Kecia Johnson using AIDS diagnosis to help her community

Submitted by ReinChild, By ReinChild, Where U Live Blogger

Monday, January 26th, 2015, 9:28am

Kecia Johnson using AIDS diagnosis to help her community

ATLANTA -- Most people find it strange how peaceful Kecia Johnson is living with a disease the world frowns upon.

Kecia grew up with a good family, she went to college, and she got a bachelor's degree. Everything you would expect to happen to someone with great family support was happening in Kecia’s life. Until one day Kecia fell sick and was told she had AIDS -- not HIV.

Kecia was 22 years old when she found out. She had mixed emotions, and the negative opinions of others caused Kecia to hide her diagnosis for two years from her family, including her mother Dr. Wendy Johnson. After time Kecia realized that God’s purpose in this was not to make her less of a woman, but to make her more of a woman because she was the shining light to stop the stigma of what society think AIDS should look like or come from.

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Sisters Chapel raises awareness about sex trafficking

Submitted by SpelmanCollege on Monday, January 26th, 7:19 am

ATLANTA -- On Tuesday, Jan. 27, Spelman College Sisters Chapel and community partners the Center for Civil and Human Rights, Living Water for Girls, Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Interfaith Children's Movement will host the "Arise, Awake and Act Against Sex Trafficking" conference.

This free, daylong conference begins at 11 a.m. and is targeted at clergy, lay and community leaders and students across metropolitan Atlanta, and will spotlight the ongoing conversations, programs and legislation designed to mobilize men and women to combat sex trafficking.

The event will be held in the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Ed.D. Academic Center Auditorium. For more information, visit www.spelman.edu, or call 404-270-5729.

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Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Monday, January 26th, 2015, 6:29am

Clemency hearing scheduled for Warren Lee Hill

ATLANTA -- Attorneys for Warren Lee Hill will meet with the State Board of Pardons and Paroles Monday to request clemency for the death row inmate.

Hill is currently scheduled to die by lethal injection on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. He was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of murdering his 18-year-old girlfriend in 1985. In August 1990, he beat fellow Lee Correctional Institute inmate Joseph Handspike to death with a board embedded with nails. A jury sentenced him to death for Handspike's murder.

A previous petition for clemency for Hill was denied in July 2012. A new execution order was issued earlier this month by Lee County Superior Court. Attorneys have filed multiple past appeals for Hill, arguing he is mentally handicapped and therefore ineligible for the death penalty.

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Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Friday, January 23rd, 2015, 3:30pm

Weekend roadwork: Sign structure and bridge repairs

(WXIA) -- Drivers in the Atlanta area are asked to avoid the southwest side of Interstate 285 this weekend, as construction crews will complete road projects in the area.

Weekend roadwork will take place on several other stretches of highway and interstate throughout metro Atlanta as well. The rainy weather may delay some projects.

Planned work includes:

Coweta County
* 1 northbound lane of I-85 will be closed between two miles north of Highway 34 and McCollum-Sharpsburg Road from 8 a.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday for sweeping.

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Atlanta Police Department joins 'The First 48'

Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Thursday, January 22nd, 2015, 10:50am

Atlanta Police Department joins 'The First 48'

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Police Department Homicide Unit will be featured on the new season of A&E documentary series "The First 48."

The television program follows detectives as they search for clues and interview witnesses in the first two days of a murder investigation. It has profiled police departments across the country, including DeKalb County.

"The First 48" crews filmed Atlanta's Homicide Unit members as they investigated and solved homicides throughout the city.

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Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Wednesday, January 21st, 2015, 8:48am

Atlanta students to attend special 'Selma' screening

ATLANTA -- A select group of Atlanta Public Schools students will attend a special screening of the film Selma Wednesday.

The 350 young people will also participate in a question and answer session with two Selma actors, executive producer Paul Garnes and Atlanta Public Schools superintendent Meria Carstarphen, a Selma, Ala., native, among others.

Students from Booker T. Washington High School, Coretta Scott King Young Women's Leadership Academy and Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School will watch the movie at Landmark Midtown Arts Cinema in Atlanta.

Atlanta Public Schools said the film's educational outreach includes a curriculum guide with 11 lesson plans that meet Common Core State Standards. The lessons are appropriate for children in grades 6-12.

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Submitted by 11Alive News Staff

Wednesday, January 21st, 2015, 12:13am

ATLANTA - As major movies and TV shows roll in to Atlanta, we usually hear about all the good it can bring from jobs to more revenue for business.

However, a downtown store owner contacted us after losing customers. She blames it on movie shoot after movie shoot along Mitchell Street.

Currently The Accountant, starring Ben Affleck is shooting in the area. Before that it was Fast and the Furious, and before that The Walking Dead.

Looking out the front door of her downtown hair store, Oh, My Nappy Hair Salon, Erica Blevins has a front row seat to a live film set. It's what isn't visible that has her upset.

"You can't see my business," she said.

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