The sale of Coca-Cola Company from the Candlers was announced in the Atlanta Constitution on August 22, 1919.
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.
More than 3000 demonstrators disrupted the Democratic National Convention on August 22, 1968.
In 1972, it was the Republicans’ turn, as demonstrators struck outside the Republican National Convention.
Nolan Ryan recorded his 5000th career strikeout against Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s on August 22, 1989.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Over the weekend, the Associated Press wrote that the Presidential race may have an impact on Senator Johnny Isakson’s reelection.
Recent polls show Trump and Hillary Clinton locked in a tight race as the Democrat opens a campaign office in the state and invests in a field organization. Isakson holds a single-digit lead over first-time candidate Jim Barksdale, a wealthy investment manager whose opposition to trade deals and calls for a higher minimum wage has attracted backers of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the unsuccessful Democratic presidential candidate.
The race could go into overtime with Isakson, Barksdale and libertarian Allen Buckley. Georgia law requires the top vote-getter to win more than 50 percent of the vote in November. If no one reaches that threshold, Barksdale and Isakson likely will wind up in a nine-week runoff.
Here’s my favorite line from the AP story:
“[Barksdale’s] pretty much the main reason I’m going to vote this November,” said Scott Brown, a 31-year-old Sanders delegate from Duluth. “At this point, I’m trying not to pay attention at all to the presidential election. I’m hoping to work for a new Congress and get ‘Bernie-crats’ like Jim Barksdale elected.”
Indeed, Barksdale was sounding like a dime-store Bernie Sanders when he spoke to the Floyd County GOP.
The Democrat said he has a good shot at defeating GOP incumbent Johnny Isakson in November elections, stating in an interview at a Floyd County Democratic Party meet-and-greet at the Kelsey-Aycock-Burrell Center Saturday that he hopes to close the wealth gap.
“I’ve been very saddened by the policies of the country,” Barksdale said. “Somebody had to do something.”
People are making less money, he said, which hinders economic growth because they can’t spend or borrow money.
A recent poll shows about one-third of prospective voters are considering pulling the lever (or clicking the box) for a third party candidate presidential candidate, but few are actually deciding on a third party.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 35 percent of respondents are considering voting for a third-party candidate.
The Libertarian Party nominee, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, is polling at 8 percent, and the Green Party’s nominee, Dr. Jill Stein, is sitting at 4 percent. So they aren’t exactly threatening the mainstream nominees.
But the poll also found that a majority of people are worried that voting for a third-party could cause their least-preferred candidate to win the presidency.
On Sunday, Tony Goldwyn, a star of the TV show “Scandal” helped open Hillary Clinton’s Georgia headquarters.
More than 300 people braved heat and intermittent sprinkles on Sunday to help christen Hillary Clinton’s new Georgia headquarters in Atlanta’s Castleberry Hill neighborhood.
This being a campaign office opening, Goldwyn was sure to urge those on the lawn of the office/house to volunteer their time.
“It’s the only way we can turn Georgia blue,” he said.
Because Hillary Clinton needs more headlines containing the word “Scandal.”
An unnamed write for the AJC offered more on the US Senate race.
On Nov. 9, the Libertarian could be responsible for pushing Georgia’s race for U.S. Senate into the state’s first nine-week, general election runoff, forcing two candidates to campaign through Thanksgiving, the SEC football championship, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Day, and the 2017 Golden Globe Awards.
The prospect cuts to the very root of Georgia’s love-hate relationship with the insurrections promised by third-party candidates.
“The strength of Jim Barksdale’s outsider message is resonating with Georgians and we will be well positioned to win on Nov. 8 or Jan. 10 in the event of a runoff,” insisted Barksdale campaign manager Dave Hoffman.
From Isakson himself: “We just keep moving the ball down the field every day, and elections have a way of rewarding the best team with the most votes.”
Jill Nolin writes in the Moultrie Observer about the effect that uncommitted voters could have in November.
“It’s like you’re danged if you do and you’re danged if you don’t,” said Sutton, of Chatsworth, who voted for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the state’s Republican primary in March.
The most recent poll shows about 3 percent of Georgia voters were still undecided as of Wednesday. A poll released earlier this month put that number at 10 percent.
