The YMCA of Metro Atlanta has launched a new scholarship program that recognizes young leaders across its numerous centers.

The scholarships, totaling $14,000, are awarded to YMCA-employed teens who have demonstrated exceptional service, leadership and community involvement, said a press release.

They are funded through the Schoen Foundation Scholarship Endowment, which invested $1 million to establish the initiative, with additional support from The Chick-fil-A Foundation and the Robert F. Wharton Endowed Scholarship Fund.

Receiving the inaugural award was Decatur resident Joi Ector (Southern University and A&M College student and graduate of Southwest DeKalb High School), who was named the “2025 Teen Legacy Scholar” for her work at the East Lake Family YMCA.

Nicknamed the “Y Legend,” Ector is renowned for establishing several programs, mentoring youth in her community, along with advocating for education equity and food security through the Children’s Defense Fund.

The other two recipients announced were Melanie Harper (Marist School graduate and current University of Georgia student), who spent more than six years volunteering and working at the Cowart Family YMCA and Camp High Harbour in various roles, as well as Enesii Mwanjabala (Georgia Connections Academy graduate and student at Georgia Gwinnett College), Georgia’s state representative for the YMCA Youth Advocate Program who worked with members of Congress on issues such as youth development and health equity.

“This scholarship recognizes teens who live out the values at the heart of our mission,” said Lauren Koontz, president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of Metro Atlanta. “These young leaders give back to their communities, lead with character and approach challenges with determination and compassion.”

The scholarship program was introduced during the YMCA of Metro Atlanta’s annual “Leadership and Legacy” event.

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The sheriff confirmed that five detainees and four sheriff’s office employees were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital with injuries related to smoke inhalation.

All of those people are stable, but a sheriff’s office lieutenant and a detainee have been intubated.

Labat said that a detainee out for free time gathered plastic trash bags and a plastic bag with Styrofoam food trays in the shower on the seventh floor of the jail’s north tower and set them on fire. He says that the detainee will be charged.

He was one of the detainees taken to the hospital.

All 118 detainees on that floor of the jail were moved to the south tower.

Read more at WSBTV.com.

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The lawsuit, filed in a federal district court in Atlanta, demanded that Fulton County turn over “all used and void ballots, stubs of all ballots, signature envelopes, and corresponding envelope digital files,” from the 2020 election. It also accuses Fulton County Clerk Ché Alexander of violating federal laws for refusing to relinquish the records.

In a statement, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said the records were needed to protect U.S. citizens from “vote dilution.”

Trump has long claimed — without evidence — that the 2020 election was stolen in Georgia and other swing states, blaming his loss on unfounded accusations of rampant voting fraud, even though two recounts affirmed former President Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia. In an interview with POLITICO published earlier this week, Trump claimed that in the next few months, evidence would emerge to prove that 2020 was “a rigged election.”

Dhillon first requested Fulton County’s 2020 election records in October, following a subpoena over the same records issued by the State Election Board in 2024. In a letter to the Fulton County Board of Election, she argued that the records were needed to “ascertain Georgia’s compliance” with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the 2002 Help America Vote Act.

However, Alexander denied Dhillon’s request, according to the lawsuit, stating that the records were under seal and could not be released without a court order. Alexander did not immediately reply to a request for comment Friday.

Max Flugrath, communications director at the voting rights organization Fair Fight, said the Justice Department is “recycling conspiracy theories that’ve been disproven in court, in audits, and by independent experts.”

“They’re abusing federal power to manufacture a reason to restrict ballot access in 2026 and beyond,” he added.

The Justice Department also filed lawsuits against Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Nevada on Friday to compel the states to turn over their voter registration lists.

The Justice Department has requested voter data from 40 states and filed lawsuits against 18 states that refused to provide the records, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, which is tracking the requests. Officials told Stateline that the records will be shared with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in an effort to locate noncitizens on the voting rolls.

The post Trump’s Justice Department sues Fulton County to force release of 2020 ballot documents appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta.

Local activist and musician Samuel Tunick was arrested by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FBI as part of what advocates call a wave of repression against political dissent across the U.S.

On Dec. 2, Tunick was arrested after being pulled over in Atlanta and asked to step out of the car to observe an issue with a taillight on his car. According to advocates for Tunick, he was then suddenly handcuffed and surrounded by the FBI and DHS.

Tunick was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at an airport while returning from an international trip in January and federal agents attempted to coerce him into providing full access to his phone. Information has not been shared publicly or with Rough Draft as to the specific airport in which Tunick was detained; updates will come as they are available.

During his first court appearance on Dec. 4 after one night in jail, Tunick was informed that he had been indicted by a grand jury on Nov. 13, following his detainment in January. The charge was for one count of destruction of evidence for allegedly destroying evidence on his phone, though the prosecution allegedly did not clarify what evidence they were looking for. The warrant for Tunick’s arrest was also issued on Nov. 13.

Tunick was a protestor with the Stop Cop City movement against the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, a $118 million 85-acre police training facility in the South River Forest. Kamau Franklin, the director of Community Movement Builders, called the arrest “totally baseless” and evidence of the Trump administration’s scapegoating of legitimate protestors.

“The Trump administration is using political prosecution to distract from the growing unpopularity in the polls, defections within the GOP, and a persistent high cost of living,” he said.

“The ongoing harassment of local activists reflects the state’s struggle to convict Stop Cop City protestors,” local activist Evan Grace said in a statement. “Tunick’s situation reveals the apparent desperation and technical inadequacy of the FBI, perceived by many as a tool of the far-right agenda. This prosecution poses a significant threat not just to Tunick, but to the broader rights of individuals to use digital security tools essential for safeguarding democratic freedoms.”

In September 2023, 61 Stop Cop City activists were charged with coordination of violence, intimidation, and property destruction. These Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) charges were dismissed in September of this year by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin Farmer, who said they could not proceed because the proper authorization steps were not followed. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office called the protestors in a statement “domestic terrorists and violent criminals.”  

The case has been referred to by experts as the largest racketeering prosecution ever brought against protestors in U.S. history. Atlanta’s police training center opened earlier this year after years of protests, delays, and the death of a protestor by police.

As a condition of his bond, Tunick will be subjected to random visits from a parole officer and regular drug tests. A GiveSendGo account has been set up to help Tunick pay legal bills.

Related stories:
• Community calls for police accountability after fatal shooting of Linton Blackwell
• Trans woman still waiting for answers in DeKalb County library police incident

Editor’s note: Language surrounding Tunick’s indictment has been edited to clarify that he was indicted on Nov. 13, not Dec. 4.

The post Activists call FBI arrest of Samuel Tunick evidence of protestor repression appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta.

Atlanta Public Schools confirmed that a fight broke out in the school’s cafeteria.

Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes obtained video of the fight, showing two teen boys getting physical with each other.

In the video, you see one of the teens holding a pair of scissors in their hand. Moments later, you see the other teen with a bloodied face.

“One student sustained an injury involving a pair of scissors. School staff responded to secure the area, ensure the safety of all students, and provide care to the injured student, who is currently being treated at a local hospital,” APS said in a statement. “This was an isolated incident involving only the two students. No other students were involved, and there is no ongoing threat to students or staff.”

Follow WSBTV.com for updates.

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