Friday, October 15, 1582 marked the beginning of the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar – the previous day was Thursday, October 4th.
The Pennsylvania Gazette published a criticism against the British Tea Act on October 16, 1773.
The Tea Act of 1773 was a bill designed to save the faltering British East India Company by greatly lowering its tea tax and granting it a virtual monopoly on the American tea trade. The low tax allowed the company to undercut even tea smuggled into America by Dutch traders, and many colonists viewed the act as yet another example of taxation tyranny. In response, the “Philadelphia Resolutions” called the British tax upon America unfair and said that it introduced “arbitrary government and slavery” upon the American citizens. The resolutions urged all Americans to oppose the British tax and stated that anyone who transported, sold or consumed the taxed tea would be considered “an enemy to his country.”
Five thousand British and Hessian troops surrendered to patriot militia on October 17, 1777, ending the Second Battle of Saratoga, and leading to France recognizing American independence and sending military aid.
George Washington left New York, the nation’s capital, on October 15, 1789, embarking upon the first Presidential tour to New England.
An editorial published pseudononymously by Alexander Hamilton on October 17, 1796, accused Thomas Jefferson, then a Presidential candidate, of having an affair with a slave.
Happy birthday to the Texas Rangers, created on October 17, 1835.
In the midst of their revolt against Mexico, Texan leaders felt they needed a semi-official force of armed men who would defend the isolated frontier settlers of the Lone Star Republic against both Santa Ana’s soldiers and hostile Indians; the Texas Rangers filled this role. But after winning their revolutionary war with Mexico the following year, Texans decided to keep the Rangers, both to defend against Indian and Mexican raiders and to serve as the principal law enforcement authority along the sparsely populated Texan frontier.
On October 16, 1854, Abraham Lincoln, a candidate for Congress, spoke against the Kansas-Nebraska Act and called the practice of slavery “immoral.”
Lincoln, who was practicing law at the time, campaigned on behalf of abolitionist Republicans in Illinois and attacked the Kansas-Nebraska Act. He denounced members of the Democratic Party for backing a law that “assumes there can be moral right in the enslaving of one man by another.” He believed that the law went against the founding American principle that “all men are created equal.”
The world’s first combat submarine, CSS Hunley, sunk during testing in Charleston Harbor on October 15, 1863.
On October 16, 1918, visitors to the Southeastern Fair at the Lakewood Fairgrounds were required by the Georgia State Board of Health to don face masks in order to prevent the spread of the Spanish flu.
Paul Anderson, known as the “World’s Strongest Man,” was born in Toccoa, Georgia on October 17, 1932. From his New York Times obituary:
As the unknown substitute for the injured American champion at the first Soviet-American dual athletic competition, in Moscow in 1955, the 5-foot-9-inch Anderson was scorned by his hosts.
The scorn turned to snickers when Anderson called for a weight of 402.4 pounds, more than 20 pounds above the world record. The snickers stopped when the 340-pound Anderson lifted the weight. By the time he set another record, in the clean and jerk, he was being hailed by Soviet fans.
The stunning achievement at the height of the Cold War made Anderson an instant American hero, and it was largely an anticlimax when he set three more world records at the world championships in Munich, Germany, later that year.
Although virtually conceded the gold medal at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, Anderson was stricken with a severe inner-ear infection.
Competing at 304 pounds and with a 103-degree fever, he fell so far behind his chief rival that on the final of three required lifts, he needed to clean and jerk 413.5 pounds, an Olympic record, to claim the gold. Twice he tried and failed. On the third attempt he asked God for a little extra help and got it.
“It wasn’t making a bargain,” he said later, “I needed help.”
The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution took effect October 15, 1933, changing the Presidential term of office to begin and end on January 20th following each quadrennial election and Senate and Congress to January 3d following biennial elections, both from March 4th.
Billy Graham launched his national ministry on October 15, 1949 in Los Angeles, California.
On October 15, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed legislation creating the United States Department of Transportation. May God have mercy upon his soul.
Interstate 285 around Atlanta was completed on October 15, 1969.
The Omni opened in Atlanta on October 15, 1972, as the Hawks beat the New York Knicks by a score of 109-101.
Maynard Jackson was elected Mayor of Atlanta on October 16, 1973. Jackson was the first African-Amercian Mayor of Atlanta; he served eight years, and was elected for a third, non-consecutive term in 1990.
On October 16, 1976, Jimmy Carter campaigned in Youngstown, Ohio.
Former Secretary General of the Communist Party of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize on October 15, 1990
Georgia-born Clarence Thomas was confirmed as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court on October 15, 1991.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Statewide Early Voting
In-person 25,688
Mailed ballots returned: 294
Mailed ballots issue and outstanding: 22,833
Mail ballots requested, not yet issued: 645
Total votes cast: 972,177Mail-in votes cast: 585,593Electronic: 4,688In-person votes cast: 381,896
Suspended Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill (D) has filed a lawsuit against Governor Brian Kemp, according to the AJC.
Hill was indicted in April by federal authorities on charges alleging he violated the civil rights of four detainees by strapping them into restraint chairs as punishment at the south metro Atlanta county’s jail. Two months later, Gov. Kemp suspended him from duty, saying the indictment would impede Hill’s ability to do his job.
Hill, who calls himself THE CRIME FIGHTER, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In the lawsuit filed in Fulton County Superior Court on Wednesday, attorneys for Hill said state law mandates that if someone suspended because of an indictment “is not first tried at the next regular or special term following the indictment, the suspension shall be terminated and the public official shall be reinstated,” the lawsuit said.
But legal experts previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that state law doesn’t apply on federal indictments because federal courts do not have the same terms as the state.
Amanda Heath was sworn in as Superior Court Judge for the Augusta Judicial Circuit, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
Gov. Brian Kemp swore in Amanda Heath as the newest member of the Superior Court for the Augusta Judicial Circuit, Wednesday afternoon. Heath joins four other superior court judges serving the district.
The governor nominated Heath last month to finish out the four-year term of Judge Carl C. Brown Jr. who submitted notice of his retirement effective July 1. Heath will be only the second Black woman to serve the Augusta Judicial Circuit as a superior court judge.
Heath brings to the bench her experience as a juvenile court judge. She was first appointed to the position in September 2016. Before that, Heath was in private practice for a year after serving nearly four years as an assistant district attorney in the Augusta Judicial Circuit.
United States Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Atlanta) has raised more than $9.5 million dollars for his reelection this year, according to the AJC.
Warnock ended the quarter with more than $17.2 million in cash on hand, more than any Georgia U.S. Senate campaign has reported at this stage in the election cycle. He collected contributions from more than 145,000 donors during the reporting period, which spans from July to September, said campaign manager Quentin Fulks.
Warnock, the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, has expanded the sprawling donor list he amassed during last year’s campaign to fill the remaining two years of retired Republican Johnny Isakson’s term. He’s emerged as a fundraising juggernaut who can attract small-dollar donors – his average contribution was $37 – along with checks from the deep-pocketed elite.
A shipping backup at the Port of Savannah is affecting the supply chain, according to WTOC.
Off the coast of Tybee Island, ships idling at sea waiting for their turn to unload containers at the Port of Savannah.
A trip out to international waters with the Savannah Bar Pilots was quite impressive. On the day, WTOC tagged along, there were about two dozen ships anchored at sea.
Under normal trade conditions, the master bar pilot said there are maybe two or three ships anchored. What’s out there now is something none of the pilots have experienced in their lifetime until recently.
“Twenty-four ships at anchor waiting to come in. The docks are full so as soon as one leaves, we bring another one back in,” Master Pilot Trey Thompson said. “The warehouses are full. The port is full. It’s just total port congestion on every end.”
Larger container ships and more of them stacking up at sea. The congestion is not just on the East Coast. It’s also on the West Coast.
“It really highlights the role of global commerce in the modern economy,” Economist Michael Toma, with Georgia Southern, explained.
“The expectations are that we will have these logistic difficulties in the supply chain extending well into 2022 It may even be into the second half of the year before things start to normalize.”
