August 23, 2020 — Gwinnett Daily Post

gwinnettdailypost.com ♦ sunday, august 23, 2020 ♦ A3

WORLD & NATION

WORLD

Kim Jong Un delegates some powers to sister, South Korean intelligence says Kim Jong Un has reportedly given his sister, Kim Yo Jong, partial authority to oversee “general state affairs” in order to ease the North Korean leader’s workload, according to South Korean intelligence.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) told the country’s lawmakers that Kim Jong Un’s decision to transfer more power to his younger sister further bolstered the argument that she is now the country’s “de-facto second in command,” but does not take away from the fact that Kim Jong Un is still the ultimate authority and exercises “absolute power,” according to the office of Representative Kim Byung-kee, who attended the NIS briefing.

Kim Yo Jong was not the only one given an increased portfolio, the NIS said. Other top-ranking officials in North Korea’s government and ruling Workers’ Party have taken on greater responsibilities as part of this supposed new push to alleviate the stresses on Kim Jong Un, who has been in power for nearly nine years, but also to potentially shield him from blame of government wrongdoing or incompetence.

Kim’s regime faces several difficult issues to tackle this summer. It’s trying to clean up parts of the country after deadly flooding while also keeping the coronavirus pandemic at bay. North Korea’s economy is also believed to be in poor shape, in part because of the ongoing threat of the virus — North Korea was one of the first countries to seal its borders — and because talks with the United States to trade sanctions relief for portions of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program have failed to yield any tangible results.

Russian opposition leader hospitalized after suspected poisoning Russian opposition leader, Alexey Navalny — who is gravely ill after a suspected poisoning — has arrived at a hospital in Berlin following a medical evacuation flight from the Siberian city of Omsk, according to a CNN team on the ground.

The Kremlin critic was flown out of Russia on Saturday morning to receive treatment in the German capital. Jaka Bizilj, chairman for Cinema for Peace Foundation, which organized the medical evacuation, told CNN that Navalny is in a “stable condition.”

The hospital, Charite Berlin, confirmed on Saturday it had admitted the 44-year-old for medical treatment, adding in a statement posted to Twitter that an “extensive medical diagnosis” is being carried out.

Navalny, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is in a coma after becoming sick from suspected poisoning on a flight to Moscow from the Siberian city of Tomsk, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said Thursday. The plane later made an urgent landing in Omsk, she added.

He only drank black tea in an airport cafe before takeoff, Yarmysh told Russian radio station Echo of Moscow.

— From wire reports

Nearly 70,000 lives could be saved if Americans wore masks, experts say

By Christina Maxouris CNN

Another 134,000 people could die in the U.S. from COVID-19 by December if no further safety measures are mandated — and the actual number probably would be much worse if mandates are relaxed, researchers say.

The projection by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation comes with a silver lining: About 70,000 of those lives would be saved if many more Americans wore masks, the institute’s leader said.

“It really depends on what our leaders do, (both) as individuals, and what governments do,” the IHME’s chief, Dr. Chris Murray, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Friday night.

At least 175,416 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. since the pandemic began. The institute projected that if nothing about the nation’s approach to prevention changed, death rates would dip in September but rise later in the fall, and the total would reach about 310,000 by Dec. 1.

But changes in behavior would affect the projection, he said: ♦ If governments ease current social distancing restrictions and mask mandates, daily death rates could reach 6,000 daily by December, up

noam galai/getty images

People wear protective face masks Friday outside The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as the city continues Phase 4 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus. from his current prediction of 2,000 daily, Murray said. ♦ On the other hand, if significantly more people wore masks, the projection of total deaths from now to December would drop by almost 70,000, he said. About 95% of the U.S. population would have to wear masks for that to happen, he said.

Coronavirus case rates have been dropping for weeks in parts of the U.S., but death rates have been relatively elevated.

The country’s seven-day average for daily coronavirus deaths was 987 on Friday — the first time in more than three weeks that it dipped

below 1,000, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Daily U.S. cases over the past week averaged about 44,100 as of Friday, down from a peak average of 67,317 on July 22, John Hopkins data show.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield said earlier this week he expects deaths to begin declining by next week as a result of continued mitigation measures.

The CDC director expressed concern that while parts of the country are reporting improvement in new cases,

states in middle America like Nebraska and Oklahoma seem to be “stuck” and cases aren’t falling.

“We don’t need to have a third wave in the heartland right now,” Redfield said Thursday. “We need to prevent that.”

Getting safety measures in place now is crucial, Murray said, before fall rolls around, when health officials have predicted the U.S. will see a resurgence of coronavirus cases on top of flu season.

Redfield has previously said this fall and winter are likely to be one of the “most difficult times” in American public health.

tasos Katopodis/getty images

sented a shell company and a “David Dennison,” which Clifford contends is a pseudonym for Trump. Trump denies the affair occurred.

Clifford sued Trump in 2018, seeking to be released from the NDA. In response, Trump and his legal team agreed outside of court not to sue or otherwise enforce the NDA. The suit was dismissed and Clifford’s claims ruled moot, as the NDA had been rendered unenforceable.

NATION

House to vote Saturday on sending $25B to Postal Service as well as halting changes Members of the House will vote on legislation Saturday to allocate $25 billion to the U.S. Postal Service and ban operational changes that have slowed mail service around the country.

The bill is expected to pass largely along party lines, with Democrats supporting it.

House GOP leaders are actively pushing their members to oppose the legislation, and it is not likely to be under consideration in the Republican-held Senate. On the eve of the vote, the White House threatened to veto the bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted a bipartisan vote in the House on Democrats’ USPS legislation later Saturday afternoon despite White House opposition.

“We will pass the bill and it will be in a bipartisan way today and then we will send it to the Senate,” Pelosi said, adding that Republicans “will be hearing from their constituents because this hits home — not receiving your mail in a timely fashion, hits home.”

Democratic leaders introduced the measure, based on a bill sponsored by House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York, after the Trump administration made policy changes at the USPS. Those moves included cutting overtime for employees, limiting post office hours, and removing some high-volume mail sorting machines from USPS

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted a bipartisan vote in the House on Democrats’ USPS legislation Saturday after- First lady Melania Trump unveils Rose Garden noon despite White House opposition. facilities. Democrats argue the policies were intended to impede mail-in voting ahead of the November election. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, an ally and donor of President Donald Trump, has denied the claims, saying the changes were intended to increase efficiency and save money.

California firefighters struggle to contain 560 blazes as governor asks for help

acres, Cal Fire said.

Of the hundreds of fires burning, at least 22 are major.

Two of them — the 314,000acre LNU Lightning Complex Fire in the northern Bay Area and Central Valley, and the 291,000-acre SCU Lightning Complex Fire largely east of San Jose — are among the state’s three largest wildfires in recorded history.

Court orders Trump to pay legal fees in Stormy Daniels suit

restorations ahead of RNC

First lady Melania Trump on Saturday unveiled the newly renovated White House Rose Garden, an iconic space that she will use as a backdrop for her upcoming speech to the Republican National Convention.

The Rose Garden has been under construction since late last month, when the first lady announced she was spearheading an overhaul to the space to include updates to the technological elements of the space, as well as the redesign of the plantings and the placement of new limestone walkways. Since construction began, the garden — used more frequently in the COVID-19 era to hold news conferences as it allows White House staff, journalists and guests to more safely socially distance — has been out of sight from staff and members of the press.

CNN previously reported the space was on a list of spots for the first lady’s convention speech. The GOP convention is set to begin next week.

— From wire reports

PEOPLE

Robert Trump funeral held at White House A funeral service for President Donald Trump’s brother, Robert Trump, was held Friday afternoon at the White House.

Trump family members, including first lady Melania Trump, were in attendance, and the White House was earlier anticipating “several dozen” guests for the service, which was held in the East Room, a White House source told CNN. Friday afternoon, the President and first lady accompanied the casket as it made its way down the front steps of the North Portico and was loaded into a hearse. The two did not make remarks to assembled reporters.

Robert Trump died at the age of 71 on Saturday at a New York hospital. Details of his illness have not been released, but a person familiar with knowledge of the matter told CNN that he had been sick for several months.

Megan Thee Stallion says Tory Lanez shot her in the feet Megan Thee Stallion has publicly accused Canadian rapper and singer Tory Lanez of shooting her in the feet after an argument last month.

The rapper shared the allegation Thursday during an Instagram Live on her verified account.

“You shot me,” she said, addressing Lanez in her video. “And you got your publicist and your people going to these blogs lying and sht.

Stop lying. Why lie? I don’t understand.”

Megan Thee Stallion on Wednesday also posted, then deleted, a graphic photo of her wound.

CNN has reached out for a response to reps for Lanez and to reps for Megan Thee Stallion for additional comment. Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, was arrested and charged at the time with possession of a concealed weapon but has not been charged in connection with the alleged shooting.

He has not commented publicly on Megan Thee Stallion’s allegations.

Actress Lori Loughlin sentenced to 2 months in prison in college admissions scam Actress Lori Loughlin was sentenced Friday to two months in federal prison for her role in the college admissions scandal, a fate she and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, initially tried to avoid after they were charged.

Loughlin also will serve two years of supervised release during which she must perform 100 hours of community service and pay a fine of $150,000, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. She was sentenced just hours after Giannulli, who received five months in prison, a $250,000 fine, two years of supervised release and 250 hours of community service. Both must surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons before 2 p.m. on Nov. 19.

— From wire reports

California firefighters have struggled to contain massive wildfires that left at least four people dead and turned neighborhoods into ash and smoldering ruins.

About 119,000 people have evacuated the raging fires statewide after mandatory orders and recommended warnings, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday.

Up to 560 fires are burning across the state after a blitz of lightning strikes this week, he said. Almost every firefighting resource in California is battling the blazes, which have burned more than 915,000

A California Superior Court judge has ordered President Donald Trump to pay $44,100 to Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, to reimburse her attorneys’ fees in the legal battle surrounding her nondisclosure agreement.

The judge’s order was issued Monday but posted online Friday by Clifford’s attorneys.

Clifford, an adult-film actress who says she had an affair with Trump from 2006 to 2007, signed a $130,000 nondisclosure agreement with former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who repre-

And in May the mayor of Wellington, Andy Foster, gave Mittens the key to the city, an honor previously granted to “The Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson.

Mittens was given the honor “in recognition of bringing happiness, laughter and coolness to the capital — and putting the city on the map internationally with his feline antics,” according to a Wellington government statement at the time.

Other nominees for New Zealander of the Year include

microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles, lawmaker Chloe Swarbrick and journalist Patrick Gower, according to a press release published Tuesday.

“In this extraordinary year, we know that everyone has a hero,” said Miriama Kamo, patron of Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards.

“You’ve seen them in action, you’ve heard them, you may live with them — these incredible New Zealanders deserve recognition for stepspecial photo: wellington city council ping up, this year and every Mittens was given the key to the city of Wellington in May. year,” she added.

Mittens the cat could become Kiwibank’s New Zealander of the Year

By Jack Guy CNN

Mittens the cat, a famous feline from Wellington, is in the running to be voted New Zealander of the Year, going up against Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director-General of Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield.

The feline joins a host of nominees for the annual Kiwibank award, including figures from sectors such as politics, media, health, music and design.

MUST READ Mittens has become a celebrity after locals in New Zealand’s capital city started documenting his adventures around town.

The cat, a Turkish Angora, has his own Facebook page — “The Wondrous Adventures of Mittens” — with more than 52,000 members.

The Wellington Museum has also dedicated a mini exhibition to Mittens and his adventures, named “Floofy and Famous.”

A4 ♦ Sunday, auguSt 23, 2020 ♦ gwinnettdailypoSt.com COLUMNIST I KEITH ROACH

Vaccines are OK for those who have had polio

D

EAR DR. ROACH: I am a woman in my late 70s, a 1949 polio patient. For forever I have been told that because of poliomyelitis I cannot tolerate any preventive inoculations, including flu, pneumonia, shingles, etc.

Roach I was allowed to get flu shots when they first became available; however, when additives were included later on, I was instructed not to get it any longer. My concern is if I will be able to safely partake of the coronavirus inoculation when it becomes available. Most present-day doctors have no experience with polio, and often input is vague.

— P.G. ANSWER: Poliomyelitis was, for many years, a terror that parents feared every summer. Until a vaccine became available in 1955, polio could strike without warning. Although the vast majority of people had only mild symptoms (90% to 95% of cases were asymptomatic), about 1 person per thousand with polio developed poliomyelitis, a serious complication of the nervous system that was sometimes fatal and two-thirds of the time led to permanent weakness. Why some people got terribly ill and died while others had no symptoms remains a mystery, although we know some risk factors for developing poliomyelitis, such as older age, excess exercise while infected and tonsillectomy.

I am surprised to hear the recommendations against standard vaccines for you. I haven’t read that before and I have taken care of quite a few polio survivors. Experts confirm that standard vaccines, including flu, pneumonia and shingles, are recommended for those with a history of poliomyelitis. There are no additives in the vaccines placing polio survivors at increased risk.

It is too early to speculate on a coronavirus vaccine.

Although many groups are working on a vaccine, efficacy and safety testing is extensive before a vaccine is approved and the process must not be rushed. However, I doubt that a history of polio will prevent you or the many other polio survivors from getting the vaccine when one is approved.

There are many places for you to get more information: Post-polio.org is one I often use. It has reliable information from experts, which is increasingly important as the number of physicians who have taken care of polio survivors decreases.

DEAR DR. ROACH: Will you please explain how a person who is not sick, or has no symptoms, tests positive for COVID-19? How do doctors know he has it?

— L.J.T. ANSWER: The majority of COVID-19 infections have minimal or no symptoms.

People without symptoms may be tested due to concerns about exposure or as part of a program to identify the prevalence in the population. The test is specific for the genetic material of the virus.

Dr. Roach regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible.

Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med. cornell.edu or send mail to 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803.

WEATHER WATCH TODAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

50%

20%

20%

20%

20%

20%

83 71

83 70

50%

83 70

86 71

the solunar tables for lakes are based on studies that show fish and game are more active at certain times during the lunar period.

MAJOR 4:24-6:24 a.m. ............4:49-6:49 p.m.

MINOR 11:31 a.m.-12:31 p.m. ............................ .................................... 10:59-11:59 p.m.

POLLEN COUNTS trees: none weeds: low grass: none

LOTTERY

88 72

87 69

87 71

LAKE LEVELS

SOLUNAR TABLES the gwinnett daily post (upSp 921-980, iSSn 1086-0096) is published wednesday, Friday and Sunday by Scni, 725 old norcross Road, lawrenceville, ga 30045. periodical postage paid at lawrenceville, ga 30044. poStmaSteR: Send address changes to gwinnett daily post, p.o. Box 603, lawrenceville, ga 30046-0603.

HOROSCOPES

Lake Full Yesterday allatoona ............(840.0) .... 840.35 Blackshear ......... (237.0) .... 236.92 Blue Ridge........(1690.0) .. 1683.78 Burton..............(1865.0) .. 1865.52 carters.............(1072.0) ...1072.62 chatuge ........... (1927.0) .. 1923.63 Harding .............. (521.0) .....520.15 Hartwell .............(660.0) .... 660.53 Jackson..............(530.0) .... 528.67

Lake Full Yesterday lanier............... (1071.0) ...1071.35 nottely..............(1779.0) ...1772.21 oconee ..............(435.0) .... 434.68 Seminole...............(77.5) ....... 77.27 Sinclair ...............(339.8) .....339.12 thurmond ..........(330.0) .... 329.69 tugalo ................ (891.5) .... 888.05 walter F. george.(188.0) .....187.58 west point..........(635.0) .... 635.78

TODAY IN HISTORY

Saturday cash 3 midday: 8-0-3 cash 4 midday: 4-0-7-9 ga. 5 midday: 4-7-0-7-1 Friday cash 3 midday: 6-5-8 cash 3 evening: 1-4-2 cash 3 night: 9-7-1 cash 4 midday: 0-9-4-4 cash 4 evening: 0-2-0-3 cash 4 night: 0-3-8-1 ga. 5 midday: 7-2-5-2-3 ga. 5 evening: 9-8-7-6-2 Fantasy 5: 11-13-30-37-40 mega millions: 11-15-31-42-63, mega Ball: 14 cash For life: 3-30-38-40-60, cash Ball: 3

TODAY’S HISTORY: in 1305, Scottish leader william wallace was executed in london. in 1939, germany’s adolf Hitler and the Soviet union’s Joseph Stalin signed a nonaggression pact. in 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad began as german and Soviet troops fought for control of the city. in 1966, the lunar orbiter 1 spacecraft transmitted the first photo of earth from orbit around the moon. in 1999, the first cases of west nile virus in the western Hemisphere were reported in new york city.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: william ernest Henley (1849-1903), poet; edgar lee masters (1868-1950), author; ernie Bushmiller (1905-1982), cartoonist; gene Kelly (1912-1996), actor/dancer; Vera

miles (1929- ), actress; Barbara eden (1931- ), actress; Shelley long (1949- ), actress; Rick Springfield (1949- ), singer/ musician; Jay mohr (1970- ), actor/ comedian; River phoenix (1970-1993), actor; Ray park (1974- ), actor/stuntman; Kobe Bryant (1978-2020), basketball player; Jeremy lin (1988- ), basketball player.

