On August 30, 1888, Asa Griggs Candler bought one-third interest in the Coca-Cola company, bringing his total ownership to more than two-thirds of the company.
Georgia native Ty Cobb debuted with the Detroit Tigers on August 30, 1905.
On August 30, 1979, President Jimmy Carter reported being attacked by a rabbit near Plains, Georgia. Here’s an interview in which President Carter was asked about the rabbit incident.
Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell was indicted on August 30, 2004 on racketeering, bribery and wire fraud charges and would later plead guilty to tax evasion.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Georgia Dove Season opens September 4th, according to the Albany Herald.
“For wing shooters, dove season kicks off the fall hunting season,” Alan Isler, chief of the WRD Game Management Section, said in a news release. “Two big changes this year include expanding the first dove season into October and changing opening day shooting hours – make sure you take note of the right shooting hours for the field you plan to hunt.”
The official 2021-2022 dove seasons are Sept. 4-Oct. 10, Nov. 20-28 and Dec. 19-Jan. 31. Statewide shooting hours – for all of the dove seasons — are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. However, on managed Wildlife Management Area (WMA) quota dove hunts, shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to noon.
Governor Brian Kemp last week appointed Fitz Johnson to the Public Service Commission seat vacated when Chuck Eaton was sworn in as a Fulton County Superior Court Judge.
Former Governor Sonny Perdue spoke to the Eighth Congressional District Republican Party Fish Fry on Saturday, according to the AJC.
Former Gov. Sonny Perdue’s speech to hundreds of Middle Georgia Republicans started off with an homage to competitive primaries. It ended with a plea for the crowd to show some respect to Gov. Brian Kemp.
Perdue urged attendees at the 8th District GOP Fish Fry on Saturday to treat the first-term governor with dignity, and they responded by showering him with applause.
“That office, and the person who holds that office, deserves respect and deserves honor,” said Perdue, adding that the crowd should “demonstrate that respect and honor because it’s a tough job.”
Trump’s allies are trying to convince Perdue’s first-cousin, former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, to challenge Kemp in the GOP primary. The governor surely won’t mind the approving words from Sonny Perdue, who was the first Republican governor in Georgia since Reconstruction.
“I admire Brian Kemp and I guarantee you, if the person on a street texts him, he texts him back.” [said Perdue]
Kemp got a rousing ovation from Republicans, unlike some other recent events when he faced heckling. The governor focused much of his remarks on a crowd-pleaser: The rewrite of the election law that includes new obstacles to the ballot box.
[E]specially after Republicans lost the White House and both U.S. Senate seats, former Gov. Sonny Perdue said it’s important to remember they all play for the same team.
“That’s what primaries are all about,” he said Saturday. “We have intra-squad scrimmage use to see who can stand and be our flag bearer for the general election. Folks, I want you to be as passionate as you can about your candidate, but don’t get mad. We are still on the same team, the best team in America: the Republican Party and the Georgia Republican Party.”
Gov. Brian Kemp hit back against the “disastrous agenda” Democrats are proposing in Washington and defended against criticism of the state’s coronavirus response. He also applauded lawmakers for passing the massive election overhaul currently facing eight federal lawsuits and noted historic lows in unemployment rates before closing with a message asking for unity in the party.
“At the end of the day, we do have to unite,” Kemp said. “We have got to work like we’ve never worked before to hold the line in Georgia and to show the rest of the country the playbook for 2024, and I believe we can do that.”
The Republican primary battle for lieutenant governor is also shaping up after incumbent Geoff Duncan announced he would not seek a second term. Pro-Trump Sen. Burt Jones launched his campaign this week with a crowded event near his hometown of Jackson.
“I’m the only consistent conservative in this race,” Jones said Thursday. “The only problem with that is sometimes I’ve got to stand alone.”
Another campaign missing from the fish fry was that of Herschel Walker, the former UGA football star who made an entrance into the U.S. Senate primary this week at the encouragement of Trump with a launch video heavy on biography and light on policy platforms. Despite the star power, and because of concerns about how the untested Walker would fare in the general election against Sen. Warnock, the other candidates remain undeterred.
[David] Perdue definitively ruled himself out of the Senate race in February, and Herschel Walker’s entrance into the contest this week would appear to make that decision final. But the former senator has made no such declaration about the governor’s race.
With former President Donald Trump searching for a Republican to challenge Kemp, whom he blames for his loss in Georgia last November, GOP insiders in the state are wondering if Perdue might answer the call.
“Folks close to David says he’s waiting for Walker to implode and then get in the Senate race,” a Republican operative in Georgia said.
Perdue has stoked speculation he is open to running for governor more by his visibility in Georgia politics, continuing to be helpful to Republicans who are on the ballot, than by anything he has said.
A three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that requiring postage on absentee ballots does not constitute a poll tax, according to the AJC.
“We hold that the fact that absentee voters in Georgia who decide to vote by mail must pay their own postage is not a ‘tax’ or unconstitutional fee on voting,” according to the 15-page decision written by Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch.
The lawsuit by Black Voters Matter Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union had alleged that charging voters for stamps violated the 24th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits limits on voting rights based on failure to pay a tax. The plaintiffs wanted the government to provide prepaid postage for absentee ballots.
The 11th Circuit said the plaintiffs’ theory “simply does not hold water.”
“Georgia voters, without paying any kind of money, have the option to vote in person, bring their absentee ballot to the county election office, or drop their ballot in a county drop box,” according to the ruling.
The 58-cent cost of a First Class stamp isn’t a tax, according the court. Instead, the cost is the price of a service for mail delivery from the U.S. Postal Service.
Atlanta protestors sought support for federal voting rights legislation, according to the AJC.
Hundreds of people marched in Atlanta on Saturday to support federal voting rights legislation — the latest skirmish in an ongoing battle over U.S. election laws.
Outside the King Center, supporters called on Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — named for the Atlanta civil rights leader and congressman who died last year. Later, they marched past Ebenezer Baptist Church to the John Lewis mural on Auburn Avenue to honor the bill’s namesake.
Among other things, the proposed legislation would reinstate federal review of election laws in states that have a history of racial discrimination. Supporters say it’s needed to counter recent laws passed by Republicans in Georgia and other states that critics say will make it harder for poor, Black and other voters to cast ballots.
Savannah-Chatham County public schools are taking Beach High School online due to COVID, according to WTOC.
Beach High School students will be virtual Monday, Aug. 30 through Tuesday, Sept. 7. All school activities will be canceled until students return.
Quitman County Schools are going virtual until September 10th, according to WTVM.
Bibb County expanded the number of schools gone virtual due to COVID, according to the Macon Telegraph.
All classes at Ingram-Pye Elementary School, Westside High School, and Elam Alexander Academy at Burke are moving to virtual learning until Sept. 8.
“In reviewing the number of COVID-19 cases for schools each day, officials noticed the number of positive COVID-19 cases is slowly increasing in these schools,” according to a Bibb County Schools press release. “In order to ensure the safety and wellness of our students and staff, we made the decision to switch these schools to asynchronous learning for a brief period. This will help reduce any possible spread of COVID-19.”
The decision impacts about 1,500 students. The seventh grade cohort led by teachers Crystal Heath, Morris Reece, Marcus Curry and Britni Martin at Howard Middle School and the second grade classroom led by teacher Sherida Hicks at Burdell-Hunt Elementary School have also gone to virtual, asynchronous learning. Those students are also set to return Sept. 8.
During asynchronous learning, impacted students are not allowed to participate in any school extracurricular activities or athletics, and cannot not visit any Bibb County School District campus, including any high school football games.
ACE, a Macon charter school, is also going to remote learning for grades 6-12. Students will return to the classroom the week of Sept. 5.
Hall County public schools will close September 20th to encourage voluntary vaccination for workers, according to the Gainesville Times.
A University of Georgia Professor walked out of class and quit after a student wouldn’t pull their mask over their nose, according to 11Alive via 13WMAZ.
UGA student Dania Kalaji reported for the school’s The Red & Black newspaper that 88-year-old psychology professor Irwin Bernstein asked the unnamed student to wear the mask properly, explaining his COVID risks at his age and with conditions including Type 2 diabetes, after she was given one upon arriving to class without a mask.
The student reportedly responded that she had a hard time breathing with the mask over her nose. According to the student paper, after taking attendance Bernstein repeated his request and the student did not respond.
At that point, another student told the paper the professor said, “That’s it, I’m retired,” and walked out.
Bernstein told The Red & Black that as an Air Force veteran he had risked his life to defend the country, but was “not willing to risk my life to teach a class with an unmasked student during this pandemic.”
The incident at UGA came the same week a Georgia State instructor was fired over her refusal to teach in person without a mask mandate. Georgia’s public universities within the University System of Georgia do not have such a policy in place.
Athens protesters sought changes in COVID policies, according to the Athens Banner Herald.
