Good Morning Gwinnett Podcast

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Gwinnett County employees are getting raises and a new paid county holiday.County commissioners added late items to their business meeting agenda on Tuesday to create a new Juneteenth county holiday, to give county first responders a 10% market adjustment pay raise and to give other county employees an 8% market adjustment pay raise. The raises mean the minimum hourly rate a Gwinnett County government employee could earn is $15 per hour.“We take pride in Gwinnett being a preferred public sector employer,” County Commission Chairwoman Nicole Hendrickson said. “We also know a generous compensation and benefits package is essential to keeping this status and shows our current employees we appreciate their hard work and dedication to the Gwinnett community. At the same time, we hope these incentives will attract prospective employees to consider a career in public service.”SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

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www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com The recipients of the grants include: Neighborhood Cooperative Ministries ($170,182); St. Vincent de Paul ($99,000); Ser Familia, Inc. ($88,000); Next Generation Focus ($38,000); Helping Mamas Inc. ($34,818); Corners Outreach ($25,000); and Good Samaritan Health Center of West Gwinnett ($25,000).SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com In a guest column, a senior at the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology urges schools and districts to seek more student input on how schools operate and what is taught. Samad Hakani is the high school’s valedictorian and is considering Harvard, MIT and Yale University for college next year.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Fourteen-year-old violinist, Faith Meshida, is not only passionate about performing classical music, but she also wants to help create opportunities for other Black classical musicians."There are few Black people in the current classical music industry and I aim to change that," she told Patch.Before the Central Gwinnett High School student can accomplish that, she said she must first sharpen her own skills. That means hours of practice and learning from more experienced and seasoned musicians. Recently, Faith was offered admission into the Brevard Music Center's 2022 High School Orchestral Institute in North Carolina, which is a prestigious six-and-a-half-week summer program for classical instrumentalists. She was granted a partial scholarship, but still has over $4,000 to pay out-of-pocket. She launched a GoFundMe campaign to help raise the additional dollars. To support Faith click on this link. https://rb.gy/zmo9ua

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Because the program was so successful, the county has decided to expand the program to the Centerville area. During the eight-month pilot program, more than 44,000 people participated, averaging about 240 passengers a day, Tyler told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an email on Tuesday. The pilot program cost the county just over $1 million.In March, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of 14 vehicles, which could take 12 months to arrive, Tyler said. The Ford E-450s that were approved can carry up to 14 passengers and will be wheelchair accessible.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Gwinnett County school board candidates will appeal to voters and discuss their ideas for education at three upcoming forums that will be broadcast online.One forum is tonight and two other forums are scheduled for later this month.The election is May 24. Only voters in Districts 2 and 4 will be voting for school board in May. District 2 features an incumbent facing one challenger, while District 4 has five new candidates vying for the seat.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.comGwinnett County Commissioner Marlene Fosque will host two State of District 4 town halls this week.The first will be Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the meeting room at Fire Station 24, located at 2735 Mall of Georgia Blvd., Buford. It is geared toward residents of the Braselton and Auburn area.ExploreMore stories about Gwinnett CountyAnother will take place Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Bogan Park Community Room, 2723 North Bogan Road NE in Buford, geared toward the Rest Haven, Buford and Sugar Hill area.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com The new Gwinnett policy provides up to four weeks of paid leave to employees after the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child.To qualify, employees must be full time and must have worked for the county for at least one year. The policy does not attempt to impose a mandate on private businesses.The paid leave can also be granted to county employees who are unable to work for medical reasons related to childbirth and to partners caring for such employees. It can also be used, after sick leave, for workers who are incapacitated due to pregnancy.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Most employees receiving the district’s bonus will get $2,000. Retirees who work for the district part time will receive $980. Employees will receive the one-time payment in their paychecks at the end of April.Gwinnett, Georgia’s largest school district, has about 180,000 students and 22,000 employees.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Learn some ways to use AR (Augmented Reality) to help you market your business.

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Gwinnett County Public Schools will have to charge for meals next school year, but the district is working on ways to help more students eat for free.Gwinnett and many other school districts have offered breakfast and lunch for free for close to two years because of multiple federal waivers. Waivers issued early in the pandemic allowed to schools to deliver meals. A waiver in place now removes the requirement for school meal programs to be self-sustaining.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Suwanee employees never got a chance to celebrate the life of their colleague, Adam Edge, when he died from cancer in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But they have continued to keep his memory alive in a unique, and yet simple, way.For the second year in a row, Suwanee officials are asking the community to honor Edge's life on April 1 — which is Friday — by performing a random act of kindness for other people in the community. It's an effort the city calls Cheers Day."He was our downtown manager, but he also headed up our Suwanee Youth Leader program," Deputy City Manager Denise Brinson told the Daily Post.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.comUnder the proposed budget, all teachers, except the highest earners, and 43% of other employees would receive a raise through a salary step increase. Teachers would also get a $2,000 cost-of-living raise.Other employees would receive a cost-of-living raise of at least 4%. Joe Heffron, the district’s chief financial officer, said the district’s minimum wage would be set at $13.50 per hour. About 600 employees are below that threshold, with some earning as little as $9 per hour.Within a year or two, the district wants to bump the minimum wage to $15 per hour, he said.

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Gwinnett County Solicitor General Brian Whiteside admitted in a Monday court hearing that he had committed criminal contempt by unilaterally canceling a judge’s calendar in January as the omicron variant of COVID-19 surged.Judge Charles S. Wynne, brought in from Hall County, suspended Whiteside’s sentence of three days in jail and a $1,000 fine after Whiteside apologized in open court to all Gwinnett’s state court judges.“I’d like to apologize to our bench wholeheartedly,” Whiteside said to all six judges, who were present Monday in the courtroom. “I wasn’t trying to be contemptuous, but when it comes to the law, I actually was.”SOURCE: www.AJC.com