TODAY’S FACT: in 1973, an attempted bank robbery led to a hostage situation in Stockholm, Sweden. the behavior of the victims gave rise to the term “Stockholm syndrome” to describe the condition in which hostages develop sympathetic feelings toward their captors.

TODAY’S SPORTS: in 1969, taiwan won its first little league world Series. the island’s teams went on to win nine more titles in the next 12 years.

READER’S GUIDE

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Honored as a newspaper of General Excellence

2018

COLUMNIST I AMY DICKINSON

Widow dating man who’s online a lot

D

EAR AMY: I am a widow and have started dating again.

I am currently seeing a man who gets up early to go online. He is always complimenting women online, even telling them that he loves them.

He and I dated before, and I walked away because of his online activities.

He got back in touch, saying that he missed me. He asked if we could try again.

During the time we were broken up, he went on a couple of dates with another woman. He promised that she would be gone! Nope.

He still keeps her number and has her on his Facebook account.

I am not on his Facebook account, and his page still says that he is single, even though he tells me that we are in a relationship.

I have told him I will not be second to a computer and a bunch of single women.

I got married at 18 and was married for 32 years when my husband passed away.

I don’t know what to do at this point. Should I walk away? I have told him that I do not think it is right to keep old baggage hanging around because it doesn’t give us a chance to move forward as a couple.

I have had a lot of other men interested in taking me

out, but I have turned them down because I don’t believe in playing these games.

Please help.

I’m thinking Dickinson of just being alone!

— Worried Widow DEAR WORRIED: You say you don’t think it is right to keep old baggage around.

Has it occurred to you that in this scenario, you might be the baggage that he is keeping around?

You had a very long marriage, followed by a huge loss. Surely during your marriage, you learned that you are important. You should be the most important person in your world, certainly much more important than a skeevy guy who can yank you back into his orbit just by asking.

Please don’t “move forward as a couple” with this dude. He is showing you exactly who he is. You need to believe him.

You don’t want to play games, so stop playing this one. If you walk away from this person, you will (without question) be the winner.

DEAR AMY: I am 68 and have been married to a 75-year-old alcoholic for 20 years. My husband continues to drink. I am his only

friend. He can be a kind thoughtful man, and also a rude and socially inept jerk.

When he is drunk, he is extremely rude to me. All attempts at sobriety are short-lived.

Through the years, I have left him and then returned.

I have seen three attorneys and considered divorce. Each attorney has let me know that for a variety of reasons I will be substantially worse off financially if I divorce my husband. This is because our home was purchased with assets he gained before the marriage, yet he is entitled to half my saved income from my business.

I also have a fairly benign but chronic health-care issue, which is in remission but flares up from time to time.

I go to Al-Anon, which has helped me, as I have built a wonderful life. I also know that alcoholism is a progressive disease and that his drinking and behavior can get much worse.

Do you have any advice for me?

— Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop DEAR WAITING: I can’t tell you what choice to make, just as your support system from Al-Anon can’t direct you. Your lawyers can only deliver sound legal advice concerning the financial con-

sequences of divorce.

I will say this: Waiting for the other shoe to drop is pretty much the definition of mental torture. I think it is vital that, at the very least, you have a “safe place” to retreat to if/when things get bad. Your husband has a serious, untreated illness, which unfortunately has a high and negative impact on you.

DEAR AMY: “Confused” was upset when a recent stroke victim made a sexually inappropriate comment.

As a registered nurse who worked with brain injured in ICU and as a certified rehabilitation RN, I have witnessed many changes that can occur after a brain injury.

There are many ways strokes affect people. I’ve heard a preacher’s son use language that would curl your toes.

It would be of benefit to all to meet with the neurologist to discuss the aberrant behavior.

— RN DEAR RN: Great advice.

Thank you.

You can contact Amy Dickinson via email: ASKAMY@amydickinson. com. Readers may send postal mail to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or “like” her on Facebook.

if you initiate change, you will be happy with the results. consider what isn’t working for you anymore, and focus on what will make your life easier and happier. personal improvements will lift your spirits. Romance is featured. you have what it takes to make your dreams a reality this year, so get cracking.

VIRGO (aug. 23-Sept. 22) — a new approach to an old idea will turn out well. touch base with people who inspire you and support your efforts. a chance to relax with someone you love will lead to positive lifestyle changes.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-oct. 23) — don’t let yourself get blamed for something you didn’t do. taking a step back will help you put things in perspective and avoid outside pressure. if you need help, ask for it.

SCORPIO (oct. 24-nov.

22) — Share your intentions and feelings. let your emotions take over lead the way.

Romance is in the stars. don’t be afraid to follow an unusual path.

SAGITTARIUS (nov. 23dec. 21) — improve the way you live and work. Reach out to people who owe you favors or those you would like to collaborate with. Strive for equality and honesty to avoid setbacks.

CAPRICORN (dec. 22Jan. 19) — implement your plans, and don’t look back. make unusual plans with a loved one to celebrate your good fortune. Romance is encouraged.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Be careful how much personal information you share. take time to mull over what you want to do next. acting in haste will lead to mistakes. distance yourself from anyone putting pressure on you.

PISCES (Feb. 20-march 20) — Stop second-guessing yourself, and start putting your plans in motion. you’ll accomplish plenty if you take action and bring about positive change. Start taking responsibility.

ARIES (march 21-april 19) — take baby steps when dealing with sensitive issues.

Situations will escalate if you aren’t careful how you handle loved ones. people will become increasingly demanding if you are too accommodating.

TAURUS (april 20-may 20) — make change happen. look at partnership opportunities or spend quality time with a loved one. you will make the most of your day. Romance is favored and will improve your life.

GEMINI (may 21-June 20) — take a break, and avoid discord and demanding people. look inward, and evaluate the improvements you want to make. make personal growth, better health and peace of mind your objectives.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) — Stick to what you know, and take care of matters that are pertinent your financial, physical and emotional well-being. overreacting will set you back. Focus on discipline, reason and facts.

LEO (July 23-aug. 22) — use your energy wisely. make plans to do something exhilarating. Home improvements are favored. don’t follow someone else’s lead; be creative, and do what’s best for yourself.

Sign up to get Gwinnett Daily Post breaking news alerts and daily newsletters at www.gwinnettdailypost.com/newsletters.

gwinnettdailypost.com ♦ sunday, august 23, 2020 ♦ A5

State Rep. Sam Park highlights the impact of COVID-19 on Gwinnett teachers during Democratic National Convention

By Curt Yeomans

curt.yeomans@gwinnettdailypost.com

Gwinnett County teachers and parents were in the national spotlight during the second night of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday.

As the night began, Democrats from across the country — including state Rep. Sam Park, D-Lawrenceville — were shown in a video compilation talking about why the COVID-19 novel

PERDUE

coronavirus disease pandemic has impacted the stakes in the presidential election. The officials used examples from their communities to show why Sam Park they felt Presidential Donald Trump had failed to properly address the pandemic.

Park highlighted Gwinnett County Public Schools’ decision

to have teachers return to work during the pandemic, a move that has caused several educators in Georgia’s largest school system to raise concerns about their safety.

“Teachers in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and across the country, are being asked to return to the classroom without a plan to keep them safe, and parents are exhausted juggling full-time work and full-time childcare,” Park said.

Participants in this year’s Democratic National Convention have been recording contributions remotely for the virtual convention. Tuesday night’s theme for the convention focused on leadership and also included the formal selection of former Vice President Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s nominee for president.

Park was one of six Georgians who spoke at various times during the convention Tuesday night.

Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, as well as former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams also spoke.

And, Georgia Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikema Williams represented Georgia in the roll call, casting the state’s delegate votes for the party’s presidential nominee while standing in front of the “Hero” mural of John Lewis in downtown Atlanta.

Gwinnett County Police investigating fatal accident in unincorporated Lilburn, seek assistance from public

we’re trying to get in there to help provide more nurses and doctors for our hospitals, and From A1 also the SCHOOL Act, as you can imagine we’re right in the the Senate Health and Educa- middle of those negotiations By Curt Yeomans Rockbridge Road and Tug Flynn said. is asked to call detectives at tion Committee that puts money trying to get the best outcome curt.yeomans@ Drive just before 9 p.m. on The driver of motorcycle, 770-513-5300 or Crime Stopin there to beef up systems,” for the people of Georgia.”

