Sean Keenan
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Articles by Sean Keenan
Georgia G.O.P. Chair Predicts a ‘Fair’ Election in the State Original
The chairman of the Georgia Republican Party expressed confidence on Tuesday that the state would conduct a fair election and predicted that its outcome would be respected. The assessment carried special weight in a state that was a focal point of President Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, even as the chairman, Josh McKoon, has continued to cast doubt on Mr. Trump’s loss.
Will Light Rail Ever Run Along Atlanta’s Beltline?
Long before the Beltline became Atlanta’s favorite path for joggers, cyclists, and barhoppers, it was conceived as a transit corridor. In September, the Atlanta City Council unanimously passed legislation to rescue that vision from the depths of uncertainty, urging the mayor’s office, MARTA, and Atlanta Beltline leaders to develop a plan to build and fund light rail around the full 22-mile loop.
A Mayor Walked Away After Covid Chaos. Will Voters Make Her a Governor?
Five years ago, Keisha Lance Bottoms stood before news cameras, pulled off her mask and tearfully told her city that a single term as mayor of Atlanta would have to be enough. Over the half-hour news conference, she touched on just some of what had afflicted Atlanta under her watch: The upheaval of the pandemic had fueled fights with state and federal officials. Protests had escalated into violent unrest, including one episode where an 8-year-old girl was fatally shot.
A Mayor Walked Away After Covid Chaos. Will Voters Make Her a Governor?
The decision to move Game 6 of the WNBA Finals to an afternoon slot has undoubtedly made it more difficult for fans to come out and support their …
A key question for the next governor: How to fix Georgia’s social safety net
Photo by Elijah Nouvelage In August, a stabbing on the Beltline’s Eastside Trail left Ramon Harris, 29, dead, and 54-year-old Johnathan Hamby in custody as the suspect. The murder, in a busy part of Atlanta, sparked local debates about mental illness and crime—a conversation that was further complicated by a public statement published by Hamby’s family.
Public Housing Tenants Sue Over Use of Invasive Monitoring Devices
For nine years, one resident of a subsidized apartment complex in Concord, New Hampshire, had considered their home a sanctuary, a place to recover from a traumatic past and a period of homelessness. Then, a strange white device appeared almost directly above their bed. The resident initially thought it to be little more than a sophisticated smoke detector. Only after it fell from their ceiling did they examine it more closely.
Can Atlanta Make Tax-Increment Financing Work in an Equitable Way?
Much of Atlanta today is virtually unrecognizable compared with its younger self. In just the last couple of decades, it has experienced growth spurt after growth spurt, maturing into a taller, denser, more buttoned-up capital city. New skyscrapers are shooting up out of Midtown like crystalline weeds. Old industrial buildings have been converted into swanky mixed-use spaces in increasingly posh Old Fourth Ward.
Georgia Teen Is Sentenced to Life for Deadly School Shooting
A Georgia teenager was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison for carrying out an attack at his high school that killed two students and two teachers and left a trail of grief in a suburban community near Atlanta. A judge found that the boy, Colt Gray, now 16, should spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Georgia Teen Is Sentenced to Life for Deadly School Shooting
A Georgia teenager was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison for carrying out an attack at his high school that killed two students and two teachers and left a trail of grief in a suburban community near Atlanta. A judge found that the boy, Colt Gray, now 16, should spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Georgia Teen Is Sentenced to Life for Deadly School Shooting
A Georgia teenager was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison for carrying out an attack at his high school that killed two students and two teachers and left a trail of grief in a suburban community near Atlanta. A judge found that the boy, Colt Gray, now 16, should spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Teen Charged in Georgia School Shooting Changes Plea to Guilty
The 16-year-old accused of killing four people and injuring nine others at his Georgia high school in 2024 pleaded guilty on Friday to carrying out the deadliest school shooting in the state’s history, avoiding a trial in a case that shattered an exurban community northeast of Atlanta. The teenager, Colt Gray, had been scheduled to go on trial in October, but the change in plea, which took place at a sentencing hearing that could stretch into next week, was not unexpected.
Teen Charged in Georgia School Shooting Changes Plea to Guilty
WINDER, Ga. -- A Georgia teenager pleaded guilty Friday to carrying out an attack at his high school in 2024 that killed four people, injured nine others and plunged a suburban community northeast of Atlanta into grief and turmoil. Colt Gray, 16, faced 55 charges, including murder and aggravated assault, after opening fire at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, when he was a 14-year-old freshman.
Teen Charged in Georgia School Shooting Changes Plea to Guilty
WINDER, Ga. -- The 16-year-old accused of killing four people and injuring nine others at his Georgia high school in 2024 pleaded guilty Friday to carrying out the deadliest school shooting in the state's history, avoiding a trial in a case that shattered a community northeast of Atlanta. The teenager, Colt Gray, had been scheduled to go on trial in October, but the change in plea, which took place at a sentencing hearing that could stretch into next week, was not unexpected.
