12+ hour, 15+ min ago (367+ words) Today's Four Questions interviewee is Douglass coach Stanley Pritchett, whose team upset second-ranked Calhoun 12-0 in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs Friday night. The Astros were the first team to shut out Calhoun, the reigning Class 3A champion, since the 2022 state playoffs. It was a high-powered Calhoun offense that boasted the state's leader in receiving yards, Justin Beasley. Douglass avenged a 38-14 loss in the second round to Calhoun last season. Pritchett was a fullback at the University of South Carolina before a nine-year NFL career ending with the Atlanta Falcons in 2004. His Douglass teams have improved their victory total in each of his five seasons, including this one, with a 9-3 record. 1. How was your defense able to shut out one of the top passing offenses in the state? Note: Beasley had four receptions for 35 yards. Calhoun quarterback Trace Hawkins, who…...

12+ hour, 31+ min ago (281+ words) Now that the 2025 elections are mostly over, the races for 2026 really heat up. And in Georgia the race for governor looms large. Democratic state Reps. Ruwa Romman and Derrick Jackson talked to journalists Greg Bluestein and Patricia Murphy about their campaigns on Tuesday's edition of the "Politically Georgia" podcast. Romman argues her campaign sparked the election's affordability debate. The Duluth Democrat outlines her plans for expanding Medicaid, raising the minimum wage, reforming tax credits, and pushing corporations to "pay their fair share" as Georgians struggle with rising costs. "We actually are already in the field door knocking " talking directly to voters who have been sharing with us how they have been struggling with bills going up," she says. Jackson says his military and corporate background uniquely qualify him to lead the state. On the question of affordability, Jackson says that…...

15+ hour, 29+ min ago (274+ words) The Georgia High School Association suspended 39 Gainesville football players Monday because of a fight during Friday night's playoff victory at Brunswick, but the team still plans to play its Class 5A quarterfinal game Friday at No. 1-ranked Hughes, Gainesville City Schools superintendent Jeremy Williams said in a statement Monday announcing the GHSA's ruling. The GHSA had not released details of the ruling, including the amounts of fines to both schools, before Gainesville's statement late Monday morning. The Gainesville-Brunswick game was discontinued with 1:57 left in the third quarter when the fight began. Gainesville was leading 42-0. According to video, the fight appeared to begin at midfield after a play when a Brunswick defensive player pulled the helmet off one Gainesville player, then another, and punched a Gainesville player. Players are subject to one-game sit-out penalties for fighting or leaving the bench area during…...

15+ hour, 34+ min ago (1415+ words) RJ Scaringe didn't build Rivian to make just 50,000 electric vehicles per year. It's a company designed to build many times more, the CEO of the upstart EV maker told the editorial board of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week. To get there, Rivian is banking on its newest vehicle, the R2, a two-row crossover, to be a big hit. Initial manufacturing of the R2 will start in Illinois, but Scaringe said production will expand to its future factory an hour east of Atlanta when it opens, albeit years later than initially expected, in 2028. Future models, including the smaller R3 and R3X, are expected to follow. "The more people that experience an EV, it's like a one-way door," Scaringe said. "It's hard to go into an EV and then back to a (gas-powered) vehicle." He said Rivian will start customer deliveries of R2 early next year, and…...

21+ hour, 7+ min ago (187+ words) Gary Rush of College Park, Maryland, protests before a news conference on the Epstein files in front of the Capitol in November. (Mariam Zuhaib/AP) On Monday's episode of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's "Politically Georgia" podcast, Atlanta Journal-Constitution journalists Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell dive into listener questions about the release of the Epstein files, the gubernatorial candidate forum and policy positions of those candidates. Have a question or comment for the hosts? Call the 24-hour "Politically Georgia" podcast hotline at 770-810-5297. Natalie Mendenhall is an award-winning producer for the "Politically Georgia" podcast. She also steps in front of the mic, creating compelling segments for the show. Before joining the AJC, the Chicago native worked as a senior producer at Georgia Public Broadcasting. Georgia cuts programs for foster youth and families citing federal shutdown Marjorie Taylor Greene's exit opens new political unknown…...

