As the spring and summer plantings continue to fall by the wayside, this is the perfect time to replenish the earlier blooming beauties with the flowers of fall.
These are perennials that will come back year after year. Most of the suggestions on our list are also great pollinators which will support bees and butterflies.
First up on our list of fall blooming perennial flowers to grow, is this widely recognizable perennial. Asters can grow up to 7’ tall depending upon variety, but more commonly hovers around 2’ tall and wide. Its daisy-like appearance features fringy petals in hues of purple, lavender, pink, and white, often with yellow centers. It prefers full to part sun, moist but well-drained soil and cool nighttime temperatures.
Hardy mums are synonymous with autumn — their harvest shades of yellow, orange, white, and purple are instantly associated with sweater weather. Don’t confuse them, however, with the potted fall mums found at grocery stores and floral shops at this time of year — those plants are mostly seasonal decorations alongside pumpkins and gourds because they won’t likely survive the winter.
Goldenrod are rugged and adaptable fall blooming perennial flowers crops up where other plants fail to bloom — but mistake this beauty for a hay fever-inducing weed and you’ll be missing out on one of fall’s most stunning and dependable bloomers. Because the goldenrod blooms at about the same time as ragweed, it’s often mistakenly blamed for seasonal allergies.
Looking for a mauve giant for your fall garden? Look no further; it’s Joe Pye weed. Growing up to 7’ tall, this clumping perennial features tiny dull-pink bloom clusters that are very attractive to butterflies — and which produce dried seed heads that persist into winter. Give it full sun to part shade, and moist, fertile soil that does not dry out.
Sedum is a huge family of plants with foliage in wide-ranging colors from gray-green, blue-green, to burgundy. These drought-tolerant succulent plants feature a profusion of tiny, star-shaped fall flowers. Commonly called “stonecrop,” sedum generally prefers full sun to light shade, and fertile but well-drained soil.
the flowers of fall
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Aster
Chrysanthemums
sedum
Reflection, troubleshooting, and planning
This is the perfect time of year to help you bolster your garden for next spring while also preparing your garden for the upcoming chill.
Here are some tasks that need to be done this month:
Continue to mulch your fall gardens to suppress weeds and regulate soil temperature.
Stop fertilizing trees, lawns, and shrubs.
Fertilize protected plants and vegetables as needed.
Continue saving seeds from high-performing vegetables and flowers.
Walk around the garden and take notes of what you want to plant next year, what succeeded, and what didn’t do well.
If you are planning a fall display with a few pumpkins scattered about, both mums and pansies will add a nice pop of color.
Happy Fall y’all! Oh, stay tuned for our Now Habersham contest kickoff tomorrow and the perfect fall giveaway with our gardening partner, Lowe’s of Cornelia!
About 70 percent of Georgia adults in a new survey report they had burdensome health care costs in the past year.
And an even higher percentage – 80 percent – are worried about being able to afford health care in the future.
The survey of more than 950 adults was conducted from April 12 to May 3 by Altarum, a nonprofit research and consulting organization.
Those cost concerns extended to respondents’ answers on what issues the government should address in the coming year. The top three cited were: 56% — health care; 51% —economy/joblessness; and 36% — immigration.
Even with more Georgians being insured, “we haven’t solved the affordability concerns,’’ said Laura Colbert, executive director of consumer advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future, which served as an adviser on the survey.
“People are very uncertain on how they’re going to maintain their coverage over the long run,’’ Colbert said Wednesday.
More than half (58%) of Georgia adults encountered one or more cost-related barriers to getting needed care during the prior 12 months. Their actions in response included cutting pills in half, skipping doses of medicine or not filling prescriptions, and some people simply did without certain care, such as by avoiding a prescribed medical test or not going to the dentist.
Affordability questions extend to all regions of the country, said Niall Brennan, president and CEO of the Health Care Cost Institute, a nonprofit research organization.
“Costs continue to careen out of control, rising at unsustainable rates,’’ he said Wednesday.
Drivers of high medical costs include consolidation among hospitals, which diminishes competition, he said.
“Most health care consumers are innocent bystanders in this spiraling cost scenario,’’ Brennan said.
Those with deductibles of $5,000 or $7,500 have severe affordability challenges, he said. “Every year, consumers pay a little more and get a little less’’ in terms of coverage.