Georgia Republicans Shelve Redistricting As Anger Grows
1 hour ago After Gov. Brian Kemp called them into a special session, state lawmakers said they didn’t have enough time to draw new maps that would have taken effect for the 2028 elections. Georgia lawmakers will not redraw the state’s political maps this month after GOP Gov. Brian Kemp called them into a …
Georgia Republicans Shelve Redistricting As Anger Grows
Georgia Republicans Shelve Redistricting As Anger Grows The leaders of the Georgia legislature pulled the plug on gerrymandering away U.S. House seats held by Black Democrats just hours before a special session was to begin. Gov.
Georgia Republicans Shelve Redistricting Amid Mounting Protests
ATLANTA -- Republicans in the Georgia state Legislature, facing mounting anger from Black leaders, scuttled plans to take up redistricting on Wednesday during a special session that had been called expressly to erase U.S. House seats in majority-Black districts. Gov. Brian Kemp called the session to draw legislative maps before the 2028 election with the aim of creating boundaries more favorable to Republicans.
Georgia Republicans Shelve Redistricting a Anger Grows
ATLANTA -- Republican leaders in the Georgia state Legislature said they would not take up redistricting during a special session that had been set to start Wednesday afternoon -- and that had been called expressly to erase U.S. House seats in majority-Black districts. kAmv@G] qC:2? z6>A 42==65 E96 D6DD:@? E@ 5C2H =68:D=2E:G6 >2AD 367@C6 E96 a_ag 6=64E:@? H:E9 E96 2:> @7 4C62E:?8 3@F?52C:6D >@C6 72G@C23=6 E@ #6AF3=:42?D] v6@C8:2 H2D E@ 36 E96 =2E6DE $@FE96C?
Will The World Cup Fuel Arrests Of Homeless People In Atlanta?
As World Cup matches begin, advocates warn that Atlanta is on track to repeat the arrests, displacement, and criminalization of homeless residents that drew criticism during the city’s 1996 Olympics. Atlanta promises a welcoming World Cup for everyone. But just days before kickoff, homeless advocates worry the city lacks the safety net needed to keep unhoused residents from being displaced or jailed amid the influx of hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Will the World Cup Fuel Arrests of Homeless People in Atlanta?
Story by Sean Keenan Published on This is your first of three free stories this month. Become a free or sustaining member to read unlimited articles, webinars and ebooks. Become A Member This story was published in collaboration with Shelterforce, the only independent, non-academic publication covering the worlds of affordable housing, community development and housing justice. Atlanta promises a welcoming World Cup for everyone.
Can MARTA Handle the World Cup?
Recall the 2019 Super Bowl in Atlanta. Traffic woes dominated local headlines, with MARTA receiving much of the blame. More than 100 bus drivers called out sick as part of an ongoing labor dispute, and even though rail-service usage surged, clogged downtown streets snarled MARTA’s street-level service (as seen in the Super Bowl’s most visible failure: streetcars stuck in car traffic). This summer, prepare for the same super-sized crowds and traffic—and multiply it by eight.
TADs can jumpstart mayor’s $5.5B revitalization plan, but other public funding needed
Mayor Andre Dickens is relying heavily on tax allocation districts (TADs) to fund his sweeping $5.5 billion plan to invest in long-neglected Atlanta neighborhoods. But public finance experts and city officials alike say the city will need public funding sources beyond tax increment revenue to make the Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative (NRI) a reality.
Dickens pitches pared-back TAD extensions to fund $5.5B neighborhood plan
Mayor Andre Dickens is dialing back his bid to extend the timelines for all eight of Atlanta’s tax allocation districts (TADs) to fund his $5.5 billion Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative, while promising greater accountability and community input. City Councilmember Michael Julian Bond on Monday introduced new legislation drafted by the administration that omits the Beltline and Perry-Bolton TADs from Dickens’ push to extend TAD expiration dates through 2056.
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Experts and say the city will need other funding sources to make the Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative a reality.
Housing density advocates fear Atlanta’s zoning code rewrite will deliver more of the same
As the Atlanta City Planning Department approaches the finish line on ATL Zoning 2.0 — the long-awaited rewrite of the city’s antiquated zoning code — some local housing advocates fear it will retain much of the same low-density residential framework dictated by the current 44-year-old code.
City council advances contested Kirkwood senior complex, after zoning review snag
A controversial plan to build a 42-unit micro-apartment complex for homeless seniors in Kirkwood is headed for a final vote by the Atlanta City Council, after a public-notice error forced a redo vote by the city’s Zoning Review Board. The city council’s Zoning Committee on Monday unanimously approved Stryant Investments’ request to upzone a lot at 88 Howard St. SE from single-family to planned development housing for an apartment building geared toward low- or no-income seniors.
