Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for April 22, 2022

William Shakespeare was born April 23, 1564 and died April 23, 1616.

The Library of Congress was founded on April 24, 1800 and is the largest library in the world today.

On April 22, 1891, Asa Candler bought the recipe for Coca-Cola for $2300 and eventually turned its marketing from a “brain tonic” into a plain old tasty beverage.

Lucius D. Clay was born in Marietta, Georgia on April 23, 1898, the son of Georgia U.S. Senator Alexander Stephens Clay, who served in the Senate from 1896 until his death in 1910. Clay graduated West Point in 1915 and eventually rose to serve as Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Deputy for Military Government. During the Berlin Airlift, Clay helped keep Allied-occupied West Berlin supplied with food for almost a year after Soviet forces blockaded all land routes into the city.

Adolf Hitler admitted defeat in World War II on April 22, 1945.

Hank Aaron his his first home run in major league baseball on April 23, 1954, playing for the Milwaukee Braves against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Jack Kingston was born on April 24, 1955. He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1984 and served four terms and in 1992 was elected to the United States Congress.

The Atlanta Braves won their first home game in Atlanta Stadium on April 22, 1966. The Braves beat the New York Mets 8-4. It’s interesting to look back at how the Braves landed in Atlanta.

During his 1961 campaign for mayor of Atlanta, Ivan Allen, Jr. promised to build a sports facility to attract a Major League Baseball team. After winning office, Allen chose a 47-acre plot in the Washington–Rawson neighborhood for the building site, citing its proximity to the Georgia State Capitol, downtown businesses and major highways. Allen, along with Atlanta Journal sports editor Furman Bisher, attempted to persuade Charlie Finley, owner of the Kansas City Athletics, to move his team to Atlanta. Finley was receptive and began discussing stadium design plans with Allen. The deal, however, ended in July 1963 when the American League did not approve the move.

In 1964, Mayor Allen announced that an unidentified team had given him a verbal commitment to move to Atlanta, provided a stadium was in place by 1966. Soon afterward, the prospective team was revealed to be the Milwaukee Braves, who announced in October that they intended to move to Atlanta for the 1965 season. However, court battles kept the Braves in Milwaukee for one last season.

A verbal commitment by an unnamed team brought the Braves here.

On April 23, 1971, former First Lady Mamie Eisenhower visited Augusta to attend the groundbreaking for the Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. Army Hospital at Fort Gordon, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

“Ike would have been proud,” a tearful Mamie Eisenhower said after the ceremony.

“My heart is filled with gratefulness,” said Eisenhower, who was surprised at plans for the 760-bed, $31 million facility. “You know, I’m proud. And I know this would have meant a great deal to him.”

The Blues Brothers made their worldwide debut on Saturday Night Live on April 22, 1978. Two prominent Georgia musicians, Ray Charles (born Albany) and James Brown (died Atlanta) would co-star in The Blues Brothers movie.

“Georgia On My Mind” became the official state song on April 24, 1979, when Governor George Busbee signed legislation designating it.

IBM introduced the Personal Computer Model 5150 on April 24, 1981, though some authorities date the introduction to April 12. It sported an Intel 8088 processor at 4.77 Mhz, a whopping 16k of RAM, which was expandable to 256k, and a clicky keyboard. The initial price tag was $1565, equivalent to more than $4000 today.

New Coke was announced on April 23, 1985.

Former President Richard Nixon died on April 22, 1994.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

A Candler County farm is turning to hemp , according to WTOC.

The owners of Green Toad Hemp Farm say they’ve seen their market and opportunities explode as this industry has taken off in Georgia.

“Now, we’re able to grow year-round and harvest every 8-12 weeks which keeps us flowing with product,” co-owner Reggie Reese said.

They’re becoming a fixture in Metter. Last week, they set up their booth at a meet and greet for local “Georgia Grown” agribusiness companies alongside vendors for pecans, beef and more.

Has small town South Georgia accepted a hemp farm?

“Yes, absolutely! They have accepted it with open arms, been extraordinarily helpful to us,” co-owner Dwayne Hirsch said.

They’re about to add more jobs here by processing more of their product locally. They’ll bottle their CBD oil in their own shop and make and package CBD gummies, chocolate, and other products.

Both say Georgia has responded to a demand for the product. But they want to see state laws give them the same opportunities to see their crop beyond their own dispensary.

“The difference is they can plant and grow their product and sell it in Walmart, Publix, or Kroger. We can’t do that yet, even though we’re the same as them.”

