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Leading members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are lining up to skip a coming speech by the prime minister of Israel. Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the civil rights icon, and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), the chairman of the CBC, said they won't attend Benjamin Netanyahu's March 3 speech before Congress to protest Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) decision to invite the prime minister without first consulting President Obama and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill. Butterfield said that move marked an "unprecedented overreach of the Speaker’s authority" that "goes beyond the traditions of his office." "It is baffling that Speaker Boehner, who...

Murder suspect Thomas Jesse Lee, who allegedly killed his wife and four others in Georgia, was taken into custody in Tupelo, Miss., Troup County Sheriff James Woodruff announced Monday on the department's official Facebook page. Officials launched a nationwide manhunt Monday for a 26-year-old Georgia man suspected of murdering five people, including his wife and other family members, whose bodies were discovered in their suburban home Saturday evening. Thomas J. Lee, of Troup County, is wanted for the murders of four family members and a family friend. The bodies were found Saturday night but authorities believe the deaths occurred Wednesday,...

UPDATE: Motorists being advised to avoid downtown Atlanta. A suspicious package found at the 14th Street bridge forced police to close the Downtown Connector shortly before 2 p.m. An hour later, it remained closed, forcing massive traffic backups on Atlanta interstates. Dozens of drivers were stuck in place in both directions on I-75 and I-85, and others were advised to avoid the area. That is leading to backups on many cross streets through the city.

The 2016 Republican nominating season is beginning to move to the next level as events like last weekend’s Iowa Freedom Summit give candidates more opportunities to interact with primary voters in early states. Although Jeb Bush’s announcement late last year that he will explore a candidacy has shaken up the race, the Republicans can hardly be described as closing ranks around the former Florida governor. It remains likely that the Republican primary field will be large, and by most measures, strong, leading to a genuinely competitive primary. Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin is the kind of candidate who can easily...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday that both Nevada and Tennessee have joined the Lone Star state's challenge of President Obama's executive amnesty, bringing the total number of states fighting Obama's unilateral immigration policies to 26. “Texas is proud to lead a coalition that now includes a majority of the United States standing up against the President’s rogue actions,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “The momentum against the President's lawlessness continues to build with Tennessee and Nevada joining the effort to protect our states from the economic and public safety implications of illegal amnesty. As President...

McRAE, Ga. (AP) — Elrey "Bud" Runion posted an ad on Craigslist seeking to buy a piece of his youth, a replica of the 1966 Ford Mustang convertible he bought after returning from the Vietnam War decades ago. A potential seller drew him to a small farming town in southern Georgia where authorities found the couple's SUV on Monday. Nearby, they discovered the body of Runion, 69, and his 66-year-old wife, June, authorities said. Both had been shot in the head. Ronnie Adrian "Jay" Towns, 28, of McRae, was accused Tuesday of killing the Runions, a couple from Marietta, Georgia,...

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - Authorities said they have found two bodies believed to be those of a missing Cobb County couple after a long search Monday. During a press conference late Monday afternoon, Telfair County Sheriff Chris Steverson said the bodies of a man and woman matching their description were found a short ways away from the car belonging to the couple. They said that car was found submerged in a lake. "My heart goes out to the Runion family. We've done everything we possibly could do to get this family found, get their parents found, unfortunately it's a sad...

Former Speaker of the House Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) delivers remarks at the Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines. He focuses on national security issues and foreign relations.

Bomb threats have been reported on two flights that recently landed at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. NORAD fighter jets were deployed to escort Delta flight 1156 and Southwest flight 2492 to the Atlanta, Georgia, airport, the FAA confirmed. The Delta flight came from Portland, the Southwest flight flew in from Milwaukee.

Atlanta Fire Chief Fired After Calling Gays 'Vile' Claims Religious Bias By JENNY JARVIE The former Atlanta fire chief, who was dismissed by the city’s mayor this month after writing a book in which he said homosexuality is “vile,” has filed a federal discrimination complaint against the city in a case that is testing the issue of religious expression in the workplace and mobilizing Christian conservatives to his defense. Kelvin Cochran, the ousted chief and a deacon of Elizabeth Baptist Church in southwest Atlanta, filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accusing the city of violating Title VII...

