Category: Georgia

Georgia High School Students Demand Right to Use ‘N-Word,’ Want White Teacher Fired for Saying It

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Black students at a Georgia high school claim they should be able to say the “n-word” if they wish, but want a white teacher sanctioned for using it in a disciplinary context.

According to Atlanta News First, after two (black) Decatur High students allegedly were saying the epithet to each other, physics teacher John Chesnut told the duo to stop using the term — while saying it himself.

This led to student and community outrage, including a forum with the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights on December 21.

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HD7 Special Election Pits Republican Radio Host Against Late State House Speaker Ralston’s Widow

Eric Burk

House District 7 voters will choose between five Republicans in Tuesday’s special election to fill the seat left vacant by late Speaker David Ralston; the leading candidates include Ralston’s widow, Kemp-endorsed Sheree Ralston, and radio host Brian Pritchard, who is running further to the right.

Ralston has also announced endorsements from the Chamber of Commerce, and has emphasized her work on mental health, while Pritchard is emphasizing his grassroots appeal and resistance to Kemp and establishment Republicans.

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Representative-Elect Rampey Resigns, Kemp Schedules January 31 Special Election

Eric Burk

Governor Brian Kemp has set a January 31 special election for House District 119 to replace Representative-elect Danny Rampey. Kemp called for the election in a New Year’s Eve order; the election date coincides with special elections in Senate District 11 and House District 172.

Rampey was elected in the November General Election, where he ran unopposed after defeating Marcus Ray with 82.7 percent of the vote in the Republican primary. But Rampey hadn’t yet taken office when he was arrested in December, facing allegations that he stole narcotics at a retirement complex that he managed, according to the AP. The Athens Banner-Herald reported that Rampey faces 19 felony counts, including burglary and drug possession.

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Augusta University Health Systems to Potentially Join Wellstar Health System

Eric Burk

Augusta University Health System (AUHS) announced Tuesday the signing of a letter of intent to join Wellstar Health System. The potential deal would join the Medical College of Georgia (MCG), the state’s only public medical school, with one of the largest safety net hospital operators in Georgia.

“This is good news for the Augusta region and for health care across our state. It means more doctors and medical service providers, more options for health care, and greater innovation in this field are coming to Georgia communities,” Governor Brian Kemp tweeted after the AUHS announcement.

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State Sen. Reeves, Del. Krizek Introduce Bill to Create Problem Gambling Committee

Eric Burk

Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania) and Delegate Paul Krizek (D-Mount Vernon) have prefiled legislation for the upcoming General Assembly session to create a problem gambling committee composed of gambling industry representatives and problem gambling prevention advocates.

“As Virginia moves forward with the expansion of gaming, it’s important that we understand the ills that come with it,” Reeves said in a Tuesday press release. “We must focus our attention on Virginians who struggle with gambling addiction. Delegate Krizek and myself are excited to announce our bipartisan effort to ensure that our Commonwealth’s gaming regulations properly reflect the much-needed funds for problem identification, gambling addiction education, and treatment.”

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Nonprofit Names $1.5 Billion Georgia Rivian EV Plant Incentive as Worst Deal of 2022

The Center Square

A nonprofit has named Georgia’s decision to give $1.5 billion in incentives for a Rivian Automotive electric vehicle assembly plant 2022’s “Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year.”

The Michigan-based Center for Economic Accountability bestows the honor to a government subsidy of a private company that best illustrates the “massive wastefulness and ineffectiveness of government economic development subsidy programs.”

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Georgia Regulators Want More Authority over Rooftop Solar Sales People

The Center Square

The chair of Georgia’s Public Service Commission wants state lawmakers to give more authority to the state board that oversees companies that sell rooftop solar panels.

“I do want to take this opportunity on the record to encourage the Georgia General Assembly to look into increasing the capabilities of the electrical licensing board so that we can cut down the number of consumer complaints that we receive from the rooftop solar industry,” PSC Chair Tricia Pridemore said during a hearing last week.

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Public Service Commission Votes in Favor of Georgia Power Rate Increase

The Center Square

The Georgia Public Service Commission signed off on a deal the Tuesday before Christmas to allow Georgia Power to increase its rates over the next three years.

