White County emergency personnel were called to assist a hiker who fell on the Appalachian Trail Saturday.
Bryce Barrett, Public Information Officer for White County Public Safety, said White County Dispatch received a call about an individual who experienced a fall near Hogpen Gap off of Richard Russell Scenic Highway.
According to Barrett, in a matter of minutes, fire personnel made contact with the individual, who was fully alert and oriented.
The individual walked out of the trail with help from first responders.
The 2023 Georgia Legislative Session concludes a busy ninth week with a multitude of legislative activities taking place throughout the halls of the State Capitol. The Senate convened for four days this week with a number of bills being heard before the Senate body, with a few measures of note.
Senate Bill 45, sponsored by Sen. Jason Anavitarte (R – Dallas), would implement a plan for the care of students being treated for epilepsy or a seizure disorder. Additionally, it would require the Department of Education to develop training guidelines and model seizure action plans for use by public schools and school systems. Children who struggle with neurological disorders such as epilepsy deserve to be taken care of when they are at school. I appreciate the Senate body for passing this meaningful bipartisan legislation unanimously.
Senate Bill 146, sponsored by Sen. Steve Gooch (R – Dahlonega), would impose regulation and taxation for the provisions of certain electricity used as a motor fuel in electric vehicles. SB 146 would additionally give regulative authority to the Public Service Commission and provides limitations upon the ownership, operation and maintenance of electric vehicle charging stations by electric utilities. SB 146 relegates the authority to the Department of Agriculture over electric vehicle charging stations and provides for a collection of a motor fuel excise tax upon the sale and use of certain electricity. New technologies that promote a healthier environment are coming forth every day, but the question of how to recover lost motor fuel tax to maintain Georgia highways and roads has loomed for years. I was proud to support this legislation that will continue to drive Georgia’s transportation sector in the right direction.
In addition, I am happy to report that two items of legislation that I’ve sponsored passed the senate on Crossover Day. This day is the last opportunity for Senate bills to be passed on to the House for consideration during the session. Senate Bill 237, which would provide student loan repayment for peace officers under the Georgia Student Finance Authority, has now been referred to the House Committee on Higher Education. Senate Bill 259, which would allow the Superior Court of Banks County to move from the Piedmont Judicial Circuit to the Mountain Judicial Circuit, has now been referred to the House Committee on Judiciary. These two measures will be presented to their respective House committees in the coming days, and I look forward to updating you on their progression through the House legislative process.
As we look to Legislative Days 32 through 35 of the 2023 Georgia Legislative Session, I assure you that my Senate colleagues and I are keeping the interest of Georgia’s citizens and the 50th Senate district in mind. Please do not hesitate to reach out to my office if you have any questions or concerns about matters relating to the Georgia Senate.
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Sen. Bo Hatchett serves as a Governor’s Administration Floor Leader. He represents the 50th Senate District which includes Banks, Franklin, Habersham, Rabun, Stephens, and Towns County and portions of Hall, Jackson, and White counties. He can be reached by phone at 404.651.7745 or by email at [email protected].
The meeting room for a hearing on the bill Monday was packed with both supporters and critics of the bill. (Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder)
(GA Recorder) — This year’s House plan to build on last session’s bipartisan mental health bill is receiving a cool reception in the state Senate, where lawmakers have raised concerns about the potential cost.
Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Marietta Republican who is leading the review of the bill, said a substitute bill will likely emerge.
Conservative activists are also once again pushing state senators to reject the bill, raising concerns about the lack of clear definitions while also lodging claims supporters have flagged as conspiracy theories.
The meeting room for a hearing on the bill Monday was packed with both supporters and critics of the bill.
Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Marietta Republican, is leading the review of HB 520 in the Senate. Here she seen talking to Sen. Ben Watson, who chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, before a hearing on the bill was held Monday. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder
“My inbox probably should have crashed today with the volume of emails from both sides,” Kirkpatrick said after the meeting Monday.
The measure would streamline data sharing among state agencies, study the state’s crisis bed space capacity and expand a loan repayment program meant to grow the behavioral health workforce. It cleared the House early this month with a 163-to-3 vote.
An analysis of the bill’s cost released Monday puts the price tag at as much as nearly $72 million annually and one-time expenses of up to $3.7 million for the studies outlined in the measure, including a critical look at the state’s crisis bed capacity and needs. The fiscal note projecting the estimated cost was not available at the time the Senate committee held Monday’s hearing.
The most expensive recurring item is for health-related social supports – like for housing and employment – for eligible Medicaid recipients under the age of 19. Such a change would require federal review and cost the state treasury $45 million with an additional $90 million federal match.
Opponents have decried the bill’s Medicaid provisions as an attempt to expand the state’s insurance program for the poor and disabled.
