Latest news with #Ex-GA
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
President Trump, Nick Saban address graduating students at the University of Alabama
President Donald Trump was set to address graduating students at the University of Alabama on Thursday, a visit that drew hundreds of protesters to an off-campus rally. Trump's evening remarks in Tuscaloosa will be the Republican president's first address to graduates in his second term and will come as he has been celebrating the first 100 days of his administration. The visit came shortly after he announced a shake-up to his national security team, with Mike Waltz being tapped for United Nations ambassador and Secretary of State Marco Rubio taking over Waltz's national security adviser role on an interim basis. The White House offered no details about Trump's planned message to graduates. Alabama, where Trump won a commanding 64% of the vote in 2024, is where he has staged a number of his trademark large rallies over the past decade. It is also where Trump showed early signs of strength in his first presidential campaign when he began filling stadiums for his rallies. While Trump has described the speech as a commencement address, it is actually a special event that was created before graduation ceremonies that begin Friday. Graduating students have the option of attending the event. Former Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban is also speaking. Ahead of the president's arrival, cap-and-gown-wearing graduates and their families began filing into the arena where Trump was set to speak. Many seemed excited about the prospect of seeing him in person. Emily Appel, a 22-year-old advertising major from Norcross, Georgia, called Trump's appearance at their school 'a cherry on top' of her college years. 'I think it's such an honor, no matter who the president is. I think this is a huge honor to have the president of the United States speaking to our school,' Appel said. She called Trump a 'very influential person' and said she hoped he had a message to share that was 'positive about us being able to work in the real world and for our future.' Sophie Best, who is graduating with a communications degree, said, 'I don't think that we could have had a greater person come to speak.' TRENDING STORIES: Ex-GA school bus driver charged after multiple students attack 7-year-old during route, deputies say Griffin couple sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to trying to starve 10-year-old Atlanta HVAC technician among 19 arrested in 'child predator' operation The 21-year-old from Cartersville, Georgia, said she attended Trump's first presidential inauguration in 2017 when she was a freshman in high school, along with her father, who she said loves Trump. 'I think that no matter what political party or whatever you believe in, I think that it's super cool that we get to experience and make history and be a part of this,' she said. At a park several miles away, hundreds of people gathered at a counter rally hosted by College Democrats. One-time presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke of Texas and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama, were slated to address the rally, called a 'Tide Against Trump' — a play on the university's nickname. Aidan Meyers, a 21-year-old junior studying biology at the university, said he felt betrayed by the decision to let Trump speak at a graduation-related event. 'I felt betrayed that the university was willing to put up with someone who has made it clear that they hate academia, essentially holding funding above universities' heads as a bargaining chip, unless they bow down to what he wants, which is kind of a hallmark sign with fascist regime,' Meyers said. He said he also feels betrayed by the administration's stance on science and research. A fellowship he was seeking at the National Institutes of Health was canceled because of the federal hiring freeze, he said. Jones told the crowd they were there 'not just as a protest, but as a movement.' 'You are here today because you're concerned, you're afraid. You understand that this country's great democracy is teetering right now with what we're seeing going on,' the former senator said. He said Trump asked to come to Alabama because he mistakenly thinks, 'y'all are all my people.' 'Well, obviously they're not,' Jones told the large cheering crowd. Ahead of the rally, O'Rourke praised the students who invited him as 'inspiring' and said their efforts in a Republican-dominated state like Alabama are an example for the rest of the country. 'You cannot be too red or too rural or too Republican to be written off right now. You also can't be too blue or too liberal to be taken for granted,' O'Rourke told The Associated Press after arriving in Tuscaloosa. 'You've got to show up absolutely everywhere. We truly are in crisis.' Trump's presence has also drawn criticism from the Alabama NAACP, which said his policies are hurting universities and students, particularly students of color. Trump's visit to Alabama is his second trip this week. He held a rally in Michigan on Tuesday to mark 100 days in office. Outside of weekend trips for personal visits, the president has not made many official trips since taking office on Jan. 20. He usually speaks to the public from the impromptu news conferences he holds in the Oval Office and at other events at the White House. After his stop in Alabama, Trump is scheduled to travel to Florida for a long weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Later this month, he is scheduled to give the commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. ___ Associated Press writer Bill Barrow contributed to this report from Atlanta.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