And then they may get caught with a “surprise’’ medical bill. An unexpected bill from a health care provider, typically one who is not part of the consumer’s insurance network, can run into hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
For patients who have no health insurance, “treatment is costly and hence avoiding care is the most obvious route unless an emergency arises,’’ said Janani Thapa, health policy expert at the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health.
Thapa
People with different types of health insurance have separate challenges, she added. Those with private coverage face high costs, and members of public programs such as Medicaid have trouble finding medical providers who will accept new patients, Thapa said.
Benefit plans can sometimes skimp on coverage for mental health problems and addiction, said Colbert, whose organization is holding a forum Thursday about affordability, access and public policy solutions .
Consumers in the survey blamed hospitals, drug companies and insurers equally for being a “major reason” for high health care costs.
The southwest and eastern regions of Georgia have higher affordability problems, the survey found.
Colbert
At times, Georgia adults got the care they needed but had difficulty paying for it, with half of adults reporting that problem.
The problem of health care affordability affects families far up the income ladder, with over half (56%) of residents with household incomes of $100,000 or more struggling to afford their care in the past 12 months.
Over half of all survey respondents (55%) reported being either “somewhat worried” or “very worried” about affording the cost of prescription drugs.
Brennan, when asked whether there is hope for a leveling off of health care costs, said that “it remains to be seen. Presumably, society, consumers and employers will say, ‘This is enough.’ ”
Protesters line the back of the Georgia Board of Regents meeting Oct. 12, demonstrating against changes to the state’s tenure policy. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
The Georgia Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s 26 public universities, voted Wednesday to make significant changes to tenure for college professors.
The changes will directly affect 7,500 tenured professors in Georgia. Some of them have been protesting in person at regents meetings and over social media, arguing the move could curtail academic freedom and encourage professors to seek work outside of the state.
Tenure is a status granted to some professors which grants them job protection. It is intended to preserve their academic freedom to pursue research that could raise hackles with administrators, politicians or donors.
But the regents said Georgia’s system had not been updated since its creation in 1996 and did not do enough to ensure professors were being held accountable for the quality of their work.
At committee hearings Tuesday, they sought to reassure professors that they had addressed their concerns, including worries that faculty would have no say in the rules and that professors accused of not meeting expectations could be let go without due process.
“We have added explicit language you can see in the item for review today, explicit language to make it clear that that is our intent that a shared faculty role will be part and parcel of the creation of this work, and of course, the appeal mechanisms will be part and parcel,” said the university system’s Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer Tristan Denley.
The American Association of University Professors has threatened to censure the University System of Georgia over the changes, according to Georgia chapter president Matthew Boedy.
According to the association’s website, it censures institutions where “conditions for academic freedom and tenure are unsatisfactory at a college or university.”
Public universities must soon begin updating their post-tenure review policies, which will spell out how tenured professors will be judged by their superiors. Under the new process, professors who score below the standard two years in a row could face consequences ranging from a pay cut to termination. The changes also specify that the regents have the power to take over the role of granting tenure from institutions that it determines are not rigorous enough in their reviews.
Cas Mudde, a professor of international affairs at the University of Georgia, said the move will put more pressure on researchers to avoid topics which could displease the people who donate to schools.
“As public financing of academia has plummeted in the last decades, universities (also public ones) have become more and more dependent upon private donors,” Mudde said in a tweet. “And financial dependence creates power inequalities, which threaten ‘problematic’ academics.”
In recent months, some conservative politicians have sought to put an end to the teaching of critical race theory in college classrooms.
In January, Gillsville Republican state Rep. Emory Dunahoo sent a letter to University System of Georgia administrators asking a series of questions including whether students are taught about the concepts of privilege and oppression, that some races are inherently privileged, or that white, male, heterosexual Christians are intrinsically oppressive.
Mudde said researchers in the hard sciences could be targeted for research that upsets the powerful as well, giving the example of those studying climate change.
The issue could become another political lightning rod as lawmakers look ahead to January when they will begin legislating ahead of a pivotal election.
Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams weighed in on Twitter, comparing the debate to the ongoing fight over COVID-19 protections on college campuses.
“Academic freedom guaranteed by tenure is more than a hiring gimmick,” she said. “Georgia cannot compete for talent or produce innovation if we undermine our public universities. @BORUSG has already abandoned the physical health of our schools. Let’s not destroy intellectual capacity as well.”
