King Henry VII of England was crowned on October 30, 1485.
Christopher Columbus “discovered” Cuba on October 28, 1492.
Sir Walter Raleigh, founder of the first permanent English settlement in America, was beheaded on October 29, 1618 for conspiring against King James I.
King Charles I of England granted a charter for a new colony called Carolana that included much of present-day Georgia, along with the current states of North and South Carolina, on October 30, 1629.
Georgia’s first Royal Governor, John Reynolds, arrived at Savannah on October 29, 1754.
On October 27, 1775, King George III addressed Parliament, raising concerns about an American rebellion.
The First of the Federalist Papers, an essay by Alexander Hamilton published under the pseudonym Publius, was published on October 27, 1787.
John Hancock resigned as President of the Continental Congress on October 29, 1777.
The United States and Spain signed the Treaty of San Lorenzo, also called Pinckney’s Treaty on October 27, 1795, setting the 31st parallel as the border between Georgia and Florida.
The nation’s first Gold Rush started after Benjamin Parks discovered gold in what is now Lumpkin County, Georgia on October 27, 1828.
Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 27, 1858.
Stephen Douglas of Illinois campaigned in Atlanta for President of the United States on October 30, 1860. Douglas had defeated Abraham Lincoln for United States Senate in 1858, giving rise to the Lincoln-Douglas style of debate.
The Battle of Wauhatchie, one of a handful of night battles in the Civil War, began along the Georgia-Tennessee border on October 28, 1863.
On October 30, 1871, Republican Benjamin Conley became acting Governor of Georgia after Republican Governor Rufus Bullock resigned; Conley served as President of the state Senate before taking office as Governor.
Conley took the oath of office on Oct. 30, 1871. Two days later, the new General Assembly convened and elected a new Democratic president of the Senate, but Conley refused to give up the office. The General Assembly then passed a law over Conley’s veto to hold a special election for governor on the third Tuesday in December. In that election, Democratic House speaker James M. Smith defeated Conley and assumed office Jan. 12, 1872.
The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886; the first ticker tape parade followed.
President Woodrow Wilson vetoed the Volstead Act, which implemented the Eighteenth Amendment prohibition on alcohol, on October 27, 1919; the House overrode his veto that same day and the United States Senate overrode the veto on October 28, 1919.
Navy Day was established on October 27, 1922.
October 27 was suggested by the Navy League to recognize Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday. Roosevelt had been an Assistant Secretary of the Navy and supported a strong Navy as well as the idea of Navy Day. In addition, October 27 was the anniversary of a 1775 report issued by a special committee of the Continental Congress favoring the purchase of merchant ships as the foundation of an American Navy.
The New York Stock Exchange crashed on October 29, 1929, beginning the spiral to the Great Depression.
On October 30, 1938, a science fiction drama called War of the Worlds was broadcast nationwide in the form of a series of simulated radio broadcasts.
The first ballpoint pen went on sale at Gimbel’s Department Store on October 29, 1945.
Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers on October 30, 1945, becoming the first African-American professional baseball player in the major leagues.
The Cuban Missile Crisis ended on October 28, 1962 as Kruschev agreed to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba if the United States would respect Cuban sovereignty.
Ronald Reagan delivered the “A Time for Choosing” speech on October 27, 1964.
And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except the sovereign people, is still the newest and the most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man.
This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.
You and I are told increasingly we have to choose between a left or right. Well I’d like to suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There’s only an up or down—[up] man’s old—old-aged dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. And regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course.
You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.
We’ll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we’ll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.
On October 30, 1970, a fastball from Nolan Ryan was timed at 100.9 miles per hour, putting him in the record books.
On the same day, Jim Morrison of the Doors was sentenced to six months in prison and a $500 fine for allegedly exposing himself during a Miami concert. Morrision died before the case was heard on appeal.
Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident in Macon, Georgia on October 29, 1971.
Gladys Knight and the Pips reached #1 with “Midnight Train to Georgia” on October 27, 1973.
Jimmy Carter campaigned in New York on October 27, 1976.
Democratic President Jimmy Carter debated Republican Ronald Reagan in Cleveland, Ohio on October 28, 1980.
Andrew Young was elected Mayor of Atlanta on October 27, 1981.
The Augusta Chronicle writes about the October 28, 1981 election of the city’s first Black mayor.
