The Brief for Monday, September 15, 2025

There's three different ways Georgia law enforcement partnered with ICE. Jails can ask the agency if it wants to pick someone up who has been arrested for a non-immigration violation. ICE can have some law enforcement serve immigration warrants, or officers can do immigration checks during routine police encounters. Last year, only six agencies had these partnerships in Georgia. The latest numbers from ICE show 33 Georgia law enforcement departments are now in partnership with the federal agency. Emily Wu Pearson, W-A-B-E News. Com County Schools says it will suspend and investigate employees. Parents say celebrated on social media the killing of conservative influencer and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Officials say the post are unprofessional and disruptive to the learning environment. The district will also report any teachers who violate the policy to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission that could act against their teaching licenses. Kirk's death has spun a heated nationwide debate about free speech in the workplace. The county's statement follows a national trend of workers being suspended or fired over their social media post about Kirk. The Atlanta City Council has appointed disability advocate Cardin Wyckoff to fill former council member Amir Faroqui's seat for the rest of the year. Council member Ishae Susan Collins announced the results during Monday's council meeting. We have Cardin Wachoff with nine votes, Darian Smith with four votes, and Brandon Clark with one vote. Weikoff is a wheelchair user who previously chaired the city's Human Rights Commission and has served in other advisory roles for MARTA and Delta Airlines. The district two seat includes parts of downtown, little five points, midtown, and the old fourth ward. November's city elections will fill Faroqui's seat for the full term that starts in January. Well, as of this morning, Atlanta Watershed officials said they are prepping for an emergency sewer repair on 10th Street, which means lane closures and detours in some traffic heavy areas of downtown. Officials say intermittent lane closures started this morning on 10th Street and Piedmont. The full lane closures begin on Wednesday. Those will stay in place until the sewer main is replaced and the work is scheduled to be completed in mid to late October. Following the fatal shooting of DeKal County Police Officer David Rose at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Georgia is now third in the nation for line of duty deaths. That's according to the nonprofit Officer Down Memorial Page. W.A.B. Eshman Cruz has more. Rose is the fourth officer from Georgia to die on the job this year. The 33-year-old, who, months before his death, had completed his police academy training, is survived by his wife, two children, and a third on the way. A GoFundMe page set up for his family has already surpassed several goals, thanks to thousands of donors, many of whom self-identify as current and former CDC employees. The current goal is $680,000. According to the Officer Down Memorial page, the only other states with more officer deaths are California with 10 and Texas with 6. Nationwide, a total of 60 officers have died in the line of duty. Shemaine Cruz, WABE News.

Atlanta city officials say they hope a new grocery store near Georgia State University will help address issues with food deserts downtown. W.A.B.E. Dorma JD Vance reports. On the corner of Peachtree Street sits the new Azalea Fresh Market in what used to be a Walgreens. It is 100% of food desert. Michael Fogarty is the chief operating officer of the new store. He says the area had limited access to food with the closest grocery store being about two miles away. It's a much needed resource for not only Georgia State for the local residents here. With Walgreens going out, that was their one place to pick up essentials. So the city of Atlanta collaborated with several entities on a public-private partnership to invest more than $8 million into addressing the city's nearly 15% rate of food insecurity. With Walgreens closing, students and low-income residents only had nearby fast food options, says Azalea Fresh Market employee Darren Lewis. He lives within walking distance of the new store. These kids ain't trying to... eat fast food because I know me. We stand down the street. I know I used to have to doordash or Instacard groceries and that was kind of stressful. Coming out down there like $200. Inside the market, shelves are stocked by employees as shoppers come in to explore owls labeled with glowing white signs attached to bright orange poles. One shopper, Natalie Heredia, stopped in for the first time to grab lunch before heading back to work. A lot of the fast food places around here, they want to charge you at least. Minimum, $16 to $18 for a meal. That's very expensive. I don't know about you. I have a child. I can't afford to spend $20 a day. City officials say the partnership is set to create a second grocery store location on Atlanta's Southside. Dormia JD Vance, W.A.B.E. News. Georgia Tech's football team is back in the national rankings. The Yellow Jackets are ranked 18th by the AP poll and 19th by the coaches poll. This comes after Tech upset nationally ranked Clemson in Atlanta on Saturday 24 to 21. It is the first time tech has cracked the top 25 since a hot start last year. The 3-0 Yellow Jackets next take on Temple in Atlanta, that's this Saturday afternoon. That does it for the brief. More local news is always available online at WABE.org. Christopher Alston is our producer. Melissa Fato is our editor. I'm Jim Burris, Amplifying Atlanta. This is W-A-B-E. Thanks for listening.

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