On October 5, 1864, the Battle of Allatoona Pass was fought in Bartow County, Georgia.
The first televised Presidential address from the White House was broadcast on October 5, 1947.
At the time of Truman’s food-conservation speech, Europe was still recovering from World War II and suffering from famine. Truman, the 33rd commander in chief, worried that if the U.S. didn’t provide food aid, his administration’s Marshall Plan for European economic recovery would fall apart. He asked farmers and distillers to reduce grain use and requested that the public voluntarily forgo meat on Tuesdays, eggs and poultry on Thursdays and save a slice of bread each day. The food program was short-lived, as ultimately the Marshall Plan succeeded in helping to spur economic revitalization and growth in Europe.
The Georgia Supreme Court outlawed use of the electric chair as “cruel and unusual punishment” on October 5, 2001.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Governor Brian Kemp issued Executive Order #10.04.21.01, suspending Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Mark Jones. From WTVM:
The suspension is effective immediately. On Sept. 7, Jones was indicted on several felony counts of misconduct while in office.
The charges include:
Two counts of bribery
Two counts of violation of oath by public officer
Two counts of influencing a witness
Two counts of attempted violation of oath by public officer
Attempted subordination of perjuryOn September 22, an Executive Order was issued. Members of the Review Commission agreed that the indictment adversely affects the administration of the District Attorney office.
Jones is suspended effective immediately pending the final disposition of the case or until his term of office is expired.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued an executive order suspending Jones Monday afternoon after members of a review panel recommended the district attorney be removed.
Members included Harold Melton, retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia; Joe Mulholland, District Attorney of the South Georgia Judicial District; and Samir Patel, District Attorney of the Cherokee Judicial District.
“The Review Commission found that the indictment of Mr. Mark Preston Jones does relate to and does adversely affect the administration of the office of District Attorney; and that the rights and interests of the public are adversely affected thereby,” Kemp’s order read in part.
The Mark Jones saga has all the elements of a great outlaw country-gangster rap fusion hit. Stay tuned for “The Ballad of Mark Jones.”
Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino will speak at the Georgia Christian School annual banquet, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.
She restores the tradition of the school hosting a well-known political, sports or entertainment figure for its annual fundraiser. Georgia Christian had to suspend a banquet and guest speaker last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Past GCS speakers have included former President George W. Bush, former First Lady Laura Bush, former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, legendary quarterback Terry Bradshaw, country music star Vince Gill, former Fox News pundit and author Bill O’Reilly, former coach Lou Holtz, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade.
Perino served as White House press secretary for President George W. Bush and was the first GOP woman to hold the job.
“Dana also regularly provides political and election commentary across all of the Fox News platforms,” according to a biography provided by Georgia Christian. “She is The New York Times bestselling author of two books: ‘And The Good News Is’ and ‘Let Me Tell You About Jasper.’”
The Georgia Christian School banquet is scheduled for Nov. 13 – a Saturday instead of the usual Thursday evening for the banquet, Lawson and Warren said. The banquet will be held in the Valdosta State University Student Union Ballroom.
More information: Visit www.georgiachristian.org. Sponsorships often sell out the GCS banquet prior to individual tickets being sold.
One in five Georgia workers who are caregivers for a family member left the work force during the pandemic, according to a study cited by the Georgia Recorder.
To better understand caregivers’ experiences over the last two years, the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers conducted a national survey, which was released Sept. 28.
The report, Working While Caring: A National Survey of Caregiver Stress in the US Workforce, found that, over the course of care, 44% of family caregivers employed full time said they had to go part time.
A fifth of working caregivers in Georgia said they had to quit their jobs entirely.
The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, a nonprofit organization established in 1987, seeks to understand how caregivers are affected both by the stresses and challenges of paid work, as well as how employers and business owners can be more supportive to family caregivers.
The former first lady once said she believes “only four types of people inhabit the world: those who have been caregivers, who are caregivers, who will be caregivers, and who will need caregivers.” RCI was established at Georgia Southwestern State University in her honor.