Edward M. McIntyre, who had been Richmond County’s first Black commissioner, was elected Augusta’s first Black mayor by more than a 1,000-vote margin in a runoff election.
“I’m just eager to go to work,” he said the day after his victory. “I’m delighted the people saw fit to give us a majority vote, and I look forward to working with city councilmen because they’re people with a tremendous amount of talent that we need.”
The Atlanta Braves beat the Cleveland Indians 1-0 to win the World Series on October 28, 1995.
Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy accepted the last Ford Taurus built in Hapeville, Georgia on October 27, 2006.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Governor Brian Kemp issued Executive Order #10.26.22.01, suspending from office Morgan County Sheriff Richard D. Morgan after he was indicted on allegations of Violation of Public Oath by an Officer and one count of Sexual Battery.
Governor Kemp campaigned in coastal Georgia yesterday, according to The Brunswick News.
He said the decisions made during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep the state’s economy moving were the right ones, saving many people’s livelihoods.
“It is a bad feeling when you are worried about losing your house, when you are worried about losing your business that you started with a truck, a pick and a shovel,” Kemp told the crowd.
He pointed to the state’s quick recovery from the pandemic and two years of record tax revenue as evidence, reminding supporters that the state had returned $1.6 billion of last year’s $2.2 billion surplus to state residents earlier this year.
With revenues reaching record levels again this year, Kemp said he plans to push the state legislature to implement a one-time homeowner grant program to reduce 2022 property tax bills by 15-25%.
Kemp touched on a variety of other political hotspots as well, including inflation — crediting his executive order suspending the state’s 29.1-cent gas tax with helping Georgians cope with rising prices he claimed is caused by Democrat policy — reopening schools after the COVID-19 pandemic and rural health care expansion, among others.
Remote learning can’t replace a traditional classroom education, he said, which made it an obvious decision for his administration to support Jefferson High School in Northeast Georgia when it reopened in August 2020.
According to the Kemp campaign, he plans to stop for breakfast in St. Mary’s at Seagle’s Restaurant, deliver another speech at the Folkston Railroad Transportation Museum in Folkston and take lunch at Hutcheson Plantation in Glynn County today.
Governor Kemp also campaigned in Darien, according to WTOC.
McIntosh County voters and leaders gathered outside of the county courthouse to see the governor today.
During his speech, he focused on what he calls the deliverables of his past term in office including suspending the gas tax, as well as promises for the future – like new tax rebate checks, and his property tax relief grant plan.
“We are fighting every day for the soul of our state. We’re fighting every day to make sure Stacey Abrams doesn’t become our next governor or our next president. One of the reasons we have done so well, is that we have said no to everything she has wanted us to do,” said Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.
Kemp also touted his decisions made during the pandemic including opening schools and the economy before many surrounding states.
From the Associated Press via WSAV:
The focus on energizing each party’s base comes amid heavy early turnout in Georgia, where more than 1.25 million voters had already cast ballots as of Thursday and still nine days of early in-person voting to go in some counties. Mail-in ballots, although diminished from the torrent of 2020, are also arriving at county election offices.
Kemp stumped Thursday at a restaurant in rural Jesup, about 65 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Savannah, where he spoke to roughly 80 people eating fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. Kemp worked the room before and after his speech, shaking hands and taking selfies.
Only 30,000 people live in Jesup and surrounding Wayne County. But it’s a deeply conservative area that Kemp carried with 80% of the vote in 2018.
“We’ve got to do it again this year,” Kemp implored the lunchtime crowd at Altamaha Steak and Seafood. “Because we’re in a fight for the soul of our state.”
Hitting the biggest applause line in his stump speech, Kemp asked the crowd to help him “make sure that Stacey Abrams is not going to be your governor or your next president.”
During his 20-minute speech, Kemp slammed Abrams for supporting prolonged pandemic shutdowns and being insufficiently supportive of police. He also noted that Abrams had been considered a potential vice presidential running mate for Biden, whom Kemp blames for inflation.
“These are the policies that are crushing hard-working Georgians right now,” Kemp said. “Those are the things that policy has done to us. What we’re doing is helping you fight through that.”
At the same time, Abrams was imploring a majority-Black crowd at a plaza in downtown Milledgeville to back her policy-heavy agenda.
