First Slice 1-19-14: GDOT bulldozes homeless camp under I-20, Downtown Connector interchange

• Joeff Davis/CL File

The Georgia Department of Transportation last week used bulldozers to remove around a dozen tents providing shelter to homeless people below the I-20 and Downtown Connector interchange. “We certainly empathize with these individuals, but we cannot allow anyone to live or camp in freeway rights-of-way as it poses a potential safety hazard to both the individuals involved and passing motorists.” GDOT spokesperson Mark McKinnon told Atlanta Progressive News.

Courtney English, Atlanta Public Schools’ new board chairman, disagrees with Mayor Kasim Reed’s plan to use a combination of public and private cash to increase the salary of the next APS superintendent. “I don’t know that my colleagues have an appetite to move in that direction, but you know I’m glad that the mayor is so vocal getting about getting a best in class superintendent,” he told WABE.

Seven GOP candidates vying to replace Georgia U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss faced off last night in the first of several primary debates. And U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, may or may not have received applause for saying he wanted to eliminate both U.S. Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency. Things could get weird.

DeKalb County authorities captured Archie Byrd III, who last year was featured on “America’s Most Wanted” for a human trafficking charge, after he jaywalked across a road in Tucker.

Former Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones will soon move to Texas to become a cattle rancher. “I always had in the back of my mind, even throughout my playing days, that I would retire out there one day,” he told the AJC. “It is without a doubt my favorite place on the planet.”