Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for July 16, 2024

On July 16, 1790, Congress declared Washington, DC the new capital city.

On July 17, 1864, General William Tecumseh Sherman set up headquarters in Fulton County on Powers Ferry Road near the Chattahoochee River. Late that night, Confederate General Joseph Johnston was replaced by newly-commissioned Gen. John Bell Hood.

For nearly three months, Johnston and Sherman had maneuvered around the rugged corridor from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Although there was constant skirmishing, there were few major battles; Sherman kept trying to outflank Johnston, but his advances were blocked. Though this kept losses to a minimum, there was also a limit to how long Johnston could maintain this strategy as each move brought the armies closer to Atlanta. By July 17, 1864, Johnston was backed into the outskirts of Atlanta. Johnston felt his strategy was the only way to preserve the Army of Tennessee, but Davis felt that he had given up too much territory.

On July 16, 1914, Asa Griggs Candler, retired President of Coca-Cola, wrote his brother Warren, who was a Bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, a letter offering one million dollars and 72 acres of land in Atlanta for the church to establish a new university in the East.

The United States performed the first test of an atomic bomb on July 16, 1945 at the Trinity site in New Mexico.

Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, director of the project, watched the mushroom cloud rise into the New Mexico sky. “Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds,” he uttered, reciting a passage from an ancient Hindu text.

Georgia-born Ty Cobb died on July 17, 1961.

Georgia Congressman Carl Vinson set a new record for longevity in office on July 16, 1963, having served 48 years, 8 months, and 12 days since his election in 1914. Vinson’s record held until 1992 and his tenure is now sixth-longest.

The Beatles premiered The Yellow Submarine on July 17, 1968 in London.

The National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed by Congress on July 17, 1984. From the New York Times:

President Reagan, appealing for cooperation in ending the “’crazy quilt of different states’ drinking laws,” today signed legislation that would deny some Federal highway funds to states that keep their drinking age under 21.

“We know that drinking, plus driving, spell death and disaster,” Mr. Reagan told visitors on a sweltering afternoon. “We know that people in the 18-to-20 age group are more likely to be in alcohol-related accidents than those in any other age group.”

“It’s a grave national problem, and it touches all our lives,” he added. “With the problem so clear-cut and the proven solution at hand, we have no misgiving about this judicious use of Federal power.”

Under the law Mr. Reagan signed today, the Secretary of Transportation is required to withhold 5 percent of Federal highway construction funds from those states that do not enact a minimum drinking age of 21 by Oct. 1, 1986. The Secretary is required to withhold 10 percent of the funds for states that do not act by Oct. 1, 1987.

The President said he was “convinced” that the legislation would “help persuade state legislators to act in the national interest to save our children’s lives, by raising the drinking age to 21 across the country.”

A senior White House official said after the ceremony that it was not clear that the new law would compel states to raise their drinking ages, even with its incentives and penalties.

He said some states, such as Florida, were proving resistant to the changes because people considered it unfair to allow residents to vote and serve in the armed services at the age of 18 but not to drink in public.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Fulton County Superior Judge Rachel Krause ordered Judge Ural Glanville removed from the YSL prosecution in Fulton County, according to Atlanta News First via WALB.

Fulton County Superior Judge Rachel Krause has ruled Judge Ural Glanville, who has been presiding over Young Thug’s trial in Atlanta since before witness testimony even began last November, should be recused.

Krause’s ruling, issued Monday, July 15, 2024, has thrown even more uncertainty into the nation’s most watched judicial proceeding involving one of American entertainment’s most iconic musical performers.

At the center of Glanville’s recusal is a June 10, 2024, ex parte meeting held between Glanville, two Fulton County prosecutors, star prosecution witness Kenneth Copeland (aka Woody or Lil’ Woody) and his stand-in attorney, Kayla Bumpus. (The legal term ex parte, translated from Latin as “out of the party,” refers to a decision made by a judge without requiring all parties in a dispute to be present.)

On June 7, 2024, Copeland himself was jailed for refusing to testify. Copeland is widely believed to have informed police of alleged crimes committed by Young Thug and the alleged YSL gang. By the following Monday, Copeland had changed his tune and agreed to testify.

Then Glanville ordered Steel be held in contempt after Steel told Glanville, in open court, he had learned of the ex parte meeting that was held without any other defense attorneys’ knowledge or forewarning. Glanville demanded to know how Steel had learned of that meeting, and Steel refused to disclose his source. That’s when Glanville ordered Steel arrested.