A 95-year-old woman who survived a head-on collision earlier this month in Athens has died. On October 13, Athens-Clarke County police were notified that Mary Case died due to complications caused by her injuries.
On the morning of October 5, police say Case was driving a Toyota Prius that collided head-on with an Acura RDX on West Broad Street, just west of Sycamore Drive.
The wreck sent Case and the two occupants of the other vehicle to the hospital with what appeared at the time to be non-life-threatening injuries. Case suffered a suspected broken ankle, police say.
She is now the 21st person to die as a result of a motor vehicle crash in Athens-Clarke County this year.
Carolyn Louise Smith Britt, age 89 of Gainesville passed away Wednesday, October 13, 2021, at her residence surrounded by her loving family.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia on September 15, 1932, Mrs. Britt was the daughter of the late Gid L. and Vivian Johnson Smith. Mrs. Britt was a homemaker and she enjoyed flower gardening and spending time with her children, grands and greats. She was a member of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church. In addition to her parents, Mrs. Britt is preceded in death by her husband James Early Britt, and brother and sister-in-law Herbert and LaVerne Smith and brother Doyle Smith.
Survivors include her son Tony Britt (Kathy) of Monticello, daughters Dianne Parker (Bill) of Myrtle Beach, SC, Barbara Clyburn (Jim) of Gainesville, Carol Britt of Gainesville and Kathy Lee of Tampa, sister Jo Shaw of Gainesville, sister-in-law Rita Smith of Prattville, AL, eleven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Friday, October 15, 2021, at Hillside Memorial Chapel with Rev. Josh Taylor and Rev. Lanny Richardson officiating. Interment will follow the service in Providence Baptist Church Cemetery in the Batesville Community, Clarkesville. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Friday, prior to the service from 1-2 PM.
Flowers are accepted or memorials may be made to Hospice of Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
Sheila Diane Day Nunnally, age 71 of the Batesville Community, passed away on October 12, 2021.
Born in Columbus, Georgia on November 27, 1949, Mrs. Nunnally was the daughter of the late Harvey and Viola Decker Day. She was a homemaker and spent many years working in an independent pharmacy after raising her children. Mrs. Nunnally was a member of Providence Baptist Church where she was also in the Homemakers Club. In addition to her parents, Mrs. Nunnally is preceded in death by sister-in-law Ann Nunnally Howell.
Survivors include her husband John Douglas Nunnally of the Batesville Community, son Brian K. Nunnally of Atlanta, daughter Lori Grace Lilly (Kevin) of Braselton, brother Harvey E. Day, Jr. of Watkinsville, sister Anne Herring (Larry) of Bowman, brother in law Buzzer Howell (Carolyn) of Bishop, brother in law Pat Nunnally of Athens, grandchildren Zachary Nunnally of Lawrenceville, Alex Lilly of Las Vegas, NV, and Nathan Lilly (Delany) of Lawrenceville, as well as numerous nieces, nephews and extended family.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Sunday, October 17, 2021, at Providence Baptist Church with Dr. Don Drawdy, officiating. Interment will follow the service in the church cemetery and the family will receive friends at the church on Sunday, prior to the funeral from 1-2 PM.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Providence Baptist Church, 12030 Highway 197 North, Clarkesville, Georgia 30523, or to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital by visiting www.stjude.org.
Alto Police Chief Josh Ivey recieves Tanksley's burial flag, which he then gave to Tanksley's family in an emotional moment to remember his service. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Michael Tanksley served nearly two decades in law enforcement and, ultimately, it was his service and commitment to duty that led to this death.
The 40-year-old father of two passed away on October 8 from complications of COVID after contracting the disease in the line of duty. On October 13, dozens of law enforcement officers from his home department in Alto and surrounding communities attended his funeral for a final farewell.
Alto Police Chief Josh Ivey says he first met Tanksley about thirteen years ago on a license check detail when Tanklsey was an officer in Dillard. Tanksley eventually left the Dillard PD and went to work for Ivey in Alto. They spent the last two years of Tanksley’s law enforcement career as colleagues.
Alto Police Chief Josh Ivey recalls fond memories of working with Corp. Michael Tanksley during the officer’s funeral on Oct. 13, 2021, in Baldwin. (livestream image Whitfield Funeral Home)
“If you knew him, you loved him,” Chief Ivey told those gathered for Corporal Tanksley’s funeral Wednesday in Baldwin. He remembered the laughter and pranks that they shared and Tanksley’s compassion on the job.
