First Slice 6/3/16: Georgia’s ACLU head resigns over transgender restroom debate

ACLU executive director has doubts about where transgender people should relieve themselves.

By Meagan Mastriani Friday June 3, 2016 09:00 AM EDT

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Maya Dillard Smith, the executive director of Georgia’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) chapter, has stepped down following a heated debate over restroom rights. The civil rights group supports transgender people using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity, but Dillard Smith is not so sure about the inclusive policy. She says when she spoke up about her doubts, she was met with hostility and labeled a homophobe. Dillard Smith started a website — findingmiddleground.org — with a video starring her daughter raising questions about having “boys in the girls bathroom” and encouraging visitors to send her ideas for compromise.

With the fiscal 2017 budget approved, MARTA is keeping the base fare at $2.50. Monthly passes could soon be cheaper, thanks to a pending arrangement with MARTA’s corporate sponsors.

Starting July 1, Georgia is overhauling its Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. The change will expand access to the statewide database used to track patients’ prescriptions, hopefully allowing healthcare professionals to better prevent drug abuse.

Pro tip for marketers: If you chop down “six or seven football fields” worth of trees along a highway so drivers can see your billboard, you’re going to get in trouble.

A medical examiner has confirmed that Prince died of an accidental overdose of the opioid fentanyl.

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