Glanville’s contempt ruling against Steel has since been suspended by the Supreme Court of Georgia.

“This Court has no doubt that Judge Glanville can and would continue presiding fairly over this matter if the recusal motions were denied, but the “necessity of preserving the public’s confidence in the judicial system” weighs in favor of excusing Judge Glanville from further handling of this case,” Krause’s ruling said.

The trial’s jury selection lasted longer than any other in Georgia history, and actual witness testimony itself will likely surpass state records. Both records were set by the Atlanta Public Schools teacher scandal and trial of 2014-15.

The trial – which has been repeatedly plagued by arrests, charges and disruptions – began on Nov. 27, 2023. Defense attorneys have repeatedly raised concerns that the trial could go on for years based on the number of witnesses the state plans to call up.

From the AJC:

In the order granting recusal, Krause said the Fulton clerk should reassign the trial to another judge using the court’s case procedures. The Fulton Clerk of Court confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Judge Shukura Ingram has now been assigned to the case.

Atlanta criminal defense attorney Don Samuel said the DA’s office does not have the right to appeal a defendant’s successful motion to recuse a judge.

“There are now a lot of procedural hoops everyone has to go through that are very unique,” said Samuel, who represented Sergio Kitchens, who is known as Gunna and pleaded guilty before the trial began.

Glanville has been presiding over the YSL case since it was indicted in May 2022. It was re-indicted in August 2022, but jury selection didn’t begin until January 2023. After a 10-month jury selection process, opening statements took place in November.

In her order, Krause said she “generally agreed” with Glanville’s assessment regarding the propriety of the June 10 meeting, adding that nothing discussed in the meeting was inherently improper. However, she did note that the meeting could have or perhaps should have been held in open court.

Citing case law, Krause took issue with Glanville’s July 1 comments about the recusal requests. She said he “added facts, provided context, questioned the veracity of allegations, and otherwise explained his decisions and actions and argued why those actions were proper.”

Krause said a judge can disclose information about their potential recusal, but that must be done objectively and without argument.

Former Judicial Qualifications Commission director Chuck Boring said Ingram will have to look at the case and decide whether to move forward or recuse herself. Then, it is likely that defense attorneys will file a motion for a mistrial, Boring said.

“If a mistrial was granted, they would have to have transcripts prepared of all 18 (months) of trial thus far for the attorneys to review,” Boring said. “If a mistrial is granted, if it’s actually going to be retried, it won’t be for a long, long time.”

Ingram could pick up where Glanville left off, but Boring said it would take months to catch up.

Lester Tate, a former JQC chair, said it will depend on how Ingram rules on the likely motion for a mistrial to see if prosecutors have to start over or, less likely, charges against Young Thug are dismissed with prejudice. That would require finding wrongdoing on behalf of the state.

“I think what’s going to happen is you’re going to see a new judge come in and try to get a handle on the whole case and figure out how the best way is to proceed forward,” Tate said.

More local reactions to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, from The Brunswick News.

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-1, said the attempted assassination of Trump was “obviously a sad time for our country.”

Carter said his thoughts and prayers are with the three victims, firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was fatally shot sheltering his family, and two others who were critically wounded. David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pa., and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pa., are both in stable condition, police said.

“This was an attack on the First Amendment rights of our country,’’ he said. “There is no place in our country for such violence, especially political violence.”

Carter said he participated in a House conference call on Sunday about the steps the legislative body may take.

“We’re already talking about inquiries,’’ he said.

Carter said he was concerned that the would-be assassin was able to fire upon Trump and those who attended the rally.

[Brunswick Mayor Cosby] Johnson said he understands the “emotions and spiritual rockiness at a time like this, what I’ve never experienced before,” but called for people to come together rather than distance themselves from those who think differently.

“Far too often violence has torn and stained the fabric of our nation. From the bullets that took the life of father and firefighter Corey Comperatore this weekend — who died shielding his family from an assassin’s bullets — to another child lost in our city to gun violence, the scourge of violence leaves wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, family, friends and communities with holes so deep they are unable to be filled by man alone,” Johnson said.

Johnson said this is a time to examine the true soul of the nation.

“I deeply pray we find a bit more grace and space for those we disagree with. Understanding that we are all working towards a better tomorrow, I pray we seek out the moments and things that connect and bind us together rather than the news channels and social media groups that keep us focused on our division, and I hope and pray we try at the least to love our fellow man a little bit more each day,” Johnson said.

“My father would always tell me ‘Love is hard work, it ain’t for the weak.’ It feels like it’s time for all of us to work a little harder today.”

