Rosewood was picked up as a stray, fostered for a while, then brought to the Humane Society to find a permanent home. This is a beautiful girl with unique coloring in browns and tans. She also has big floppy ears that set off her pretty face. Rosewood is spayed, microchipped, current on core vaccines and has tested negative for heartworms. Come and meet Rosewood today. She is waiting for just the right family. Is that you?
Calliope is a big baby of 7 months. She was surrendered because her family could not give her the attention she deserves. With retrievers being such a popular breed, we expect her stay with us will be fairly short. This breed is so smart and loving! If you have never had a lab or lab mix, you should definitely do the research so you can see how awesome they are. Calliope is spayed, microchipped, current on core vaccines and has tested negative for heartworms. Let her add a little music to your life.
Nalley was found close by a car dealership. Can you guess which one? He is only about 6 months of age, playful and friendly to everyone he has met here. Nalley is neutered, microchipped, started on core vaccines and has tested negative for heartworms. Come and meet this precious pup and see if he is the right match for you. He is just under 36 pounds, so he is a good fit for almost any size home or family.
Lee’s resolution declared: “That these United Colonies are, and of right out to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; that measures should be immediately taken for procuring the assistance of foreign powers, and a Confederation be formed to bind the colonies more closely together.”
On June 8, 2004, Georgia hosted the G-8 summit meeting of the world’s major industrial democracies, which included representatives from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom, plus a representative from the European Union. The 30th meeting of the G-8 was held at Sea Island at the Cloister.
June 7, 2016 was declared “Prince Day” in Minnesota under a proclamation issued by Governor Mark Dayton. Prince was born on this day in 1958. Governor Dayton missed his chance to begin a proclamation with “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together today….” The next year, Dayton proclaimed Prince Day on April 21, 2017.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
President Donald Trump signed legislation to provide disaster relief to Georgia, according to WSB-TV.
President Donald Trump has signed a $19.1 billion disaster aid bill aimed at helping communities across the country bounce back from hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and fires.
The move comes as a sigh of relief from Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black.
“We’re glad that this is finally done,” Black told Channel 2 investigative reporter Aaron Diamant. “We’re not knocked out, but we’re certainly knocked down, and our farm families are rising again.”
“This is a good day for Georgia. It’s a good day for America, and we’re doing the right thing standing with the farm families of the state,” Black said.
The $19 billion deal sets aside $3 billion for farmers. But so far, no word how much of that Georgia will see. We also don’t know the specific mechanisms the feds will put in place to get it here.
“I just want to encourage as we move into the funds being appropriated for the federal government and the powers that be to have as much flexibility as possible,” [Governor Brian] Kemp said.
It will still take weeks, if not months, for any federal money to end up in Georgians’ pockets. Funding must first flow through federal agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency, many of which must create new formulas and regulations to divvy up the money.
“I want to encourage (agencies) – as we move in to the funds being appropriated – to give us as much flexibility as possible,” said Gov. Brian Kemp. “We want a fast process to put this money forward and help our farmers.”
The new law carves out more than $3 billion for farmers hit by Hurricane Michael and other natural disaster, as well as new money for local blueberry growers whose crops were destroyed by a deep freeze in 2017 and the victims of recent tornadoes in west Georgia and Alabama.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, a former Georgia governor, will be in charge of parceling out billions. He said his departments looks “forward to implementing this disaster aid package in a fair way and working with state leadership to identify where the true losses and needs are to best serve our fellow Americans in need of a helping hand.”
“Finally, Americans who were ravaged by historic floods, wildfires, and hurricanes across 12 states have certainty for the immediate future,” said Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, a potential candidate for the Democratic nomination for President, spoke in Atlanta yesterday, according to the Athens Banner Herald.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden reversed course Thursday and declared that he no longer supports a long-standing congressional ban on using federal health care money to pay for abortions.
“If I believe health care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment” that makes it more difficult for some women to access care, Biden said at a Democratic Party fundraiser in Atlanta.
The former vice president, who launched his 2020 presidential campaign in April, said he arrived at the decision as part of developing an upcoming comprehensive health care proposal. He has declared his support for a Medicare-like public option as the next step toward universal coverage. He reasoned that his goal of universal coverage means women must have full and fair access to care, including abortion.
Other Democratic Presidential candidates also visited Atlanta yesterday, according to the AJC.
Four leading presidential candidates converged on Atlanta on Thursday to court voters, meet with activists and raise a boatload of campaign cash.
And while they all had different priorities and target audiences during their visits, they each carried the same message: Georgia will be no afterthought in the 2020 election. It’s a sure-fire battleground state.
“What we need to do is get people out to vote,” said [Cory] Booker, a New Jersey U.S. senator. “This is a blue state. What that means is we need to go back to organizing and build a 50-state party.”
Two of the candidates, Booker and [Pete] Buttigieg, tried to impress a crowd of veteran strategists at the African-American Leadership Council Summit in downtown Atlanta. Biden and [Beto] O’Rourke headlined a glitzy fundraiser for the national party in Buckhead.
Booker, who refers to himself as a “junk-food vegan,” appeared at a barbecue and tofu fundraiser. Buttigieg held court with a small group of donors at Manuel’s Tavern, a must-visit for generations of Democratic candidates.
Georgia State House Speaker David Ralston fired back at opponents over allegations of misuse of legislative leave, according to the Daily Report.
Ralston’s attorney James Balli—a member of the state Judicial Qualifications Commission—claims in a June 3 response to the complaints that “a small, disingenuous cabal” is attempting to exploit two women who filed the complaints and use bar disciplinary rules as a “procedural weapon” when “they really only care about attempting to cause political harm” to Ralston.
“This group does not care about either woman and are only seeking to further their self-interested goals and obtain media attention,” Balli said. The bar “should not allow such political nonsense to sully its disciplinary procedure.”
According to Balli, both bar complaints claim the Georgia General Assembly’s legislative leave policy were the sole reason the prosecutions of Ralston’s clients were delayed—claims that Balli argued are false.
Balli said Ralston “never improperly used legislative leave.”
But the lawyer said Ralston does “properly exercise legislative leave” when performing duties as House speaker that include attending meetings, fundraisers, political dinners, tours of state or local facilities or other events that, “but for the fact he is Speaker of the House, he would not attend.”
Balli also said that, while the bar complaints speculate that Ralston had no valid reason to invoke legislative leave in their cases, legislative leave is by law “solely within the discretion” of a state legislator. “Even if a non-lawyer disagrees with that purpose or wildly speculates about the reason, his basis for doing so is not subject to review by any court or the State Bar,” Balli contended.
The state is terminating Medicaid assistance for about 17,000 poor elderly or disabled Georgians, it says, as lawyers for some of them call the move a giant mistake.
The state Department of Community Health said the 17,000 had simply not responded to renewal notices informing them how to continue their coverage. Patients interviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution say they never received renewal notices, and their lawyers say their clients’ Georgia Gateway computer accounts show that no such notices were ever sent.
Instead, they say, if they received any notice at all it was a cancellation notice.
Lawyers from Georgia Legal Services, a nonprofit organization that is working for some of the affected patients, have written to the state Department of Community Health to get the move reversed and ask for concrete information about how and why the notices were sent and how many people are affected.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the first testing of oxygen levels in the Savannah River in connection to the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
Required testing of a system to mitigate oxygen loss from the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) is complete, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Wednesday.
Before SHEP dredging on the 22-mile stretch of the inner harbor can begin, the dissolved oxygen (DO) system must be shown to work as expected. The inner harbor deepening starts from near Jones Island to the Garden City port. Jones Island is between Fort Pulaski and Tybee Island.
