Category: Georgia People | The Georgia Sun

Ware County Sheriff Randy Royal dies

Ware County Sheriff Randy Royal, who had just been elected to his fourth term as sheriff, died unexpectedly Wednesday. The cause of death has not yet been released. Royal was…

Former Clarkston Mayor Lee Swaney dies

Former mayor of Clarkston, Lee Swaney, died yesterday, city officials confirm. Swaney served two terms as mayor from 2002 to 2009. In his 2001 first run for the mayoral seat,…

Valdosta judge Vernita Bender dead

VALDOSTA -- The City of Valdosta confirmed that Municipal Court Judge Vernita Bender has died. In 2016, Bender was featured by the Judicial Council of Georgia as one of the most…

Atlanta’s first African American police chief dead at 81

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Police Department lost one of its history-makers Friday. Former Police Chief George Napper Jr. was Atlanta's first African American Police Chief. He died at his home…

Georgia’s first African American state trooper has died

Retired Major Robert Hightower became the first African American State Trooper hired by the Georgia State Patrol in 1970. After 28 years of service with the Department of Public Safety,…

Meet Georgia’s new emergency management chief

Gov. Brian Kemp tapped a new emergency-management director for the state Tuesday shortly after extending for another two weeks health measures aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus in Georgia.…

Kemp to name new state emergency chief

Georgia's top emergency official, Homer Bryson, is retiring. Bryson is the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and Homeland Security Director. He has held the post since 2016. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp…

Athens-Clarke County police to say goodbye to chief probation officer

ATHENS -- Law enforcement officers will say their final goodbyes to Clarke County's Chief Probation Officer Dale Allen who died Tuesday. A memorial procession of law enforcement vehicles is scheduled…

Georgia’s Congress members want a statue of John Lewis at the U.S. Capitol

A bipartisan group of Congress members from Georgia want to put a statue of John Lewis at the U.S. Capitol, and they have written a letter to state officials to…

Three former U.S. Presidents visit Atlanta to say goodbye to John Lewis

Three former U.S. presidents said goodbye to civil rights icon John Lewis Thursday, culminating a weeklong series of ceremonies honoring the Atlanta congressman who died July 17 of cancer at…

Former presidential candidate Herman Cain dead at 74 from coronavirus

Former presidential candidate and Georgia resident Herman Cain, who was hospitalized earlier this month with COVID-19, has died from the virus. He was 74 years old. Cain's death was confirmed…

John Lewis lies in state at Georgia Capitol

Civil rights icon and U.S. Rep. John Lewis was honored Wednesday at the state Capitol in Atlanta following his death earlier this month at age 80. His casket lay in…

Get in ‘good trouble’: John Lewis’ words ring out in Capitol once again

WASHINGTON — The immortal words of the late civil rights leader John Lewis rang out from the U.S. Capitol Monday during a private ceremony in celebration of his life. “You…

Georgia says goodbye to civil rights leader C.T. Vivian

Rev. C.T. Vivian, one of the foremost leaders of the civil rights movement, was honored at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta Wednesday following his death last week at age 95.…