I have said before that caregiving for our parents will be the defining generational issue for Generation X. Today, GenXers are outnumbered by Boomers. My high school peer group, firmly in the middle of Gen X was defined largely by divorced parents, both of whom worked. We are the original latch key kids. For some of us, remarried parents will exacerbate the caregiving issue. My parents divorced and both remarried. I also feel some responsibility for my late wife’s mother. That there is five parents for whom I may eventually have some level of responsibility.
I was a caregiver for my late wife while she became disabled and died from ALS, and it crushed me. I’m still far from whole. I’m watching every week the toll caregiving for a spouse with dementia takes on one of my parents. This will be our World War II and our Vietnam.
This article highlights the issue that many of our generation will leave the workforce early as caregiving duties pile up. We will have less money to deal with the increasingly complex and confusing healthcare system, and the economy may be dealt a blow by the early exit of GenXers just as we are becoming leaders in business, academia, and government. Friends, brace yourselves, winter is coming.
Georgia may lag in distributing COVID rental relief funds and be headed for a wave of evictions, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
As September ended, nearly 390,000 Georgia households were behind on rent.
There is money available to help them catch up – the state government received $552.3 million in federal Emergency Rental Assistance. By this time, they anticipated helping 55,000 households. Local governments across Georgia got millions more.
But by October first, the state had paid out money to a little over 9,784 households, and they do not know how many more Georgians are eligible for the program.
A review by the Augusta Chronicle and Savannah Morning News has found only about 21,000 households have received the federal Emergency Rental Assistance funds given to state and local governments. The money was allocated as a stop-gap measure for both renters and landlords as people lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding covers up to 12 months back rent or utility payments and up to three months forward for people who lost income due to the pandemic.
You may or may not be sympathetic to renters who have fallen behind, but this also impacts owners who did not receive rent from them and could not evict. The banks still wanted their mortgage payments, though. This could ripple through an economy that is still struggling with COVID. How will massive numbers of evictions affect the hourly job market and workforce?
The Stacey Abrams political machine New Georgia Project had a goal of registering another 30,000 voters ahead of the November municipal elections, according to WABE.
Oct. 4 is the deadline for Georgians to register to vote in the November general election. One voting rights organization has been banking on a younger block of voters to reach their 30,000 registrations goal.
The New Georgia Project tells WABE’s “All Things Considered” host Jim Burress that its work meeting young people where they are — with lighthearted, block-party style events — has helped those registration numbers tally up. NGP officials say they don’t ask anyone about party affiliation, and conversations are more focused on issues like climate action and voter suppression.
Republicans in Cobb County have given the 2022 Election for Governor to Democrat Stacey Abrams. From 11Alive:
Republican activists in Cobb County have voted to censure Gov. Brian Kemp for failing to curb illegal immigration. The resolution is merely an opinion, but Kemp’s backers fear it will weaken the governor as he heads into re-election next year.
“These resolutions are just a way of communicating to elected officials how grassroots Republicans feel. That’s all they are,” said Debbie Dooley, a GOP activist who said she helped write the censure resolution.
Dooley said GOP committees in counties across Georgia have passed resolutions censuring Kemp. She points out that similar GOP resolutions also targeted Republican governors Nathan Deal and Sonny Perdue.
“People mad at Gov. Kemp wanted their pound of flesh and this was the vehicle they used,” [Former Cobb County Republican Party Chair Jason] Shepherd said.
Shepherd said Kemp will still thrive because Republicans backed his pro-business policies during the pandemic, but Dooley disagrees.
Dooley supports longtime Democrat-turned-Republican Vernon Jones in the GOP primary. Although Jones spoke at the Perry rally, Trump has not endorsed him.
Bleary-eyed Georgians will still turn back their clocks for Daylight Saving Time despite state legislation aimed at eliminating the time change, according to 13WMAZ.
Back in April, Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill saying the state of Georgia would observe standard time throughout the entire year.
There was one catch though — the bill has to be approved by Congress. So far, that hasn’t happened.
