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Rivian’s $5B EV manufacturing plant set to start in east Georgia by spring 2022

By
Jill Nolin
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Gov. Brian Kemp steps out of a Rivian truck Thursday at a press event announcing the the electric vehicle maker will build a factory in Georgia. (Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder)

ATLANTA (GA Recorder) — Shane Short doesn’t own an electric vehicle. Yet.

“I’m probably going to be driving an electric truck in about two years,” said Short, an official with the local joint development authority that just helped land one of the biggest economic development projects in Georgia history.

Two years is about how long it’s expected to take for the electric vehicle start-up Rivian to fire up a new factory at a nearly 2,000-acre site in a rural area east of Atlanta, which are plans that were publicly announced Thursday outside the state Capitol. It will be the company’s second U.S. manufacturing site.

Shane Short, an official with the local joint development authority that just helped land one of the biggest economic development projects in Georgia history, tries out a Rivian truck. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder 

“Electric vehicles are going to be the new future for us, and we’re going to reduce that carbon footprint worldwide,” said Short, who is the economic developer for Walton County and who said his dad worked for General Motors. “And I think the more people can see these types of vehicles, ride in these vehicles and understand what they really mean and their impact, they’re going to want those vehicles as well. This kind of technology really is just so much cleaner for our world.”

The state officials who heralded the project Thursday discussed it in sweeping terms, not just for the economic impact to the state of the $5 billion investment but also the project’s role in bolstering the state’s clean energy credentials.

Georgia is already home to electric vehicle battery maker SK Innovation in Commerce and Hanwha Q CELLS’ massive plant in Dalton, which was the largest solar panel factory in the western hemisphere when it officially opened in 2019.

When fully operational, the new factory is expected to build about 400,000 vehicles a year. The kind of truck expected to be built in Georgia was parked inside Liberty Plaza.

“Today is also about Georgia’s emerging leadership role in a booming, innovative industry that will benefit our state and our citizens for generations to come,” Kemp said into a microphone at Liberty Plaza.

“We’ve all been preparing for a company and a project like Rivian for a very long time,” he said. “We also knew the electric automotive and supply chain ecosystem was only going to grow over the next few decades, and that Georgia had the fundamentals not only to compete for these projects, but to win.”

The project, which will straddle Morgan and Walton counties, will yield Georgia an estimated 7,500 jobs over several years. The site had been in the state’s economic development database for about five years.

MORE: Gov. Kemp, Rivian announce $5 billion electric vehicle plant in Georgia

Rivian’s chief people officer, Helen Russell, stood alongside state officials and pitched a job opportunity directly to the listening public. Nearly two dozen Georgia-based jobs were posted as of Thursday.

“As a public company, every employee at Rivian owns a piece of the business. Similarly, we have highly competitive compensation and benefits packages. And we’re really looking forward to bringing those packages to Georgians,” Russell said.

It remains to be seen, though, how much the project will cost taxpayers. Kemp deferred comment on state tax incentives to the state Department of Economic Development.

Pat Wilson, commissioner of the state Department of Economic Development, talks to reporters after Thursday’s announcement. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder 

Pat Wilson, who leads the agency, told reporters Thursday the details are being finalized and said the incentives would be outlined about a month later and posted online. He compared the package to the one offered to Kia when it came to West Point but did not provide a ballpark figure for the size.

Georgia beat out Texas and other states for the plant. Fort Worth dangled $440 million in tax incentives this year in an effort to win the Rivian sweepstakes, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Kemp told reporters the state’s allure went beyond incentives.

“It’s a lot more than that, because there’s a lot of states that can give cash incentives and other things. But if you don’t have a good site, if you don’t have good logistics, and if you especially don’t have a good workforce, none of that matters. And what I sold to them was speed to market and workforce,” Kemp said.

Construction is set to begin this coming spring, with the California-based company pledging to build a “carbon-conscious campus” in its release about the project. Locals have expressed concerns about the impact on farmland; a lone protester held a sign Thursday asking the company what it will do to protect the watershed and night sky. The company said town hall events will be planned near the site for residents.