[Glynn County Commission Chair Wayne] Neal is on the same page as the mayor. Only a higher power can guide people to a better future, he said.

“It’s time for the nation to pray. We need to bring God back into government and treat our fellow man like we want to be treated,” he said. “If we want to bring about healing, it has to start with ourselves, to rise above the fray and do the right thing. When you take God out of the equation, you can’t be surprise when chaos fills the void.”

United States Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Extreme NW GA) spoke at the Republican National Convention, according to the AJC.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene began her speech at the Republican National Convention by thanking God that former President Donald Trump survived Saturday’s assassination attempt.

She described him as the “founding father of the ‘America First’ movement” and said the shooting had led to a “somber moment for our nation” ahead of Trump’s official nomination as the party’s presidential candidate.

“Two days ago, evil came for the man we love and admire so much,” she said. “I thank God that his hand was on President Trump, and I pray for the family of Corey Comperatore, who was killed at the rally, and other attendees who were wounded.”

She criticized Democrats for fighting for transgender rights, to which the crowd booed. She said Democrats had opened the borders and “allowed millions of illegal aliens to pour in, driving up the cost of housing and health care while slashing American wages and eliminating jobs.”

She went on to criticize the approval of U.S. funding to Ukraine to help in its fight against Russia.

“Donald Trump has and he will make America great again,” she said in her conclusion. “He will make us wealthy again. And as God as my witness, he will finally give us the country we deserve. Because Donald John Trump is the leader America deserves.”

Georgia elected officials reacted to Trump’s choice of J.D. Vance as his running mate, according to the AJC.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that he was “FIRED UP to support the Trump/Vance ticket.”

“U.S. Sen. Vance is an America First patriot with a tremendous story that will resonate with millions of Americans, including those in the Rust Belt. The momentum behind President Trump is real and growing,” Jones wrote.

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson, posted on X a photo of himself and Vance and captioned it, “WE ARE SO BACK!”

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, wrote on X that she can’t wait to vote for Trump and “my friend” Vance. “I’m so happy he’s on the ticket,” she said.

Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler wrote, on X, “This is the strongest presidential ticket of our lifetime.”

State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, said Trump chose the “most aggressive and most accusatory of all the possible choices he had.”

She also called out Vance’s response following the attempted assassination of Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania. Vance wrote on X that rhetoric from President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign “led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

“Vance’s statement over the weekend to blame Democrats for the attempted assassination is indicative of who he is,” Oliver said. “Despite the fact that he’s very smart and very gifted, he is malleable on his principles and strategically postured himself to be primary protector of former President Trump in the last few months. His strategy paid off today.”

State Sen. Josh McLaurin, who shared a room with Vance during his time at Yale Law School, said on X that Vance is a “sellout” as well as “angry and vindictive.”

“The perfect fit for Trump’s revenge,” he wrote. “JD’s rise is a triumph for angry jerks everywhere.”

From the AJC Politically Georgia:

“He’s young. He’s quick on his feet. He will excite the base,” said Melanie Collier, a Georgia GOP delegate. “And he would be prepared to step in, God forbid anything happened to my precious president.”

GOP chairman Josh McKoon called Vance “a perfect, fantastic choice” and said Vance is “the future of the party in a lot of ways aligned with President Trump on America First issues.”

Along with his aggressive defense of Trump, the Ohio senator also defines who Republicans now consider their most reliable base — white, working-class men, especially in manufacturing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Vance’s own Ohio that were once reliably Democratic strongholds.

Asked how he plans to use Vance in the campaign, Trump told ABC News: “I’m going to leave him in Pennsylvania.” Then, Trump said, he’d send Vance to Wisconsin and “a lot of other places where people are hurting.”

Like other Republicans, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr brought up Vance’s hardscrabble upbringing in an Ohio manufacturing town, which was made famous in his 2016 memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” Vance went on to enlist as a Marine, fight in the Iraq War, and later attend Yale Law School.

“His story embodies the resilience of the American spirit,” said Carr. “No matter your circumstances, with hard work, grit, education and opportunity, everyone can live the American dream.”

U.S. Rep. Rick McCormick of Suwanee got as close as he could to the stage and smiled widely as his friend Vance was announced as Trump’s running mate. The two have bonded in the past over being Marines. McCormick declared Monday, “What a classy act.”

Georgia Democrats reacted to the attempted assassination with more pleas for gun control, according to the AJC.

The latest call for changes to gun laws comes after the shooting at a Pennsylvania rally for Trump that killed one rallygoer and injured at least two others. Trump also was injured during the incident.

