by Dave Williams | Aug 7, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Two former correctional officers at Augusta State Medical Prison have been indicted in connection with the death of an inmate in 2020.
Robert Roberson and Marcus Phillips are charged with violating the inmate’s constitutional rights by showing deliberate indifference to a fire in his cell that caused his death.
The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury this week, alleges that on Oct. 28, 2020, the two officers noticed a smoldering fire in the inmate’s cell.
Rather than putting out the fire, evacuating the inmate from his cell, or calling a fire emergency over the radio, the officers are accused of leaving the inmate in the locked cell for several hours while he slowly died from smoke inhalation.
The indictment further charges Roberson with falsifying a logbook to cover up his misconduct.
The FBI’s Civil Rights Division is prosecuting the case, working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Georgia.
by Dave Williams | Aug 6, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Five soldiers were shot Wednesday morning at the U.S. Army’s Fort Stewart southwest of Savannah.
Law enforcement officers were dispatched to the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team area at the base shortly before 11 a.m., the Army posted in a news release on X. The alleged shooter, apprehended at 11:35 a.m., was later identified as Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, who was assigned to the combat team.
The five soldiers were treated at the scene initially, then transported to Winn Army Community Hospital for further treatment. Later, two were taken by ambulance 45 minutes to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, the only Level 1 trauma center in the region.
All five were listed in stable condition and were expected to recover, Brig. Gen. John Lubas, the commander at Fort Stewart, told reporters during a mid-afternoon news conference.
“We are keeping the victims, their families, and all those who answer the call to serve in our hearts and prayers, and we ask that Georgians everywhere do the same,” Gov. Brian Kemp wrote on his Facebook site.
Georgia’s two U.S. senators expressed similar sentiments.
“Today’s shooting at Ft. Stewart in Georgia is a horrific act of violence,” said Sen. Jon Ossoff. “My office is in contact with leadership at Ft. Stewart to deliver all support it is within our power to provide.”
“I join all Georgians in praying for the five injured soldiers, their families, and the entire Fort Stewart community after this tragic shooting,” Sen. Raphael Warnock added. “I am grateful to the local and federal law enforcement and first responders who acted to save lives.”
The entire base was placed on lockdown within minutes of the shooting. The lockdown was lifted about an hour later in all areas of the base except the combat team complex.
Lubas praised the quick work of nearby soldiers who tackled Radford when the shooting started and subdued him until law enforcement personnel could take him into custody.
Lubas said the suspect used a personal handgun to make the attacks, not a military weapon. He said investigators are working to determine how he got the gun onto the base.
Radford has no history of serving in combat, Radford said. The suspect does have a recent drunk driving arrest on his record, the commander said.
Authorities are not releasing the names of the victims pending notification of next of kin.
Lubas declined to speculate on a motive for the shootings at this early stage of the investigation.
Fort Stewart is the headquarters of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and is the largest Army base in the eastern United States.
by Dave Williams | Aug 5, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A plan to add toll lanes along Georgia 400 in Fulton and Forsyth counties is getting a big boost from the federal government.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Tuesday announced a loan of up to $3.89 billion to help build the project. The money is being awarded through the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) Congress passed in 1998, the largest loan to a single borrower in the program’s history.
The State Transportation Board approved the project last August as a public-private partnership between the Georgia Department of Transportation, the State Road and Tollway Authority, and a consortium of several road-building and engineering companies. SR400 Peach Partners submitted the winning bid at $4.6 billion.
The project will add two new toll lanes in both directions along a 16-mile stretch of Georgia 400 from the North Springs MARTA station in Fulton County to one mile north of McFarland Parkway in Forsyth County. When opened to traffic in 2031, the new lanes are expected to reduce delays by more than 19,000 hours each day, or about 15 minutes per traveler, while reducing crashes by an estimated 8%.
“We are excited to celebrate Georgia being home to the largest public-private partnership in USDOT history,” Gov. Brian Kemp said Tuesday. “Georgia’s logistics and transportation network is a major selling point to job creators, and this approved financing will make it easier for hardworking Georgians to commute.”