Of those who said they were not voting for Trump, 17 percent said they might give the real estate developer a hearing, according to a recent CBS News poll. Fewer people, about 12 percent, said the same of Clinton.
These uncommitted voters could lead to a competitive race in a state that is typically red.
“They’re different this year, and not just in Georgia,” said Charles S. Bullock III, a political science professor at the University of Georgia.
Bullock said many are “just are not willing at this time to admit that they would vote for Trump.”
U.S. Senators Isakson and Perdue criticized the Obama Administration’s decision to pay $400 million in cash to Iran in exchange for prisoners.
The State Department revealed this past week that it held up a $400 million payment to Iran until after the prisoners were released. However, Secretary of State John Kerry explained the delay during a press briefing on Thursday as an effort to “retain maximum leverage,” according to a transcript of the briefing.
“Today’s admission by the State Department confirms what I’ve said all along: The Obama administration will stop at nothing to defend its failed foreign policy agenda, going so far as to hide from the American people its dangerous dealings with Iran,” Isakson said in a statement on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Perdue said it went against longstanding national policy to not pay ransoms.
“Paying $400 million in hard cash only incentivizes Iran to take more hostages,” he said in a statement. “I am outraged that we cannot rely on our own President to tell us the truth. This is another example in a long line of efforts by the Obama Administration to mislead the American people. What else are they hiding?”
Georgia Republican Party Chairman John Padgett spoke to the Troup County Republican Party, according to the LaGrange News.
During the county party’s regularly scheduled meeting at Hollis Hand Elementary School, state GOP chairman John Padgett was optimistic about Trump’s chances to take Georgia’s 14 Electoral College votes in the Nov. 8 general election.
Padgett was unfazed. He said he was “not concerned” about the current polls, and confident Trump would win Georgia. As for Republicans who have defected from the party and declined to endorse Trump, he was similarly not bothered.
“I’m not concerned,” he said of those Republicans who have not endorsed the party’s candidate. “They’re either going to get on board or they’re not. I’ll tell you this, I wouldn’t want to be one of those national Republicans who didn’t get on board, and then he wins.”
Padgett also said the Trump campaign will likely lean heavily on Georgia’s local Republican parties for support and get-out-the-vote efforts. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Georgia is opening seven field offices across the state, and the Clinton campaign has said it will pour a six-figure amount of money into the state, according to Michael Smith, a spokesman for the state Democratic party. Padgett was dismissive of Democrats’ efforts.
“Last time, we had about 21 offices scattered around the state,” Padgett said. “This year, we’re going to use your offices. We’re going to come in, and in some parts of the state share with you, and it’s going to be Trump-Troup County GOP. We’re in the process of working all that out and talking to chairmen around the state. We are going to be Trump’s ground folks.”
“Am I concerned about Georgia being a purple state? No, no I’m not,” he said. “You have to understand about what the Democrats are saying. They’re saying the Clinton campaign is going to put six figures in Georgia. Is that $100,000 or $900,000? My guess is it’s closer to $100,000, and that’s nothing.”
The Atlantic Judicial Circuit, comprising Bryan, Evans, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, and Tattnall Counties, has launched a new Veterans Treatment Court to help veterans charged with crimes.
The new Veterans Treatment Court is a collaborative effort between a judge, court administrators, public defenders, prosecutors, law enforcement, rehabilitation specialists and veteran advocates. It’s an “accountability court” in the vein of drug or DUI court, meaning that people who find themselves in the program are offered a chance for rehabilitation without a prison sentence.
Robert Russell, the chief judge of Superior Court in the circuit, says he’s seen veterans in his courtrooms for years. Chatham County has had a veterans court since 2011, and Russell said he felt like it was about time the Atlantic Judicial Circuit got on board. Liberty County, especially, is home to active-duty soldiers at Fort Stewart – many of whom may transition out of the service in this area.
“All of us have been in the legal field for many years and we’ve seen the sacrifices the soldiers have made as they come through our court system, both in the criminal area and the domestic relations area,” Russell said. “Some of these soldiers have been deployed up to five times, in Iraq, Afghanistan and now (Islamic State) conflicts. It seemed a good thing to do to try to offer our veterans an alternative in light of the unique experiences they’ve gone through being deployed.”