Rep. Todd Jones, a South Forsyth Republican and co-sponsor of the bill, dismissed the criticism as “conjecture” Monday. The proposal, he said, targets specific services and will not add anyone new to the Medicaid rolls.
Jones argued the change could save the state money in the long run.
“If we have a better understanding of what that individual’s challenge is, we can come up with a better treatment plan, and hopefully, that individual is able to get better or at least get stabilized in a shorter amount of time, hence reducing the amount of resources that the state has to pay for that,” Jones said.
Much of this year’s bill is focused on studies that could provide the foundation for future decision-making, such as one that would assess the gaps in Georgia’s behavioral health workforce.
But some provisions of the bill would increase local aid directly in the near term. For example, one part would create county-based coordinators who would collaborate with a local criminal justice system and that community’s behavioral health providers to ensure the available resources are being used.
It would cost about $2.3 million to hire a dedicated coordinator for each of the state’s 26 community service boards, according to the fiscal note.
Opponents have fired off wide-ranging accusations, alleging the bill allows for “TikTok like” monitoring and that it is also a backdoor for abortion services.
Mallory Staples, state director for the Georgia Freedom Caucus, panned the bill for growing government in Georgia and said it burdens taxpayers with an issue that should be left to the private sector to handle.
“We don’t want more government,” she said.
Opponents of this year’s mental health bill held up signs and wore stickers urging lawmakers to vote against HB 520. (Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder)
Brant Meadows, a Cumming resident who referred to the bill as “mental health equity 2.0,” said this year’s measure left too much to the discretion of “a few elite mental health czars.”
Roland Behm, who serves on the board for the Georgia chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, countered that the bill attempts to map out a more effective way to ease the strain on Georgia’s behavioral health system.
“Georgia is at the beginning of a journey to transform mental health and substance use care in the state,” Behm said. “The studies and task forces will create the map for that journey. Absent a map, George’s journey will be aimless and costly, both in terms of individual health outcomes and taxpayer funds.”
Jeff Breedlove, chief of communications and policy with the Georgia Council for Recovery and who also co-leads the broad coalition of advocacy organizations, dismissed some of the criticism flooding lawmakers’ inboxes as “conspiracy theories.”
“It requires the willing suspension of disbelief to take the position that the people who worked on the commission, that the advocates who have worked for a year, that 163 members of the House care any less about kids and families, and civil liberties and constitutional rights, then people sitting behind a keyboard, sending inaccurate stigmatizing emails,” Breedlove said Monday.
Aside from the potential cost, senators have also expressed unease with a portion of the bill directing state agencies to settle on a shared definition for serious mental illness by the end of the year. Sen. Ed Setzler, an Acworth Republican, called it a concerning “delegation” to state agencies when there is a lot potentially riding on the definition.
Kirkpatrick seemed to share the discomfort, saying, “we’re pretty protective in the General Assembly about defining things.”
One of my favorite things about the South is our sweetness. It’s woven into our language as well as our food. Although folks who “ain’t from around here” sometimes take offense at being called “sugar, honey, and sweetie pie,” these names are as comforting to us Southerners as a bowl of homemade banana pudding. Nothing insults a southern cook more than the words “I’m too full for dessert.”
Obviously, these people were not raised to pace themselves and save room for the crowning touch of every good meal!
Sadly, sugar has taken a bad rap for many decades now. Mainly because it is found in almost all processed and fast foods. In our faced paced, often stressful lives, eating on the go is the American way. Less and less food is consumed around the family table and prepared at home.
According to a study in 2017 by the CDC, 100 million Americans are living with diabetes or prediabetes. As a result, many of us have turned to sugar alternatives and artificial sweeteners to satisfy our sweet tooth. Let’s take a look at some of the most common and the latest data on each.
Artificial sweeteners
Allulose, the new kid on the block, which is generally considered a safer alternative to aspartame, is naturally found in small amounts in foods such as wheat, maple syrup, brown sugar, and some fruits. It’s about 70% as sweet as sugar but has only about a 10th of the calories because it is excreted by the body mostly intact instead of broken down, which releases calories.
A concern with Allulose, found in a small study conducted by the dairy industry, is that it can cause trouble in the gut, such as diarrhea, bloating, or abdominal pain. It is advisable for children or people with irritable bowel syndrome or other GI problems to avoid Allulose. This sugar substitute is found in many carbonated beverages, baked goods, chewing gum, and hard candy.
Sucralose, found in Splenda, caused leukemia and other blood cancers in mice. In human studies, adults consuming 5 grams a day (about 6 packets) were less glucose tolerant, causing increased blood sugar levels. This can be a problem for people with diabetes. Also, in one small study, sucralose, along with saccharin, change the gut microbiome and raise blood sugar in sensitive people.
