July 30th could be celebrated as the birthday of democracy in America, as the Virginia House of Burgesses became the first legislative body in the New World on July 30, 1619.
Its first law, which, like all of its laws, would have to be approved by the London Company, required tobacco to be sold for at least three shillings per pound. Other laws passed during its first six-day session included prohibitions against gambling, drunkenness, and idleness, and a measure that made Sabbath observance mandatory.
On July 31, 1777, the Marquis de LaFayette was commissioned a Major General in the Continental Army, serving without pay.
The cornerstone for the first United States Mint was laid in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 31, 1792, becoming the first building constructed by the federal government under the Constitution.
Former President Andrew Johnson, who succeeded President Lincoln upon his assassination and oversaw much of the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, died of a stroke in Tennessee on July 31, 1875.
August 1 was a big day for Benjamin Mays – he was born on August 1, 1895 and became President of Morehouse College on August 1, 1936.
On July 31, 1906, a bill to place a Constitutional Amendment on the November election for voters to decide whether to create an intermediate-level Georgia Court of Appeals was approved by the Georgia General Assembly.
On July 30, 1931, Georgia Governor Richard B. Russell, Jr. signed legislation merging Milton and Fulton Counties if voters in each county approved a referendum. Fulton had earlier merged with Campbell County, to the south.
PT-109, commanded by LTJG John F. Kennedy was sunk on August 1, 1943.
Actor Laurence Fishburn was born in Augusta, Georgia on July 30, 1961.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed legislation creating Medicare, for seniors, and Medicaid for some low-income people on July 30, 1965.
On August 1, 1982, Hank Aaron was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
On July 31, 1987, “The Lost Boys” was released. From the New York Times:
“The Lost Boys” is to horror movies what “Late Night With David Letterman” is to television; it laughs at the form it embraces, adds a rock-and-roll soundtrack and, if you share its serious-satiric attitude, manages to be very funny.
Nolan Ryan, the greatest pitcher in major league baseball history, won his 300th career game on July 31, 1990. During eight innings, Ryan threw 146 pitches, while today, many pitchers are pulled at around the 100-pitch count.
“In the old days throwing that many pitches was a normal game,” said Nolan Ryan, who tossed a record seven no-hitters and is the all-time leader in strikeouts, fifth in innings pitched.
Ryan, currently the Rangers’ team president, is an outspoken detractor of the recent trend toward monitoring pitch counts. In a recent Sports Illustrated article, Ryan expressed his belief that today’s pitchers are “pampered” and that there is no reason why today’s pitchers cannot pitch as much as he and his colleagues did back in the day. As a result, Ryan is pushing his team’s pitchers to throw deeper into games and extend their arms further, emphasizing conditioning over what some would call coddling.
As Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux told SI: “This generation of players has become a creature of the pitch count. Their ceiling has been lowered. It’s up to us to jack it back up.”
Although I think that time he whipped Robin Ventura should count as a win.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Former Georgia Public Service Commissioner Doug Everett (R-Albany) has died, according to the Albany Herald.
A native of Cordele, Everett was the first Republican elected to the Commission from southwest Georgia. He was elected in 2002 and retired Dec. 31, 2018. Everett was part of the team responsible for natural gas improvements for two decades. He was 83 years old.
Commissioner Jason Shaw replaced Everett when he retired.
“He was a great man,” Shaw said. “I had big shoes to fill.”
“I worked with Doug for over a decade,” Commissioner Chuck Eaton said. “He was the quintessential Southern gentleman. I considered him a mentor and a dedicated colleague but most importantly a friend.”
In 1996, Everett was elected to the Georgia House from Albany and served three terms before his election to the PSC in 2002. As a state Representative, he served on the House Industry Committee and the Subcommittee on Utilities.
Prior to serving as a state legislator, Everett served three terms on the Albany City Commission, including two years as Mayor Pro Tem. He was a past president of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, a nonprofit corporation for the advancement and education of commission regulation and the promotion of cooperation among the commissions of the 12 member states. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia AgriRama Development Authority and was a past member of the Advisory Board of Directors of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations.
Governor Brian Kemp criticized the Biden administration for not moving toward full FDA approval of the COVID vaccines, according to The Hill.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is calling on President Biden to push the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide full approval for the COVID-19 vaccine, upgrading it from the lesser emergency authorization.
“I’d love to see the Biden administration put an ‘Operation Warp Speed’ on moving away from the emergency use authorization,” Kemp told reporters Thursday, The Associated Press reported.
Kemp said he’s heard from people that they won’t get the vaccine as long as it is only under emergency authorization by the FDA.
“We know that the vaccines work,” Kemp said. “I want to encourage people to get vaccinated if you’re comfortable doing that.”
Governor Kemp also criticized Democratic Mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, over her mask mandate, according to Fox5Atlanta.
The mayor issued that order Wednesday evening, just hours after the governor wrote he would not impose any new statewide lockdowns or mask mandates as new cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations steadily rise in Georgia. Kemp pointed to data that shows most of those being impacted by the virus now are unvaccinated and encouraged all Georgians to get vaccinated.
