Georgia Today

When residents in one of Georgia’s smallest and poorest counties learned about plans for a 500-acre quarry near the Ogeechee River, they rallied together with their neighbors to fight back. 

Georgia’s Southern Judicial District has been called the worst place in America to be poor and charged with a federal crime. The district lacks a full-time federal public defender's office, which advocates say leads to inadequate representation for indigent criminal defenders. 

This week, Georgians around the state are remembering Max Cleland. He died of congestive heart failure at his home in Atlanta on Tuesday. He was 79. Cleland was a Democrat and lifelong public servant in a variety of roles, including U.S. senator and head of the Veterans Administration under President Jimmy Carter. Jim Galloway, a now-retired Atlanta Journal-Constitution journalist, says Cleland’s politics were influenced by his military service. He lost three limbs in the Vietnam War. Georgia Today explores Cleland's life and legacy with Galloway, who also knew Cleland as a friend.