New Federal Standards Leave Private School Students as Vulnerable as Ever to Sexual Assault
The Secretary of Education has recently announced new changes to Title IX, a set of standards originally instituted to protect students from sexual assault and harassment in schools. In spite of many schools’ protestations that they won’t be able to institute the changes in time, while also changing school operations to address contagion risks, the new standards are set to take effect on August 14th. The Latest Changes to Title IX Discourage Sexual Assault Reporting Advocacy groups for sexual assault survivors, and for women’s equal access to education, object to the latest changes to Title IX for two excellent reasons. Firstly, schools regulated under Title IX can now institute a higher burden of proof before taking action against a student accused of sexual assault. Previously,…
Georgia’s Roads Are Still Not Ready to Accommodate the Port of Savannah’s Increasing Capacity
For the past several years, the Port of Savannah has been working to expand its operations by upgrading its facilities, installing new equipment, and increasing its footprint. The problem is that improvements at the port don’t only affect port operations. They affect shipping traffic all over Georgia, which in turn affects the safety of everyone on the road. Improvements to the Port of Savannah Have Focused on Moving More Cargo, Faster In 2017, the Garden City terminal in the Port of Savannah added four new cranes for loading and unloading cargo, giving it the largest crane fleet of any port terminal in the U.S. It also announced its plans to add an additional four in 2018, bringing its total to 30. Once construction was completed,…
Profit-Driven Power Wheelchair Companies Put Medicare Patients at Risk of Falls and Fires
When discussing Medicare wheelchairs, it’s important to note that Medicare itself does not produce medical supplies; it only funds them. The actual suppliers and maintenance providers for devices like power wheelchairs are independent, for-profit companies. Some are honest businesses that produce safe products to fill medically appropriate prescriptions, but others exist for the express purpose of extracting as much taxpayer money from Medicare as possible, without regard for patients’ needs or decisions. Medicare Power Wheelchairs Are Overprescribed and a Popular Tool of Fraudsters Power wheelchairs are, or at least recently were, an ideal cover item for Medicare fraud, because of their many uses and high profit margins. The typical scam works something like this: The wheelchair company employs “patient recruiters” to acquire seniors’ Medicare numbers…
Georgia Poultry Plant Workers Face New Dangers Due to Coronavirus
Right now, while so many are fighting the spread of COVID-19 simply by staying home, others are still expected to risk exposure every day in order to perform in-person jobs that have been deemed essential, including jobs in the food supply line. Although there’s no arguing with the fact that a steady food supply is indeed essential to the U.S’s survival and recovery, many companies are using their “essential” classification as an excuse to disregard safety necessities and common sense, and treat their workers as even more expendable than usual. Poultry workers have always faced serious threats to their lives and wellbeing every time they report to work, but as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, Georgia poultry plant employees have particular reason to be afraid….
Sig Sauer Refuses to Recall Its P320 Handgun After Multiple Accidental Discharges
Due to its habit of firing without its trigger being pulled, the P320 handgun has gathered a certain amount of notoriety for itself and its manufacturer, Sig Sauer. Stunningly, in spite of both empirical testing any multiple incidents, Sig Sauer has refused to issue a recall, or even acknowledge that the P320 is dangerous to its hundreds of thousands of users. The Defect Has Been Known for Years In 2016, the U.S Army adopted the P320 for use in the field, but not before putting it through a series of tests. These included drop tests, which revealed that the gun would discharge on impact at certain angles. Sig Sauer met the Army’s requests for a modified trigger mechanism to fix the problem — but only…
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Is Not Doing Its Part to Combat the Corona Virus
In a time when thousands, potentially millions of lives depend on preventing the spread of a deadly pathogen, it would be reasonable to assume that the largest airport in the world would be the site of some of the most intense containment efforts — or at least some containment efforts. However, according to a recent investigation conducted by VICE Magazine, this assumption would be incorrect. Interviewed passengers reported “breezing through” airport security without receiving health screenings, even when arriving from high-risk parts of the world and showing visible symptoms. Some said they were asked about their travel to China, but not to other high-risk areas. Some said airport personnel gave them self-reporting forms but did not review their answers, and some received no forms at…
The Corona Virus Could Be Making Amazon Drivers Deadlier
As the global COVID-19 pandemic keeps people indoors, the demand for delivery services has naturally risen. With its nearly 50% share of all online sales in the US, and a significant footprint overseas as well, this means big changes for the ecommerce giant, Amazon. Because of the overload of their infrastructure, Amazon has been refusing since March 17th to accept shipments of what they consider non-essential goods from their suppliers. To put that into perspective, after years of doing its best to dominate the supply of almost everything people buy, Amazon is currently turning business away. In a time when people are looking for ways to keep themselves and their children in good spirits at home, and when bricks-and-mortar stores carrying things like videogames, board…
MARTA Is Making Changes to Help with the Corona Virus
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) announced on March 25th that it would be making some operational changes to help combat the spread of COVID-19. Most notably, some low-traffic routes and stations have been closed or given reduced schedules, while more buses have been diverted to high-traffic routes to prevent crowding and give passengers more space to distance from each other. Except for passengers who need to use the access ramp at the front door, MARTA passengers must now enter and exit buses through the rear doors, minimizing contact with the driver. They will not be required to pay at the farebox, although bus fares will still be charged at the train stations for those passengers who are transferring. Earlier in the pandemic, MARTA…
MARTA Police Fail to Catch an Armed Assailant
On January 12th, a man was assaulted while riding a MARTA train, just before it arrived at the East Point station. Another passenger captured video footage of the attack, in which the assailant holds the victim at gunpoint while repeatedly hitting and kicking him. The victim’s sister, who spoke to the press, only found out about the attack when someone tagged her on the video, which had been posted to Instagram. Although shaken up by what she saw, she says her brother is going to be okay, and that she’s grateful to MARTA police for responding quickly to the East Point station. However, the MARTA police don’t seem to have played any actual role in ensuring that her brother will be okay. They failed to…
New Truck Lanes for the I-75 Could Improve Both Traffic and Safety
A construction project intended to ease congestion on I-75 is currently gaining momentum with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). The idea has been in the works for over a year already, but after recently moving it up the priority list, GDOT now estimates that construction will be completed by 2028. As it currently stands, the plan is to add two northbound truck lanes, separated by a concrete divider, running from Macon to McDonough. Commercial trucks would be required to use these lanes instead of regular commuter lanes, except when making a stop within the I-75 corridor. Atlanta is a major commercial hub, and as a result, commercial big rigs currently make up 35% of traffic along the proposed route, a ratio that’s expected to…