“Instead of asking our dedicated men and women in uniform to enforce a mask mandate, Atlanta should focus on combatting violent crime and street racing,” the governor wrote [on Twitter].
Speaking to reporters Thursday night, Kemp blamed the Democratic president for not doing enough to push the Food and Drug Administration to upgrade its emergency authorization for the vaccines to a permanent authorization. Kemp said urging people to use masks again is a “mixed message” that could discourage vaccination.
“The city of Atlanta can barely keep up with crime. I know these officers damn well don’t have time to write tickets for not wearing a mask,” Kemp said.
More than 98 percent of Georgia COVID cases and more than 99 percent of deaths were among unvaccinated people, according to GPB News via the Athens Banner Herald.
Additionally, every one of the 24 breakthrough deaths was of someone older than 60. Over half of them, 15 total, were older than 80.
With the number of COVID-19 positive patients nearly tripling across Northeast Georgia Health System, hospital officials said 92% of those patients are unvaccinated.
NGHS reported 79 COVID positive patients Wednesday, July 28, across its hospitals, up from 27 COVID positive patients July 21.
Hospital officials said 92% of those COVID positive patients are unvaccinated, and the average age of the patients is 57.
In Hall County, 96.6% of people aged 75-84 had at least one dose, and that number goes up to 99.8% for those 85 and older.
Conversely, 31.4% of Hall residents between 25-34 had at least one dose, and 38.1% of those 35-44 have had a shot.
Dougherty County will again require masks in county buildings, according to the Albany Herald.
Vaccinated or not, all employees and citizens entering county buildings and facilities will be required to wear a mask, the county said in a news release Thursday.
Nationally, there is a 300 percent increase in the number of coronavirus cases. Locally, Dougherty County is seeing a 50 percent increase in the number of cases.
Richmond County public schools will require masks, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
Oconee County public schools are retaining their masks-optional policy, according to the Athens Banner Herald.
As the school year begins Aug. 4 for in-person learning, the school system will allow field trips, assemblies and special events to resume and visitors will also be allowed on all campuses.
In addition to leaving masks optional, COVID-19 vaccinations will not be required for employees or students. The school system reports about 80% of staff has been vaccinated.
There will also be no mandatory precautionary quarantines this year and Oconee schools will notify parents and staff when there is a case of COVID-19 in the classroom.
The Rome Board of Education could not reach consensus on a mask policy and will continue discussion in a called meeting on Monday, according to the Rome News-Tribune.
Saying the recommendations have gone back and forth, school board member Alvin Jackson said he was frankly confused.
Of particular concern is that none of the COVID-19 vaccines are authorized for children under 12, and eligible teens have shown low rates of vaccination.
Hall County government is not requiring masks on county property at this point, according to the Gainesville Times.
So far, no municipalities in Hall County, nor the county government, have said they will change their masking guidelines or impose a mask mandate. Some had required the masks earlier in the pandemic while others encouraged masks.
State legislators held a redistricting hearing in Macon, according to WMAZ.
State leaders were in town Thursday night for a public hearing before voting on redrawing district lines statewide. It’s a process that happens every 10 years after the census.
The next public hearing will be held virtually on Friday at 5 p.m. and you can watch it on the Georgia General Assembly website.
The expected time frame to have the census complete is the end of September.
Georgia Power announced yet another delay and price hike in the construction of two new nuclear reactors, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
In a press release today, Georgia Power announced that the long delayed Plant Vogtle expansion will be delayed even further. Unit 3, which has just finished a critical testing cycle, is now expected to be in service in the second quarter of 2022, and Unit 4 in the first quarter of 2023.
The press release acknowledges this is a three-to-four-month delay from the last projected start date. In early June, Georgia Power spokesperson Jeff Wilson told the Chronicle that they expected Unit 3 to be completed in January, and no later than the first quarter of 2022.
Southern Company now anticipates beginning to load fuel for Unit 3 toward the end of this year or early in [2022], and attributes delays on Unit 4 in part to slower workforce recovery after COVID reductions and difficulty retaining skilled labor.
Staff for the Georgia Public Service Commission who reviewed the project posted written testimony in early June that they did not expect the plant to be online before June of next year. At the time, Donald Grace, the vice president of engineering for the Vogtle Monitoring Group, wrote “(the monitoring group) continues to conclude that the company’s schedules are unachievable and cannot be relied upon.”
Also in the press release, Georgia Power said it expects to spend $9.2 billion on the project. It has already been approved for $7.3 billion by the Georgia Public Service Commission, and plans to pass the next $700 million onto shareholders, not ratepayers. Any spending over the next $7.3 billion will have to be approved by the Public Service Commission before it can be charged to rate payers.
From the Atlanta Business Chronicle:
The Vogtle expansion has faced a series of delays that put the project years behind schedule, with the pandemic causing further productivity The cost of the nuclear plant expansion has nearly doubled from the estimated $14 billion price tag when it was approved more than a decade ago.
From the Capitol Beat News Service:
The cost of the project has nearly doubled from the original estimate of $14 billion approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) a dozen years ago to about $26 billion.
Georgia Power is partnering with three other utilities on the project. The company’s share of the total capital cost is now an estimated $9.2 billion.