Former President Barack Obama said he regrets not fighting disinformation before the 2016 election, according to The Hill via WJBF.

The former president said no one in his administration was surprised Russia had spread disinformation across social media platforms in an effort to sway the U.S. election, but he regretted not fully understanding how vulnerable America had become to such content.

“What does still nag at me though was my failure to fully appreciate at the time just how susceptible we had become to lies and conspiracy theories, despite having spent years being a target of disinformation myself,” Obama said, seeming to reference the racist and unfounded conspiracy theory that he was not born in the United States.

In the speech, Obama expressed his fears about disinformation in the digital age and the new information ecosystem, warning it was imperiling democracy.

“You just have to flood a country’s public square with enough raw sewage. You just have to raise enough questions, spread enough dirt, plant enough conspiracy theorizing, that citizens no longer know what to believe,” Obama said.

No word on when he plans to apologize for his own disinformation relating to Obamacare (“You can keep your health care plan/doctor”) or his downplaying for his own political gain the threat posed by Russia.

From CNN in February 2022:

In the third presidential debate between the two candidates in October 2012, Obama went directly after Romney for that remark. “When you were asked, ‘What’s the biggest geopolitical threat facing America,’ you said ‘Russia.’ Not al Qaeda; you said Russia,” Obama said. “And, the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back, because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years.”

At the time, the attack worked. Obama cast himself as the candidate who understood the current threats — led by al Qaeda. Romney was the candidate still stuck in the Cold War age, a black-and-white figure in a colorful — and complex — world.

But today, after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into eastern Ukraine, Romney’s comments look very, very different. And by “different,” I mean “right,” as even some Democrats are now acknowledging.

“This action by Putin further confirms that Mitt Romney was right when he called Russia the number one geopolitical foe,” California Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu said on CNN Monday night.

Cumberland Mall Apple Store employees became the first group to file to unionize, according to WABE.

Apple workers in Atlanta filed to unionize Wednesday, becoming the first retail employees for the tech giant to do so in the nation, according to Communications Workers of America, the union representing the employees.

Staff at the Apple store in Atlanta’s Cumberland Mall submitted their filing Monday. It included salespeople, technicians, creatives and operations specialists, CWA said in a statement Wednesday.

CWA said big tech companies like Google, Amazon and Apple fail to give employees who don’t work in an office equal standing and respect.

More than 100 employees are eligible to join the union effort, and at least 30% of workers must sign union authorization cards to show interest for the group to be registered with the National Labor Relations Board. 70% of the Cumberland Mall workers have shown interest, CWA said.

A state Administrative Law Judge will hear a complaint alleging that U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is disqualified from holding office, according to the Associated Press via WSAV.

The challenge filed last month says the Republican congresswoman is ineligible to run under a provision of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, alleging that she aided and engaged in an insurrection to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021.

In fact, the challenge to Greene’s eligibility to run for reelection was filed by five voters who live in her district, and the procedure for such a challenge is outlined in Georgia law.

The law says any voter who’s eligible to vote for a candidate can challenge that candidate’s qualifications by filing a written complaint with the secretary of state within two weeks after the deadline for qualifying. The secretary of state then has to request a hearing before an administrative law judge. That hearing is scheduled for Friday.

After the hearing, the administrative law judge is to present his findings to Raffensperger, who then must determine whether Greene is qualified.

The group filed a similar challenge on behalf of voters in western North Carolina against Republican U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who spoke at the rally that preceded the riot.

Cawthorn sued and U.S. District Judge Richard Myers last month blocked the challenge filed with the state’s election board from moving forward, writing that laws approved by Congress in 1872 and 1898 mean the 14th Amendment section can’t apply to current House members. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in the litigation early next month, two weeks before Cawthorn’s primary election.

Governor Brian Kemp issued Executive Order #04.21.22.01, creating a Healthcare Workforce Commission. From the press release:

Governor Brian P. Kemp today announced the establishment of a Healthcare Workforce Commission to address challenges in the hiring and retention of healthcare workers, including nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists, emergency medical personnel, and other clinical and nonclinical personnel.

“Our healthcare heroes have been through it all during the pandemic, and we thank them immensely for the sacrifices made and dedication shown,” said Governor Brian Kemp. “To ensure the future health of Georgians and Georgia’s healthcare system, it is imperative for the public and private sector to come together and examine current needs and identify strategies for workforce recruitment and retention. I will take this commission’s findings into consideration as we continue working to keep Georgia the safest and healthiest place to live, work, and raise a family.”