Atlanta Housing to offer $60K in down payment assistance for Section 8 renters
Atlanta Housing (AH) chief executive Terri Lee on Tuesday announced the housing authority will offer as much as $60,000 in down payment assistance to help AH rent-voucher recipients buy a house. The initiative could launch as soon as June, AH spokespeople told Atlanta Civic Circle.
City Council considers audit of Housing Help Center
Atlanta City Councilmember Kelsea Bond is calling for a sweeping audit of the city’s Housing Help Center, arguing Atlanta needs a clearer picture of whether its eviction-prevention system is actually keeping residents housed. Bond introduced a resolution on Monday asking that the City Auditor’s Office conduct a comprehensive review of the Housing Help Center.
As Atlanta struggles to implement a 2024 blight tax, DeKalb rolls out its own
When Atlanta leaders passed the most aggressive blight tax in Georgia in 2024, they pitched it as a way to crack down on neglected properties, while generating revenue for affordable housing. “Make no mistake about it: This is a war on blight,” District 3 City Councilmember Byron Amos, who authored the ordinance, warned negligent property owners in fall 2024.
How Atlanta spends its housing trust fund is murky. New legislation seeks transparency.
Since its 2021 creation, Atlanta’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund has funneled over $80 million to initiatives ranging from affordable housing production to city employees’ salaries to interest payments on city-issued housing bonds — often with little public transparency. City Councilmember Matt Westmoreland wants to change that. Westmoreland authored the legislation creating the fund, which he said was intended to bankroll affordable housing production and preservation.
One More Shot ( 2025 )
Víspera de Año Nuevo de 1999, con la ansiedad del temido efecto 2000 en el aire. Minnie (Emily Browning) es una anestesista que aprovecha la oportunidad de asistir a una fiesta donde estará su ex Joe, cuya pérdida aún no ha superado. Pero todo empieza a ir mal cuando al llegar se da cuenta de que él ha venido con una nueva novia.
Pre-World Cup, council members ask how Atlanta will police homelessness
Several Atlanta City Council members raised fears Tuesday that the 2026 FIFA World Cup could mean a law enforcement crackdown on homelessness, with police displacing or even arresting unsheltered near downtown Atlanta matches.
With The Beacon’s debut, Atlanta hits 500 rapid housing units for homeless people
The city of Atlanta reached a slightly overdue milestone Thursday with the debut of The Beacon rapid housing complex in Mechanicsville. The 112-unit apartment project’s ribbon-cutting marked 500 city-funded permanent supportive housing units for homeless people — a target the city had aimed to hit by the end of 2025.
Brewing legal beef over TAD extensions threatens $5.5B neighborhood renewal plan
As Atlanta leaders weigh extending the timelines of the city’s tax allocation districts (TADs) until 2055 to fund the mayor’s $5.5 billion neighborhood revitalization plan, a high-stakes dispute has sprung up over a deceptively simple question: Should the original baseline from when the TAD was created decades ago be used to calculate how much future property tax revenue it receives — or a new one set at the time of extension?
How four statewide elected offices affect your housing and living costs
Voters focused on housing affordability may have already decided their picks for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. These offices all can have a direct impact on how housing is built, regulated, and funded, as our prior explainer details. But a slate of lesser-known statewide elected offices — from public service commissioner to agriculture commissioner — can quietly shape Georgians’ cost of living.
Judge rejects HUD’s homeless grants overhaul, to Atlanta provider’s relief
Much to the relief of Atlanta’s top homeless services provider, a federal judge ruled this week that the Trump administration’s bid to dramatically rewrite the rules governing nearly $3.9 billion in Continuum of Care grants for permanent supportive housing was unlawful. At stake for Atlanta was $14.5 million in federal funding that keeps 844 formerly homeless households housed.
During the ‘96 Olympics, ‘jails became homeless shelters.’ Will the World Cup be different?
As Atlanta prepared to host the 1996 Olympic Games, the city built a jail. The Atlanta City Detention Center opened in 1995, pitched as a pressure valve for the upcoming influx of visitors; with hundreds of thousands of people expected for the Olympics, officials warned, the overcrowded Fulton County Jail on Rice Street would not be able to handle a surge in arrests. For people like Allen Hall, who’ve endured chronic homelessness, it felt like something else entirely.
Oversight report on mayor’s $10B plan reveals fissures over extending TADs
Mayor Andre Dickens’ push to extend the timelines of the city’s eight tax allocation districts (TADs) to fund his proposed multi-billion Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative (NRI) advanced on Tuesday. An oversight board appointed by the Atlanta City Council in January issued guidelines on March 31 for the mayor’s plan to spend $10 billion over 30 years to revitalize high-poverty Atlanta neighborhoods.
