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Georgia Senators announce nearly $2 million grant to upgrade housing conditions in Atlanta

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Georgia Senators announce nearly  million grant to upgrade housing conditions in Atlanta


ATLANTA — U.S. Sens. Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff announced the delivery of nearly $2 million to the City of Atlanta from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to improve housing conditions for residents in the city.

According to a news release, $1.75 million will be provided from HUD’s Healthy Homes Production Grant to repair homes and complete remediation projects in order to keep families and children from living in dangerous housing conditions.

“Georgia children can’t grow and thrive unless they’re living in a safe and healthy environment. When we fight for the health of children across the Peach State, we fight for the next generations of leaders. I’ll continue working to ensure our schools and homes are hazard-free,” Warnock said in a statement.

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The grant program funds follow a previous set of funding with the same goal provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in December.

The senators said almost $3 million was also provided in May 2023 for the Athens Area Habitat for Humanity to go toward building more affordable housing.

“Senator Reverend Warnock and I are delivering these resources to help improve the quality of housing for Georgia families,” Ossoff said in a statement. “Working families in Georgia urgently need access to quality, affordable housing.”

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Ossoff has also been pushing the Federal Housing Finance Agency to address what he said was an inadequate supply of affordable housing across rural Georgia.

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The funding from Georgia’s U.S. senators follows a recent report about how many Americans are currently cost-burdened, or who are paying more than 30% of their monthly income on rent or housing.

As previously reported by Channel 2′s Michael Doudna, in Atlanta, just under half of all metro area renters are cost-burdened, according to the study, and a full 25% of renters are spending more than half of their incomes on rent.

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WATCH: ABC experiencing audio technical difficulties ahead of Georgia vs Alabama

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WATCH: ABC experiencing audio technical difficulties ahead of Georgia vs Alabama


Game of the week, if not year, is about to take place in Tuscaloosa. Alabama and Georgia are set to battle in Bryant-Denny Stadium, being the first-ever matchup between Kalen DeBoer and Kirby Smart. ESPN has been in town for the entire weekend with the game set to be broadcasted on ABC.

Unfortunately, there have been some audio technical difficulties in the booth. Thankfully only during the pregame show, Herbstreit was in the middle of talking about the stakes on the line. And then all of a sudden, people at home cannot hear the ESPN analyst.

“Both of these teams have so much pride,” Herbstreit began. “And they want to be the big dog. They want to be the bar in college football. It’s a great discussion –“

From there, the audio from Herbstreit is cut off. Fowler begins to talk shortly after but nothing is coming from his end either. The ESPN broadcast then puts up a graphic discussing the win streak Georgia is and nothing is heard behind it. Eventually, Fowler comes back after around 20 seconds of silence.

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Seemingly everybody in the college football world is in Tuscaloosa this weekend. Even former President Donald Trump will be at the game, set to make an appearance at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Having some troubles due to the number of people in town is not too big of a surprise.

For the rest of us watching at home, hopefully, the audio issues do not bleed over into the game broadcast, getting to hear the great commentary of Fowler and Herbstreit.

Mykell Williams set to play against Alabama

Star Georgia edge rusher Mykel Williams appears set to play against Alabama on Saturday night, making his return from an ankle injury. Williams was listed as a “game time decision” on the final injury report.

During pregame warmups, Williams appeared to participate in all the drills with his teammates. And while he is apparently available, Williams is not expected to play a full snap load in his return for the Bulldogs, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Williams has been out since early in the season with a sprained ankle. On Saturday morning, it was reported his status would be determined shortly before kickoff.

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On3’s Andrew Graham contributed to this report



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ESPN College GameDay: Picks for Week 5, Georgia at Alabama

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ESPN College GameDay: Picks for Week 5, Georgia at Alabama


The choice was easy for ESPN regarding their College GameDay location in Week 5, as the show took place live in Tuscaloosa on Saturday morning, ahead of the gigantic SEC clash between Georgia and Alabama.

Nick Saban returned to a grand ovation, bringing along his wife Terry Saban — known as Miss Terry — as the Celebrity Guest Picker. Aside from the Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide, some of the other intense matchups the crew predicted included Louisville at Notre Dame, Illinois at Penn State and Oklahoma State at Kansas State.

Ahead of all the action taking place, the College GameDay crew locked in their Week 5 picks, with a raucous crowd of Alabama fans behind them. Here’s what Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Nick Saban, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit, joined by the aforementioned Miss Terry, came up with for this weekend’s action.

ESPN College GameDay Picks for Week 5:

Georgia at Alabama: Howard got the crowd warmed up, rocking with the Crimson Tide, before Saban and Miss Terry joined hands to select Alabama in an awesome moment, “Roll Tide Roll,” they exclaimed.

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Herbstreit is calling the game, so he’s not making a pick, while McAfee chose to roll with Alabama. What would Corso do? He grabbed that Big Al mascot head, and Sweet Home Alabama blared throughout the set, as the entire crew chose to roll with the Crimson Tide.

Oklahoma State at Kansas State: Oklahoma State has been slow out of the gate, can they defeat the Wildcats on the road? They don’t have any believers on Saturday, as everyone is on Kansas State.

