Good Morning Gwinnett Podcast

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Nearly 200 Gwinnett County Transit employees are getting bonuses as a “thank you” from county leaders for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.County commissioners unanimously approved the bonuses Tuesday, using CARES Act grant funding from the Federal Transit Administration to cover the cost. Those funds are available from the federal government to compensate transit workers whose are jobs are considered essential services and those who faced greater risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the course of their jobs.“Transit is an essential service for many people, and the system requires drivers and other necessary workers for the system to function effectively,” Gwinnett County Department of Transportation Director Lewis Cooksey said. “This resolutions recognizes the dedication of Transdev Services staff to the citizens of Gwinnett County and to transit system customers by continuing to provide high quality, efficient and essential services during these unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Finding food and shelter can be as easy as going home, but for hundreds of homeless people living in Gwinnett, it is a daily challenge.Nicole Love Hendrickson learned the toll these experiences take on someone while spending her childhood years on public assistance and bouncing in and out of homeless shelters with her siblings.Today, after running on a platform to lower homelessness, food insecurity and poverty, Hendrickson is the first Black woman to serve as chairwoman of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners. Impassioned by her childhood experiences and career in social work, Hendrickson and her colleagues are helping open the county’s first official homeless shelter.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com In anticipation of more vaccine doses, the department has gradually increased its staff, Arona said. Vaccinating individuals at the former Sears store in Gwinnett Place Mall, staff could handle up to 3,000 people each day at this location, assuming an increase in vaccine supply.The health department provides just a small slice of the total vaccine supply available in the county. Pharmacies, grocery stores and doctor’s offices in Gwinnett County are also providing vaccines, and eligible persons can also make use of the state-sanctioned mass vaccination sites located across Georgia.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Sauda S. Johnson-McNeal BiographyVisionary. Filmmaker. Culture Shaper. CEO. Producer.Self-Love Movement Creator.Fearless attorney turned filmmaker is making noise, producing films about Black women, by Blackwomen, that share stories of self-love and triumph.Sauda Johnson-McNeal is an innovative, visionary, and thought leader known for being a purveyorof culture-shaping content and sharing the voice and lived experiences of Black women worldwide.Much of Sauda Johnson-McNeal's career is defined by helping others – she is purpose driven. Saudastarted her legal career assisting low income Black and Browns purchase their first home and endedher legal career fighting for the educational rights of children with special needs.Her passion for film started at a young age and she nurtured it by studying acting, writing, andproducing at the University of Southern California and thereafter. While on her own spiritual andself-love journey, Sauda noticed the void of real stories about Black women in the industry she loves,authentically told from the voice and perspective of Black women with underlying love-of-selfmessages. Thus, sparked her desire to create socially conscious film and storytelling, and transitionfrom a successful law career to start Ron Ash, LLC. “I wasn’t seeing US on the screen, our stories ofovercoming life's isms (racism, sexism, ageism, colorism), it was time to fuse my purpose and mypassion. I decided to dedicate my life to the movement of self-love, to create a space where Blackwomen are empowered to thrive, with a strong identity, support system and great love of self; thisis the underlying theme of the Ron Ash, LLC’s catalog of films and the brand's spirit.Sauda Johnson-McNeal's focus on films is not the only actionable effort behind her movement. Theself-love pillars also included a Self-Love Intimate Conversations Series, merchandise, events, andactivations highlighting the journeys of many phenomenal women both in the US and abroad.Ron Ash LLC is currently crowdfunding to release their debut feature film, "The Skin You're In,"written and produced by Sauda. The film, a dramatic comedy, follows Sasha Staye, as she learnsto love herself while attempting to balance her career, passion, failing love life, and taking care ofher new roommate (her estranged sick dad).Sauda Johnson-McNeal is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, incorporated; sheenjoys watching movies, volunteering in the community, and advocating for equal rights for peopleof African descent.

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Gwinnett County Public Schools and Northside Hospital Gwinnett will partner to vaccinate 1,000 teachers and other school employees Friday.That’s in addition to the thousands being vaccinated through the Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Department.“We are committed to ensuring that educators in Gwinnett have easy and complete access to the vaccinations they need,” Debbie Mitcham, president and CEO of the Northside Gwinnett hospitals, said in a news release.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

Gwinnett County's elections board will be looking for a new elections supervisor for the second time in less than two years.The county's current elections supervisor, Kristi Royston, recently submitted her letter of resignation to the Gwinnett County Board of Registrations and Elections — nearly a year and a half after she was appointed to the job permanently after holding it on an interim basis.Royston's last day as Gwinnett's elections supervisor will be March 17. The elections board is set to hold a special called meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the county's elections office in Lawrenceville.SOURCE: www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com#Podcast

