The Library of Congress was founded on April 24, 1800 and is the largest library in the world today.
On April 24, 1945, President Harry Truman was briefed on the Manhattan Project to create the first atomic bomb.
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.
“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.
Creepy wax figures from a Warm Springs museum will be sold at auction.
About 60 life-size wax figures, including a one-of-a-kind figure of Albert Einstein that was signed and inscribed by Einstein himself, will headline an auction of items owned by Preston Evans, the Cowetan who operated the museum for more than four years. The auction is set for May 13 at the Eisenhower Hotel and Conference Center in Gettysburg, Pa.
These include figures of 10 U.S. presidents and four first ladies, civil rights leaders –including Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Bunche, entertainers Rudolf Valentino and Dolly Parton, military figures such as Patton and MacArthur, cowboys and Indians including Geronimo.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Former Governor Sonny Perdue is expected to win confirmation as Secretary of Agriculture in a vote of the full United States Senate today.
Perdue would be the first Southerner in the post in more than two decades. He’s the son of a farmer and has owned several agricultural companies. The Senate plans to vote on his nomination Monday.
At his confirmation hearing in March, Perdue assured nervous farm-state senators that he will advocate for rural America, even as President Donald Trump’s administration has proposed deep cuts to some farm programs. He promised to reach out to Democrats, and several Democratic senators have said they will vote for him.
Perdue may also find himself in the uncomfortable position of defending agriculture in an administration that has given the issue very little attention, despite Trump’s strong support in rural areas. Trump has proposed a 21 percent cut in USDA programs and has harshly criticized some international trade deals, saying they have killed American jobs. But farmers who produce more than they can sell in the United States have heavily profited from some of those deals, and are hoping his anti-trade policies will include some exceptions for agriculture.
Tamar Hallerman of the AJC writes about what Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue could mean for Georgia.
“He knows the struggles that farmers deal with on a day-to-day basis,” [Bonaire farmer Matt] Coley said of Perdue. “Having that perspective in D.C. would certainly be a benefit when decisions are having to be made.”
“When he was governor, he spent a large amount of his time traveling the world selling Georgia and selling Georgia ag products,” said Georgia Chamber of Commerce President Chris Clark, who served as natural resources commissioner in the Perdue administration.
Perdue’s expected confirmation, he said, gives “us, our farmers, our forestry an opportunity to grow our brand.”
Perdue would be the first ever agriculture head to hail from Georgia, and the first southerner in more than two decades.
“The voices of Southeastern agriculture are going to be heard and that’s exciting,” said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black.
Democrats claim that Georgia’s requirement that special runoff election voters were registered in time to vote in the initial special election suppresses voters in violation of federal law.
The Georgia NAACP, Lawyers Committee for Civil rights, Asian Americans Advancing Justice and other organizations said Secretary of State Brian Kemp is violating the National Voter Registration ACT by prohibiting voters from registering for the upcoming June runoff election. The lawsuit indicates federal elections, including runoff elections, allow for voter registration up until 30 days before the election.
“Georgia has a sordid history of discouraging voter participation. We ask they follow the federal guidelines, 30 days prior to the election should be when the registration period should ends,” Atlanta NAACP President Richard Rose said.
But Kemp said the June runoff is a continuation of Tuesday’s election and Georgia law said if you were not registered for the initial election, then you cannot register now.
“For us to have to stop and have our local election officials and registrars stop what they are doing in this process and implement something like this, it would be a nightmare that would really effect the integrity of the election,” Kemp said.
Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson weighed in on the Sixth Congressional District Special Runoff Election.
Tomlinson likes Ossoff’s chances, stating that Ossoff carried 200 precincts and Handel just eight. Tomlinson said “that is a pretty heavy lift for her.”
The mayor said while Republicans did get 52 percent of the vote in the special election, she wanted to point out 81 percent of those coming to the polls voted against Handel.
Tomlinson said while it is historically true that the district is predominately Republican, there are a lot of “business Republicans” who are moderate.
“It is not a heavy ideological district,” said Tomlinson, 52, who was raised in the district and has family there.
She said there is obviously a lot of interest in the race, with about 193,000 voters coming to the polls.
“For a special election, that is extraordinary,” she said.
