GwinnettForum | Number 21.92 | Nov. 23, 2021
A close-up of the redrawn congressional districts. Click here to see the full Georgia map.
Georgia’s new map showing its Congressional districts has been passed by the Legislature. While all of the 14 districts have new lines, of interest locally are the 6th, 7th and 9th districts, which affect Gwinnett County. Read more in Elliott Brack’s Perspective below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: PCOM doctors study strategies for prevention of COVID-19
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Looking at Congressional gubernatorial and legislative politics
ANOTHER VIEW: Rittenhouse gun purchase may face more problems
SPOTLIGHT: Howard Brothers Outdoor Power Equipment and Hardware
FEEDBACK: Voters in non-partisan election will know candidate affiliations
UPCOMING: Lawrenceville amends ordinance concerning noises
NOTABLE: GGC professor and colleague study travel disruptions
RECOMMENDED: We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Travelers come to Georgia for landscapes, recreation and history
MYSTERY PHOTO: Figure out where this terra-cotta statue is located
LAGNIAPPE: Bright red leaves
CALENDAR: Redistricting open house will be Tuesday (tonight) at Lucky Shoals Park in Norcross.
PLEASE NOTE: GwinnettForum will observe Thanksgiving week by not publishing on Friday. The next issue will be that of Tuesday, November 30.
PCOM doctors study strategies for prevention of COVID-19
From left are: Drs. Shashidharamurthy Taval, Srujana Rayalam, and Vicky Mody. Photo provided.
By Barbara Myers
SUWANEE, Ga. | Three department of pharmaceutical sciences associate professors at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Georgia(PCOM), each with their own expertise, along with doctoral, graduate and high school students and research assistants, have joined forces to investigate various strategies for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
The faculty members include Drs. Shashidharamurthy Taval, Vicky Mody, and Srujana Rayalam. The team had a paper published recently on their research in Communications Biology, an open access journal that publishes research, reviews and commentary in the biological sciences.
Dr. Taval, who is an immunologist by training, became interested in the virus initially due to the unique immunological responses seen in patients affected by COVID-19. His biochemistry background equipped him to investigate the viral genome replication and conceive of the idea of COVID-19 virus – specific enzymes as potential drug targets. He collaborated with Dr. Mody, a medicinal chemist, and Dr. Rayalam, a pharmacologist and veterinarian, to get the project started.
Dr. Mody said, “Although global vaccination is currently underway, with new variants emerging, the efficacy of immunization to provide protection against the newer strains needs to be thoroughly investigated which could be a time-consuming process.”
He added, “Currently, there are no anti-COVID-19 specific FDA-approved drugs either for the treatment of COVID-19 or to help prevent viral spread. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify and develop potential therapeutics to prevent the pathogenesis and rapid spread of the infection.”
The team is studying FDA-approved drugs that could be repurposed to inhibit enzymes called 3CLpro and PLpro that affect the replication of the COVID-19 causing virus. These two enzymes are known to speed up the breakdown of the viral protein chain into smaller, more mature proteins that are required for the replication of the virus.
During the past 18 months, the team used computational molecular modeling to screen almost 4,000 FDA-approved drugs. From this group, 47 drugs were selected to study their inhibitory effects on purified viral enzymes. The results indicate that six of the drugs reduced enzymatic activity.
These drugs include boceprevir and ombitasvir prescribed for the treatment of Hepatitis C, paritaprevir, another drug that shows promise for the treatment of Hepatitis C, tipranavir, which is used to treat HIV, micafungin, an antifungal agent, and ivermectin, effective against parasitic roundworms.
Dr. Mody said the drugs are, for the most part, unrelated.
Dr. Rayalam added, “Our studies show possible mechanisms of these agents against COVID-19, but we believe that additional studies are needed to confirm our results. It is imperative that we conduct pre-clinical and clinical studies to assess the safety and efficacy of all of these drugs in inhibiting the replication of the COVID-19 causing virus.”
Dr. Taval said, “This research could be useful in developing highly specific, therapeutically viable drugs to inhibit COVID-19 causing virus replication either alone or in combination with drugs specific for other COVID-19 viral targets.”
As the team works to develop new drugs to treat COVID-19, pre-clinical studies with newly developed, small molecular-weight molecules are planned. In addition, the team is developing an inhaled formulation to deliver drugs directly to the airways where most respiratory viruses colonize..
Along with the faculty members, the team includes two research assistants, two PCOM Georgia biomedical sciences and five doctor of pharmacy students, and two high school student-volunteers from Lambert High School in Suwanee.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
On congressional, gubernatorial and legislative politics
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
NOV. 23, 2021 | The Georgia Legislature’s Congressional redistricting map seems to give Democrat Carolyn Boudreaux a virtual “Bye” for the 2022 election cycle. Just look at how the new Congressional district map is drawn.
But the Republican-dominated new map sure tore into another Democrat, Lucy McBath of the Sixth District. She lost large parts of her old district in East Cobb, North Fulton and North Dekalb County. The legislator-map makers instead added on portions in more Republican areas of Forsyth, Dawson, Cherokee, Fulton and Cobb counties, plus a small part of northwest Gwinnett, to the new Sixth District.
Meanwhile, because of Gwinnett’s large population, the 7th District is contained entirely within Gwinnett’s borders. About one-third of Gwinnett is either in the new Ninth District (Northeast Georgia), and about 10 percent of the county in the Sixth District.
Click on the new congressional map to see a larger version.
The new Congressional map even drew Carolyn Boudreaux out of her district…she lives one precinct away in Suwanee. However, Georgia law allows her to run in any district in the state. Her Seventh District also voted for Joe Biden over Donald Trump by 62-37 percent. She ought to be smiling!
Meanwhile, we have been surprised at how this early in the season the governor’s race seems to be warming up, and in ways we never expected.
It seems that now that former Sen. David Perdue lost his last election, he liked the taste for politics, and now wants more of it. Or it could be that he’s ready to do ex-President Trump’s bidding and challenge Gov. Brian Kemp. It has been no secret that the former president is no admirer of Mr. Kemp.
Yet recognize that Mr. Perdue will be 72 when it’s time to qualify for government. We recognize that older people can often survive in government. Mr. Trump is now 75, and President Joe Biden is 79.
But does Senator Perdue really want to take on Kemp, who himself is now 58? And even if one of these were to get the Republican nomination for governor, is it not possible to think that the next governor of Georgia might be a Democrat? While some seem to think it’s a sure possibility that Stacey Abrams will run for governor, she is taking her time in sending that signal. Besides raising money for her non-profit foundation, and writing books, some wonder if her eyes are not on higher office, and she might not run for governor.
Standing in the wings, should that happen, is another long-time Georgia public servant, DeKalb’s Mike Thurmond. He’s been a legislator, commissioner of labor, DeKalb County school superintendent, and now DeKalb CEO. And he’s done each job well. We remember asking him how he balanced the DeKalb School’s budget, when it lost $11 million in the year before he took over. Turned out it was simple. He told us: “I read the budget.” He found enough wasted money there to turn that school system around.
One more subject: recognize that in 2022 instead of having 25 state legislators, Gwinnett will have five more — 30 — seats next year. There will be two new Senate districts, and three more House seats.
So watch out: lots of people, perhaps even your neighbor, might be a candidate for office next year.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Rittenhouse gun purchase may face more problems
By Raleigh Perry
BUFORD, Ga. | Kyle Rittenhouse may have a few more problems. There is a state law and a federal law that might bog him down for a spell. Wisconsin law makes no difference.
Perry
He enticed this sister’s boyfriend to purchase a gun for him. I think that enticement of an individual to break the law is a violation of the law itself. But there are two laws.