“If you want more money in your pocket, say more!,” Abrams shouted, hoarse from campaigning. “If you want more opportunity in your community, say more! If you want more freedom in your lives, say more! If you want more for the future of our children, say more!”
Kemp wasn’t done in Jesup, going on to the crossroads of Nahunta. It’s a place that might draw blank stares among Atlanta Democrats, but it’s the county seat of Brantley County, the most Republican county in Georgia in recent years. Kemp won 91% of the vote there in 2018.
Democrat Stacey Abrams campaigned in Milledgeville, according to 13WMAZ.
Democratic candidate for state governor Stacey Abrams rolled through Milledgeville Thursday on her “Let’s Get it Done” tour.
“I’m running for governor for the whole state of Georgia, even the folks who want to lift their voices to drown me out,” Abrams says.
She explains that the state needs a governor who will stand by them, and says Governor Brian Kemp has failed Georgians in many ways.
“Yeah, she said a man messed it up, and a woman’s going to fix it up,” said Tiffany Hawkins, a recent graduate of Georgia College.
Stacey Abrams says she also hopes to make technical colleges in Georgia free for all folks again.
Herschel Walker campaigned alongside United States Senator Ted Cruz in Dublin, according to 13WMAZ.
Alongside the senate hopeful was Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who warmed up the crowd. Hundreds greeted Walker and Cruz in downtown Dublin. Part of the sea of people in the Market on Madison was Taylor Outlaw from Danville. She was there with her baby son.
“Rising costs of inflation. Gas is insane, trying to go to work and make a living,” Outlaw said.
In his speech, Walker echoed the same, blaming Senator Warnock and other Democrats for rising prices.
“After two years after being into office, you see where we’re at today: this inflation. You see what he’s doing with our police, but let me talk about our military,” Walker said.
Next, he questioned the use of people’s preferred pronouns in the military.
“Senator Warnock and Joe Biden are talking about bringing pronouns in our military. Do y’all know what pronouns are? I don’t even know what pronouns are,” he told the crowd.
“China’s not talking about fueling up a tank in the desert with electricity,” Walker said. “They’re talking about war and we’re talking about the ‘green agenda.’ The ‘green agenda?’ Are you serious?”
“I believe in life. I’m sorry to tell you that. I believe in life. And he said to me, ‘Herschel you know what? A patient and a doctor cannot be in the same room as the government.’ And I said, ‘Sir, you forget there’s a baby in that room, too.’ He forgot about that. There’s a baby in the room, too,” he said.
Also in Walker’s speech was his opposition to President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness policy and his desire to keep funding law enforcement.
United States Representative Buddy Carter (R-Pooler) has been sued in relation to the overuse of opioids, according to WTOC.
A motion has since been filed to withdraw his name from the lawsuit.
On Oct. 19, Savannah-based attorney Mark Tate filed a motion in Chatham County Superior Court to add U.S. Congressman Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-District 1 Ga.) and his previously owned pharmacies to the lawsuit.
Rep. Carter is accused of contributing to the regional opioid crisis by receiving a large number of opioid prescriptions. The numbers of prescriptions his pharmacies received are listed in a federal database that tracks opioid shipments to pharmacies and hospitals in the U.S.
Carter has since closed his pharmacies. In a prepared statement, Rep. Carter called the accusations baseless and said since there had been a filing to withdraw his name and “there is no case to respond to or speak of.” He went on to say he is proud of his record “combatting America’s opioid epidemic, including my bipartisan Empowering Pharmacists in the Fight Against Opioid Abuse Act that was signed into law.”
Chatham County’s ongoing disagreement with its municipalities could lead to higher property taxes, according to WTOC.
Chatham County and city officials within the county have until the end of the year to settle negotiations on how revenue from the Local Option Sales Tax , referred to as LOST, or the money goes away.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson says the millage rate could be higher for residents as well if they don’t come to an agreement.
Mayor Van Johnson says he asked the city manager to start looking into budget adjustments just in case they can’t figure out an agreement on how the Local Option Sales Tax will be split.
The mayor says the millage rate could increase by nine mils to make up for the money they would miss out on if they don’t come to a compromise.
LOST is a 1 percent levy typically paid on good and services. It’s projected to bring in 107 million dollars that would be split nine ways.