“I think it’s another one of many examples of how the ubiquity of guns in American society garners and leads to a lot of gun violence and risk for everyone, no matter who we are and no matter where we are in this country,” said state Sen. Elena Parent of Atlanta, head of the Democratic caucus in the chamber. “Those risks are even higher when semiautomatic rifles are readily in houses and hands all over the country.”

Parent is one of several Democratic lawmakers who have pushed for gun control laws over the years.

Senate Majority Caucus Chairman Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, said calls for gun control after Saturday’s shooting were “tone deaf.”

“The incident on Saturday was no more the fault of the Second Amendment than it was the fault of the First Amendment,” he said. “I don’t see any Democrats clamoring to rein in their own freedom of speech, and I won’t stand for them trying to use this tragedy to take away our guns.”

Fulton County Board of Elections Chair Cathy Woolard has asked Governor Brian Kemp to remove three members of the State Election Board, according to the AJC.

A Fulton County election official has asked Gov. Brian Kemp to remove three members of the State Election Board and its executive director over actions that may have violated Georgia’s open meetings law.

On Friday, three Republican members of the state board — Janelle King, Rick Jeffares and Janice Johnston — and the board’s executive director, former GOP lawmaker Mike Coan, held an impromptu meeting to approve new election rules in advance of November’s hotly contested presidential election. The move came after the state attorney general’s office warned the board that the meeting could violate the Georgia Open Meetings Act.

On Monday, Fulton County Election Board Chair Cathy Woolard asked Kemp to remove the three state board members and Coan, citing alleged violations of the state ethics code and meetings law. Woolard said she filed the complaint in a personal capacity, not as chair of the election board.

In the letter, Woolard asked Kemp to “investigate this illegal meeting, declare any actions taken during this illegal meeting to be null and void and to remove those members and the executive director participating in this meeting from their respective positions and replace them with SEB members and staff who will adhere to the law at all times.”

The attorney general’s office informed the board Thursday that the meeting might violate a state law that requires state boards to publish notices of non-emergency meetings at least seven days in advance. Meetings deemed an emergency or a “special circumstance” by the board can be held with less than 24 hours’ notice.

On Friday, King said the meeting was legitimate because notice was announced more than 24 hours in advance. The meeting was announced on a sheet of paper on the door of the Capitol meeting room — but not in advance on the State Election Board meeting website.

The City of Douglas will hold a Special Election on November 5, 2024 for Ward 2, which was vacated by the previous holder, according to WALB.

The seat was vacated in June after Ward 2 City Commissioner Kentaiwon Durham pled guilty in federal court to wire fraud charges, according to WALB.

In a recent city commission meeting, Douglas city manager Charles Davis announced the vacant Ward 2 seat. While city of Douglas Mayor Tony Paulk told WALB Commissioner Kentaiwon Durham resigned from leading Ward 2 in Douglas, according to Durham he didn’t resign. The seat is vacant per charter rules which states “upon the final conviction, the office of the public official shall be vacated immediately without further action.”

The guilty plea and now vacant seat comes after Durham pleaded guilty to submitting a PPP loan application and accepting over $20,000 from the program.

Although the plea agreement says the government will recommend a term of probation, Durham faces up to 20 years in prison — plus three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and forfeiture of assets.

Mayor Paulk says what former Commissioner Durham did was in his personal capacity and had nothing to do with the city.

Former state senate candidate Beth Majeroni filed a federal lawsuit against the Chatham County Board of Elections, according to WSAV.

Former state senate candidate Beth Majeroni has filed a formal complaint regarding a publicized incident involving the Chatham County Board of Elections (BOE) last summer, according to Travis Jaudon of Connect Savannah.

Majeroni made headlines in July 2023 after being forcibly removed from a BOE meeting. She now has filed a 14-count court complaint against the board, as well as the Chairman, Thomas J. Mahoney III, and two Chatham County police officers, Andrew Nizwantowski and Robert Santoro, who removed her from the meeting.

The case was filed with the Southern District of the United States District Court, Savannah Division, on July 8.

In the complaint, Majeroni’s attorneys, Rachel Berlin Benjamin and Jonathan D. Grunberg, lay out the basis for their client’s complaint:

Majeroni cares deeply about her community and the rights of the public to participate in their democracy. After serving as a poll watcher for the May 2022 primary and witnessing several issues at the polling place, she followed up with open records act requests to the Chatham County Board of Elections (“BOE”). When those requests were not fully answered, she got a Chatham County grand jury to investigate the BOE. And that investigation resulted in the Chatham County grand jury advising the BOE to do better.