In 2021, daylight saving time ends on Nov. 7. Enjoy the extra hour of sleep!
Georgia state legislators are preparing for next year’s budget, according to WSAV.
Starting January, state lawmakers will propose bills and identify where the budget should go over 40-legislative days.
Butch Miller, President Pro Tempore, Georgia Senate said, “Well one of the hottest topics will be public safety. We have had an epidemic in crime and mental health issues.”
[Republican State Sen.] Ben Watson said, “Gang activity is playing a huge role even in the rural areas.”
Ben Watson said, “Broadband in rural communities is important. The pandemic has stressed that even more.”
But before the 2022 session in January, state lawmakers will assemble at the state capitol for a special session starting November 3rd to re-draw boundaries as part of redistricting efforts.
Savannah City Council members have been sued over the location of a proposed homeless shelter, according to WTOC.
A group is suing every single member of Savannah’s City Council, claiming that some of them knowingly approved a homeless shelter project on what they claim is the site of the largest slave auction in U.S. history.
The Weeping Time Coalition held a protest Monday in front of Chatham County Superior Court.
In July, a city-commissioned archeological survey found the site, off Augusta Avenue in West Savannah, is not the former site of the traumatic Weeping Time slave auction. But the coalition is basing its lawsuit not on those findings, but instead on a discrepancy. They are citing a memo to the city council from former City Manager Michael Brown.
“But, since the majority, what we call “Van’s click” on the board did vote to allow the Salvation Army to desecrate the Weeping Time property, we are here now filing this case because they knew better and they didn’t do better,” said Rev. Leonard Small, with the Weeping Time Coalition.
The city council voted to allow the Salvation Army to build a homeless shelter on the land if a professional study proved it is not the site of the weeping time.
From the Savannah Morning News:
The group said the results of a survey done earlier this year on behalf of the City of Savannah at the proposed site of a Salvation Army homeless shelter wasn’t reviewed by the correct state office. Now, the Weeping Time Coalition (WTC) is asking a judge to step in.
“We will not allow this property, this sacred land, this hallowed space to be desecrated,” Rev. Leonard Small, one of the WTC leaders, said Monday morning at a press conference.
Small said the group filed suit in Chatham County Superior Court on Monday asking a judge to instruct the city to send the study results to the State Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.
Instead, the City of Savannah sent the survey results to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources for review by the state archeologist. Rachel Black, the state archeologist, confirmed the report met preparation guidelines.
Confusion over which state agency should review the archeological survey stems from a change that moved the state archeologist from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Savannah is looking at ways to support formerly incarcerated people to reintegrate into society and reduce recidivism, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Landing employment is only one of the issues formerly incarcerated people face in efforts to reintegrate into society. Finding shelter and earning an education are, in many cases, equally difficult, said Maxine L. Bryant, assistant professor at Georgia Southern University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology.
“What I think is missing is addressing the trauma that many people find themselves behind bars have been subject to before going to prison,” Bryant said.
Bryant hosted the fourth annual “When is the Debt Paid” conference on Sep. 25 at Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong Center. Formerly incarcerated people and recidivism experts spoke at the conference in an effort to help “returning citizens… successfully navigate through the reintegration.”
The state has made some progress to minimize recidivism. Gov. Brian Kemp signed S.B. 288 in August 2020, and as of Jan. 1, rehabilitated individuals may petition the courts to expunge certain misdemeanors from their records four years after the completion of their sentences so long as they have no new convictions or pending charges.
It’s a fascinating article that I recommend reading in its entirety.
Tybee Island realtors say the Short Term Rental ordinance is affecting real estate values, according to WTOC.
The temporary pause of new rental properties on Tybee Island is already taking a negative toll on the community’s housing market.
Now, however, some real estate agents WTOC spoke with say people are hesitant to buy without knowing if their house can be a rental after this moratorium.
“They want a place to come with their families when they want to come on vacation, but then they also want to be able to have a home that they can rent and work toward their retirement,” said Tanya Huff, real estate agent with Century 21 Solomon Properties.