“This is the most environmentally conscious company that I’ve ever dealt with,” Wilson said. “And they are in fact doing a survey of trees on the property to make sure that they minimize their impact on the green space in the property. And so we’re really excited to bring a company like that to the state.”

 

Rivian is still ramping up production at its facility in Normal, Illinois. The company posted a $1.23 billion loss for the third quarter, saying its vehicle production is currently less than its manufacturing capacity. The company is working on producing its R1T truck, R1S SUV and EDV commercial van.

In Georgia, only a small portion of the driving public is behind the wheel of an electric vehicle. Overall, the number of electric vehicles in Georgia make up a little more than 1% of all automobiles newly registered in the state. That small percentage has held steady the last three years.

It remains to be seen whether having a Georgia-built electric vehicle will change that.

“When I look at Rivian’s announcement, I see jobs,” House Speaker David Ralston, a Blue Ridge Republican, said in an interview Thursday. “This is a real game changer. This is going to have a huge positive effect on our economy here in the state. That’s what I see first of all. If it gets into driving habits and purchasing habits, I think only time will tell.”

West Side Story

By
Justin Hall
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The first thing to say about this remake of West Side Story is that fans of the original are not going to be disappointed. This is a wonderfully faithful adaptation and it also brings its own sensibilities to make it a standout.

The second thing to say is director Steven Spielberg’s treatment brings the same amount of vibrancy, exuberance and pathos as the 1961 Oscar-winning classic.

The remake stays true to the story and its settings in 1957 New York and it centers around the two gangs known as the Jets and the Sharks who fight and dance and dance and fight over their respective turfs.

In between both rival factions stand two kids named Tony (Ansel Elgort) and Maria (newcomer Rachel Zegler) who meet at a dance and instantly fall in love. Maria’s older brother Bernardo (David Alvarez) strongly opposes it due to Tony’s association with the Jets.

The rest of the movie bounces between sensationally choreographed sequences that oftentimes feel extemporaneous and help advance the story. There’s also a great deal of character development even amongst the supporting characters so that when something happens, it carries weight and validity to make us care.

It felt great to be seeing a remake that was brimming with spirit, heart and soul instead of just feeling like a retread.

Elgort and Zegler are both greatly cast in their roles and they embrace the material wholeheartedly. Their musical numbers are heartfelt and their love story equals the original and, in some ways, surpasses it.

Spielberg has proven he can tackle any genre with his sure-handed touch regardless of his blockbusters such as E.T., Jaws, Jurassic Park or Indiana Jones. He also proves he can handle more personal, intimate stories such as Schindler’s List. Once again, he scores a monumental triumph.

Grade: A

(Rated PG-13 for some strong violence, strong language, thematic content, suggestive material and brief smoking.)

Biden’s big social spending bill caught in snags in the Senate

By
Ariana Figueroa
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A temporary expansion of the child tax credit, the last payment of which was made Wednesday, is on hold after the Biden administration’s bill, known as Build Back Better appeared stalled out for 2021.

WASHINGTON (GA Recorder) — President Joe Biden’s giant social and climate spending bill on Thursday night appeared stalled in the U.S. Senate for some time to come, a deep frustration for congressional Democrats who aimed to pass the ambitious package by the Christmas recess.

At risk also is a temporary expansion of the child tax credit, the last payment of which was made Wednesday. The expansion was included in Biden’s bill, known as Build Back Better, and Democrats in the evenly divided Senate say they can’t pass it separately because Republicans won’t support it.

In addition, the Wall Street Journal reported that a key immigration provision added by the House to the bill has been rejected by the Senate parliamentarian.

Biden in a statement on Thursday night said that he spoke earlier in the day with congressional leaders about his negotiations with Sen. Joe Manchin III, the moderate West Virginia Democrat whose objections to the funding of the expanded child tax credit have held up the Build Back Better measure.

“My team and I are having ongoing discussions with Senator Manchin; that work will continue next week,” Biden said. “It takes time to finalize these agreements, prepare the legislative changes, and finish all the parliamentary and procedural steps needed to enable a Senate vote. We will advance this work together over the days and weeks ahead; Leader [Chuck] Schumer and I are determined to see the bill successfully on the floor as early as possible.”