As with other toll-lane projects the state DOT has built, the new lanes will be optional for drivers willing to pay a toll to speed up their trip. Tolls will vary according to the level of traffic.
Under the public-private partnership model, Peach Partners will recover its investment in financing and building the project from toll revenue.
“Securing TIFIA federal credit assistance is an essential milestone for the SR400 Express Lanes project,” said Javier Gutierrez, CEO of SR400 Peach Partners. “Thanks to this loan, this critical project will become a reality, improving safety and mobility in the greater Atlanta metro area for generations to come.”
The project also features a transit component. Peach Partners will contribute $75 million toward improvements needed to serve about 12 miles of the Georgia 400 corridor with a bus rapid transit system to be run by MARTA.
by Dave Williams | Aug 5, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia energy regulators voted unanimously Tuesday to hold hearings this fall on a Georgia Power request to certify 9,900 megawatts of new power generating capacity environmentalists say would rely heavily on harmful fossil fuels.
The plan calls for adding about 8,000 megawatts of capacity by building new gas-burning turbines at Georgia Power’s Plant Bowen near Cartersville, Plant Wansley near Carrollton, and Plant McIntosh near Rincon. The utility’s “all source” request for proposals also would include purchasing gas produced at existing plants, construction of new battery energy storage systems (BESS), and company-owned BESS paired with solar power.
Another 1,866 megawatts of new generating capacity would come by buying gas from existing plants as well as new BESS project and company-owned BESS paired with solar.
More than 80% of the new capacity would be used to meet a growing demand for electricity to serve power-hungry data centers that are springing up across Georgia.
“Georgia Power and its parent – Southern Co. – want to heat up the planet, pollute our air, and make their customers pay for it,” said Adrien Webber, director of the Sierra Club’s Georgia chapter. “This proposal is not in the best interests of Georgia Power’s customers or our environment, and if we had a Public Service Commission (PSC) that actually worked for the public, it would be dismissed as unreasonable.”
The PSC voted last month to freeze Georgia Power’s base rates for the next three years, exempting only costs the company incurred recovering from the damage Hurricane Helene wreaked in Georgia last September. The commission also adopted a resolution last January prohibiting Georgia Power from passing on the costs of serving new large-load customers including data centers to residential customers.
But critics argued the resolution was full of loopholes. Instead, they supported legislation introduced in the Georgia Senate this year by Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, to codify that requirement into state law. However, the bill failed to gain traction in the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee amid opposition from Georgia Power.
The first set of hearings before the PSC will take place in October followed by a second round in early December. The commission is scheduled to vote on the certification request Dec. 19.
by Dave Williams | Aug 4, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is supporting a new lawsuit brought by a gun-rights organization challenging a Savannah ordinance restricting the storage of firearms inside the city.
The ordinance, approved by the Savannah City Council in April of last year, prohibits storing guns in unlocked vehicles, with violators subject to a $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail. Passage of the ordinance followed an outbreak of stolen firearms in Savannah, most taken from unlocked vehicles.
In a brief filed last week, Carr wrote that the ordinance is superseded by a state law prohibiting local governments from regulating the possession, transport, or carrying of firearms.
“This misguided attempt to punish law-abiding Georgians does absolutely nothing to address crime, and it won’t hold up in court,” Carr said. “No matter how much the mayor disagrees with our laws, he cannot openly infringe on the Second Amendment rights of our citizens. Progressive politics aren’t a defense for government overreach.”
Carr sent a letter to Savannah officials last year shortly after the ordinance was adopted recommending that the city rescind its action and warning of potential civil liability.
Mayor Van Johnson answered defiantly a short time later that he was sticking by the ordinance.
“We say, ‘Sue us,’ ” he said. “We’ll go to the (U.S.) Supreme Court. … We have some of the best lawyers.”
The new lawsuit was filed in Chatham County Superior Court by Firearms Policy Coalition, a gun rights nonprofit based in Sacramento, Calif.