Columbus will host two public meetings to receive input on how the city government spends federal COVID relief funds, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
The meetings will be held on Aug. 2 and 4 from 5:30-7 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Services Center. There will be an opportunity for attendees to speak or give their feedback on comment cards.
Columbus has so far received half of the $78.4 million it was allocated from the American Rescue Plan. The City received $20.2 million on June 7, and Muscogee County received $39.2 million on June 14.
The Tybee Island Ethics Commission ruled that City Council member Jay Burke violated the municipal ethics code, according to the Savannah Morning News.
The Tybee Island Ethics Commission voted unanimously following a formal hearing on the matter and recommended Burke formally apologize before council “for his lack of good judgement.”
“While Councilman Burke’s dialogue involving the loss to the family business was inadvertent and relatively benign, the commission finds that it did violate the letter and the spirit of the city’s ethics ordinances,” the commission’s decision reads.
At issue was Burke’s comment made to a movie production representative during a March 11 council meeting. The rep for the film “Devotion” appeared before council to deliver a progress report about their project, which was shot at Tybee Beach.
Burke informed Laura Bryant, “Devotion” location manager, that his family’s beach rental business would be affected by the filming.
Burke recused himself from a vote on a permit for the film afterwards on the advice of City Attorney Edward M. Hughes.
Burke’s attorney, Thomas Mahoney, said his client did not receive any compensation.
The original complaint against Burke, filed by Tybee Island resident Janet K. Will on March 25, alleges Burke violated three ethics codes during the council meeting: Section 23-2 Acceptance of Gifts, Section 23-3 Intent and Section 23-7 Coercion by City Official.
Savannah-Chatham County public schools expect an increase in abuse reports as students head back to school full-time, according to WTOC.
Advocates say that is because kids will be back in school in person where mandated reporters like teachers can report signs of abuse they see in the classroom, without having to look through a computer screen.
“We definitely plan on seeing a spike in numbers when school comes back,” said Alexis Mack, therapist and forensic interviewer for Coastal Children’s Advocacy Center.
“Being in a hybrid model or virtual model made it a bit more difficult, because we did not have our children to ask those probing questions to get clarifying answers to things we may have assumed. It was all that we seen or thought we had seen on camera,” said Dr. Quentina Miller-Fields, SCCPSS.
Family Promise of Greater Savannah, a nonprofit, reports high numbers of contacts from residents facing eviction, according to WTOC.
“This is something that we actually started preparing for last year. We knew that at some point the eviction moratorium would end,” said Family Promise Executive Director Katrina Bostick.
“For the last couple of months, the last year, we’ve been really paying rents up towards five, six, seven, eight months. As far as mortgages, really the same thing, and utilities. And it’s pretty much been the same.”
As unemployment benefits and pandemic related assistance runs out, Bostick anticipates Family Promise’s services will only be in more demand.
Bostick added for those who don’t have internet access or devices to apply for assistance online, paper applications can be sent out and received at the Family Promise office.
Central Georgia could also see a wave of evictions, according to 13WMAZ.
Attorney Shannon Mills says renters still have time to get help.
“The Georgia Rental Assistance Program provides assistance directly to the landlord on behalf of the tenant, and the program is covering 12 months rent dating backward and three months of rent ahead of time,” said Mills.
Despite the help, Mills says there’s still cause for concern.
“I’m really concerned that we’re going to have a lot of individuals with children who were preparing for school but can’t go because they’re unfortunately evicted, and that’s going to be a sad sight,” he said.
The Georgia Legal Services Program is helping residents who face eviction for free.
The Glynn County Board of Education will retain the same property tax millage rate for the coming fiscal year, according to The Brunswick News.
The school system plans to retain its current 16.157 millage rate despite a potential rollback rate.
“Even though you’re not raising the millage rate, you have to advertise that you’re increasing taxes because you’re not decreasing the millage rate to offset an inflationary value in the digest,” [Glynn County Schools Assistant Superintendent for Finance Andrea] Preston said.
If the rollback rate were applied, the school system would need to decrease its budgeted revenue in the general fund by $1.2 million, Preston said.
“I would like to recommend leaving the millage rate the same,” Preston said. “The extra .9 percent and the increase in the values would generate about $668,000 in additional revenue to the general fund.”
While a local Board of Education member pushes for a mask mandate in schools, neighboring systems differ, according to The Brunswick News.
COVID-19 flare-ups have prompted the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to urge the wearing of masks when around large groups of people indoors, but only four public education systems in the eight-county Coastal Health District are requiring them when in campus facilities this school year.
They remain an option for students and teachers in Glynn, McIntosh, Bryan and Effingham counties.
They are mandatory in the school systems in Camden, Chatham and Liberty counties. Long County is indicating it also will require masks.
Peachtree City Police Chief Janet Moon was sworn in as President of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, according to the Albany Herald.
Moon is a 36-year police veteran. Originally from Cedartown, she began her career in the Army, serving as a Military Police Officer in 1985. In 1989 she went to work at the Rome Police Department where she rose to the rank of lieutenant, serving in many divisions of the department.
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