Weekly News Briefs: Feb. 22

Local
Hartsfield-Jackson officials threaten to privatize airport security

The world’s busiest airport is considering firing all of its TSA employees and hiring a private company to handle security screenings. This threat to privatize was made due to a backlog TSA’s “poor performance” history. Complaints about long wait times and excessive security screening played a role in the finger wagging. According to the AJC, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport General Manager Miguel Southwell told the agency it has “60 days to get its act together or the airport will bring in its own private contractors to man the checkpoints.”

National
‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ author Harper Lee dies at 89

The cherished American author, Harper Lee, passed away in her sleep Friday morning in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. In a statement from CNN, the family said her passing was unexpected and Lee’s nephew, Hank Conner, said, “America and the world knew Harper Lee as one of the last century’s most beloved authors. We knew her as a loving member of our family, devoted friend and generous soul. We will miss her dearly.”

Global
UN Climate Chief will step down in July

According to BBC, the United Nation’s top climate diplomat, Christiana Figueres, will leave her post this upcoming July. Figueres played a key role in conversations leading to the Paris Climate Agreement, which set out a global action plan to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, and was signed by over 195 nations in December 2015. For half a decade, Figueres had be repairing a system of climate change agreements for urging governing leaders to go greener.