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Georgia GOP leaders clash over election oversight

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Georgia GOP leaders clash over election oversight


ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Tensions inside Georgia’s Republican Party spilled into public view on Thursday at the Senate Ethics Committee.

The committee met at the Georgia Capitol to take up questions surrounding election administration.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones called on Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who did not attend the hearing, despite being in the Capitol complex earlier in the day.

The dispute is unfolding as several Republican leaders position themselves for a run for the governor’s mansion. Jones, who currently leads all gubernatorial contenders in campaign fundraising, has called on Raffensperger to testify, accusing him of failures in election oversight. Raffensperger is also running for governor.

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At the center of the conflict are recent admissions from Fulton County election officials that hundreds of thousands of ballot tabulator tapes from the 2020 election were not properly signed, a violation of state rules. Tabulator tapes act as receipts in the election process and are used to confirm that vote totals are accurate during certification.

Jones has argued that the election results should not have been certified under those circumstances.

In addition to calls for testimony, state Sen. Randy Robertson, a member of the Senate Ethics Committee, has filed a resolution urging Raffensperger to comply with federal requests from the U.S. Department of Justice to turn over Georgia’s complete voter roll.

“No elected official in this state is exempt from participating in any civil, criminal, or administrative investigation — including our secretary of state,” Robertson said.

Raffensperger has pushed back, saying the committee’s demands would require his office to release sensitive voter information, including Social Security numbers and driver’s license data, which he says would violate Georgia law.

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In a letter to the committee chairman explaining his absence, Raffensperger said his office has already complied with federal requests to the fullest extent allowed under state law.

“I always follow the law and the Constitution,” Raffensperger said. “This resolution would actually require me to violate state law — and I won’t do that.”

What happens next remains unclear. Lawmakers could attempt to pursue Raffensperger’s testimony through the courts or take further legislative action, but no immediate decision was announced during the hearing.



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Co-owner of Yurezz Home Center in Greeneville arrested in Georgia

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Co-owner of Yurezz Home Center in Greeneville arrested in Georgia


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.

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This is a developing story.



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Georgia Supreme Court upholds convictions of men in deadly shooting during gas station carjacking

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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.

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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.

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“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.



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Trooper injured in chain-reaction crash on Georgia 400

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Trooper injured in chain-reaction crash on Georgia 400


A Georgia State Patrol trooper and two other motorists were involved in a multi-vehicle chain-reaction crash that injured two people and blocked northbound traffic on Georgia 400 near Abernathy Road on July 7, 2026. (SKYFOX 5)

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:

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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. 

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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. 

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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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