2nd teen arrested after GA high school football player found dead day before championship game
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced a second arrest in the death of a high school player. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Brandon Smith, a 17-year-old who went to Manchester High School, was last seen on Dec. 7, 2023, and was reported missing two days later. His body was found on Dec. 10, 2023, behind a home. Investigators determined that he had been shot and killed following an argument. On Thursday, the GBI and Meriwether County deputies arrested and charged Qua'vion Jakwon Cooper, 17, of Manchester, with murder, as a party to the crime for his role in the shooting death of Smith. The GBI said during the investigation, it was determined that Cooper helped and assisted A'darious Williams, who shot and killed Smith following the argument. Williams has also been charged with Smith's murder. TRENDING STORIES: Ex-GA school bus driver charged after multiple students attack 7-year-old during route, deputies say Griffin couple sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to trying to starve 10-year-old Bookkeeper sentenced for stealing nearly $175K from GA church, charitable program Smith, a member of the Manchester High School Blue Devils football team, was supposed to be with his teammates the day after his body was found, playing for the Georgia 1-A State Football Championship. Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes spoke with his sister, Janiyah Smith, after the shooting. She said she looked up to her big brother. 'He was the best brother in the world,' Smith said. 'All that I could ask for to be honest.' Cooper and Williams are being held in the Meriwether County Jail. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia becomes 8th state to be sued over age verification for children on websites
Georgia on Thursday became the eighth state to see its law requiring parental consent for children to use social media challenged in court. NetChoice, a technology industry trade group, sued in federal court in Atlanta to overturn the law, which is scheduled to take effect on July 1. Similar laws have been overturned by federal judges in Arkansas and Ohio and temporarily blocked in Utah. Litigation is pending against laws in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. The fight pits a growing movement that social media use is harmful to children and teens against constitutional protections for free speech. While the laws in Georgia and other states require parental consent, Australia, a country without constitutional free speech protections, has banned social media for children younger than 16 altogether. Some in the U.S. Congress have also proposed parental consent for minors. TRENDING STORIES: Ex-GA school bus driver charged after multiple students attack 7-year-old during route, deputies say Griffin couple sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to trying to starve 10-year-old Missing 85-year-old man with dementia found dead 'Georgia's SB 351 unconstitutionally blocks access to protected online speech and forces Georgians to surrender their private information just to use everyday digital services,' Paul Taske, NetChoice associate director of litigation, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. 'That's unconstitutional, as several other states have now been told by courts. We're fighting to keep online communication safe and free in the Peach State.' The suit asks U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg to declare the law unconstitutional because it violates First Amendment rights to free speech and 14th Amendment rights to due process. Georgia officials said they will defend the measure. 'It's a shame that the industry would rather file a lawsuit than partner with us to protect children from online predators,' Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican running for governor in 2026, said in a statement. Republican state Sen. Jason Anavitarte, the bill's sponsor, said in a statement that he 'won't stop working to give Georgia's parents the tools they need to help keep kids safe online.' NetChoice spokesperson Krista Chavez said the group is not challenging a separate section of the Georgia law that requires age verification for users of online pornography sites. A number of states have made laws aimed at pornography, and a challenge to Texas' law is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Georgia's law says social media services must use 'commercially reasonable efforts' to verify someone's age by July 1. Services would have to treat anyone who can't be verified as a minor. Parents of children younger than 16 would have to consent to their children joining a service. Social media companies would be limited in how they could customize ads for children younger than 16 and how much information they could collect on those children, a provision that Thursday's lawsuit also argues is illegal. To comply with federal regulations, social media companies already ban kids under 13 from signing up for their platforms. 'Parents have many existing tools they can choose from to regulate whether and how their minor children use the internet,' the lawsuit states. But children have been shown to easily evade the bans. Up to 95% of teens aged 13 to 17 report using a social media platform, with more than a third saying they use them 'almost constantly,' the Pew Research Center found.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bookkeeper sentenced for stealing nearly $175K from GA church, charitable program