Monday. The accident in- 22-year-old Norcross resi- pers, which allows tipsters to gwinnettdailypost.com the senator said. “There’s also volved a motorcycle, which dent Darwin Lazo, died at remain anonymous, at 404money in there to help with ru- Senator says USPS “has Gwinnett County police are two men were riding on, and the scene of the accident from 577-8477. They can also visral communities as well to get his injuries. The passenger it www.stopcrimeATL.com. to be efficient” if it is asking for people who have an Audi Q5. access to broadband, because information about a car acci“When officers arrived to on the motorcycle was taken There is a cash reward ofgoing to exist if you don’t have that access to dent near Lilburn that resulted the scene, they discovered to a local hospital with seri- fered by Crime Stoppers for broadband, it’s kind of hard to Another major issue that in the death of a motorcycle that two men on a motorcy- ous injuries, while the driver information that leads to an have virtual learning.” cle collided with an Audi Q5 of the Audi was not injured. arrest and indictment. has been in the news lately driver to step forward.

Perdue said the bill could Police said the accident hapthat turned in front of them,” Anyone who has inforTipsters are asked to refalso help schools systems that has been changes that been pened at the intersection of Gwinnett Police Cpl. Collin mation about the accident erence cast No. 20-061275. open, but then have to close made recently at post offices, again within a few days af- including the removal of mater an outbreak of COVID-19 chines and mail boxes.

It’s become a political hot cases emerges. There were topic with the presidential been a few districts in Georbeen charged in his death. Zachary was stabbed during Roxanne Woodard-Zachary

By Curt Yeomans coming up in November and gia, including some in metro Roxanne Woodard-Zach- a domestic incident between allegedly told investigators curt.yeomans@ Atlanta, that have had to close a large number of voters are gwinnettdailypost.com ary, 51, faces a voluntary himself and his wife at their at the scene that she and her schools or quarantine classes expected to vote by mail bemanslaughter charge in the home on the 2000 block of husband had been involved cause of the pandemic. After because of outbreaks.

A wife who allegedly told death of Brett Zachary, 53. Preston Lake Drive in the in a domestic dispute and “If they open for in-person an outcry over the removal of police she stabbed her hus- She was arrested on Tuesday. Tucker area early Monday. that she stabbed him durand then go back to a virtual equipment, particularly from band earlier this week has Police previously said Brett At the time, police said ing the dispute. (learning setup), there’s money Democrats, the United States in here about the database that Postal Service announced would give them information this past week that it would those cases so as they begin to suspend the further removal make the decision about com- of the equipment until after From A1 ing back and reopen again, that the election.

At the same time, President would be there,” Perdue said.

“The tele-education dimension, Donald Trump has raised con- well. Waide said the amount there’s money in there to help cerns about mail-in ballots. of time that food will last a “There are two issues,” Pereveryone have access to remote family will depend on both learning if they need it, but the due said. “One is the Postal the size of the family and how biggest thing is information. Service and we know that is much food they pick up. On “I mean best practices to the manifestation of another average they could be taking find out what other people big bureaucratic effort that has the equivalent of about 40 are doing as they’re trying to never really been run well. It’s meals, he estimated. a manifestation of what Demomake these decisions.”

The Atlanta Communicrats really want to talk about, ty Food Bank anticipates that is they want to social being able to serve about Negotiations underway and everything, and if you love the 200 families a week initialon new COVID-19 Postal Service, you’re going to ly through the center while love other services that they’re stimulus package it works out any kinks that going to bring you like health may arise in the system.

Perdue said he felt the fed- care and education so this is “Over time, it’s going to eral government has taken the not a problem that just reared grow,” Waide said. “We think pandemic “very seriously” and its ugly head. They’ve been in first year, we’ll distribute photo: atlanta community Food Bank has a “full court press on” to de- working on that for years.” the equivalent of more than The Atlanta Community Food Bank recently opened its first Community Food Center, which Perdue said the Postal Servelop a vaccine for COVID-19.

500,000 meals, and we feel The senator said he’s hope- vice is not the only way people that the second year will be is located in south Gwinnett. ful that a vaccine is ready by can get medications, which is larger than that, and it will to grow become the state’s “Certainly the population tribution in the county so one of the issues that has been the end of the year. most populous county with- has gotten bigger, it’s got- we could meet more of the keep growing.”

“The treatment regimens are raised in the argument over Waide said Gwinnett was in the next few decades. ten more diverse and there need. Given the high qualgetting better; the number of the USPS. picked to house the first It’s anticipated that Gwin- are higher levels of poverty ity of those partnerships, we “People get delivery serpeople being hospitalized in Community Food Center nett will be home to about and food insecurity now in felt Gwinnett was the perGeorgia is going down; (and) vices a lot of different areas, because of changes in the 1.5 million residents by at Gwinnett County. fect place to open the first although we had an uptick in commercial players as well county’s population as the least 2050.

“We’ve been working with of these centers.” cases, they’re much younger,” as government players, and population has ballooned.

“Gwinnett County, like the Community Foundation Anyone who wants to seek Perdue said. “So, we’re learn- we want all of those to be viGwinnett is currently the many suburban counties, for Northeast Georgia and food assistance from the ing everyday about this virus. able,” he said. “If the postal second most populous county have seen a massive change other business and non- Community Food Center We are taking it very seriously service is going to exist, I be- in Georgia, behind Fulton in its population over the last profit partners in Gwinnett should call 678-553-5994 and we’re going to be ready if lieve it has to be efficient, and County, but it is projected 15 to 20 years,” Waide said. County to grow our food dis- to make an appointment. this thing comes around an- that means there are going other time because we put a to have to be changes made lic Health reported Gwinnett County singe death of COVID-19 is preventlot of money, $16 billion, to there. We’re not as rural of had a two-week COVID-19 case inci- able and each of us need to do all of beef up our strategic reserve a society as we were when it was created, but we still dence rate of 343 cases per 100,000 these mitigation measures to protect for PPE and testing.”

From A1 residents as well as an overall total ourselves, those around us and those Perdue said there have have people in different comof 22,455 cases since March and an that we love.” been ongoing meetings about munities that have different Arona has not directly taken sides SCHOOL Act, and a broad- needs from those in urban to issues with the quality of digital overall incidence rate of 2,312 cases learning and developmental impacts per 100,000 residents since March. in the debate over returning to in-perer COVID-19 stimulus pack- communities.

“Those are all of the things on children as reasons for wanting While a positivity rate below 10% is son instruction, but she said having age, and that he has been goconsidered moderate, an incidence rate all mitigation efforts recommended ing “back-and-forth” between that we’ve got to deal with, their children back in school.

“We all want what’s best for the of more than 100 cases per 100,000 by public health officials in place can Georgia and Washington D.C. but it takes people who have real world experience to know kids of Gwinnett County,” said Kari residents is still classified as high, ac- make schools safe for instruction. during the Senate recess.

“We cannot miss the opportunity some of the sticking points how to address those and I Sorrels, who has four sons enrolled cording to Arona.

On Friday, those numbers for Gwin- to teach our children about what a that are still being negotiated believe that’s one of the is- in the school district and supports ininclude the Democrats push to sues in a political season, is person instruction. “I know some feel nett were a total of 22,786 cases, 302 pandemic is and show them what extend additional $600 federal who do you trust to do that.” that 100% digital is the only safe op- total deaths, 2,355 total hospitaliza- they can do personally to stop the tion for our schools, but as you know, tions, an overall case incidence rate of spread of this virus,” she said. “Our unemployment benefits through the end of the year — a move Voting the other side of the CDC stated on July 23, the harm 2,346.3 cases per 100,000 residents schools can be a safer place to be in.”

The school board, itself, is split on of closed schools on social, emotion- and a two-week incidence rate of 341 Republicans are opposed to the USPS issue the issue of students returning to class. al and behavioral health, economic cases per 100,000 residents. because they see it as a disThe Georgia Department of Public “We are moving in the right direcincentive to return to work — The other issue is the on- wellbeing and academic achievement Health had been reporting two-week tion in this county, which is gratifyin both the shortand long-term can while the GOP is pushing for going debate is about voting, new case and death totals for counties, ing, something that we can celebrate, liability protections.

Perdue said. He pointed out be significant.”

Proponents of digital-only learn- as well as two-week incidence rates something we should all be encour“Now we’ve agreed on that, in Georgia, there are healthcare, and education three ways for registered vot- ing argue students cannot adequately and two-week death rates, overall aged by,” school board member Everand schools, a plus-up for ers to cast ballots. One is vot- practice social distancing on school deaths, hospitalizations, overall case ton Blair said. “And (yet), we are PPE, the Main Street pro- ing in person on election day. buses or in schools, and that they totals and overall incidence rates for still in a situation where I believe it gram,” Perdue said. “There Another is voting in person feel the district does not have an ad- counties, but it has stopped report- is too early to reopen schools for inperson instruction mostly because are a number of areas that we in advance, during the early equate plan for addressing an out- ing some of those numbers.