With a deeper harbor, more salt water will enter the river and estuary, decreasing oxygen levels needed by fish and the whole ecosystem.
Preliminary assessments of the (DO) testing data are positive, Corps officials said.
“We’ve completed the testing and data-collecting phase and we are still making progress in the analysis of the data and plan to release a final report in August,” Bryan Robinson, an engineer with the Corps who oversaw the tests, said. “Our general impression right now is that the tests indicate the system is performing better than expected in the three primary aspects of the tests.”
Film Director Spike Lee, who was born in Atlanta and graduated from Morehouse College, is calling on Hollywood to pull out of Georgia, according to AccessWDUN.
Lee said now is the time for Georgia-based productions to “shut it down” and boycott the state’s booming film industry to drive change.
Lee acknowledged that a mass exodus could dent livelihoods, but cited black bus drivers affected by the Civil Rights Movement-era boycott in Montgomery.
Floyd County Superior Court Judge Kay Ann Wetherington has started a new Parental Accountability Court, according to the Rome News Tribune.
It’s a voluntary alternate sentencing option for noncustodial parents who are behind in their child support payments and face sanctions including incarceration.
“We have a lot of people in that category. It doesn’t make sense to suspend their drivers license or put them in jail. It sets them back,” said coordinator Jessica Ferguson, who’s assigned to Wetherington from the Georgia Department of Human Services.
Ferguson said the court program runs a minimum of 12 months. The first move is to send them for a mental health assessment, and the child or children must be legitimized. Ferguson can point them in the right direction for legal documentation.
However, her main focus is to determine why the person isn’t making child support payments and address that. Participants can get help with mental health, substance abuse, housing, employment, clothing, education — if they’re willing to commit.
Ferguson said she expects to start with about 15 to 20 participants because it’s an intensive course. There are monthly check-ins with the judge but she’ll be monitoring their progress on all assignments.
Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office K9 Officer Eddy and his human partner passed their national certification from the U.S. Police Canine Association, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.
Ángel Cabrera, currently President of George Mason University in Virginia, is the sole finalist to become the new President of Georgia Tech, according to WABE.
Floyd County Schools will be receiving an estimated $66.3 million for its 9,324 students bar any austerity cuts, Chief Financial Officer Greg Studdard said. These numbers come from the quality basic education earnings sheet, which is what the state of Georgia uses to determine how much funds systems receive.
The total revenues from state, local and other local sources is projected to be $102.7 million, which will be an increase of around $2 million from FY ’19.
Within this $66.3 million is the $1.4 million the system is receiving for certified personnel. The system will be covering a 2% classified personnel raise which will cost around $1.6 million. Instruction is the largest expense Studdard said, with it being 65% of the systems expenditures. The total estimated expenses for the school system in the FY ’20 budget is $103.5 million.
With the systems expenses rising $5.3 million from last year, the board and school administration had to look for cuts when developing the FY’ 20 budget. The closing of McHenry Primary, ending the free lunch program and not filling 22 empty positions all contributed to cutting the systems expenses for FY’ 20. In total, the system was able to cut $4.5 million of the $5.3 million expense increase.
The Georgia Department of Transportation unveiled plans for a new interchange at I-16 and I-95 west of Savannah, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Former Muscogee County Deputy Marshall Alicia Narsis Davenport is considering running for Marshall, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
“Right now I am pondering how well my service can best be utilized for Columbus citizens. I’ve received several calls from local lawyers and citizens to run for marshal,” she wrote in an email Wednesday, when asked about her plans since the city settled her lawsuit.
She filed the federal lawsuit against Muscogee County Marshal Greg Countryman and the Columbus Consolidated Government on Nov. 3, 2014, but then had to put her claim on hold to await the outcome of criminal proceedings, after the city pressed charges against her for violating her oath of office.
The police and marshal have different duties. Columbus police primarily are responsible for daily law enforcement and criminal investigations. The marshal’s office primarily is charged with executing the functions of Muscogee Municipal Court, which handles small claims, wage garnishments and evictions.
The Glynn County Commission has entered into an agreement with a private company to regulate and enforce short term rentals, according to The Brunswick.
hort-term rentals have a relatively short and spotted history in Glynn County. Most don’t present much of an issue for their neighbors, but some create significant hardship, county commissioner Peter Murphy said at the commission’s Thursday meeting, using the notorious Burton house, or Villa de Suenos, as an example.
To address the issue, county commissioners have been mulling over a contract with Host Compliance — a California-based consultant specializing in helping local governments regulate short-term rentals — for nearly a year now.
[T]he commission voted to enter into the first phase of an agreement with Host Compliance, a $5,000 ordinance-writing consultation. In the first phase, the company will help the commission regulate short-term rentals.
In the second phase, the county would contract with Host Compliance for a number of services to help the county track rentals and enforce the new rules.
The annual service fees come out to around $91,795 while company charges a one-time $5,000 fee for ordinance-writing consultation.
Mayor Kelly Girtz amended his budget to include a $4 million “prosperity package” at the request of other commissioners, in addition to other measures already built into the budget meant to benefit people with little money. The budget funds a new Inclusion Office and free bus rides for seniors, people with disabilities and county employees. University of Georgia students and workers can already ride for free.
There’s also $100,100 to expand the police department’s Mental Health Co-Responder Unit, money to allow more police officers to take their vehicles home, more money for the Board of Elections and a new housing coordinator job “to support increased creation of affordable housing throughout Athens.”
The second-largest item in a list of projects that could be funded with an extension of the 1 percent Special Local Option Sales Tax is a $44.5 million affordable housing initiative. According to initial plans, the money would be directed mainly at rental housing. The initiative is part of a $278 million list of projects that voters will say yes or no to in a November referendum.
The commission didn’t raise taxes for the 2020 fiscal year, but taxes will go up. The county’s tax digest, an inventory of all taxable property, grew by around 10 percent this year, mainly because of steeply rising property values. The government’s financial planners expect to collect about $65.2 million in property taxes this year, up $5.3 million from a year ago. Property tax is the single largest source for the $140.2 million capital and operating budget.
Fun loving Chase is patiently waiting and dreaming of his forever home. This sweet boy if you can believe it was brought in as a stray. We don’t understand how this amazing boy doesn’t have his forever home where he can be spoiled endlessly. Being that Chase was a stray when he came to us we don’t know his history. But what we can tell you is that he is super sweet and loves attention. Chase is still young so can easily adjust to a home and we feel would make a great addition to any home.
Do you need a lovable bear in your life? Well we have the perfect bear for you. Meet Fozzy Bear. Believe it or not this handsome pup came to us as a stray. Fozzy Bear is as lovable and playful as they come. He adores back scratches, walks well on a leash and loves basking in the sun. Fozzy Bear is needing a dog savvy owner that will give him the time and patience to teach him all he needs to know to grow into a well mannered adult dog. We feel that Fozzy Bear would make a great addition to any family. Come meet Fozzy Bear today.
On the morning of June 5, 1944, U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe gave the go-ahead for Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious military operation in history. On his orders, 6,000 landing craft, ships and other vessels carrying 176,000 troops began to leave England for the trip to France. That night, 822 aircraft filled with parachutists headed for drop zones in Normandy. An additional 13,000 aircraft were mobilized to provide air cover and support for the invasion.
By dawn on June 6, 18,000 parachutists were already on the ground; the land invasions began at 6:30 a.m. The British and Canadians overcame light opposition to capture Gold, Juno and Sword beaches; so did the Americans at Utah. The task was much tougher at Omaha beach, however, where 2,000 troops were lost and it was only through the tenacity and quick-wittedness of troops on the ground that the objective was achieved. By day’s end, 155,000 Allied troops–Americans, British and Canadians–had successfully stormed Normandy’s beaches.