United States Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Atlanta) wants $10 billion dollars for a rail transit line, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Athens Banner Herald.
As President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan continues stalling in Congress, Georgia U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is hoping to get $10 billion included in the budget reconciliation bill for high-speed passenger rail for Georgia and the Southeast.
Last month, Ossoff wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
“As this Congress makes historic investments in America’s infrastructure, we should allocate robust resources for high-speed rail necessary to advance the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor, a long-planned project of national significance necessary to connect the fast-growing American Southeast,” Ossoff wrote. “I strongly urge the Senate’s proposal to include at least $10 billion in dedicated funding for high-speed rail planning and construction.”
Planning is currently underway for an intercity rail line between Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., with a proposed stop in Athens.
“The projected increases in population and economic growth for the Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion create a need for a carefully planned approach to improving rail infrastructure that will benefit Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, the southeastern United States and the nation,” the FRA wrote in its final environmental impact report on the project released in July.
Ossoff is also supporting a proposed high-speed rail line connecting Atlanta to Savannah with a stop in Macon. This line would extend to Nashville, Tenn., through northeast Georgia and down to Jacksonville, Fla.
And unicorns and pixie dust too.
Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler is offering an internship, according to WALB.
Mr. Fowler has been a licensed mortician since 1986 and is currently serving his third term as the elected coroner of Dougherty County. Nine years in, he still investigates multiple causes to determine the reason why a person passed away.
“Many times you have to investigate what happened 24 hours prior to that person being deceased. So, what I have to do is backtrack, and pull medical records, and look at the body and see what happened,” said Fowler.
“I feel that it is needed to empower young people coming behind us, so that they can be better than what we are. So That’s why I have a passion for young people that want to be something. I want to be a part of the forensics, or a part of the coroner’s office and what to learn about death,” said Fowler.
Fowler has had over 40 students have come through this program, which is open to both high school and college students.
A Valdosta city schools parent wants a less mandatory mask mandate, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.
“I would like the board to help the public understand what you are waiting on concerning cases reported in the community or within the schools,” Woods said. “I do not see the virus disappearing anytime soon and it is not realistic for a child to wear a mask eight hours a day for the rest of their school years.”
She shared concerns from her ninth grader who hates wearing the mask everyday versus her seventh grader who has gotten used to wearing the mask.
Woods said parents should be given the option to send their children to school with or without a mask.
Valdosta City Schools Superintendent Dr. Todd Cason said, “Based on the results of the survey and current data published, we are getting closer to having that discussion.”
The survey asked “Would you be in favor of loosening the mask mandate?” to gauge public thoughts on relaxing the mask mandate in the near future, due to the decreasing virus cases within the school system.
The survey results reported 2,112 teachers, staff, students and parents were opposed to relaxing the mask mandate, while 1,378 favored relaxing the mask mandate.
Hall County may extend their vaccine incentive program, according to the Gainesville Times.
The incentive program started in August, when the county began offering $500 to all employees who got vaccinated or were already fully vaccinated. So far, 988 out of 1,666 of county employees, or 59.3%, have been fully vaccinated, Human Resources Director LisaRae Jones wrote in an email on Oct. 13.
When the program started, only about 30% of employees reported that they were already vaccinated, Jones said. The program was originally set to end at the end of September, but the Board of Commissioners is expected to extend the incentive until the end of 2021 at its Thursday, Oct. 14, meeting.
The program is funded through American Rescue Plan money.
Savannah-Chatham County public schools are considering transportation alternatives, according to WTOC.
The Columbus Districting Commission is preparing to redraw Columbus Commission District lines, according to WTVM.
Every ten years the Columbus Districting Commission meets up to redraw boundary lines in all 8 Muscogee County districts.
“Their responsibility is to determine and make sure there is an even balance of population in each one of those 8 districts,” Director of City Planning Rick Jones said.
The Columbus Director of City Planning Rick Jones says they do this by using the 2021 census data.
In the beginning of the meeting Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson swore in 14 new members to the redistricting committee.