MORE: Arizona Sen. Sinema opposes filibuster carveout to advance voting rights legislation

During Thursday’s White House press briefing, Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the administration would not go into details on a timeline for when the bill would be passed.

“The president is determined to get this done as soon as possible,” she said.

Negotiations have foundered over objections by Manchin, who has said the price tag for “Build Back Better” should account for a 10-year expansion of the child tax credit, which would help lift millions of children and families out of poverty.

The bill now includes just a one-year expansion, through 2022, and adding another nine years of the revamped tax credit would push the overall cost far beyond what Manchin has said he would accept.

Manchin told CNN earlier this week that Build Back Better should be “within the limits of what we can afford.”

Manchin also has objected to the inclusion of a universal paid parental and family leave provision.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the bill would spend about $1.7 trillion over 10 years. Budget analysts project another roughly $500 billion in tax breaks, putting the total cost at about $2.2 trillion over a decade, higher than earlier estimates from the White House.

The bill includes historic investments in child care and universal pre-K for 3-and-4 year-olds. It would also for the first time give Medicare the ability to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies on the price of some prescription drugs and offer coverage of hearing aids for seniors, among other things.

“Build Back Better is urgently needed to lower the cost of prescription drugs, health care, child care, and elder care,” Biden said. “Notwithstanding the unrelenting Republican obstruction — not a single Republican is willing to move forward on the bill — I am determined to see this bill enacted into law, to give America’s families the breathing room they deserve. We also need urgent action on climate change and other priorities in the Build Back Better plan.”

However, it’s become unclear if an extension to the child tax credit will be included, given Manchin’s stance.

When a Huffington Post reporter asked Manchin Wednesday if he supported the child tax credit, Manchin lost his temper and did not answer the question.

Democrats temporarily expanded the child tax credit earlier this year under the American Rescue Plan from $2,000 to $3,600 for kids under 6, and to $3,000 for kids from 6 to 17.

Republicans have objected to the overall cost of the bill.

The legislation also includes $555 billion in climate spending and tax credits, primarily in the form of $320 billion in new and extended clean energy tax credits.

Rep. Kathy Castor, (D-Fla.), is also urging the Senate to not remove the ban on offshore drilling off the Atlantic, Pacific and the eastern Gulf of Mexico from its version of the bill. Manchin has raised opposition to offshore drilling bans, according to the New York Times.

“We have a moral obligation to urgently reduce our carbon dioxide and methane pollution, which are fueling catastrophic extreme weather events across the country,” Castor said in a statement. “That’s why we must permanently ban drilling on our coasts and address the pollution spewed by hundreds of abandoned, leaky rigs and pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, has not yet scheduled a vote on the bill, which is also undergoing scrutiny by the parliamentarian so that it complies with a process called reconciliation, which allows passage with a simple majority in the evenly divided Senate.

Schumer said he met with Biden and other Democratic senators about the Senate stalemate. “All I’m saying is that we had a very good discussion on voting rights and BBB,” Schumer said, according to Capitol Hill pool reports.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat who chairs the Senate Rules Committee, said that she had a virtual meeting with the president and vice president, along with Manchin, on passing voting protections.

Immigration policy also hangs in the balance.

The House passed its version of Build Back Better in late November and wrapped in temporary work and deportation protections through a parole program that allows some undocumented people to change their status to prevent deportation.

The Senate is now waiting for a decision by the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, who is nonpartisan and provides advice and help on Senate rules and procedures, on whether the immigration provisions in the package can be passed through reconciliation.

However, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday night that MacDonough rejected Democrats’ immigration proposals.

Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that he was “disappointed” about the parliamentarian’s ruling, according to Capitol Hill pool reports.

“We’re considering what options remain,” he said.

Many immigration advocates and House progressives were not satisfied with those provisions as they pushed Congress to include a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented people in the bill.

Democrats have tried to include a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented people through the reconciliation package but were blocked by the Senate parliamentarian from including those provisions.

Many advocates and progressive Democrats have argued that the parliamentarian is merely an adviser and that the Senate could overrule her opinion.

Lizzie Faye Ledford Sugg

By
Now Habersham
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Lizzie Faye Ledford Sugg, age 70 of Hollywood, Georgia, passed away on Wednesday, December 15, 2021.