Dover was only 18 in 1943 when he enlisted as World War II dragged on in Europe and the Pacific. He joined the paratroopers, and a year later he would be at one of the most important days in history and a tipping point in the war.
Dover, now 95, went to Europe in 1944 when his training was completed. He was part of the 101st Airborne Division and one of the thousands of American troops that landed in Normandy on that day.
“We jumped out of one plane called a C47, a cargo plane. It had one door to jump out of,” Dover said. “The plane was set up, it had a bench down each side. There (was) 12 seats for 12 men on each side.”
He was on the left side of the plane and was with the first group of 12 men to jump. The plane was supposed to go over the drop zone, group one would jump, then it would circle back and the second group would jump. However, the plane never circled back.
“It was shot down,” Dover said.
Mr. Dover later served in Korea and Vietnam as well.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Some Democrat I’ve never heard of said Stacey Abrams would be Governor of Georgia if it weren’t for racists, according to CNN.
Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton said Sunday Democrat Stacey Abrams should be governor of Georgia, and said she would be if the US “wasn’t racist.”
“We have a problem with racism in America today. If this country wasn’t racist, Stacey Abrams would be governor,” the Democratic presidential candidate said at a CNN town hall in Atlanta.
“I smoked weed when I was younger. I didn’t get caught, but if I had, I would’ve been fine. Because I’m a white guy,” he said, comparing his hypothetical situation to one involving a man in Louisiana who Moulton said was sentenced to life in prison last year for selling $20 of marijuana.
Sounds like maybe he smoked weed before going onstage.
Fellow failed Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke said Georgia isn’t a red state in Atlanta, according to the AJC.
The Democratic candidate told a few dozen voters in downtown Atlanta that last year’s gubernatorial race between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp, which was clouded by concerns of voter suppression, helped inform his voting rights agenda.
“As I watched what happened in Georgia and I saw the lines that stretched hours long, voting machines that didn’t work … and the implication that some people weren’t intended to vote,” he said, adding it was proof “you need an incredibly strong civil rights division at the Department of Justice.”
The former Texas congressman also wants to make Election Day a federal holiday, allow automatic and same-day voter registration, abolish voter ID requirements and enact legislation that establishes independent redistricting commissions.
And O’Rourke proposes a constitutional amendment that would limit the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices and members of Congress, along with new restrictions on campaign contributions from individuals and corporations.
“Texas and Georgia – they’re not red states. They’re non-voting states,” he said. “If everyone was registered … we would be voting. And at the end of the day, that’s what’s most important.”
The visit comes ahead of a busy day in Georgia politics. O’Rourke and three other presidential candidates will stump in Atlanta on Thursday at a string of events: Former Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind. and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., and ex-U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke plan to attend a parade of events across the metro area before capping the evening with a fundraiser to benefit the national Democratic Party.
No, Georgia isn’t getting the attention of early-voting states that claim a sliver of its population. But the state is no longer an afterthought in picking the next president, a convenient spot for candidates to swoop in and raise money before spending it in more competitive territory.
On the heels of the state’s tight election in 2018, White House hopefuls are visiting Georgia earlier and more often than they have in decades. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis shows that major candidates have already made more than a dozen trips to Atlanta, and lesser-known contenders have made it a point to swing by, too.
“We are now more than an ATM for presidential candidates,” said David Brand, a Democratic donor and marketing specialist in Atlanta. “They see how close Stacey Abrams ran, and they want to come and invest here.”
All this is happening without a primary date on the calendar: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has yet to select a time for the vote, though most politicos believe it will be held March 3– a budding “Super Tuesday” when California, Massachusetts, Texas and a swath of other Southern states are scheduled to hold votes.
Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson, who got a call Tuesday from HHS to let him know that Fort Benning was being considered, said officials didn’t tell him the specific sites at the base they were examining to house the children.
“Nobody has identified anything. I imagine they’ll let us know where it is and what they’re talking about,” Henderson told the Ledger-Enquirer. “But ultimately, this is an agreement between two federal agencies. Columbus just happens to be a really supportive neighbor.”
Henderson said, the city would provide support to Fort Benning, if it is selected to house migrants.
“The only thoughts I have on it right now is Columbus, as a community, has always supported Fort Benning and the soldiers,” Henderson said. “So, if Fort Benning needs anything from Columbus, we’ll do our best to try and provide it.”
Sanford Bishop, the Georgia congressman whose district includes Fort Benning, said that housing the children at Benning would be better than having them live in other overcrowded facilities.
“Senator Perdue is aware of the site visit at Fort Benning and looks forward to receiving more details from Administration officials,” the statement reads, “The Senator has seen the crisis at our southern border firsthand and continues to work with the President, and his Senate colleagues, to find commonsense solutions to fix our immigration system.”
Mac Sims, a gay Army veteran, is running as a Democrat for State House in Savannah, against incumbent Democrat J. Craig Gordon, according to Project Q.
The 23-year-old West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran got the political bug after working on Stacey Abrams’ campaign for Georgia governor in 2018.
“That was how I got my feet wet in Georgia politics and discovered that I really loved it,” Sims (photo) told Project Q Atlanta. “I loved the issues-based advocacy and figuring out what we can do to make people’s lives better in Georgia.”
Sims hopes to unseat state Rep. J. Craig Gordon in House District 163, which includes Savannah.
“I know him well, he’s a good guy, but at the end of the day I’m philosophically opposed to 14-year incumbents,” Sims said.
Effective last October, areas outside the city limits but within the five-mile district and near hydrants on the city’s water system, as well as Statesboro itself, were assigned a “2.” Statesboro’s previous rating had been a “3,” and Grams noted that a “2” is almost unheard of for fire departments this size.
However, the new rating for the entire district was a split 2/2Y,” where “2Y” represented a lower level of protection available for addresses that are not on the city’s water system and had a private water supply not certified to provide sufficient flow. As he explained in February, households with a “2Y” had the equivalent of an old-style “8B,” or roughly a “9,” rating.
Many homeowners’ annual insurance premiums in those areas actually increased, in some cases by thousands of dollars.
But after submitting a new report to the ISO in March, the Fire Department received a “flat classification,” with a slight reduction in overall score but still well within the range for class “2,” [Statesboro Fire Department Chief Tim] Grams told Statesboro City Council.
The Savannah-Chatham County Board of Education adopted a $632 million dollar budget that requires no millage rate increase, according to the Savannah Morning News.
The Savannah-Chatham County school board agreed Wednesday to tentatively adopt a $632 million budget at the existing 18.881 millage rate for the upcoming fiscal year.
The expected 2019 tax levy, which was posted Wednesday as required by law, indicates the tax digest will provide Savannah-Chatham County schools with $267 million in 2019, up $13.56 million or 5% from the amount provided in 2018. Tentative adoption of the millage rate was required to meet the timeline for the board’s official vote on the budget June 19, according to a board document.
The board voted unanimously to tentatively adopt budgets totaling $631.65 million for fiscal 2020. They include a general fund budget of $445.6 million, a general obligation debt budget of $5.45 million, a special revenue fund budget of $69.26 million, an “other funds” budget of $15.47 million and a capital projects funds budget for $95.92 million, chief financial officer Larry Jackson said.
Besides the $3,000 raise for teachers and a 2% classified personnel pay raise, most of which the state is providing for, the proposed budget includes $3.7 million in a mid-year step increase for teachers.
The Brunswick Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission is considering projects for inclusion in a 2020 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), according to The Brunswick News.
The Georgia Department of Transportation is considering two routes for a truck bypass around downtown Valdosta, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.