A woman who was a bookkeeper for a Georgia church has learned her fate as she was convicted of wire fraud. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] In October 2024, Judith Alane Chavis, 58, of Sorrento, Fla., pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud in connection with a disaster benefit and 10 counts of money laundering. According to court documents, from 2018 until August 2022, Chavis was a volunteer bookkeeper for the Glory Church of Alapaha and its charity, the Peanut Butter and Jesus Outreach (PB&J). She was allowed to write checks and the church and charity's bank statements were only sent to her. Officials said between August 2020 and March 2022, Chavis applied and was granted $163,500 of Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) from the U.S. Small Business Administration on behalf of the Church and PB&J without the Church's or PB&J's permission and using the church's letterhead. Authorities said Chavis also lied about being the treasurer to get money, signing the letter herself. TRENDING STORIES: Ex-GA school bus driver charged after multiple students attack 7-year-old during route, deputies say Atlanta HVAC technician among 19 arrested in 'child predator' operation Have you received a random package you didn't order? It could all be part of a scam to defraud you On March 7, 2022, Chavis submitted a signed certification stating members of the church's finance committee approved the second revision of the loan, but no approval occurred, officials said. The SBA granted the requests and deposited $15,000 in the church's account. The Middle District of Georgia Attorney's Office said Chavis transferred almost all of the EIDL and advance funds from the church's and PB&J's accounts, totaling $173,500, to her checking account. The DA said she used the money for personal expenses, including travel and large purchases. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] 'Individuals who use places of worship and charitable organizations for their fraud and theft will be rooted out and face consequences for their criminal actions,' said Acting U.S. Attorney C. Shanelle Booker. On Wednesday, a judge sentenced Chavis to serve 21 months in prison and three years of supervised release and $173,500 in restitution. 'Chavis betrayed the confidence the church had placed in her by misappropriating funds intended to support its mission,' said Paul Brown, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. 'We hope that this federal prison sentence offers some measure of closure to the church and its congregation and serves as a warning to others who might exploit the trust of faith-based or charitable institutions for personal enrichment.'
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Northeast Georgia Health System launches emergency care wait time tracker for 16 locations
When it comes to emergencies, even a minute can mean a world of difference in care, and survival. Now, the Northeast Georgia Health System is launching an emergency care online tracker so those in need can see, in real-time, how long they'll have to wait at 16 locations for emergency and urgent medical care. The health system said the tracking system will cover the wait times for emergency rooms at Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gainesville, and the NGMC Braselton, Barrow, Habersham and Lumpkin facilities. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] 'The emergency room wait times indicate how long you can expect to wait from the moment you arrive until you are seen by a qualified medical professional,' Walter Wiley, executive director for Emergency, Trauma, Observation and EMS Services at NGHS, said in a statement. 'Once you've been assessed, any additional wait time will be determined based on the severity of your situation compared to others who are waiting for care.' TRENDING STORIES: Ex-GA sheriff lieutenant pleads guilty to pocketing funds from citation payments Decatur announces start of $8.5 million City Square transformation project 73-year-old GA woman wanted for identity fraud The wait time tracker will also cover the five emergency rooms and 11 urgent care locations in Bethlehem, Braselton, Buford, Cleveland, Dacula, Dahlonega, Dawsonville, Gainesville, Jefferson, Oakwood and Toccoa. NGHS said urgent care clinics are good for non-life-threatening conditions that still need quick treatment like colds, flus, bronchitis and other conditions. 'Providing wait times online allows patients to make the best decision for their situation, whether that means heading to one of our five hospitals or seeking urgent care instead.' Wiley added. 'We're also sharing information about when you should head to the emergency room or call 9-1-1, and when you should head to urgent care or sign up for a video visit.' To check wait times for the different facilities, head online here for emergency rooms and here for urgent care. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