“They are appointed by both the grand jury and council members to do just this important job,” Jones said.
Muscogee County voters will decide on a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, according to WTVM.
On the line is an extra penny tax for new construction and renovations on city government projects. The total price tag- $400 million.
There are about a dozen projects slated to be included in the $400 million proposed sales tax referendum.
The biggest ticket item is for a new judicial building. It would cost $200 million, replacing the aging Columbus Government Center to house courts and offices for judges, sheriffs, DA and public defenders.
Then there’s $44 million for public safety. Upgrading fire, police and emergency medical vehicles are included along with renovating three fire stations and replacing one.
Savannah City Council adopted a housing plan, according to WSAV.
Part of the adoption of the resolution is to increase community wide support and education for housing in Savannah.
Incrementally increased housing investments will start in 2022. Those investments will reach $100 million plus annually. This in turn will benefit 15,000 households by 2032.
A study done by the housing Savannah task force found about 21,000 Savannah households are unable to afford quality housing.
Hall County Commissioners raised the pay for Hall County Commissioners beginning in 2023, according to AccessWDUN.
In January of 2023 members of the Hall County Commission will receive larger pay checks for the service they provide to the county. It will mark the first pay increase for the elected officials since 2007.
District Commissioners will receive $45,000 per year and the chairman will be paid $50,000.
That comes as the result of a 4-1 vote Thursday evening by the Hall County Commission with District 3 Commissioner Shelly Echols casting the lone vote in opposition to the move.
Chairman Richard Higgins said while this appears to be a large increase year-to-year, considering it’s the first bump in fifteen years it is more in line with cost of living increases and inflation if applied to each of those fifteen years. “If this had been changed over the years we wouldn’t be doing this,” Higgins said.
“And it mirrors Forsyth County and Gwinnett County and we are facing a lot of the same issues that they are,” Higgins added.
Gainesville will apply to the state for $10 million in federal COVID relief funding, according to AccessWDUN.
Gainesville Housing and Special Projects Manager Jessica Tullar told city council members during their work session Thursday morning that the application was for $10-million and was being submitted in partnership with the Gainesville Housing Authority.
“They (State of Georgia) are offering it for three different areas: broadband expansion, water and sewer infrastructure improvements, and negative economic impact (from the COVID-19 pandemic). We’ll be applying under the negative economic development.”
“We’re excited about the opportunities that may afford if we receive the grant,” City Manager Bryan Lackey said. “And this really allows us to address affordable housing in Gainesville.”
The city is applying for a Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds for Negative Economic Impact grant, which is funded through federal American Rescue Plan Act money and being given out through the governor’s office. The city would also match $200,000 of the grant funding to make their application more competitive, said Jessica Tullar, the city’s housing and special projects manager.
It would be “the largest grant that I will have been involved in in my 21 years here,” Tullar told the Gainesville City Council at its work session on Thursday, Oct. 14.
Councilman George Wangemann said it would be the biggest grant he could remember in his 35 years with the city.
The city is partnering with the Gainesville Housing Authority to apply for the grant, City Manager Bryan Lackey said. It is a fast turnaround before the application deadline on Oct. 31, and applicants are expected to get a decision as early as the end of 2021.
Rome and Floyd County schools will receive grants, according to the Rome News Tribune.
“We are committed to supporting rural schools and districts and closing the opportunity gaps that often affect students in rural areas,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said in announcing the awards.
• Rome City Schools will be reimbursed up to $40,000 for network equipment to help them fully utilize the expanded bandwidth being provided to each school district in the state. The Chattooga County and Gordon County school systems will each have the same amount available.
Gov. Brian Kemp directed federal COVID-19 relief funds to increase the bandwidth in the K-12 network through the GaDOE Office of Technology. While most school districts had the capacity to use it, 43 districts will need upgraded equipment.
• Floyd County Schools will get a total of $1,352,235 in federal COVID relief funds earmarked for distictwide literacy plans.
• FCS — along with the school systems of Calhoun City, Trion and Cartersville — will get money to outfit their Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education labs that provide hands-on, industry-standard instruction in career pathways.
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