Ivey recalled how Tanksley took a special interest in car seat safety, often helping parents he stopped learn how to install them correctly and making car seats available to those who didn’t have them.
“He’d pull people over and talk to them and tell them, ‘Come by the office tomorrow and let us educate you and we’ll dismiss the ticket.'”
“People were just so thankful, not so much because the ticket got dismissed, it was a $15 ticket, it was more because he was able to show them how to make their kid safer,” Ivey said. “I can’t remember the last time [in traffic court] somebody didn’t come and say, ‘You know, I want to tell you, with everything going on in the world today, your officer was really nice.’ And he was just that kind of person — not just that kind of officer — he was that kind of person.”
Officer Michael Tanksley
Known to the locals in Alto as Officer Mike, Tanksley spent the last two years of his 19-year law enforcement career with Alto PD. He was named the department’s officer of the year in 2019.
“We need more Michaels,” said the Rev. Terry Rice at Tanksley’s funeral during which he acknowledged the pandemic that has claimed many officers’ lives.
“This whole COVID mess is horrible and the side effects of it but, you see, in heaven, there will be no disease, there will be no sickness. I pray that you won’t let it make you bitter but better; and if you’re better, then he lives on in and through you.”
Following the service, police officers from multiple jurisdictions, including Dillard, escorted Corporal Tanksley’s body from Whitfield Funeral Home in Baldwin to Yonah Cemetery in Demorest where he was buried with full police honors.
Corp. Michael Tanksley funeral Oct. 13, 2021
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Tanksley's funeral processesion included first responders from Habersham County, Hall County, Alto, Demorest, Baldwin and the City of Dillard. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Hall County officers stand watch at Yonah Memorial Gardens as the funeral procession arrives. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
(Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Alto officers, who served as Tanksley's pallbearers, carry Tanksley to his final resting place. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Hall County officers remove Tanksley's burial flag, which, after a salute and playing of taps, would be folded for Tanksley's family. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Hall County officers perform the three-volley salute to honor Tanksley. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Dispatchers radioed in a 10-42, "End of Watch," call for officer Tanksley, saying he made his friends, family and community proud during his service. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
A pilot was killed when his plane went down in the fog along the shores of Lake Nottely on Oct. 13. (Shawn Jarrard/North Georgia News)
A plane crash in Northeast Georgia Wednesday morning killed a pilot from Florida. 71-year-old Michael J. Collins of Islamorada died when his plane went down in heavy fog and crashed on the shores of Lake Nottely in Union County, reports North Georgia News.
Collins had flown into the Blairsville Municipal Airport from Florida the day before. He had just taken off for his return trip shortly after 8 a.m. on October 13 when the crash occurred about two miles north of the airport, according to the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
Multiple witnesses reported hearing the crash. One man told authorities he heard the plane’s engine sputtering before it crashed less than twenty minutes after takeoff.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
Cleveland City Council members present a resolution honoring Beth Allen's life and work to her family during the Oct. 11, 2021, council meeting. Allen served in the city's finance department for nearly three decades. She passed away in September. (Dean Dyer/wrwh.com)
The Cleveland City Council took time Monday evening to recognize and pay tribute to a long-time city employee. Laura Beth Allen worked for the City of Cleveland for 27 years as a finance officer. She passed away last month at the age of 55 following a battle with cancer.
Beth Allen
Cleveland Mayor Josh Turner read a special resolution that was approved by the council paying tribute to Allen.
The resolution honored Allen’s commitment to her job and family and recognized the “deep void of sadness” her death left in the community.
“We can never replace Beth Allen, but we will continue to improve our lives and live our lives as demonstrated by her free spirit. The Lord has accepted Beth Allen into his presence, His good and faithful servant,” Turner said.
Colleagues described Allen as an indispensable part of the city’s finance office. Several of her family members attended the October 10 city council meeting to accept the resolution honoring her.
The resolution recognizes Allen’s contributions to the City of Cleveland, her family, and the community at large. (Dean Dyer/wrwh.com)
Duluth-based Planned PEThood is making its second trip to Habersham to offer free veterinary services to the Northeast Georgia community.