“There were those of us in the real estate, brokerage and sales business who lost contracts. We had them on the table and they were ready to move forward. They didn’t know what might happen next,” said Keith Gay Sr., realtor and owner of Tybee Vacation Rentals.
Tanya Huff and Keith Gay Sr. are both realtors on the island. They say not only has this moratorium lost them buyers, but it’s made residents scared to sell their unregistered home.
“People are afraid to sell because they don’t know if they’re going to get the same value if they don’t have that certificate,” said Huff.
Gay says he estimates he’s lost between 30 and 40 buyers because they don’t trust that a moratorium, like this, wouldn’t happen again in the future.
Georgia State Senator Tyler Harper (R-Ocilla) campaigned in Statesboro for Agriculture Commissioner, according to the Statesboro Herald.
State Sen. Tyler Harper, an Irwin County farmer now campaigning to become Georgia’s commissioner of agriculture, visited Statesboro on Friday and talked about how he wants to build on his past role in farming-related legislation to become the state’s leading official promoter of agriculture, its largest industry.
So far he is the only declared Republican contender for the office and the only agriculture commissioner candidate of either party who has filed a campaign finance report with the State Ethics Commission this year. But he noted that some Democrats are said to be running, and candidates don’t qualify until March for the May 24 primary.
Harper’s background as a seventh-generation Georgia farmer, past service as president of the Georgia Young Farmers Association and education have all helped prepare him, he said. He attained first an associate degree from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and then a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Georgia.
“And then my almost 10 years in the state Senate where I’ve been able to get results for Georgia agriculture and producers, farmers and consumers across the state, I think has set up and given me a good platform to run for ag commissioner,” Harper said.
“I was one of the primary sponsors of working through the hemp legislation and bringing a new commodity to our state and allowing it to be part of the portfolio of ag producers in Georgia wanted to participate in that,” Harper said.
Not to be confused with medical marijuana legislation, the Hemp Farming Act authorized the growing and processing of hemp, with a strictly regulated low THC content, as an industrial product. The law set annual licensing fees and testing and bonding requirements for hemp growers and processors and authorized further research into hemp production.
As a senator, Harper has supported expansion of broadband internet service in rural areas. This is also something he says he would continue to advocate for as agriculture commissioner.
“Expanding rural broadband is just as important to agriculture, and I’ve been an advocate for expansion of broadband across this state and will continue to do so because in the ag industry it’s become more of a worldwide market today than it ever has been in the past,” Harper said.
I will base my vote for Agriculture Commissioner largely on the candidates’ statements about regulating pet dealers and breeders and rescue and animal control organizations. Appealing to rural Georgia is great and all, but there are more votes in Metro Atlanta, and they’re dog-friendly. It’s quite possible that Dolly, my dog who inspired the Official State Dog of Georgia, will make her own endorsements.
The AJC Political Insider notes that a Democrat is raising substantial funds to take on Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Extreme Northwest Georgia).
Democrat Marcus Flowers is giving Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene a run for her money in the scramble for campaign cash.
The U.S. Army combat veteran said Tuesday he’ll report raising more than $1.3 million in the three-month span between July and September. He’ll end the quarter with more than $1 million in cash on hand and a donor list that boasts more than 162,000 contributions from at least 110,000 unique donors in all 50 U.S. states.
Greene, a freshman Republican, is at once a pariah for her dangerous and hateful comments, including comparing House members’ mask requirements in the Capitol to Jews’ oppression during the Holocaust. But she’s also a fundraising powerhouse who benefits from her fire-breathing style. She’s amassed more than $4.7 million overall and reported roughly $2.8 million in the bank in July.
Flowers might be the best-situated of a handful of Democrats to unseat Greene. Not only has he stocked his warchest, he’s recently added endorsements from former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland and ex-Ambassador Andrew Young, along with support from VoteVets and other national groups.
Being the “best situated Democrat to unseat Greene” doesn’t amount to a bottle of warm spit in a district that went 74.7% for MTG and 73% for Donald Trump in 2020.