With the approval, Georgia Power plans to increase rates for its 2.7 million customers by roughly $1.8 billion over three years. The increase is down from an initial request of about $2.9 billion.

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Georgia Medical Association Says It Wants More Funding for State Medical Board

The Center Square

The head of the Medical Association of Georgia wants state lawmakers to properly fund the Georgia Composite Medical Board, saying the underfunding of the agency isn’t benefiting anyone in the state.

“Having an underfunded, understaffed agency benefits no one,” Jeremy Bonfini, the executive director and CEO of the Medical Association of Georgia, told The Center Square. “It’s our position that the GCMB should be funded sufficiently.

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Georgia Joins Walmart Opioid Settlement

Eric Burk

The state of Georgia has signed on to a $3.1 billion national agreement with Walmart amid allegations that the retailer didn’t properly monitor opioids dispensing at its pharmacies; Georgia is expected to get $28 million in the deal, according to an announcement from Attorney General Chris Carr.

“The opioid epidemic has destroyed lives, families, and communities all across our state and nation,” Carr said in the release.

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Georgia Gov. Kemp Issues State of Emergency Ahead of ‘Arctic Blast’

Eric Burk

Governor Brian Kemp has issued a state of emergency ahead of an “Arctic blast” expected to hit Georgia beginning Thursday. Although snow is possible in parts of the state, in a press conference Wednesday Kemp and administration officials focused on black ice, downed power lines, and unusual cold.

“We also need to warn everyone that windchills will be near zero or in the negative digits by midday on Friday. Temperatures as we know it likely won’t reach 40 degrees across Georgia until Monday afternoon,” Kemp said. “Communities across the state are about to experience temperatures they haven’t experienced in a decade or more.”

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Georgia Supreme Court Sends 2020 Fulton County Election Lawsuit Back to Appeals Court to Reconsider

Just the News

The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday sent a 2020 election lawsuit regarding Fulton County back to a lower court for reconsideration, adding another layer to the suit’s twisting saga through the court system.

The lawsuit, Caroline Jeffords, et al. v. Fulton County, et al., alleges that the plaintiffs’ votes in the 2020 election were “diluted by the inclusion of allegedly unlawful ballots in Fulton County.” Jeffords also alleged that Fulton County violated the Georgia Open Records Act.

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Raffensperger Calls Warnock ‘Election Denier’ in WSJ Op-Ed

Eric Burk

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) are trading blows in the media after Raffensperger’s Sunday Wall Street Journal op-ed “Raphael Warnock, Election Denier.”

“I have to spend a lot of time shooting down false claims about our elections in Georgia. Usually they come from losers. But sometimes even victorious candidates make false claims about our elections,” Raffensperger wrote, placing Warnock alongside Stacy Abrams and former President Donald Trump.

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Most of Georgia’s Congressional Delegation Votes in Favor of Defense Spending Bill

Eric Burk

Most of Georgia’s congressional delegation voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including both Democratic senators, five out of six Democratic representatives, and five out of the eight Republican representatives. After the bill passed out of the Senate on Thursday, Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) said the bill included his own legislation to help veterans access their service records, and Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) touted the inclusion of the Water Resource Development Act (WRDA), which includes $75 million in water infrastructure spending for rural and economically disadvantaged regions in Georgia.

“I’m so glad we were able to get this year’s NDAA over the finish line with tremendous bipartisan support. Georgia notched notable wins in this year’s defense package, including bolstering Georgia’s military bases, ensuring our state is a crucial component to our nation’s national defense for years to come and securing more affordable military housing for servicemembers and their families,” Warnock said in a press release.

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Georgia’s Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Spending $646 Million to Replace Its Entire Railcar Fleet

The Center Square

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to replace its rail fleet, which officials say will eliminate many delays customers see.

MARTA’s board of directors signed off on the $646 million deal with Swiss-based Stadler Rail in November 2019. The deal for 56 four-car train sets — 224 total railcars — marked the largest procurement for either organization.

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Georgia Taxpayers to Pay $1 Million for Workforce Training at New Cosmetics Plant

The Center Square

Georgia taxpayers are on the hook to cover more than $1 million in workforce training for a global beauty company opening a Savannah-area facility.