Governor Kemp established the commission by way of executive order. It can be found here. The 15-member commission must submit a Report of Findings to the Office of the Governor by December 31, 2022. Members will be announced at a later date.

According to the Executive Order, the Commission will include:

(a) the Commissioner of DCH or her designee, who shall be chair;
(b) two representatives from the field of practicing medicine;
(c) two representatives from the field of nursing;
(d) two representatives from the field of emergency medical response;
(e) two representatives from the field of mental healthcare;
(f) two representatives form the hospital industry, one being a hospital administrator
(g) a representative from the long-term care industry; and
(h) three representatives from the field of healthcare education.

From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Rome News Tribune:

Shortages among Georgia’s health-care workforce have long been on the radar screens of state policy makers. Most recently, the mental health system overhaul the General Assembly passed unanimously late last month includes a service-cancelable loan program offering loan forgiveness to several types of mental-health specialists.

The new commission will work to develop strategies for retaining the state’s current health-care workforce as well as expanding education initiatives — including scholarship and loan forgiveness programs — to build up the pipeline that feeds new workers into the system.

Governor Kemp campaigned in Nashville, Georgia, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

Gov. Brian Kemp participated in a luncheon at the Nashville Community Center in this Berrien County town to gauge reaction to his administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kemp reflected on Georgia’s situation for the past two years, stating his team was “fighting literally 24/7” to help flatten the virus curve, preserve personal protective equipment supplies and aid hospitals facing capacity conditions.

“I believe we need to protect livelihoods. That’s why we were the last state to shut down measuredly and the first state to reopen,” he said.

“I caught unmerciful grief from the national media, political pundits and my opponents who thought they knew what was best then because it was politically expedient to be that way.”

Economic viability became a central part of Kemp’s coronavirus response plan, he said, thanks in part to his own experiences keeping up his business in 2008 during the Great Recession.

“That’s a bad feeling when you make your car or truck payment. That’s a bad feeling when you can’t make the rent or mortgage. When you can’t provide for your children and get food, groceries and gas. I felt like that’s where a lot of Georgians were,” he said.

Kemp said “the same critics” who lambasted his decision to open Georgia’s economy were also critical of his goal to “empower the local communities” to make the best decisions regarding whether children should return to the classroom during the reopening.

“You had people following the science on that issue. It was just the political science. Because the data in the Trump administration and the Biden administration is the same data. It says our children need to be in the classroom and they’re losing out if they’re not.”

“Your government shouldn’t decide whether or not your kid will wear a mask in school. They shouldn’t be deciding whether or not you’ll take a vaccine, an experimental one at that. We don’t need the government telling us that,” he said.

“So many people have come up to me thanking me for never wavering. That’s what I said I was going to do in 2018; I was never going to bend whichever way the political winds were blowing no matter who was pressuring me. We did the same thing when we passed the Heartbeat Bill in 2019, which I also campaigned on. Even when Hollywood tried to cancel us, I stood up, told the truth and stood for our values in our state.”

“We have the lowest unemployment rate in the history of the state. We have the most people ever working in the state of Georgia right now,” Kemp said. “I’m continuing to work on my commitment to strengthen rural Georgia, and make sure no matter what neighborhood you’re in, you can have economic opportunities where you grew up.”

From WALB:

“You know he’s protecting the family farm. He’s given our teachers pay raises to help with education. He kept our stay open during COVID and the gas tax relief has been huge so I mean he’s just a good guy and he’s doing everything he said he was going to do and we’re going to support him again,” Jaclyn Ford, of Alapaha, said.

Gov. Kemp ended his bus tour at Parker’s Gun Shop in Pearson for his final meet and greet in south Georgia.

Augusta’s top law enforcement officials are fighting gang crime and violence, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Following a spike in homicides in Augusta, with five in five days and at least two of those being gang related, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and the Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office are trying to combat the increase in gun violence and gang activity in the county.

On Thursday, Sheriff Richard Roundtree told The Augusta Chronicle that increased operations began on Tuesday night around the county. Earlier in the week, Roundtree promised “decisive action” and said they will be acting quickly in an attempt to solve the four homicides that remain without an arrest and prevent others in the future.

“I thought it was important to let the public know that we at least share their concerns that we do have a plan to address,” he said. “It’s gun violence in particular, but when you have the gangs, it turns it up a notch because you have retaliatory shootings. The main thing is too much gun violence.”