Two State Senators from Savannah are supporting a proposal to place a statute of United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on the state Capitol grounds, according to the Savannah Morning News.
State Sen. Ben Watson (R-District 1) wants to see a statue of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas be erected on the grounds of the state Capitol in Atlanta. Sen. Lester Jackson (D-District 2) said he is not opposed to the idea.
“Clarence Thomas is a native son,” Watson said, “initially was born in Pin Point, and was raised in town [Savannah], was a big, big user of that Carnegie [Library]. … was a product of Catholic school growing up and eventually ended up at Yale Law School.”
Watson said he was approached by Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, GA, with a proposal to co-sign a bill to be introduced during the General Assembly’s session beginning in January 2022.
“Being the senator from Savannah who represents Pin Point, I think it’s appropriate for me to be signing on to the bill that Sen. Anavitarte will be proposing,” Watson added.
“Justice Clarence Thomas has a remarkable record of achievement,” Jackson said. His rise from an impoverished young man from Pin Point “to be a justice of the Supreme Court is nothing less than remarkable, if not improbable.”
“I’m not opposed to a statue being erected in his honor,” he added.
Georgia State House legislators heard about the proposed City of Buckhead, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Rome News Tribune.
A proposed city of Buckhead would carve about 25 square miles – or about 18% of the city of Atlanta’s land area – as well include about 20% of the city’s population. It would also cost the city of Atlanta more than $250 million in property, sales and lodging taxes, as well as business license revenues.
Those figures come from a KB Advisory Group analysis, and a joint House Study Committee on Annexation and Cityhood and the Governmental Affairs Committee heard testimony from several officials about how a city of Buckhead would impact Atlanta and the state.
“There is a lot of interest in cityhood,” said state Rep. Darlene Taylor, R-Thomasville, who noted Monday’s meeting wasn’t designed to debate the merits of any cityhood bill, but the overall process of creating new cities. Monday’s meeting was the fourth of five proposed meetings on cityhood creation in Georgia.
But Tom Gehl, director of government relations for the Georgia Municipal Association, warned lawmakers of the hazards involved in creating new cities from existing ones.
“The GMA is opposed to carving out new cities from existing cities,” he said. “If you don’t account for the debt that’s being incurred, you’re jeopardizing the municipal frameworks of cities around the state when they go to the bond market. That’s a frightening prospect.”
Remember when the bond rating agencies cratered the plan to split Stockbridge into two municipalities? Wait for it to happen again if the cityhood proposal gets very far.
Tybee Island City Council candidates met in a forum, according to WSAV.
Short-term vacation rentals were a hot topic as well as public safety and quality of living. Over 200 questions were submitted by the public to the city council candidates.
There are three open seats for city council ahead of November’s election.
City Council candidates are listed below:
Monty Parks (Incumbent)
Michael Hosti (incumbent)
Brian West
Mack Kitchens
Marie Rodriguez
Elaine McGruderOn October 31st a meet and greet for all the candidates will take place from 2 to 5 pm at the Memorial Park Pavilion.
The Tybee Island city council seats are elected in sort of a “jungle” style general election. For the three seats elected in November, all candidates will appear on the ballot and the top three will be the winners.
United States Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock (both D-Atlanta) scored $22 million in federal COVID relief for Georgia healthcare from the American Rescue Plan, according to WTVM.
Senator Ossoff wants the USPS to issue a stamp honoring the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Albany Herald.
Ossoff is urging the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend approval of a stamp highlighting the Atlanta Democrat’s legacy as a leader and champion for civil and human rights.
“Congressman Lewis was an American hero, civil rights icon, and revered citizen of Georgia, fully deserving of this honor,” Ossoff wrote in a letter late last month. “His courage serves as an extraordinary example of civic leadership and continues to inspire young Americans to serve their communities and build a better world.”
Other legislation by Sen. Ossoff aims to protect election workers, according to The Clayton Crescent.
