August 19, 2021

An Atlanta Public Schools bus is parked at Dobbs Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia April 14, 2015. Eight former Atlanta public school educators were ordered on Tuesday to serve between one and seven years in prison, a stiff punishment for their convictions on racketeering charges in one of the nation's largest test-cheating scandals. Donna Evans, the former principal of Dobbs Elementary School, is one of the educators found guilty of the charges. REUTERS/Tami Chappell

Parents defend Atlanta principal after mom claims that Black students were assigned classes by race

By Nicquel Terry Ellis A mother’s claim that her children’s school was assigning Black students to certain classes has shaken up one Atlanta school community with some parents insisting the principal would never group students based on race. It’s also fueled a debate about whether the practice would even be considered legal or productive for the children.

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A sign is viewed at a restaurant in New York's Upper West Side on August 17, 2021, the first day where you have to show proof of having a Covid-19 vaccination to participate in indoor dining. - The vaccine mandate also includes indoor gyms, and all indoor entertainment in New York City. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

Restaurant owners sue New York City over vaccine mandate

By Danielle Wiener-Bronner A group of restaurant owners and five small businesses are suing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city over its vaccine mandate in the hopes of blocking the new requirement. Earlier this month, the city announced a new rule requiring people to show proof of vaccination against Covid-19 before dining indoors, visiting a fitness

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ATLANTA, GA - NOVEMBER 06: Security envelopes for absentee ballots sit in stacked boxes as Fulton county workers continue to count absentee ballots at State Farm Arena on November 6, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. The 2020 presidential race between incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden is still too close to call with outstanding ballots in a number of states including Georgia. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

Georgia officials advance controversial review of Fulton County elections operations

By Fredreka Schouten and Dianne Gallagher Georgia’s state elections board on Wednesday named a three-person review panel to examine election operations in the state’s most populous county — under a provision of a new state election law that voting rights activists have warned could lead to a partisan takeover of a Democratic stronghold in this battleground state.

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Pro-mask wearing demonstrators stage a protest at the Cobb County School Board Headquarters Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021, in Marietta, Ga. Many school districts nationwide have seen parents protesting for and against masks. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

As Georgia school district bucks CDC mask guidance, parents are taking their kids out of school

By Eliott C. McLaughlin It’s the third week of school in Cobb County, Georgia, and many parents are livid with what they perceive to be the district’s lax Covid-19 protocols and dangerous misinformation being disseminated by a school board member via his official email account. Some parents, including those with children suffering from asthma and one

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Syringes wand vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine are prepared to be administered to front-line health care workers under an emergency use authorization at a drive up vaccination site from Renown Health in Reno, Nevada on December 17, 2020. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden says US will require nursing homes get staff vaccinated or lose federal funds

By Jeremy Diamond and Tami Luhby President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he is directing all nursing homes to require their staff be vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to continue receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding. Biden said he is directing the Department of Health and Human Services to draw up new regulations making employee vaccination a condition for nursing

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HOUSTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 18: Emergency Room nurses and EMTs tend to patients in hallways at the Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital on August 18, 2021 in Houston, Texas. Across Houston, hospitals have been forced to treat hundreds of patients in hallways and corridors as their emergency rooms are being overwhelmed due to the sharp increase in Delta variant cases. Hospitals are straining to keep up with the surge of new coronavirus patients as schools and businesses continue to reopen. Houston has seen an upward increase in Delta infections, and research is showing the Delta variant to be 60% more contagious than its predecessor the Alpha variant, also known as COVID-19. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Rates of Covid-19 hospitalizations for children and adults under 50 reach their highest levels yet, CDC data shows

By Madeline Holcombe The pace of Covid-19 hospitalizations is surging across the US, with the rates for children and adults under 50 hitting their highest levels yet, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Every age group under 50 has surpassed its previous record of hospitalizations, which was in the first half

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