Georgia
Georgia's only Palestinian, Jewish lawmakers sound off on Israel-Hamas war
2 Georgia lawmakers on Israel-Hamas conflict
Two state lawmakers with families in the Middle East are weighing in on the conflict between the two nations. State Rep. Ruwa Romman is the only Palestinian-American in the Georgia General Assembly. State Rep. Esther Panitch is the only Jewish-American lawmaker at the State Capitol.
ATLANTA – Rep. Ruwa Romman (D-Dist. 97) is the only Palestinian-American in the Georgia General Assembly.
Rep. Esther Panitch (D-Dist. 51) is the only Jewish-American in the Georgia General Assembly.
Both have family in the conflicting Middle East. Both say something must be done, but they have very differing opinions on what that “something” should be.
“All of this has been very personal,” said Rep. Romman.
Georgia Rep. Ruwa Romman (D-Dist.-97)
Romman’s family lives in the West Bank, about a two-hour drive from Gaza.
“I cannot begin to explain the heartbreak we have been feeling,” she said.
War in the region has claimed the lives of thousands of Palestinians and launched a humanitarian crisis.
“I have been getting daily text messages from community members who have said I’ve lost this many family members,” she told FOX 5. “Just constant announcements of family members missing, dead, starving.”
Roman told FOX 5 she believed Israel has been committing genocide.
“Every university in Gaza has been destroyed,” she said. “Every hospital has been damaged or destroyed. Homes of people have been destroyed.”
Rep. Panitch said there’s another side to that war.
“There are rockets that still come into Israel from the north and from the south, from Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza,” she told FOX 5.
Georgia Rep. Esther Panitch, (D-Dist. 51)
Panitch’s family lives in southern Israel.
“They’re very stressed,” she said.
Israel has bombarded Gaza for months in response to the Hamas surprise attack that killed more than 1,400 Israelis on Oct. 7.
“Israel is defending itself,” she said.
Panitch says Hamas committed genocide when it attacked Israel.
“Hamas went after civilians in Israel indiscriminately. They killed, they raped, they took hostages and butcher in the most vile of ways,” Panitch said.
Both state lawmakers want peace. But, they differ on how to get there.
“I want Hamas to give back the hostages. I want them to surrender. Because that’s how wars end, with one party surrendering. Hamas cannot be allowed to stay in power. They need to be stopped, they need to be eradicated and Israel should not stop until that’s done,” Panitch said.
“We need to see an immediate, permanent ceasefire. We need to condition weapons to Israel because the government is not being responsive to our asks. And we need a flood of humanitarian aid,” Romman said.
Georgia
Co-owner of Yurezz Home Center in Greeneville arrested in Georgia
APPLING COUNTY, Ga. (WCYB) — The co-owner of Yurezz Home Center in Greeneville has been arrested in Georgia, according to a report obtained by News 5.
Earlier this week, News 5 told you about the dealership in Greeneville that abruptly shut down last month.
This has left homeowners with partially built homes and employees without jobs.
It is not yet clear why Richard Altman was taken into custody.
This is a developing story.
Georgia
Georgia Supreme Court upholds convictions of men in deadly shooting during gas station carjacking
Two men found guilty of murdering a man while he was pumping air into his tires at a Georgia gas station will remain in prison, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled.
Miles Chatezal Collins and Josiah Hughley, Jr. had appealed to the state’s highest court after they were found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, violating Georgia’s Street Gang, Terrorism and Prevention Act, and hijacking a motor vehicle, among other charges in 2025.
The men’s charges stem from a shooting on July 10, 2022, at a QuickTrip gas station in Peachtree Corners. According to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office, 30-year-old Bradley Lamar Coleman had stopped at the gas station to fill up his tires when Collins, Hughley, and a third man pulled up beside him and tried to steal his Dodge Charger.
When Coleman tried to stop the men, officials say they shot him and fled the scene.
Authorities say the three men were members of the Blood gang and had tried to steal the car to increase their status.
While their first trial ended in a mistrial due to a comment by the prosecution, a jury found Collins, Hughley, and their co-defendant, David Jarrad Booker, guilty of more than a dozen charges in 2025. They were each sentenced to life plus 145 years in prison.
In Collins and Hughley’s appeal to the state Supreme Court, they argued that there was insufficient evidence to support some of the charges and that the judge in the case improperly admitted certain evidence and committed errors in instructing the jurors.
The justices’ rulings disagreed, finding that their attorneys failed to object to the supposed errors and that the two men’s claims were insufficient.
The judges also found that a claim by Hughley that his counsel failed him by not asserting that a statement made to law enforcement should have been suppressed. With those findings, the Supreme Court chose not to overrule the case, letting the convictions and sentences stand.
“We are grateful for this affirmation from the Georgia Supreme Court,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “Thanks to the incredible work of our team of trial and appellate prosecutors, and all of the staff that assisted with defending these convictions, two dangerous criminals will remain in prison.”
Booker’s appeal remains pending.
Georgia
Trooper injured in chain-reaction crash on Georgia 400
SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. – A Georgia State Patrol trooper sustained injuries Tuesday afternoon after striking the rear of a stopped vehicle on Georgia 400, triggering a three-vehicle chain-reaction crash.
What we know:
The collision happened around 3:43 p.m. on the northbound lanes just south of Abernathy Road.
A trooper was traveling north on Georgia 400 when traffic in front of the cruiser came to a sudden stop. The trooper was unable to halt in time and struck the rear of a second vehicle, which then slammed into a third vehicle.
All three vehicles sustained enough damage to be towed from the scene, according to the state patrol report. The trooper had visible injuries and received treatment onsite, while medics transported the second driver to a local hospital. The driver of the third car complained of injuries but refused medical treatment at the scene.
What we don’t know:
Officials have not yet confirmed the current medical conditions of the hospitalized driver or the injured trooper. It remains unclear what caused traffic to come to a sudden halt before the chain-reaction collision occurred.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Lt. E. Starling of the Georgia State Patrol DPS Public Information Office, who provided the preliminary crash details in an official statement.
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