Sugar alcohols are neither sugar nor booze but are carbohydrates called polyols. Erythritol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, and xylitol occur naturally in some foods, such as mushrooms, pineapple, apples, and prunes. Sugar alcohols are mostly unabsorbed as they travel through the GI system, so they end up in the large intestines (the colon). There they can cause discomfort by drawing up water leading to diarrhea or causing gas or bloating. The exception is erythritol which is mostly absorbed in the small intestine; it is less likely to cause diarrhea or gas.
If you have a dog, ingestion of Xylitol which can be found in chewing gum, baked goods, candy, and mints, among other things, can cause a rapid drop in blood sugar, liver damage, or even death if ingested and not treated quickly.
Stevia and monk fruit extracts are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, so it only takes a very small amount. Both are considered safe choices, but, especially with stevia, many people report a bitter aftertaste. Often, these are the reasons they are sometimes blended with other ingredients to mask the aftertaste and make it easier to measure and replace volume and texture in baked goods. Maltodextrin and dextrose or a tiny amount of glycerin in liquid sweeteners are unlikely to cause GI distress. But with added ingredients like inulin, chicory root, or erythritol, some people experience nausea, diarrhea, bloating, gas, and/or abdominal pain. In studies, these symptoms are not experienced in amounts below 27 grams. A teaspoon of any sweetener holds about 4 grams. But when used in baking to replace cups of sugar, the consumed amount can be much higher. (For example, a cup contains 48 teaspoons.)
Moderation
Baking with artificial sweeteners can be complicated, especially when replacing all the sugar in a recipe. Don’t expect it to look and taste like the real thing because sugar does more than taste sweet. It is a key player in the chemical reaction that yields the golden browning of cookies and cakes and attracts water, leading to moist and tender baked goods.
If this is a concern for you, Allulose browns, so a blend like Splenda Magic Baker may be a solution. Also, if your blood sugar can tolerate it, try replacing some of the sugar or using a sweetener-sugar combination such as Truvia Cane Sugar Blend. And try replacing sugar with unsweetened applesauce and recipes that get sweetness and moisture from the fruit, such as banana bread or apple crisp.
The bottom line is, reading all the ingredients on the label is key to avoiding potential side effects. Consideration should be given to your or your family’s specific health concerns, such as irritable bowel or diabetes. Moderation is key (I know, I hate hearing that too), and more than small amounts of artificial sweeteners should probably be avoided by people with diabetes.
As with all your health concerns, consult your care provider for advice on healthy food choices based on your individual needs.
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Tracy Backer, RN
Tracy Backer is a Registered Nurse with 39 years in the medical field specializing in critical care nursing. Her health columns appear regularly on Now Habersham. She may be reached at [email protected]. For more health-related content, click here.
Scream VI is the latest installment of Ghostface’s bloody rampages. While this latest one is not quite up to par with previous movies, it has just enough thrills and wit to keep it together in the midst of absurdity.
There’s no Neve Campbell or David Arquette powering the franchise, but Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega are back as the sisters from the fifth movie. They attend college in New York, and Barrera’s Sam attends therapy after her encounter with Ghostface while she’s simultaneously ostracized on campus due to a rumor that she orchestrated the Woodsboro murders.
Ghostface makes his return and chooses the Big Apple as his new playground. This time around, he’s taken on the form of copycats with various motives, and some of the motives do make sense, while others are murky and don’t really add up to much.
Courtney Cox is back as reporter Gale Weathers who tells Sam and Ortega’s Tara that Campbell’s Sidney has taken her family and gone into hiding after some of Ghostface’s recent attacks. Dermot Mulroney plays a detective who wants to avenge the murder of his daughter after she’s killed by Ghostface.
The movie does have some new and interesting set pieces to stage Ghosface’s reign of terror in the Big Apple. One of his killings takes place on a subway which is perhaps unsurprising, while others take place in more conventional locations such as apartments while his victims try to escape. In this scene, it’s obvious that one of them will inevitably be slaughtered in a gruesome fashion.
Scream VI doesn’t make an entirely persuasive argument for continuing the franchise other than setting it in New York. The plot has some needless complications at times, but it does have some good stuff in it, too, such as its cast having a knowing sense of sequels. Fans will probably understand the connection The Matrix Resurrections was trying to make when being self-referential. That applies here, but it’s pretty much self-parody at this point.
I am recommending the movie for its willingness to change its tune and give us something different while managing to give us the same old same old this franchise is known for.
Maybe Scream 7 could relocate again and head for Hollywood. I’d love to see what kind of commentary that would provide.
Grade: B
(Rated R for bloody violence, language throughout, and brief drug use.)
