The Trustees of the Georgia colony learned on April 17, 1737 that Spain had 4000 soliders and two warships in Havana, Cuba and was planning on invading Georgia or South Carolina. Thus began the rivalry between then-Spanish occupied Florida and Georgia. Floridians would have to wait until after the 1873 invention of blue jeans by Levi Strauss to develop their modern uniform of jean shorts.
On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and William Dawes mounted up on horseback to warn of British troops on their way to confiscate American arms and to warn patriots Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who the British sought to capture.
By 1775, tensions between the American colonies and the British government had approached the breaking point, especially in Massachusetts, where Patriot leaders formed a shadow revolutionary government and trained militias to prepare for armed conflict with the British troops occupying Boston. In the spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, received instructions from Great Britain to seize all stores of weapons and gunpowder accessible to the American insurgents. On April 18, he ordered British troops to march against Concord and Lexington.
The Boston Patriots had been preparing for such a British military action for some time, and, upon learning of the British plan, Revere and Dawes set off across the Massachusetts countryside. They took separate routes in case one of them was captured….
About 5 a.m. on April 19, 700 British troops under Major John Pitcairn arrived at the town to find a 77-man-strong colonial militia under Captain John Parker waiting for them on Lexington’s common green. Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment’s hesitation, the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, the “shot heard around the world” was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead and 10 others were wounded; only one British soldier was injured. The American Revolution had begun.
George Washington, recently elected President, left his Mount Vernon home on April 16, 1789 for his inauguration in New York.
“I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity; and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express.”
On April 16, 1865, Columbus, Georgia fell to Union forces. The Battle of Columbus is widely considered to be the last battle of the Civil War. Though it is not unanimously held to be, a 1935 Act of the Georgia General Assembly declared it the war’s last battle.
Hall of Famer Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians threw his first no-hitter on April 16, 1940 against the Chicago White Sox in Comiskey Park.
On April 17, 1944, a fifteen-year old Martin Luther King, Jr., a junior at Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, traveled to Dublin, Georgia to give a speech in a contest sponsored by the local black Elks club. During the bus ride to Dublin, King and his teacher had to give up their seats to white riders and stand for much of the ride. King won the contest, delivering his oration, “The Negro and the Constitution.”
On April 17, 1950, the United States Supreme Court dismissed South v. Peters, a complaint against Georgia’s County Unit System of elections.
Each county is allotted a number of unit votes, ranging from six for the eight most populous counties, to two for most of the counties. The candidate who receives the highest popular vote in the county is awarded the appropriate number of unit votes. Appellants, residents of the most populous county in the State, contend that their votes and those of all other voters in that county have on the average but one-tenth the weight of those in the other counties. Urging that this amounts to an unconstitutional discrimination against them, appellants brought this suit to restrain adherence to the statute in the forthcoming Democratic Party primary for United States Senator, Governor and other state offices. The court below dismissed appellants’ petition. We affirm.
On April 17, 1964, the Ford Mustang debuted at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York. The world has been a better, if somewhat louder, place ever since. Also present at the 1964 World’s Fair was the Coca-Cola Pavilion, which included a 610-bell electric carillon that would later be installed at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia, where it can be heard most days.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1965. On April 16, 2006, a new, larger portrait of Dr. King was unveiled in the Georgia State Capitol.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson visited Augusta, Georgia on a campaign stop this week in 1964.
He came with Gov. Carl Sanders, an Augusta native, as well as U.S. Sen. Herman Talmadge, an influential state leader.
Johnson’s national election over Republican Barry Goldwater appeared certain, and a week later he would easily trounce the Arizona Republican.
Lyndon Johnson, however, would not carry Richmond County on Election Day 1964, and he probably got a hint of things to come during his speech before a crowd gathered in front of the Augusta-Richmond County Municipal Building.
He was heckled.
At least four times during a routine stump speech, calls from the crowd interrupted the former vice president who had taken office less than a year before with John Kennedy’s assassination.
“We want Barry!” people would shout.
Johnson didn’t carry The Peach State because he had become unpopular among whites in the Deep South for his civil rights initiatives, according to Merle Black, an Emory University professor who has spoken and written on Southern politics over the years.
Black recalled the Augusta incident in his 1992 book The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected, which he wrote with Earl Black. He also described Johnson gaining the crowd’s support with the anecdote about his earlier abuse by hostile crowds.
“Earl Black and I wrote in The Vital South that, ‘There was no more booing from the young Goldwaterites after he finished his story,’” Merle Black wrote in an e-mail from Atlanta. “President Johnson’s leadership in passage of the civil rights bill was the main reason he lost Georgia that year.”
The honeybee was recognized as the official state insect of Georgia on April 18, 1975.
Thirty-two years ago this month “Say Anything” was released, marking the directorial debut of Cameron Crowe, who wrote “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and later directed “Singles.”
