Construction on the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center is estimated for completion in 2026.
(Amanda Andrews/GPB News)
Construction is well underway for the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in South Atlanta. Project leaders say it’s on track for completion ahead of the World Cup in 2026.
The 200-acre training center includes 13 grass soccer fields, two turf fields, two sand fields, and several indoor options. The facility will be the new headquarters for U.S. Soccer operations from educational program to professional matches.
Matt Bradley works for U.S. Soccer. He said the facility will have offerings for the community.
“We’ve done a bunch of work already with the Coca-Cola Foundation and doing community programs in and around the Atlanta area,” Bradley said. “We certainly have, you know, lots of intentions to continue to do things like that.”
Once the facility is completed, all U.S. Soccer staff will move South from the organization’s current headquarters in Chicago. Chief Financial Officer Chelle Adams said U.S. Soccer looked at several locations in the nation before choosing Atlanta.
“Weather was a big important piece of it,” she said. “International airport. Our teams are traveling all over the United States; they’re traveling in and also out, and then also internationally as well. And then really the partnerships that we could have with the community, with the government.”
The facility is expected to be completed by spring 2026.
This article comes to Now Habersham in partnership with GPB News
Atlanta Braves' Chris Sale throws to first base during the first inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Monday, June 9, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Chris Sale struck out a season-high 11 while allowing just one run over seven innings as the Atlanta Braves snapped a seven-game skid by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 7-1 on Monday.
Matt Olson, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Eli White homered to make sure the Braves avoided their first eight-game losing streak since 2016.
Sale (4-4) allowed just five hits and two walks. The reigning NL Cy Young Awardwinner has given up just four runs over 33 innings in his last five starts.
Atlanta led 5-1 when Sale left after walking Brice Turang to start the eighth. Raisel Iglesias took over for Sale and got three straight outs to lower his ERA to 6.48 before Dylan Lee worked the ninth.
Iglesias was pitching for the first time since allowing three runs over two-thirds of an inning Thursday in an 11-10 loss to Arizona, a game in which the Braves blew a 10-4 lead in the ninth.
The Braves failed to score after having two on with none out in the second and fourth innings, but they finally broke through in the fifth.
Olson greeted DL Hall with a two-run, two-out homer in the fifth to put the Braves ahead for good after Acuña had tied the game by going deep off Aaron Civale (1-2) earlier in the inning.
White greeted Grant Anderson with a two-run shot of his own in the eighth, and Marcell Ozuna hit a two-run single off Anderson in the ninth.
Milwaukee’s only run came in the third inning. Joey Ortiz hit a leadoff double and scored on William Contreras’ two-out single.
Key moment
The Atlanta bullpen that has struggled so mightily during this slump did its job Monday. Iglesias and Lee retired six straight batters while combining for four strikeouts.
Key stat
Atlanta’s Ozzie Albies got his 1,000th career hit when he singled to left in the eighth inning.
Up next
The second game of this series Tuesday is a matchup of right-handers, with Grant Holmes (3-4, 3.99 ERA) starting for Atlanta and Quinn Priester (3-2, 3.88) pitching for Milwaukee.
Protesters clasp hands in front of a line of California National Guard, Monday, June 9, 2025, at a Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo Jae Hong)
(States Newsroom) — President Donald Trump called for California Gov. Gavin Newsom to be arrested Monday and dispatched Marines to Los Angeles, shortly after Trump’s mobilization this weekend of California National Guard troops to quell protests without the governor’s consent.
Protests of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ activity in Los Angeles sparked a weekend of conflict between protesters and federal agents downtown and in nearby Paramount, California. Newsom on Monday said California is suing the administration over the violation of its state sovereignty.
Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn that he endorsed the idea of White House border czar Tom Homan arresting Newsom. Homan had said elected officials could be arrested for impeding raids by ICE agents.
Newsom on Sunday challenged Homan, saying, “Come after me, arrest me, let’s get it over with, tough guy.”
“I’d do it if I were Tom,” Trump said when asked if Homan should arrest Newsom. “I think it’s great. Gavin likes the publicity…. He’s done a terrible job. I like Gavin Newsom, he’s a nice guy but he’s grossly incompetent, everybody knows.”