A Georgia House Judiciary Subcommittee on Monday advanced Senate Bill 44 that sets a mandatory five-year prison sentence for recruiting minors into gangs and adds stiffer sentences for other gang-related offenses. (Ichigo121212/Pixabay)
(GA Recorder) — Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s gang crackdown legislation is on track to become the first tough-on-crime law to move through the Georgia Legislature in 2023.
The Kemp-backed Senate Bill 44 was advanced by a House judiciary subcommittee on Monday by a party line vote, creating a mandatory five-year prison sentence for gang-related offenses and adding another five years to a conviction of recruiting minors or people with disabilities to join street gangs. The legislation advances to the full House Judiciary Committee despite objections that imposing longer mandatory minimum sentences and curtailing judges’ discretion will run counter to its intention of reducing the power of gangs.
If convicted of street-gang offenses, a person must serve at least five years in prison, along with other charges that could add more time. The defendant could receive leniency if they help convict other gang members.
According to SB 44’s critics, Georgia already has some of the country’s strongest laws on the books to punish violent and gang-related crimes, and minors are routinely transferred from juvenile court to adult court.
In Georgia, a child can be charged with some felony offenses as young as 13 years old, said Christina Anderson, a policy fellow at Emory University School of Law’s Barton Child Law and Policy Center.
Increasing criminal penalties won’t stop public gangs from recruiting children and teenagers, she said. The focus should be on strengthening community-based initiatives where poverty and low education levels make young people more likely to join gangs, she said.
“This bill would criminalize that 13-year-old without any consideration of why their child was in the gang in the first place,” Anderson said.
Sen. Bo Hatchett, a Corneillia Republican, said the legislation would give prosecutors and judges more tools to infiltrate criminal organizations and prevent more young people from being taken advantage of by violent groups.
“Governor Kemp has made tackling criminal street gangs a priority since the beginning of his administration,” said Hatchett, who is sponsoring the measure. “Through listening to local law enforcement and prosecutors, and with the help from the Legislature, the governor is championing one of the strongest criminal street gang statutes in the country.”
The bill also mandates that a judge cannot release a person convicted of bail jumping or failing to appear in court without putting up cash or property as collateral. And a judge must take the accused’s criminal history into consideration when deciding whether to release a person on a signature bond.
Rep. Yasmin Neal, a Jonesboro Democrat, questioned whether the new law could entrap minors. The former Clayton County police officer said she opposes the legislation’s mandatory prison terms.
“Overcrowded prisons are already eating up taxpayer dollars,” Neal said. “ I would like to see the body start shifting to a position where we start trying to get people out of the system rehabilitated and into jobs.”
The bill states that a person charged with a street gang crime, which doesn’t include recruiting a minor, could have their sentence reduced if they cooperated with prosecutors and didn’t have a prior conviction that was disqualifying.
James Woodall, public policy associate for the Southern Center for Human Rights, said that the bill is written in a way that people who would meet the terms for a reduced prison sentence are those who have less liability and therefore are put in greater danger if they turn in older gang members.
“They’re likely to be young,” he said. “They’re likely to be lower on the totem pole of the organization of that structure they’re in.”
Cara Convery, who leads GOP Attorney General Chris Carr’s gang prosecution unit, said that prosecutors would have to meet specific legal standards in order to convict a person of being involved in gang activity.
Titus Nichols, a former prosecutor for the Augusta Judicial Circuit and an Atlanta lawyer, said the bill not only removes a judge’s discretion but also gives a district attorney the authority to appeal the judge’s ruling, which could put a teenager in a vulnerable position.
“Sometimes it allows the prosecutor to bootstrap a weak case by saying, ‘well plead to this or we’re going to keep the enhancement in place,’” he said.
Ray Lewallen, age 82, of Baldwin, Georgia, passed away on Monday, March 13, 2023.
Mr. Lewallen was born on July 26, 1940, in Banks County, Georgia, to the late James and Madge Coffee Lewallen. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Jeanette Lewallen Watkins; brothers, Swayne Lewallen, Nelson Lewallen, Owen Lewallen; and his twin brother, Clay Lewallen.
Ray was a member of Baldwin Baptist Church, where he had served as a Deacon for several years. He will be remembered as an avid sports fan, which included the Atlanta Braves, Georgia Bulldawgs, and NASCAR. Ray was a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He was known to his grandchildren as “Granddad.”
Survivors include his loving wife of 64 years, Glenda Crump Lewallen, of Baldwin; sons and daughters-in-law, Jerry and Rachel Lewallen, of Alto; Jeff and Valerie Lewallen, of Homer; grandchildren, Josh Lewallen and his wife, Joyce; Chelsea Lewallen; Ethan Lewallen; one great-grandchild, Jackson Lewallen; sister, Ruzelle Lewallen Patterson, of Baldwin; sisters-in-law, Lynn Lewallen, of Homer; Frances Lewallen, of Baldwin; Helen Lewallen, of Baldwin; and Peggy Lewallen, of Baldwin.