It now only reports two-week inof two metrics: the moderate and break in a school. have negotiated agreements voting period. The third is votTerri Stalker, who has three children cidence rates for counties, overall high categories that we have on our on, or at least are moving in ing absentee-by-mail. that direction, but the three “Each one of those, I feel in the school system, said, “I don’t case totals, hospitalizations, overall positivity rate, which we mentioned biggest (hold ups) are liabil- very confident that the votes see how we could possible return to deaths and total incidence rates for earlier, and our overall case rate per 100,000 (residents).” ity, state bailouts and unem- are going to be handled cor- school now as an option with no rap- the entire pandemic.

Arona said mitigation efforts, such Fellow board member Steve Knudployment insurance. rectly and that every single id testing, no contract tracing plans “We’re debating this every vote will count,” Perdue said. that seem to be well thought out at as wearing face masks, regularly wash- sen, however, said, “I think the choice day. We’re on phone calls ev- “The main thing we want is the state level or the Gwinnett Coun- ing hands, staying home while sick needs to reside with parents and, I ery morning at 8 a.m. We have that every single eligible voter ty level while putting our teachers in and practicing social distancing are stressed last month and I’ll stress phone calls during the day. in Georgia to vote and that’s the terrible position right now, and key to containing the pandemic. She again tonight that, I appreciate our We’re continuing to negotiate what the system has been I must say it is morally bankrupt to compared those efforts to wearing a teachers and I appreciate everything that our administrators can do to this thing and with what I’ve designed to administer and return kids as an option at this time.” seat belt while driving a car.

“Every single case of COVID-19 protect them and make sure their As of the day of Arona’s presentabeen doing on the Healthcare I’m highly confident that will is preventable,” Arona said.

“Every concerns are handled.” tion, the Georgia Department of PubWorkforce Resiliency Act that occur in Georgia.”

Wife charged in stabbing of husband, Gwinnett police say

FOOD

NUMBERS

gwinnettdailypost.com ♦ sunday, august 23, 2020 ♦ A7

PERSPECTIVES

Gwinnett Daily Post www.gwinnettdailypost.com

Todd Cline,

Editor and SCNI Vice President of Content todd.cline@gwinnettdailypost.com

COLUMNIST|DICK YARBROUGH

Murphy Gooddog and friends have a lot they can teach us

Y

ou longtime loyalists (and you it was not necessary to read books like know who you are) will remember Dale Carnegie’s self-help book, “How to the exploits of Sheila the Family Win Friends and Influence People” as Wonderdog in this space. You will also good as it may be. Just act like a dog. recall that Shelia went to Doggie Heaven Unlike people, dogs don’t judge us a few years back where she now enjoys based on the color of our skin, our fiswapping yarns with her pals Lassie, nancial status, our social standing, our Rin Tin Tin and Old Yeller and chasing sexual orientation, our political affiliasquirrels into eternity. tion, our religious beliefs (or lack thereSheila was, in fact, my grand dog which of), our education, whether our ancestors meant I petted her and provided fought on one side or the other in her with dog biscuits but left trips the Civil War or anything else. to the vet and poop-scooping to her They accept us for who we are. rightful owners, my son’s family.

If we screw up and embarrass I still miss Sheila but I am happy ourselves or others or totally fail to announce that there is a new at whatever we do, that’s okay with grand dog in my life these days. them. They don’t hold it against His name is Murphy. Actually, his us and continually harp on our full name is Murphy Gooddog. Yarbrough human frailties. They love us in Like Sheila the Family Wonderspite of ourselves. dog before him, Murphy Gooddog is of The best thing about a dog, Mr. Dorsuncertain parentage which means he ey used to say, is that they are loyal to is not likely to get a shot at the West- a fault, whether we deserve it or not. minster Kennel Club Dog Show. I don’t Dogs are not fair-weather friends. They think they have a category called “Plain are with us in the good times and the Ol’ Dogs.” not-so-good.

You may be wondering how Murphy Before you feel the need to remind Gooddog got his name. As I watched my me: Yes, there are a few dogs that give daughter training him on the do’s and their fellow Canis lupus familiaris a bad don’t’s of acceptable canine etiquette, she rap. They bite people or bark too much would say “Murphy Gooddog” whenever or chase cars. It’s not their fault. That is he succeeded, which was quite often. A because, like bratty children, they were strange name, I will admit but it beats raised that way by us humans.

Scooby-Doo or Toto.

Speaking of humans, I hear people When the pandemic hit, Murphy Good- saying that with all the violence and dog was in the process of becoming a protests and statue-razing and social certified therapy dog. That is quite an media ranting occurring these days that accomplishment for a plain ol’ dog. Ther- we going to the dogs, suggesting our soapy dogs live at home with their owner ciety is headed downhill. One theory for but after rigorous, in-depth training that idiom is that in earlier times rotten they then are able to go into places like food not fit for human consumption was retirement or nursing homes, schools, thrown to the dogs. hospitals, mental institutions and hosMaybe it is time we redefine that phrase pices and do what dogs do best — give and say that it would be beneficial if this comfort and love to people who need it. country really was going to the dogs.

I have been around Murphy Gooddog Let’s face it. We humans haven’t been enough to know firsthand that he will doing such a hot job these days. Maybe be an excellent therapy dog if and when we need to act more like dogs. training resumes. He has been practicing In the meantime, while Murphy Goodhis skills on me. No matter how blue my dog awaits clearance to get back to trainfunk when he arrives, seeing his happy ing as a certified therapy dog, I will let face improves my attitude instantly. him continue to practice on making me The late Jasper Dorsey, who was vice a kinder and gentler person. He has a president of Southern Bell’s operations in lot he can teach me.

Georgia, was both my boss and my mentor. He taught me a lot about the busiYou can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@ dickyarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, ness world but he taught me even more about life. One of his observations was Atlanta GA 31139; or on Facebook at www. that to get along with people effectively, facebook.com/dickyarb.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: EmAil: letters@gwinnettdailypost.com mAil: 725 Old Norcross Road Lawrenceville, Georgia, 30046

COLUMNIST|MARC THIESSEN

Biden’s convention was all about his base; Trump’s will be very different

W

hile President Donald Trump’s sourcing of jobs that has decimated their base is already fired up to vote communities. Not a word about confrontin November, Democrats spent ing China, the country that unleashed this week’s Democratic National Con- COVID-19 on our country and has decivention just trying to get a fire started. mated many economic sectors with unMuch of the Joe Biden convention was fair trade practices.

Biden blamed Trump for the job lossan exercise in base mobilization. There’s es from the pandemic. But these a reason for that. A Post-ABC News voters remember that before the poll on the eve of the convention pandemic hit, America had recovshowed that while 65% of Trump ered half-a-million manufacturing supporters say they are “very enjobs under Trump after losing althusiastic” about supporting the most 200,000 factory jobs in the president, only 48% of Biden supObama-Biden years. porters say the same about the forTrump understands this, which mer vice president.

Biden has an enthusiasm prob- Thiessen is partly why just hours before Biden’s address, he held a rally in lem with two key constituencies he needs to win — younger voters and Afri- the former vice president’s birthplace, can Americans. Only 25% of voters aged Scranton, Pennsylvania. “Joe Biden is 18-39 are “very enthusiastic” about voting no friend of Pennsylvania,” Trump said. for him. And CNN reports that Biden’s “He’s actually. . . your worst nightmare. support among black voters is current- Biden supported every single globalist ly smaller than Clinton’s was in 2016. attack on Pennsylvania workers: NAFWorse, only 68% of African Americans TA, China’s entry into the World Trade aged 18 to 29 say they intend to vote for Organization, which built China into a Biden — 17 points fewer than supported power, TPP, Korea, the horrible, ridiculous Paris Climate Accord, which stripped Clinton four years ago.

If you think Democrats are confident our nation of its energy, and the so-called these voters will turn out, count how Clean Power Plan.”

Trump is behind in most battleground many times they urged viewers to “make a plan” to vote. An energized base doesn’t states polls, but the race in pivotal Pennsylvania has tightened. In July, Biden had need that kind of encouragement.

Those efforts at base mobilization came an 11 point lead in the Fox News poll; a at a cost. There was virtually no effort to new poll this week shows Trump within win back the working-class voters who the margin of error.

Trump now has the opportunity to do voted twice for Barack Obama but defected to Trump in 2016. The reason Trump what Biden did not: use his convention is president today is because about one- next week to reach beyond his base, and third of the nearly 700 counties that twice make a pitch to the 10% to 15% of votvoted for Obama went for Trump in 2016. ers who have said they approve of his According to Nate Cohn of the New economic policies but don’t approve of York Times, Trump won because he him. It is in their economic self-interest “flipped millions of white working-class to give him a second term.