Paul Tanner, GDOT state transportation planning administrator, said an analysis has been completed for creating two potential routes with variations on each for a truck bypass in Valdosta from U.S. 84 and State Route 38 around downtown. Included in the bypass project is a railroad crossing overpass on St. Augustine Road south of U.S. 84.
The overpass is not contingent on the truck bypass project, but would be a piece of the overall bypass. The $19 million project would be funded by the transportation special purpose local option sales tax, better known as TSPLOST, and is proposed for construction for Fiscal Year 2028, according to a GDOT release.
The analysis of the truck bypass shows about four possible options with the cost of each ranging between $55 million and $103 million.
Tanner said the next step of the process is getting the public involved deciding to choose the route, which will go to the Valdosta-Lowndes Metropolitan Planning Organization, a federally designated transportation planning organization for the Valdosta urbanized area.
Jerry Bridges Sr., 76, faces two counts of misappropriation of funds and 22 counts of theft by conversion, said Jones County sheriff’s Lt. Kenny Gleaton. Bridges is accused of pocketing at least $100,000 from funeral home clients with pre-need accounts.
Bridges is free on a $100,000 property bond pending trial. Bridges could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Bridges is accused of misappropriating funds from pre-need funeral accounts from his business, Bridges Funeral Home, that closed in 2018, Gleaton said.
Both NBC and CNN report the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency responsible for housing immigrant children under the age of 18 who cross the border unaccompanied, is operating near capacity with facilities overwhelmed and crowded.
Department of Defense spokesman Major Chris Mitchell told NBC that no decision has been made but HHS would soon be touring Fort Benning with defense officials.
“Health and Human Services will conduct a site assessment of DOD property for potential future use by HHS as temporary emergency influx shelter for unaccompanied alien children (UAC) at Fort Benning, Georgia,” Mitchell said to NBC.
“DOD officials will join the HHS staff as they tour the property available for potential future use. HHS will make the determination if the site will be used for UAC operations. This effort will have no impact on DOD’s ability to conduct its primary missions nor on military readiness,” he told NBC.
According to the non-profit Mental Health America of Georgia, the state ranks 47 out of 50 for access to mental health care, resources and insurance.
In Georgia, one in five people with a serious mental illness has a better chance of ending up in a prison than getting adequate treatment at a mental health facility, according to officials.
“In Baldwin County, a small county, we spend out of the general funds of the county, $150,000 to $200,000 a year just on psychotropic drugs for those who are mentally ill,” [Baldwin County Commissioner Henry] Craig said. “The cost of housing those persons who are mentally ill in the county is very expensive, and in Baldwin County alone, 60 to 65 percent of all of our prisoners in the jail are mentally ill. We must do something different. … The largest mental institution right now in the country is the Los Angeles County Jail, the second largest mental institution right now is the Dade County Jail in Miami. And in Baldwin County, the largest mental institution is the county jail.”
In Thomasville, the Thomas County Sheriff’s Office spends hundreds of man-hours transporting mentally ill people to out-of-town mental-health facilities. To date this year, the sheriff’s office has transported 267 people, driving 8,515 miles requiring more than 53 hours. Last year, transports totaled 986, with 83,884 miles driven in more than 849 hours.
“Ten percent of our jail population is diagnosed mental patients,” said Capt. Steven Jones, Thomas County Sheriff’s Office public information officer.
Southwestern State Hospital, a former Thomasville state mental hospital, closed in 2012 and 2013. The Thomas County Jail immediately saw a dramatic increase in mentally ill inmates, Jones said.
The Georgia Supreme Court will review a lower court decision on racial makeup of juries in Columbus, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
It’s the issue of how Muscogee County compiles its jury pools — which are lists of potential jurors for court cases.
The issue of fairness and racial makeup of juries has recently been brought to the U.S. Supreme Court, but in 2012 Georgia made a rule to help ensure all jury pools are representative of each county’s overall population and demographics.
In 2017, the state Supreme Court ruled that the way a Canadian vendor called Courthouse Technologies compiled lists of potential jurors for Fulton County violated that rule.
But Muscogee County still uses that vendor.
Judge Gil McBride, chief judge of the six-county Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit, twice this year held hearings on Muscogee County’s jury-selection issue. After the hearings, on April 10, McBride ruled against the defense, deciding any alterations Courthouse Technologies made to the jury list before Haynie and Phillips were indicted in 2016 were not significant enough to quash the indictment.
State Sen. Renee Unterman is set to join the race for Georgia’s 7th District on Thursday, intensifying a polarizing race for one of the nation’s most competitive U.S. House seats and sharpening a debate over abortion rights.
The Republican will announce her candidacy at a rally Thursday in her hometown of Buford, in an attempt to contrast with lesser-known rivals who entered the race with splashy TV ads and polished websites but no public events.
Unterman’s entry into the race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall will shift the focus of the campaign squarely toward the anti-abortion “heartbeat” measure that’s divided Georgia politics.
Georgia will receive a $269,000 dollar grant from the federal EPA to develop beach monitoring and notification programs, according to the Albany Herald.
“Ensuring Americans have clean water for drinking and recreation is a national priority, and EPA is doing its part to make sure our coastal and Great Lakes waters are clean and healthy for beachgoers this summer,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a news release.
“These grants will increase public information about water quality at our beaches and help our state and local partners conduct testing and address potential sources of contamination.”
“We want people to feel confident that their beach is healthy and clean,” Jill Andrews, chief of Coastal Management with Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources Coastal Resources Division, said. “We test our beaches weekly and notify the public immediately of swimming advisories. Results are posted online and at beach access points. Fortunately for Georgia beachgoers, swim advisories are not the norm.”
The Georgia Department of Transportation will host a public meeting in Garden City to discuss planned transportation improvements, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Harrison Floyd dropped out of the race for the Seventh Congressional District and urged State Rep. Todd Jones (R-Forsyth) to run, according to the AJC.
A lot. Jesus was a very caring man regardless of people’s backgrounds, regardless of people’s affiliations, and I believe that’s the message He wants to teach everyone in the world. Just to be kind to everyone. To help everyone. In today’s modernized world, I believe if you have the ability and skill to help someone, do it.
Do you believe that’s the role of a public official? Someone who helps others?
That’s correct. But more than help others. It’s help the community be better. There are a lot of different personalities, a lot of needs and wants in the community, but as a public official you should do what’s best for everyone.
Why did you decide to run for commission?
I had been active in the community behind the scenes for a few years; working with nonprofits, helping other people campaign. When you talk to people you start collecting a dialogue. You start hearing the needs and wants of people. I just felt that I would be able to do a better job in executing those (ideas) the people in the community had.
One of the biggest problems I know we have on the eastside is ambulance service. A lot of the elected officials didn’t talk much about the ambulance service. … A lot of retirees live in that district. I want to be a voice for those individuals, making sure we’re at least addressing some of those issues like ambulance service.
A Whitfield County grand jury declined to indict Grant last week for felony theft by taking for providing a county-owned, encrypted radio to a Dalton wrecker service.
Grant, who had been placed on paid administrative leave on April 30 after District Attorney Bert Poston said he would present evidence from a Georgia Bureau of Investigation report to the grand jury, will return to duty on Wednesday. His two-year contract with the city runs through December, and Dickson said Grant will retire after he completes the contract.
Grant declined to answer questions from a reporter after the council members met in executive session for 20 minutes and emerged to vote 5-0 to reinstate him.
Cave Spring City Council will begin the process of adopting a new comprehensive alcohol ordinance at their meeting next week, according to the Rome News Tribune.
The Battle of Midway began on June 4, 1942. During the battle, four Japanese aircraft carriers that had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor and one cruiser were sunk at the cost of one American carrier and one destroyer.
