Good Morning Gwinnett Podcast

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.comGwinnett County Board of Education Chair Everton Blair on Friday registered as a potential candidate for state school superintendent, according to the Georgia Campaign Finance Commission website.Blair, a Democrat, announced in November that he would not seek reelection to his school board seat in 2022. He was first elected in 2018 and became the board’s first Black, openly gay and youngest-ever member.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com County commissioners at a recent meeting said residents have inundated them with calls and emails about the problem, which worsened after high winds earlier this week felled tree branches and blew around trash that had been awaiting collection.Commission Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson said residents told her “their neighborhoods look like war zones in Third World countries and they won’t bring the cans in because they think someone’s coming.”SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com, The U.S. House race between U.S. Reps. Carolyn Bourdeaux and Lucy McBath won’t be the only Gwinnett-based battle over the direction of Democrats in Georgia. A state Senate contest could also help shape the future of the party’s progressive wing.Democratic activist Nabilah Islam entered the race for an open Georgia Senate seat on Tuesday with a pledge to fight for racial justice, expand voting rights and expand Medicaid. She will face state Rep. Beth Moore, a second-term legislator, in the newly redrawn seat.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners will vote Tuesday on a proposal for redrawn commission districts — that does not include an expansion of the commission.The maps were drawn up following a series of public input meetings where residents were able to offer their feedback on how the district lines should be redrawn. The lines have to be revisited every 10 years after the census is performed to adjust districts for population changes."I think it's fantastic that we were able to create a map using citizen input that minimizes city splits and all the commissioners are happy with," District 2 Commissioner Ben Ku said. "And, there will be multiple opportunities for the public to give additional feedback."

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.comGwinnett County Solicitor General Brian Whiteside announced Friday afternoon that he will close his office in January because of the new spike in COVID-19 cases.Whiteside said the new spike, part of the spread of the new Omicron variant of COVID, has caused staffing shortages in his office. The move to close the office means there will not be in-person State Court activities from Monday until at least Jan. 20, although virtual operations could take place and Recorder’s Court and the Jail Court will remain open.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.comLocal officials will join members of civil rights groups over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend to remember the life of a Black man who was killed by a white mob on the Lawrenceville Square more than a century ago.The Gwinnett Remembrance Coalition announced it will partner with the city of Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, the Gwinnett Historical Restoration & Preservation Board and the Equal Justice Initiative to dedicate a historical marker honoring Charles Hale during a ceremony from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Jan. 15.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.comFans of plant-based burgers have a new dining option in Gwinnett County.Slutty Vegan opened its newest location earlier this month in the Gwinnett Place area at 2045 Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth. It is the Atlanta-based vegan restaurant chain’s fourth location.Slutty Vegan founder Pinky Cole originally launched the chain in 2018 to provide vegan meal options to Atlanta’s west side, and it has since opened locations in Jonesboro and Edgewood in addition to the new Gwinnett location, as well as Bar Vegan in Ponce City Market and a food truck.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Whiteside’s sentencing recommendations will include 12 months in jail and — or — a $1,000 fine as well as the confiscation of the offender’s firearm, a requirement that they participate in a firearms safety class and a mandatory psychological evaluation.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com The donations for employee hires effort is one of two ways that Forever 21 is trying to raise money for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, however. It is also conducting its “It’s the Love You Give” campaign. Customers who buy products from Forever 21 in one of their stores can round their purchase up to the nearest dollar with the difference between the total price and the rounded up figure going to Boys and Girls Clubs. Forever 21 is also donating $1 to Boys and Girls Clubs for every purchase of an item from the “cozy collection,” either online at www.Forever21.com or in a store.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Gwinnett officials are planning, however, to move toward offering elections materials in more languages than Spanish and English in 2022. Part of the proposed 2022 county budget, which county commissioners will vote on at their first meeting in January, will fund the addition of election materials in Korean, Vietnamese, Mandarin and Cantonese.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Gwinnett County Public Schools decided to expand the curriculum after looking at workforce data and seeing that agriculture is one of the largest industries in Georgia, said Tim Hemans, the school district’s executive director of career and technical education. District leaders also observed a shift in the industry.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com About 350 students now attend the School of the Arts from all over Gwinnett County. About half are freshmen and sophomores in the selective conservatory program, which requires auditions, portfolios and juried interviews. The rest are “fellows,” Gwinnett students who want the opportunity to take more arts classes.Conservatory students take core academic classes at Central Gwinnett High or online, and use all their electives to spend up to 20 hours a week studying their chosen arts. Concentrations include visual arts, dance, music technology, theater and voice.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com The annual retreat is an opportunity for commissioners and department heads to get together for two days to hash out priorities and goals that help shape where resources are directed and serve as a basis for budget requests.“We know going into next year, when we have our board retreat, that ... the No. 1 thing we start working on is housing,” Hendrickson said. “We want to bring our planning staff, our planning commission board together to start developing a comprehensive plan to address workforce housing, affordability, even homelessness.”SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Collins Hill star Travis Hunter, the nation's No. 1 senior football prospect, chose Jackson State University and head coach Deion Sanders on Wednesday's National Signing Day.Hunter had been expected to sign with Florida State — he was committed to the Seminoles since March 2020 — or Georgia, which made a late push. But the consensus five-star prospect stunned the college football universe with his choice of Jackson State, an HBCU in Mississippi.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com oday marks 200 years since Lawrenceville was incorporated as a city, coming just three years after the Georgia legislature established Gwinnett County. The county seat is believed to be the oldest city in metro Atlanta — edging out Decatur by two years.Lawrenceville is now Gwinnett’s second largest city, with 30,629 people calling it home. The city has also continued to evolve, going from a rural town to a center for the arts and a college town.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com