On July 31, 1777, the Marquis de LaFayette was commissioned a Major General in the Continental Army, serving without pay.
The cornerstone for the first United States Mint was laid in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 31, 1792, becoming the first building constructed by the federal government under the Constitution.
Former President Andrew Johnson, who succeeded President Lincoln upon his assassination and oversaw much of the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, died of a stroke in Tennessee on July 31, 1875.
On July 31, 1906, a bill to place a Constitutional Amendment on the November election for voters to decide whether to create an intermediate-level Georgia Court of Appeals was approved by the Georgia General Assembly.
On July 31, 1962, the one-millionth immigrant was welcomed into Israel.
On July 31, 1987, “The Lost Boys” was released. From the New York Times:
“The Lost Boys” is to horror movies what “Late Night With David Letterman” is to television; it laughs at the form it embraces, adds a rock-and-roll soundtrack and, if you share its serious-satiric attitude, manages to be very funny.
Nolan Ryan, the greatest pitcher in major league baseball history, won his 300th career game on July 31, 1990. During eight innings, Ryan threw 146 pitches, while today, many pitchers are pulled at around the 100-pitch count.
“In the old days throwing that many pitches was a normal game,” said Nolan Ryan, who tossed a record seven no-hitters and is the all-time leader in strikeouts, fifth in innings pitched.
Ryan, currently the Rangers’ team president, is an outspoken detractor of the recent trend toward monitoring pitch counts. In a recent Sports Illustrated article, Ryan expressed his belief that today’s pitchers are “pampered” and that there is no reason why today’s pitchers cannot pitch as much as he and his colleagues did back in the day. As a result, Ryan is pushing his team’s pitchers to throw deeper into games and extend their arms further, emphasizing conditioning over what some would call coddling.
As Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux told SI: “This generation of players has become a creature of the pitch count. Their ceiling has been lowered. It’s up to us to jack it back up.”
Although I think that time he whipped Robin Ventura should count as a win.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
An Atlanta outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease may be the largest in U.S. history, according to Georgia Health News.
Newly released state figures on Legionnaires’ cases linked to an Atlanta hotel suggest that the outbreak could become among the biggest in U.S. history.
The Georgia Department of Public Health said that in addition to the 11 confirmed Legionnaires’ disease cases, there are 55 “probable’’ cases.
The latter represent people who had illness consistent with Legionnaires’ disease, including pneumonia diagnosed by a clinician or chest X-ray, but have not received laboratory confirmation, Public Health said Monday. The number of probable cases can change based on additional testing and lab results.
Earlier this year, GHN reported that cases of Legionnaires’ disease have quadrupled in Georgia over the past 10 years.
That increase mirrors a national trend, with U.S. cases up fivefold since 2000. About 80 percent of Georgia outbreaks have occurred in health care facilities, Cherie Drenzek, state epidemiologist, said in February.
GPB News spoke to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) about the new voting system to be implemented.
First of all, there’ll be a new electronic poll book. And that electronic poll book has been shown to actually move voters, to get them ready to vote in 30 to 35 seconds. So, we’re expecting to see shorter lines just on the front end. Flow management is going to be really improved, and that’s a great thing to see.
Then, once you are ready to vote and get your ballot, you’re going to go over to the new voting machine. When you look at all your selections, you’re going to look at all that touchscreen technology and going to press them similar to what you do right now.
But when you press that button it won’t be to cast your ballot, it’ll be to print the ballot. And then you’ll need to review all your selections. You then take that ballot once you confirm that’s what you wanted to vote for over to an optical scanner. When it goes to the scanner it makes an optical scan, like an electronic image of your ballot.
So that’s been recorded, then it records the vote that you have and that drops into a box.
We will now be able to do physical recounts and will also be to do audits.
When you have these elections, even if it’s an 80-20 election, but particularly when you have that 51-49 election, you’ll be able to do to an audit, to say “This really was a 51-49 race, we’ve done an audit of that.”
Governor Brian Kemp (R) joined the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance to issue a Buy From Georgia Month proclamation, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
“Training children and adults about the importance of buying locally manufactured goods can change the future,” Kemp said in the proclamation. “When consumers buy Georgia’s manufactured goods, they further our local economy, protect manufacturing jobs and ultimately contribute to a greater sense of community in this state that we call home.”
This year marked the sixth time a sitting governor has issued a Buy From Georgia Month proclamation, although this was the first time Kemp, who took office in January, was the person issuing it.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shawn LaGrua ruled that Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office has no conflict of interest on some Open Records matters, according to the AJC.
“Under the Georgia Constitution and governing Georgia law, the AG’s Office has a constitutional and statutory obligation to represent and defend the agencies of the State of Georgia,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shawn Ellen LaGrua wrote.