Born August 22, 1951, on Warwoman Road in Clayton, Georgia, Mrs. Sugg was the daughter of the late Howard LeRoy Ledford, Sr. and the late Eva Mae Hooper Ledford. Mrs. Sugg was a loving daughter, wife, mother, and sister and earnestly cared for all of her family. She enjoyed planting flowers and vegetables in her gardens, cooking, crocheting, spending time with her loved ones, and studying her Bible. She was devout in her faith and had served as church secretary, Sunday school teacher, and also sang in the choir at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Mrs. Sugg was retired from Toccoa Rental and Sales as a secretary. She did everything with a smile on her face and love in her heart.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Sugg is preceded in death by siblings Helen Ellamae Lewis (William Lewis), Benson Eugene Ledford (Patricia “Pat” Ledford), Lawrence “Larry” Addison Ledford, Carol Bell Black (William “Bill” Black), Katherine Genelia Ledford, Wanda Maxine Pittman, Brenda Sue Smith and Lydia Gail Stancil, and brother-in-law Paul Frankum.

Survivors include her husband Junior Sugg of Hollywood, son Coty Sugg (fiancé Jessica Alger) of Lawrenceville, sister and brother-in-law Martha and Charles “Chuck” Hazle of Hollywood, brother and sister-in-law Howard and Judy Ledford of Hollywood, sister Virginia Frankum of Clarkesville, sister-in-law Janice Ledford of Hollywood, brother-in-law Charles Pittman of Woodstock, brother-in-law Charles Smith of Toccoa, and brother-in-law Carol Stancil of Toccoa, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and extended family.

Graveside services will be held at 3:00 PM, Sunday, December 19, 2021, at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Sunday, prior to the service from 1:30 PM until 2:30 PM.

An online guest book is available for the family at www.hillsidememorialchapel.com.

Arrangements by Hillside Memorial Chapel & Gardens, Clarkesville. 706-754-6256

Jessica Dawn Taylor Poole

By
Now Habersham
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Jessica Dawn Taylor Poole, age 40 of Toccoa, passed away on December 11, 2021.

Born in Demorest, Georgia on May 9, 1981, Jessica was the daughter of Beverley B. Thomas and the late Danny Taylor. She was a 1999 graduate of Habersham Central High School and she worked as a clerk and also in the foodservice industry. Jessica was very scholarly and was a very intelligent young lady. She loved spending time outdoors, especially fishing on the lake or in a river. Jessica was a member of North Georgia Bible Church. In addition to her father, Jessica is preceded in death by stepfather Roy Thomas and grandmother Inger Kelly.

Survivors include her mother Beverley Thomas of Gainesville, daughters Alanna Poole and Bianca Poole of Gainesville, sister Briana Lipscomb of Gainesville, Stephanie Martin (Calvin) of Cleveland, life partner Charlie Moore of Toccoa, nephew Nate Lipscomb of Gainesville and numerous cousins and extended family.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

An online guest book is available for the family by visiting www.hillsidememorialchapel.com.

Arrangements by Hillside Memorial Chapel & Gardens, Clarkesville. 706-754-6256

Gov. Kemp, Rivian announce $5 billion electric vehicle plant in Georgia

By
Staff Report
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ATLANTA – At an event with company leaders, Governor Brian Kemp today announced that Rivian Inc. will invest $5 billion in a carbon-conscious campus in Georgia for its electric adventure vehicles. Across operations, Rivian will create approximately 7,500 jobs on just under 2,000 acres located at the site known as the East Atlanta Megasite, represented by the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton, and Walton counties. Once manufacturing operations are fully ramped up, the Georgia facility will be capable of producing up to 400,000 vehicles per year.

Rivian’s manufacturing plant represents the single-largest economic development project in state history, officials say.

“We are so proud that Georgia will now be home to Rivian’s largest manufacturing facility,” said Gov. Kemp. “This single investment – the largest in state history – represents the future of automotive manufacturing and establishes the leading role the Peach State will play in this booming industry for generations to come.”

