“It was night and day,” Sweet-McCullough said. “All of the sudden, we saw dorms coming, and a building where you could eat. The college green began developing [and] getting Scrappy the owl . . . it was just amazing.” 

This year marks 13 years since Sweet-McCullough returned to KSU in 2012 to complete her college education. She said that even in 2012 she saw KSU’s growth underway. 

In August 2025 KSU admitted 12,381 new students to its freshman class, “Flight 29,” a glaring contrast to Sweet-McCullough’s 2012 freshman class of 6,107 students. The incredible population growth of the last 10 years has brought frustrations for both new and current students due to the severe lack of parking, overcrowded campus life and shrinking space on campus and in surrounding areas to KSU, affecting both the school and the community.   

Students such as sophomore chemistry major Rhianna Allen say they notice parking on campus is nearly impossible. The overcrowding of students is mirrored in the classrooms as well, Shahzain Jiwani, a mathematics major, said.   

The total population of KSU in Fall 2025 is 51,375 students. It is now the third largest school in Georgia, and was named the 7th fastest growing university in the United States. Among the other large Georgia universities, Kennesaw State’s undergraduate population of 46,069 students is larger than both Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia (UGA). This Fall Georgia Tech welcomed a freshman class of 4,050 students out of an undergraduate population of around 20,000 students, while UGA welcomed 6,200 students out of its total of 32,399.  

Georgia State University (GSU) and KSU have similar enrollment numbers. GSU has around 48,000 undergraduates compared to KSU’s 46,069 undergraduate students. Both Georgia Tech and Georgia State University had student populations of more than 50,000 in previous years, but KSU surpassed both universities in freshman student enrollment numbers this fall, with a 7.4% increase in enrollment between this year and last.  

KSU was a hot topic on social media in recent months regarding its large student population. A surge of popularity on TikTok placed the school under a spotlight, inviting scrutiny that reaches communities outside of Georgia. Rants about parking complaints, videos of crowded campus events and students shown sitting along the back wall of classrooms without desks, are just some of the ways college students express their frustrations. These were just a fraction of the more than 124,000 TikTok videos  with the hashtag KSU. Allen said the ‘influencer’ culture at KSU is contributing to the massive boost in admission the university is facing.  

Students say they are skeptical about the ways the university handles the problems that come with the surge in population and online attention the school receives.  

Fresh Take Georgia contacted admissions personnel at KSU. They declined an interview. 

“KSU needs to admit there is an issue,” Jiwani said. “The fact that [KSU is] not acknowledging the issue makes it feel to people they’re not going to try and resolve [it].”  

Sophomore Rhianna Allen also said the school may be attempting to sweep some of these problems away, so it can continue admitting more students without proper infrastructure to accommodate them. The lack of accountability from the institution has been discouraging for her. 

“I don’t like how KSU is handling a lot of the issues that it has. [The faculty] being like ‘hey, this actually isn’t happening’. . . makes people who attend [the school] see them in a different light,” Allen said. 

 “[There] are very true parallels when we talk about Kennesaw State. One, recognizing there comes a point where you’ve got the abundance you’re looking for and you’re healthy and it’s vibrant and this kind of depth on enrollment. . . allows you to make good intelligent personnel decisions and start to commit some resources,” Chris McCollough, director of the School of Communication and Media, said.  

Out of all of the public universities in the state in 2024, KSU was the Comprehensive University with the highest value-added impact number at $1.6 billion . Value added impact means the overall economic benefits to local businesses and residences. KSU alone accounted for a little more than half of the total Georgia Comprehensive University economic output impact in the fiscal year (FY) of 2024.  The university generated $2.3 billion out of a total of $4.5 billion added to Georgia’s economy, according to the June 2025 report by the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.  

“The counterpoint is, if you’re deciding that [this is] the cap out [on population], you have to remember that the state system we’re in runs on a growth budget. So, state schools and how they’re budgeted each year are measured against how they do on their growth markers and their prosperity. So, where we are is a welcome position for most USG institutions because we have the ability to pull students in and continue to grow, where a lot of them have had to struggle to sustain,” McCollough said.  

“I can understand the student perspective being frustrated. It’s the balance of something that’s a tremendous opportunity in front of us,” McCollough said. “The corollary [to this opportunity] is, you’re going to have [these] growing pains,”  

The post Growing pains disrupt KSU students  appeared first on Fresh Take Georgia.

In the late musician’s honor, the Brookshire Amphitheater’s major renovation will provide a space for people’s voices and characters to shine when they feel they don’t have opportunities anywhere else.

These efforts began in early 2024 and led to a community campaign of fundraisers, grants, and neighbors who volunteered. Program Director John Dirga, along with the rest of the board of directors for the Cabbagetown Initiative, spearheaded these efforts.

Known as the “Duchess of Cabbagetown,” Joyce Brookshire was a beloved singer-songwriter who had a heart for equality and justice that flowed through her lyrics. If there was one word to describe her, it would be “powerhouse,” and that’s exactly what the neighbors of Cabbagetown want for their amphitheater.

Brookshire died in 2017 at 76 years old.

“An activist human rights defender, and a big voice. especially for the Appalachian community that’s really kind of made Cabbagetown what it is, it’s just one of the most beautiful things,” President of the Cabbagetown Neighborhood Improvement Association Marina Rivera said. “We’re merging this history in a really beautiful way that I think our community will continue to grow and celebrate for the years to come.”

The heart of Cabbagetown is community, and rebuilding this amphitheater will reflect this spirit. The amphitheater will be the site for the Chomp and Stomp concert series which is dedicated to bluegrass and old-time music, as well as other concerts or shows for the local crowd.