John Cusack, four years past playing a college freshman in The Sure Thing, plays graduating high school senior Lloyd Dobler. Ione Skye, three years after her debut in the very dark drama River’s Edge, plays the brilliant and shy Diane Court. And John Mahoney, four years before he found sitcom immortality as Frasier Crane’s father Martin, plays Diane’s adoring and deeply flawed father, Jim. Writer and first-time director Cameron Crowe was best-known at the time for the screenplay for Fast Times at Ridgemont High — which is fondly remembered now as the launching pad for many respectable careers, but which Roger Ebert had called “a failure of taste, tone and nerve.”
On April 18, 2006, Governor Sonny Perdue signed legislation establishing February 6 of each year as “Ronald Reagan Day” in Georgia and celebrating the date of President Reagan’s birth.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Governor Brian Kemp this week appointed Samir Patel as District Attorney for the Cherokee Judicial Circuit, serving Bartow and Gordon Counties. Patel’s term ends December 31, 2022, so he will be on the ballot next year, assuming he runs for election to the seat he now holds. Rosemary Greene, his predecessor, was appointed in February to the Superior Court for the Cherokee Circuit.
Samir Patel, an associate attorney with White and Choate, will fill the vacancy created by the appointment of Rosemary Greene as superior court judge of the Cherokee Judicial Circuit. Patel previously served as assistant public defender for the circuit, which includes Bartow and Gordon counties.
Patel holds a bachelor’s degree in information sciences and general management from East Tennessee State University and a law degree from Georgia State University Since 2017, Patel has served as municipal court judge of Euharlee.
Patel currently served on the board of directors for Advocates for children, and he’s a past president of both the Bartow County Bar Association and the Bartow County Exchange Club. He graduated from the Bartow County Chamber of Commerce Leadership program in 2014.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr will defend the state in five lawsuits over the new voting legislation, according to WTOC.
“There has been no proven instances of voter suppression. There has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud such that it would overturn the election, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t do elections better,” Carr said. “And when you look at the language of the Election Integrity Act, you see that it’s about strengthening security, expanding access and improving transparency.”
The groups that have filed civil rights voting lawsuits against the state of Georgia include:
The New Georgia Project (filed March 25th)
Georgia State Conference of the NAACP (March 28th)
Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (March 29th)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta (April 1st)
Vote America (April 7th)
The Whitfield County Republican Party adopted resolutions censuring statewide elected officials as well as local State Senator Chuck Payne, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.
“I am not going anywhere,” [Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger] said in a statement Thursday. “Georgia elections are fair and accurate, and the new elections bill strengthens that — despite the misinformation from those on the left. I will continue to defend Georgia against those spreading misinformation for their own political purposes.”
During the weekend, at their annual conventions, the Whitfield and Murray GOP passed resolutions calling on Raffensperger to resign. He is one of three top elected Republican officials in the state targeted by the two conventions for what their participants see as insufficiently supporting former President Donald Trump in his claim that his loss in the state in the 2020 presidential election was tainted by fraud. Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan were censured at the two conventions.
“They didn’t take a stand to defend President Trump like we think they should have,” said Whitfield County Republican Party Chairman Dianne Putnam.
The Whitfield County GOP also censured state Sen. Chuck Payne, R-Dalton, for, among other things, endorsing and repeating Duncan’s “denials of election fraud and claims the elections were fairly conducted.”
“Raffensperger and his subordinates frequently gave media interviews that criticized and undermined the efforts of President Trump and the Georgia Republican Party fighting election fraud,” the Whitfield County resolution calling for Raffensperger to resign reads.
The resolution also criticizes Raffensperger for signing a consent decree with the Georgia Democratic Party to settle a lawsuit over how signatures on mail-in ballots would be compared to the signatures on file at elections offices. The decree requires elections officials to notify voters of any issues with their signatures in a timely manner and give them an opportunity to correct any problems.
“He didn’t have the authority to do that,” said Murray County Republican Party Chairman Tony Abernathy. “Anything like should be approved by the (legislature).”
“He (Kemp) didn’t call (the legislature) back into session and let them deal with this,” said Abernathy. “If he’d called them back into session and let them investigate and they’d said ‘Everything’s fine,’ there wouldn’t be a problem. What he did sowed disdain and distrust.”
Payne said calling the legislature back into session would have served no purpose.
“We are not an investigative body,” he said. “We do not have the power to compel people to testify under oath. That’s why the (state Senate) Republican caucus decided against asking for a special session.”
Also trying to scuttle GOP chances of retaining the Governor’s office in 2022 is former Democratic State Rep. and DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones. From the AJC.
Vernon Jones aims to tap into GOP anger at Kemp for resisting Trump’s demands to overturn Joe Biden’s narrow victory in Georgia in November, though his long record as an elected Democratic official seems certain to complicate his bid to win over Republican voters.
