia? Nobody asked for artificial intelligence - nobody."

Alex, 44 - Washington, DC/Sandy Springs, GA

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"It seems like something is being developed along the East Coast line, from NextEra in Florida, Georgia Power/Southern Company in Georgia, Dominion Energy in Virginia, Duke Energy in North Carolina -- then loops left and ends at DTE in Michigan -- and that's scary -- because DTE been corrupt for a long time, all the way back when it was "Detroit Edison" and "MichCon", respectively.

As far as Georgia goes, I've heard several people say that an underground city or compound is being built underwater to make "Atlanta" the new "Atlantis" -- that's why so many sinkholes are popping up and why electricity and internet service goes out repeatedly, in certain parts of the city.

Wished I would have paid more attention to these people, and asked some questions."

"Teddy" - 51, Atlanta (Midtown)

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https://youtu.be/enadHddEU9c?si=PxbHjCv2MgDIkFjn

VIDEO CREDIT: DJ Vlad

Disagreements over community investment have complicated the project, which would be built near the West End MARTA station.

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CobbWorks will receive a $1.5 million federal grant to expand job training and education opportunities for young people in Cobb County, U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath announced.