State Sen. Renee Unterman is expected to announce Thursday her campaign for the Republican nomination in Georgia’s 7th District, a demographically changing seat outside Atlanta that had the closest margin of any House race in the country last year.
Democrats are hoping they can put Georgia in play at the presidential level, seriously contest the Senate race and finally flip the 7th District, which they came within 433 votes of winning last fall. Republicans are trying to win back the neighboring 6th District, which they spent millions of dollars defending in a high-profile special election in 2017, only to narrowly lose it a year later.
lthough she threatened to switch parties earlier this year after losing a committee chairmanship in the state Senate, Unterman’s entrance into the GOP contest could push her to the front of the pack given that she already has a constituency in the Legislature. Her sponsorship of the law that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected will likely endear her to GOP primary voters.
Deloitte Consulting has been chosen to develop Georgia’s federal healthcare waiver applications, according to a press release.
Governor Brian P. Kemp and the Department of Community Health (DCH) announced Deloitte will work with state officials to develop federal healthcare waivers for Georgia’s Medicaid program and private health insurance marketplace based on the Patients First Act.
“As Governor, I am committed to tackling the healthcare challenges facing our state. Georgians need better options – reduced costs, enhanced access, and improved quality of care – as soon as possible,” said Governor Kemp. “Through the Patients First Act, we are now one step closer to reaching these objectives in every corner of Georgia. Deloitte offers unmatched experience in developing innovative solutions for complex healthcare issues. Working with our federal counterparts, the Department of Community Health, and Deloitte’s team, I look forward to crafting a Georgia-centric healthcare system that puts patients first.”
“The Department is eager to roll up our sleeves and get to work, and we are excited to utilize Deloitte’s experience and results in this arena to support our team and stakeholders in the coming months,” said Frank W. Berry, DCH Commissioner. “The Patients First Act is about affordable, accessible, high-quality health care for Georgians across our state. Today’s important announcement – and the work that has gone into making it happen – has laid a strong foundation upon which to build options for Governor Kemp to consider.”
In the Amended FY 2019 Budget, the Legislature allocated $2.6 million in funding for healthcare waiver consulting services. At $1.92 million, Deloitte’s proposal is under budget, and state officials expect to submit the 1115 Medicaid and 1332 State Innovation Waivers to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the U.S. Department of Treasury by December 31, 2019.
Congress has passed disaster relief for Puerto Rico and for Georgia farmers affected by Hurricane Michael, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
The House of Representatives passed a multi-billion dollar disaster relief bill Monday, sending the measure to the White House for President Donald Trump’s signature. The vote was 354-58.
The President had previously said that he supports the legislation, which will bring much-needed relief to Americans affected by hurricanes, floods, wildfires and other disasters. But despite the green light from the President, a handful of House Republicans held up passage of the measure last week after the Senate passed the bill.
At the end of May, a deal was finally struck between Democrats and Republicans to pass a $19.1 billion bill without funding for the border that the President had sought. The measure passed in the Senate by a vote of 85-8, and the President later tweeted to say it had passed “with my total approval.”
But the lengthy negotiations over the bill underscore how even a priority that typically receives broad bipartisan support — aid to rebuild after natural disaster — has become subject to partisan infighting in Congress, raising questions over how lawmakers will manage to work together in upcoming spending fights that loom on the horizon.
“Today, Congress finally put hardworking Americans first by advancing the disaster relief package,” said Gov. Brian Kemp, who is planning to soon visit with South Georgia farmers who were hit by the storm in October. “I applaud President Trump for his support and the Georgia delegation for their tireless efforts. Together, we will rebuild South Georgia and keep our great state moving in the right direction.”
The partisan bickering that preceded the House vote — over a problem everyone agreed urgently needed to be fixed — portends just how difficult it will be for Congress and the administration to get anything of substance done in the lead-up to the 2020 elections. Until a few years ago, emergency assistance bills for natural disaster victims were considered essentially nonpartisan.
“I am so pleased that we could come together to help our farmers recover after Hurricane Michael,” said U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Lawrenceville. “Going forward, Congress needs to put politics aside and work together on bipartisan solutions that will help communities that need it the most.”
Congressman Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-District 1) said in a statement released late Monday that, among other disasters, the aid will assist Georgia blueberry growers who were devastated by unusually harsh weather in 2017. Georgia was expected to produce around 90 million pounds of blueberries, but was drastically reduced to 30 million because of the record-setting freeze combined with warm winter weather, he said.
In 2018, blueberry growers faced another freeze and another year of significant losses, he said. This legislation will provide the assistance needed to recover from the devastating losses due to harsh weather in both 2017 and 2018.
“I am thrilled this assistance is finally on the way,” said Carter. “For too long, real Americans, real Georgians have been suffering because Congress failed to deliver this desperately needed relief. Blueberries are a $1 billion industry for Georgia, and the backbone of many of our rural communities. The loss of this crop isn’t only devastating for the growers, but entire local economies. It has taken months of negotiations, but help will be there soon.”
The legislation includes more than $3 billion for emergency assistance for hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, freezes and other severe weather. This funding specifically includes the Georgia blueberries which were damaged by the devastating freezes in 2017 and 2018. It also includes funding for areas of Georgia hit by Hurricane Michael in October 2018.
Former President Jimmy Carter has been awarded tenure on the faculty at Emory University, according to AccessWDUN.
Carter earned the distinction after serving as University Distinguished Professor for the past 37 years, the university announced Monday.
He’ll be the first tenured faculty member at Emory to hold a Nobel Prize and the first to have served as U.S. president.
Elaine Justice, Emory’s director of media relations, said Carter lectures about once a month in subjects ranging from religion and public health to political science and history. Any Emory professor can request that Carter address their class, Justice said. He also holds yearly town hall sessions where first-year students get the opportunity to hear him speak and ask questions.
Carter joined the university as a professor in 1982, just over a year after leaving the White House. Also in 1982, Carter partnered with Emory to launch The Carter Center, a nongovernmental organization focused on global human rights issues, an affiliation that continues today.
Emory President Claire E. Sterk said of Carter: “Across nearly four decades, he has given Emory the full measure of what it means to be a public intellectual and an engaged faculty member. He has viewed teaching as a revered calling — the same humble approach he has brought to every undertaking, large and small, across a lifetime.”
Democrat Stacey Abrams will go to Hollywood to continue playing Governor of Georgia meet with film industry executives, according to the AJC.
The Democrat is scheduled to meet with Hollywood figures on June 11 in Los Angeles along with Ilyse Hogue, the president of the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, according to an invitation obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The invite, distributed by former CBS chairwoman Nina Tassler, sets up a session to address the “reality that employees in the state may not have full access to healthcare or the freedom to make decisions about their futures and their families.”
“Many of us have projects in the state. I know it’s complicated,” wrote Tassler. “There’s lots of money and jobs at stake – for us and for the people of Georgia. That’s why Ilyse Hoge and Stacey Abrams want to meet with us.”
Abrams and her allies have pushed a “#StayAndFight” movement that encourages Hollywood leaders to donate to candidates and groups challenging the law instead of boycotting the state. The industry employs more than 90,000 people in businesses that range from set design to catering.
Abrams told The Los Angeles Times that the fallout “puts us in a unique position to fight back — not only against the legislation here but the legislation around the country — and to fund the defeat of these politicians and their horrible behavior.”
Georgia’s population could be undercounted in the next census if a citizenship question is included, according to the AJC.
The possible inclusion of a citizenship question in the 2020 census, the national debate over immigration and other factors could cause an undercount of Georgia’s population by as many as 177,000 people, or nearly 2%, according to a report released Tuesday.
