Georgia

Seems like a neat organization. Their website is: https://georgiautilitywatch.org/

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/34842012

Firefighters determined 30 minutes after a hazardous materials response began that the powder was a starch or salt and not harmful, said Atlanta Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Ronald Slatton. The courthouse was reopened shortly afterward.

Four people who complained of headaches were taken to a hospital as a precaution and the third floor of the sprawling Fulton County courthouse complex was evacuated, according to Slatton.

Slatton said he didn’t know who the letter was addressed to, only that it arrived at the district attorney’s office. When asked about a motive, he replied, “That’s for the law enforcement.”

• Wikipedia page of the law in question, looks like it hasn't been updated yet though
• Court document
• Democracy Docket
• DD - Explainer on the law from 2023
• Coalition for Good Governance - Project page (not updated yet)

cross-posted from: https://pawb.social/post/21698202

cross-posted from: https://ponder.cat/post/1693090

• Price of Independence: Georgia’s experimental alternative to Medicaid expansion has cost taxpayers more than $86 million.
• Enrollment Shortfall: Only 6,500 participants have enrolled in the first 18 months of the program — roughly 75% fewer than the state had estimated for year one.
• Work Slowdown: The state found it difficult to verify that people are working to keep their benefits, so Georgia has gone from monthly checks to annual ones.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18018656

Read About it Here

Sheriff's office fires deputy seen on video body-slamming man to ground during arrest

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/10873441

In more than 700 cases over five years, Georgia reported inadequate housing as the sole reason for taking a child into foster care, a WABE and ProPublica analysis found. Advocates say it would be cheaper to help families get housing.

...

In recent years, child welfare advocates and policymakers across the country have been working to prevent situations like this, arguing that no parent should ever lose their children just because they can’t afford housing. A handful of states now have laws and policies prohibiting government agencies from taking children into foster care because of homelessness. Georgia has not adopted such a rule, but the state Court of Appeals has ruled a number of times that unstable housing and employment “in no way constitutes intentional or unintentional misconduct resulting in abuse or neglect” that would justify child removals.

But Wise’s experience illustrates how an inability to afford housing still stands between parents and their children in many child welfare cases in Georgia.

Between fiscal years 2018 and 2022, DFCS reported “inadequate housing” as the sole reason for removing a child in more than 700 cases, according to an analysis by WABE and ProPublica.

The analysis, using data from the federal Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, which tracks child removal cases in each state, also shows that in thousands of additional cases — about 20% of Georgia’s nearly 31,000 child removals during the five-year period — DFCS reported housing as one of multiple reasons. Housing was the third most reported reason after substance use and neglect.