Newsom, a Democrat, has framed the conflict with the White House as a fundamental test of every state’s ability to self-govern.
“This is a preview for things to come,” he told the progressive podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen in a clip the governor’s X account shared Monday morning. “This isn’t about LA, per se. It’s about us today. It’s about you, everyone watching, tomorrow. I promise you. I mean, this guy is unhinged. Donald Trump is unhinged right now.”
Marines deploying
About 700 U.S. Marines will travel to Los Angeles as part of the federal response, according to the U.S. military, with the objective of “protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area.” CNN first reported the Marines’ mobilization. The move could further aggravate the state-federal tension surrounding the protests.
That deployment followed Sunday’s mobilization by Trump of 2,000 California National Guard members, even as Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass vocally objected, saying the troops’ presence would only inflame the situation.
It marked the first time since 1965 — when President Lyndon Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect civil rights protesters — that a president deployed the National Guard to a state over the governor’s objections.
Trump has also not ruled out invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act to take greater operational control of the situation. He and allies have referred to the protesters as “insurrectionists” several times.
He told reporters Sunday night that he was not invoking the act, which allows the president to use the military domestically, saying a decision to do so would depend “on whether or not there’s an insurrection.” On Monday, he said “insurrectionists” were causing problems in California.
According to CalMatters, “protesters on Sunday faced off with police officers who fired dozens of less-lethal rounds attempting to disperse people in the streets surrounding the 300 North Los Angeles Federal Building.
“At least two self-driving vehicles were set on fire near the protest, and police continued to pepper the rally with rubber bullets well into the late afternoon.”
Law and order
Trump, who took hours on Jan. 6, 2021, to implore his supporters storming the U.S. Capitol to disperse, and later pardoned hundreds of people charged with crimes that day, has said repeatedly controlling the California protests is necessary to protect ICE agents and Californians from protesters.
Trump has called “law and order” a top priority and has floated extreme methods to preserve order.
Asked Sunday about what the bar should be for sending U.S. Marines to Los Angeles, he responded, “The bar is what I think it is.”
On X, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested Marines could be used in the situation.
“The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE,” he posted Sunday.
State sovereignty at issue
Newsom and other Democrats have called the deployment of National Guard troops a violation of state sovereignty.
Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta said they’d filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the move on 10th Amendment grounds. The Constitution’s 10th Amendment protects states’ rights.
“Donald Trump is creating fear and terror by failing to adhere to the U.S. Constitution and overstepping his authority. This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic,” said Newsom in a written statement announcing the suit.
“Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach. This is beyond incompetence — this is him intentionally causing chaos, terrorizing communities, and endangering the principles of our great democracy. It is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism. We will not let this stand.”
A copy of the lawsuit was not immediately available Monday.
Newsom won backing from his Democratic colleagues across the country, including a Sunday statement from the Democratic Governors Association, a political group that includes every blue-state governor in the country.
“President Trump’s move to deploy California’s National Guard is an alarming abuse of power,” the governors said. “Governors are the Commanders in Chief of their National Guard and the federal government activating them in their own borders without consulting or working with a state’s governor is ineffective and dangerous. Further, threatening to send the U.S. Marines into American neighborhoods undermines the mission of our service members, erodes public trust, and shows the Trump administration does not trust local law enforcement.”
Republican governors saw the issue differently, backing Trump and praising his approach to law enforcement.
“Every Democrat governor just endorsed lawlessness and chaos on American streets,” the RGA said on social media in response to the DGA statement.
Republicans in Congress broadcast similar messages, describing the deployment as a step toward law and order.
“If Gavin Newsom won’t enforce the law, President Trump will,” Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin wrote on X.
Family members say they were told Jason Payne "died instantly" when this tree fell on top of his car while traveling on Hwy. 51 southeast of Lula Saturday evening, June 7, 2025. (Banks County Fire and Emergency Services)
A Northeast Georgia family is mourning the tragic loss of a brother and son. 56-year-old Jason Keith Payne was killed Saturday when a tree fell onto his vehicle while traveling near Lula.
Payne, of Carnesville, was pronounced dead at the scene. His mother, Betty Butcher, confirmed the heartbreaking news in a public statement released Saturday after being informed of his death.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts a mother can possibly bear to report the death of my youngest child today,” she wrote. “We were told that his death was instantaneous, for which I am extremely grateful.”