“Connecting that with Chomp and Stomp, that’s the manifestation of that musical history,” Parks Committee Chair for the Cabbagetown Initiative Charles Bethea said.

It will also include a wildlife viewing area, new landscaping, accessible seating platforms and ramps, and important drainage work to assure the solidity of the amphitheater.

“A lot of the history of music in Cabbagetown is a function of how close the houses are together and kind of front porch culture,” John Dirga, program director, said. “It’s always been a magnetic neighborhood for creatives and musicians, even during the Cotton Mill era, with figures like Tommy Roe and before that, Moonshine Kate and Fiddlin’ John.”

Cabbagetown has yielded many fundamental figures in Atlanta’s music history. Not just people like Tommy Roe who Dirga mentioned, but also musicians including Cat Powers, Blackberry Smoke, and Jody Grind.

“I often say that we, as leaders of the community now, stand on the shoulders of giants that created this incredible place,” Board Director of Cabbagetown Initiative Brandon Sutton said. “These places don’t just happen, that vibe and togetherness doesn’t just happen automatically, it takes people committing to togetherness.”

The goal of this neighborhood’s efforts is more than just a revitalization of an amphitheater. It is the heart for community and the need for connectivity. The amphitheater’s restoration would not be possible without the neighbors themselves and that was apparent in the project’s blueprints. It included a “woven kudzu enclosure” which will be harvested and woven by volunteers and Cabbagetown residents.

Many neighbors donated their time towards curating the sound design and acoustics of the amphitheater and even weaving together the history of the neighborhood and the city with different materials.

“It’s important for people to understand that this is a gift to the city of Atlanta,” Dirga said. “This becomes property of the people of Atlanta, and that it makes our neighborhood stronger to have a place like this in our community, but it’s also a place where other people can share their stories and have their own adventures.

At the core of it all, stands Joyce Brookshire in memory, pushing efforts for Cabbagetown to continue its community-centered ways. As a pillar of the city of Atlanta, Cabbagetown is dedicated to projects like these bringing the community together with music at the heart of it all.

“Joyce’s mission was the forgotten, the hungry, the homeless, the poor,” Dirga said. “I’m not going out of my way to make it inviting for camping, but I’m also not going to shy away from building something that thousands of people are going to enjoy just because somebody might use it the wrong way or use it in a way that somebody doesn’t like.”

The completion date for the amphitheater was planned for late 2025 but due to weather and additional costs, the date has moved to spring of 2026. The Chomp and Stomp concert series will still be held Saturday, November 8^th starting at 11 am. Fundraising efforts and awareness campaigns will continue through the construction phase.

“Music has been the thread that’s kept Cabbagetown going for so many years,” Cabbagetown’s neighborhood association president Marina Rivera said.

The post Cabbagetown neighborhood leads efforts to revitalize local amphitheater appeared first on Fresh Take Georgia.

The June 28 event brought out more than 25 people including families, other elected officials and curious Cobb County residents. 

Metzger aims to reinforce trust within the Cobb County court system through transparency with the public. 

“Ultimately we want to seek justice,” she said. “The purpose of justice is not just about people being impartial, it is about seeking truth and that is the first thing we do.”

The Solicitor General’s office investigates crimes, conducts interviews with victims and witnesses, files accusations, and makes decisions about whether to prosecute cases. 

It investigates and prosecutes misdemeanor offences such as DUI offenses, traffic citations and domestic violence cases. Most cases are solved through negotiation and rarely make it to trial. In Cobb County, many of the offenses are misdemeanors. 

Metzger places a special focus on domestic violence. In 2024, she managed 758 domestic violence cases. She emphasized the importance of proper education for young adults so they can learn to recognize the signs of abuse early on, as well as educating police officers about the proper handling of a domestic violence incident. 

Metzger pointed that if the Solicitor General’s office can get a hold of a case early, there is a higher success rate of prosecution. 

“It’s very hard to prosecute because they often don’t even know it’s happening,” Metzger said. “Most people in that situation want to forgive and forget, by the time we get it to trial the person who had been hurt often is in a state of forgiveness and forgetting.”

At the town hall meeting, Metzger’s office partnered with Kelly Johnson, Kennesaw State University’s equity and Title IX investigator, to speak about consent and violence in dating. Johnson handles sensitive investigations such as matters of sexual assault, dating violence, harassment and discrimination. 

“Education is important in our community so we can drive down rates,” Johnson said. “[Metzger] talked about the statistics and how little they can be curtailed or minimized, but education is one of the ways to do it.”

Metzger answered questions about a variety of topics including the prosecution of DUI cases, the department’s budget and various youth involvement programs. 

“The only way to be transparent is to get out and really have ways for the public to come in and communicate with the elected official, to talk about what their office does, and to learn about the internal workings,” Cindy Yeager, chief deputy assistant-solicitor general said. 

Visitors had a chance to mingle and meet with the solicitor general. 

“I just wanted to come out, support and see what she has to say,” Aleah Horace said. “It is important for elected officials to hold events so they can outreach with their community.” 

“They’re working for us, so they need to hear from us as well,” Horace added. 

The post Cobb County Solicitor General hosts a town hall meeting appeared first on Fresh Take Georgia.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr declined an invitation to speak at the hearing.  

The committee heard 10 testimonies from people speaking against HB 481, the “heartbeat bill,”  an anti-abortion law that stops women from receiving an abortion once a heartbeat is detected. 