Atlanta attorney Gordon Joyner raised the issue as part of a lawsuit he filed against the State Accounting Office last November alleging violations of the Open Records Act. In his suit, he said that agency didn’t provide any records he had requested until he filed his lawsuit, and that the Attorney General’s office provided only limited help when he reached out.
Joyner wanted the Attorney General’s office disqualified from representing the State Accounting Office in the lawsuit.
Georgia farmers received $62 million from the federal government in light of the trade war, according to the Macon Telegraph.
The federal government has paid Georgia farms $62 million under a special program meant to help them survive the Trump administration’s trade war, according to data compiled by The Idaho Statesman.
Countries like China and Mexico retaliated against the administration’s tariffs by placing their own tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports.
As a result, Georgia farmers faced financial uncertainly, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting.
The Augusta Commission asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into allegations against Commissioner Sammie Sias, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
The Augusta Commission referred one of its own to law enforcement Tuesday, requesting that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation look into allegations that Commissioner Sammie Sias misspent funds intended for Jamestown Community Center. The commission also referred allegations of child abuse at Jamestown to the Division of Family and Children Services.
After more than three hours behind closed doors, the commission voted 7-2-1 on a four-part motion to request the investigations, with commissioners Bill Fennoy and Dennis Williams opposed. Sias, who did not attend the closed-door meeting, abstained from voting.
The motion included changing the locks at Jamestown and banning Sias from its management, operations and maintenance until the investigations are complete.
In addition, the commission vote removed Sias as an ex-officio member of the Augusta Aviation Commission, the board that manages Augusta Regional Airport, as well as his designee Willa Hilton, who brought the allegations against Sias to the commission and was currently the aviation commission’s chairwoman.
Former Cherokee County Commissioner J.J. Biello died on Sunday, according to the Tribune Ledger News.
Former colleagues remembered him Monday not only as a dedicated public servant, but as a friend.
Prior to coming to Cherokee County, Biello served as an officer with the Atlanta Police Department. On April 15, 1987, Biello was wounded and paralyzed in the line of duty when responding to a robbery call.
Along with his time on the board of commissioners, Biello served the people of Cherokee County by taking a position on the Cherokee Recreation and Parks Authority Board until 2010. Biello also served in a statewide capacity, being appointed by Gov. Roy Barnes to the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission in 2002 and was reappointed to the commission by Gov. Sonny Perdue in 2006 and 2010, serving as its chairman for much of his tenure.
The Georgia State Ethics Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission will hold a candidate workshop on Friday, according to the AJC.
Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission are hosting a candidate workshop from 1 to 3 p.m. that day in room 220 of city hall, 38 Hill St.
The workshop shows current public officials, candidates and residents interested in the Campaign Finance Act how the law works.
The Roswell City Council on Monday unanimously approved a $375,000 contract with Fulton County to have the county run the city’s election on Nov. 5 and, if needed, a runoff on Dec. 3.
Bulloch County Board of Education members discussed policies on Sheriff’s deputies in schools, according to the Statesboro Herald.
The proposed intergovernmental agreement presented last Thursday between the school system on one side and the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners and Sheriff Noel Brown on the other would be unlike previous agreements that, when they were in writing at all, dealt mostly with funding.
“The intent of school resource officers, by definition, is not to be a police officer in the school that is, you know, being aggressive with students,” Superintendent of Schools Charles Wilson said to school board members.
“An SRO by nature and role is to establish relationships. …,” Wilson continued. “But they are a law enforcement officer, and as you know our SROs report to, in this case, the sheriff’s department.”
A paragraph in the proposed agreement states: “All school related activity must be coordinated by each SRO with the principal’s office. When an SRO perceives that law enforcement action is required at a school, he/she shall take such action and then notify the principal of the actions taken as soon as reasonably possible thereafter.”
However, Wilson said he does not think the school system can go further and require an officer to notify the principal or other administrators first, before taking a law enforcement action in regard to a student. He said he had consulted the school system’s legal counsel, the district attorney’s office and others.
“Basically what that would mean is us trying to prevent a law enforcement officer from exercising their responsibilities and requirements under state law, and the sheriff’s expectations as well,” Wilson told the board.
The Dougherty County Board of Education will pilot a program to use an alternative to the Georgia Milestones testing regime, according to WALB.
The Dougherty County School System is currently using the Georgia Milestones Test. It’s a one time, end of the year, standardized test. But school leaders are hoping by this time next year, they’ll be using a different method of testing.
[Dougherty County School System Superintendent Kenneth] Dyer said the school district is apart of an innovative assessment pilot the State Board of Education is putting on.
Dyer wants to start using a test called NAVVY. Rather than testing students one time at the end of the year, NAVVY is a series of tests throughout the school year.
The district is one out of nine school systems chosen to be apart of this pilot assessment.