Washington-based Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) said it will file an ethics complaint against Congressman Hank Johnson (D-Lithonia), alleging improper use of his official website to boost the election of Jon Ossoff.
Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols will serve as vice chairman of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Nuclear Issues-Waste Disposal Subcommittee.
“The wise disposition of nuclear waste continues to be one of the most important issues of our day,” Echols said. “If we don’t come up with a solution soon, we’ll need nine Yucca Mountain repositories by the end of the century, and that would be impossible to bring about.”
Houston County Commissioners face a tough budget process this year.
Tax revenues are expected to have slow growth this year in Houston County, which means another tough budget year.
The county is just now starting the process for formulating its budget for the upcoming fiscal year to begin July 1. Commission Chairman Tommy Stalnaker, who always issues words of caution as the budget year starts, gave an especially stark assessment last week.
“I am more concerned this year than I’ve ever been before in putting this budget together,” he said at the end of Tuesday’s commission meeting. “I’ve never felt the way I do this year going to this budget cycle. It is going to be gruesome.”
Rep. Ed Rynders (R-Leesburg ) is enthusiastic about the House Rural Development Council.
“HR 389 is chiefly Speaker David Ralston’s initiative,” Rynders said. “I don’t know if any speaker has visited more communities than Speaker Ralston. In his travels he has listened to the people throughout rural Georgia who are seeking meaningful economic development.
“I appreciate the speaker’s commitment to rural Georgia and look forward to trying to improve the quality of life for all Georgians. But keep in mind that one size doesn’t fit all even in rural Georgia. This council will look for solutions for job creation while addressing the unique challenges facing our communities.”
2018 Elections
State Senator Burt Jones (R-Jackson) is considering a run for statewide office in 2018.
Even though two well-known politicians already have announced their intentions to seek the seat of governor in 2018, Jones’ name continues to surface in political circles as a possible third GOP candidate. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp are already campaigning for the seat currently held by Gov. Nathan Deal, now in his second term as the state’s top political leader.
“Probably the biggest problem I have is that I actually enjoy what I’m doing right now,” Jones said with a laugh, as he talked about his political aspirations with The Union-Recorder. “I really do enjoy what I’m doing, because of the fact that I can still run my business and I’ve got a very flexible schedule with family and everything. And that’s important to me.”
“Right now, I’m weighing all of my options, and looking to see if there is an opportunity lying out there in the pits,” said Jones, an insurance executive in his family’s business in Jackson, who is in his fifth year as a state senator. “You can make up all kinds of reasons not to do something, but the biggest issue for me would be that I get a good comfort level, and that this is something my family allows me to take on, and then I’ll make a decision.”
Jones said he plans to make a decision about his political future within the next couple of months.
“I’m looking at all the parameters of what it would cost, and what kind of team I could put together, etc.,” Jones said of possibly becoming the third Republican incumbent state office holder to run for governor.
“If, and that’s the big word, if, I would announce my intentions at some sort of an event,” said Jones, noting that it could happen at a political fundraising rally at an area venue.
Liberal Daily Kos says this about the timing of the Governor’s race.
If Jones does get in, he does have one potentially strong selling point to voters. Jones was the co-captain of the University of Georgia’s football team when they won the 2003 Sugar Bowl, which came just after the Bulldogs won their first SEC championship in 20 years. However, Secretary of State Brian Kemp is already running while Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle is raising money for his likely bid, and a number of other Peach State Republicans are considering. By the time Jones makes up his mind, other campaigns may have a huge organizational head start.
Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle will announce today that he is running for Secretary of State in 2018.
Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle said Friday he plans to enter the race for Georgia Secretary of State in 2018.
Belle Isle, 42, became mayor in 2012 and is in the last half of his second and final term.
A formal announcement will take place Monday.
“I love the city of Alpharetta and want to keep serving it,” Belle Isle said Friday. “I think this is an opportunity to do for Georgia what we’ve done for Alpharetta.”
“I want to make Georgia the best at what it does,” he said. “Technology is one of those things, but also the moving of people and goods from our ports … and the marketing of crops and livestock.”
Belle Isle will join previously announced candidates for Secretary of State Buzz Brockway, Geoff Duncan, and Brad Raffensperger, all current State House members.
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