U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff has introduced a bill to protect election workers from threats, harassment, and violence.
The Election Worker and Polling Place Protection Act would extend that protection to election workers’ families and property, including volunteer elections workers and people who manage election machines and supplies, as well as to polling places and tabulation centers like “The Bunker.”
The bill comes after widespread harassment and threats against election workers during and since the 2020 Presidential election. Some of the most egregious incidents were in Georgia, including death threats against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his family, multiple bomb threats against Fulton County polling places, and a viral video that falsely claimed an Atlanta election worker Lawrence Sloan had destroyed a ballot. The election worker went into hiding to escape the harassment.
A member of Raffensperger’s staff, Gabriel Sterling, made national headlines after insisting that the madness had to stop: “Someone’s going to get hurt, someone’s going to get shot, someone’s going to get killed,” as GPB’s Stephen Fowler reported:
Love him or hate him, he’s legislating his Oss off.
Stonecrest City Council voted to censure Mayor Jason Lary, according to the AJC.
The Stonecrest City Council censured Mayor Jason Lary over a rant that took place during a public meeting last week, where he threatened to show everyone his “hairy behind” the next time he feels disrespected.
During a special-called meeting Monday, the council voted 4-1 to censure the mayor for his conduct and asked the acting city manager to draft a decorum policy for public officials.
Lary has been fairly quiet since he returned in August from a prolonged medical leave amid a series of financial investigations and scandals. A recent charter change reduced his position’s power, including stripping the mayor of voting privileges except to break ties. The mayor pro tem also presides over meetings instead of the mayor.
“I appreciate the work that you all are doing, but I’m going to ask city staff and other folks that come on this call, if you don’t know protocol, you better learn it with me,” Lary said. “You don’t recognize mayor pro tem and council and just leave me standing like I’m not at the meeting. I will show you my hairy behind the next time it happens. And that’s the only warning I’m going to give with this.”
Athens-Clarke County Commissioners gave their COVID vaccination program a booster shot, according to the Athens Banner Herald.
Athens-Clarke County has approved the second round of funding for the COVID-19 vaccine incentive program.
After initially funding the program in August with $250,000, commissioners voted to allocate an additional $100,000 for the gift card program. This program would give $100 gift cards per dose to newly vaccinated individuals who live, work, or attend school in Athens-Clarke County.
The request for $100,000 would be split between $50,000 on the first dose and $50,000 for the second dose, as two of the three available COVID-19 vaccines require two doses for full vaccination. The funds come from the American Rescue Plan, which allocated nearly $60 million to Athens.
Statesboro will host three public meetings on how to spend $12.3 million dollars in federal America Rescue Plan funds, according to the Statesboro Herald.
In fact, the city has already received the first $6.15 million with the remaining portion due to be received in July 2022. City officials have proposed a preliminary plan for the use of all $12.3 million but are seeking public input and comment before any funding plan receives final approval from the mayor and council.
At each of the three public meetings, city staff members will give a short presentation outlining the plan. The preliminary plan for the first $6.15 million currently includes proposals to spend $2.5 million for housing rehabilitation, specifically for the Johnson Street neighborhood as well as scattered sites; $3 million for new sewer lines; $500,000 for “food insecurities” and $153,110 for loss of revenues during the pandemic or for incentive programs. The $500,000 “food insecurities” funding is proposed to match a $500,000 Bulloch County government contribution toward providing a new home for the Statesboro Food Bank.
Most of the suggested uses for the second $6.15 million are similar.
Harris County schools will host a COVID-19 vaccine clinic, according to WTVM.
The clinic is also open to district employees, school nutrition program staff, substitutes and community coaches and spouses of these individuals.
The first dose of the Pfizer vaccine will be given this Thursday from 10 a.m. until noon at the Harris County High School auditorium. The second dose will be given on October 28 at the same location from 10 a.m. until noon.
Powder Springs will pay employees $500 for getting fully vaccinated, according to the AJC.
Powder Springs will pay employees $500 to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19, drawing on federal relief dollars to make the payments.