Jason Keith Payne (Facebook)
Payne was employed by Kubota. He is one of two people killed in the South as a result of severe weather on June 7. The other fatality occurred in Lafayette, Mississippi, where a man also died when a tree fell on his vehicle.
In a follow-up message, Payne’s family expressed gratitude for the outpouring of kindness shown in the wake of Payne’s passing.
“Our hearts are overflowing with love and appreciation for every kind word, thought and prayer offered up on his behalf,” Butcher wrote. “We face a long road ahead and will continue to need your prayers. We know where Jason is, and that gives us peace. God bless you all.”
Jason Payne is survived by his mother, wife, Wanda Payne of Carnesville, three daughters and five grandchildren. Funeral services have not yet been announced.
Caroline Marie (Gavin) Clinton, age 47, of Clarkesville, passed away Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
Caroline was born in Boston where she later attended Harvard University as an Economics major.
Not only was she academically brilliant, she had an artistic flare that could be seen in the poetry she enjoyed writing.
She loved spending time outdoors, and Caroline found solace in hiking.
Caroline radiated joy and had a calming spirit that others craved to be around. She had a glow that would light up any room she entered and she was proudly the heart of their home.
She is survived by her husband, Robert Harold Clinton III; seven children, Alexander Gavin-Rivera, Mariana Gavin-Rivera, Robert Harold Clinton IV “Rocky,” Carrie Clinton, Tyler Clinton, Nicholas Clinton, and Alena Clinton; and mother, Carole Simone.
She was preceded in death by her father, Fred Gavin III.
Funeral services will take place at 12 noon, Thursday, June 12, 2025 in the Chapel of Hillside Memorial Chapel with Reverend Richard Clinton officiating. Interment will follow in Hillside Gardens Cemetery.
The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.
Ruby Garrison Free, age 95, of Homer, passed away on Sunday, June 8, 2025.
Born on April 6, 1930, in Homer, she was the daughter of the late John and Sue Hardy Garrison. Ruby was from the generation that believed in hard work, and she exemplified that ethic with 39 years of service at Carwood Manufacturing and then with another 28 1/2 years at Walmart in Cornelia. Her family was most precious to her, and she enjoyed spending time with them, cooking for and feeding them, as well as any others whom she was around. Ruby was a member of Unity Christian Church, where she enjoyed attending church services.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, James Everett Free; son and daughter-in-law, Morris and Jeanette Free; brothers, Calvin and Charles Garrison.
Survivors include her sons and daughters-in-law, Dennis and Lynn Free, and Terry and Diane Free; grandchildren and spouses, Michael and Lisa Free, James Free, Brian and Jackie Free, Danny Free, Bethany and Janes Nanulaitta, and Darick Free; 14 great grandchildren; 7 great-great grandchildren; several extended relatives and friends.
Funeral services are 4 pm on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at Bethany Christian Church, with Minister Mike Thompson officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 6-8 pm on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Java Evangelism, P.O. Box 215, Bremen, Georgia 30110.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder)
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s Republican Party says Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger should not be able to run under the party’s banner anymore, but the party’s chairman says the attempt to kick out the state’s chief election official is going nowhere.
Delegates voted overwhelmingly at the state GOP convention on Saturday in Dalton to adopt a series of resolutions, including one declaring the party shall not “take any action to allow Brad Raffensperger to qualify as a Republican” for future elections.
The resolution shows the deep hostility many Republican activists have toward Raffensperger following his refusal to help Donald Trump overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia. Alex Johnson chairs the Georgia Republican Assembly, a group that tries to influence the party. He said Raffensperger has been “generally ignoring and disrespecting” the party, including attempts to change the election system, and that Republicans should be allowed to divorce Raffensperger.
“He doesn’t listen to anything that the Republican party has asked him to do,” Johnson said Monday. “He is hostile and has been hostile towards our presidential nominee and now a person who is president.”
Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon speaks to reporters after the state party convention on Saturday, June 7, 2025, at the Dalton Convention Center in Dalton, Ga. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)
But party Chairman Josh McKoon told reporters after the convention ended that while the resolution “presents the sense of the convention on what should happen,” state law requires the party to allow Raffensperger to run as a Republican.