Trump needs to give them permission Obama supporters to his side.” If you were a working-class Obama-Trump to vote in their self-interest. To do that, voter watching this week’s convention, he needs to acknowledge his flaws, and you heard a lot about gun violence, ra- the fact that his brash New York approach cial justice, and climate change, but not sometimes rubs people the wrong way. much directed at you. The message you His message should be: Despite my imheard was: Democrats are not interested perfections, I’m fighting for you. With that approach, he can keep his base enin your support.

That showed in Biden’s acceptance ergized and expand it at the same time. speech. It was in many ways an impas- His convention is the place to start. sioned and effective address. But not Marc Thiessen is a fellow at the American a word about the opioid epidemic and Enterprise Institute and the former chief deaths of despair that are destroying their families. Not a word about the out- speechwriter for President George W. Bush.

COLUMNIST|CAL THOMAS

I

The source of Republican problems

n a new book about her grandfather, Dwight D, Eisenhower, titled “How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions,” Susan Eisenhower writes admiringly about Ike’s pursuit of what she calls “the middle way.”

In a decision that still infects elements of the Republican Party today, Susan Eisenhower says Ike’s pursuit of compromise and centrism led to his decision to nominate Democrats as well as Republicans to the Supreme Court. She quotes Ike’s attorney general, Herbert Brownell: “The President believed and acted upon the belief that the Supreme Court’s membership should represent divergent ideological points of view.”

She says he believed this approach would “foster public confidence in the court...”

Ike could not have foreseen future battles over all federal courts and how his successors would mostly nominate judges who fit their ideological views of the Constitution, Roe vs. Wade being the most egregious of many such examples.

Our 34th president gave the Supreme Court two of its most liberal members, Justices William Brennan and Earl War-

ren. Ike would later come to lament those individual responsibility and accountabilappointments, saying, “I made two mis- ity. We now subsidize bad individual decitakes and both of them are sitting on the sions and failure and penalize those who Supreme Court.” have succeeded by playing by what used Ike had success with the middle way as to be called “the rules.” supreme allied commander during For many, government has beWorld War II when his advisers and come an addiction with Democrats heads of Allied nations agreed on a serving as “dealers.” Republicans common goal, the defeat of Nazi Gerhave had only marginal success in many and Japan. Unfortunately, his countering this because they don’t noble sentiment works less well in seem to be able to come up with politics because Democrats do not a set of unified policies and goals. reciprocate.

Instead, the GOP has become like The purpose of politics is to win a protein shake dieters drink beThomas and to demonstrate one party’s ideas cause it contains fewer calories. In and policies are superior to those of the too many cases, Republican positions reother party. If politics is only about being semble “Democrat-lite.” The growing debt liked and praised, especially by one’s ideo- is only one example. Republicans seek only logical adversaries, the party that adopts to manage it, not reduce it. such a philosophy is doomed to perpetual Susan Eisenhower quotes from a letter defeat and to not have its positions — if it Ike wrote to a California friend in 1954: has them — taken seriously “I developed a practice which, so far as I Democrats have been known since the know, I have never violated. The practice Great Depression as the party of govern- is to avoid public mention of any name unment, luring more and more voters by dis- less it can be done with favorable intent pensing free stuff and promising to take and connotation; reserve all criticism for care of them. Government has replaced the private conference; speak only good

in public.”

In this, Ike demonstrated his good character, but that didn’t stop Democrats from criticizing him about everything from the rounds of golf he played to allegations by Harry Truman and others that he was in the pocket of “reactionaries,” which translated into today’s parlance means “extreme right-wingers.”

There’s a cliche about sports: “It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how you play the game.”

In politics it’s about winning, and if you don’t win how you played the game won’t matter.

Texas politician Jim Hightower wrote a book titled “There’s Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos.”

Modern Republicans might learn from that Texas liberal.

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@ tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ new book “America’s Expiration Date: The Fall of Empires and Superpowers and the Future of the United States” (HarperCollins/Zondervan).

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FANS CHOICE FALL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Who: marisa miller School: north gwinnett Sport: Softball Class: Junior Highlights: Hit .833 in the season’s first week with four home runs, two doubles and nine RBis, including a three-home run, six-RBi game against lambert Coach Amanda Heil’s take: “marisa has started the season on fire. through six games, she is batting .824, going 14-for-17 with three doubles, five home runs and 11 RBis. marisa is a double treat as she is just as fierce behind the plate. marisa is a competitor. She doesn’t like to lose at anything and she works hard and its paying off big time.”

Shawn Hubbard/Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr., a Peachtree Ridge grad, blocks against the New England Patriots during the 2019 season.

Peachtree Ridge grad Brown ready for next step with Ravens

By Will Hammock

will.hammock@gwinnettdailypost.com

IN BRIEF Josh Graham commits to Morgan State Norcross senior Josh Graham committed Thursday to the Morgan State University (Md.) football program.

Graham was a first-team, all-county defensive back last season by the Touchdown Club of Gwinnett, as well as an All-Region 7-AAAAAAA selection. He is projected to start at safety again this season for the Blue Devils.

GCPS cancels middle school athletics Gwinnett County Public Schools has canceled middle school athletics for the 2020-21 school year because of the lingering COVID-19 pandemic.

GCPS sponsors two sports at the middle school level, basketball and cheerleading.

The county has 29 middle schools, which means 58 basketball teams and 29 cheerleading teams won’t have a middle school season.

The season-ending middle school basketball tournament is typically a popular event that draws large crowds.

“Obviously, we have no desire to cancel things kids are involved in, No. 1,” GCPS athletic director Ed Shaddix said. “At the middle school level, we don’t have the professional trainers and athletic staff we have in the high schools to support a safe environment.”

Downs leads locals in 2023 rankings Mill Creek defensive back Caleb Downs is ranked 14th nationally in the initial Class of 2023 football recruiting rankings by 247Sports.com.

Downs is ranked as a fourstar prospect, as well as the No. 2 sophomore in Georgia, after starting in the Hawks’ secondary last season as a freshman. He also is expected to contribute on offense this season.

Michael Daugherty of Grayson is ranked 48th nationally on the list. He also is a four-star prospect and ranked No. 6 in the state.

Brookwood quarterback Dylan Lonergan, also a fourstar, was ranked 81st nationally and ninth in Georgia.

Coming off the best regular season in franchise history and led by the NFL’s reigning MVP, quarterback Lamar Jackson, the Baltimore Ravens’ expectations are predictably high for the 2020 season.

Pegged by many as both the favorite for a third straight AFC North title and as the Super Bowl frontrunners, they are in that role largely because of Jackson’s playmaking and an offense that led league in scoring (33.2 points per game) in 2019. One of the vital cogs in that offense is Peachtree Ridge graduate Orlando Brown Jr., Baltimore’s starter at right tackle.

Brown, who made the Pro Bowl in his second NFL season, is aiming for even better in his third season, both with his play and with his leadership.

“I think he’s a natural leader with his personality, and that really hasn’t changed, he’s the same guy,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said this week during a break from the team’s training camp. “He’s into it. He really is motivated. He wants to be a great player. He’s in there working with the guys, and I think he’s the same guy, but more mature, better, just because he’s another year into it. He’s only going to continue to get better, so all plusses with Orlando.”

The Ravens got a steal in the 2018 NFL Draft when Brown, projected as a first-round pick after a decorated college career at Oklahoma, slid to the third round because of subpar NFL Combine workouts. He stepped in immediately as a rookie and started 10 games, and followed that up with his Pro Bowl season for a Baltimore team that finished the regular season 14-2.

The 6-foot-8, 355-pounder’s role as a leader has grown out of necessity this year with the retirement of the player who lined up next to him the past two years, offensive guard Marshal Yanda, an eight-time Pro Bowl pick and a likely Pro Football Hall of Famer in the future. Brown just turned 24, but he is an important piece of the line.

“It’s only natural, I think, as a football player that’s been in a system for three years, to want to be a better player, to want to be a better leader, to go on and do better as I get older,” Brown said this week. “What Marshal did here, it’s going to be so hard to replicate. It doesn’t matter, really, who you are and what you’re capable of. He was just so important and so special to our offensive line room, as well as the franchise. Just the lessons and things he taught me as a young player through the first two years of my career … Just an understanding now and creating it and living your life a certain way to where you’re productive as

EDWARDS From A11 The discipline in the Edwards family is still strong, both at home and on the football field, where Craig is an assistant coach at Dacula. Jenkins said the elder Edwards does a good job separating the coach and father roles.

Kaleb knows the separation, and the expectations, too.

“Our relationship is close,” Kaleb Edwards said. “Football is one thing that’s brought us even closer.