“We’re happy to partner with Georgia on our next manufacturing site, which will allow us to meet demand for Rivian products and to scale our business rapidly,” said Rivian Chief People Officer Helen Russell. “We’re confident that, alongside Illinois, Georgia is the place for Rivian to scale and thrive.”

Construction on the facility, located at Stanton Springs North, is expected to begin in summer 2022, and production is slated to start in 2024.

Strategic location

Rivian’s strategic location on the I-20 corridor will enable the company to access resources and speed its products to market utilizing the state’s 1,200 miles of highway and 5,000 miles of rail. The Port of Savannah, which is the largest on-terminal rail facility in North America, will allow Rivian to “efficiently tap into supply chain needs,” state economic development officials say.

Another boon to the company is Georgia Quick Start’s commitment to build and operate a state-of-the-art manufacturing training center that will provide Rivian with a fully customized training program that meets the company’s start-up needs.

“This will also build capacity and curricula within the Technical College System of Georgia to maintain a long-term pipeline of highly skilled employees who are trained specifically in these operations,” Kemp’s office says.

In addition, the Georgia Department of Labor will assist the company in identifying and recruiting workers.

Open job postings in Georgia will be immediately available at www.rivian.com/careers. Inquiries about project RFIs, RFPs listing, and supply chain outreach can be directed to [email protected].

Expanding EV auto industry

Georgia is at the center of the rapidly expanding Southeast Automotive Alley, and Rivian’s investment accelerates the evolution of Georgia’s automotive ecosystem.

Within the last five years, 78 automotive-related companies have located or expanded operations in Georgia, creating thousands of new jobs.

While existing companies in Georgia have expanded their portfolios to include parts for EVs, companies from Korea, Germany, Turkey, and the Netherlands have also recently announced plans to build EV-related facilities in the state.

Rivian is the latest success in Georgia’s push to recruit the entire electric mobility ecosystem to the state. In August, Gov. Kemp announced the launch of the Electric Mobility and Innovation Alliance, a statewide initiative between government, industries, electric utilities, nonprofits, and other relevant stakeholders focused on growing the electric vehicle industry in the state. In addition to attracting new jobs, the alliance is focused on ensuring Georgia’s existing 55,000 automotive manufacturing jobs receive the support they need for retraining and expansions to transition to meet the new demands of electric transportation.

Santa comes early for local families in need

By
Joy Purcell
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Volunteers set up the toys and bikes inside the gym at First Baptist Church of Cornelia so that parents could come through and 'shop' for their kids' Christmas. (photo by Kathleen Clement)

Hundreds of low-income families in Habersham got a helping hand to make Christmas special this year for their children.

The Habersham Kiwanis’ Toys for Kids program distributed toys, bicycles, books, and clothes to families who qualified for assistance through the local school system and relief services.

Approximately 450 children will be able to have toys on Christmas morning thanks to this event, says Habersham Schools Social Worker Kathleen Clement.

“We had wonderful donations this year from Habersham Schools students and staff, Georgia Power, Juan Paramo with Paramo Mechanical, Dollar General, Tony Cook, Brand Names for Less Auction, as well as many other community businesses and individuals,” Clement says. “We were able to give away a record number of bicycles and toys due to the generous donations.”


Nellie Snyder has chaired the club’s Toys for Kids project for 29 years.

“Each year we are grateful for the generosity of many local businesses and individuals. Without that, the success of our project could not be possible.”

MORE: White County’s Shop with a Cop brightens local kids’ Christmas

One of the many nice things about the Toys for Kids program is it allows parents to ‘shop’ for their children, rather than just being gifted blind, age-appropriate gifts. This gives parents input into what their children receive and makes it more likely their kids will find presents they want under the tree.

Toys are laid out on tables by age to make it easier for parents to find gifts for their children. (Habersham Kiwanis Facebook)

 

 

Parents also get to choose from a selection of donated coats and warm winter items.

 

Dozens of volunteers from inside and out of the Habersham Kiwanis Club and school system dedicate their time and resources throughout the year preparing for each Christmas giveaway. It’s a lot of work, but Snyder says it’s worth it.

“I continue working with this project because I just enjoy it, and I love to see happy children at Christmas!”