The BOE instead retaliated against Majeroni. In July of 2023, the BOE held its first meeting that included a “formal” public comment period on the agenda. The BOE used this as an opportunity to retaliate against Majeroni by, inter alia, preventing her from speaking, having her arrested, and having her physically hauled out of the meeting.

The BOE and the officers who accosted Majeroni that day had no basis for their misconduct other than to deny Majeroni her Constitutional rights and otherwise harm her. For this, they are liable.

Majeroni recently ran for Georgia State Senate, District 1, in the May 21 Republican Primary. She lost to incumbent Ben Watson.

The Georgia Supreme Court has recognized your Constitutionally-protected right to flip off the police, according to the Macon Telegraph.

The bird, on its own, is not enough to cause an officer to arrest or ticket you. Also, just the finger (or fingers) can’t get you pulled over or be the sole justification of a traffic stop, advises the legal website FindLaw.

The debate was settled once and for all by the Georgia Supreme Court in October 2017. It began, however, when a Flowery Branch, Georgia, man stood up during a church service and offered his middle finger to the standing teachers as they were being honored.

A pretty lengthy court battle ensued over the gesture itself. Freeman appealed his conviction, arguing the charge of “disorderly conduct” was too vague to be applied in this instance, according to Criminal Legal News, a project of the Human Rights Defense Center.

He chased the appeals process all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court, which rejected his arguments, unilaterally. However, all was not lost for Mr. Freeman. While the court didn’t agree with his interpretations of “disorderly conduct” and “fighting words,” it did deem the expression was protected by the constitution.

It’s our First Amendment right

There are many precedents in this matter, but ultimately it is a form of protected speech and doesn’t meet the criteria for disorderly conduct in Georgia.

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Cruise-Gulyas v. Minard that “any reasonable officer would know that a citizen who raises her middle finger engages in speech protected by the First Amendment,” and therefore cannot make an arrest based solely on that criteria alone.

Flipping someone the bird while riding in a car is also fine and within the law, and does not create reasonable suspicion to justify a traffic stop. You are welcome to wave those birds around and the police can’t pull you over, based on that.

There is a little bit more to it, however.

The hand gesture itself may be protected, but combined with other factors such as threats, refusing to comply or unruly behavior could escalate to a misdemeanor crime.

Just because it is protected under constitutional law, that doesn’t immunize the person from more intervention by law enforcement, especially if it is the catalyst for more problematic behavior.

For whatever it’s worth, making your life decisions based on what an internet site says is legal might not work out for you.

Suspended Effingham County Commissioner Reggie Loper asked a court to dismiss one of the charges that led to his suspension, according to WTOC.

Reggie Loper is charged with both sexual battery and with sexual battery against a child under 16. His defense team filed for the Sexual Battery Against a Child Under 16 to be thrown out.

Loper’s camp is arguing that the alleged victim was 16 years old – not under16 years old.

Georgia law says that sexual battery of a child under 16 is a felony but it’s a misdemeanor offense if the victim is older than that.

Misdemeanors in Georgia have a statue of limitations of two years meaning that they have to be prosecuted within two years of it happening.

The indictment accuses Loper of committing the crime between September 2014 and September 2015. So, if the charge is reduced to a misdemeanor, it can no longer be prosecuted.

Loper’s legal team is asking for that charge to be dismissed altogether or to at least have an evidentiary hearing about it.

They’re also asking to bar Loper’s wife from testifying in the case, unless it’s about “evidence only on the specific act” that Loper is charged with.

Lastly – Loper’s team is asking the State to produce mental health records for the alleged victims, saying that at least one of them was hospitalized for significant mental health issues.

Loper has plead not guilty in the case and is due back in court on August 6th.

Effingham County State Court Judge Stephen Yekel seeks an order requiring the Clerk of Courts to grant him access to court computer files, according to WTOC.

Judge Stephen Yekel has filed a petition for a writ of mandamus against Jason Bragg, the Clerk of Court in Effingham County.

A writ of mandamus isn’t a lawsuit but it’s an order to a government official to perform their official duties.

Judge Yekel is asking for such an order on Bragg, who he has accused of preventing him from accessing court files.

The petition says that Judge Yekel had previously had access to a case management system that let him see court documents that aren’t publicly available.

It goes on to say that in March, the two men had issues “relating to an ongoing investigation of Mr. Bragg” by the GBI, and that after that, Bragg revoked Judge Yekel’s access.

