by Dave Williams | Aug 8, 2022 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A federal court Monday sentenced the father and son responsible for murdering a Black jogger near Brunswick to life in prison.
Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was shot to death in February 2020 by Greg McMichael and his son, Travis. The two men chased Arbery down a street in a pickup truck after observing him on the property of a nearby home under construction.
With the help of William “Roddie” Bryan, who drove a second truck, the men cornered Arbery, and Travis McMichael pulled the trigger. Bryan received a 35-year prison sentence Monday.
The three men already were facing life sentences handed down early this year following a state trial late last year.
The federal trial focused on the defendants’ racist beliefs to prove that they likely would not have murdered Arbery if they had not been deeply prejudiced against Black people.
The federal jury convicted the trio of hate crimes and kidnapping. The McMichaels were also convicted on weapons-use charges.
The McMichaels were also sentenced to an additional 20 years on the kidnapping charges, according to news reports.
The McMichaels were sentenced to life without parole after the state trial. Bryan was sentenced to life with a possibility of parole after 30 years because he demonstrated remorse at the crime scene.
The federal judge on Monday denied the McMichaels’ requests to be transferred to federal prison to serve their time, meaning they will likely serve their time in Georgia state prisons.
The case received national attention, prompting the General Assembly to pass a state hate crimes law in 2020 and an overhaul of Georgia’s citizens arrest law last year.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
by Staff Writer | Aug 8, 2022 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Nearly 600 cases of monkeypox have been identified in Georgia since the disease first showed up in the Peach State at the beginning of June, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The disease has spread across the country to the point that the Biden administration declared monkeypox a national public health emergency last week.
Monkeypox is a viral disease that causes the skin to break out into painful lesions and is also accompanied by other symptoms such as fever, exhaustion, and muscle aches.
Since the first cases were reported in the United States a few months ago, scientific understanding of how it spreads has evolved.
“The monkeypox virus can spread from person to person through direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs, or body fluids,” said Nancy Nydam, spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Health (DPH). “It also can be spread by respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact, or during intimate physical contact, such as kissing, cuddling, or sex.”
“Touching items (such as clothing or linens) that previously touched the infectious rash or body fluids is another way monkeypox spreads but has not been identified to be a common mode of transmission in this outbreak or for monkeypox in general,” Nydam added.
According to the CDC, 7,510 cases of monkeypox have been reported in the United States.
Most of the Georgia cases are concentrated in metro Atlanta.
The Jynneos vaccine can help prevent monkeypox. The vaccination requires two doses 28 days apart.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has allocated 1.1 million doses of the vaccine to send to states. Around 600,000 have been shipped already, according to the agency.
Georgia has been allocated about 50,000, according to the HHS.
Not all of the doses have yet reached the state due to federal rules about vaccine distribution and transit times, Nydam said.
So far, almost all of the cases in the United States have been identified in men who have sex with men, according to a CDC briefing last month.
DPH has distributed the vaccines across Georgia, including to county health departments and community organizations, Nydam said.
Jeff Graham, executive director of the LGBTQ advocacy group Georgia Equality, praised the outreach work being done by county health departments and community groups. But he said those efforts won’t be truly effective without more resources and better coordination from the DPH.
“The state must show more leadership on a coordinated approach to ensuring that vaccine distribution is equitable around the state, and they need to provide better data concerning folks contracting monkeypox and those receiving the vaccine,” Graham said. “Also, adequate funding for the community outreach of whatever the state’s plan is will be a critical component of an adequate response.”
Advocates warn that though the disease is concentrated so far among gay men, it’s important that the larger community pay attention because the disease affects everyone.
“We can’t stigmatize disease,” said Dafina Ward, executive director of the Southern AIDS Coalition. “What we can’t do is recreate the misinformation and shaming that so many experienced early on in the HIV/AIDS epidemic.”
Ward said that though monkeypox can be spread by sexual contact, it is not solely a sexually transmitted disease.
For that reason, everyone should be concerned, Ward said.
“Monkeypox does not care about a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity,” she said. “Every community needs access to testing, vaccine, and treatment.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
by Dave Williams | Aug 8, 2022 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Fellow Republicans are going after GOP U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker.
A political action committee started by Republicans opposed to former President Donald Trump launched a $1 million ad campaign Monday targeting the former University of Georgia football great.
The 30-second ad funded by the Republican Accountability PAC features Walker’s ex-wife, Cindy DeAngelis Grossman, describing how Walker tried to choke her and held a gun to her head.
“Character matters,” the ad concludes.
Allegations of domestic violence committed by Walker have been campaign fodder since he entered the race against Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock nearly a year ago.
Walker addressed the allegations last December, telling Axios he is accountable for everything he has ever done and speaking frankly about his past mental health struggles.
The ad targeting Walker is part of a $10 million campaign by the Republican Accountability PAC aimed at GOP candidates supported by Trump in several battleground states. That includes Pennsylvania, where the group is running ads targeting Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano.
The anti-Walker ad will air on MSNBC, FOX, and CNN in the Atlanta market as well as major TV stations across Georgia.
“Herschel Walker might have been a great football player, but he clearly doesn’t deserve to be a senator,” said Sarah Longwell, the PAC’s treasurer.
The Walker campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ad.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
by Dave Williams | Aug 8, 2022 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has begun the new fiscal year with no letup in momentum.
The Port of Savannah handled 530,800 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containerized cargo last month, an increase of 18% over last July, marking the fastest start of a fiscal year ever.
For calendar year 2022, Savannah is on track to move more than 6 million TEUs, up from last year’s record of 5.6 million TEUs.
“The Port of Savannah has clearly become a preferred East Coast gateway for shippers globally, including cargo diverted from the U.S. West Coast,” GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch said Monday.
To accommodate the growth in cargo traffic, the GPA is opening for business two hours earlier, with gates now open from 4 a.m. until 9 p.m.
Savannah’s container operation is expanding, with eight new ship-to-shore cranes on order.
The GPA also is building another big-ship berth at Savannah’s Garden City terminal that will add 1.4 million TEUs of capacity, while the Garden City Terminal West project will add space for another 1 million TEUs.
“While the global logistics network has been challenged over the past two years, our message to customers is that at GPA, we’re continuing to build and expand,” GPA board Chairman Joel Wooten said.
“We’re moving forward with an aggressive plan to enhance our terminal operations and improve the rail connectivity to major commercial and manufacturing centers.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
by Dave Williams | Aug 5, 2022 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – State tax collections have begun the new fiscal year on a strong note.
The Georgia Department of Revenue brought in nearly $2.21 billion in taxes last month – the start of fiscal 2023 – $54.2 million, or 2.5%, above July of last year.
The three major tax categories all showed increases. Individual income taxes in July were up 10.7% over the same period last year, thanks largely to a 90.5% jump in tax return payments.
Net sales tax receipts rose 10.1% last month compared to July of last year.
Corporate income tax collections were up 62.3%, mostly the result of a 71.3% drop in refunds issued by the revenue agency.
Motor fuels tax revenues were virtually non-existent, as has been the case since Gov. Brian Kemp and the General Assembly temporarily suspended the state sales tax on gasoline in March as prices at the pump soared.
Motor fuels taxes dropped 97.8% last month compared to July of last year.
The gas tax remains off the table for now. Kemp issued an executive order this week renewing the tax holiday at least through Sept. 12.
Last month’s rise in tax collections followed the closeout of fiscal 2022 the month before, which saw the state take in $33.09 billion in tax receipts for the year, an increase of 23% over fiscal 2021.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