Clement wraps that sentiment with the ultimate bow, “We are blessed to live in such a giving community!”

TFS swimmers take the plunge

By
E. Lane Gresham
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TFS swim team members plunge into the freezing waters of Tallulah Falls Lake on Dec. 15, 2021. (E. Lane Gresham/Tallulah Falls School)

An annual tradition 10 years and counting took place on December 15 as members of the Tallulah Falls School swim team took the “Polar Plunge” in Tallulah Falls Lake.

According to coach Rachel Nichols, the event was again a success.

“This is a great occasion that we use to celebrate the halfway point of the season by spending time and sharing laughs together,” Nichols said. “This is also a unique event that we take pride in having every year. This makes for great memories for all involved.”

Some of the swimmers lingered in the water just off the beach, while others made a quick trip to the floating boundary before racing back to gather around the fire pit.

The Polar Plunge is special to Nichols, also, because she was part of the swim team that started it a decade ago.

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words. Well, judging by these photos, it’s safe to say that water was COLD!

 

 

Cindy Savage Sapp

By
Now Habersham
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Cindy Savage Sapp, age 58 of Mount Airy, Georgia took her Heavenly flight home to be with her Lord & Savior on Wednesday, December 15, 2021.

Born in Habersham County, Georgia on October 20, 1963, she was a daughter of the late Jerry C. Savage & the late Bernice Broome Savage Dailey. Cindy was a medical assistant for over 16 years with Pediatrics at Toccoa Clinic. In her spare time, she enjoyed reading, fishing, painting, history, studying her family’s genealogy, & trips to the beach. She was a member of the Glade Creek Baptist Church.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Vickie Bernice Savage Ansley; grandparents, Otis & Lulah Jones Savage as well as Michael & Zadie Smith Broome.

Survivors include her daughter & son-in-law, Nicole & Chris Souther; grandchildren, Emma Souther & Gavin Souther; brother & spouse, John Savage & Kenny Williams; brother-in-law, Stanley M. Ansley all of Mt. Airy, GA; niece & spouse, Christy & Chris Peck; great-niece, Nora Peck; aunts & uncle, Jennifer & Jackie Taylor all of Baldwin, GA; Bessie Brown of Mt. Airy, GA; uncles & aunt, Jack Broome; J.B. & Cindi Jo Savage all of Mt. Airy, GA; extended family, Michelle & Daniel Watson & their children, Colton, Kandyn, & Bentley Watson all of Toccoa, GA; Shari Roth of Indiana & her son, Noah Swain of New York; many other relatives, & a host of friends.

Funeral services are scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Monday, December 20, 2021, at Hillside Memorial Chapel with Rev. Kenneth McEntire officiating. Cindy’s wishes were to be cremated following the service.

The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 2:00 p.m. until the service hour on Monday.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that all donations be made in memory of Cindy Savage Sapp to Hillside Memorial Chapel, P.O. Box 305 Clarkesville, Georgia. 30523 to help with funeral expenses.

An online guest registry is available for the family at www.HillsideMemorialChapel.com

Arrangements by Hillside Memorial Chapel, Clarkesville, Georgia. (706) 754-6256

Six Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School student-athletes sign at the Division 1 Level

By
Now Habersham
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From left to right: Linus Zunk, Coleman Bryson, Tucker Holloway, Buddy Howard, Marlin Klein, and Darren Agu.

The future is bright for student-athletes at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School. Six players from Rabun Gap inked their National Letters of Intent on Wednesday, marking the largest group of Division 1 signees in school history.

Signees included football players Darren Agu of London, England; Coleman Bryson of Waynesville, NC; Tucker Holloway of Andrews, NC; Marlin Klein of Köln, Germany; and Linus Zunk of Berlin, Germany; and baseball player Buddy Howard of Lancaster, SC. These six student-athletes have a combined GPA of 3.9 and received a total of 99 Division 1 offers.

Agu and Zunk signed with Vanderbilt University. Holloway will be heading to Virginia Tech. Bryson and Klein will continue their football careers in the Big 10, attending the University of Minnesota and University of Michigan, respectively. All five of these players were key members of the back-to-back NCISAA state runner-up Eagles football team.