“When we have the opportunity to repeal this law, we will,” Sen. Nikki Merritt, D-Grayson, said. “We need the power of the people to help us, so that we can get the numbers and the support we need so we can protect women and families.”

Constituents spoke about their personal experiences with abortion, miscarriages and politics in the healthcare system. Amber Nicole Therman was one of the first women who died of a pregnancy-related cause after HB 481 became law. Her mother, Shanette Williams, spoke via Zoom at the hearing. She addressed politics’ role in healthcare and made a promise to continue to fight for women’s reproductive rights. 

The Georgia Department of Public Health released a Maternal Mortality Report for 2018-2020. The report concluded that for every 100,000 live births, there are 30.2 pregnancy-related deaths. In Georgia, Black women are two times more likely to die of a pregnancy-related death than white women are. 

“Georgia’s abortion law puts pregnant women in danger by creating fear and confusion and restricts providers’ ability to provide the best possible care according to the unique needs and situations of their patients,” said Dr. Anna Newton-Levinston, an associate professor of  behavioral science and mental health studying access to reproductive healthcare at Emory University. “My research has found that this is happening even for those that should be qualified for exemptions under the law.” 

Adriana Smith is the most recent case of maternal mortality in the state. She was a pregnant woman whose body was kept alive after brain-death because providers feared prosecution under the state’s anti-abortion law. The baby was delivered at six months via emergency cesarean section and Smith was taken off life-support.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has the power to determine how HB 481 is prosecuted and interpreted. 

“We have to be cognisant of legislation that regulates abortion in our state,” Hannah Davis, public policy and organizing manager for Planned Parenthood, said.  “We can see patients up until the point that fetal cardiac activity is detected, which happens roughly around six weeks of pregnancy…anywhere between four and eight weeks.” 

“It’s before many people even know that they’re pregnant,” Davis added. 

Women facing poverty, living in rural areas, and women of color are less likely to be able to travel outside of Georgia for abortion healthcare, according to the GDPH maternal mortality report. They are more likely to face a pregnancy-related death compared to white women living in suburbs across the state.  

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As strawberry season comes to a wrap, blueberries and blackberries now make their debut. Georgia summer brings forward many seasonal fruits such as blueberries, blackberries and peaches. Blueberry season is a hot attraction for families and individuals looking for fresh picked produce.

View the photos below to see a peak of berry season here in Georgia.

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On the morning of March 8, 2025, the bodies of 19-year-old twins Qaadir Malik Lewis and Naazir Rahim Lewis were found on Bell Mountain in Towns County. Firefighter Scott Kerlin was on the scene who took pictures of the twins and shared them publicly on social media. While Kerlin was fired and charged with an obstruction of justice misdemeanor, the situation sparks questions about laws and policies regulating first responders and their social media usage in an increasingly digital age.

Towns County Fire Chief Harold Copeland told reporters that the county courthouse advised him not to comment on the case. Copeland shared that Kerlin’s actions were “unacceptable and shouldn’t have happened,” but declined to comment further on the situation. Copeland directed reporters to Towns County Commissioner Cliff Bradshaw.

Bradshaw stated that Towns County first responders are not permitted to post images of civilians under any circumstances.

“We’re just not allowed,” Bradshaw said. “As far as EMS (emergency medical services), we do not take pictures. So, I mean, all of our records are on the computer. As far as our PCR (patient care report), we do not take pictures, and we do not allow body cameras.”

He stated first responders who post photos are subject to termination.

According to Cobb County Public Information Officer David Buchanan, Cobb County’s police department has strict protocols surrounding its officers’ posting photos on social media.

“In our department, officers can’t post anything on social media that’s case-related, while they’re on duty, work-related, even a picture of them in uniform without prior approval from the chief or the public information officer,” Buchanan said. “As part of the onboarding process, you have to read through all the policies and sign off on them, so that would just be a policy violation.”

Fresh Take Georgia’s reporters found that the training documents and policy information distributed to incoming Cobb County police officers do not provide clear guidelines for social media use. They instead focus on the release of information to the public and interaction with news media.

Based on the social media policy obtained from Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services (CCFES), firefighters’ social media policies are equally vague. 

The policy states that: ‘CCFES endorses the secure and responsible use of social media and electronic communication to enhance communication and information exchange; streamline processes; and foster productivity with its employees.’

It urges Cobb County firefighter personnel and affiliates to use good judgment and ask supervisors about content they feel may be controversial or possibly inappropriate. However, it lacks a clear definition of what types of content are considered appropriate or inappropriate for posting.

While certain states like Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Colorado, Texas and New York have passed social media laws, these laws include misinformation and child protection.

The only law that somewhat addresses first responders’ misuse of social media is the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects patient information related to health care and identity. 

However, HIPAA does not cover every scenario. Qaadir Malik and Naazir Rahim Lewis’ case was not covered under HIPAA. 

No state has enacted laws specifically regulating first responders’ social media use. Without any existing legislative backing, families and loved ones are left to deal with the fallout.

“It’s scary. I’m literally scared to go on social media. I’m scared to pick up my phone because I know if I see that picture, I already know I’ll have a heart attack,” Samira Brawner, the twins’ aunt, told 11Alive news.

Other Georgia residents question when lawmakers will put clearer policies regarding first responders and social media into place.

Maria Silva, a 22-year-old Marietta resident, said she was surprised to learn that no state law has been enacted.

“I feel like social media has been around long enough that somebody should have thought about that already,” Silva said. “If things like this happen so often, then why hasn’t anyone done anything?”

