Free Republic

Wade was sentenced to five years in federal prison for the string of attacks carried out at the time he was out on bond for the Wendy's arson and wearing an ankle monitor.. A group of Black Lives Matter and Antifa rioters were convicted on federal charges after attempting to frame the Proud Boys for a series of vandalism and arson attacks the far-left extremists carried out on Atlanta police vehicles and United States Postal Service property during the lead up to the 2020 presidential election. John Wesley Wade, 35, Ellie Melvin Brett, 37, and Vida Jones, 19, were arrested...

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal had a story about a topic I’ve covered before, the hollowing out of American cities as a result of changes brought on by the pandemic. One symptom of those changes is the decline of mass transit in major cities on both coasts.While offices have largely reopened and travel has resumed, many commuters are only coming in a few days a week. That shift has left subways, buses and commuter trains operating at well below capacity—particularly on Mondays and Fridays…The ridership drop also has fueled an increase in transit crime, which in turn has pushed away...

Atlanta public transit CEO Jeffrey Parker committed suicide on Friday night after stepping in front of a train in the outskirts of the city. Parker, 56, was struck at the East Lake station in Atlanta at 10.30pm, a Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority official told DailyMail.com. No motive for his suicide has been announced. He is survived by his wife Erin and his daughters. MARTA Board of Directors Chairwoman Rita Scott described him as 'an outstanding leader and steward of MARTA whose passing leaves us all heartbroken. 'We are devastated at this loss as we valued Jeff's leadership and looked...

VOTE “YES” Early Voting: NOW Election Day: MARCH 19th Traffic is terrible and ONLY TRANSIT BEATS TRAFFIC. For years, Gwinnett County has needed comprehensive transportation solutions. THE TIME IS NOW to support the plan that thousands of Gwinnett residents have helped shape through an extensive public participation process. It may be another 10-20 years before your voice and your vote can be heard on this issue. one_cent.png A ONE CENT tax gets paid directly to Gwinnett County from the State This is not a property tax increase. As a one penny sales tax, even people from outside of Gwinnett who...

After roaming around and studying downtown for a week, the Urban Land Institute’s advisory services panel provided Atlanta leaders with recommendations on how to move forward with the colossal proposed “Stitch” project. On Friday, ULI, which conducts land use research for cities around the globe, suggested the time is now to partner with local elected officials and philanthropic organizations to get the ball rolling on fundraising efforts for the potentially 14-acre project that would install a massive park and new construction above the Downtown Connector. But in order to be competitive for public and private funding—panelists expect the highway-capping project...

...she jumped on the tracks at the Midtown MARTA station to save her mother. ...sightseeing in Atlanta when Christopher Patrick Brooklin, 28, allegedly pushed the mother without provocation. That’s when Katie Wenszell jumped and got her unconscious mother out of the way of the oncoming train. However, she could not save herself before the train hit and dragged her.

A 28-year-old woman suffered a brain injury, had part of her foot amputated and her shoulder torn off after she jumped in front of a train to save her mother who was pushed onto the tracks by a stranger. Katie Wenszell was waiting for a train with her family at the Midtown Station in Atlanta on Sunday when a man suddenly pushed her mother Susan Wenszell onto the tracks. The heroic daughter jumped off the platform to drag her unconscious mother out of the way as the train approached the station.

What the heck is wrong with us? On Wednesday, Washington, D.C.’s entire Metro subway system shut down with almost no notice to perform emergency inspections, just days after a cable fire “crippled” three lines. The nation’s second-busiest rail system has been plagued by safety problems in recent years, including a 2015 incident where smoke from an electrical malfunction killed one person and a deadly 2009 crash on the system’s Red Line that killed nine people. And with a new Metro chief that has been vocal about returning to a culture that puts safety first, many say that Wednesday’s move is...

ATLANTA — The city of Atlanta is looking to clean up the image, and the odor, of its transit system. Many of its elevators have doubled as restrooms and smell like it. That's about to change with first-of-its-kind technology which catches "offenders" literally -- with their pants down. "The smell hits you so bad. You hold your breath just to hurry up and get off the elevator," said Alicia Porter, a rider on a Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) train. MARTA elevators have a smelly reputation. To get to the train, you often have to ride in a urinal...

So I'm sitting on the train today (with a bunch of Louisville fans, I guess the people from Michigan got closer hotels) and the little televisions on the train kept playing the same video over and over. After getting over the initial shock that the televisions on the train actually worked (thanks to a couple hundred million in renovations) I became fascinated in a slow motion wreck sort of way. Anyway, on a sad day like this I thought I'd share a bit of distraction. For maximum benefit mute the volume because of course there is none on the trains....