On Saturday, Oct. 16 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the organization in partnership with Habersham Animal Care and Control will provide vaccinations, flea medication and microchips at no cost to 200 animals that arrive at Saturday’s event. Planned PEThood will also have opportunities for free spay and neuter services for up to 50 animals.
Habersham County Animal Care and Control has delivered tickets to people with financial need for veterinary services, but if you didn’t receive a ticket to the event and are unable to provide these services for your pet, Animal Care and Control Director Madi Nix says they are assessing need on a case-by-case basis.
If you or someone you know cannot afford veterinary services and believe this clinic can help, please reach out to animal care and control at (706) 839-0195.
The event will take place at the Habersham County Fairgrounds, and will run similarly to the COVID-19 mass vaccination site that the fairgrounds hosted earlier this year.
This is part of Planned PEThood’s ongoing mission to serve communities in need of accessible veterinary care, and clear out shelters.
“We’re stopping the overpopulation and return to shelter rate,” Planned Pethood’s Tanya Weaver said during their last clinic in Habersham. “We don’t want any more babies brought in that could have been stopped.”
To date, Planned PEThood has fixed more than 65,000 cats and dogs across the state.
The event is made possible by funds from Jim Parker Charitable Foundation and Petco Love, as well as the donations of animal lovers. If you would like to donate to help animals in need, check out their website.
The Tallulah Falls School MS cross country program competed Tuesday in the Tri-State Championship on the home course. The girls placed as runner-up, finishing just one point back from Rabun Gap. The boys also came in second, six points off the lead to Summit Charter.
Crowds are set to gather outside the Glynn County courthouse starting Monday when jury selection for the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial begins. The media spotlight is about to train intensely on the small coastal Georgia town. In this May 2020 photo, crowds gathered on the lawn as a grand jury considered murder indictments. (Georgia Recorder file photo)
BRUNSWICK (GA Recorder) — When jury selection begins Monday in the trial of three white men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery, the Transformative Justice Coalition is expecting up to 100 people to show up in support of the Arbery family as Glynn County comes under a withering national spotlight.
The justice coalition is busing people to coastal Georgia to join a crush of out-of-towners and media outlets from across the country descending on Brunswick for the trial of three white men charged with murdering the 25-year-old Arbery as the Black man was out on a Sunday jog in February 2020. In the week leading up to the trial, public safety agencies are getting ready for large crowds, potential protests and security threats.
The founder of Transformative Justice Coalition, Barbara Arnwine, says there have only been a few community activists attending the hearings leading up to the trial, but that number should swell once the trial begins.
Throughout next week, the coalition will hold prayer services, online discussions and other events, as well as have many of its members watch court proceedings on TV screens set up outside the Glynn County Courthouse and in some of its rooms every day.
Not only will the verdict determine whether Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan spend years in prison, but for many onlookers, it also becomes a watershed moment for racial injustice.
“(Arbery was) just a young man who had a life to live and we have no clue what the outcome of his life would be because it was cut short for no good reason,” Arnwine said. “I think it’s a story that the nation needs to reflect on and I think the other story here is the story of the community organizing.”
While the Glynn County Sheriff’s Office handles security inside the courthouse, a unified command composed of law enforcement and first responder agencies from around the area and state has been hashing out scenarios since June that might occur around the county.
Chad Posick, criminal justice and criminology professor at Georgia Southern University, said the potential tensions between law enforcement and Arbery’s supporters make it all the more important that this case is handled fairly leading up to a verdict.
“There’s so many important issues wrapped around incidences of hate crime, around issues of race, justice issues around policing and community relationships,” Posick said. “There’s a lot that’s going to be here and the trial will be lengthy and I’m sure it’s gonna be very emotional.”
About 100 firefighters, police officers, Georgia State Patrol troopers and administrators met Monday afternoon to discuss potential threats and other situations if tensions rise during the month set aside for jury selection and trial.
Capt. Jeremiah Bergquist of the Glynn County Police Department, serving as an incident commander, addresses public safety and first responders serving in the unified command put in place for the Ahmaud Arbery trial. (Photo courtesy of Jay Sellers/unified command)
“We have the unusual advantage of lead time to prepare so we’re taking advantage of that,” command spokesman Jay Sellers said. “Overall, the mission is to support peaceful assembly. However, we are keenly aware that many will come here with the best of intentions while a few may seek to do harm.”
