James Sept-Oct 2021 web - Flipbook - Page 6
F LOAT I N G
B OATS
Who’s Rising and Sinking in Georgia Business and Politics
Peach State athletes shined at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,
with 20 participants from Georgia and many more who
went to college in our state. Among the brightest performers: Eatonton’s Vincent Hancock who won his third
gold medal in skeet shooting, Brooks Curry of Atlanta
who helped the men’s 4x100 freestyle team take gold, and
Sandersville’s Alisha Gray who won gold in 3x3 basketball. Kudos to all our athletes. They make Georgia proud
and their ships are Rising
Part of the COVID fallout is the prosecution of those who
illegally took advantage of federal relief programs. Example A: Christopher Hayes of Stonecrest, who attempted
to steal nearly $1.5 million from a pair of programs, including the USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.
He didn’t evade the feds, though, so he’ll now spend 2.5
years in prison and pay a major fine thanks to prosecutors
with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of
Georgia. Hayes is Sinking
A 37-count grand jury indictment was filed against two
alleged Bloods gang members in the murder of 8-yearold Secoriea Turner, shot last year in an Atlanta
police no-go-zone controlled by armed thugs. A warrant
alleges that the notorious gang controlled the so-called
“Rayshard Brooks autonomous zone.” The Turner family
is also suing the city of Atlanta, Mayor Keisha Lance
Bottoms, Atlanta Council member Joyce Sheperd and
others for being “negligent in their duties” by failing
to remove the vigilantes in the area. With the Bottoms
administration impotent in curbing rising violent crime,
public safety in the city is Sinking
Gov. Brian Kemp made a key judicial appointment by
naming of Court of Appeals Justice Verda Colvin to
the state Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by Harold
Melton. Colvin, a highly respected former state prosecutor, becomes the fourth African-American justice on the
court in state history. A well-deserved promotion to the
state’s highest court has Colvin’s ship Rising
Republican Devan Seabaugh emerged victorious in
a special election runoff for a Cobb County-based state
House seat vacated by longtime Rep. Bert Reeves. Both
parties dumped cash into the race between Seabaugh
and Democrat Priscilla Smith, using it as a test run for
2022 messaging. The win boosts hope for Republicans
working to regain some suburban seats lost in recent
elections, as well as show that voter outreach organizations like Kelly Loeffler’s Greater Georgia are expanding
voter targeting operations. For Georgia Republicans, that
election win for now has their party Rising
With Fortune 500 heavyweights like Coke, Delta, and
Home Depot all calling Atlanta home, the city’s largest
employer might come as a surprise. It’s Emory University, with 32,594 full-time employees in metro Atlanta
between the school and its extensive healthcare system.
The university contributes nearly $15 billion in statewide
economic impact annually, making it a powerful economic
engine within the state. Emory’s huge presence both in
the local community and the state’s economy is Rising
After the catastrophic August 15 collapse of the Afghanistan government during President Biden’s abrupt withdrawal of U.S. military support, Georgia’s U.S. Democratic
Sens. John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were virtually
silent for days afterward. During those chaotic post-collapse days, InsiderAdvantage even interviewed a Georgian
who contacted Warnock’s D.C. office to help some trapped
Americans escape. Nothing happened. He then contacted,
ironically, former GOP U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler. She immediately assisted with her Washington contacts. Warnock’s
response, as this is written, has him Sinking
Augusta Commissioner Sammie Sias has been indicted
on federal charges of lying to investigators and destroying
records related to allegations of misconduct. This comes
two years since the feds opened their investigation, following up on claims from a former employee— whom Sias
also allegedly had an affair with— that he pocketed more
than $10,000 in SPLOST funds and also mistreated children when overseeing the Jamestown Community Center.
The charges against the Democrat officeholder carry a
penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison. Sias’ days as a
public servant (and possibly a free man) are Sinking
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