Georgia ranks fifth among states for the highest possible undercount in percentage terms, with blacks, Hispanics and children under 5 years of age at the biggest risk, according to the Urban Institute, a left-leaning think tank whose report was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Trump administration has argued introducing the citizenship question would help it better track demographics and enforce the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
“The American people deserve to know who is in this Country,” President Donald Trump tweeted in April.
Georgia Democrats will attempt to flip control of the State House through a new “Georgia House Majority Project,” according to the AJC.
The Georgia House Majority Project will zero in on the most vulnerable GOP incumbents by peppering their districts with digital ads, direct mail and voter outreach starting later this year, according to a press release.
The group’s finance director is Bobby Kaple, a former newscaster who ran unsuccessfully for Georgia’s 6th District last year. He said the organization has lined up a campaign team that includes veterans of President Barack Obama’s campaign.
The organization is a type of “independent expenditure group” that is legally barred from coordinating with political campaigns but can still spend money promoting candidates and attacking their rivals.
Democrats sense an opportunity to turn the tables on nearly two decades of Republican rule. The party flipped about a dozen seats in the Georgia Legislature in November, mostly in Atlanta’s northern suburbs, leaving the GOP with a 105-75 advantage in the chamber.
Democrats are now circling 15 House seats where Republicans won by less than 55 percent that includes the Acworth-based district of state Rep. Ed Setzler, the GOP sponsor of the new abortion restrictions, which outlaw the procedure as early as six weeks.
Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene has declared her candidacy for the Seventh Sixth Congressional District, according to the AJC.
The political newbie is hoping her private sector experience and message of fiscal responsibility will resonate in a primary that already includes former Congresswoman Karen Handel and a state senator.
Greene is the owner of Taylor Commercial, a commercial construction company started by her father five decades ago. She bought him out in 2002 and now renovates apartments, townhomes and commercial buildings in 11 states.
Greene said overhauling the country’s finances would be her top priority in Congress. She pledged to rein in government spending, balance the federal budget and support the Fair Tax, a proposal that would replace federal personal and corporate income taxes with a national retail sales tax.
“If we look at our country as our household, we’re going to go under foreclosure because we’re overspending. I look at it that way as a business owner and then I also look at it as a mom,” said Greene in an interview. “This is where we have to dial in, and it takes people like me to step into it to solve these problems.”
Former State Senator Michael Meyer von Bremen took the oath of office as Dougherty County Magistrate Judge, according to the Albany Herald.
Meyer von Bremen, who is leaving his position as managing partner in the Albany office of law firm Hall Booth Smith P.C., will take over his duties on the bench on June 10. He was sworn in by Dougherty County Probate Court Judge Nancy Stephenson with his wife Peggy by his side.
“I’m looking forward to following the law and treating people fairly when they come into court,” he said during an interview following the Monday morning ceremony at the Dougherty County Judicial Building.
Meyer von Bremen is replacing retired Magistrate Court Judge John F. Salter, who also served as Dougherty County State Court judge before being appointed magistrate judge in 2012. Meyer von Bremen was appointed to the position by State Court Judge John Stephenson in late April.
[T]he city has launched, Speak Up, Savannah!, an online site where residents can learn about and comment on projects.
The site, at SpeakUpSavannah.com, gives residents a voice in decisions that impact the community.
Nick Zoller, the city’s new communication director, said the site not only offers residents a place to relay their concerns, residents can also converse with project managers on specific topics.
“The relationships and information sharing that Speak Up, Savannah! encourages will help us to continue moving our community forward,” Zoller said. “Digital engagement platforms like this one truly provide a direct link between the city and those who we serve.”
Former gubernatorial candidate Michael Williams last week accepted a plea deal under the state’s First Offender Act that will see him serve four years on probation for insurance fraud and lying to investigators, after which his criminal record will be expunged and he will be exonerated as far as the state’s judicial system is concerned.
It’s hard to see that as justice being served.
Williams’ total sentence under his First Offender plea is four years of probation, a fine of $5,000, and 120 hours of community service. Somehow we don’t think that $5,000 fine will come close to offsetting the expense of law enforcement officials investigating for months a crime supposedly committed against someone who was running for governor.
Georgia’s First Offender Act was not meant for hypocrites like Michael Williams, but having reached an agreement with the district attorney and judge, he is able to take advantage of the law.
Not everyone is eligible for sentencing under the FOA. The law exempts from its application those accused of a variety of crimes, ranging from sexual offenses to elder abuse and assaulting a law enforcement officer.
We would like to see those exemptions expanded to include those who commit serious crimes while serving in public office. At the time of his false report of a crime, Williams was a member of the Georgia Senate, having served a Forsyth County district for two terms before deciding to run for governor.
Applications and nominations are being accepted to fill Barton’s unexpired term as the District 1 school board representative, which encompasses parts of southeastern Whitfield County. Per the state Constitution, a Whitfield County grand jury is required to appoint a member to the school board to serve out the remaining term for District 1, which ends Dec. 31, 2020.
The Whitfield County District Attorney’s Office is handling the application process. The application deadline is Friday, June 21, at 5 p.m. The grand jury is expected to interview applicants the week of June 24.
Serving on a school board is often a thankless job that opens members up to criticism, but it’s a vital job nonetheless. We encourage those who are civic-minded and reside in District 1 to offer themselves for public service.
The Muscogee County Board of Education voted for a $17 million dollar contract for Special Education services, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
During a called meeting Monday evening, the board voted 8-0-1 in favor of spending $17 million over three years for a continuum of services provded by ChanceLight Behavioral Health, Therapy and Education of Nashville, Tennessee, a proposal the Ledger-Enquirer first reported on in February.
District 3 representative Vanessa Jackson abstained, so the approval wasn’t unanimous, but the contrast still was stark.
Bibb County and Houston County Public Schools will offer free breakfast, lunch, and snacks for students over the summer break at nearly 100 locations, according to the Macon Telegraph.
No community members spoke on Gainesville City Schools’ proposed budget at a hearing on Monday.
The proposed millage rate is 6.614, a full rollback from 6.85 to make up for increases in assessed property values.
After receiving the city’s final tax digest, the originally proposed rollback rate of 6.612 mills was adjusted to 6.614 mills, Superintendent Jeremy Williams said Monday. That cuts about $140,000 from the revenue that had been projected, but Williams said expenditures did not have to be adjusted. Reserve funds could be used to make up the difference, he said.
There will be another hearing on June 17, when the board will cast the final vote.
In February when the council agreed to have the city take over financial responsibility for the Creek on the Blue Mile project, assuming a role initially filled by the Development Authority of Bulloch County, the “assumption” agreement called for an oversight committee. Funding sources now assigned to the city include a 30-year, low-interest line of credit for up to $15.5 million from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority and a state direct investment, like a grant, of $5.5 million.
Bacon County Sheriff Mark Cothren was charged with elder abuse, battery, and violating the oath of office, according to AccessWDUN.
Beginning Jan. 7, there will be one flight a day from and to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., on American Airlines.
“This is big,” said Herbert Judon Jr., the airport’s executive director. “Washington, D.C., that capitol region is the No. 1 destination to and from the Augusta market.”
That includes people from the military and Fort Gordon, the cyber communities as well as the private sector, he said. This will allow them to take a fairly short direct flight as opposed to having to fly to a hub airport and grab a connecting flight, Judon said.
The Dougherty County Commission began considering a $69 million dollar budget for FY 2020, according to the Albany Herald.
This 3 year old pointer mix came to the shelter heartworm positive and with a bad lower back issue. With a combination of vets, chiropractors and tender, loving care Cable’s condition is stabilized. He might not be a dog you can jog with but boy does he like to swim. It’s time for Cable to find a forever home. He’s partial to the backwater for the water access but a swimming pool will do.
