ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Atlanta businesses impacted by this month’s water main breaks can begin applying for financial help on Monday.

City council approved a $7.5 million financial relief fund to make up for lost revenue and help pay employees who were out of work. Invest Atlanta is spearheading the grant program, which is aimed at assisting businesses devastated by the water main breaks.

Applications open Monday, June 24 at 8 a.m. Businesses have until 5 p.m. on July 8, 2024, to apply. APPLY HERE

MORE COVERAGE:

Relief fund for businesses affected by Atlanta water main breaks moves forward

No timeline on when water service will be fully restored in Atlanta, officials say

Water main breaks causing chaos across Atlanta

State of emergency declared in Atlanta after water main breaks, mayor says

Water woes continue in Atlanta for third day

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be ‘boots on the ground’ Tuesday as Atlanta water crisis continues, mayor says

Business owners, activists call for financial relief from Atlanta leaders amid water crisis

During initial hours of water emergency, Atlanta mayor was in Memphis at reelection fundraiser

‘Our infrastructure is crumbling’: Atlanta leaders address aging system following massive water main breaks

Atlanta water issues extend into fifth day

Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.

by Dave Williams 

ATLANTA – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Thursday announced new sanctions against a Mexican drug cartel that smuggles fentanyl and other synthetic opioids into the United States.

Yellen’s announcement during a news conference in Atlanta coincided with the arrests of eight leaders of the cartel La Nueva Familia Michocana on 13 indictments.

More than 1 million Americans have died of drug overdoses since 2000, while fatal overdoses of fentanyl among Georgians rose by 200% between 2019 and 2021, Yellen said.

“Far too many families in communities across the United States are losing their loved ones to opioids,” she said. “That’s why President Biden has directed the entire U.S. government to use every tool at our disposal to combat the opioid epidemic.”

“Illicit drugs imported into the United States are killing our citizens at an unprecedented rate,” added Ryan Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

Yellen said the sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Assets Control are aimed at denying cartels the funds they need to carry out their illegal activities.

“Cartels that peddle fentanyl operate in many respects like other businesses,” she said. “They rely on access to banking systems … to make payroll and finance purchases.”

Yellen said the federal government needs help from the private sector to make the sanctions work. Toward that end, the Treasury Department also issued an advisory Thursday to help financial institutions detect and report flows of money fueling the fentanyl supply chain.

“One of the most powerful things we can do is deny (cartels) the fruits of their labor, the very essence of what these cartels need – their money,” said Robert Murphy, special agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta office. “We don’t want them to use that money to make them stronger and have a bigger impact in the United States.”

Yellen said La Nueva Familia Michocana not only ships fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamines into the U.S. but also smuggles illegal immigrants across the southern border and engages in arms trafficking.

Yellen said Chinese officials have agreed to cooperate with the American effort to combat fentanyl, and she is reaching out to Claudia Sheinbaum, recently elected president of Mexico, to work with the U.S. on choking off the flow of dangerous drugs across the border.

ATLANTA, Ga. (WTOC) – Sunday, The White House Press Office released President Joe Biden’s plans to arrive in Atlanta, Georgia.

The President will head to Atlanta on Thursday, June 27th to participate in the first presidential debate.

The debate, held in Atlanta, will begin at 9:00 pm ET.

Copyright 2024 WTOC. All rights reserved.