-
5 days ago | 
ajc.com | Bill Torpy
I wish my mom was alive to see this. Helen Gilligan Torpy, who was born in Ireland and emigrated to Chicago in 1952, always joked she would love to see an Irish pope. So having a Chicago pope is surely the next best thing. Da pope, as a Bears fan might say. My phone blew up Thursday afternoon after white plumes of smoke in the Vatican gave word that Cardinal Robert Prevost, a South Side native, was the new pontiff.
-
1 week ago | 
macon.com | Bill Torpy
As Mother's Day approaches this weekend, I am unsettled by a movement moving into mainstream culture. Pronatalism, an ideology that encourages women to have more children to reverse a decline in birth rates, is back with a new group of proponents buoyed by the support of government allies. I'll state here that I love children. I love being a mother.
-
1 week ago | 
ajc.com | Bill Torpy
In these days of caustic rancor, there are few examples where Left and Right agree. Until now. The source of this rare bipartisanship is Mahendra Patel, 56, a native of India (and longtime U.S. citizen) who is jailed in Cobb County on a questionable charge of attempted child kidnapping. It’s Day 45, and he sits without bond.
-
2 weeks ago | 
ajc.com | Bill Torpy
It was a pleasant evening in late March, and Patrisiya Rumyantseva was walking the Beltline near Piedmont Park to blow off workday stress. As she strolled on the right edge of the pavement, she noticed a blur, then a green basket slamming into her gut. It was a Lime e-bike, a 70-pound contraption with a grown man atop speeding directly into her. The impact drove her to the concrete and she hit her head.
-
3 weeks ago | 
ajc.com | Bill Torpy
It’s been a month now and 56-year-old Mahendra Patel still sits in a Cobb County jail accused of trying to kidnap a toddler, while his lawyer says he was just trying to be a good Samaritan. It was a shocking accusation by a young mother: A stranger tried grabbing her 2-year-old son out of her arms as she shopped in a Walmart. It’s the kind of sensational case that fuels TV news. Especially with police feeding the fear.
-
4 weeks ago | 
ledger-enquirer.com | Bill Torpy
It's a topsy-turvy world: socially, politically and now businessly. So why not also legally? State lawmakers last month passed a "tort reform" bill that was Gov. Brian Kemp's plump, powdered baby of the legislative session. Kemp argued that "nuclear verdicts" are damaging the state's business community and driving up insurance rates. His premise is arguable. Insurers are still making plenty of money, but Team Kemp wasn't hot on adding limits to what insurers could charge.
-
1 month ago | 
ajc.com | Bill Torpy
Rep. Lucy McBath rang the opening bell for the Democratic race for governor in early March, when she said she was “exploring” a run for the job. By month’s end, she had unrung that bell, saying she was “suspending” her campaign because of her husband’s health. Into that vacuum stepped former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is preparing her own run for the Governor’s Mansion.
-
1 month ago | 
macon.com | Bill Torpy
It was the latest case of Stranger Danger - a man trying to snatch a toddler, this time from his mother's arms. And in a Walmart!The case last month ginned up immediate fear and outrage as these cases usually do. Mahendra Patel, 56, was arrested, jailed and charged with kidnapping. His sad-eyed mugshot was soon splashed all across TV and Internet screens. The ensuing comments online were unsurprisingly nasty. That Patel, a U.S. citizen, should be deported. That he won't make it in the jail population.
-
1 month ago | 
ajc.com | Bill Torpy
It was the latest case of Stranger Danger — a man trying to snatch a toddler, this time from his mother’s arms. And in a Walmart!The case last month ginned up immediate fear and outrage as these cases usually do. Mahendra Patel, 56, was arrested, jailed and charged with kidnapping. His sad-eyed mugshot was soon splashed all across TV and Internet screens. The ensuing comments online were unsurprisingly nasty. That Patel, a U.S. citizen, should be deported. That he won’t make it in the jail population.
-
1 month ago | 
ledger-enquirer.com | Bill Torpy
A couple years ago, someone under the veil of night passed out vile antisemitic flyers to homes in Sandy Springs. In response, the city last week passed the "overnight door-to-door soliciting and canvassing" ordinance. It prohibits anyone from knocking on doors from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. to sell goods or services or canvass for political purposes. So far, so good. Who wants neo-Nazis - or even gutter-guard peddlers - ringing your doorbell at 10 p.m.?