Not only is the number of homicides this year outpacing the number of homicides at this point last year, but shootings are also as high as they were by the end of April. There were 10 homicides in Richmond County by May 1, 2021, there have already been 12 so far in 2022.

The Dalton Daily Citizen News has a rundown of the statewide offices on the May 24 ballot.

The Harris County Republican Party held a forum for county commission candidates, according to WTVM.

The Judge John E. Girardeau Building opened in Hall County to work with accountability courts, according to the Gainesville Times.

Drug Court is an accountability court program that works to provide rehabilitation and substance abuse treatment instead of incarceration for offenders.

Chief Superior Court Judge Kathlene Gosselin said it was Girardeau’s “empathy and concern for all people” that helped lead to the Drug Court’s formation in the early 2000s.

“Now 20 years later, it seems woven into the very fabric of our court system — all of the accountability courts — and rightly so,” Gosselin said.

“I think it’s important that while we hold criminals accountable, there are some people that we need to try to help in such a way that they’re not criminals anymore,” Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Darragh said.

The building currently holds Treatment Services, which oversees the accountability court programs, and Pretrial Services, who are responsible for monitoring people out on bond.

“He saw the need for a different type of response for folks coming through the criminal justice system whose main issue is addiction and substance use issues,” said Treatment Services Director Jessi Emmett. “He saw a way to potentially break that cycle and help folks rebuild their lives.”

Emmett said there are currently 450 participants across Hall and Dawson counties in the accountability court programs, which now include DUI Court, Family Treatment Court and others.

Effingham County Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Michael Breedon accidentally shot himself in the leg showing off his gun, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The incident occurred at the Effingham County District Attorney’s Office on 901 N. Pine Street in Springfield. No charges have been filed.

At 4:30 p.m., ADA Ian Heap and Breedon were speaking with one another when the subject of firearms came up, the incident report stated. Heap expressed interest in purchasing a handgun and Breedon responded that he has the model Heap was thinking about getting — a SIG model 320 handgun, the incident report stated.

The report states that Breedon wanted to show Heap the firearm they were discussing and as he pulled it out of the holster, he accidentally discharged the gun, shooting himself in the upper right leg. The report stated that first responders arrived on the scene soon after the incident.

I’m going to go ahead and guess that the second ADA decided against buying that model.

Statesboro City Council approved the first four locations for liquor stores, according to the Statesboro Herald.

City Council on Tuesday evening approved the first four “location reservations” for liquor stores to be established in Statesboro. All four are planned to be created by renovating existing buildings.

In one instance, the council members decided between two applicants whose proposed liquor store locations are within 1,000 yards of each other. By approving an application for a new business called Blue Mile Wine & Spirits to be created by renovating the vacant former Midtown Bar & Grill building at 12 Brannen St., the council in effect denied the application of Two Guys Beverage, an established beer and wine package shop at Suite 410 in College Plaza, 520 Fair Road, to add distilled spirits and expand into a neighboring space in the plaza.

A previous council decision, in establishing the city law section on liquor stores at an earlier meeting, had made 1,000 yards – double the distance required under state law – the minimum spacing between liquor stores in Statesboro.

Dougherty County public schools have a shortage of special education teachers, according to WALB.

“We are obviously not the only place affected by that,” Jill Addison, HR director, said. “I do think as a profession, education is going through the same struggle as many other um jobs right now, and special education is very, very specialized in that aspect. It takes a little more school, more tests to be qualified to teach our special education students.”

“If you’re a traditional educator, you would get a four-year degree in education, and also specialize in special ed. Along with that education would come a Gace Content exam,” Addison said. “Depending on what type of special ed teacher you are, depends on what type of specialized exam you have to take. So special education is more difficult. It’s a more rigorous program and the exams are more rigorous. So again, that can be if you want to call it a barrier. It just, our pool become shorter in that aspect.”

Addison said state law is very strict when it comes to making sure teachers are qualified.

“Our special education teachers work so hard every single day that they have a passion for our students and meeting the needs of those students, and it takes a very, very, special person to be able to take on those initial exams, those initial responsibilities,” Addison said. “We are in a place that we want to support our special education teachers, our new teachers, our teachers that are already here.”

Zunzi’s, home of the greatest of all sandwiches, the “Conquistador” aims to conquer more of Georgia open more stores, according to the Savannah Morning News.