Funeral Services will be held at 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at the Whitfield Funeral Homes, South Chapel, with Pastor Saul McCoy and Mr. David Sanders officiating. Interment will follow in the Baldwin City Cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at the funeral home prior to the service.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Ray’s Memory to Baldwin Baptist Church, 200 Shore Street, Baldwin, Georgia 30511.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Whitfield Funeral Homes & Crematory, South Chapel, at 1370 Industrial Boulevard, Baldwin, Georgia 30511. Telephone: 706-778-7123.
A Cleveland man was arrested after he led a Hall County Sheriff’s Office patrol deputy on a short vehicle chase in the Lula area just before 11 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, 2023.
As the deputy was patrolling the parking lot of a convenience store at the intersection of Cornelia Highway and Lula Road, he noticed the suspect parked at the side of the business. The deputy checked the vehicle tag and found the tag was suspended, and there was no valid insurance for the vehicle. The deputy followed the vehicle as it left the parking lot and stopped the driver in the parking lot of the Dollar General across the highway.
The driver, later identified as Tyler Benton House, 37, of Cleveland, presented a Georgia driver’s license with someone else’s photo. The deputy ordered the suspect to exit the vehicle, but House instead drove through some hedges on the property, across the grass on the side of the highway, and then onto southbound Cornelia Highway.
The deputy pursued House until the suspect made a U-turn to travel northbound on the highway. The deputy performed a PIT maneuver to stop the vehicle. House attempted to run from the scene but was caught by the deputy and arrested, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office says.
During the subsequent investigation, authorities learned that the vehicle House was driving had been stolen from a location in White County. House was also found in possession of a handgun, three grams of methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia.
House faces a list of charges, including the following felonies:
Theft by receiving stolen property
Forgery in the first degree
Possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime
Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
Possession of methamphetamine
He was also charged with 13 misdemeanor offenses related to the traffic stop and subsequent police pursuit.
Habersham County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Murray Kogod's official POST profile was updated earlier this month showing him as the new Habersham County Board of Education Police Chief effective March 14. Superintendent of Schools Matthew Cooper says no one has been hired for that job. (Jerry Neace/Now Habersham)
The law enforcement officer in charge of the task force responsible for the 2014 drug raid that injured Baby Bou Bou is set to become Habersham County’s new public school safety director.
Murray Kogod, now Chief Deputy at the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office, appears poised to take over the newly-created position on March 14.
Six people applied for the job, according to Habersham County School Superintendent Matthew Cooper. While the names of the candidates remain confidential, Cooper says only one was interviewed.
“We’ve only had one application of someone we know, and you know it’s like anything else, people can interview well, and they can look good on paper, but when you have a candidate you know, and you know well, that’s worth its weight in gold.”
Long-standing relationship
Kogod has a long-standing relationship with the Habersham County School System. After leaving the sheriff’s office following the Baby Bou Bou incident, he returned as a full-time sheriff’s deputy in 2016 and served as a School Resource Officer and, later, head of the SRO program.
While Cooper remains steadfast in his insistence that no one has been hired as director of school safety (a formal recommendation and vote are set for Monday night’s school board meeting on March 13), Kogod’s official employment history with the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) tells a different story.
Kogod’s official officer profile lists him as the Habersham County Board of Education (B.O.E.) Police Department Chief, effective March 14.
Now Habersham obtained a copy of Kogod’s POST profile through an open records request. POST Director of Operations Julie Bradley says his profile was updated on March 3.
In a phone interview on Friday, Cooper expressed surprise upon learning that Kogod is publicly listed as the board of education’s new chief of police.
“We haven’t taken any action on that; as I told you, we expect to have a recommendation to the board for the safety director position on Monday, so we haven’t taken any action on that at all.”
Police department of one
With the new hire, the school system will effectively relaunch its police department. Cooper downplays that aspect, saying the priority is for the person to serve as director of school safety and not as a police chief.
“Our need is for the Director of School Safety to have the full powers of a law enforcement officer, including the ability to carry a firearm,” he says. Attaching the position to a police department allows whoever gets the job to do that.
“Having a Director of School Safety who can carry a firearm provides additional security for our Central Office and for our schools,” Cooper says.
While most people in the community thought the school police department was disbanded years ago, Cooper says that’s not the case. Although it stopped operating, the department still exists on paper at POST, and it will resume operations under its old Originating Agency Identifier (ORI) number.