When you purchase a gun in the United States, if the gun is not bought from an individual, you fill out what is called a Firearm Transaction Record ATF form 4473. One thing that has to be checked is a question that states that you are not buying the gun for someone else. If you are doing that you are called a “strawman.” In order for the man who gets possession of that gun, he has to have checked that he was buying it for himself. He was not.
But the gun was bought in Illinois, which has its own restriction. You have to have a card called Firearm Owner’s Identification Document (FOID), which you have to have to buy ammunition or a weapon in Illinois. He enticed his sister’s boyfriend to buy that for him, violating Illinois Law.
Most probably, the person that bought the gun will never buy another gun in the United States or, if he does, he might go to prison because he will have to lie on that Federal form again. I would not be surprised if the ATF has not confiscated any and all guns that the man had or has.
I cannot speak with even a semblance of authority here, but things might be complicated if the gun that was bought illegally was used to kill a man – regardless of the outcome of the trial in Kenosha.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Howard Brothers
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today’s sponsor is Howard Brothers Outdoor Power Equipment and Hardware. John and Doug Howard are the “brothers” in Howard Brothers. This family-owned business was started by their dad, and now John and Doug’s children are helping to lead in the business. Howard Brothers has locations in Alpharetta, Athens, Doraville, Duluth, Lula and Oakwood. They specialize in hardware, outdoor power equipment and parts and service. Howard Brothers are authorized dealers of STIHL, Exmark, Honda, Echo, and other well known brands in the green industry. Howard Brothers is also an authorized Big Green Egg dealer, and is one of the only Platinum Traeger Grill dealers in the state of Georgia.
- Visit their web site www.howardbrothers.com.
- For a list of other sponsors of this forum, click here.
Voters in non-partisan election will know candidate affiliations
Kathy Loew makes a number of excellent points in her letter of November 19. One of them is that elections for school board positions should be changed to non-partisan. The only reason to object to such a change is fear that a candidate will be elected based on qualifications as opposed to political party affiliation.
Having been a candidate in three non-partisan city council elections, I can absolutely confirm that informed voters either know, or will find out, each candidate’s party affiliation. That affiliation makes a difference to some voters, but not to others. However, in all instances, non-partisan elections make it easier for a voter to look beyond party affiliation and see the candidate with the best qualifications. Additionally, school board members should be able to make decisions they feel serve the best interests of the education system without having party policy hanging over their heads.
Clearly, Senator Clint Dixon’s proposal should have been discussed with school board members AND the public prior to being formalized. Parents of school children have the most to gain or the most to lose as a consequence of school board decisions. Their voice should be the loudest.
— Dave Emanuel, Mayor Pro Tem, City of Snellville
Send us your thoughts: We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum. Please limit comments to 300 words, and include your hometown. The views of letters are the opinion of the contributor. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to: elliott@brack.net.
Lawrenceville amends ordinance concerning noises
The Lawrenceville City Council has changed its noise regulations ordinance. This is the first update to the current Noise Control Ordinance since approximately 2005. It will become effective December 1, 2021.
Mayor David Still says: “Uncontrolled excessive noise can negatively impact a community. We have spent considerable time and effort creating an amended ordinance supporting public health, safety, and quality of life for those who live, work, and visit the City of Lawrenceville.”
The amended ordinance measures noise on a “plainly audible standard” with day and time restrictions. The amended ordinance closely aligns with Gwinnett County’s noise ordinance and includes specifications regarding sound measurement standards, mechanical sound-making devices, human-produced sounds, commercial advertising, party noise and associated distances, days and times of day. The amended ordinance also includes specific restrictions for apartments, condominiums, townhomes and similar residential units.
The amended ordinance addresses consumer fireworks, outlining the only allowable dates and times within the City of Lawrenceville. This portion of the ordinance follows state laws currently in effect regarding fireworks.
Additional specifications for distance and time of day are included for landscape maintenance devices, engine, mufflers and/or exhaust system noises, construction noises, and commercial entities near single-family residential zoning districts.
- The full ordinance can be found here.
