James Oglethorpe and the Creek Indians signed the Treaty of Coweta Town, delineating geographic areas open to British settlement, on August 21, 1739.
On August 21, 1831, Nat Turner led the largest slave rebellion in American history; Turner was later hanged in Jerusalem, VA.
The first of the Lincoln-Douglass series of seven debates was held in Ottawa, Illinois, on August 21, 1858, pitting Democrat Stephen Douglass against Republican Abraham for the United States Senate seat held by Douglass. Expansion of slavery in the United States was the topic for the debates.
On August 20, 1781, General George Washington sent Continental troops from New York toward Yorktown, Virginia to engage British troops under Gen. Cornwallis.
On August 20, 1906, Gov. Joseph Terrell signed legislation to build a statue of Georgia founding father James Oglethorpe in Savannah and a bill to build a statue of former Confederate General and Georgia Governor John B. Gordon at the State Capitol.
On August 21, 1907, Georgia Governor Hoke Smith signed legislation to place a Constitutional Amendment designed to disenfranchise African-Americans by requiring passage of a literacy test to vote. A number of exceptions allowed local officials to exempt white voters whom they wished to allow to vote; one exemption was for anyone descended from a U.S. or Confederate wartime veteran – the so-called “grandfather clause.”
On the same day, Gov. Smith also signed legislation prohibiting fishing on Sunday, subject to misdemeanor prosecution.
The Georgia Department of Archives and History was created by legislation signed by Georgia Governor Hugh Dorsey on August 20, 1918.
The sale of Coca-Cola Company from the Candlers was announced in the Atlanta Constitution on August 22, 1919.
On August 20, 1920, the American Professional Football Association, which would later be renamed the National Football League, was formed in Akron, Ohio.
On August 20, 1923, Georgia Governor Clifford Walker signed legislation requiring state schools teach the United States and Georgia Constitutions and students pass an exam on the documents before being allowed to graduate.
On August 21, 1935, Benny Goodman and his orchestra began a seven-night stand at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles, beginning the Swing Era.
Happy 62d birthday to Hawaii, which became the 50th State on August 21, 1959; they’ve undoubtedly been receiving AARP literature in the mail for twelve years.
N/S Savannah, the first nuclear-powered merchant ship, visited the Port of Savannah on August 22, 1962. Savannah was named after S.S. Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. N/S Savannah is moored at the Port of Baltimore and designated a national historic landmark.
On August 20, 1965, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones was released in the UK.
The 1968 Democratic National Convention began in Chicago on August 21, 1968.
More than 3000 demonstrators disrupted the Democratic National Convention on August 22, 1968.
On August 22, 1972, it was the Republicans’ turn, as demonstrators struck outside the Republican National Convention.
On August 20, 1974, President Gerald Ford nominated Nelson Rockefeller as Vice President of the United States.
Nolan Ryan recorded his 5000th career strikeout against Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s on August 22, 1989.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Governor Brian Kemp issued two Executive Orders yesterday related to the COVID surge.
E.O. #08.19.21.01 “Renewal of State of Emergency for Continued COVID-19 Economic Recovery”
Gov. Brian Kemp issued an executive order Thursday that will keep businesses from being forced to follow COVID-19 ordinances put in place by local jurisdictions. The Republican governor said the order was issued to protect recovering businesses from “another round of shutdowns.” It doesn’t prevent businesses from complying with local orders, but the ordinances won’t be enforced, he said.
“Local governments will not be able to force businesses to be the city’s mask police, the vaccine police or any other burdensome restriction that will only lead to employees being let go, revenue tanking and businesses closing their doors,” Kemp said during a press briefing announcing the order.
The order comes as there is “substantial case incidence” of COVID-19 throughout counties in Georgia, according to the latest COVID-19 forecast from PolicyLab researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The number of available intensive care unit beds is also dwindling in the state. According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ICU capacity in Georgia is at 94%.
Northeast Georgia Health System’s hospital in Gainesville is overflowing with COVID-19 patients. Hospital officials confirmed with ABC News Thursday that as COVID-19 patients fill up beds, doctors have been treating some patients needing emergency care inside their ambulance while waiting for a bed to open up. The hospital has also set up a tent behind the emergency department for overflow patients.
Some hospitals in the Atlanta metro area are on diversion and are turning away ambulances when their emergency departments are full, hospital officials said.
Kemp framed the order as a way to “protect” businesses as a growing number of cities impose mask mandates during a fourth wave of the disease. Georgia recently surpassed 1 million confirmed coronavirus infections since the pandemic’s start, with most of the recent cases involving residents who refused to get vaccinated.
Under the order, private businesses could still choose to require vaccines or masks, or limit capacity to reduce the spread of the virus. But Kemp said it aims to ban local governments from enacting ordinances that require them to do so.
“The fact is that small businesses across our state should not be punished by local governments just because they’re trying to make a living, pay their employees and save their livelihoods,” Kemp said, invoking his background as the owner of a construction firm. “The one thing that makes tough times even harder when you’re running your own business is the government.”
The order was prompted by local officials who are weighing new steps to contain the disease. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, who revived a mask mandate last month, said this week that he was contemplating further action to limit crowds indoors and encourage more vaccinations. Other cities, including Atlanta and Decatur, have recently restored similar requirements.
The governor said he was confident he had the authority to enforce his order, though he recently let lapse a public health emergency that gave him expansive leeway to intervene in local affairs. Asked whether the law still granted him the power to do so, he said he wouldn’t have signed the order if it didn’t.
The fourth wave of the virus is threatening to surpass the previous three, fueled by the highly infectious delta variant. The state’s hospital network is inundated with new cases, with more than 30% of all patients hospitalized in Georgia suffering from confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases.
“Our current situation is untenable. By postponing elective cases, we will free up operating room resources to best serve our community in this time of desperate need,” said Dr. Jason Williams, director of perioperative services at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany.
“The one thing that can make tough times even harder when you’re running your own business is more government,” Gov. Kemp said in a news conference shortly after the signing. “Just as our economy has started returning to normal, small businesses from Savannah to Atlanta cannot survive another round of shutdowns.”
“Georgians know the risks of COVID-19 and they also know how to go about their lives. That’s why the Executive Order I signed today will ensure that businesses cannot be forced to follow local government ordinances regarding COVID-19. Local governments will not be able to force businesses to be the city’s mask police, the vaccine police or any other burdensome restriction that will only lead to employees being let go, revenue tanking and businesses closing their doors. If businesses choose to follow the COVID-19 restrictions at the local level, they are certainly free to do so.”
The Democratic Party of Georgia quickly responded to Gov. Kemp’s order, criticizing him for what they labeled a decision to “facilitate the spread of the virus.”
“It’s bad enough that Brian Kemp has refused to implement any statewide measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Georgia – now, he is forbidding local governments from protecting their own communities. As public health officials, parents, and Georgians at large beg Kemp to take action to combat the current COVID-19 surge in our state, the only action he is apparently willing to take is one that will help COVID-19 spread in Georgia and undermine local efforts to control the virus,” said Rebecca Galanti, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “Kemp’s prioritization of politics over public health in the midst of a once-in-a-generation pandemic is shameful and disqualifying, and Georgians deserve better.”
After the news conference, a spokesperson for Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ office said “a lack of leadership” on the state level led Georgia to be ranked toward the bottom of the list nationally for fully vaccinated residents.
“Mayor Bottoms has followed the science and data from the onset of this pandemic,” the statement said. “Masks save lives and it is absurd we must continuously defend such a simple, straightforward fact.”
The Democratic Mayors of Atlanta, Athens-Clarke County, Augusta-Richmond County, and Savannah signed a letter opposing Gov. Kemp’s actions, according to the Athens Banner Herald.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson spoke to the Savannah Morning News:
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said his order remains in place, and the city’s “elected servants” will take additional action if needed.
“It is disappointing, but not surprising, that amid historic COVID-19 infections and abysmal vaccination rates, Governor Brian Kemp would again attempt to proactively pre-empt local governments like Savannah from protecting themselves by following the science,” he said in a statement.
I have not seen mentioned anywhere the second Executive Order Gov. Kemp issued. Among other provisions, it authorizes temporary licensure of physicians, nurses, and pharmacists who are licensed in other states.
That second E.O. will help address Georgia’s crisis level nursing shortage. From the AJC:
COVID-19 has turned Georgia’s chronic nursing shortage into a crisis, one whose effects may be felt for years to come. As exhausted staff bear the crushing fourth wave that is building here from the delta variant, many COVID-19 nurses with long experience are quitting, moving to calmer jobs or barely hanging on.
In a state that already had one of the nation’s lowest ratios of nurses to population, job postings for nurses jumped by double-digit percentages in each of its regions in 2020, then jumped again. As of this week, 11,000 nursing positions across the state sit vacant, according to the nursing job service Vivian. More than 1,700 of those are in intensive care units.
As cases soar, hospitals and staff once again describe treating patients in meeting rooms, hallways and any available space. Yet they are having to scale back services for lack of staff. Hospitals from Piedmont Henry County to Phoebe Putney in Albany to Augusta University Health have halted elective surgeries. Wellstar Kennestone regularly closes sections of its emergency department simply for lack of nurses, according to staff. Wellstar says it is doing what it can to manage capacity, as its emergency department, like those at every other hospital, is swamped.
School closures:
We’re no longer going to count only entire schools systems, as a single grade in a Metro Atlanta system may send home more students than an entire rural county closure. Here’s our current count:
Crisp County (High School only at this time)
Ware County (11 schools)
Clayton County – Kendrick Middle School and Church Street Elementary temporarily closed
Cobb County – East Side Elementary Fifth Grade temporarily closed
Jeff Davis County – going to alternating days A/B/ schedule
That’s thirty school systems I count that have gone virtual in at least a significant fashion. That’s 1 in 6.
Whitfield County schools offered vaccination clinics for eligible recipients in the Middle and High schools, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.
Chatham Area Transit has extended its mask mandate until January 18, 2022, according to WTOC.
Hinesville Mayor Allen Brown has ordered a mask mandate for municipal buildings, events permitted by the city, and city transit, according to WTOC.
Jones County schools will require masks, according to 13WMAZ.
Metro Atlanta’s largest hospital systems came together yesterday to urge residents to get vaccinated, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Since the pandemic began, the metro health systems have been working together at the CEO and chief medical officer levels in communicating about virus-related problems. Many of their hospitals reported severe ER crowding Wednesday, as well as diversion of ambulances due to inability of some facilities to take in more patients. Other large hospitals across the state reported similar crunches.
The united messaging among business rivals underscores the severity of the increase in COVID-19 infections, driven by the highly contagious delta variant. Hospitals are also dealing with major shortages of nurses and other workers as well.
The Georgia State Elections Board appointed a panel to review allegations that Fulton County mishandled elections, according to GPB News.
Gwinnett County Elections Board member Stephen Day, Catoosa County Elections Board chairman Ricky Kittle and Secretary of State general counsel Ryan Germany will begin a review of Georgia’s most populous county after a number of Republican lawmakers initiated complaints about the 2020 election cycle in late July.
They will have an undetermined amount of time to “make a thorough and complete investigation of the local election official with respect to all actions of the local election official,” including maintaining election equipment, oversight of registration and elections and compliance with state law. The investigation process will likely take several months.
From there, a report will be issued to the Secretary of State’s office, the State Election Board and the Fulton County Commission with its findings, which will include “evaluations, judgments and recommendations as it deems appropriate.”
Members of the SEB stressed that the selection of the panel was required under the 98-page SB 202 signed into law earlier this year, and must include two competent local elections officials and one member of the Secretary of State’s office.
“I have been saying for a long time that the state needs the authority to step in when counties have consistently failed their voters,” Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said. “I’m pleased that the state finally has that authority and that the State Election Board has taken the first step today. I’m confident that the performance review team will do a good job, and I hope Fulton will cooperate with this process.”
“Fulton County is home to the most voters of color of any county in the state,” voting rights group Fair Fight Action said in a statement Wednesday. “The State Election Board appointed a review board for Fulton County that is all white.”
The Augusta Board of Education votes next week whether to raise property taxes, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
Tuesday is the last chance to talk to the Richmond County Board of Education before they vote to increase the district’s millage rate, upping residents’ property taxes and generating $5.9 million more in tax revenue for the district. To get to that number, the district will need to do some complicated math.
A mill is one one-thousandth of a dollar. In property tax terms it is equal to $1 of tax for each $1,000 of assessment. So the millage rate is a tax rate that, when multiplied against a home’s assessed value, gives the amount of property tax that must be paid. As an example, let’s say a man named Connor Kent lives in a $120,000 house in Augusta. His house has a tax value of $45,000. Under last year’s millage rate of 18.419 mills, Kent would have multiplied 0.018419 by $45,000 to get his annual property tax payment: $828.86.
That Augusta Chronicle article has an excellent explanation of the process.
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