On June 3, 1941, Georgia voters ratified a Constitutional Amendment extending the term of office for Governor and the other Constitutional Officers from two years to four. Governor Eugene Talmadge campaigned for the Amendment, hoping to serve a four-year term after the two-year term he currently held, but was defeated in the 1942 Democratic Primary by Ellis Arnall. Remember this phrase: legislation almost always has unintended consequences.
Today is the anniversary of the beginning of the Tiananman Square Massacre in Beijing, China. Pro-democracy protests had begun on April 15, 1989 and on May 20, martial law was declared. The People’s Liberation Army began taking the square back on the evening of June 3d.
“Its industry is a feature the article makes a point of noting. “Brunswick has profited greatly by her harbor; in fact, the present prosperity of the city is due to its unsurpassed shipping facilities. Great quantities of cotton, pine lumber, resin, turpentine and other products are shipped from Brunswick to all parts of the world … The people of Brunswick have awakened to the fact that their city has within its reach the making of a great shipping-point, as well as a popular resort.”
Promoting Brunswick as a resort destination for winter weary northerners was the point of this well-placed, paid article in Harper’s Weekly. Coastal Georgia was just then establishing itself as a balmy retreat from the bitter cold of northern environs. The Jekyll Island Club already had become an exclusive playground of the Vanderbilts, Morgans and other movers and shakers of the Gilded Age.
As the lumber mills churned away at Gascoigne Bluff on the river side of St. Simons Island, the St. Simons Hotel catered to vacation-minded visitors on “9,588 feet of magnificent sea-beach front,” the article noted.
The article cautioned discerning readers not to overlook Brunswick. “The visitor has no need to confine his attention to Jekyll Island alone, for the mainland and the Brunswick peninsula have attractions enough to keep one busy the whole season.”
“Brunswick is not unlike New York in its water and harbor facilities. St. Simons Sound and the Brunswick and Back rivers will float vessels of the largest class, and that, too, up to the streets of the city, as in the case of New York. Navigable water flows on three sides of the city, while in the bay toward the sea is water enough, as well as room enough, to float the navies of the world.”
The Savannah area’s role in the historic invasion will be commemorated at ceremonies in Pooler and Savannah.
The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth in Pooler will be honoring the bravery of those who fought during the invasion with programs throughout the day.
Admission to the museum will be $8 on Thursday. That fee is waived for World War II veterans and children under the age of 6.
In Savannah, a maritime commemoration at the Savannah Convention Center will recognize the role of Savannah’s Liberty ships — constructed wartime freighters designed to bring supplies and equipment overseas as replacements for merchant ships sunk by German U-boats.
The new judges will fill openings in the Cherokee, Coweta, Macon and Stone Mountain judicial circuits. Their appointments will take effect as soon as they can be sworn in.
Troup County Solicitor General Markette Baker is the new judge for the Coweta Judicial Circuit.
Bibb County State Court Judge Jeffery Monroe will move up to the Macon Judicial Circuit Superior Court.
DeKalb County State Court Judge Shondeana Morris will step up to the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit Superior Court.
Jeffrey Watkins, founder of a general practice firm in Cartersville, is the new judge for the Cherokee Circuit.
State Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, is among the local officials expected to participate in the taping of a “Political Rewind” road show in Cartersville tonight.
The Atlanta-based GPB radio staple hosted by Bill Nigut features prominent politicos talking about the issues of the day.
Panelists today include Buddy Darden, a former congressman from the area, and conservative activist Julianne Thompson. Other state lawmakers and political writers also are scheduled and Nigut said he plans to take questions from the audience.
The taping, which is open to the public, is set for 7 p.m. in the Grand Theatre, in downtown Cartersville. It will air at 2 p.m. Tuesday and stream on Facebook across the GPB statewide network.
Democrat Stacey Abrams is fighting subpoenas by the Georgia State Ethics Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, according to GPB News.
The Abrams campaign sent more than 3,600 pages of financial records to state ethics officials. But it withheld nineteen emails, according to a letter attached to the campaign’s response to David Emadi, the executive secretary of the ethics commission hired in April.
The subpoena asked for banking records beginning in May of 2018, as well as communications between the Abrams campaign and organizations that advocate for people of color and often encourage them to vote.
It also requested communications between the campaign, and state Sen. Nikema Williams, the current head of the Democratic Party of Georgia. In 2018, during the campaign for governor, Williams was first vice-chair of the state party.
Specifically, the Abrams campaign withheld nine campaign emails “involving” the civil rights organization called the New Georgia Project, and 10 emails “involving” Williams.
“The Subpeona is conspicuously over broad without a factual context for the requests,” wrote Abrams campaign lawyer Joyce Gist Lewis.
“Demanding that the Abrams campaign identify and produce ‘all communications’ months following the certification of the election results is unreasonable and extraordinary,” Gist Lewis wrote. “Especially where, as here, the Commission has declined to explain how these requests are related to its investigation.”
Emadi would not discuss specifics of the case, but he revealed in a letter that he intends to present evidence that the Abrams campaign accepted donations from four of the groups that exceeded maximum contribution limits for a statewide campaign.
The four groups Emadi singled out are Care in Action, a nonprofit Williams co-founded that advocates for domestic workers; Higher Heights for Georgia, a New York-funded organization geared toward electing black women; PowerPAC Georgia, an “independent group” that spent more than $5.6 million promoting Abrams and attacking Kemp, mostly funded by liberal San Francisco-based philanthropist Susan Sandler; and Gente4Abrams, a Latino advocacy group.
Lewis said the Democrat has “nothing to hide” and questioned in a response to Emadi why investigators only demanded records from groups “led by black or Latinx Georgians working to increase election participation among voters of color.”
Emadi has dismissed accusations that he was pursuing a political vendetta, insisting his probe is being conducted in a “fair and impartial manner.”
And he said in a statement this week that all candidates from the 2018 campaign for governor will be investigated for potential violations “without any concern or benefit regarding partisan affiliation.”
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law sent a letter to Randolph County condemning alleged plans to close voting precincts, according to the AJC.
But the county’s attorney said there are no plans to close precincts, and the local government needs to assess the costs of repairing dilapidated polling places so that they’re accessible to people with disabilities. He said it’s premature for the Lawyers’ Committee to say the cost assessment will lead to precinct closures.
Randolph County, with a population of about 7,000, found itself in the national spotlight last year when election officials considered a proposal to close seven of the county’s nine voting locations. The county elections board voted 2-0 in August to keep all its polling places open before November’s election for governor between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp.
The renewed scrutiny comes after Elections Supervisor Todd Black gave a presentation to county commissioners April 17 about his plan to assess the costs of repairing dilapidated precincts.
Many of the precincts lack ramps or parking spaces for voters with disabilities, and they should be upgraded to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, said Tommy Coleman, the county’s attorney.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama made a suprise appearance at Spelman College, according to GPB News.
Obama met with a group of students from Spelman and Morehouse Colleges who studied the book this semester. Professor Marilyn Davis used it as the foundational text for the honors political science course, Black Women: Developing Public Leadership Skills.
During the round table discussion on Mother’s Day weekend, Obama and the students talked about topics including overcoming imposter syndrome and breaking barriers in education and professional life. She shared how she managed her educational and professional struggles with the students.
The Saturday visit on campus was not Obama’s first visit to Spelman. The first-generation college graduate spoke at Spelman’s commencement in 2011 and recently co-chaired a voting event ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
In the past, law enforcement decided whether a victim’s rape or assault would receive a forensic exam in the first place. Money was a big factor because the agencies paid for the kit assets, said Kim Davis, executive director of the Sexual Assault Center of Northwest Georgia.