21+ hour, 30+ min ago (682+ words) Ham, gravy and hefty second helpings " they're mouthwateringly grand Thanksgiving staples. Yet, this is one fancy feast your fur babies need no part in. Atlanta native Dr. Jessica Corley is an emergency veterinarian and the medical director of VEG ER for Pets' Snellville location. According to the animal expert, the holidays pose unique risks to pet safety so significant that her ER often sees anywhere from a quarter to a third more pets on Thanksgiving. That spike in pet injuries can last well through the holiday weekend too. "There's a lot of good food good for us, and then our dogs and our cats get to partake in it," she said. "Their stomachs are just not built for the level of the food that we eat." Holiday treats are just the beginning. From runaway incidents to severe anxiety, the medical…...

22+ hour, 30+ min ago (821+ words) Previously: Georgia Southern is leveraging a high-quality game day experience " and a personable president " to stand apart and attract donors. STATESBORO " The RV traffic is heavy outside the Georgia Southern University conference center on this November Friday, but then it is eve of an Eagle football game. The team is struggling, with a losing record and no mathematical chance at a league title, yet the diehards come for the weekend nonetheless. Inside the building, about 200 other Georgia Southern fans gather in a ballroom where linen-covered tables surround a performance stage. They are guests at a combination dinner-concert called In The Round put on by the Eagle Nation Fund, formed to compensate athletes in this new pay-for-play era of college sports. After dining " a choice of short ribs, chicken or salmon " attendees will enjoy an intimate acoustic jam session performed by…...

22+ hour, 30+ min ago (1186+ words) Analysts with the Georgia Public Service Commission's staff deliver a stark warning in new written testimony: Georgia Power residential customers could see monthly bills jump $20 or more if the PSC allows the utility to complete the historic power fleet expansion it has proposed to support an influx of data centers. Instead, PSC staff recommend in filings that for now, the commission should approve only about a third of the new power plants and batteries the company has proposed. To date, the analysts say only a fraction of what the company has asked to build is backed up by signed contracts. "The rest is speculative and exposes customers to the risk of stranded costs if the anticipated load does not materialize," Robert Trokey, the PSC's electric section director, and outside consultants wrote in their combined testimony. The comments concern the company's…...

22+ hour, 30+ min ago (956+ words) Members of the State Election Board fought over the hiring of the wife of the board's former executive director as the board's paralegal despite her having no prior legal experience, according to internal emails obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The board voted in July to hire Hope Coan despite her lack of experience. American Oversight, a left-leaning government watchdog group, which has sued the board alleging it obstructed access to email records, received the emails earlier this month as a result of an open records request and shared them exclusively with the AJC. The messages show that Executive Director James Mills appears to have altered the qualifications for the job before hiring Coan as an administrative assistant. The records also reveal internal disputes over hiring staff for a board that lawmakers have called dysfunctional. "This kind of behind-the-scenes dysfunction should…...

1+ day, 9+ hour ago (601+ words) The Atlanta Halal Fall Festival opened at noon Saturday and Sunday under a bright clear sky in Grant Park near downtown Atlanta in what organizers hope will become a city tradition. A brisk crowd sampled pastries, meat sandwiches, coffees and desserts from Muslim traditions across the globe, and shopped for jewelry and crafts. Families laid out picnic blankets on the sloping grass and listened to music from a soundstage, while kids climbed inside giant inflated plastic globes and rolled around. Attendees ranged from people in full long dresses and veils to others in jeans and T-shirts. Othman and Layan Awad, newlyweds who heard about the festival on Instagram, said they were looking forward to freely choosing from vendors because all were following the Muslim culinary protocols for food preparation. "Halal" for Muslims means something that's permitted, and is strongly associated…...