The Towns County case is not the first of its kind. In 2020, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were discovered sharing horrific photos of Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash. That same year, a Guyton, Ga. police officer was suspended after “laughing off” concerns on TikTok about his department’s slow response to a 911 call.

A simple Google search brings up dozens of results showing first responders misusing social media, jeopardizing their jobs, and causing further distress to families in crisis. 

Silva believes more specific laws and regulations would help address this issue.

“Not every person has the same sense of right and wrong, or what is considered inappropriate,” Silva said. “I have many friends in the medical field, and they’re all terrified of a HIPAA violation. I do think that having specific laws like no photographing on your personal devices on the job or something like that is needed.”

Amid the controversy, Cobb Police officer Buchanan maintains that first responders are held to a higher standard than the actions of certain offenders and empathizes with affected families.

“If I had a sibling or a parent that had an active case going on, I wouldn’t want them to just be putting their information out there like that, unless there’s a good reason to do that,” Buchannan said. “We’re held to a higher standard than the average citizen, because that’s what comes when we are sworn in as a police officer, that we swear to uphold the constitution and do what’s best for the community.”

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U.S. National Parks stimulate local economies by boosting these sectors of industry: lodging, restaurants, retail, transportation, gas, recreation and groceries. Altogether, hundreds of thousands of jobs are created both locally and nationally. 

“For every dollar that the federal government spends on a national park, it generates through tourism and services, $15 for the local economy.” said Patrick Gamman, the superintendent of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. 

In 2023, visitors spent more than $26 billion visiting national parks, 415,000 jobs were created directly or indirectly from this spending and national parks supported $55.6 billion in economic output, according to the National Park Service. 

Visiting a national park typically requires transportation by car, airplane, or public buses or trains. Traveling supports both the fuel industry and transportation industries. National parks visitors spent $4.7 billion on gas and transportation in 2023. 

In Kennesaw, Georgia, Congress designated what is now known as Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park as protected land from a Civil War battle during the Atlanta Campaign in 1864. 

“This park was created to honor the Americans that died to keep our union one and we still get to do that, we protect a lot of archaeological resources,” Gamman said. “Since I’ve been here we’ve found two intact bombs from the Civil war that we had to get the bomb squad to come and take them away.” 

Kennesaw Mountain’s battlefield park is unique because it is located in a busy suburb of metropolitan Atlanta, unlike many parks around the country that are typically located in rural areas. The majority of visitors are Atlanta locals and depend on cars for transportation. In 2023, visitors to the park generated $18.6 million from gas and transportation alone.  

It has an operating budget of about $2.1 million. This money doesn’t go into the pockets of any rangers or superintendents but into the park to preserve trails, clear fallen trees, renovate bathrooms for public use and a variety of other park specific expenses. 

“There will always be room for you in a national park but there might not be room for your car because so many people are coming and we can’t handle the cars,” Gamman said. 

There are many industries created alongside national parks. Some cities that surround national parks around the country would not exist if it were not for the park. 

“I’m not going to [Springdale] to stay in that town. I’m going to that town because I want to go to Zion national park,” world traveler Ryan Litow said. “If you start tearing that down or destroying that park nobody’s going to go to that town anymore, which means immediately every single one of those jobs is gone.”

Visitor spending on recreation industries accounted for 34,400 jobs nationally. At Kennesaw Mountain, recreation supports 1,450 jobs. Gamman spoke about dog walkers who are paid to walk people’s dogs up the mountain. 

“One of the funny businesses we have here are professional dog walkers that come to this park and it’s a special use permit they get,” Gamman said. “There are people paying other people to have their dogs walked here.”

“If you’re in the Grand Canyon, there’s all these private backpacking companies and they bring people in and they guide them, so they get camping permits and they bring all the visitors in and they get a permit for all that,” Gamman said.

Many national parks offer camping within the park. This is a smaller sector of economic stimulation; however, any money spent within a national park, whether parking fees or camping fees, are required by law to stay within the park. Camping contributed $558 million to the parks across the country. 

This means that every dollar spent at a national park is a dollar spent on a national park. 

Kennesaw Mountain does not offer camping due to its proximity to a large city so any non-local visitors must stay in a hotel. 

Lodging is the largest sector of visitor spending when visiting national parks. Tourists spent $9.9 billion nationally on lodging in 2023 and created 89,200 jobs. In Kennesaw, they spent $30.8 million and created 273 jobs, according to the National Park Service.

Lodging directly supports restaurants and retail industries. Those staying in hotels buy groceries or eat at local restaurants. Hostels are another form of lodging near many parks. They tend to be budget friendly. 

“If staying in a really comfortable hotel is important to you, that’s going to eat a lot into your finances,” Litow said. “I’m a minimalist in every aspect of my life, and that’s important because when I go to travel, I’ll stay in hostels, I’ll stay in Airbnbs.”

“I’ve stayed in multiple hostels in the United States and they’re still significantly cheaper than hotels, but you can still expect to pay $40 to $100 for your bed for the night.”

Across the country, visitors spent $7.3 billion on restaurants and retail businesses in 2023. 

By spending money at a restaurant and other locally owned businesses, consumers support the owner and the employees. 

When people camp, they typically bring their own supplies. Even though camping contributes significantly less to the national economy than the other sectors of industry, camping is not without cost. 

“It depends on your experience and what you’re doing here but you’re going to spend money to prepare for that and you’re going to spend money on services and then we’re going to spend money on taking care of this place,” Gamman said.  

“This is generating income for the local area in so many different ways,” Gamman said. “They hire 27 rangers, and we live in the area then we spend our money here and we buy houses here.”