Colorado at UCF: Miss Terry was shocked her husband picked against Coach Prime and the Buffaloes, but he wasn’t the only one, Corso and Herbstreit also believe in the Knights.

BYU at Baylor: Corso is the only believer in the Bears, rocking with Baylor to defeat the Cougars.

Illinois at Penn State: Nobody believes the Fighting Illini can pull the upset against the Nittany Lions.

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Kentucky at Ole Miss: Everyone is on the Rebels this weekend over the Wildcats.

Louisville at Notre Dame: Only Saban is on the Cardinals on in Week 5.

North Carolina at Duke: Saban and McAfee are the lone dissenters, riding with the Blue Devils.

Oklahoma at Auburn: Howard and Herbstreit are on the Tigers, much to the dismay of the crowd in Tuscaloosa, but the rest of the crew are on the Sooners.

Full CGD analyst picks for Week 5:

Desmond Howard: Alabama, Kansas State, Colorado, BYU, Penn State, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Auburn

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Nick Saban: Alabama, Kansas State, UCF, BYU, Penn State, Ole Miss, Louisville, Duke, Oklahoma

Celebrity Guest Picker – Terry Saban: Alabama, Kansas State, Colorado, BYU, Penn State, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Oklahoma

Pat McAfee: Alabama, Kansas State, Colorado, BYU, Penn State, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Duke, Oklahoma

Lee Corso: Kansas State, UCF, Baylor, Penn State, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Oklahoma

Kirk Herbstreit: No pick for Georgia at Alabama, Kansas State, UCF, BYU, Penn State, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Auburn

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Georgia father Eric Arnold sues county who demolished family home without court hearing: ‘They took my dignity away’

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Georgia father Eric Arnold sues county who demolished family home without court hearing: ‘They took my dignity away’


A devastated homeowner in Georgia is suing Macon-Bibb County officials after he claimed they demolished the home he was fixing up for his family without a court hearing.

Eric Arnold bought the property in Macon, Ga. – located 90 miles southeast of Atlanta – in February 2022 for just $15,000 for himself and his children, according to local news station WMAZ.

“It’s like they just took it all away from me,” Eric Arnold the outlet. “They took my dignity away from me, like I wasn’t even a person. Like ‘You don’t even exist, we just going to do what we want. This is our town.’”

Homeowner Eric Arnold said Macon-Bibb county demolished the home he was remodeling.
13 WMAZ
Only a concrete slab and post where the mailbox used to be is left on the property after the demolition. 13 WMAZ

The home was supposed to be a “fixer-upper” that Arnold was renovating and eventually planned to live in, but the plans changed when a dumpster ended up on his property and his home was labeled an “imminent threat to the community.”

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The county had already listed the home for demolition when Arnold purchased the home.

However, Arnold’s lawyers allege that the father was not aware and that there were no liens on the home and no public record of Code Enforcement.

It was eventually demolished in November 2023.

This is a photo of what Eric Arnold’s home looked like before it was torn down. 13 WMAZ
The demolition is part of the county’s plan to remove dangerous structures from neighborhoods. 13 WMAZ

The demolition was part of Mayor Lester Miller’s Blight Fight launched in 2021, which aimed to remove dangerous structures from neighborhoods but Arnold insists he paid his taxes and got the permits needed in order to save the home before it was torn down.

“I did everything I was supposed to do. I thought I was okay. I wasn’t okay. They still knocked my house down,” Arnold said.

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“While he still had work to do, the yard was neat, the exterior was clean, the house was locked up, and, most importantly, it was in a vastly improved state of repair compared to when he purchased it,” Arnold’s lawyer Christie Herbert wrote in a statement on her website.

This is the property after it was torn down by the county. 13 WMAZ

Herbert claims the county “secretly sped up the demolition” after Arnold asked them to stop and remove his home from the demolition list.

All that’s left on the property now is a concrete slab at the end of a driveway and a post where the mailbox used to be.

Arnold requested to be paid back the cost of the house and the cost of renovations, according to The Macon Telegraph.

Herbert claims the county “secretly sped up the demolition.” 13 WMAZ

Arnold’s home is the latest casualty of renovation projects that were abruptly stopped due to the eager bulldozers in the neighborhood, according to neighbor Jerry Collins.

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“There’s a lot of folks that are doing their best to bring these old houses back to life and revitalize the neighborhood. I see good things but if this keeps up, those good things may not happen and that’s what really concerns me,” Collins told the outlet.

Arnold’s lawyer said the lawsuit is about “protecting the constitutional rights of all property owners in Macon-Bibb county.” 13 WMAZ

“Eric’s lawsuit isn’t about just one man’s house, it’s about protecting the constitutional rights of all property owners in Macon-Bibb county,” Herbert said during a press conference on the empty lot where the home used to be.

According to WMAZ, the county said they haven’t seen any lawsuit yet but did release a statement about the demolished house.

“We are aware of the demolition on Sunnyvale Drive. A letter designating it as a Nuisance Per Se and blighted and that it would be torn down if not repaired was provided several years ago,” Macon-Bibb County wrote.

The statement from county officials claims the property was marked as blighted before being sold to Arnold in February 2022. They say the new homeowner had 20 months to “pull any construction permits or fix it up” but they were not made aware of any so a demolition moved forward. 

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