Mayor Johnson says cities in this county generate the revenue and deserve more than half of it.
“The reality is that cities are the economic drivers of this community. I don’t think telling our residents, ‘oh well you’re going to get half of what you got before. We still have to raise your taxes’ is fair to city residents who happen to be county residents. That’s the point,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said.
If they don’t come to an agreement by December 31st, they’ll lose that money that adds up to over 100 million dollars.
Savannah City Council is considering new names for the former Calhoun Square, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Savannah City Council on Thursday held a public hearing regarding a potential vote to remove John Calhoun’s name from one of the city’s downtown squares, almost two years after a group of local activists began working to change the name.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said he expects to get a council vote on stripping the name off the square “hopefully in the first meeting in November,” which will be Nov. 10.
But their efforts have come with opposition, and on Tuesday, several residents spoke about keeping Calhoun’s name on the square, citing the importance of not changing history. Calhoun was the U.S. vice president from 1825 to 1832 and was an outspoken pro-slavery advocate.
To expedite the change, Mayor Johnson recommended splitting the process into two issues: Removal of the name followed by choosing a new name. At his weekly media roundtable Wednesday, he said his intention is to allow the public more opportunity to give input about the square’s new name.
Camden County commissioners are considering an alternative location for the Spaceport Camden, according to The Brunswick News.
Camden County commissioners will consider potential uses for the former Bayer CropScience property adjacent to the Union Carbide tract planned as the launch site for Spaceport Camden.
During a Camden County Office of Planning and Development meeting Wednesday, board members heard six proposals for the property, two of which were recommended for consideration by commissioners at their meeting Tuesday.
A request for a special use to allow space research and technology at the site was recommended for approval.
The site is adjacent to the Union Carbide site county commissioners wanted to purchase as the launch site for a spaceport already approved by the Federal Aviation Administration once a launch site had been purchased.
Camden County voters last spring voted by more than 70% to prohibit county officials from spending any more money on the project, which has already cost an estimated $11 million.
Chatham County held a public funeral for the unclaimed remains of more than 500 people, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Greenwich is tucked away behind the gates of neighboring Bonaventure Cemetery. County officials, led by Coroner David Campbell and Chatham Commission Chairman Chester A. Ellis, honored the lives of those whose cremated remains The were never claimed by family members.
The remains were placed into four separate vaults, about the same size as a coffin, and buried. A granite slab including the names of the deceased contained within will be placed over each of the four burial plots.
The remains span nearly 80 years of time: the oldest were from the 1940s, and the most recent remains were from earlier this month.
Columbus City Council is seeking input from residents on how to spend nearly $40 million dollars in remaining COVID relief funds, according to WTVM.
Last year, the Consolidated government received a total of $78.4 million dollars after President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act, providing economic relief to help states recover from the pandemic.
The first half of the funds — a little under $40 million — was received last summer. Some of those funds were used to purchase automated trash pickup services and provide households with 96-gallon trash bins.
“The truck have been ordered. We have the bins. Most of the citizens, if not all of the citizens have received those bins,” said Deputy City Manager Pam Hodge. “Another item that was utilized in the Phase one funding was the purchase of ambulances. We anticipate delivery of those in the next month or so.”
The second half of the funds was received this summer. However, before those funds are allocated, city leaders held a public meeting for input on how to spend the money on Thursday evening.
Deputy City Manager Pam Hodge says they’ve already received a list of requests from various places like a $2 million dollar funding request from the Golf Authority.
The final list of recommendations will be submitted to City Council for a vote in November.
The Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Board of Directors named Collie Greenwood as the new CEO, according to the Capitol Beat News Service.
“I am honored and humbled by this opportunity,” Greenwood said. “I love transit and have known since my days of driving a bus how vital it is to people and their communities.
“I am eager to get to work enhancing and expanding service in the metro Atlanta region.”
Greenwood rose through the ranks over 30 years to serve as chief service officer with the Toronto Transit Commission, the third largest transit system in North America.
He joined MARTA in July 2019 as chief of bus operations and urban planning. He was named deputy general manager of operations early last year, overseeing all bus and rail operations and helping to develop and deliver major capital projects.
Greenwood was named interim general manager and CEO in January of this year following the suicide death of MARTA chief Jeffrey Parker.
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