Campers are charged a fee to camp within the park. Yet, they also need supplies, transportation, food, fuel, etc. Even those who travel lightly still contribute to both the national and local economy. 

“You have these towns called gateway towns at most national parks and what they are, are towns that have effectively sprouted up outside of these [parks] weather naturally or specifically for this reason, for visitors of the park,” Litow said. 

“Whether it’s international or domestic, it doesn’t really matter, you have an attraction that people are trying to come see and so everything is going to be built off that,” Litow said. “You have the basic necessities or desires that humans have, all built up around the park.”

Visitors purchasing groceries accounted for $1.7 billion added to the national economy and visitor spending at Kennesaw Mountain accounted for $5.5 million.

“I’d have to say it’s a good investment of U.S. tax dollars, because people come from all over the world to see these parks and that always generates a lot of money in the local economy,” Gamman said. 

“We’ve got to be a good use of the taxpayer dollar,” Gamman added. “We are always conscientious that we don’t waste money.”

According to The Associated Press, the recent firing and removal of thousands of federal National Park Service employees will devastate local communities that depend on the national park to survive. Without the traffic of visitors, or even with reduced visitor hours, businesses like restaurants and retailers may not survive. 

It wasn’t long before President Donald Trump restored at least 50 jobs to the NPS and pledged to hire nearly 7,700 seasonal employees. Seasonal employees are vital to the survival of national parks because they collect fees, maintain the parks and provide first responder services during high traffic months in the summer. 

With the entire NPS in disarray, a glimmer of hope for restored jobs is crucial. Yet, the whiplash the department faced led to confusion. 

“Whenever there’s a new administration of a different political party, it doesn’t really matter because they usually all support national parks but in different ways; some support infrastructure, some support more staff,” Gamman said. “What’s going on right now is just a reorganization of different parts, but we still want to make sure that we have lots of staff out there to help keep people safe.” 

Although there’s a clear economic correlation, national parks were created partly to be a haven of sorts. They are places for people to be with the most beautiful aspects of nature that this country has to offer. 

“I used to work at Mount Rainier in the State of Washington. I worked there in 2001 and I was up in a place called Sunrise Way and we didn’t have televisions up there. It was a pretty sleepy weekday, it was September 11 but all of a sudden these people from Seattle showed up,” Gamman said. “They were stunned and shocked and they were all walking around shell shocked but they needed that place of serenity and peace, they needed a refuge.” 

“We didn’t know until the end of the day what really happened, but I was really glad the national park was there for people.”

“We are good for the soul of America, we are good for the serenity of America and like I said, because of our form of democracy we said, ‘These places are so special were going to set them aside and were not going to mine them, were not going to log them, and we’re not going to graze them,’” Gamman said. “They’re going to be there for people to enjoy.” 

Lee Ann Pendergrass and her husband Joe visited 23 parks in the United States. When they plan to visit a park, they usually fly, then rent a car so they can drive into the park. 

Instead of camping they usually stay in a hotel or motel nearest the park. They enjoy the restaurants and cafes that the towns have to offer if the park itself doesn’t have one in the visitors center. They spend an average of $400 on lodging, transportation, food and recreation in addition to the cost of airfare. 

“The national parks connect us to nature, they are a resource for affordable recreation for families to explore the landscape, connect with family members in a meaningful way, to educate not only children but adults about the endangered landscapes, natural communities, and species,” Pendergrass said. “The variety of the geographic landscape in the different parts of the USA shows stunning natural beauty and beautiful wildlife.”

“One can’t imagine the natural wonders of the different national parks in the U.S.,” Pendergrass added. 

The parks are vital to the survival of many species of flora and fauna, essential to the human species and necessary to the survival of local economies. 

“National parks are not necessarily forever, they only exist as long as they’re relevant to the American people,” Gamman said. 

“We love what we do, we believe in these places and I cannot express that enough, I feel so lucky to be an American because we have this.” 

Fresh Take Georgia contacted the National Parks Conservation Association to ask questions about recent cuts made by the Trump administration. Emails and phone calls were not returned.

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In 2020, her dream came true when the executive director job opened at BlazeSports America.

Churi was born in Mount Dora, Florida and graduated from the University of Florida in 1999, but she said her life truly changed 15 years later.

In 2014, Churi went on five mission trips to Haiti which she said changed her outlook on life.

On these trips, Churi worked at an orphanage, helped build medical clinics, worked at a school, and put on a soccer tournament. All these volunteer assignments sparked her dream to work for a non-profit.

She said after these trips and years of working with a for-profit organization, she felt it was time to make a change.

“I really felt called to work for a non-profit,” Churi said. “I wanted to take my skills to a non-profit and I believe the best non-profits in the world are run by people that used to work with for-profits. I got a chance to shadow some non-profits as I made the transition, and I ended up spending six years at Georgia Tech.”

Churi worked for the non-profit wing at Georgia Tech called the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. She managed marketing, communications, and fundraising in her six years with the organization from 2014 until 2020.

Churi said the experience at Georgia Tech was important to her career growth.

“It was really critical for my career,” she said. “I had sports business experience and marketing experience, but I had not done any substantial fundraising until my time there.”

Six years after her time at Georgia Tech, Churi’s dream job opened. She said the opportunity felt like a dream come true.

“When the executive director job became available it just felt like the perfect opportunity back in my roots of sports,” Churi said. “I wasn’t that familiar with adaptive sports in particular so I didn’t know if the job would be right for me, but when I went to an event I just fell in love in like five minutes and said yes right there. That’s how I ended up with BlazeSports.”