“I don’t really see a way for the Georgia Republican Party to decline someone the opportunity to qualify,” McKoon said.
Spokespeople for Raffensperger did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. The two-term secretary of state has said he’s considering running for governor or U.S. Senate in 2026.
Georgia has no party registration and its primary elections allow anyone to vote in the party nominating contest of their choice. That means it can be hard to tell who is truly a Republican or a Democrat.
Some Republicans favor a system of voter registration by party and primaries that allow only party members to vote. They also say party officials should decide which candidates should be allowed to run as Republicans.
The Georgia Republican Party’s executive committee voted in January to expel former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan after Duncan endorsed Democrat Kamala Harrisfor president. The committee voted to ban Duncan from party events and said it would not qualify Duncan to run as a Republican in the future.
But the party in 2023 rejected an attempt to ban ideological traitors from primary ballots. Last year, judges blocked attempts by a county party in northwest Georgia to act as gatekeepers for local candidates.
In a ruling regarding Catoosa County, the state Supreme Court did not get to the heart of the dispute over whether parities can create rules for qualifying candidates in primary elections beyond those found in Georgia law. Those who push that point of view claim being forced to qualify everyone who signs up violates their freedom of association under the U.S. Constitution.
“You can’t force a Baptist church to ordain a Buddhist or a Muslim to be a Baptist minister,” said Nathaniel Darnell, president of the Georgia Republican Assembly. “By the same token, you can’t force somebody who is counteracting the Republican principles and objectives to be Republican.”
A federal judge rejected that argument, but some Catoosa County Republicans have appealed the case. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has not yet ruled. Republicans in Chattooga and Pickens counties passed similar rules.
Those who want to act as gatekeepers generally are seeking to move the party to the right. The state convention on Saturday, for example, called for repealing both the state income tax and local property taxes.
Those who hold a different view say primary election voters should decide who’s a true Republican. U.S. District Judge Billy Ray, a former chair of the Gwinnett County Republican Party, wrote that a party’s associational rights are not “absolute” and voters should decide primaries when he rejected the Catoosa County case now on appeal.
“Trying to limit who can run in a primary seems inconsistent with the purpose of a primary to start with,” Ray wrote in a footnote. “Perhaps the Catoosa Republican Party doesn’t believe that the citizens of Catoosa County can for themselves intelligently decide which candidates best embody the principles of the Republican Party.”
A Gainesville man suffered serious injuries when a Chevrolet pickup truck struck his motorcycle at the intersection of Clarks Bridge Road and Lula Road/SR 52 Sunday night, June 8.
According to the preliminary investigation by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Accident Investigation Unit (AIU), 39-year-old Dustin Rodney Turner entered the intersection traveling northbound on Clarks Bridge Road. The truck driver, 59-year-old Candy Marie Wright of Dahlonega, was traveling eastbound on Lula Road and failed to stop at the stop sign, striking Turner’s motorcycle.
Wright remained at the scene following the collision. She and her passenger were not injured, the sheriff’s office said.
As a result of the crash, Turner suffered serious injuries, including a fracture to his left ankle. Hall County EMS transported him to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gainesville for treatment.
The sheriff’s office said charges are pending in the case.
The collision was reported just before 10:30 p.m. The intersection of Clarks Bridge Road and Lula Road was closed for approximately an hour and a half during the incident investigation.
FILE - Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp delivers the State of the State speech, Jan. 11, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s experiment with a work requirement for Medicaid offers a test of a similar mandate Republicans in Congress want to implement nationally, and advocates say the results so far should serve as a warning.
Just days shy of its two-year anniversary, the Georgia Medicaid program is providing health coverage to about 7,500 low-income residents, up from 4,300 in the first year, but far fewer than the estimated 240,000 people who could qualify. The state had predicted at least 25,000 enrollees in the first year and nearly 50,000 in the second year.
Applicants and beneficiaries have faced technical glitches and found it nearly impossible at times to reach staff for help, despite more than $50 million in federal and state spending on computer software and administration. The program, dubbed Georgia Pathways, had a backlog of more than 16,000 applications 14 months after its July 2023 launch, according to a renewal application Georgia submitted to the Trump administration in April.