And him being ex-military, he just keeps discipline in me and keeps me right. … It’s a tight ship, by the book. What he said went. But I think it’s helped out a lot and kept me out of trouble and made me into the young man I am now.”

Edwards is a senior leader for the Falcons, a student with a 3.7 GPA and one of the state’s top high school football players. He committed to Georgia Tech over an impressive offer list that was representative of his academic abilities, featuring schools like Stanford, Duke and Notre Dame. The academics at Tech factored heavily into his college decision, he said.

All of the recruiting attention rolled in after a huge junior season on both sides of the ball. The 6-foot, 195-pounder excelled again at safety — 86 tackles, good for third on the team, and a team-best four interceptions — as Dacula reached the Class AAAAAA semifinals for a

dale Zanine

Dacula senior Kaleb Edwards, a Georgia Tech commitment, is a standout on offense and defense. He is the reigning Daily Post Offensive Player of the Year after leading the Falcons to the state semifinals. second straight season.

He also had a huge 2019 season on offense that brought the Daily Post Offensive Player of the Year honor. He ended last season with 1,153 yards and 15 touchdowns on 66 rushes, plus 566 yards and three more scores on 29 pass receptions.

He even added a pass completion on three attempts in a spot start at quarterback for 47 more yards.

His total offensive yardage was 1,766 yards and 18 TDs on a mere 98 total touches, an average of 18 yards every time he touched the football. Most of his offensive produc-

an offensive lineman, as a football player. It’s hard to replicate what he was.

“At the end of the day, I’m approaching this year with the mentality that I have to get better. Obviously, I didn’t do everything that I needed to do to help us win against Tennessee (an upset loss in the 2019 Divisional game). At the end of the day, that’s the ultimate goal — win a Super Bowl. Whatever that is, whatever the coaches want from me, whatever the team wants from me, from myself, I want to be a better player and I want to be a better leader.”

The Pro Bowl selection validated Brown as one of the NFL’s top right tackles, but he still sees other players he is chasing at the position.

“I’ve still got a ways to go,” Brown said. “At the end of the day, your top guys are your top guys, and they’ve been consistent. They’ve been proven over the years, over the last four or five years, and that’s (the Saints’) Ryan Ramczyk, that’s (the Raiders’) Trent Brown, that’s (the Cowboys’) La’el Collins, that’s (the Chiefs’) Mitchell Schwartz, it’s a long list of guys … (the Eagles’) Lane Johnson. It just keeps going.

But there are guys who have been in this league longer than me and have been just as productive and more consistent over the years. I’m not there yet. At some point, I’ll get there. That’s where I’m working to

get — is chasing the guys at the top.

At some point when you get there, elevating your game even more.”

Like others in the NFL, Brown’s offseason was odd because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With team facilities off limits, players spent more time than usual training on their own and less time on the field with their coaches.

Things are still far from normal around the league, but Brown and the Ravens are looking ahead to the season.

“I trust the guys in this building,” Brown said. “They trust us, our coaches are trusting us, the front office is trusting us to make sure that we continue to maintain our negative test results as a team. It’s scary, in a way, because we don’t understand the effects of this virus long-term, from an individual standpoint. If I get it, is this something that’s going to affect me for the next 10 years? Where (as) if somebody else catches it, it may only be for five or six months. That’s really just where all the uncertainty, for me, kind of comes from. Ultimately, I’m locked in for the season. I’m ready to play some ball. It’s unfortunate that things haven’t been taken care of from the virus standpoint and we’re not able to get it under control, I guess, as a nation. Hopefully, we get to that point. Right now, I’m really focused on being ready Week One, and taking it week-by-week.”

tion came later in the season as the Falcons used him more frequently on that side of the ball.

“We knew going in Kaleb was a guy — because we lost a bunch on defense (off the 2018 team) and Kaleb was a guy who played a lot on defense (as a sophomore), we knew he would be a defensive starter and we were hoping he could take a leadership position in the secondary,” Jenkins said. “He was going to play some slot, and he could play running back. He was so versatile. If we were short running backs, you could put Kaleb back there and he would do an unbelievable job. You could put him at safety. You could put him at quarterback. His versatility is one of his biggest attributes.

And he doesn’t care, he just wants to play football. ‘Coach, just put me in and let me play.’

“We had him penciled in as starter on defense, and we knew he would be a major contributor at safety.

Kind of as the year went on, he started taking a little more of a role on offense.”

In Dacula’s regular season finale against Winder-Barrow, Edwards rushed 10 times for 190 yards and three touchdowns in the Falcons’ 61-31 victory, and continued a week later when he put up even more eyepopping numbers — 281 yards of total offense and four scores on just 13 touches — as the Falcons dominated Dalton in the first round of the state playoffs.

They continued to lean on him offensively the remainder of 2019.

He had 74- and 28-yard TD runs

in the quarterfinals when Dacula eliminated two-time, defending state champion Lee County.

“Down the stretch, he just had some huge games,” Jenkins said.

“The more I watched him, and I told college recruiters, the more I saw him with the ball in his hands that he may be an offensive guy (in college) because he’s so good with the ball in his hands. He’s hard to tackle, and pound for pound he’s a really strong kid. By the time we were going down the stretch and watching him, it was just, ‘Wow.’ And I’m a defensive guy. But what he did down the stretch productionwise on offense was unbelievable.”

The Dacula coaches plan to take advantage of Edwards’ versatility on offense again this season. He will see action at quarterback, running back and receiver, and said he’s fine wherever he sees snaps. “(The coaches) just told me to lead,” Edwards said. “That’s the biggest thing my dad told me growing up. Just lead the team, and everything will come out right.”

Edwards has a deep bond with Dacula and his teammates — he has played football with a handful of Falcons since they were 6 years old — and appreciates being a part of the program along with his father.

“I like the standard they hold us to in Dacula,” he said. “They always say blue collar. It’s all about being blue collar and doing things right. We don’t have the numbers (of players) that some schools have.

We take what we get out of Dacula and work hard.”

GWINNETTDAILYPOST.COM ♦ SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2020 ♦ A13

C2 ♦ Sunday, auguSt 23, 2020 ♦ gwinnettdailypoSt.com COLUMNIST|RONDA RICH

A

The power of a newspaper

dear friend of mine, did not know when she left Lori, was cleaning the card in my box that day out her house, pre- that it was the anniversary paring to downsize. She of his death in plane crash sent a text that she many years ago. had left some things In the stack was a in my mailbox.

Sports Illustrated, What precious back in the days of its things they were, too. true greatness, which On top of the small honored a fallen Dale stack of magazines Earnhardt on the covand newspapers was a er. There was a copy small laminated baseof our local newspaRich ball-like card that feapers, The Times, with tured a race car driver. the full coverage of his fatal Tears stung my eyes as I crash in Daytona. studied what would always I had never seen the pabe a face of youth and thick per because I was in Washdark hair that never had the ington, DC when he died. It opportunity to gray. He had was all powerful. The headbeen on my mind since the line was bold: Intimidator dawn had awoken me. Alan Goes His Way. The story Kulwicki was a good friend led with “Dale Earnhardt of mine. I even dated him off was every bit the brusque and on for a few years. Lori daredevil who drew milCOLUMNIST|ROB JENKINS

W

lions to his sport.”

The world was still in shock when those words were written and the power of that shock could be felt almost 20 years later as I read the stories.

That’s the power of the printed word that has an urgency to it is unbeatable.

Years ago, I was on a Mississippi River cruise aboard the American Queen when we made a stop in Greenville, Miss. for the day. It was an excellent day as we visited literary places and museums. We had just stopped at our second museum when someone handed me a copy of the Delta Democrat Times.

The headline in the largest point possible stopped in my tracks: SHELBY FOOTE DIES.

Not only will I remember the thunder of that moment but I brought home a copy of the paper. Foote, the noted historian who had been made into a superstar by the Ken Burns Civil War series, was a native of Greenville so the newspaper properly paid its respect.

That’s one of the many things I love about newspapers.

It is more emotional to pick up a paper and read the news than tune in online where you can’t read a sentence without the page continuing to load bothersome ads and gimmicks and resetting the layout of the story. It is annoying and distracting.

Peggy Anderson, a very nice reader of this column

in Cumming, Ga., wrote not long ago and told me how she had found a box of newspapers she had saved over the years: The end of World War II, both Kennedy assassinations, Nixon resignations, the Challenger Explosion, Charles and Diana’s wedding.

When she mentioned she had coverage of Elvis’ death, I replied instantly, “Is there any way you could send me a copy?”

She did not scan them.

She made copies and mailed them. It was more jolting to hold them in my hands than to have seen them in an email. The story of Elvis’ death was so big that The Atlanta Constitution did something mighty rare: They ran a story above the

name of the paper. A distraught fan was collapsed in tears in front of Graceland and the headline read: ‘I Can’t Believe He’s Gone.’