Dressed in all black, more than 100 students, faculty, and staff stood outside the office of University of Georgia President Jere Morehead on Friday, holding signs that voiced their disappointment:
Classes began at the university on Aug. 18, a little over one week prior to the demonstration. In that time, UGA reported 231 positive COVID-19 cases on campus for Aug. 16-22, more than double the number of cases from the previous week and the highest case count that summer.
Masks are not required on campus this semester — a change from the 2020 school year — after officials announced in May that the university was returning to normal operations.
Whether or not there is a mask mandate is not entirely up to UGA. The school is part of the University System of Georgia, which implements rules and guidelines for the 26 universities in the state.
The University of North Georgia Faculty Senate voted to pass a resolution seeking COVID policy changes, according to the Gainesville Times.
The University of North Georgia Faculty Senate passed a resolution on Friday, Aug. 27, that “calls on the Chancellor of the USG system and the President of UNG to issue executive orders mandating adherence to CDC mask guidelines.”
The resolution passed overwhelmingly with 43 yeas, 7 nays and 2 abstains and was sent to both Bonita Jacobs, UNG president, and Teresa MacCartney, acting chancellor for the University System of Georgia.
“We simply want to follow CDC guidelines and require masking indoors,” said Chuck Robertson, chair of the Faculty Senate and professor of psychological science, in an email. “A simple request that will prevent illness and protect our faculty, staff, students and their families and friends.”
“I received the resolution passed by UNG’s Faculty Senate to request that face coverings be required indoors,” Jacobs wrote in a statement to Robertson. “However, UNG is a member of the University System of Georgia, and that is a system-level policy matter. We will continue to emphasize the importance of wearing a mask when inside campus facilities, getting vaccinated and other health protocols.”
Savannah City Council will consider an incentive program to encourage vaccination for government employees, according to the Savannah Morning News.
On Thursday, Savannah City Council voted to approve a resolution to allow the city manager to work with Chatham County, Chatham Area Transit and the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System to develop an incentive-based program to encourage workers to get vaccinated.
Together the four organizations employee nearly 10,000 people across the area.
“I felt it was important for us that whatever we did, we should do it in unison and we should do it consistently because we’re all connected,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said.
“It is so important for our teachers and school if our schools close and children go home, that affects all of our operations.”
While it’s still unclear what the local program might look like, Johnson said each entity would have its own program, and those initiatives could feature monetary incentives.
Bibb County Civil and Magistrate Court Chief Judge Pamela White-Colbert said evictions will resume, according to the Macon Telegraph.
After the U.S. Supreme Court ended the last of the federal eviction moratoriums Thursday, landlords with property in Macon-Bibb County began calling the Bibb County Civil and Magistrate Court to file evictions.
“Landlords are calling now,” White-Colbert said. “My job is to follow the law and uphold the law.”
White-Colbert said tenants will start getting notices to appear in court Monday or Tuesday of next week. Tenants whose eviction process was paused by the new moratorium will be issued a new eviction date, she said.
“Those who have filed a CDC moratorium declaration, they need to get ready to move,” she said.
Jeanne Seaver will speak to the Bulloch County Republican Party breakfast about her campaign for Lieutenant Governor on September 4th, according to the Statesboro Herald.
Seaver has been a community leader, a child-advocate, a non-profit founder, a conservative activist and a successful businesswoman who began working at the age of 11. She has worked in the service industry and corporate America in the legal and private equity in the aviation field for more than 50 years.
Gwinnett County Public Schools allegedly suspended African-American students at a higher rate than others, according to the AJC.
Locally and nationally, Black students have long been disciplined in numbers greater than their share of overall enrollment would dictate. However, the school district’s statistics from last year defy comparison because only about half of students attended schools in person due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Forty-four percent of all students given out-of-school suspensions and 39% of those given in-school suspensions were Black, although Black students make up 33% of the school district, according to the data. Hispanic students make up another 33% of Gwinnett schools but represented 41% of those given in-school suspensions, the data said.
The Whitfield County Commission is set to vote today on a property tax cut, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.
Commissioners are scheduled to set the 2021 property tax rate. They have advertised a rate of 8.18 mills, down from 8.312 mills in 2020. This would mark the fifth straight year commissioners would have cut the tax rate. The proposed rate is expected to bring in $22.578 million in revenue. The county collected $22.7 million in property tax revenue in 2020.
A mill is $1 for every $1,000 in assessed value. The county taxes on 40% of assessed value.
Board Chairman Jevin Jensen said before commissioners vote there will be a PowerPoint presentation on how commissioners arrived at the proposed rate.
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