Howard will head to Western Carolina University to play baseball for the Catamounts. He is a member of the Eagles baseball team, which finished in the state semifinals last season and looks to make a championship run this spring.

“This is a historic day for Rabun Gap athletics,” said Head of School Jeff Miles. “I am so proud of each of these student-athletes as they continue to pursue their dreams at the Division 1 level. These young men have worked hard on and off the field, and I look forward to following their success in the future.”

Athletic Director Dale Earnhardt spoke about the importance of these signings, and others, to the athletic program.

“These Division 1 signings highlight the success of our athletics program and the commitment of our coaches to college recruitment,” said Earnhardt. “I am incredibly proud of all of our student-athletes.”

Wednesday’s signing day was the first for this academic year at Rabun Gap. The school will host another signing day this spring, with more signees in football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse and soccer.

Top recruit from Georgia spurns Florida State to play for Jackson State

By
Associated Press
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Collins Hill High School wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) watches warm-ups before the Class 7A title high school football game against Milton at Georgia State Center Parc Stadium, on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, in Atlanta. Hunter, the No. 1 high school football recruit in the country, pulled a signing day shocker Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, deciding to attend Jackson State and play for coach Deion Sanders after being verbally committed to Florida State for months. (Jason Getz/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

The No. 1 high school football recruit in the country pulled a signing day shocker Wednesday, deciding to attend Jackson State and play for coach Deion Sanders after being verbally committed to Florida State for months.

Travis Hunter, a cornerback from Suwanee, Georgia, made the unprecedented announcement during a ceremony at Collins Hill High School. Hunter was the top prospect in the country in 247 Sports’ composite rankings, which take into account its own ratings plus those of other major recruiting websites.

WATCH: Hunter and his Collins Hill team win the GHSA 7A Football Championship On GPB

Sanders is a former Florida State star and Pro Football Hall of Famer who is in his second year coaching Jackson State, a historically black college in Jackson, Mississippi.

At his signing ceremony, Hunter had three baseball caps on the table in front of him as he prepared to make his announcement: Florida State, Auburn and Georgia.

He tossed them off the stage one-by-one and unzipped his sweatshirt to reveal a T-shirt that read Believe. He then caught a Jackson State cap — with a dark blue J on a white background — that was tossed to him from the crowd and put that on.

“I got a one in lifetime chance to play for one of the greats,” Hunter told WXIA-TV in Atlanta after making his announcement. “I got a chance to make a change in history.”

On Nov. 27, 2021, GPB’s Hannah Goodin talked with Collins Hill cornerback Travis Hunter about coming back from injury and his commitment to Florida State on Recruiting 2021. (Credit: GPB Sports)

Since the evaluation and rating of high school recruits started to take off in the late 1990s and early 2000s, no player as highly regarded as Hunter has ever signed a scholarship out of high school with an HBCU such as Jackson State.

Top 100 players rarely sign outside the traditional college football power programs that play in the strongest conferences such as the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten.

Jackson State competes at a level several rungs below those conferences in the second tier of NCAA Division I football, the Championship Subdivision.

Schools like Jackson State rarely if ever sign three-star players. Hunter is one of several dozen five-star prospects in the 2022 recruiting class.

A longtime member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Jackson State won its first SWAC title since 2007 last month.

‘We’re going to shock the country,” Sanders said Tuesday, the eve of the opening of the early signing period, on Barstool Sports’ “Unnecessary Roughness” podcast. Sanders has his own podcast on Barstool, “21st and Prime,” and is a regular contributor to the company’s most popular show, “Pardon My Take.”

Hunter had been expected to sign with Florida State as college football’s early signing period opened on Wednesday. He had given a non-binding verbal commitment to FSU in March and was considered the centerpiece of what the Seminoles hoped to be a recruiting class that would turn around the fortunes of a struggling superpower.

Florida State has won three national championships, most recently in 2013, but the program has fallen on hard times recently, with four straight losing seasons under two coaches.

“We’ve had 14 great young men that have joined our program today,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell told reporters at his signing day news conference. “That’s going to be our focus.”

This article appears on Now Habersham through a news partnership with GPB News.