“The data on the Pathways program speaks for itself,” said Laura Colbert, executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future, an advocacy group that has called for a broader expansion of Medicaid without work requirements. “There are just so many hurdles at every step of the way that it’s just a really difficult program for people to enroll in and then to stay enrolled in too.”
Georgia’s rules
A tax and spending bill backed by President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers that passed the U.S. House in May would require many able-bodied Medicaid enrollees under 65 to show that they work, volunteer or go to school. The bill is now in the Senate, where Republicans want significant changes.
Pathways requires beneficiaries to perform 80 hours a month of work, volunteer activity, schooling or vocational rehabilitation. It’s the only Medicaid program in the nation with a work requirement.
But Georgia recently stopped checking each month whether beneficiaries were meeting the mandate.
Colbert and other advocates view that as evidence that state staff was overburdened with reviewing proof-of-work documents.
Fiona Roberts, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Community Health, said Gov. Brian Kemp has mandated that state agencies “continually seek ways to make government more efficient and accessible.”
Georgia’s governor defends Pathways
The governor’s office defended the enrollment numbers. Kemp spokesman Garrison Douglas said the early projections for Pathways were made in 2019, when the state had a much larger pool of uninsured residents who could qualify for the program.
In a statement, Douglas credited the Republican governor with bringing that number down significantly through “historic job growth,” and said the decline in uninsured residents proved “the governor’s plan to address our healthcare needs is working.”
For BeShea Terry, Pathways was a “godsend.” After going without insurance for more than a year, Terry, 51, said Pathways allowed her to get a mammogram and other screening tests. Terry touts Pathways in a video on the program’s website.
A stand for Georgia Pathways is seen at a job fair in Atlanta, Ga. Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Sudhin Thanawala)
But in a phone interview with The Associated Press, she said she also experienced problems. Numerous times, she received erroneous messages that she hadn’t uploaded proof of her work hours. Then in December, her coverage was abruptly canceled — a mistake that took months of calls to a caseworker and visits to a state office to resolve, she said.
“It’s a process,” she said. “Keep continuing to call because your health is very important.”
Health advocates say many low-income Americans may not have the time or resources. They are often struggling with food and housing needs. They are also more likely to have limited access to the internet and work informal jobs that don’t produce pay stubs.
Republican lawmakers have promoted work requirements as a way to boost employment, but most Medicaid recipients already work, and the vast majority who don’t are in school, caring for someone, or sick or disabled.
Kemp’s administration has defended Pathways as a way to transition people to private health care. At least 1,000 people have left the program and obtained private insurance because their income increased, according to the governor’s office.
After a slow start, advertising and outreach efforts for Pathways have picked up over the last year. At a job fair in Atlanta on Thursday, staff handed out information about the program at a table with mints, hand sanitizer and other swag with the Pathways’ logo. A wheel that people could spin for a prize sat on one end.
Since Pathways imposed the work requirement only on newly eligible state residents, no one lost coverage.
The Arkansas experiment
That’s a contrast with Arkansas, where 18,000 people were pushed off Medicaid within the first seven months of a 2018 work mandate that applied to some existing beneficiaries. A federal judge later blocked the requirement.
The bill that passed the U.S. House would likely cause an estimated 5.2 million people to lose health coverage, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released Wednesday.
Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has proposed reviving the work mandate but without requiring people to regularly report employment hours. Instead, the state would rely on existing data to determine enrollees who were not meeting goals for employment and other markers and refer those people to coaches before any decision to suspend them.
Arkansas is among at least 10 states pursuing work requirements for their Medicaid programs separate from the effort in Congress.
Republican state Sen. Missy Irvin said Arkansas’ new initiative aims to understand who the beneficiaries are and what challenges they face.
“We want you to be able to take care of yourself and your family, your loved ones and everybody else,” Irvin said. “How can we help you? Being a successful individual is a healthy individual.”
(Georgia Recorder) — Cobb County voter Barry Paulk stopped by the West Cobb Regional Library Tuesday afternoon to pick up a copy of “Election,” the 1998 novel by Tom Perrotta.
When he walked through the front doors, a poll manager reminded him that there’s a Public Service Commission election going on right now and asked if he wanted to vote. Familiar with the commission’s regulatory duties and a recent court case challenging the method used to elect commissioners, he decided why not?