City Council narrowly approved the payments Monday night by a vote of 3-2, with two council members objecting to the idea of paying workers to take the vaccine. With one council member absent, Mayor Al Thurman cast the decisive vote after the four present deadlocked on the issue.
City employees that submit proof that they’ve been fully vaccinated by Dec. 15 will be eligible for the $500 payment.
“The city finds it in the interest of public health, safety and welfare and a safe work environment to incentivize employees to become fully vaccinated,” the resolution stated.
Cobb County commissioners last month approved a resolution to offer fully vaccinated county employees up to 80 hours in additional paid administrative leave for COVID-related issues.
Seriously, I wonder if anyone is holding out till they can get paid for getting a vaccine shot.
Gulfstream Aerospace debuted two new business jet models, according to WSAV.
Gulfstream Aerospace, one of our area’s largest private employers, unveiled two new state of the art aircrafts to add to their fleet, the G400 and the G800.
“The local jobs in Savannah that will be created by these airplanes is going to be in the thousands. We’ve hired about 3,000 people as I said so far this year. I think we have 2,000 jobs that are open right now, and as manufacturing continues to grow for the G700 and these two new airplanes, we’ll see job growth in Savannah,” said Mark Burns, President of Gulfstream.
Powered by high thrust Rolls Royce engines, the G800 will serve as their fastest and longest range aircraft yet. With a flight range of over 9,200 miles and the ability to fly at 9/10th’s the speed of sound.
“You think about it, we have the largest manufacturer in the state of Georgia that is going all-in on two new products. The fact that they have five new products that they’ve announced over the last 5-6 years in Savannah means that they are married to this community,” said Trip Tollison, President of Savannah’s Economic Development Authority.
“We’ve been focused on climate change and making sure that we’re good stewards. All of these planes are more efficient, in fact, the G400 will be about 40% more efficient than its predecessor. So, we’re really leaning into this moment, we think it helps aviation to be at the forefront of reducing carbon emissions,” explained Burns.
Macon-Bibb County may consider a new amphitheater next to the Macon Mall, according to 13WMAZ.
Mayor Lester Miller says he already has a vision of his own about what he hopes the amphitheater will be.
“It’s going to be something new and unique. We have to have a great diverse crowd there, as well as business there. I think in today’s age, the mall settings themselves, when you have nothing but 100% retail, it’s something… a thing of the past,” Miller said.
He’s thinking big. An amphitheater that can fit 10,000 people with lawn seating, 2,000-3,000 covered seats, some skyboxes, and VIP sections.
As for outside the amphitheater, Miller says he pictures something like the Battery outside Truist Park in Atlanta with food, beverage and retail.
“We may call it ‘Mac Town’ right outside the amphitheater,” Miller said.
Then, next door, Miller wants to give the Macon Mall a facelift bringing in more than just retail.
“We’re going to have entertainment, pickleball, film there, and of course, sports and entertainment on the other end…as well as a very elaborate food court,” he said.
Picture something sort of like Ponce City Market in Atlanta with a mix of restaurants, entertainment and retail.
Hizzoner dreams bigly. Wouldn’t it be less expensive for him to just move to Atlanta?
Deer hunting with primitive weapons sesason opens Saturday, according to the Albany Herald.
Deer hunters will take to the woods when the weeklong primitive weapons deer hunting season opens Saturday. Last year, 27,000 hunters bearing muzzleloaders brought in nearly 7,000 deer, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division.
“Whether you hunt it with a flintlock, inline muzzleloader, crossbow, or long bow, the primitive weapons season is a great way to get a jump on deer season,” Charlie Killmaster, state deer biologist with the WRD Game Management Section, said. “White oaks will be dropping, and mid-October is a great time to be in the woods. Youth hunters get a special opportunity during primitive weapons season, as they can use centerfire rifles during the entire week.”
When is “hunting with clubs and stone knives” season? Also, the irony of a Wildlife Resources Division deer biologist named “Killmaster.”
Comments ( 0 )