More Georgia Secretary of State’s office officials interviewed by Jan. 6 committee

By
Stephen Fowler
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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks during a news conference on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Atlanta. Georgia election officials have announced an audit of presidential election results that will trigger a full hand recount. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Representatives of the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection interviewed current and former employees of the Georgia Secretary of State’s office Wednesday about former President Donald Trump’s extensive attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.

According to an official briefed on the conversations but not authorized to speak publicly, at least two current or former officials from the office sat for hours with representatives of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.

Trump faces a criminal investigation into his attempts to overturn Georgia’s election results, with reports that the Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is likely to impanel a special grand jury to review potential election interference, including an infamous call with Trump asking Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes.”

Gabriel Sterling, the state’s voting system implementation manager and vocal critic of Trump’s attacks on election integrity, discussed Georgia’s election infrastructure and disinformation that plagued the state, according to the official. The conversation included discussions about conspiracies surrounding vote counting in State Farm Arena, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani making false claims to state lawmakers in several hearings and persistent attacks on election results in Fulton County, the state’s most populous.

Frances Watson, the former top investigator for the secretary of state’s office, who now serves in a different law enforcement role, discussed her own call with former president Trump in late December.

“Whatever you can do Frances, it would be — it’s a great thing,” Trump said in a six-minute conversation first reported by The Washington Post and released in full by The Wall Street Journal. “The people of Georgia are so angry at what happened to me.”

“They know I won by hundreds of thousands of votes,” Trump falsely claimed.

The meeting with more figures in Georgia’s election orbit comes after Raffensperger sat for four hours with investigators two weeks ago to discuss his Jan. 2 phone call with the former president just days before a dual U.S. Senate runoff that would decide control of the chamber.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Raffensperger also discussed misinformation surrounding the state’s thrice-counted election results.

Raffensperger’s efforts to “defend the integrity of the state’s election system” are central to the committee’s work, according to chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).

“In spite of the pressure from President Trump, Mark Meadows and others, he has steadfastly held to that position,” Thompson told the AJC.

The Georgia meeting comes hours after the House voted Tuesday to hold Meadows, a former North Carolina U.S. representative and White House chief of staff, in criminal contempt of Congress after Meadows stopped cooperating with the committee — but not before Meadows turned over thousands of emails and text messages to investigators.

The Justice Department will decide whether criminal charges will be brought against Meadows for defying a subpoena and refusing to testify, while Meadows’ lawyer maintains he cannot be compelled to appear for questioning due to executive privilege.

During Tuesday’s floor debate on the contempt vote, committee members read several texts sent to Meadows, including from an unnamed Georgia official present on the call between Raffensperger and Trump.

“Need to end this call,” one message read. “I don’t think this will be productive much longer.”

The call, first reported by The Washington Post and obtained by GPB News, is one of many Georgia-related incidents involving Meadows being reviewed by lawmakers seeking to understand the events leading up to thousands of Trump supporters breaching the U.S. Capitol during the counting of Electoral College votes on Jan. 6.

Meadows made an unannounced trip to Cobb County on Dec. 22 while the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was conducting an analysis of signatures on absentee ballot envelopes. The day after Meadows’ visit, Trump called Watson, the secretary of state’s chief investigator, and asked whether the review would run through Christmas, noting the “very important date” of Jan. 6 was fast approaching.

On Dec. 29, a final report on the signature review ultimately found “no fraudulent absentee ballots.”

He also coordinated the Jan. 2 call with Raffensperger and made false claims of fraud during the hourlong conversation, arguing there were more votes illegally cast in the names of dead people than the state was able to identify.

At a Jan.4 rally for then-Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in Dalton, the night before runoff elections that saw depressed conservative turnout and less than 48 hours before the insurrection, Trump railed against Georgia’s election results, Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp, vowing to “[campaign] against your governor and your crazy secretary of state” in the midterm elections for failing to overturn the 2020 results.

It is a promise that Trump has kept in the 13 months since the presidential election, endorsing Rep. Jody Hice (R-Greensboro) to primary Raffensperger for secretary of state and announcing his support last week for Perdue to challenge Kemp in the governor’s race.

This article appears on Now Habersham through a news partnership with GPB News.

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