“I figured, well, I’m pretty happy with how things are now, so might as well vote for the incumbents,” Paulk said.
Paulk is one of a handful of early voters who have already cast their votes in the primary elections underway for a pair of Public Service Commission seats. For the first time since 2020, voters are electing representatives for both District 2 in the eastern part of the state and District 3 in metro Atlanta. All registered voters in Georgia are eligible to vote for each commissioner, no matter where they live.
Incumbent Commissioner Tim Echols is running for reelection in District 2. He is challenged by Lee Muns on the Republican ballot. On the Democratic ballot, Alicia M. Johnson is running in an uncontested race.
In District 3, incumbent Commissioner Fitz Johnson is running for reelection as the only candidate on the Republican ballot. There are currently four Democratic candidates hoping to win the party nomination. Candidates include Peter Hubbard, Robert Jones and Keisha Sean Waites. Daniel Blackman is the fourth candidate who is currently fighting to appeal a residency based disqualification
Early voting is available through June 13. Voter registration, polling places and sample ballots can all be checked online at the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
Traditionally, the commission has a staggered election schedule and each commissioner serves a six-year term. This year’s election was delayed after a lawsuit challenged the statewide nature of the election, arguing the process diluted the voting strength of Black voters.
Despite the ability to vote across the state, voter turnout remains relatively low. After over a week of open polls, voter turnout sits at 0.4%. According to the Secretary of State’s data hub, this accounts for about 29,000 voters.
Fred Bentley was more of an intentional voter who made time to cast his ballot. Bentley said he was Cobb County’s first in-house attorney to represent the condemning authorities that were influential in shaping Georgia’s eminent domain laws and even helped write Kennesaw’s famous mandatory gun ownership law and he said those experiences have made him a firm believer in the power and privilege of voting.
“I believe that it’s an important part of our democracy and our republic that I come out and vote,” Bentley said.
He showed up to the polls wearing a blue suit and a red tie to proudly cast his vote. Even with the personal satisfaction of voting, Bentley said he walked away from the polls with a sense of sadness.
“Not a lot of people have voted,” Bentley said. “And that’s a disappointment.”
David Chastain, a member of the Cobb County School Board, was headed out of town with his luggage packed when he stopped by the polls to cast his vote Wednesday afternoon. As a close follower of the regulatory panel, Chastain said the commission does a lot of work the average voter may not understand. He is happy with how the current commissioners have operated.
“I do believe that people should participate in the political process,” Chastain said. “I understand the people who say they don’t want to vote, Okay, that’s fine, but the rest of us are going to voice our opinions at the ballot box.”
Voters have been vocal about various issues surrounding this year’s election. Some are singing the praises of incumbents, while others question if the all-GOP panel has done enough to combat rising utility rates and be a check on the state’s largest electric utility, Georgia Power.
Confusion has also lingered for some voters amid Democratic candidate Daniel Blackman’s potential disqualification. Blackman’s name is set to remain on the ballot while a Fulton County judge considers Blackman’s appeal of a successful challenge to his residency within District 3. A hearing is set for June 10, and the shadow hanging over his candidacy has forced some to rethink their election choices.
Alida and Garland Miller, an older couple who say they always vote in the PSC primaries, came to the polls with concerns this year. Familiar with the recent lawsuit, the couple is unsatisfied with the statewide electoral process.
“I feel like we might have the opportunity for a more responsive representative than we currently have,” Alida Miller said. “I feel like the ones that we have right now don’t really care. If they knew they could be voted out by the people in the area that they represent, they might pay a little bit more attention to the wishes of the actual electorate, and not just to big business and the power companies.”
When asked if they agreed with the lawsuit arguing that the statewide election dilutes the voices of Black voters, they immediately answered “yes” in unison.
Georgians still hoping to participate in early voting have the opportunity to do so through Friday, June 13, and the official election day will follow on June 17. If no one receives at least 50% of the vote this month, a runoff election will be held on July 15. Primary winners will advance to the general election on Nov. 4.
Utility crews work to repair lines and restore service knocked out by the storm that swept across northern Georgia on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Daniel Purcell/NowHabersham.com)
Severe weather swept across Georgia this weekend, leaving behind widespread power outages and property damage from high winds, heavy rain, and lightning. Utility crews from across the state, including Georgia Power and local EMCs, have been working nonstop to restore power and ensure public safety.