“The school system police department will have only one employee after the Director of School Safety is hired. The safety director will be that employee,” Cooper says.
He adds, “At this time, there are no plans to increase the size of the school system’s police department.”
The safety director will work from the school board’s central office but is expected to spend “significant time” in the schools. Sheriff’s office SROs will still provide security and traffic control and will continue to answer to Terrell. The safety director will work closely with the SROs.
Murray Kogod, left, and Habersham County Schools Safety Coordinator Adam Bagwell address the school board about safety matters during a work session on Thursday, March 9, 2023. Kogod is expected to be named to succeed Bagwell as the person in charge of school safety during the school board’s regular meeting on March 13, 2023. (Jerry Neace/Now Habersham)
For eight years, Adam Bagwell has served as the school system’s safety coordinator. The middle school principal will no longer fill that role once a director is hired.
Asked what prompted the change, Cooper says, “What’s changed is we’re ready for a full-time safety director, and we have the chance to bring someone on who is very qualified.”
‘Absolutely absurd’
While no one disputes the importance of school safety, some question this change. For months, speculation has swirled that the job was created specifically for Kogod.
“This is Cooper setting up people that he grants favors to before he retires,” says one source close to the school system who asked not to be identified.
“I feel it is absolutely absurd,” says a local law enforcement official. “If we create a school police department, we have expenses – cars, ammo, training, retirement, several thousand dollars per employee.”
Despite assurances that there are no plans “at this time” to expand the department beyond one officer, some worry this is the first step to building a school police department ahead of Terrell’s departure in 2024.
Cooper takes issue with anyone viewing this move negatively and maintains he wants this to be “a positive” for the school system.
“I can absolutely see someone speculating that that’s what’s really going on and that’s the ultimate goal, but I will tell you that’s not the goal, and what we hope can be accomplished is that we can continue to have a strong relationship with the sheriff’s office when there is a new sheriff,” he says.
Scrutiny
As Kogod prepares to move away from his role as chief deputy, he does so under scrutiny.
Since October 21, 2021, when Sheriff Terrell placed him second in command in charge of day-to-day operations, the sheriff’s office has experienced heavy turnover. Under Kogod’s command, 36 employees have left voluntarily, including four SROs.
Last fall, Sheriff Terrell blamed poor employee retention on low pay. He convinced county commissioners to give his deputies raises. However, records obtained from the Habersham County Human Resources Department indicate that management, not pay, drove away employees.
Canvassing two dozen former sheriff’s office employees, HR officials noted that the majority of them said pay had “nothing” to do with their decision to leave. Most cited “management” as their primary reason for resigning.
There are also questions about Kogod operating a nonprofit from the sheriff’s office. The Georgia Alliance of School Resource Officers and Educators (G.A.S.R.O.E.) uses sheriff’s office personnel and resources, although Kogod describes it as a “separate and distinct private, non-profit charitable organization.”
“There is no separate ‘office’ designated for GASROE, and it is really nothing more than a binder on a shelf,” Kogod told Now, Habersham, in an email last fall. “The fact that the sheriff’s office address is listed as the organization’s service address costs the county nothing.”
Sheriff’s office employees dispute that, saying they’ve been required to do work for the organization outside of their normal duties.
County officials, including attorney Donnie Hunt, have been tight-lipped as to whether such an arrangement is legal. Kogod, a licensed attorney, insists that it is. He incorporated the organization in 2020 and continues to serve as its president. Until recently, Terrell served as G.A.S.R.O.E.’s CEO.
This isn’t the first time Kogod has incorporated a nonprofit using a public office.
While serving as chief deputy in Barrow County, he incorporated the Barrow County Methamphetamine Task Force at the sheriff’s office address, state records show. Disgraced former Barrow County District Attorney Tim Madison was the Chief Executive Officer.
While some question the propriety of running private entities from public offices, Cooper says he would consider allowing it.
“It depends if being involved in something like that took away from the work that person was doing here in the school system. If that work enhanced the work they’re doing in the school system and enhanced relationships throughout the state and region, as long as I saw a benefit to our school system, I would allow it, yes.”
In the meantime, POST has been asked to investigate whether the premature change to Kogod’s work profile, listing him in a job he does not currently hold, is a violation of policy. Sources say an investigator is looking into the matter.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has paused a plan to possibly rename North Georgia’s Lake Lanier and Buford Dam after lawmakers and locals objected to it. The corps said it was following a 2021 federal law that governs renaming military bases christened for confederates.
In a press release Friday, the corps said it had been directed to provide potential name changes and asked the public for suggestions through a page on its website. The Gainesville Times reports that “within hours” of announcing the plan, the corps backtracked.
“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is pausing any actions related to project renaming pending further guidance from the Department of the Army,” USACE Chief of Public Affairs Gene Pawlik told Now Habersham in an email on Monday.
