Community Tea

In an effort to overturn a judge’s order that voided the federal mask mandate on planes, trains, and travel hubs, the Justice Department filed an appeal minutes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked for it to appeal the decision handed down by a federal judge in Florida earlier during the week. A notice of appeal was filed in federal court in Tampa. The CDC said in a statement on Wednesday that it is “continuing assessment that at this time an order requiring masking in the indoor transportation corridor remains necessary for the public health.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a nationwide health alert Thursday about an unusual cluster of serious hepatitis cases in young children for which the cause or causes is not known. Federal health officials are investigating nine cases of hepatitis in children 1 to 6 years old who were hospitalized between October and February with

significant liver injury. All of the children were previously healthy, officials said, and two required liver transplants. There are no reported deaths. CDC’s alert is to notify physicians and public health authorities nationwide to be on the lookout for symptoms and report suspected cases. The children were from across the state and officials have found no epidemiological link connecting them. Symptoms of hepatitis, or inflammation of the liver, include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, light-colored stools, joint pain, and jaundice.

The first two women to sit on the highest court in the country, Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, are joining the relatively short list of women memorialized as sculptures at the U.S. Capitol. Bipartisan legislation to add statues of the two Supreme Court justices to the Capitol was spearheaded by women lawmakers, passed the Senate last December, passed the House at the end of March, and signed by President Joe Biden on Wednesday.

Said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who introduced the legislation, “Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O’Connor were trailblazers long before reaching the Supreme Court, opening doors for women at a time when so many insisted on keeping them closed.”

Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams’ campaign asked a federal judge to temporarily stop Gov. Brian Kemp from using a state law created to give him a major fundraising advantage in his reelection bid. Abrams’ campaign said it wants Kemp to be banned from using his leadership committee — which allows him to ignore contribution limits and raise unlimited amounts from individual donors — until after the May 24 primary. Then Abrams, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, will be eligible by law to use the same kind of committee. U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen ruled last week being the party’s nominee is a requirement for using the leadership committee law that the Republican-controlled General Assembly approved last year, which lets the governor, the opposing party’s gubernatorial nominee, and party caucuses raise as much cash as they can throughout the campaign, including during legislative sessions. It gave incumbents an added edge since their challengers can’t use the funds until they win their party’s nomination. Kemp’s leadership committee — Georgians First — was formed days after the law went into effect. Abrams has created a committee called One Georgia, which Cohen ruled can’t raise or spend money until after the primary. “The statute unfairly allows defendant Georgians First to raise unlimited contributions on behalf of Governor Kemp based solely on his status as governor, and prior to his becoming the Republican Party nominee for governor of Georgia, whereas One Georgia is not currently permitted to do the same,” Joyce Gist Lewis, a lawyer for the Abrams campaign, wrote in its amended filing Wednesday.

Automatic voter registrations in Georgia has seen a dramatic drop which is being attributed to a government website that required potential voters to click a button before they could sign up. Many say that’s not how automatic voter registration is supposed to work. The intent of the program is to register voters at driver’s license offices by default, giving them an option not to register. The change to automatic registration could explain a sharp decline in the rate of Georgians who opted to register through the Department of Driver Services, from 79% in 2020 to 39% last year, according to government records.

The Chattahoochee Brick Company site was on track to becoming a fuel terminal to move ethanol, oil, and other commodities from train cars. Officials stepped in and pushed for the city to develop the land into a park. With a vote by the Atlanta City Council on Monday, that land is now slated

to become a 75-acre park with a memorial to historical atrocities that occurred there. The council officially approved the city’s $27 million purchase of the site in northwest Atlanta off Bolton Road formerly owned by Chattahoochee Brick Company, founded by former Atlanta Mayor James English. From the 1870s until the early 1900s, the company participated in the state’s convict leasing program, which forced people incarcerated at Georgia’s prisons, mostly African American men, to perform backbreaking work. Leased through a state-run system, many suffered, and some even died on the job from abuse and a lack of care. The city is working with The Conservation Fund on the $27 million purchase. The Conservation Fund is a national nonprofit that helps governments purchase and preserve land as public greenspace. About $10 million will come from the Department of Watershed Management. The city hasn’t provided a timeline for when the park could be open but said it will work with community members on specific plans. It also plans to construct a memorial honoring the victims of convict leasing.

In the proposed budget for the next fiscal year, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the “largest raise in the history of the Cobb County School District” will be included in it. The $1.4 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2023 includes raises ranging from 8.5% to 13.1%, said Ragsdale, who called it an “employee-centric budget.” All non-temporary staff will receive raises of at least 8.5%. Employees who are eligible for a salary step will see even higher increases. The proposed raises will not alter the general fund millage rate of 18.9 mill.