The coverage was stupendous and still riveting 43 years later.

We need newspapers.

Printed paper. Don’t think for a moment we don’t.

You may not have a newspaper with Elvis’ or Mr. Foote’s deaths but I bet you have a family obituary that means a great deal.

Support your local paper. Please.

Ronda Rich is the best-selling author of the new book, Let Me Tell You Something.

Visit www.rondarich.com to sign up for her free weekly newsletter.

The bureaucratic fallacy

e Americans do love the experts are often wrong. us some experts.

A greater problem, though, Utterly fixis that we all too often ated on credentials, listen to the wrong exwe appear to believe perts. Yes, on balance, that degrees and titles experts do know more confer almost magical about one specific subpowers. If you want ject than the rest of to win an argument us and are therefore — any argument, on somewhat more likely any topic — just lead (though hardly guarwith “Well, the experts anteed) to be right.

Jenkins say….”

But there are exWe seem to forget that perts and there are experts, a credential is no guaran- and the ones with the bigtee of competence, as any gest platform don’t necessarbusiness owner who has just ily have the most expertise. hired someone fresh out of In particular, in the age college knows. We also, to of bureaucracy, we have our peril, ignore the fact that become enamored of gov-

ernment experts, assuming because they work for the government — ostensibly, for the people — they must constitute the highest order of experts and have the lest self-interest.

Those assumptions are usually false.

Let’s look at health care, since that’s a big topic right now. As a society, we have come to regard the government medical experts who regularly grace our TV screens as minor deities. They’re often described in glowingly hyperbolic terms, like “foremost experts” and “top doctors.” But are they really?

Do you know what government service pays? Better than most jobs, to be sure, but not as much as genuinely “top doctors” can earn in private practice. Or at an elite university, where medical school professors can literally make millions. Given that reality, why would the best doctors in the country work for the government?

The same is true, by the way, in any field. When my friend was a partner at one of the Big Four accounting firms, the bane of his existence were government auditors who didn’t have half his knowledge or experience.

Almost uniformly, they were people who couldn’t cut it at a big firm, so they got a job with the government.

Another false assumption is that the people who make it to the top of their respective bureaucracy must therefore be the very best at what they do. This ignores the nature of bureaucracies, where advancement is generally due more to political acumen than to subject-matter competence.

Anyone who has ever worked in a bureaucracy, as I have, knows how people get promoted. Yes, sometimes they’re actually quite

good at what they do, but in many cases what they’re really good at is sucking up, not rocking the boat, and throwing co-workers under the bus.

So next time you find yourself enthralled by the star power of “America’s top experts,” just remember that they aren’t really our top experts--and keep in mind how they probably got there.

Rob Jenkins is a college professor. The views expressed here are his own. You can email Rob at rob.jenkins@ outlook.com.

ART BEAT|HOLLEY CALMES

Royal Dance Academy student dances through the pandemic

“I

f I’m not dancing, I 13-year old Natalie Bumgarfeel like I’m miss- ner, a student at Suwanee’s ing something, like Royal Dance Academy. there’s a hole in my life,” said The pandemic has been

especially hard for the performing arts. Dancers particularly have not been able to train under normal condi-

Chromebook for Kids We CARE Challenge Learning remotely can be challenging when you don’t have a computer.

tions for months. Yet many, like Bumgarner, have found ways to keep their technique sharp and their spirits high.

Natalie Bumgarner began dancing at age 2 when she automatically responded to music at home. Her mother, Jennifer, is an accomplished dance teacher herself, and by age 9 daughter Natalie was taking her dancing very seriously.

The awards and accolades began to accumulate.

Just this past July, Bumgarner was awarded a National Top 12 Overall Juniors placement in the New York City Dance Alliance Awards, a virtual competition. Also in July, she made National Top 20 Junior Core Performers at the RADIX Awards. Earlier this year she placed Top 33 in The Dance Awards Virtual National Competition.

Numerous other awards and recognitions fill her resume.

How does a dancer stay fit, motivated, and compete during a time when most studios are closed or just recently re-opened? For the truly committed artist, there’s

always a way.

“I’m lucky to have a small studio in our basement,” Bumgarner says. “I have been able to take virtual classes from Steps on Broadway.

BUILD Dance Series virtual classes were a big help too.

There are many other free online classes.

“I found it a struggle at first. I didn’t enjoy the virtual experience. It was hard to connect with the other people taking the class. It was hard to express emotion and hard to be noticed by the teachers when you’re behind a screen.”

Then dancing became easier, especially in her online jazz classes.

“There were a lot of great jazz teachers willing to teach through ZOOM, and jazz doesn’t need as much space, so I got better at it,” she said.

Royal Dance Academy began intensives in June, and all classes started back Aug. 3rd, including the new Ballet Conservatory of Atlanta, a Pre-Professional Conservatory program. Of course, Bumgarner is a part of this

exciting new program along with her other Royal classes and their new Elite Performance Team.

Bumgarner’s ultimate goal is to attend Marymount College in Manhatten, New York.

From there, she hopes to move on to a Contemporary Ballet company and perhaps perform on Broadway.

As the pandemic continues, Bumgarner urges dancers not to quit dancing, no matter where they are.

“If it’s hard to find access to a studio, keep dancing.

Even if all you have is a tiny space in your bedroom or in front of your bathroom mirror, just turn on ZOOM and go for it,” she said. “ Don’t give up on what you love.”

For information on the Royal Dance Academy, their new Ballet Conservatory of Atlanta and other classes, visit goroyaldance.com or call 678-203-0156.

Holley Calmes is a freelance writer and public relations consultant specializing in the arts. Email her at hcalmes@ mindspring.com.

Chromebooks for Kids We CARE Challenge will ensure that students have the technology critical to success from home and in the classroom.

www.gcps-foundation.org Phone (678)301-6077 • Fax 678-301-7326

non-profit 501(c)(3)• Charitable Registration #16-1764597

photo: Richard calmes/Royal dance academy

Natalie Bumgarner of the Royal Dance Academy in Suwanee has found ways to keep dancing through the pandemic.

C6 ♦ Sunday, auguSt 23, 2020 ♦ gwinnettdailypoSt.com CLOSE TO HOME

John McPherson

FAMILY CIRCUS

Bill Keane

Today’s Solution

BEETLE BAILEY Mort & Greg Walker

BLONDIE Dean Young & John Marshall

DILBERT®

Scott Adams

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE Chris Browne

Zits Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

PEANUTS

GARFIELD Jim Davis

POOCH CAFE Paul Gilligan

Charles M. Schulz

PICKLES Brian Crane

Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same numSolution to today's Sudoku ber only once.

WHATZIT SOLUTION:

Today’s Answer: Possession

C8 ♦ Sunday, auguSt 23, 2020 ♦ gwinnettdailypoSt.com

HARRIS From C1 “It’s a really important thing for our company and our organization to be able to invest in schools,” Brannon said. “It’s how we got

our start as DeKalb County Teachers Credit Union, so it’s important for our organization to do this type of investment back into the schools and to be able to affect as many schools as we have over the years, and just to know that it’s making the kids day a lit-

tle bit better.

“I think that’s really the big thing that makes me come back and do it.”

It was also a family affair for some Georgia United Credit Union employees.

Jon Burchett, for example, is the son of Georgia United Director of B.S.A. (Bank Se-

crecy Act) and Fraud Lyndsie Burchett. The elder Burchett said she’s been participating in School Crashers projects for four years, but this is the first time her son has joined her for a project.

“He’s been wanting to do School Crashers for three years and this is his debut

so he’s so excited,” she said.

“He’s finally of an age where we felt comfortable bringing him in and letting him try his hand.”

For his part, the younger Burchett said he’s committed to making sure the improvements at B.B. Harris don’t fade away, particularly

those lines on the basketball court that he helped Brannon paint.

“I wish I could come back here when I’m 18 and see if it’s still looking the same,” Burchett said. “If not, I’m going to do it myself. I refuse to see this place how it was when we came in.”

photos: Jamie Spaar

above: Chris Freeman updating the paint on the swingset for the Georgia United Foundation School Crashers event at B.B. Harris Elementary in Duluth on August 15 Right: Toni Beth Vasquez prepping the four square area for paint for the Georgia United Foundation School Crashers event at B.B. Harris Elementary in Duluth on August 15

CANCER IS RELENTLESS. SO ARE WE. At Northeast Georgia Medical Center, we’re continually adjusting the way we care for our patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. What hasn’t changed is our commitment to providing the safest, highest quality cancer care to our patients. We’re working tirelessly to keep our community safe so you can receive the advanced treatment you need.

Find your cancer specialist at nghs.com/cancer