“There wasn’t anything we could do about it,” says Davis. “We couldn’t afford to do the exams because we didn’t have enough money to pay for the equipment.”
Rape kits are expensive. It costs crisis centers or law enforcement agencies upwards of $1,000 for rape kit materials, not including medication to help prevent STDs or pregnancies from rape. Now, crisis centers such as the SAC can bill Georgia’s Crime Victims Compensation Program for much of the cost.
In 2011, Georgia’s law changed so that anyone who claimed to have been assaulted had the right to a rape kit exam. But though an exam was done, if the victim didn’t officially report the crime to law enforcement, there was no guarantee the kit would be sent to the GBI. The SAC would keep the kit for a year and then destroy it.
Thanks to a 2016 law, now all kits are required to go to the crime lab. But for those who survived an assault prior to that year, this can be devastating news.
According to data from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, there were 603 violent crimes in 2018 compared with 565 in 2017, a 6.7 percent increase. There were 3,993 property crimes in 2018 after 4,151 in 2017, a 3.8 percent decrease. As of May 17, there have been 1,180 property crimes in 2019.
Chief Deputy Patrick Clayton said property crimes tend to have more patterns than violent crimes, so they can be a bit easier to track.
“There is usually more of them, so usually there is more patterns,” he said. “The violent crimes tend to be more random. Usually what you see on property crimes, for example, if you have car break-ins, it’s usually more than one car break-in.”
Clayton said offenders tend to go to different areas and do multiple break-ins or burglaries. According to sheriff’s office data, the most common property crime in Richmond County is larceny auto with 1,932 cases in 2017 and 1,938 in 2018.
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office is accepting public comments as part of its reaccreditation process, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
The survey was intended for only parents of elementary school children, who would see an extra 30 minutes added to the school day, Muscogee County School District Superintendent David Lewis told the Ledger-Enquirer.
When informed that the survey was posted Wednesday on the district’s website and is available for anyone to take multiple times on the same electronic device, he referred the L-E’s questions to district communications director Mercedes Parham.
“The parents’ survey was sent to elementary parents,” Parham told the L-E in an email Friday. “However, to prevent limitations, the parents’ survey link was also provided on the families section of our website. All surveys responses, regardless of the access point, are automatically generated in Microsoft Office’s survey system. With any survey, there are variables, but our focus is to have more points of inclusion than exclusion, where possible.”
The explanation didn’t satisfy Muscogee County Council of PTAs second vice president Gloria Brown, who is taking care of four grandchildren living with her, two in elementary school and two in middle school.
“That’s not going to give an accurate opinion of the parents it will affect if it’s open up to anybody in the world,” Brown said in a telephone interview Friday.
The Hall County Sheriff’s Office has begun a “Citizens’ Watch Surveillance Camera Program,” according to AccessWDUN.
Many home and business owners have surveillance camera systems these days. Law enforcement often use these images to help solve crimes at those homes and businesses. But, they can also be used to help investigators get to the bottom of crimes in adjacent homes and businesses.
According to the sheriff’s department, Citizens’ Watch is a secure program that allows surveillance camera system owners to report their system to the Sheriff’s Office through a secure website. The information is mapped for law enforcement, allowing for quick and easy reference when deputies are seeking surveillance images in an area where a crime was committed.
Part of the posting emphasizes that officers would not have access to security cameras and any images they capture without the permission of the owners.
The Superior Court rules allow video conferencing for a number of court proceedings – as long as they are recorded, [Judge J. Wade] Padgett said. He volunteered to try it in the Augusta Judicial Circuit. The Corrections Department paid for the necessary computer system and worked with Augusta’s IT department to set it up. The offices of the public defender and district attorney jumped on board, Padgett said.
The 35 hearings Padgett held from January through March saved the prison system nearly $6,000. Video-conferencing equipment was set up at two of the state’s 34 prisons.
Last year, Corrections Department employees did more than 35,000 prisoner transports for court hearings, said Stan Cooper, the special assistant to department Commissioner Timothy C. Ward. The department estimates 40 to 45 percent of the hearings involving prison inmates could be done by video conference.
The success of Padgett’s pilot project has Ward wanting to set up equipment at every prison, Cooper said. It has increased the safety of employees and prisoners and increased efficiency, not to mention the financial savings, he said. It could also help sheriff’s departments that are responsible for prisoner transports, Cooper said.
Padgett said there are talks with the sheriff about holding arraignments for those in local jails by video conference.
Recently in one of the smaller Richmond County Superior Court courtrooms, Padgett conducted 22 arraignments of inmates at Augusta State Medical Prison and Phillips State Prison.
Former Fort Valley City Administrator Karin Vinson is suing the city and several individuals alleging sex harassment over her pregnancy, according to the Macon Telegraph.
The harassment allegedly involved several officials — including Mayor Barbara Williams and Councilwoman Juanita Bryant — falsely accusing then-City Administrator Karin Vinson of having a sexual relationship with the police chief and claiming she was unable to perform her job duties, the lawsuit said.
Vinson is suing the city, Williams and Bryant for creating a hostile work environment during her two years as city manager. She is seeking a minimum of $350,000 in damages in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on May 23.
Vinson accuses the mayor of retaliating against her because she raised concerns about Williams helping a business get contracts with the city, and for refusing to budget $40,000 to buy a digital sign from a company that made signs for the mayor’s campaign, the lawsuit said.
Warner Robins began construction on a new North Houston Sports Complex as part of a $20 million dollar expansion, according to the Macon Telegraph.
Attorney Marvin Lim announced that he will announce on Tuesday his campaign for House District 99, which is being vacated by State Rep. Brenda Lopez Romero, who is running for Congress. From the Gwinnett Daily Post:
Lim has lived in state House District 99 since 2001. He graduated magna cum laude from Emory University and then graduated from Yale University as well. He is also one of the founding board members of the grassroots progressive group 159 Georgia Together.
“As an immigrant, I learned there’s no replacing hard work,” Lim said on his campaign website, www.marvinlimforga.com. “But no one should have to pay too high a price — like too many Georgians do — to yield fruit from their labor. Our government must make sure this will no longer be the case.”
The state House District 99 seat has not drawn Republican candidates in recent election cycles, which means that, unless that trend changes, the winner of the Democratic primary election essentially wins the seat.
[T]here is a movement to crown the species — a fish that, with the exception of a Florida river, is now only found in Georgia streams — as the state’s official native riverine sport fish.
“It’s the quintessential Georgia fish. Georgia’s the only place that you would go in the whole world to catch a six-pound shoal bass,” said Steven Sammons, a researcher with Auburn University’s School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences. “Truly, to me, it is the Georgia fish.”
After years of trying, the shoal bass nearly clinched the coveted title this legislative session, but the proposal’s backers had to cut bait after some last-minute opposition surfaced.
The shoal bass, which became its own species just two decades ago, has been gaining in popularity for years.
Rep. Debbie Buckner, a Democrat from Junction City, said she sees the proposal as a way to help small, rural businesses in an area with few other economic opportunities cultivate a tourism economy centered on the quaint fish.
A handful of fishing guides devoted to escorting visitors to shoalie hotspots already exist. Buckner said she also sees an opportunity for restaurants and lodging to benefit from an influx of visitors.
Buckner’s proposal nearly passed this year, but opposition from one north Georgia state senator, Bill Heath, caused the provision to be very publicly cut from a larger bill as the clock expired on this year’s legislative session.
When asked why he objected to the designation, the Bremen Republican said he saw the proposal as “not germane to the issues” in the broader bill. Buckner’s proposal had been tacked on to a bill that included various changes to the state’s hunting and fishing law.