Congressman Andrew Clyde of Athens told reporters he contacted the Corps of Engineers Friday to voice his opposition to the plan. He called the pause “a tremendous victory” and said, “renamings would have attempted to rewrite history, impose massive burdensome costs on our community, and create unnecessary mass confusion.”
Name origins
Lake Lanier is a reservoir that covers almost 58 square miles and impounds the Chattahoochee River. It is one of the nation’s most popular Corps-owned lakes, hosting millions of visitors each year. It was named for poet Sidney Lanier when it was built after World War II. Lanier served as a private in the Confederate army and later wrote a poem about the river called “Song of the Chattahoochee.”
Buford Dam is named for the nearby town of Buford, which takes its name from Lt. Col. Algernon Sidney Buford. He served in the Virginia militia during the Civil War. The Georgia town is named after him because he became president of a railroad that helped create the town after the war.
Buford Dam and Lake Lanier are among four DoD properties operated by the Corps of Engineers named for Confederate soldiers. The others are Stonewall Jackson Lake and Dam in Weston, West Virginia, and Port Allen Lock in Port Allen, Louisiana.
Naming Commission
In 2021, the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act created a commission to rename DoD assets that commemorate the Confederate States of America and those who served voluntarily as confederate soldiers.
The Naming Commission has already changed the names of Georgia’s Fort Gordon and Fort Benning. Fort Gordon is being renamed Fort Eisenhower for the late General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Fort Benning is becoming Fort Moore in honor of Army Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and his wife, Julia Compton Moore.
U.S. Rep. Austin Scott served on the Naming Commission. The south Georgia Republican told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the commission never intended for Lake Lanier to be renamed.
James “Richard” Dalton, age 87, of Demorest, passed away on Monday, March 13, 2023.
Born on April 13, 1935, in Baldwin, he was the son of the late Buford Dalton and Stella Duckett Dalton. Mr. Dalton attended the Georgia Institute of Technology and was a retired flight test engineer with Lockheed and Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation. He was a member of Harmony Baptist Church in Baldwin.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by grandsons Jonathan Dalton and John Coggins.
Survivors include his wife, Wanice Gale Ward Dalton, of the home; son and daughter-in-law, Anthony Richard Dalton (Loretta) of Baldwin; daughters, Julie Batson of Demorest, Laurie Holtshouser of Demorest, and Vicki Ellen Coggins of Madison; grandchildren, David Holton, Jessica Herrin, Brittany Ferguson and fiancé Chad Gibson, Justin Ferguson, Caroline Jones (Eric), and Michael Batson; great-grandchildren, John Herrin (Josh), Kyle Ferguson, Lexi Ferguson, and Haley Ferguson; great-great-grandchildren, Caiden Jones, Natalie Jones, Matthew Jones.
Memorial services are 2 pm on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in the Chapel of McGahee-Griffin & Stewart, with Rev. Terry Rice officiating.
The family will receive friends from 12 noon until the service hour on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, at the funeral home.
A worker tells people that the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters is closed on March 10, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. Silicon Valley Bank was shut down on Friday morning by California regulators and was put under control of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (GA Recorder) — President Joe Biden reassured Americans early Monday that their money is safe in U.S. banks after a tumultuous weekend following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and a move by regulators to shut down a second lender.
Americans “should feel confident that their deposits will be there, if and when they need them,” Biden said during short remarks from the White House.
The Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department took what is being described as an extraordinary step Sunday night, ensuring that depositors of the California-based SVB and Signature Bank of New York would be able to access their money by Monday morning, even above the federally insured limit of $250,000.
“Treasury Secretary (Janet) Yellen and a team of banking regulators have taken action, immediate action, and here are the highlights,” Biden said.
“First, all customers who had deposits in these banks can rest assured they will be protected and they’ll have access to their money as of today. That includes small businesses across the country that bank there and need to make payroll, pay their bills and stay open for business.
“No losses, and this is an important point, no losses will be borne by the taxpayers,” he said.
Rather, deposits will be covered by an insurance pool that banks regularly contribute to, according to a joint decision Sunday by the Fed, Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the agency tasked with buoying confidence in the U.S. financial system.
The agencies further announced that shareholders and “certain unsecured debtholders” would not be protected and would be held responsible for losses, as required by law.
Biden reiterated the point Monday as he listed steps being taken by the government to avoid a further run on banks.
“Second, the management of these banks will be fired,” he said. “If the bank is taken over by FDIC, the people running the bank should not work there anymore. Third, investors in the banks will not be protected. They knowingly took a risk and when the risk didn’t pay off, investors lose their money. That’s how capitalism works.”