BlazeSports America is a non-profit organization whose mission is to change the lives of individuals with physical disabilities through adaptive sports. They have served more than 12,000 disabled athletes in 28 years and are commited to equity and inclusion.

Churi said the organization’s goals align perfectly with her own.

“One of my favorite quotes is ‘Don’t just aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference,’and that’s part of the reason I went from the for-profit world to the non-profit world,” she said. “That’s what we do here at BlazeSports and if I’m going to dedicate 50 hours per week to a career, I want it to be about more than just making a living. I want to make a difference.”

BlazeSports America employees believe Churi is succeeding in her goal to make a difference.

Mark LaRotonda, one of the two head coaches for the BlazeSports America tennis team, said Churi is an excellent leader for the organization.

“She really cares about the kids,” he said. “She makes sure they have programs and things and events like this tennis event we’re at right now. That’s the biggest thing.”

Maggie Fintel, the marketing coordinator at BlazeSports America, said Churi is an inspiration to many people including herself.

“She does so many great things for the program,” she said. “Every year she gives a speech at our annual awards ceremony and just her words and how many people she impacts is really big. She’s just a really great influence for me and she attends every event no matter how busy she isshe’s always there. She’s just a great person to be around.”

Despite the praise from those around her, Churi said she always keeps her focus on helping thechildren and staying humble.

“What I’m doing is easy compared to what these kids do,” she said. “Everybody deserves to be treated fairly and equally, and I believe that these athletes I work with work harder than any other athletes on the planet. I always just want to focus on the kids because, like I said, it’s easy for me and you to go play basketball, but for these kids they need a 4,000 dollar wheelchair just to do it. So, I just want to focus on serving these kids and doing my part.”

BlazeSports America’s mission statement is to ensure that the quality, diversity, and availability of its programs is the same as the sports programs open to those without any disabilities.

Churi said that is what drives her.

“Our mission statement really guides me in a lot of what we do every day here,” she said. “Making a difference is just the main goal and all athletes, disabled or what not, should be treated the same and given the same opportunities. All people should be.”

Churi doesn’t just want to help and provide resources to the children, she works with them and strives to know each of them.

She said that is her favorite part of the job.

“Traveling with the families on trips and getting to know their stories individually and really getting to know the kids’ disabilities and what they go through is my favorite thing,” Churi said. “I mean these are some of the toughest athletes in the world. They’re very very good and in some cases they’ve had 10 or 14 surgeries, so I think just spending time with them is when I’m having the best time in my role.”

Currently, unlike in states like Alabama and Arizona, Georgia has no adaptive sports at the collegiate level.

Churi said BlazeSports America is trying to change that.

“We work on big picture things here as well, you know, looking five to ten years out, and one of those things is bringing adaptive sports to the collegiate level in Georgia,” she said. “We’ve talked to the University of Georgia and Kennesaw State as well, and we just want to make it to where our graduates can play at the next level in the state of Georgia instead of out of state.”

Despite the big picture wishes and lofty goals for adaptive sports that BlazeSports America and Churi have, she still always keeps her focus on the kids she works with on a day-to-day basis.

She said nothing inspires her more than them.

“They’re the story, They’re the inspiration,” Churi said. “I’m just trying to be a portal for them to inspire everyone. I mean, if you meet any of our athletes, you’d know that their stories are so much harder than mine and so much more resilient than mine. They work harder than anybody I know because they have to. They’re the stories that should be told and they’re the inspiration for everything.”

Churi said she hope that by the end of her life her goal of making the world a better place has been achieved. She said that would make everything worth it.

“My dying wish would just be to look at myself and ask did I leave the world a better place,” Churi said. “Was the world better after I left? And, if the answer to that is yes then I think it’ll be a successful life that was all worth it.”

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In the past 30 years, the music industry has seen a major rise in concert ticket prices. The two major reasons are the cost of living and inflation. They directly affect how an artist earns money, how a concert venue profits and keeps its business running, and how fans interact with their favorite bands and artists. 

Director of Event Programming at Rival Entertainment for CenterStage in Atlanta, Madeline Jackson, explained how costs affect her business relationships with artists and their fans. 

“The cost of everything has gone up,” Jackson said. “It costs more to run a venue, to staff a venue, to keep the lights on and the power going, and then because of these rising costs, it also costs more to book an artist.”

According to Jackson, there is a roundabout price that most venues charge, as in, the average ticket price that will then determine how much an artist will be paid.

Depending on what kind of deal and offer the venue provides an artist, that agreement determines the musician’s pay which comes directly from ticket sales, after other expenses. 

Changes in fuel and food prices for musicians impact how much profit they walk away with each night. In return, the cost of booking an artist and operating a venue then affects how much money it earns after each concert.

“It has affected probably how many tickets we sell, to an extent, not so much just because concert tickets are expensive, but because everything’s expensive,” Jackson said.

Contrary to public perception, Ticketmaster doesn’t actually set ticket prices. It is a service company. The public’s anger with Ticketmaster is more for the fees it put in place to use its service. This is equivalent to how most venues need to charge artists a fee as ‘collateral’ to make sure they are still getting paid if nobody shows up or the show falls through.

“Live Nation kind of has this monopoly and is a huge billion-dollar company,” Jackson said. “If you are going to be selective about where you purchase your concert tickets, just support independents.”

Live Nation Entertainment Inc. owns Ticketmaster. In 2010, the two companies merged.

Anger with Live Nation Entertainment may be valid among fans and artists. 

A federal lawsuit filed on March 18, 2025, accuses Live Nation Entertainment, Inc of illegally concealing “the full price of tickets until online checkout,” according to Class Action.org in violation of several state consumer laws.