The ball got formally rolling with $94,000 in grant funding from the state and the Council of Accountability Court Judges.
Currently, four people are going through Veterans Treatment Court since it held its first session in July. They must adhere to a strict treatment program for two years in order to stay out of prison. It requires sobriety. Primarily, the court is aiming for veterans charged with misdemeanors and felonies that may have been committed as a result of combat-related disorders or injuries and substance abuse.
“By coming into the program a lot of them are incarcerated, so if they are accepted, they are released from jail, which saves taxpayers money, they come into the program and start receiving intense treatment,” Horne said. “… They are held accountable for everything.”
Meanwhile, the Cobb County Veterans Treatment Court graduated seven members of their most recent class.
Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, the ceremony’s keynote speaker, said the program was designed to address the veterans’ roadblocks to success, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse.
“Programs like this are essential to our state,” Olens said. “We wouldn’t have these courts if they weren’t effective.”
Cobb Superior Court Judge Reuben Green, who runs the Veterans Treatment Court said, described the necessity of the program.
“There are 774,464 veterans in the state of Georgia and nearly 50,000 veterans residing in Cobb County. According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, 22 veterans a day commit suicide nationwide,” Green said.
“Veterans choose to be in this program,” Green said. “In order to become a candidate, a veteran must be charged with a non-deadly crime and must have a condition requiring treatment such as post-traumatic stress disorder or alcoholism.”
The goal of the program, Green said, “is to increase public safety by reducing recidivism. We want to return our veterans as taxpayers with jobs and as productive citizens.”
District Attorney Meg Heap and an assistant will present evidence to a Chatham County Grand Jury regarding allegations against Savannah Aldeman Tony Thomas.
“The grand jury called for a civil investigation,” Heap said Friday. “We complied with the request and are now presenting the results of the investigation to the grand jury.”
Heap has selected the civil inquiry she has used in at least two previous cases to ensure transparency.
After hearing the prosecutors’ presentations, the grand jury will be able to either instruct Heap to proceed before another grand jury on criminal charges or determine that there is insufficient evidence to merit her pursing the case.
The GBI launched an investigation of the alderman on Feb. 29 after individuals claimed in a series of online videos that they were sexually abused by Thomas when they were in their teens.
Thomas has denied the allegations.
Curtis Foltz leaves the Georgia Ports Authority with a generous compensation package, according to the AJC.
Curtis Foltz recently retired as executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority and walked away with $2 million in salary, bonuses, pension and other fees, according to documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Foltz will receive an additional $1.1 million this year in consultant fees and pension payments from the authority that runs the state-owned ports. And the 56-year-old shipping and logistics expert will benefit from $630,000 in pension payments each year for the rest of his life.
“When you talk about (Foltz’s compensation) numbers, you say, ‘Gosh, that is a big number.’ There’s no doubt about that,” said Jimmy Allgood, the chairman of the GPA board. But he called it “fair compensation.”
“Honestly,” Allgood said, “I don’t know that there’s a better terminal operator in the world.”
[GPA Board Members Bob] Jepson and Allgood say Foltz’s compensation package is in line with the salary, pension and bonuses given other port directors. The port directors in South Carolina and Virginia earned $420,000 and $450,000, respectively, in 2014, for example. The GPA routinely hires an employee benefits firm to compare salaries and benefits offered by ports across the country. Its findings persuaded the GPA board to boost Foltz’s overall compensation package, Jepson said.
The Judicial Nominating Commission has submitted a short list to fill a vacancy on Superior Court for the Rome Circuit.
Martha P. Jacobs – Chief Assistant District Attorney, Rome Judicial Circuit
William F. “Billy” Sparks – sole practitioner, William F. Sparks, Attorney At Law
Mark M. J. Webb – partner, Brinson, Askew, Berry, Seigler, Richardson & Davis LLP
Rare bog turtles have been located at Georgia DNR’s Brasstown Valley Resort and Spa near Young Harris.
“This is a wonderful discovery and not surprising given that Brasstown was designed by Georgia’s DNR as the environmental model of how to design a facility that protects, preserves and co-exists with the environment,” Brasstown Valley General Manager Charles Burton said in a statement.
State officials said staff have documented nine bog turtles at the resort, which is privately run by Coral Hospitality on the state’s behalf. The location of the turtles is not being released because state environmental officials want to protect them.
“The more populations we know of, the better we can conserve the species and manage sites,” said Thomas Floyd, a wildlife biologist with DNR’s Nongame Conservation Section who began documenting the turtles presence two summers ago, in a statement.
The state is working to tag bog turtles in an effort to monitor the species population and gain a better understanding of how the turtles live and where they go.
What is known is that the turtles live in deep mud, but Georgia wildlife officials said Brasstown Valley isn’t an area that fits the known bill for a typical bog turtle habitat. In fact, it’s the only property run by DNR where the small turtle species is known to exist.
Online Education Policy
Maureen Downey of the AJC writes that online education may not serve all students well.
As a recent The Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found and studies suggest, students in computer-based virtual schools don’t perform as well as peers in traditional classrooms. Georgia Cyber Academy — the largest online program enrolling 14,200 of the 20,000 full-time students in statewide virtual schools — earned a D on the state’s report card.
After evaluating Georgia Cyber Academy for the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, Georgia State University researcher Tim Sass said, “They seem to be performing poorly relative to kids who look like their students. The school is educating a lot of kids in Georgia. A lot of resources have gone into a program that, at least on the surface, doesn’t seem to be performing very well.”
The online industry rightfully counters that research thus far hasn’t been able to fairly compare the outcomes/grades of virtual students with those who applied to virtual schools but were turned down. (With unlimited capacity, online schools don’t turn down many kids.) Those comparative results would tell us whether the poor performance owes to deficits in the students or the schools.
Jay Greene, the head of the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, sees online schools as serving a niche group, saying, “I am skeptical of the claim that virtual education will transform education because I think most people benefit from in-person interactions and social connections to motivate us to learn more. I am perfectly willing to believe that some students benefit from virtual education even if the average student does not.”
But it’s too early, said Greene, to declare that online learning in Georgia is good or bad. His sensible advice: “Be careful about it. Commission a rigorous study by setting an enrollment cap. If the evidence is encouraging, lift the cap.”
Monica Henson, superintendent and CEO of Graduation Achievement Charter High School, picks up her red pen to write a different perspective on online education.
Recent studies have publicized the issue of lack of student investment in online education and resulting lack of engagement, particularly in virtual charter schools. The simple fact is many students who start an online school don’t persevere and don’t log into classes regularly, leading some to conclude that “online education doesn’t work.” That’s a short-sighted way to view the situation, and it’s not true for all students.
No single instructional method works for all students, and online learning is no different. Virtual education brings substantial challenges not faced in the brick-and-mortar environment, both for students and those who would educate them. In the world of high school, which is the world I inhabit, it also attracts a substantial percentage, sometimes a majority, of the most challenging students. Graduation Achievement Charter High School is a blended-learning institution, and about 80 percent of our student population exhibit factors putting them at high risk of failure and dropping out of school, with about a third of them coming to us already having dropped out at least once.
In any given year, there are as many as 60,000 Georgians ages 16-24 not enrolled in school or working. What do we do with these students who are the hardest to educate, may have made poor personal choices, may, through no fault of their own, be forced to become caregivers to family members and have to go to work to support their families, and face other difficult situations?
A second critical policy question is whether families who have selected online public schooling for their children ought to be denied that choice. More than 15,000 children have been enrolled in Georgia online public charter schools following a statewide referendum indicating that a clear majority of voters favor this option. If virtual education is removed from the state’s charter authorization portfolio, these families will have lost an option in which they’ve invested years of their children’s lives.
The simple truth is this: Families select schools for their children for reasons that in many, many cases have nothing to do with the school’s performance rating. They want a particular school for a specific reason, and it all centers around their own child’s needs and experiences. This is called “choice for the sake of choice.” Its time has come in Georgia.
The Dalton Board of Education will hold its property tax millage rate at the same level as last year, causing higher property taxes for some owners.
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