Columbus City Council passed an ordinance allowing retail beer and wine outlets to also serve by the drink, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
Thanks to a local ordinance change approved by Columbus Council on Tuesday, Maltitude and other beer and wine retail stores in the city can apply for a license to sell those beverages by the drink, in addition to their normal take-home sales.
The change does not apply to stores that sell liquor.
Maltitude, a small boutique-style bottle shop, is celebrating its sixth anniversary next month. The shop sells craft beer by the can, bottle and growler along with a curated selection of wine.
Co-owner Miles Greathouse told council July 23 that many craft beer retailers have recently had to “pivot” to keep up with a booming market that’s become saturated with craft beverages.
“We know of at least 10 retail stores similar to ours here in the state of Georgia that have added on-premises consumption in communities like Macon, Warner Robins, Smyrna, Snellville and Decatur that stayed in business, and we know of at least 15 others that have failed to do so and closed their doors,” Greathouse said.
Greathouse said Tuesday following the vote that the additional revenue stream created by by-the-drink sales will help the store stay relevant, and he commended Columbus Council’s recognition and assistance in helping Maltitude do what it needs to thrive.
Savannah added a southbound bike lane, doubling the mileage of its improved bike lanes, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Dalton City Council named its representatives to a Whitfield County SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) committee, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.
Brunswick area businesses may be eligible for loans and grants under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America program, according to The Brunswick News.
Lance Young, a renewable energy coordinator for the USDA in this part of Georgia, described the program Tuesday at one of the Georgia Coastal Management Program’s Brownbag Presentations.
Young pointed out that between 2009 and 2017, 58 percent of program funds went to energy efficiency projects, but 41 percent went to renewable energy systems.
“And by the way, that section is where solar falls into…,” Young said. “What I’m seeing now is because of the pickup in solar business here in South Georgia, I’m seeing more parity between these two. What I mean by that, in the last couple years, we’re picking up more solar applications than we are the energy efficiency category.”
“The purpose of our REAP program is to provide grants and guaranteed loan funding for renewable energy system installations and energy- efficient improvements for agricultural producers and rural small businesses,” Young said.
To qualify, you either have to be an agricultural producer or a rural small business. To be an ag producer, the business must have more than 51 percent of its annual income over three years from crops, livestock, aquaculture, forestry, nurseries or dairies. There’s no location requirement.
Small businesses have to be in a rural, non-metro area with a population less than 50,000.
The Port of Savannah set another monthly record for container throughput, according to a press release from the Georgia Ports Authority.
The Port of Savannah moved a record 4.5 million twenty-foot equivalent container units in the fiscal year that ended June 30, an increase of more than 305,000 TEUs, or 7.3 percent.
“Our ports are firing on all cylinders,” said Governor Brian Kemp. “This success is a testament to the men and women who work throughout our entire supply chain and make a difference for Georgia and the nation every day. Because of their commitment, our factories, farms and logistics providers are creating opportunity and prosperity in every corner of our state.”
For the first time ever, GPA handled more than half a million container lifts to rail, growing that number by more than 72,000, or 16.6 percent. The 506,707 intermodal boxes constituted more than 20 percent of total containers, another record.
“The Authority’s investment in the Mason Mega Rail project is coming just in time for our capacity to stay ahead of demand, ensuring the free flow of intermodal cargo,” said Will McKnight, GPA’s Board Chairman. “The first phase of the project will be complete this year, cutting rail transit time to Midwestern markets by 24 hours.”
The Mason Mega Rail project, which will double Savannah’s rail capacity and create the largest on-terminal intermodal facility in North America, is 40 percent complete. By 2021, the new facility will be able to handle 1 million containers per year.
“Our team on the terminal – GPA employees, the International Longshoremen’s Association, and our two Class 1 rail providers, CSX and Norfolk Southern – are moving more freight faster and more efficiently than ever before in our history,” said Griff Lynch, GPA’s Executive Director. “Rail cargo is expanding at twice the rate of our overall container trade, reducing congestion on our highways and increasing Georgia’s reach to a mid-American arc of cities, including Chicago, St. Louis and Columbus, Ohio.”
At the Port of Brunswick, 613,680 autos and machinery units crossed the docks at Colonel’s Island Terminal, GPA’s main port for the import-export of cars, trucks and tractors. Roll-on/Roll-off cargo grew by 4 percent at Colonel’s Island in FY2019.
“Brunswick’s proximity to dealerships across the region, the ease of doing business in Georgia and the room to grow at Colonel’s Island are a winning combination,” Lynch said. “No other Ro/Ro port in the nation can match Brunswick’s 400 acres of expansion space.”
Ocean Terminal in Savannah added another 35,884 vehicles for a total of nearly 650,000 units moved through Georgia’s ports.
At East River Terminal in Brunswick, terminal operator Logistec moved 1.2 million tons of bulk cargo in FY2019, an increase of 203,000 tons, or 20 percent. The improvement was largely associated with an increase in wood pellets, peanut pellets and perlite.
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