COMMUNITY TEA

The Biden administration announced last week that children up to 5 years old — the only group not federally approved for vaccination — could receive clearance as soon as June 21. In Georgia, there are roughly 661,000 children in that age group, according to the latest census results. The Food and Drug Administration’s panel of advisers will meet on June 14 and 15 to discuss authorizing Pfizer and Moderna shots for the youngest children. If approved, first doses would likely be made available as soon as the following week, according to White House COVID-19 coordinator Ashish Jha.

 After being closed for months due to contamination, Abbott Nutrition has restarted production at the Michigan baby formula factory. The February shutdown of the largest formula factory in the country led to the supply problems that have forced some parents to seek formula from food banks, friends, and doctor’s offices. The company said it will take about three weeks before new formula from the plant begins showing up on store shelves.

The White House announced Thursday that it will launch a paid internship program as part of an effort to remove barriers for applicants from diverse backgrounds. “Too often, unpaid federal internships have been a barrier to hard-working and talented students and professionals, preventing them from contributing their talents and skills to the country and holding them back from federal career advancement opportunities,” the White House said in a statement.

In the wake of last week’s shooting massacre in Uvalde, Texas, Cobb Schools Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said last week that new safety measures will be coming to local schools. Details on those protocols will be shared at the Cobb school board’s meeting June 9.

The Cobb County Board of Elections voted 2-1 Friday to recertify the results of the May 24 election after staff discovered that a memory card containing 2,203 ballots had not been uploaded before the board-certified results on Tuesday. The new results did not change the outcome of any races. Cobb Elections Director Janine Eveler said the error occurred when a card that stored ballots from seven precincts was not uploaded by the elections staffer responsible for doing so.

Emory Clinic is the first ambulatory or outpatient practice in Georgia to receive the prestigious Magnet recognition as a reflection of its nursing professionalism, teamwork, and superiority in patient care. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), which credentials health care organizations for nursing excellence and quality patient outcomes, informed the Emory Clinic and Emory Healthcare leaders and staff of the achievement last week.

LinkedIn, the business and employment online service corporation, opened up office space inside the new Microsoft building on 17th Street this week. The new Linkedin Atlanta space is a part of a bigger tech boom happening in the area. NCR and Google are both in the same area.

 The state’s Department of Agriculture announced last week that a highly contagious variant of bird flu has been detected in a domestic flock in Georgia. The virus was found in a multi-species backyard flock in Toombs County between Macon and Savannah, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black said. State officials said the affected flock consisted of chickens, turkeys, ducks, and peacocks, and that upwards of 350 animals had to be euthanized.

A four-day celebration was held for England’s Queen Elizabeth celebrating 70 years on the throne. Elizabeth, who became queen at 25, is Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and the first to reach the milestone of seven decades on the throne.

A cousin of state Cobb County Rep. Ginny Ehrhart has been indicted on a felony charge of terroristic threats for a tweet in which she allegedly threatened to shoot Ehrhart. Vivian Grace Vogias of Fort Myers, Florida, is accused of writing on Twitter, “I’m in. Ready to bite the bullet & mow my 1st cousin if it comes to that. Might have to borrow some firearms from Creshaw, though,” according to an arrest warrant. Vogias continued by writing “I was serious except about the borrowing from Creshaw,” and “I can go to Homosassa Flea Market any Sunday & buy an arsenal… Next to 5 tables of Trump paraphernalia,” per the warrant.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sent an email to employees at both companies last week saying everyone must spend 40 hours per week in the office. “If you don’t show up, we will assume you have resigned,” according to an email to Tesla workers which was posted online. Musk replied to a tweet asking what he would say to people who think coming to work is an “antiquated concept.” “They should pretend to work somewhere else,” he responded.

Former attorney Michael Avenatti was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison for stealing book proceeds from Stormy Daniels, the porn actor who catapulted him to fame as he represented her in courtrooms and cable news programs during her legal battles with then-President Donald Trump. 

Following an hours-long hearing in his Fulton County racketeering case, Atlanta rapper Young Thug was denied bond last week. The rapper, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, pleaded not guilty during the hearing, but Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville ruled he must stay in jail, siding with prosecutors who raised concerns about witness intimidation ahead of trial. The judge denied his bond, even though Williams’ attorneys promised to hire a team of off-duty law enforcement officers to monitor his activity 24 hours a day during home confinement. A new study shows that drinking a few cups of coffee a day may help keep you alive longer, reports NBCNews. The study, which was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, tracked 171,616 people over seven years who regularly drank coffee. It found that those who drank between 1.5 to 3.5

cups of coffee a day had a lower risk of death than those who drank no coffee each day. 

General Motors says it will make all Buick models electric by 2030 in a move to remake the brand in the U.S. The overhaul will start with an electric crossover SUV in 2024 that Buick said will offer some luxury amenities and a new styling theme while being priced beneath GM’s Cadillac EVs. Buick plans to use EVs sold under the new Electra sub-brand to market its electric makeover and grow a brand that sells fewer than 200,000 vehicles a year in the United States.

Ford announced a new $3.7 billion investment last week across three mid-western states to build a new yet-to-be-revealed Mustang and to ramp up production of trucks and vans, including new electric models. The Michigan-based automaker will invest $2 billion in its home state, an investment that will create 2,000 new jobs. Ford said the funds will be used to increase production of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup, built at a factory near Ford’s Dearborn headquarters, to 150,000 trucks per year. Ford has approximately 200,000 pre-orders for the truck already. 

A Food & Drug Administration test has led to a recall across a handful of states in the Southeast. Irvington Seafood, based out of Irvington in Mobile County, Alabama, has recalled its one-pound packages of “Crabmeat: Jumbo, Lump, Finger, and Claw meat” due to a Listeria concern. An FDA test at the Irvington Seafood facility on May 9 discovered Listeria contamination in the cooking room and cooking facility. Listeria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others who have weakened immune systems. Irvington Seafood of Irvington, Alabama, said in a notice posted Friday on the Food and Drug Administration website that it has suspended production of the packages while it and the FDA investigate. The recalled packages, labeled “Crabmeat: Jumbo, Lump, Finger, and Claw meat,” were sold to distributors in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi.