Keri Janton, Freelance Journalist Profile

Articles

After 98 days in hospital, a new heart saves 9-year-old girl’s life

1 day ago | macon.com | Keri Janton

It was just a typical checkup until Kelsey Brackett's pediatrician heard a heart murmur. Two months later, the 9-year-old girl learned she needed a new heart. It was an outcome Gainesville residents Zach and Sonja Brackett could have never imagined when they said I do 23 years ago. They dreamed of becoming parents and were elated to welcome their first daughter, Jordan, now 21. They hoped to give her a sibling close in age, but they struggled with fertility issues.
Sandra Stanley and Allie Stanley Cooney cowrote faith-based book for teens

1 week ago | ajc.com | Keri Janton

Eleven years ago, Sandra Stanley turned the corner into her daughter Allie Stanley Cooney’s messy bedroom, prepared to ask her to clean it up, when she discovered her then 18-year-old sitting on the floor writing. It’s a poignant memory for Stanley, one of the last she has of Allie in her childhood bedroom before she headed off to college.
Medical crisis led Tifton tech man to finally pursue comedy dream

1 week ago | ajc.com | Keri Janton

If comedian Ed Wiley were to write a memoir, he’d choose the title “How to Follow Your Dreams … in Reverse.” It wouldtell the story of a boy who fell in love with comedy at age 8 but didn’t pursue it professionally until he was a 40-year-old husband and father of six living on a farm in Tifton. It was a medical crisis that caused Wiley, whose full-time career is in software technology, to refine his perspective on life and feel brave enough to leap into comedy.
Every Easter, this Marietta man returns to Grady to give thanks.

1 month ago | ajc.com | Keri Janton

Jon Clark was a University of Georgia sophomore in 2005, chaperoning a group of middle school boys from Mount Bethel Church of Marietta at a YoungLife camp in Jasper over spring break, when his life changed forever. During breakfast, he told the youth minister that he didn’t get much sleep the night before and had a migraine. Someone at the camp gave him Tylenol and the last thing he remembers is falling out of his chair onto the floor where he had a seizure.
‘Love on the Spectrum’ moms have launched a podcast, ‘Talk to Me, Sis’

1 month ago | macon.com | Keri Janton

Lise Smith and Nicci Smith aren't related, but they have so much in common - far beyond their shared last name - that they feel like sisters.
Moms featured on Netflix's ‘Love on the Spectrum’ launch podcast

1 month ago | ajc.com | Keri Janton

Lise Smith and Nicci Smith aren’t related, but they have so much in common — far beyond their shared last name — that they feel like sisters.
Atlanta sketch comedy group works at mastering the madness that is golf

1 month ago | ajc.com | Keri Janton

Just three months after Aaron Chewning introduced his sketch comedy groupSt. Andre Golf on social media, he had thousands of Instagram followersand an invite to film a commercial with Tiger Woods. Now, nearly three years later, St. Andre Golf is nearing half a million Instagram followers, legions of followers on many other social media platforms, has traveled across the world to film with professional golfers and works with multiple brands.
A cow in the house is a blessing for Hindu housewarmings and struggling animal rescue

1 month ago | ajc.com | Keri Janton

Deborah Andrews’ mom always told her not to feed the strays, but she never listened. The little girl who took in cats, dogs and an array of reptiles now runs Daydream Rescue Sanctuary, a 52-acre parcel of land in Gainesville where she takes care of more than 65 farm animals. Although Daydream has drained Andrews’ retirement fund and robbed her of a personal life, she is determined to keep her dream alive.
Taylor Swift lookalike in demand for Atlanta parties

1 month ago | ajc.com | Keri Janton

The Eras tour may be over, but Atlanta Swifties can shake it off and make their wildest dreams come true by booking their favorite pop star — or someone who looks a lot like her — for a party. Michelle Paget, Taylor Swift doppelgänger, has worked with Look-alikes & Characters Entertainment since 2017. As Swift’s popularity has grown, so has Paget’s. The comparisons to the uber-famous singer-songwriter began when Cumming resident Paget was a senior at west Georgia’s Columbus High School.
Georgia Army veterans turned her life around with help from the VA

1 month ago | ajc.com | Keri Janton

When veteran Rosalyn Martin was living in her car, she made a promise to God that if she could just get what she needed, she’d take it and run with it. She fulfilled that promise on March 28, 2024, when she walked through the doors of the Fort McPherson VA Clinic in Atlanta. Following in the footsteps of her older brother, her father who served in Vietnam and her grandfather who fought in World War II, Martin enlisted in the Army when she was 18.