The administration will seek a “full accounting” of what led to SVB’s investors and depositors withdrawing what totaled to $42 billion Thursday, Biden said.
By Friday, federal regulators had seized the bank, causing the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history. The bank, the nation’s 16th largest, is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and is known for its role in the tech boom.
On Sunday, the U.S. financial agencies announced that state regulators had shut down Signature Bank, which operates in New York, Connecticut, California, Nevada and North Carolina.
Signature had already been under the scrutiny of regulators for its rocky role in cryptocurrency banking.
The weekend upheaval stoked fears, as the banks were the largest to fail since the 2008 financial crisis.
Biden urged Americans to consider the “broader context” — a strong job market and low unemployment numbers — and said he will push Congress to enact regulations that were reversed during the Trump administration.
“During the Obama Biden administration, we put in place tough requirements on banks, like Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, including the Dodd-Frank law, to make sure that the crisis we saw in 2008 would not happen again,” Biden said. But he said those rules were rolled back by the Trump administration.
“I’m going to ask Congress and the banking regulators to strengthen the rules for banks to make it less likely this kind of bank failure would happen again,” he said.
In a joint statement Sunday, Democrats’ top Banking Committee lawmakers issued a joint statement praising the administration’s actions.
“As we work to better understand all of the factors that contributed to the events of the last several days and how to strengthen guardrails for the largest banks, we urge financial regulators to ensure the banking system remains stable, strong and resilient, and depositors’ money is safe. Americans should continue to be confident in their preferred financial institutions in their communities,” said Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, of Ohio, and the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters, of California.
Brown, long a proponent of regulating the crypto market, expressed concern Thursday after Silvergate, a main lender to digital asset companies, announced it would be liquidating its operations.
In January, the Ohio lawmaker sent a letter to U.S. banking regulators warning that taxpayers could be on the hook if another financial collapse, similar to the 2008 crisis, were to occur.
“We cannot allow the banking system to lose public confidence again,” he wrote. “It is the responsibility of the financial institution and its investors, not taxpayers, for preventing a bank failure and absorbing losses that may occur during such a failure.”
Hatchett: Week Nine Under the Gold Dome
The 2023 Georgia Legislative Session concludes a busy ninth week with a multitude of legislative activities taking place throughout the halls of the State Capitol. The Senate convened for four days this week with a number of bills being heard before the Senate body, with a few measures of note.
Senate Bill 45, sponsored by Sen. Jason Anavitarte (R – Dallas), would implement a plan for the care of students being treated for epilepsy or a seizure disorder. Additionally, it would require the Department of Education to develop training guidelines and model seizure action plans for use by public schools and school systems. Children who struggle with neurological disorders such as epilepsy deserve to be taken care of when they are at school. I appreciate the Senate body for passing this meaningful bipartisan legislation unanimously.
Senate Bill 146, sponsored by Sen. Steve Gooch (R – Dahlonega), would impose regulation and taxation for the provisions of certain electricity used as a motor fuel in electric vehicles. SB 146 would additionally give regulative authority to the Public Service Commission and provides limitations upon the ownership, operation and maintenance of electric vehicle charging stations by electric utilities. SB 146 relegates the authority to the Department of Agriculture over electric vehicle charging stations and provides for a collection of a motor fuel excise tax upon the sale and use of certain electricity. New technologies that promote a healthier environment are coming forth every day, but the question of how to recover lost motor fuel tax to maintain Georgia highways and roads has loomed for years. I was proud to support this legislation that will continue to drive Georgia’s transportation sector in the right direction.
In addition, I am happy to report that two items of legislation that I’ve sponsored passed the senate on Crossover Day. This day is the last opportunity for Senate bills to be passed on to the House for consideration during the session. Senate Bill 237, which would provide student loan repayment for peace officers under the Georgia Student Finance Authority, has now been referred to the House Committee on Higher Education. Senate Bill 259, which would allow the Superior Court of Banks County to move from the Piedmont Judicial Circuit to the Mountain Judicial Circuit, has now been referred to the House Committee on Judiciary. These two measures will be presented to their respective House committees in the coming days, and I look forward to updating you on their progression through the House legislative process.
As we look to Legislative Days 32 through 35 of the 2023 Georgia Legislative Session, I assure you that my Senate colleagues and I are keeping the interest of Georgia’s citizens and the 50th Senate district in mind. Please do not hesitate to reach out to my office if you have any questions or concerns about matters relating to the Georgia Senate.
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Sen. Bo Hatchett serves as a Governor’s Administration Floor Leader. He represents the 50th Senate District which includes Banks, Franklin, Habersham, Rabun, Stephens, and Towns County and portions of Hall, Jackson, and White counties. He can be reached by phone at 404.651.7745 or by email at [email protected].