By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
SEPT. 22, 2020 | Today let’s address several different topics.
With Georgians electing two senators in the November 3 election, there is some confusion as to the manner to pick the seat Johnny Isakson once held.
One race, to fill the seat held by David Perdue, is done conventionally, with three candidates, Republican Perdue, Democrat Jon Ossoff and Libertarian Shane Hazel.
The other Senate race, as we have reported, is in a special election where there is no party nomination, allowing anyone paying the $5,220 qualifying fee to seek the office. And 21 Georgians stepped forward wanting to win that seat. Unless the winner gets 50 percent of the votes plus one more vote, there will be a runoff. Yep, anticipate a runoff.
Explaining this special election isn’t difficult, but it has raised a few questions. The best explanation we have seen has come from one of the candidates, in a 3.25 minute video, which is distinctly original and refreshing. Only the last 24 seconds promotes the campaign of Wayne Johnson, one of the 21 candidates.
It should be worth your while to watch this, for its creative and simple explanation. We commend it to you. To see it, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSQb-ojKBGA&feature=youtu.be
It was surprising for me to see a ballot drop box at the library when I visited this week. Elections Supervisor Kristi Royston says that these drop boxes are at all 15 Gwinnett libraries. That will make it easier for most of us to drop off an absentee ballot at the library, rather than driving to one of the seven satellite voting places. Here’s a big Attaway! to the elections board.
Georgia’s weather has been substantially cooler and wetter this summer, with no long spells of hot, hot weather. However, the mild summer has brought heavy rains, compared to the 30 year average.
So far in Georgia this year, we have had 47.12 inches of rain, well above the eight month average of 33.83 inches. We are on a course to hit 60 inches of rain in 2020, but even that is below the record rain of the last 30 years, which measured 70.03 inches in 2018.
Ever heard of Owen Wister? He’s the person considered the father of the western novel, his being , The Virginian. He’s a native of Germantown, Penn. (1860), went to Harvard, became a lawyer in Philadelphia, but became ill and went to Wyoming one summer, and became fascinated with the West. He’s the author of one of the most remembered cowboy quotes: “When you call me that, smile!” He also is the author of a biography of Ulysses S. Grant. He died in Rhode Island in 1938.
Book sale: We got a personal message from Amazon today that surprised us. You may recall that our 2008 history book, Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta, is also available from Amazon as an e-book, at a price of $9.99. (The e-book is also available at Barnes and Noble.)
Amazon notified us today that a copy of the e-book had been sold….in Japan. Part of the notification was in Japanese. Now, why anyone in Japan would want a copy of this Gwinnett book is beyond me. Perhaps they have a relative in Gwinnett, who wanted them to know something about this vast, populous and diverse county. Anyway, we’re glad to make the sale. Anyone know how to convert yens to dollars?
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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