A Georgia man sitting in a drive-thru at a Sonic Drive-In restaurant was confronted Sunday by a small gang of armed men who demanded his hard earned money, WSB-TV reported.

Georgia State University students will have the option of selecting roommates of a different gender in the fall. The school plans to begin offering that housing option in all of its residence halls. Students wanting this type of housing arrangement have to notify housing officials of their preference when applying for housing assignments. . . . Georgia State’s move to offer the new housing option comes after requests by siblings, opposite-sex friends and LGBT students wanting to live together, college officials said

Former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran, who has emerged as a symbol to religious supporters convinced his beliefs got him fired, said his recent travails are “God-inflicted.” “I’ve come to realize that God has been preparing me for this storm my entire life,” he said Sunday morning at Elizabeth Baptist Church, where he’s a deacon. “He’s not done with me yet.”

By now you've likely heard that Atlanta Fire Chief, Kelvin Cochran, was recently fired from his position for publishing a book in which he affirmed a biblically orthodox understanding of human sexuality. Who Told You That You Were Naked book coverThe 162-page book in question, "Who Told You That You Were Naked?" is a Bible study designed for Christian men. According to press reports, Mr. Cochran gave a copy of the book to three individuals within his department, all of whom he knew to be Christian. So, what's the problem? The now former fire chief was initially suspended from his...

Janel Davis of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a “noted scholar, author and veteran civil rights activist” by the name of Angela Davis will deliver the keynote address January 18 at Kennesaw State University’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance. This is the same Angela Davis “who supported the imprisonment of Soviet political dissidents (calling them common criminals), cheered on the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and was awarded the International Lenin Peace Prize (formerly the International Stalin Peace Prize) by communist East Germany,” as noted by another paper, the British Telegraph. The differences reflect the abysmal state of...

Kelvin Cochran is a decorated firefighter. He is also a devout Christian. He’s a deacon at a Baptist church and also teaches Sunday school. By all accounts – he is a decent and honorable man. And now – he is unemployed. Cochran, who served seven years as the chief of the Atlanta Fire Departmant lost his job over a book he wrote about biblical morality titled, “Who Told You That You Were Naked?” A small portion of the book contained what critics called homophobic language. .... hundreds of Christians were expected to gather at the Georgia capitol to protest the...

Papa John's Pizza is standing by a pizza delivery woman who opened fire Sunday on an armed robber in an act of self defense. The employee was making a delivery in Decatur, Ga., Sunday night when a man approached her vehicle, forcing her onto the ground at gunpoint, according to the DeKalb County Police Department. The woman, who had a gun in her pocket, was able to fire at the man while on the ground -- striking the alleged assailant, identified as 24-year-old Donquaz Stevenson, in the face. Stevenson was later found in a neighbor's yard and arrested, according to...

Out of Dekalb County, Georgia this week, a tense story with a happy ending may turn out to finish on a sour note after all. A woman working delivering pizzas for Papa John’s went out on a delivery run and instead of being met by a hungry customer with cash, found herself facing an armed robber. After forcing her from her vehicle and ordering her onto the ground, the suspect, Donquaz Devon Stevenson, was going to leave with her car and her money. At that point he learned that he probably should have checked things out a bit more...

House Democrats, fresh off massive election losses, say the problem is they didn’t make a bold enough case for tax increases and wealth transfer to the poor. They rectified that Monday with a speech by Rep. Chris Van Hollen proposing tax increases on the wealthy with the money going straight to tax cuts for the poor and middle class. The plan uses tax laws to encourage employee wage increases, reduce tax breaks for Wall Street and slap another fee on financial transactions. The government would dole out $1,000 tax credits for most workers and increase a slew of other tax...

Several hundred people packed the Georgia Capitol’s rotunda Tuesday afternoon in support of former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran, a showing that supporters hoped would boost efforts to pass a “religious liberty” law. With lawmakers scattered throughout the crowd, representatives of groups including the Georgia Baptist Convention and the national Family Research Council urged proponents to rally against what they framed as a freedom of speech issue. Cochran, recently fired by Mayor Kasim Reed, lost his job over actions he took related to a self-published religious book that many construed as anti-gay. “I just wanted to come and take a...