ICE agents at some airports begin checking IDs in security lines
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stationed at several airports on Wednesday were checking travelers’ IDs and performing other screening duties alongside personnel from the Transportation Security Administration. Those activities were largely a departure from the roles ICE agents had been performing since Monday at other major airports.
How Georgia’s governor and other top elected officials affect housing
The Georgia primary is less than two months away, and housing affordability is top of mind for many voters. While state legislators often reap most of the credit — or blame — for the policies that determine how housing is built, regulated, and funded, there are several statewide offices that also hold plenty of sway.
Is Atlanta’s housing-heavy Two Peachtree overhaul stuck in limbo?
One of Atlanta’s most high-profile affordable housing efforts seems stuck in a holding pattern, with key questions about how the city will pay for it unanswered. Atlanta officials celebrated the start of the Two Peachtree project in early 2023, when the city bought the 41-story office tower from the state with plans to turn the long-vacant office tower into a major mixed-use development with hundreds of apartments, refurbished office space, and street-level retail.
Dickens’ $5.5 billion Neighborhood Reinvestment plan hinges on extending Atlanta’s TADs. Can they deliver?
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was reported over the course of nearly three months, supported by public records obtained by Atlanta Civic Circle, and dozens of on- and off-the-record conversations with former and current city officials, neighborhood leaders, developers, housing experts, and nonprofit researchers.
Experts dampen hopes that the Senate’s omnibus housing bill will curb investors’ bulk-homebuying
The US Senate has overwhelmingly approved a sweeping bipartisan housing bill that aims to make housing more affordable by curbing investors’ outsize influence in housing markets, boosting housing supply, and encouraging financing for first-time homebuyers, among other provisions. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which combines regulatory changes, development incentives, and federal program reforms, still must pass the House of Representatives.
Men's Lacrosse Loses To Norwich; Burrows Scores Hat Trick
NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Albertus Magnus College men's lacrosse team lost a 21-4 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game to Norwich University on Saturday afternoon. Marcus Burrows (West Haven, Conn.) had a hat trick for Albertus, which was his fourth of the season. Sean Keenan (Franklin Square, N.Y.) also added a goal. Alexis Gonzalez (Edison, N.J.) had 10 saves on the day.
Will Congress crack down on mega-homebuyers before Georgia?
US Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) is betting Congress is finally ready to take a serious swing at corporate homebuyers’ grip on housing markets nationwide. The bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act, expected to reach a full Senate vote on Friday, would bar institutional investors that already own over 350 single-family homes from buying more. Violators would be fined $1 million or up to triple the excess homes’ purchase price, whichever is higher.
Crossover Day leaves one good shot at reining in mega-homebuyers
Several bills to rein in corporate mega-homebuyers failed to make it from one Gold Dome chamber to the other by Crossover Day on March 6 — but one Republican-backed Senate bill to dial back their buying power in the Georgia housing market still has a shot at becoming law. Senate Bill 463 would prohibit corporations from purchasing more than 500 single-family homes statewide.
Men's Lacrosse Rolls Past Elms For Second Straight Win
AMHERST, Mass. - Cooper Strecker (Chester, Conn.) scored five goals, and Sean Keenan (Franklin Square, N.Y.) and DaKari Coleman (Norwalk, Conn.) each scored four goals as the Albertus Magnus College men's lacrosse team blew out Elms College, 22-1 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game on Saturday evening. Strecker also added four assists on the day. Marcus Burrows (West Haven, Conn.) had three goals, three assists and four ground balls.
Will Georgia Legislature OK bills to increase housing density amid affordability crisis?
Two bills that promote denser, more affordable housing in single-family residential areas have until Crossover Day on Friday to hurdle House floor votes and head to the Senate for a chance at becoming law. Both are currently before the House Rules Committee. House Bill 1166 would override local zoning restrictions in single-family residential areas to permit 400 square-foot or smaller homes, known as accessory dwelling units (ADUs), in homeowners’ backyards.
Strecker Scores Four Goals, But Men's Lacrosse Loses To Regis In GNAC Opener
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College men's lacrosse team opened up Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play, losing to the Pride of Regis College, 12-10, on Sunday afternoon at Celentano Field. Cooper Strecker (Chester, Conn.) scored a team-high four goals, and also had a pair of assists on the day. Marcus Burrows (West Haven, Conn.) netted a hat trick, his second of the season. DaKari Coleman (Norwalk, Conn.) had a team-high 13 ground balls.
How we built security into Custom Agents
Uh-oh! It looks like your ad blocker is preventing the video from playing. Please watch it on YouTube A critical component of our Custom Agents’s launch was making sure this new kind of AI workflow as secure as possible for our customers. Most AI agents today are built for a single user with a relatively simple set of permissions that map to that user. However, agents in a collaborative environment have a different set of needs.
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