Political Rewind: Focus on crime in Buckhead; Check under Gold Dome; Brunswick jury reaches verdict

Credit: Jenni Girtman, AP

The Panel:

Edward Lindsey — Former state representative, (R-Atlanta)

Howard Franklin — President and CEO, Ohio River South

Sen. Sonya Halpern — State Senator (D-Atlanta)

Tamar Hallerman — Senior reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Breakdown

1. The Buckhead Cityhood movement over for now, but calls to stop crime in the area continue.

• Mayor Andre Dickens moved quickly to address the concerns behind the Buckhead cityhood movement at the start of his time in office. 
  • Dickens called influential legislator and state House Speaker David Ralston hours after being elected to discuss the issue.
  • He opened a precinct in the area to address concerns over crime and is holding the city's first inaugural "Peace Week." 

• State Sen. Sonya Halpern said she was surprised embattled Buckhead Cityhood leader, Bill White, still heads the movement. 

2. A look at measures advancing under The Gold Dome.

• State Senate panel advances bill to ban transgender athletes.

  • SB 226, or the "Save Girls Sports Act," was introduced by Tyrone Republican Sen. Marty Harbin.

• There is a renewed push to legalize gambling in The Peach State. 

  • Proposals to legalize casino gambling, pari-mutuel betting on horse racing and/or sports betting in Georgia have come up virtually every year for the past decade.

• Another proposal would ban challengers from raising campaign money during the three months that state legislators are in session.

3. The Jury has reached a verdict in the hate crimes trial surrounding the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

• The three men convicted of murder in Ahmaud Arbery's fatal shooting were found guilty of federal hate crimes Tuesday.
• Arbery, a Black jogger, was killed two years ago by three white men outside of Brunswick, Ga.
  • The three white men convicted of murdering Arbery were sentenced to life in prison last year in a state trial.
    • Travis and Greg McMichael will not be eligible for parole, but their neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, does have the possibility of parole after serving 30 years. 
• Unlike the state trial, this federal trial focused on the role racial animus played in the crime. 
  • Georgia did not have a hate crimes law at the time of Arbery's murder.

Tomorrow on Political Rewind: We discuss the state's first "Ahmaud Arbery Day," following the verdict in the federal hate crimes trial.