Inside the Box

Last week, U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald ruled against the Trump Administration in a suit filed by Columbia University over the president's practice of blocking Twitter users. The university argued that American citizens have the right to be free to express their views to elected officials. Blocking users on a social media website simply because their views run counter to the president's is undemocratic, the suit argued.

Black Box reporter Kathleen Sturgeon talked with the Legal Director for the ACLU of Georgia, Sean J. Young, to talk about what local implications there might be as a result of the ruling.

Read: U.S. Judge: Elected officials may not block on social media

Read: Censoring constituents online gains popularity

On May 22nd, elections were held across the country and in North Fulton there were quite a few contested races. Inside the Box host Hans Appen recaps some of the highlights and reminds listeners of dates for upcoming elections.

On Wednesday May 16th at Alpharetta City Hall, Alpharetta-Roswell Herald hosted the final candidate forum for Alpharetta Mayor and Council Posts 3 and 4. Moderated by Herald reporter Pat Fox and Black Box Publisher Hans Appen, the candidates cover a wide variety of topics important to the Alpharetta community. Voting is Tuesday May 22nd.

To find your polling station click on this link: https://www.mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do

For over a decade now, north Metro Atlanta has seen a slew of new cities emerge with the additions of Sandy Springs, Johns Creek and Milton. Some residents of the southeast portion of Forsyth County have been lobbying for years for the creation of their own city – Sharon Springs. After a ballot initiative was approved to give its residents a say in the issue on a referendum on the May 22 ballot, there has been a lot of back and forth on the pros and cons of incorporating as Forsyth County's second city. Two of those potential residents, Brian Francis (pro) and Charlie Smith (con) join the show to discuss what they see as the pluses and minuses of incorporating.

The US Department of Commerce recently announced tariffs on imported newsprint coming into the United States. Printers, publishers and paper suppliers employ more than 600,000 people in the United States. Those jobs support millions of additional, primarily good paying jobs in small businesses across the country.

Jerry Edwards of the Edwards Group, a family of communications, printing, radio and web companies, joins the show to talk about exactly why these tariffs are being implemented and what it means for the economy and news media.

To help fight these tariffs and ensure your right to information, contact your members of congress and ask them to help:

US Senator Johnny Isakson – (202) 224-3643

US Senator David Perdue – (202) 228-1031

US Congressman Rob Woodall (GA07) – (202) 225-4272

US Congresswoman Karen Handel (GA06) - (202) 225-4501

Live outside of North Atlanta? Enter your address here to sign the petition to STOP newspaper tariffs: www.stopnewsprinttariffs.org/join-the-coalition

News Media Alliance: newsmediaalliance.org

Black Box reporter joins the show to talk about the launch of his latest project 'Marijuana's hazy boundaries', which will take a deep dive into the legislation, challenges presented to local law enforcement agencies and the drug's use at the national and state level, as well as its impact in North Fulton and Forsyth County.

In the first installment, 'The evolution of marijuana', Joe takes a look at what has changed about marijuana in the last 10-20 years and why it's increasingly difficult for local law enforcement to identify the drug.

To read the full article, click here: https://www.northfulton.com/black_box/the-evolution-of-marijuana/article_f22b1a52-47c6-11e8-9071-671f5175a380.html

Alpharetta Councilman Jason Binder sat down with us to talk about why he is looking to make changes to Alpharetta's code of ethics and his process for deciding what needs to be included in those changes. We also discuss his entry into local politics and the issue that he says helped him find his voice as an elected official - the downtown parking deck debates of 2016.

READ: Ethics vote stalls in Alpharetta https://www.northfulton.com/alpharetta_roswell/ethics-vote-stalls-in-alpharetta/article_fb37b3e8-4317-11e8-9f57-6f83b4c94fed.html

Kathleen Sturgeon returns to the podcast to tell us about her latest contribution to Black Box, detailing the growing trend of elected officials blocking constituents from viewing their social media pages. We discuss its constitutionality and what exactly current law says an official should and shouldn't do online.

Later in the show we are joined by the ACLU of Georgia's Legal Director, Sean J. Young, to discuss a letter he sent to State Senator John Albers requesting that he "unblock" nine citizens that had been barred from viewing the politician's accounts and posts.

To read the full Black Box article "Censoring constituents online gains popularity", click here: https://www.northfulton.com/black_box/censoring-constituents-online-gains-popularity/article_3f730538-3ea1-11e8-86ed-07a29e440074.html

Former Alpharetta City Councilman and current candidate for Mayor, Chris Owens, sits down with us to talk about his experiences on Council as the last elected official to serve with both Mayor Arthur Letchas and David Belle Isle, what campaigning is like in a special election and what he envisions for the next generation of Alpharetta's leaders.

Dozens of parcels in Alpharetta slipped past tax assessments last year, leaving the city, the county and Fulton Schools with no way to collect tens – possibly hundreds – of thousands of dollars owed in taxes.

The properties, both commercial and residential, are primarily associated with recent development in the city. They were removed from the tax rolls when the Fulton County Assessor's Office changed their status to "deactivated" because their lots were reconfigured.

We sat down with the reporter who broke the story, Pat Fox, to give us the story behind the story.