Primary election day in Georgia arrived Tuesday as voters braced for  and social distancing at the polls.It will be a unique election held amid the coronavirus pandemic.Here are minute-by-minute updates on Tuesday’s election from AJC reporters and photographers on the scene:10:15 p.m. update: After a tumultuous and contentious day, metro Atlanta polling places are officially closed.Human error or mechanical problems plagued many polling places. At some, hundreds of voters waited to cast their ballot – some for hours. State and local officials traded blame for what some deemed a...…Primary election day in Georgia arrived Tuesday as voters braced for  and social distancing at the polls.It will be a unique election held amid the coronavirus pandemic.Here are minute-by-minute updates on Tuesday’s election from AJC reporters and photographers on the scene:10:15 p.m. update: After a tumultuous and contentious day, metro Atlanta polling places are officially closed.Human error or mechanical problems plagued many polling places. At some, hundreds of voters waited to cast their ballot – some for hours. State and local officials traded blame for what some deemed a...WW…

The city of Kennesaw will remove the Confederate battle flag from its war memorial.City Council members on Monday unanimously voted to remove the flag from public property on Main Street.Kennesaw's decision was based on its interpretation of a state law some believe prohibits the city removing the flag from the memorial. That law  from a 2001 compromise in the Legislature that removed the segregation-era state flag that incorporated the Confederate battle flag; and stated no publicly owned monument on public property can be moved or altered in any way.Article continues...…The city of Kennesaw will remove the Confederate battle flag from its war memorial.City Council members on Monday unanimously voted to remove the flag from public property on Main Street.Kennesaw's decision was based on its interpretation of a state law some believe prohibits the city removing the flag from the memorial. That law  from a 2001 compromise in the Legislature that removed the segregation-era state flag that incorporated the Confederate battle flag; and stated no publicly owned monument on public property can be moved or altered in any way.Article continues...WW…

Hundreds of parents, students and community members want Georgia’s second-largest school district to offer a face-to-face option for their children in the new school year.The protesters Saturday at the Cobb County Civic Center to call on Superintendent Chris Ragsdale and the Cobb school board to offer in-person classes alongside virtual learning to students returning to the classroom Aug. 17.They are circulating a calling for the reinstatement of traditional classroom teaching that has received more than 7,500 signatures. The Cobb County School District has about 113,000 students.Amy Henry...…Hundreds of parents, students and community members want Georgia’s second-largest school district to offer a face-to-face option for their children in the new school year.The protesters Saturday at the Cobb County Civic Center to call on Superintendent Chris Ragsdale and the Cobb school board to offer in-person classes alongside virtual learning to students returning to the classroom Aug. 17.They are circulating a calling for the reinstatement of traditional classroom teaching that has received more than 7,500 signatures. The Cobb County School District has about 113,000 students.Amy Henry...WW…

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A Smyrna restaurant owner has sold her car to make sure her employees have a little cash in their pockets during the coronavirus pandemic.Charity Salyers used $11,000 she received last week from selling her 2016 Ford Mustang to pay about eight Vittles Restaurant employees and cover the rent on the eatery at 2579 South Cobb Drive. The amount, she said, will be enough to “carry me forward for two months.”Have questions about the spread of coronavirus? We have an entire section dedicated to coverage of the outbreak. “And I figured two months would give us enough time for...…COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A Smyrna restaurant owner has sold her car to make sure her employees have a little cash in their pockets during the coronavirus pandemic.Charity Salyers used $11,000 she received last week from selling her 2016 Ford Mustang to pay about eight Vittles Restaurant employees and cover the rent on the eatery at 2579 South Cobb Drive. The amount, she said, will be enough to “carry me forward for two months.”Have questions about the spread of coronavirus? We have an entire section dedicated to coverage of the outbreak. “And I figured two months would give us enough time for...WW…

South Cobb residents who support making one of the region’s most populous unincorporated communities a new city just got some good news.The Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia recently released its feasibility study for a proposed city of Mableton, and it shows the proposed city would be fiscally viable. According to the study, Mableton would generate $11.3 million in operating expenses and $14.6 million in revenue for a city of about 70,000 people.The study area included areas east of Austell’s city limits to the eastern Cobb County border. The northern...…South Cobb residents who support making one of the region’s most populous unincorporated communities a new city just got some good news.The Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia recently released its feasibility study for a proposed city of Mableton, and it shows the proposed city would be fiscally viable. According to the study, Mableton would generate $11.3 million in operating expenses and $14.6 million in revenue for a city of about 70,000 people.The study area included areas east of Austell’s city limits to the eastern Cobb County border. The northern...WW…

A mass of motivated Georgia voters overloaded polling places on the first day of early voting Monday, many lining up before doors opened to make sure their ballots would be counted.They were in for long waits, some exceeding eight hours. Computer glitches at several polling places, including a huge voting location inside in downtown Atlanta, only lengthened delays.The start of three weeks of early voting showed how the combination of high turnout and with election equipment could also result in problems on a busy Election Day. A record number of Georgia voters, over 5 million, are expected...…A mass of motivated Georgia voters overloaded polling places on the first day of early voting Monday, many lining up before doors opened to make sure their ballots would be counted.They were in for long waits, some exceeding eight hours. Computer glitches at several polling places, including a huge voting location inside in downtown Atlanta, only lengthened delays.The start of three weeks of early voting showed how the combination of high turnout and with election equipment could also result in problems on a busy Election Day. A record number of Georgia voters, over 5 million, are expected...WW…

Test results of air samples taken at about two dozen locations around a plant that uses ethylene oxide to sterilize medical equipment show levels of the carcinogenic gas increased after it reopened earlier this year.That’s according to the study conducted by GHD, a company hired last year by Cobb County, Smyrna and the city of Atlanta to test air samples taken from locations within a five-mile radius from Sterigenics.Sterigenics has for decades been permitted to use ethylene oxide in its sterilization process. The gas is by the Environmental Protection Agency as a human carcinogen.The...…Test results of air samples taken at about two dozen locations around a plant that uses ethylene oxide to sterilize medical equipment show levels of the carcinogenic gas increased after it reopened earlier this year.That’s according to the study conducted by GHD, a company hired last year by Cobb County, Smyrna and the city of Atlanta to test air samples taken from locations within a five-mile radius from Sterigenics.Sterigenics has for decades been permitted to use ethylene oxide in its sterilization process. The gas is by the Environmental Protection Agency as a human carcinogen.The...WW…

Smyrna couple Damon and Yashira Willis responded to the outrage surrounding police and citizen shootings of unarmed Black people by donating to social justice organizations, but felt that wasn’t enough.They wanted to do something locally and since they spend a lot of time at Taylor Brawner Park, they felt that would be the perfect place to memorialize the lives of three Black people whose deaths helped reignite a national movement: Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery.The Willises memorialized three benches with plaques featuring the names of the three shooting victims at the...…Smyrna couple Damon and Yashira Willis responded to the outrage surrounding police and citizen shootings of unarmed Black people by donating to social justice organizations, but felt that wasn’t enough.They wanted to do something locally and since they spend a lot of time at Taylor Brawner Park, they felt that would be the perfect place to memorialize the lives of three Black people whose deaths helped reignite a national movement: Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery.The Willises memorialized three benches with plaques featuring the names of the three shooting victims at the...WW…