The petition says that Bragg “has failed to comply with a duty of his office” by revoking access.

Meanwhile, Judge Yekel is being sued by former Effingham County Court Administrator Lisa Crawford.

Guyton City Council member Theodore Hamby faced allegations of ethical misconduct, according to the Effingham Herald.

In a nearly hour-long hearing July 9 at Guyton City Hall, Councilman Theodore Hamby maintained that he did nothing unethical during the recent campaign for Effingham County tax commissioner.

The Kelly Hoffner campaign filed the complaint against Hamby shortly after the May 21 primary, which resulted in Hoffner and Daniel Rodewolt having to have a runoff election June 18 because neither candidate received 50% of the vote.

The Hoffner campaign alleges Hamby approached them asking for money for his endorsement and campaign support. Hoffner and her fiancé/campaign manager Nick Hitt also allege that Hamby made the same offer to Rodewolt.

The Ethics Committee that heard the testimony was down to two members: Robert Hunter and Reginald Stanmar. The third member, LaToya Jones, had previously resigned from the committee.

In opening the hearing, Hunter reminded both parties and the audience the hearing’s purpose by quoting from the city ordinance.

“Section H, ‘No city official shall solicit or accept other employment to be performed or compensated to be received while still a city official, if the employment or compensation could reasonably be expected to impair such official’s judgment or performance of city duties.’,” Hunter read.

Hunter continued, “Section L, ‘A city official shall not use his or her position in any way to coerce, or give the appearance of coercing, another person to provide any financial benefit to such official or persons within the official’s immediate family or those with whom the official has business or financial ties amounting to substantial interest.’ That pretty much sums up where we are today.”

Testimony was contentious at times when Hamby mentioned Hoffner’s children or tried to defame her character. Hitt accused Hamby, or people associated with him, of using fake Facebook profiles to attack Hoffner.

Hitt gave a brief review of the complaint in his opening statement, saying, “(After a Guyton City Council meeting) I tried to talk with Mr. Hamby. He didn’t really want to talk. We exchanged a couple words out in the parking lot. And then we decided to meet at Pineora gas station. I met with him and his father. And in that meeting, he basically summed up for me that if I didn’t let this issue go, or wasn’t okay with everything, that him and his father had evidence against Kelly,” Hitt said.

Hitt added that Hamby’s father threatened Hoffner saying they had “stuff” on her.

Hamby countered Hitt, accusing the Hoffner campaign of retaliation. In a prepared statement, Hamby read, “most of what he said was false. We are here because Mr. Hitt and Ms. Hoffner are unwilling to acknowledge the shortcomings of their own campaign, Hamby attacked. “I was not operating in my official capacity as a councilman during any of the events in question. Their accusations lack substance, and even integrity. They are hoping that by tarnishing my reputation, they can divert attention from their own missteps.”

Hamby then brought up alleged findings by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation claiming the GBI had investigated the matter and found “no evidence of criminal or unethical behavior.” Hamby was referring to the Hoffner’s complaint being submitted to the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office, which in turn submitted it to the GBI. The Herald reached out to the GBI and received this response as reported in a story on June 5: “The situation didn’t equate to an investigation,” the GBI said in an email to the Herald.

“He (Hamby) says that he didn’t operate any of this or do any of this while operating as councilman,” Hoffner said. “But in fact, the original endorsement that he gave me in March was from his Guyton city councilman (Facebook) page. I have a screenshot on my phone.”

Hoffner went on to explain that Hamby called her “like crazy” May 21 and May 22 trying to get money from them for his support.

According to the Effingham County Elections office, Hoffner received 2,630 votes to Rodewolt’s 2,552. Tony Sapp received 804. Finishing 1 and 2, but without 50% of the vote, Hoffner and Rodewolt had to face off in the June 18 runoff.

“My issue was you have somebody who is a treasurer on the (Effingham County) GOP. You have someone that is a Guyton City Council member. They’re going back and forth between two candidates that are about to go to a runoff and trying to manipulate elections. What you have here is not public service. You have self-service. You have someone that will literally sit here and lie right to your face.”

Hamby redirected his comments to Hoffner saying, “Most of these lies saying I was trying to overthrow an election. They give me more credit than I deserve. I don’t even know where to begin to overthrow an election.

“I was offering as a businessman, not as a city councilman. It was not on the city’s time. It was on my personal time,” Hamby continued.