As of Sunday night, Georgia Power reported it had restored electricity to all but 3,200 customers statewide. Significant damage was reported in areas including Athens, Alpharetta, and Rome. Georgia Power noted that its “smart grid” technology enabled remote switching and faster restoration in some areas, even as storms continued to move through the state.
Severe storms knocked out power to tens of thousands of North Georgians. Utility crews have been working around the clock to restore service. Damaged power poles must be replaced, slowing down restoration efforts. (Hart EMC/Facebook)
Across North Georgia, electric membership cooperatives faced similar challenges. Habersham EMC crews worked through the night to repair several broken poles and remove downed wires. As of late Sunday, June 8, the cooperative reported that around 240 members in its six-county service area were still without service. Earlier in the day, HEMC thanked members for their patience and said, “We won’t stop working until all power has been restored.”
Hart EMC crews spent Sunday restoring service to most of its 3,500 members who woke up without electricity. As of early Monday, June 9, approximately 500 Hart EMC members were still without power.
“Our crews are exhausted and hungry, yet they continue working to restore your power,” Hart EMC stated. “Please remember to stay clear of downed lines.”
Meanwhile, Blue Ridge EMC crews restored power to more than 4,000 customers whose service was knocked out by toppled trees and lightning strikes. The utility reported 17 broken poles across its service area.
Restoration efforts across North Georgia were slowed by the number of broken power poles that had to be replaced. It takes between 3 and 4 hours to change out damaged poles, like this one in Habersham EMC’s service area. (Habersham EMC/Facebook)
Jackson EMC and Amicalola EMC also responded to widespread outages. At the latest report early Monday, Jackson EMC had over 2,918 customers without power, and Amicalola EMC was working to restore service to nearly 1,200 members.
Despite the round-the-clock efforts, utility companies caution that more outages could occur. With the ground already saturated from days of rain, additional wind gusts may bring down more trees and power lines.
Utilities are urging all residents to stay away from downed lines and poles, which could be energized and extremely dangerous. Other safety reminders include:
Never touch or move tree branches entangled with power lines.
Avoid standing water or saturated areas where lines may be hidden.
Do not approach chain-link fences that could conduct electricity.
Use generators only in well-ventilated areas and follow all manufacturer instructions.
Unplug sensitive electronics to protect against surges when power is restored.
Stay informed
Georgia Power and local EMCs are providing outage updates through their websites, social media channels, and outage maps. Customers are encouraged to sign up for outage alerts and check for real-time restoration estimates.
Walking into Ramshackle Street Festival in Clayton, Georgia. (Carly McCurry/ The Cute North Georgian Magazine)
We crammed into our Kia Soul like crayons in a box, the scent of Coppertone thick enough to prompt someone to crack a window. Music blared—Toby Keith, then Jimmy Buffett. It was that kind of early afternoon: a little rowdy and entirely summer. Headed north from Cornelia, our motley crew included two healthcare workers, two writers, and one resident Bluey aficionado, each of us chasing the promise of Ramshackle Street Festival—each with a distinct purpose.
As for me, I was in search of two things: good shopping and familiar faces—and Ramshackle delivered both in abundance. With each shop I visited, my arms (and stroller) grew heavier, filled with the items that one can only find at a festival. Along the way, I ran into just the people I’d hoped to see—Sonya Shook and Lynda Ann Price—two of the key organizers behind the event, along with the rest of the war cabinet responsible for orchestrating the street festival. Together, they pulled off a feat of logistics that emptied the surrounding counties—Rabun included—and funneled the crowds straight into this small mountain town perched just shy of the North Carolina border.
Throughout the day, thousands streamed into Clayton, where brightly colored tents lined the center of Main Street, selling everything from flowy dresses and framed artwork to permanent jewelry and handcrafted goods.
My own draw, however, lay in the boutiques—especially Idle + Wild, a shop that feels like a cross between White Lotus and Gossip Girl. As I sampled a silky skin oil, something bright pink caught my eye: a flamingo Warmie.
Maple, my toddler, has recently developed a deep affection for “amigos”—her word for flamingos. In a lapse of parental judgment, I showed it to her. She clutched it instantly, pressed it to her cheek, and declared, “I love you, Mingo.”