Jones said in a tweet that he will make the announcement at a Friday morning press conference outside the state Capitol “highlighting his decision to run” for the seat.
Even with Trump’s help, Jones faces a steep challenge with the Georgia GOP electorate. Though recent polls show Kemp has been damaged by his falling out with Trump, the first-term governor’s outspoken support for a controversial package of new election restrictions has helped him rally the party’s base.
What’s more, Jones must answer for a long history of controversy in public office that includes allegations of sexual assault that he has denied, along with votes that could alienate Republicans such as Jones’ 2019 vote against a strict anti-abortion measure that Kemp signed into law.
Kemp’s allies are eager to portray a contrast between the state’s first lifelong Republican governor since Reconstruction and a party-switching Democrat who only endorsed Trump last year.
Jones launched his political career in the early 1990s in the Georgia House before winning the first of two terms as DeKalb County’s chief executive officer in 2000. His stint was marked by controversy.
For much of his second term in office, Jones battled an accusation of rape that he said was a consensual act between three partners. Prosecutors said at the time that they dropped the criminal investigation because the alleged victim didn’t want to go through the trauma of a trial. Her lawyer said she stood by the accusation.
And a wide-ranging special grand jury report released in 2013, after Jones left office, recommended an investigation against Jones and other DeKalb officials into possible bid-rigging and theft when he was chief executive, painting a picture of a culture of corruption that spanned from his office to workers and contractors in the watershed department.
While in political exile, Jones mounted unsuccessful runs for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House and DeKalb sheriff before his victory five years ago in a DeKalb-based House seat returned him to the state Capitol.
Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis delivered the State of the City address, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
“In order for Augusta to truly be great, it must be a city for all of us,” said Mayor Hardie Davis during his virtual State of the City address Thursday. “Augusta, our time is now.”
Referencing Augusta-native and former Georgia Gov. Carl Sanders, Davis said the city is faced with its greatest challenge and promise: measuring progress by not adding to those who have much but providing ample opportunities to those who have little.
Preserving affordable housing, providing job training and placement, expanding transportation options and “protecting the safety and welfare of our entire community” will be key.
“I would ask you, what can you do to build Augusta’s future? How can you reimagine Augusta? What can you do to enhance our city and make prosperity real for all Augustans?”
The full address can be watch on the City of Augusta’s YouTube and Facebook.
Georgia childcare providers may be eligible for up to $1.6 billion in COVID relief funding, according to WTVM.
In December, the National Association for the Education of Young Children said one in four child care centers said if enrollment remained low, they would have to close their doors in the coming months. U.S. Secretary of Labor Martin Walsh says the billions of dollars in funding from the American Rescue Plan will help those centers and their employees.
“This is an opportunity now for us not just to re-open them but to kind of rebuild them and get that infrastructure back up so we can continue to move forward with an equitable recovery across the country,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Martin Walsh.
The White House announced Thursday, states, tribes, and territories will receive $39 billion to pay for employees, PPE, ventilation systems, and more. Georgia will get nearly $1.6 billion.
Each state will receive funding in two ways – a flexible fund and a stabilization fund.
Secretary Walsh also says the money through the American Rescue Plans expands the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit.
Families with an income below $125,000 can receive $4,000 to $8,000 for two or more children when they file their taxes.
Savannah-Chatham County public schools will offer summer programs to help kids who may have fallen behind during the pandemic, according to the Savannah Morning News.
While the underlying goal is to help the students recapture what they may have missed due to the pandemic, the district is offering enrichment opportunities to help students accelerate their learning and maybe spark a career interest.
“We are planning for 6,000 students,” said Vallerie Cave, associate superintendent of school transformation and innovation. She added that 3,000 students have already expressed interest in the summer camps and enrichment programs.
Classes and camps offered during two summer sessions range from Spanish and French, to math, English-language arts, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics), nature, and CTAE courses in culinary, hair and nails, art, sports, junior police academy, and so forth. The full list of classes and camps and registration information is available at the district website at sccpss.com. While many classes are free, some have fees to cover supplies. Breakfasts, lunches, transportation, before- and after-care are also included.
The Brunswick-Glynn Joint Water & Sewer Commission approved a $33 million dollar budget for the coming fiscal year, according to The Brunswick News.
Seventeen mother-calf pairs of Right Whales were spotted this calving season, according to WTOC.
“Seventeen calves is a pretty solid number compared to what we’ve seen in recent years,” Georgia Department of Natural Resources Senior Wildlife Biologist Clay George said.
“Calves are really important, but for a species like a right whale, we think they’re really long lived; we think they probably live for a century,” George said. “So, we’re more concerned with say the survival of a given female, who’s going to have hopefully many calves during the course of her life than we are about the number of calves that are born in any given year.”
So far, five out of the 17 mother/calf pairs have been spotted migrating back in New England. George says he hopes all are accounted for before the year is out.
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