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Duluth offers critically acclaimed restaurants, apartments and townhomes within walking distance of downtown and a Town Green for its nearly 30,000 residents to gather with family and friends. But much of what gives the city its inviting nature didn’t exist a few decades ago.With a downtown already partially remade, the city is preparing to expand along the “other side of the tracks” while creating an inclusive environment for its residents new to Duluth and to the U.S.Much like Gwinnett County itself, Duluth was once a predominately white town. But beginning in the 1990s, population booms brought new residents from every corner of the globe. A quick drive up Duluth Highway toward downtown offers a glimpse of the high concentration of Asian-Americans, with Korean-owned businesses and churches dotting both sides of the road.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com In 2007, at the age of 37, Gail Lynn’s dream of making a difference in theworld was rudely shattered. The accumulated stress of two challengingrelationships and three extremely competitive careers in the automotive,telecommunications, and film industries had decimated her physical,emotional, and psychological reserves, leaving her with a medical diagnosisof severe cardiovascular stress and on the verge of an instant heart attack.Determined to restore her health, Gail plunged into the world of energymedicine. When a series of whole-body light and sound treatments reversedher diagnosis, she set out to uncover both the ancient history and modernscience behind light and sound as healing therapies.After opening a light and sound healing center in Colorado in 2010, a series ofextraordinary synchronicities guided her to combine light and soundtechnologies with sacred geometry and Tesla mathematics. The result was arevolutionary vibroacoustic, resonance healing chamber called the HarmonicEgg, which is advancing frequency healing to an unimagined level and givingthousands of people new hope for a quality of life they never imagined.Gail's story is one of inspiration and self-created magic. From her humblebeginnings in Detroit to a seven-year relationship with ElvisPresley’s step-brother…and a role as a producer on a Hollywood movie about"The King”…to her triumphant success stories with energy medicine andcollaborations with world-renowned composers, musicians, professors, andphysicians, Gail is part storyteller, part Renaissance Woman, part Sage fromtimes long ago. You will want to walk with her on every step of her amazingjourney, as well as experience the technological paradigm shift now knownas the Harmonic Egg.

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com. Today the Gwinnett County new Commissioner Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson will share her vision for the future of Gwinnett County. The event today is held at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville. Tune in live at 9am by going to www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com. #gwinnettcounty, #lovegwinnett, #exploregwinnett, #gwinnettpodcast,

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Today is Talk Tech Tuesday with my new tech guru Chris Hood. The first Tuesday of each month Chris and I will bring you great information about leveraging technology to grow your business.

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com The Gwinnett Stripers have launched a virtual search for national anthem performers for the 2021 season.All interested singers, vocal groups (five singers or less) and musicians must send a digital submission (video or audio) of their a capella or unaccompanied performance of the national anthem to stripersinfo@braves.com by March 1.Candidates will be judged on tone, pace (90 seconds or less) and clarity. Beginning March 8, top candidates will be invited to participate in virtual auditions. No in-person auditions will be held this year. Those who have been chosen from the virtual auditions will be contacted to schedule a date to sing the national anthem.The Gwinnett Stripers open the 2021 season in the newly-formed Triple-A East League on Tuesday, April 6 at Durham. Opening Night at Coolray Field is set for Tuesday, April 13 vs. Memphis.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.comPHOTO: Karl L. Moore

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com LeTonya F. Moore BioLeTonya F. Moore, JD is a business growth strategist, former attorney, and award-winning entrepreneur with almost twenty years of experience building and helping build successful enterprises. She is the visionary behind 360° Legalproof Your Brand™methodology, developed to assist clients with overcoming regulatory, financial, legal, and operational barriers so that they can achieve an unparalleled advantage and an accelerated path to profitability and sustainability. LeTonya is a former federal government attorney, turned “Brand Builder”. She works with emerging product and service-based brands within emerging industries, like affordable housing, agriculture, naturopathic medicine, to get dismantle the regulatory red tape, overcome financial and operational barriers to achieve an unparalleled advantaged and accelerated path to business growth and sustainability. LeTonya represents business clients both small and large. Her client listing includes US Department of Housing & Urban Development, US Department of Veterans Affairs, US Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control, Centers for Medicaid & Medicare, Food & Drug Administration, Black Momma Teas & Cafes, Inc. Ron Ash, LLC, just to name a few. LeTonya’s areas of expertise include intellectual property, house counsel services, investor fundraising, business strategic growth, operations efficiency, brand and asset protection. LeTonya is based in Houston, TX, and has a footprint in Huntsville, AL; but has a client base both in the US and abroad. For more information about LeTonya, visit www.iprotectyourbrand.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Gwinnett County officials will see red when a loose coalition of disgruntled homeowners show up to two March meetings.Residents living in the outskirts of Loganville plan on wearing bright-colored clothing at public meetings to show they oppose apartments and townhomes coming to their rustic slice of suburbia.Bill Dale, the group’s unofficial leader, said he and his family were drawn to the “suburban bordering on rural” character of Willowwind Park subdivision across the road from the site of the proposed homes. Almost two decades later, he worries the development will change the area surrounding Loganville for decades to come.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com If Gwinnett County Public Schools offered an opportunity for its roughly 25,000 employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine from public health officials, more than 60% of the educators who are in schools and deal directly with students said they would take advantage of it, according to a district survey.The school system began making plans to survey its employees about their interest in getting the COVID-19 vaccine shortly after it started to be shipped to Georgia in December. Because of the phased roll out of the vaccine, educators who are under 65 cannot get vaccinated until Georgia reaches phase 1B of the rollout.The state, which has had trouble having enough vaccine doses available to meet the high demand in metro Atlanta, is still in phase 1A at this time.www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Eric Bailey spends his mornings and afternoons working full time as a forensic investigator, assisting the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office in uncovering unnatural causes of death. After long days on the job, he heads to his Lawrenceville home to undergo dialysis treatments lasting 10 hours.A few years ago, Bailey went to his doctor after noticing a nasty taste in his mouth while eating or drinking. Taking note of his high creatinine levels, his doctor told him to go to the emergency room. He was diagnosed with kidney failure in September 2018 and told he’d need a new kidney.SOURCE: www.AJC.com