“He (Hamby) was told numerous times by the GOP to stop doing that (endorsing candidates),” Hitt added. “We can’t do this. This is unethical. To stop. I told him repeatedly, ‘You’re compromising Kelly’s campaign.’ And he said, ‘No! You compromised Kelly’s campaign when you turned me in’.”

Hunter asked Hamby directly, “Do you recall asking for $625 to start working on a campaign?”

“Yes,” Hamby answered. “For a runoff election, consulting fees can go six (thousand) to $10,000. I felt $625 was a cheap price and he counter-offered $1.

“I was acting as a businessman to support myself and my dog. It was a simple business decision; nothing that affected my official capacity,” Hamby added.

Hamby went on to explain that if he was hired, and he was not, he would work “in the background setting up events.” He said he would not promise the candidates a certain number of votes because he’s a councilman with the city of Guyton. “I’m here to promise you a good grassroots mobilization. Grassroots wins elections,” Hamby said.

Hunter asked Hoffner, “Did you have any indication that his position as a city council member would have any effect on his endorsement of you?”

“Well, that’s 100% how he’s only operated. He has branded himself as ‘Guyton City Councilman Theodore Hamby’,” Hoffner said. “He introduces himself that way. Everywhere he goes, that’s what he does it for. Everything’s for attention.

The Ethics Committee met in executive session for about 30 minutes after the hearing and will issue its decision based on the evidence and presented testimony to the mayor and city council by July 16 in compliance with the city ordinance.

According to deputy city attorney Wes Rahn, the council can issue its decision regarding Hamby’s actions at the next regularly scheduled council meeting on Aug. 13 or before in a special called meeting. If the Ethics Committee rules that there was an ethics violation, the city council can decide to censure Hamby, issue a public reprimand, or ask for his resignation from city council.

Effingham County will host a public meeting to discuss their Safe Streets for All Plan, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The goal of the meeting is to collect information regarding traffic concerns. Residents are encouraged to drop by within the 2-hour period to provide input to county staff.

During the State of the County address in April, the county unveiled a massive plan to fix dozens of roads to prepare for the area’s growing population.

More than a dozen roundabouts are planned for construction throughout the county, 19 in the design phase with more under consideration.

Senate Bill 73, passed by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Kemp, attempts to reduce unwanted robocalls, according to the Macon Telegraph.

The bill provides stronger protections for consumers and potentially increases the legal risks for businesses who practice telemarketing activities in Georgia.

Among other changes, the law will allow Georgians to be rewarded up to $1,000 per violation in punitive damages and could make way for class action lawsuits against telemarketers and their third party contractors.

What do you need to know about the new law?

Expanded liability – this means that both the companies that benefit from the calls are liable as well as the companies contracted to make the actual calls.

Elimination of “knowing” requirement – not knowing the law exists is no longer a valuable defense for companies.

Litigation permissions – People who are on the receiving end of these calls can now sue the companies as part of a class action suit.

Paid attorney’s fees – the bill allows for recovery of legal fees in successful lawsuits.

Third-party liability – this means that even the companies that have been outsourced to do the calls are liable. This closes the loophole of contracting a third party to contact consumers.

The law is meant to further protect consumers against the annoying and disrupting practice. It will also make telemarketers follow stricter guidelines in their communications with customers.

Although not specific to the new SB 73, Georgia enforces the The Consumer Protection Act of 1991 which requires solicitors to only call between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.

A Wall Street Journal editorial took issue with comments by United States Representative Mike Collins (R-GA), according to the Athens Banner Herald.

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., whose district includes Athens-Clarke County, was called “the village idiot” in a Monday editorial in the Wall Street Journal, after Collins claimed on the X social media platform that President Joe Biden gave an order to have Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump assassinated.

In the Sunday post, which does not appear in the @RepMikeCollins X account linked on Collins’ official House of Representative website, but on the separate @MikeCollinsGA account, Collins wrote, “Joe Biden sent the orders.”

Collins’ post referenced to a Biden quote from July 8 addressing the upcoming presidential election following a debate between him and Trump. In the quote, Biden said, “I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that. So we’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”

The Journal editorial noted Biden was obviously using a metaphor — albeit an “inapt” one given the nation’s current political climate — and clearly not issuing a call to have Trump assassinated.

Nonetheless, the attempted assassination of Trump continued to be featured in Collins’ X accounts on Monday, including a post at @RepMikeCollins noting that “The Left has spent eight years building a narrative indoctrinating a large portion of our population to believe that killing Donald Trump is justifiable. The media played their part.”