It was sometimes rowdy, sometimes fractious, but in the end leaders of communities throughout Metro Atlanta did something they've never done before. They agreed on a regional transportation plan. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed called it a trying process – attempting to whittle away $300-million from a region-wide transportation wish list that included projects ranging from the Beltline to the Northwest Corridor Rail project along US 41. “Although a couple of times, we walked up to the edge in terms of offending one another,” Reed said after the meeting of the Transportation Roundtable Executive Board, “at the end of the day,...

ATLANTA -- Two Delta Airlines employees were attacked on a MARTA train MARTA police said they were investigating the incident. A witness said he watched the violent attack unfold Sunday. "We were intimidated. Everyone was terrified. People were trying to run, but there was nowhere to run," the man, who requested anonymity, told Channel 2's Erica Byfield. Around midnight, a MARTA train pulled up to the Garnett Station in Downtown Atlanta, authorities said. The witness said up to 30 people boarded the southbound train. "Once the doors opened, it was like a bum rush of people," he told Byfield. "The...

WSB Radio) Police expect to soon file charges against an Atlanta man, suspected in the killing of a 19 year old at the East Point MARTA station. 20 year old Broderick Smith is scheduled to go before a judge later today. He was tracked down to his mother's apartment in the Westlake area of Fulton County. He's suspected in the shooting death of Anthony Beavers, of Jonesboro. Police say it appears the shooting was prompted by a robbery attempt. Beavers, apparently, refused to hand over his new, touch screen cell phone. Police say Smith then shot him. MARTA police say...

Atlanta's transit system will rename a train route into the heart of the city's Asian community in response to complaints that calling it the "yellow line" showed a lack of racial sensitivity. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority issued a statement Thursday afternoon announcing it would change the name of the line to the "gold line." "The expressed concerns regarding the use of the phrase 'yellow line' will be addressed in the most expeditious and cost-effective manner possible," MARTA officials said in the statement. The move to change the name to "gold" coincides with the demands of some advocates in...

Asian-American activists offended that MARTA re-named the train line into the heart of Atlanta's Asian community the "yellow line" will take their objections to the transit agency's chief on Friday. “Yellow,” as a term for skin color, carries a generally negative, racist connotation among Asians. MARTA officials were warned by an employee before the name change last October that Atlanta’s burgeoning Asian community would find the term for the line to Doraville offensive. “Historically, it has had a derogatory intent,” said John Park, an attorney with the nonprofit Center for Pan Asian Community Services in Doraville, just down the hill...

* One year anniversary of HB 89 arrives without dire consequences Violent crime lower following law permitting legalized carry of firearms on mass transit. Today the Atlanta Gun Rights Examiner brings you a story you are not going to see anywhere else. The Georgia General Assembly passed HB 89 in 2008, which made criminal prohibitions on carrying firearms on public transportation, in restaurants that serve alcohol, in state parks, and in wildlife management areas inapplicable to Georgians possessing a firearms license. HB 89 took effect on July 1, 2008, and many predicted mass bloodshed as a result. Nowhere was the...

...ESPN Radio's popular morning show Mike & Mike In The Morning scored big Wednesday when it ran an on-the-air auction to raise money for cancer research. The big-ticket item: For a price, former Dolphins lineman Mike Golic and his obnoxious co-anchor, Mike Greenberg, would broadcast one morning this fall from someone's house. The winning bid was $57,100. Sold, an ESPN spokesman told The Palm Beach Post, to one Marta Maranda from the Jupiter area........

A man accused of selling a MARTA token to a passenger having trouble with a token machine must stand trial on the criminal charge. Judge Stephanie Davis decided Tuesday that Donald Pirone's case should be bound over to state court for trial. Pirone could face a year in jail. An officer spotted Pirone selling the token on Nov. 30 inside the West End subway station. Following a 1992 state law that prohibits passengers from selling tokens, the officer handcuffed Pirone and gave him a citation. Pirone says he was trying to help a fellow passenger. He says he did not...

YUKON, Okla. - NASA engineer and champion aerobatic pilot Marta Bohn-Meyer was killed Sunday when her plane crashed during practice for next week's National Aerobatic Championships. The crash occurred shortly before noon near Oklahoma City, where she was piloting her home-built Giles G-300 airplane. She had been joined there by her husband and fellow aerobatic pilot, Bob Meyer. "Flying and doing things with airplanes is my passion," she once said. "Given a choice, I'll go fly airplanes." According to the International Aerobatic Club, Bohn-Meyer had pulled into a vertical maneuver when the cockpit canopy came off. The airplane then crashed...

The very same day that the Clintons go to Long Island to meet with the TWA Flight 800 families, security guard Richard Jewell is patrolling the grounds of Centennial Park in Atlanta. He's a little Barney Fife-ish, but a good guy and very observant. Right around midnight, Jewell spots a large, olive-green, military-style backpack, known as an Alice pack, under a bench. He immediately shares this information with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. When the GBI cannot find the pack's owner, the GBI officer and Jewell begin to clear an area around the pack. Soon afterward, the pack explodes. Two...