WABE's Week In Review: Forest Cove residents promised homes and Ga. lawmakers take on EV controversy

February 19th, 2022

The Georgia State Capitol building in Atlanta, Georgia. (Wikimedia Commons)

WABE’s Stephannie Stokes spent a year investigating issues at the Forest Cove public housing complex. And what she discovered was outrageous conditions and a city, state and federal government that residents say forgot about them.

While private companies owned and operated the buildings, receiving federal subsidies for the low-income tenants, units in the buildings were rat-infested, falling down and even left vacant after being shelled out from fire.

Promises were made over the years, but very little changed. Less than 24 hours after Part Five of our series ran, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens visited the complex and he made another promise: To relocate the tenants by the end of the week. No concrete plan has yet materialized (or at least been released publicly).

All charged up…

Electric vehicles at a charging station in San Mateo, Calif., last year. The governors of a dozen states, including California, have called on President Biden to order that all cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. after 2035 be zero emission vehicles. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The number of electric vehicles on the roads in Georgia is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years, and that means more charging stations will be needed. Now there’s a battle brewing at the state Capitol over who should be allowed to have those charging stations.

Georgia’s Board of Regents calls for Sonny with a chance of controversy…

Former Georgia Gov. and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, shown here on Capitol Hill in April 2019. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

The regents of Georgia’s public universities voted unanimously Tuesday to name former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as the sole finalist to become chancellor overseeing 26 universities.

Regents are likely to affirm the choice of Perdue to lead the 340,000-student system after a 14-day waiting period required by state law.

Also in this episode…

—Molly Samuel looks at a controversial bill at the Capitol that supporters say protects farms from lawsuits, but opponents say threatens private property rights.

—Susanna Capelouto reports on why so many are calling for health insurance parity in the latest mental health plan by the state.

—Emily Jones had more on how folks along Georgia’s coast are preparing for rising sea levels.

—Rahul Bali looks at what lawmakers could do to make medical cannabis more accessible in the state.

–Georgia Jewish leaders call on gubernatorial candidate David Perdue to apologize for comparing Twitter’s decision to ban former President Donald Trump to the climate of Nazi Germany.