The lawsuit states Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. “lure consumers with low initial ticket prices only to demand ‘exorbitant’ fees during the final stage of the purchasing process, making the total cost of tickets significantly higher than anticipated.”

In an earlier lawsuit from March 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice Department accused Live Nation Entertainment Inc. of acting as a monopoly harming fans, artists and venues. Pricing models impact musicians, fans and promoters. 

Former Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated, “The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services.”

Both fans and artists share this frustration due to the negative effect fees have on consumer concert spending and ultimately, the financial profits for the bands.

Concert venues must hit a certain number of attendees to cover the overhead expenses that go into operations, hosting a show, and of course, paying the artist what they’re worth.

“As these expenses go up, and as the cost of living goes up, obviously artists also have to make more money,” Jackson said.

It’s a partnership that can always run into difficulties from either side, both with the artists and the venue, despite the struggles that became apparent with Live Nation-Ticketmaster. At the end of the day, it’s about keeping the customers, the fans, happy.

Pollstar’s 2024 Year End Analysis provides an in-depth look at how prices changed dramatically for the average ticket price in the past few years. In April 2025 USA Today expanded on this by comparing data as far back as 1996 when tickets were just above $20. Now, using 2024 data, the average ticket price is upwards of $130.

The average prices do not include resell prices, and Ticketmaster’s fees.

Data provided from Pollstar 2024 Year End Analysis and 2025 USA Today concert ticket analysis. It shows ticket prices dating back 25 years to 2000. Prices are in dollars in the left column. (Joslyn Weber/Fresh Take Georgia)

Increased ticket prices are obstacles artists must overcome to cater to their fans with entertaining shows. Many fans now struggle to support their favorite artists and have that unique musical experience with rising of concert ticket prices impacting personal budgets.

As a young high-school student who has a job and wants to go out and have fun with her friends at concerts, 17-year-old Hayden Grove shares frustrations that many her age can relate to. 

“Coming from a full-time student who also works a job, I don’t get paid enough nor do I have enough time to work and get enough hours or money to buy the tickets anymore because $400 is insane,” Grove said.

What girl doesn’t want to go see a big-name artist like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, or Kendrick Lamar with her friends? 

The biggest downside, the tickets are just too expensive.

The face value of tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour varied between $50 and $500. But resellerscharged upwards of $11,000. 

An avid Atlanta local concert goer, 23-year-old Bella Prudente, finds that even the local scene in Atlanta has become too saturated with expensive gigs.

“I literally started going to North Carolina and South Carolina for local shows because they just felt so much more convenient and oddly affordable,” Prudente said.

“I feel like this definitely affects college kids more than anything,” Prudente said.

From the perspective of a small local artist, there are still plenty of ways to make money and continue to focus on exposure and community.

Ryan McMeans of The Outfield Clovers, a member of a local emo band in Atlanta, performs at well-known venues like Smith’s Olde Bar and The Masquerade.

“When it comes to the local bands, even if they made the same amount of money off of $20 tickets than $10, they’d rather sell it for $10 and have more people there,” McMeans said.

There is a much larger emphasis on community and exposure in the local Atlanta music scene, which leads to a draw towards more DIY venues like Smith’s Olde Bar, Boggs Social, The Earl, The Drunken Unicorn, and so much more.

“It sucks at this level because you’re trying to convince your friends to buy tickets more than your fans,” McMeans said. “Most of our tickets are walk-ups so you never really know.”

Most venues have a production fee they charge bands. This production fee, on top of the other fees that artists pay in order to play, means they have to sell a certain amount of tickets before they can profit.

For example, McMeans described a time in which his band played at Centerstage. They had to sell 70 tickets before earning money. Even with selling more than 100 tickets, with four bands that night, each band only walked away with $100.

“With the rise of tickets, the production fee got higher too,” McMeans said. “[Then], there’s a rise of the cutoff point where we start making money, which makes sense because the venue needs some type of collateral if people aren’t there.”

“If we don’t sell enough tickets to make the production fee, we have to pay the venue,” McMeans said.

The bigger venues, like The Masquerade and Centerstage, are more prone to using Ticketmaster as their ticket service because of the kinds of artists they book and the volume of customers they seat. These larger venues become more expensive to play at and to visit.

But for DIY places like Eddie’s Attic, Mom Said It’s Fine, Market Hugz, 529, and so many more, their costs tend to remain flat. 

“At the end of the day, they’re just trying to build a community more than to make money,” McMeans said.

This is what makes smaller venues more enticing for people, especially college-age students looking to thrive and build community within Atlanta’s local music scene. 

“I love going to other people’s shows and supporting people,” McMeans said. “I’m eventually going to get the $10 back because they’re going to come see me, so I don’t really think about ‘I’m losing money’ when I go see my friends.”

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The Regal Cinema behind Town Center Mall in Kennesaw, abandoned since 2020, remains a health hazard for the community. Kennesaw Town Center LLC bought the property in January 2025 for $13 million. The former legal owner, Presidium, planned to tear down the former cinema and build new apartment buildings, but the property remains vacant for whoever roams it.

Adame Basse is the manager at The Varsity next door and observes many homeless people walk from the cinema to the restaurant.

“A lot of homeless people used to live there. This last time was okay because I think the police are doing something about it, but it used to be a lot,” Basse said.

The theater’s open access attracts many curious wanderers who visit to see what is inside. Town Center Mall is directly across from the cinema, and its security office faces the abandoned theater. However, the mall’s security has no jurisdiction over the cinema.

