Let’s take a look back. Has it really been three years since the ill-fated 2020? Hard to believe though it may be, the globe has more or less recovered from the trials of the pandemic, national riots, and much, much more, albeit with new problems to face in their wake. This first week back, we have persecutions in Brazil, a former Atlanta council member pleading guilty, the Coweta school board discussing budget, airline delays, and the Justice Department looking into the search of Trump’s properties.

January 9 – President Lula of Brazil to prosecute Bolsonaro supporters

On Sunday, January 8, supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil stormed the Congress and the Supreme Court, and surrounded the presidential palace. Police soon regained control of the buildings in the capital of Brasilia during the evening hours that day. 

The governor of Brasilia, Ibaneis Rocha, has been removed from his post for 90 days and has apologized for Sunday’s attacks. Meanwhile, Justice Alexandre de Moraes now stands accused of failing to prevent the attacks and for not speaking up in the face of the attacks. The Brazilian justice minister, Flavio Dino, spoke about how they are looking for any type of information on these acts of terrorism. 

The Civil Police of Brasilia stated that 300 of the people involved have been arrested and the current president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has vowed to track down and punish supporters of Bolsonaro. All of these events have led to an increase in pro-democratic rallies all over Brazil as well as a huge comparison to Trump and the raid of the US Capitol two years ago.

January 10 – Former Atlanta council member pleads guilty 

Former Atlanta councilman Antonio Brown pled guilty to bank fraud. Charges were filed in 2020, claiming that starting in 2012, he opened many credit cards and spent thousands of dollars on car loans. He then claimed that his identity had been stolen, maintaining his innocence in the case.

Brown was one of the youngest city council members. He was the representative of District 3. He also ran for mayor in 2021, unsuccessfully.

Brown entered a plea deal on January 9, which states that in exchange for pleading guilty to one charge, six others would be dropped. Brown will be sentenced on April 13. 

January 11 – School board establishes schedule to discuss budget plans

The school board of Coweta has put into motion plans to set up a calendar schedule for the new year. The calendar schedule includes dates to draft a new budget.

A factoid from the budgetary process in Georgia is that state law forces school boards to hold two meetings discussing the budget before being able to approve it. The prerequisites for this requirement have been met as the Coweta school board’s approved schedule allows for two meetings on May 9 and May 16 to discuss a new budget.

Georgia law also requires a two week review of the budget proposal before it can be officially approved by any school board. The budget is expected to be approved officially by June 27. All regular board meetings are open to the public to visit.

January 12 – Airlines try to make a comeback after the corrupted file by FAA

By Thursday morning over 440 flights throughout the country were delayed due to a computer outage. The Federal Aviation Administration claims it was caused by a corrupted file in the systems. 

The airlines have had delays, but most expect to get back to normal within a few days. The airlines recognize the inconvenience of the delays for all customers. The Transportation Department guidelines will give passengers their full refund for the canceled flight. 

The Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, is pointing to the FAA’s process to find what caused the issue Wednesday, and President Joe Biden requested an investigation of the delays.

January 13 – Justice Department to question people hired to investigate Trump properties  

The Justice Department is seeking to question the people who were hired to search Former President Trump’s property to find classified documents. This development is the latest from the Justice Department to continue an investigation after telling the federal court that they would not do so.

The Trump investigation is moving forward even as President Biden now faces his own personal counsel, Which has further helped make the comparison between the two situations. The Biden investigation is not nearly as far along as Trump’s. The Justice Department tried to hold Trump accountable at a sealed court hearing but ultimately fell short on the appeals.

After the sealed court hearing, DOJ wanted to know more about the people involved in the investigations. The DOJ has also found more classified documents at the former president’s club. While the people’s names have not been disclosed, the Department has expressed a potential for interviews happening.