In a Sunday post at @RepMikeCollins, the congressman wrote that “they attempted to neutralize the threat” above a photo of Joe Biden with the “bullseye” reference and a separate quote in which the president used his X account to call Trump “… a genuine threat to this nation.”

In another post on @MikeCollinsGA on Saturday, the congressman wrote that “The Republican District Attorney in Butler County, PA, (where Trump was shot) should immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for inciting an assassination.”

I can’t imagine anything said by a New York-based media outlet will negatively affect Collins’s reelection in November.

Plant Vogtle’s Unit 3 reactor is offline, according to the AJC.

Unit 3, one of four reactors at the nuclear power plant 35 miles southeast of Augusta, was shut down July 8 after a valve malfunctioned on one of the pumps that supplies “feedwater” to the steam generator, Georgia Power spokesman Jacob Hawkins said. Feedwater removes heat from the reactor and is used to produce steam, which spins the generator’s turbines to create electricity.

After the valve problem was identified, plant operators manually tripped the reactor to shut it down, said Diane Screnci, a spokeswoman for the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Hawkins said all of the unit’s safety systems functioned as designed, and that necessary repairs have been completed.

“At no time was the safety of the employees or community at risk,” Hawkins added.

Unit 3 has been online since last July, when it made history as the first new nuclear reactor built from scratch in the U.S. in more than three decades. It’s twin, Unit 4, entered service in April, completing the expansion of the nuclear power plant and making Vogtle the country’s largest generator of carbon-free electricity, according to Georgia Power.

Vogtle is also home to two older nuclear reactors, Units 1 and 2, which have been in operation since the late 1980s. Only Unit 3 is impacted by the current outage.

The technical glitch comes about six weeks after Georgia Power and the units’ other co-owners welcomed state and federal leaders, including Gov. Brian Kemp and U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, to the plant for victory lap celebrations of the Vogtle expansion’s completion.

The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper protects many miles of the river, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

Despite the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper organization existing for 30 years, with roots in Atlanta, the nonprofit that serves as a watchdog for river pollution only began consistently monitoring in the Columbus area in the last few years.

Thanks to an expanding staff, a new water quality lab partnership at Columbus State University and tips from locals concerned about water quality, the riverkeepers are showing up more often to test water in the river and creeks. The Columbus staff tests water quality, and dedicated volunteers and CRK directors grab samples throughout the region. For the last six months, the directors have been going out on the river to take water samples on the Chattahoochee.

The Ledger-Enquirer took a ride Wednesday with CRK Executive Director Jason Ulseth on his custom-made river sampling boat and two other riverkeeper staff to find out.

On a warm, muggy summer morning, Ulseth brought his boat down from Atlanta to gather samples near the Phenix City water treatment plant outfall. Vanisha Estrahota, Columbus technical programs fellow, and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper deputy director Henry Jacobs departed from the dock at Rotary Park. They went a mile south toward Phenix City, Alabama’s water treatment plant.

After just five minutes of boating, and swiftly passing old docks and herring birds, the smell made it clear where the outfall was. The water levels were high, covering the treatment center outfall pipe that Ulseth would normally sample from directly. Instead, they gathered a sample as close as they could.

The team chose this spot Wednesday because they have had consistent issues with the Phenix City water treatment plant spewing out too much E. coli, which is harmful to human health. If consumed, it can lead to serious illness. Not only can it travel through fish, according to the riverkeepers, but it also is an indication of other pathogens.

According to the samples that Technical Program Director Ashley Desensi took in early June, the plant was discharging 17,000 MPN.

These levels are “through the roof,” Ulseth said.

The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that water used for recreation have no more than 126/100 CFU ML of E. coli, on average over multiple samples and days. The Alabama Department of Environment’s daily maximum is 298/100 MPN, which is another measure of water contamination that is comparable to CFU.

Is White Water Express safe from all of these issues?
Generally, yes. Atlanta has had issues with sewage, and the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper sent a 60-day-notice to sue the city for the first time since 1995.

“If you have one day of bad water in the Chattahoochee, that’s not a violation,” Ulseth said. “You have three more samples within that month showing that the average exceeds the standard.”

But Ulseth said that any sewage issue in Atlanta doesn’t affect Columbus waters, it affects West Point Lake more.

“Sewage and stormwater that come into the river, having people contact, coming in contact with that at an acute level here on their paddle trip or their kayak river fishing trip, yeah, and that’s the real danger. By the time it gets to here, we don’t see the bacteria impact,” he said.

Columbus’ biggest impact is from its own combined sewer overflow system and thunderstorms.