During the trial, the city will also be busy as tourists come in droves to attend the annual University of Georgia and University of Florida football game. There is potential for a historic amount of national and even international media coverage focused on the port city. Demonstrators are sure to crowd the courthouse lawn during the Arbery proceedings.
“The media turnout should be high, especially since the trial will be broadcast, but we have not gotten enough requests for assembly permits to have any confidence to say how many people may come in as guests,” Sellers said. “We will likely see the permit requests grow once jury selection begins on October 18, though groups smaller than 100 will likely not even request a permit.”
Court officials mailed jury duty notices to 1,000 people, a much larger summons than usual in an attempt to put together an impartial group in a case that raised a national outcry.
In a sign of how tight the community of Brunswick is, Brunswick City Commissioner Vincent Williams is a friend of Arbery’s father, who also cuts Williams’ yard. He has spoken with the grieving father about how important it is that Arbery gets justice.
Williams, a 1984 graduate of Brunswick High School, said he’s not aware of anything close to the magnitude of the trial in Arbery’s death ever taking place locally. That’s saying something in a coastal area that’s had more than its share of deadly law and order injustices.
Even with the anticipated large crowds, Williams said he’s confident that everything will remain orderly.
The combined show of force charged with keeping the peace during the trial received the stamp of approval from Brunswick and Glynn elected officials, the Glynn sheriff’s office, the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office and local schools.
“I think that we, along with the county, state officials, federal officials and everything have put together a real good game plan,” Williams said. “We are moving in the right direction to keep law and order in the city.
“Even before the arrests were made, how we handled things through that particular time, the protests and everything that happened was done peacefully,” Williams said. “Our goal is to continue peacefulness even through the verdict. We know it’s a very touchy subject, it’s a very touchy time and we just want to be prepared.”
Community plays important role
Without Bryan releasing the viral video of the chase that ended on a suburban Brunswick street after a shotgun-toting Travis McMichael felled Arbery with three blasts moments later, it is unlikely the case would be going to trial.
As the three accused killers tried to bond out of the Glynn County Jail in a May hearing, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent testified that as Arbery was bleeding on the street in the Satilla Shores neighborhood, Travis McMichael stood over him and spat a racial slur and obscenity.
Initially, local prosecutors who now face prosecution themselves used a citizen’s arrest law to justify the killing. The GBI took over the investigation into Arbery’s killing in spring 2020, resulting in the arrest of the three suspects.
Widespread awareness of the circumstances of Arbery’s killing is also leading to a much larger jury pool than a typical murder trial, with potential jurists waiting inside a community center before getting cleared to go inside the courthouse.
Concrete barriers have been placed outside the Glynn County courthouse in anticipation of crowds coming out for the Ahmaud Arbery trial that begins Oct. 18 with jury selection. (Photo courtesy of Barbara Arnwine)
The pandemic is leading to social distancing precautions inside a courtroom where jurors will be spread out and the gallery will be primarily limited to family members.
Streaming of the jury selection and trial will be available online, and the four-week trial is set aside to endure a spotlight on the highest-profile national case since former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty in April of the murder of George Floyd.
In the summer of 2020, protests spread from the Georgia Capitol in downtown Atlanta to cities across the state demanding justice in killings of Black people that included Floyd, Arbery, Louisville’s Breonna Taylor and others.
In Brunswick, Arbery’s death became a unifying rallying cry for demonstrators demanding justice during demonstrations outside the courthouse as a grand jury considered indictments for his murder.
Posick said that a case that will be headlined nationally like Arbery’s could present challenges, especially for a community as small as Brunswick with a population of just over 16,000.
Having a thorough jury selection process will be important in finding jurors who won’t succumb to outside pressure from either side, he said.
“I think as long as procedures are in place that reduces the chance that’s going to happen,” Posick said. “Unfortunately, we do see it a lot in smaller towns and more rural areas where the community is just more tight-knit and you have more opportunities to get at jurors.”
After the case ends, the McMichaels and Bryan face more legal troubles in U.S. District court where they face charges of attempted kidnapping and committing racially motivated hate crimes related to Arbery’s death.
Those cost concerns extended to respondents’ answers on what issues the government should address in the coming year. The top three cited were: 56% — health care; 51% —economy/joblessness; and 36% — immigration.
Drivers of high medical costs include consolidation among hospitals, which diminishes competition, he said.