Delta Air Lines plans to restore flight privileges to certain passengers who violated past mask requirements and were put on the carrier’s no-fly list. Delta said restoration of privileges will depend on a case-by-case review. About 2,000 people are on the Atlanta-based carrier’s no-fly list for mask violations. “With masks now optional, Delta will restore flight privileges for customers on the mask non-compliance no-fly list only after each case

is reviewed and each customer demonstrates an understanding of their expected behavior when flying with us,” the company said in a written statement.

To expand its commercial truck driving program, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola announced it is donating $1 million to the Technical College System of Georgia to address an industry driver shortage. The trucking industry has lost 6% of its drivers nationwide amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the American Trucking Association. The shortage is expected to increase, officials said during the announcement. Officials say they hope the donation will result in the state’s Technical College System hiring 11 full-time and two part-time instructors at some of its schools. “This investment will allow us to prepare drivers to enter the industry, helping to ensure the continued transport of goods across this state,”

Workers at Cumberland Mall’s Apple store have filed for union recognition, which makes them the first Apple retail workers in America to do so. The Communications Workers of America (CWA), which will represent the employees, said over 70% of the store’s more than 100 workers signed union authorization cards in support of recognition. by law, at least 30% of workers must sign cards to file for recognition with the National Labor Relations Board.

MARTA celebrated Earth Day by unveiling its first electric buses Friday at a ceremony at its Edgewood/Candler Park station. It showed off three electric buses, which will be put into service May 1 on Routes 2 and 102 out of its North Avenue station. In 2019, MARTA received a $2.6 million Federal Transit Administration grant to buy six electric buses and the infrastructure to charge them. They will replace 2005 diesel buses and will reduce MAR- TA’s emissions of greenhouse gasses and fine matter particles, which have been linked to a variety of health issues. 

U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock recently secured an additional $3.8 million in federal funding for MARTA to buy another six buses. MARTA also plans to seek federal funding for electric buses for its Clayton County Southlake and Atlanta Summerhill bus rapid transit lines. “Electric buses are ideal for routes that travel through dense urban corridors like the 2 and 102 — leaving no noise or emissions in their wake,” interim MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood said. “Our goal is to continue adding electric buses to the fleet to help combat climate change and reduce the public health impacts from air pollution, especially in our most vulnerable populations

The Georgia Recreation and Parks Association has accepted the Austell Parks and Recreation Department as its newest member. This allows City officials to take advantage of continuing education opportunities, networking and grant possibilities that were not made available previously. Parks and Recreation has a new administrative office on the main floor of the city’s Threadmill Complex, 5000 Austell-Powder Springs Road, Austell.

After dozens of customers complained of illness after eating Lucky Charms brand cereal , the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating. The FDA said Saturday it has received more than 100 complaints related to Lucky Charms so far this year.

Best Buy is recalling 772,000 air fryers and air fryer ovens sold in the U.S. and Canada after more than 100 incidents in which the products caught fire, burned or melted, in one case hurting a child. 68 U.S. residents and 36 Canadians complained to the company that the fryers and ovens overheated. The retailer disclosed two injuries — one involving a child’s leg, and seven involving minor property damage. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says people should stop using the recalled air fryers and air fryer ovens and return them to Best Buy for a refund in the form of credit to be used at Best Buy. Customers will receive store credit for $50 or the amount on the purchase receipt if higher. No receipt is needed to get the $50 credit, the retailer stated. 

Toyota and Lexus are recalling 458,054 vehicles over concerns that they will not automatically reengage their stability control programs if the driver disabled them and turned off the vehicle. The failure to do this puts these vehicles out of compliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards. The recall affects 2020 through 2022 model year vehicles and includes the Lexus LX, NX Hybrid, NX PHEV, LS Hybrid, Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Mirai, RAV4 Prime, Sienna, Venza, and Toyota Highlander Hybrid models. If you believe your vehicle is one of those covered by this recall and you have further questions, you can contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331 and reference recall number 22TA03 for Toyota and 22LA01 for Lexus.

Former Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member, NeNe Leakes, is suing the companies behind the show alleging that they fostered and tolerated a hostile and racist work environment. Filed in the federal court in Atlanta. The lawsuit says Leakes, who is Black, complained to executives about years of racist remarks from fellow housewife Kim Zolciak-Biermann, who is white, but that only Leakes suffered consequences. It names as defendants NBCUniversal, Bravo, production companies True Entertainment and Truly Original, executives from the companies and “Housewives” executive producer Andy Cohen, but not Zolciak-Biermann. It alleges that during the first season, which aired in 2008, the cast was planning to attend a barbecue, and housewife Kim Zolciak-Biermann, responded to the idea with “words to the effect of: ‘I don’t want to sit

around with NeNe and eat chicken.’” Leakes, 54, whose legal name is Linnethia Monique Leakes, spent seven seasons as one of the central characters between 2008 and 2020.

Have a wonderful week…