“We don’t patrol the outside of the mall,” a female security officer said. “We only do the inside of the mall.” The security officer refused to provide her name.

Cobb County Police are periodically seen driving past the abandoned building between The Varsity and the Regal Cinema. There are 10 official police reports since 2019. The majority of police calls involve loitering. All of these reports were filed after the building became abandoned.

According to Cobb Police, people were arrested for loitering in addition to possession of drugs and weapons. In the past six years other crimes include street car racing, a stolen vehicle and burglary. 

According to Cobb Police, “This area does have a high homeless population; however, the Regal itself would not be mentioned unless there is a direct incident there. This is due to their transient nature. “Most of the homeless live in camps located in wooded areas. The biggest one I have personally seen in that area is behind the Home Depot off Barrett Parkway.”

Although gates prevent vehicles from entering, anyone can walk around them since they only block the paved entrances, not the grassy medians. This explains how homeless people enter the building. 

Omar Ruiz is an employee of The Varsity, which is directly across from the cinema.

“It wasn’t that long ago, a couple of months maybe, that they put up the gates,” Ruiz said.

According to Georgia Law 16-7-21, it is legal to enter a property without criminal intent and if it does not have locked doors or gates.

“And the problem is we keep developing and developing, the amount of vacant land or undeveloped land is decreasing, so they’re having to find new places to hang out at,” TullanAvard, executive director of the Bells Ferry Civic Association, said.

Although the new Kennesaw Town Center LLC put up the gates, the smell of the mold, mildew, moss, standing water and feces travels through the empty parking lot because the doors are either propped open with rocks so squatters can easily access the theater, or the doors are ripped off the hinges. The conditions inside are hazardous and unsuitable for the Kennesaw community.

“We do have a local nuisance ordinance that allows us to address external issues on private property that could contribute to the harborage of rodents or mosquitoes, such as piles of debris, trash or stagnant pools of water,” Chris Hutcheson, director for the Center for Environmental Health in Cobb County, said. “When a complaint is investigated and verified, the property owner is notified and given a timeframe (typically 14-30 days) to correct the issue.  Enforcement can escalate if the problem remains unresolved past the initial correction period, which can include citations and court summons.”

Not only is the property a health code violation, but many homeless people seek shelter inside on rainy days. There are signs of fresh soda cans, Whataburger cups, shoes and footprints. With homeless people living in these awful conditions, it is simply not safe to stay there for any length of time.

As Presidium LLC is still the property’s current owner, it is responsible to maintain the property. The Cobb District of Public Health does not currently hold records for the property owner’s information. 

The new Kennesaw Town Center LLC is a subset of the original Presidium LLC that operates out of Dallas, TX. 

The Regal Cinema was built in 1999 and closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The majority of Regal Cinemas in the United States reopened in 2021, except for the Town Center location. In 2021, when Cineworld [the owner of Regal Cinema] went bankrupt, they sold properties to Presidium LLC in hopes of turning the land into apartment buildings.

Plans for the Property

In November 2021, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners approved the rezoning of the property for a multifamily apartment complex with 350 units. Construction never started. During the approval process, the Bells Ferry Civic Association opposed this plan due to the high number of apartments already in the area.

“The Town Center Area is already inundated with apartment complexes that have done little to rejuvenate the mall which is in foreclosure,” BFCA’s Joanne Trivett said in 2021 at a Cobb County Board of Commissioners meeting. “There are over 300 available apartments in the Town Center Area, and that is not including several apartment complexes currently being built/or to be built.” 

The mall is no longer in foreclosure, however, the lender stepped in to stabilize operations. 

In 2018, the Bells Ferry Civic Association proposed a miniature Chattahoochee Nature Center where the Town Center Community Improvement District planned to build the Town Center Park.

“It could be like the Chattahoochee Nature Center and the Regal Cinemas. We had hoped they would have made that into a Cobb County welcome center and into a nature center,” Tullan Avard said. 

The Chattahoochee Nature Center is a non-profit dedicated to environmental education that holds many family experiences involving nature, including canoeing, walking trails and exhibits. 

 “That would have really benefited Cobb County residents. It would have been a place for school kids to go to, but Cobb County only tends to think of South Cobb, the Braves stadium, and that area as the tourism destination,” Avard said.

Aside from Sova, Indy, and Upoint apartment complexes across the river behind the cinema, there are no apartment buildings near the mall; rather, long-stay hotels are alongside the JCPenney entrance of Town Center Mall. Other businesses in the vicinity of the abandoned cinema are Pomme Salon, HR Block, and PureGolf.

PrintGraphics is in the same complex as Pomme Salon. One of the employees said the cinema hasn’t affected them in any way.

“We are fairly far removed from the Regal Cinema and so we have not directly been impacted one way or another,” Derek Teasley owner of PrintGraphics said.

Current Status and Plan

Since the building’s decline, the assessed value of the property is worth more than $3.4 million, but the physical building is valued at only $400 of this total. This is a stark contrast from 2020, when the assessed building value was $1,794,328. With $13 million already spent on this property and more money put in for new construction, this property should bring new revenue and jobs to the area.

There are still hopes that the parent owner, Presidium LLC, will turn the area into apartment buildings since housing in the area is limited, but they will be required to remove any remaining health hazards before building a new development. The longer they wait, the more the hazards will grow and impact the health of the neighboring community. 

Fresh Take Georgia reached out to Presidium for a comment, but received no response.

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The post From Silver Screen to squatters: The fate of an abandoned Regal theater appeared first on Fresh Take Georgia.