Good morning! Today is Jan. 5 and Georgia is in the midst of a tumultuous runoff election that will determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. It will also put an end to all those mailers and text messages you’ve been bombarded with. Here is what you need to know today.
Headlines:
- Donald Trump and Joe Biden were both in Georgia yesterday to campaign with Georgia’s candidates for senate.
- Election officials in Georgia — all republicans — were actively debunking Trump’s claims of voter fraud yesterday in an effort to try to convince republicans to vote in today’s election.
- Republicans in Georgia and throughout the country are split about a phone call where Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes he needed to win the state and to tell voters he had “recalculated” the votes.
- The New Year’s holiday turned deadly on Georgia’s roads. The Georgia State Patrol reported 13 deaths over the New Year’s holiday.
- Atlanta has seen an increase in violent crime. Here is what Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is doing about it.
- You don’t often hear of firefighters getting arrested, but a firefighter in Hartwell was arrested and charged with theft yesterday.
- A deputy in Henry County died from COVID-19.
Today:
Voters will cast their ballots today in two U.S. Senate races. One is between Republican Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock and the other is between Republican David Perdue and Democrat John Ossoff. If you’re still not sure who you’re voting for, or woke up this morning and realized there was an election, here are some recent stories relating to the senate race.
- Spring Forward, Fall Flat: Time zone switch dies in Georgia House
- Georgia lawmakers cut income and property taxes in late-night vote
- New Georgia law would ban silencing childhood sex abuse victims
- New law in Georgia would round cash purchases to the nearest nickel
- New law would let Georgia drivers opt to pay vehicle registration every 5 years
- New Georgia law would create one-stop help centers for abuse and trafficking victims
- What Sine Die means and why it matters to Georgia today
- Georgia proposes longer summer oyster harvest window
- Georgia lawmakers want to eradicate feral hogs
- Kemp suspends Hall County Sheriff for 60 days after DUI charge
- Georgia Supreme Court sides with Milton in deadly planter crash case
- Some Georgia lawmakers want to get rid of background checks to own silencers
- Got 30 to 50 feral hogs running onto your property? The State of Georgia can help
- Sports betting rejected again by Georgia lawmakers
- Kemp orders investigation of Hall County Sheriff after DUI arrest
Weather:
Temperatures will get up to about 52 degrees today with minimal chance for rain. You’ll want to vote during the day though. Evening temperatures will dip to 39 degrees and may hit freezing in the overnight hours.
Coronavirus: More than 6,000 Georgians are testing positive for coronavirus per day. The 7-day-average is the highest it has been in the state.
Thom Chandler
Thom Chandler is the editor of The Georgia Sun and has been writing, editing and managing websites and blogs since 1995. He is a lifelong Georgian and one of those increasingly rare Atlanta natives.