On Wednesday, state officials confirmed KISS USA, a global beauty company, will spend $121 million on a Bryan County facility. Company officials said they plan to create more than 395 new jobs at the facility at The Cubes at Interstate Centre II.

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Kemp Bans TikTok on State Devices

Eric Burk

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp banned TikTok, WeChat, and Telegram on state-issued devices in a memo sent to state agency heads on Thursday.

“The TikTok software platform has the capability to track and store its users’ highly detailed public and non-public personal information, and the Chinese government is able to access this information under national security laws that require Chinese companies to assist in intelligence work through data sharing and other means. This requirement has already resulted in the CCP [Communist Party of China] influencing TikTok’s content and censorship algorithms to further its own political interests and poses an ongoing threat to the data of all users,” Kemp explained in the memo obtained by 11AliveNews reporter Nick Wooten.

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After Warnock Win, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to Propose Ranked Choice ‘Instant Runoff’ System

Susan Berry, PhD

Controversial Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) is planning to present several electoral system proposals, including ranked choice voting, to state lawmakers following the runoff between Senator Raphael Warnock (D) and Herschel Walker (R), which handed a win to Warnock.

In an interview with the New York Times following the runoff election, Raffensperger said he would offer three proposals to Georgia lawmakers, including one to establish a “ranked-choice instant runoff” system, whose main goal would be to eliminate having voters return to the polls after the general election, and the costs associated with doing so.

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DeKalb County Mandates Security Cameras in Convenience Stores

Eric Burk

The Dekalb County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to require surveillance cameras in unincorporated parts of the county, effective June 30, 2023.

“We know that the gas stations and convenience stores in general have seen an increase in violent crimes and gun murders and gun violence. This new ordinance ensures that anyone who perpetrates a  violent crime on site will be documented with a high-definition quality audio visual equipment, and then also, hopefully, the ability to tie in to the overall system that the police department uses in real time,” Commissioner Ted Terry said.

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Special Counsel Subpoenas Secretary of State Raffensperger in Investigation of Efforts to Block Certifying 2020 Election

Eric Burk

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has been subpoenaed by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into efforts to interfere with certifying the 2020 election on January 6, 2021, or to interfere with the lawful transfer of power.

The subpoena, obtained by The Washington Post, orders Raffensperger to produce any communications dating June 2020 through January 20, 2021, with former President Donald Trump, his campaign, and allies including some lawyers. Similar subpoenas were sent to officials in other 2020 battleground states, according to The Post.

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Hyundai and Battery Manufacturer Select Bartow County Site for $4 Billion Electric Vehicle Battery Plant

Eric Burk

Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) and SK On have selected a site for a new electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing plant in Bartow County. The project is expected to create 3,500 jobs with an investment of $4-5 billion, one of the largest economic development projects in Georgia history, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

“Hyundai Motor Group and SK On are valued partners and key players in our state’s ever-growing automotive industry,” Governor Brian Kemp said in a Thursday press release.  “Since day one, my administration has been focused on bringing jobs and opportunity to communities across the state that may have been overlooked in the past. SK and HMG share this goal, and we’re proud they are choosing to invest even further in this number one state for business.”

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Georgia’s Tax Revenues Decreased by $2.4 Million in November

The Center Square

One day after Republican leaders called on returning more than $1 billion to Georgia taxpayers, the state revealed some bad news.

On Friday, state officials reported November’s total general fund receipts decreased by 0.1% — or nearly $2.4 million — compared to November 2021. Still, tax collections surpassed $2.2 billion for the month and net sales and use tax collections increased by 9.8%.

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Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer Criticizes McConnell, NRSC After Walker Loss

Eric Burk

Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) after Herschel Walker lost the Georgia Senate runoff. Shafer said the NRSC didn’t provide enough support, according to an internal Republican National Committee (RNC) email chain obtained by Politico.

“Tuesday was a tough day in Georgia. Herschel was massively outspent, maybe 3 to 1 in a four week period of time and still held his own,” Shafer said in an email sent the day after the election.

“We used our RNC transfer dollars for the ground game and were forced to raise money from entirely within the state for our critically important mail program. Two weeks out, we were $2.5 million short when I sent what was for me an embarrassing email begging the other state parties for help,” he said.

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1.6 Million Ballots in Election Day Turnout Weren’t Enough for Herschel Walker to Catch Sen. Warnock

Eric Burk

Georgians cast 3.5 million ballots in the Senate runoff, including 1.9 million early and absentee ballots and 1.6 million votes on Election Day. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office said more election day votes were cast in the runoff than on election day in the general election.

That should have equaled a win for Herschel Walker, according to Republican estimates on Monday that suggested turnout of just one million election day votes would be enough for him to cancel Senator Raphael Warnock’s (D-GA) early vote lead. Instead, Warnock won 1.8 million total votes and Walker 1.7 million — 51.37 percent to 48.63 percent, according to unofficial results.

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Former Pickens County Official Pleads Guilty to over $170k Worth of Theft and Racketeering Charges

Eric Burk

Former Pickens County School Superintendent Carlton Wilson and his wife pleaded guilty to racketeering and theft charges; Carlton Wilson also plead guilty to six additional theft charges, according to Attorney General Chris Carr, whose office prosecuted the case.

“Carlton and Cindy Wilson stole thousands of dollars from hardworking Georgians, and now they are facing the consequences of their illegal actions,” Carr said in a press release. “This is a complex case that spans several years and involves multiple acts of theft, including the unlawful collection of taxpayer funds. This conviction is a major victory for all those who fell victim to the couple’s fraudulent and deceptive tactics, and we are proud to have worked with our local partners to put a stop to their criminal schemes.”

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Georgia Lawmakers May Consider Election Law Changes Next Session

The Center Square

With Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff in the books and lawmakers gearing up for the next legislative session, the state’s voting law is expected to be among the hot-button issues lawmakers address.

On Wednesday, the day after U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker, a Democratic state lawmaker said she plans to file legislation to modify the timeline for voting during runoff elections.

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Critics Say Georgia’s Gas Tax Moratorium Helps, but Isn’t Good Long-Term Policy

The Center Square
Gas Station

Georgia hasn’t collected its gas tax since March, as Gov. Brian Kemp has signed a series of legislation and executive orders to place a moratorium on collections.

“Those prices have a huge impact on the economy as a whole,” National Federation of Independent Business Region Director Nathan Humphrey told The Center Square. “On top of all the other issues that small businesses were particularly struggling with from supply chain, inflation and [the] overall cost of doing business, the margins were just super tight, so when that hit, it really provided necessary relief.”

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Sen. Warnock Projected to Defeat Herschel Walker

Eric Burk

Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) is projected to win by multiple media outlets; at press time, Warnock led Herschel Walker 50.81 percent to 49.19 percent with 95.6 percent of counties and precincts reporting. However, that margin is expected to widen with many of the Atlanta-area counties only partially reporting results and rural counties having largely complete their reporting.

In Georgia, a candidate can request a recount if the race margin is less than or equal to 0.5 percent, according to a state website. In a short speech after the race was called, Walker acknowledged the results and thanked his supporters, telling them to never stop dreaming and believing in America.

“There’s no excuses in life, and I’m not going to make any excuses now, because we put up one heck of a fight. And that’s what we got to do, because this is much bigger than Herschel Walker,” he said.

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Herschel Walker’s Million-Man March Through Georgia on Game Day

Eric Burk

Strong turnout in Republican areas at the end of early voting in the Senate runoff in Georgia is giving conservatives hope that Herschel Walker can close a 200,000 vote gap Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) is estimated to hold. For Walker to win, Election-Day turnout, expected to favor the Republican, needs to hit at least one million votes.

On the day of the November 2022 General Election, about 1.5 million voters turned out, according to Mack Parnell, executive director of the Georgia branch of the nonpartisan Faith and Freedom Coalition.

“Obviously, you know, it’d be a miracle to get that same 1.5 million out, so you’re probably not going to do that. So the magic number in order to make up the margin that can be ascertained for Raphael Warnock, it’s got to be at least a million voters to come out” Parnell said, noting that would give Walker and Warnock even chances.

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Hispanic American Voters Could Decide Georgia Senate Runoff Election, Dems and GOP Mobilize Latino Target Groups

ADN America

Democrats and Republicans targeting their campaign efforts to win the Georgia Senate race between Sen. Raphael Warnock and GOP challenger Herschel Walker have turned their attention to Hispanic American voters who could be a deciding factor.