I looked at my husband. He looked at me. We both knew: mistake.
I tried distraction. Persuasion. Negotiation. But when it came time to leave, I did what I had to do. I pried the flamingo from her arms and placed it gently back on its shelf. Maple cried with the devastation only toddlers can muster—for about two minutes.
Then, salvation: a motorized bubble machine whirred to life in the middle of the road. Children flocked to it, drawn by the floating, iridescent orbs that filled the air. Whether placed intentionally or not, the machine struck me as a quiet tribute to the late Tyler Ratcliffe, known locally as the “Bubble Man,” who once brought music, whimsy, and joy to Clayton’s streets in vibrant costume.
It was comforting to see his legacy live on—in bubbles, in children’s laughter, and in the quiet persistence of small, thoughtful acts.
Maple, for her part, agreed.
Lynda Ann Price and Matt of Highroads Tasting Room enjoy the Ramshackle Festival in downtown Clayton, Georgia. As Vice President of the Clayton Merchants and Business Association (CMBA), Lynda Ann played a key role in organizing the event. (Carly McCurry/ The Cute North Georgian Magazine)
The only force strong enough to draw shoppers from their browsing was the scent of food drifting from the sidewalks. Participating restaurants—Clayton Café, Stekoa Creek, Rabun Social, and others—offered grab-and-go lunches: chicken salad sandwiches neatly boxed, zesty rice and steak dishes served hot, and bourbon-infused cocktails or margaritas poured curbside. No lines, no fuss—just pay and enjoy. And with that, our friend Hailey’s mission was complete: a fine meal in a beautiful setting. And truly, what backdrop could be lovelier than Clayton, set within a picture frame of mountains?
We carried our picnic lunches to a nearby pocket park anchored by a charming gazebo and shaded by old-growth trees. Sunlight filtered gently through the leaves as we settled into the grass and gathered around a decorative stone table, unwrapping our lunches and passing bites between conversations. From across the street, faint strains of live music drifted over from the main stage, lending a soundtrack to our afternoon. We took turns fending off the marauding toddler, who darted from plate to plate with unmitigated greed, reminding me of Dora the Explorer as I found myself muttering, “Swiper, no swiping,” more than once. And yet, despite our best efforts, her shirt still ended up adorned with cookie crumbles and rice.
As our meal wound down, I realized something essential was missing—something that would make the afternoon complete, at least by our friend Brooke’s standards: ice cream.
We made our way to Henri’s, a hybrid sandwich shop, bakery, wine store, and purveyor of craft sodas and beers. But for our purposes, its most compelling feature lay in the freezer: rows of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, both in pint and single-serving sizes—ideal for anyone craving something sweet and cold without committing to indulgence.
We filled our arms with flavors, along with a few peach White Claws and Peches sodas to round out our impromptu feast. As we did, we ran into friends—fellow parents with children in tow—and invited them to join our picnic. This, after all, is what Ramshackle is all about.
We ate, sipped, and sprawled on the grass, content and sun-drenched, while the children ran wild in their painted faces and shirts stained with ice cream. Temporary tattoos from the Family Fun Zone shimmered on their arms.
Brooke Norris, Maple Camejo, and Hailey Floyd sip, stroll, dine, and lounge at Ramshackle Street Festival in Clayton, Georgia. (Carly McCurry/ The Cute North Georgian Magazine)
At some point, my husband wandered off, claiming he needed the restroom. When he returned, he held something behind his back—a pink, fluffy flamingo Warmie. Mingo, the “amigo,” had come home after all.
I do love a happy ending.
Around this time, the children began to fade—cheers gave way to complaints, and we knew it was time to go. As it turned out, we left just in time.
Within thirty minutes of arriving home, a sudden summer squall—more suited to a Kansas prairie than our Piedmont—swept through Northeast Georgia. Gale-force winds and driving rain knocked out power across the region, toppling trees and sending lawn furniture airborne.
Ramshackle paused, but it did not end.
Even after the storm blew through downtown Clayton, the festival pressed on. In true show business fashion, the evening’s main headliner, Town Mountain, still took the stage.
Once again, I’m happy to report—another happy ending.