Neither candidate reached the state required 50% threshold to emerge victorious on Nov. 8 due to the 2% garnered by Libertarian Party Senate candidate Chase Oliver.

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Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Calls for Federal Investigation Over Emails from Arizona Sec State Hobbs to Twitter

Eric Burk

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) wants a federal investigation in Arizona where Kari Lake is disputing results of the gubernatorial election against Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, whose office reports preliminary results that Hobbs has won 50.3 percent to 49.6 percent. Greene’s call was also a reaction to a post of emails showing that Hobbs’ office reported misinformation tweets to Twitter on January 7, 2021.

“The SOS of AZ and Gov candidate, Katie Hobbs, used the power of the AZ SOS to collude w/ Twitter to unconstitutionally violate 1st Amendment rights of Americans for her own political gain. This is communism and Hobbs can not be governor. I’m calling for a Federal investigation,” Greene tweeted Sunday morning.

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Report: Charter School Enrollment Increases in Georgia

The Center Square

More Georgia students are attending charter schools, while enrollment at public schools is declining, according to a new report.

New figures from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools show that Georgia experienced a roughly 4.9% increase in charter enrollments between 2019-20 and 2021-22. Meanwhile, traditional public schools saw a roughly 1.9% decline in enrollments during the same period.

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Warnock Slightly Ahead in Three Polls

Eric Burk

Three new polls released in the final days of early voting show Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) a little ahead of Herschel Walker, although Walker is within the margin of error in two of the three polls.

Emerson College found Warnock ahead, 49 percent to 47 percent, with 4 percent undecided out of 888 very likely voters and those who already voted. That poll has a 3.2 percent margin of error and was conducted November 28 through 30 on behalf of The Hill. SurveyUSA found Warnock at 50 percent to Walker’s 46 percent and 4 percent undecided out of 1,214 likely voters. The poll has a 3.6 percent margin of error and was conducted November 26 through 30 on behalf of WXIA-TV. Both polls were published Thursday.

On Friday, CNN published the results of a SSRS poll finding Warnock at 52 percent and Walker at 48 percent among 1,184 likely voters, with a 3.8 percent margin of error. That poll was conducted from November 25 through 29.

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VoterGA Reports Proof of Herschel Walker’s 20,000 Vote Loss in the General Election

Susan Berry, PhD

VoterGA reported further evidence Friday that the organization said substantiates the more than 20,000-vote decline in Herschel Walker’s U.S. Senate election vote count at 10 p.m. on the night of Election Day last month.

According to a press release from the nonprofit coalition of citizens working to restore election integrity in Georgia, “before and after” screenshots of interim election results reported by Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) for the 2022 General Election “show the inexplicable decrease for Herschel Walker.”

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Democrats’ ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ Myth Debunked Again as Early Voting in Georgia Runoff Tops 1 Million

Admin

For James Newton, an African American voter in Atlanta, early voting is a tough sell.   

“I always vote on Election Day. I like the excitement of it,” Newton told The Daily Signal after voting at a church on Election Day in November. “For me, it’s like showing up to a ballgame. You want all the final, last portions of the game, like overtime, so to speak.”

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Warnock Facing Growing Scrutiny for Church Ties to Anti-Semitic, Black Supremacist Academic

Just the News

With the Georgia Senate runoff set for Dec. 6, Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is facing growing scrutiny for his association with Leonard Jeffries, the controversial academic notorious for his fringe Afrocentrist theories and long trail of anti-Semitic diatribes.

Warnock served as the assistant pastor at Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City for four years under Rev. Calvin O. Butts. Before that, he was the youth pastor at that church for six years. 

The church hosted Jeffries — uncle of newly elected House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffrieas — as a speaker at least three times from 1991 to 1998 during Warnock’s tenure there, Fox News reported Tuesday.

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Georgia Receives $100 Million Federal Grant for Health Care Infrastructure

The Center Square

The feds are sending roughly $100 million to the Georgia Department of Public Health to help it bolster its health infrastructure.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded the DPH $99.8 million over a five-year period for “strengthening public health infrastructure, work force and data systems,” Nancy Nydam, a DPH spokeswoman, told The Center Square. The agency will receive nearly $83.7 million in the first year, and the remaining $16.1 million will be awarded over five years.

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