New I-85 interchange at Gravel Spring Road opens today
Gwinnett County will open the new Interstate 85 interchange at SR 324/Gravel Springs Road Tuesday (today), November 23, weather permitting.
The project includes four new ramps from Gravel Springs Road, with turn lanes and traffic signals, sidewalks, sound barriers and retaining walls. The project is funded by local, state and federal funds.
While the interchange will be fully functional today, additional work is required that could require temporary lane closures. Weather permitting, construction is forecast for completion in mid-2022. Construction took just over two years to reach this milestone of opening to traffic. Commissioners awarded the project to E.R. Snell Contractor, Inc. The contractor completed paving activities to tie in the on- and off-ramps last month.
City of Lawrenceville also has truck to vacuum leaves
Time GwinnettForum came out on Friday, we learned that another Gwinnett city, Lawrenceville, has this service, which it operates six months out of the year with people from its Streets and Sanitation Department. It is free to residents.
Lawrenceville vacuums up leaves on a two-week schedule, though when rain impacts the area, it sometimes is every three weeks, from November 1 to April 30. After that time, the city still collects leaves, but then they must be bagged.
GGC professor, colleague study travel disruptions
Scenario analysis of cascading delay disruptions from a simulated attack on Hartsfield-Jackson airport. Duration of the attack: 8 to 9 a.m. EST on December 1, 2019. Image provided.
By Ken Scar
NOV. 23, 2021 | As Americans prepare to come together this Thanksgiving, the threat of travel disruptions looms a little heavier than usual because of a recent spate of mass flight delays and cancellations.
JetBlue cancelled hundreds of flights in September due to unspecified issues, Spirit Airlines blamed a staff shortage for thousands of cancellations in late August, and most recently Southwest cancelled some 2,000 flights across the country because of inclement weather and staff shortages, as did American, with little explanation.
l flights can cause more than just temporary frustration. They can lead to any number of disruptions in a person’s life including financial hardships and emotional distress. Multiply that by the thousands, add the havoc mass flight delays have on critical supply chains, and the negative ripple effects of just one airport or airline being shut down for only a matter of minutes can impact the entire country.
Unfortunately, our enemies know this. The growing threat of attacks against critical infrastructure that come from inside computers as opposed to exterior forces has become a major concern for travelers, government officials, and airlines alike.
Skanda Vivek, assistant professor of physics at the School of Science and Technology at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) teamed up with Charles Harry, an associate research professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, to conduct a research study to better understand those threats in order to mitigate them.
Their findings, published in the 2021 13th International Conference on Cyber Conflict (CyCon), shed some light on the vulnerability of U.S. airlines and airports to cyberattacks, and offers a framework for assessing these threats.
Vivek explained: “We wanted to understand which events generate the greatest concern for national operators and policymakers. To do this, we used detailed flight data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to answer the research question: ‘How do you quantify strategic effects of cyber-attacks on airports, airlines, or key vendors that disrupt portions of the passenger air network?’”
Vivek and Harry simulated scenarios wherein hackers impact flights to cause loss of air network capacity and propagating delays, specifically looking at regional versus national disruptions stemming from attack scenarios. Vivek and Harry’s research revealed the effects of attacks on three different stakeholders: airports, airlines, and third-party vendors.
Their research found that airlines have a greater capacity to cause national disruptions than airports. For instance, taking down Southwest airlines alone could generate twice the national disruption as taking out Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, the largest airport in the country.
But what really surprised them was the greatest threat did not come from attacking the computer systems of airlines or airports, but of third-party vendors.
Harry offered a sobering example of this:
AeroData, a German firm that is used by Delta, Southwest, United, American, Alaska and JetBlue to determine a plane’s weight and balance data, which is necessary for takeoff, experienced a brief software glitch in their system on April 1, 2019. That one glitch resulted in 36 percent of the entire U.S. weighted air capacity being grounded for 40 minutes.
Vivek and Harry hope that their findings will bring a better understanding to these threats, in turn enabling policy makers to take informed measures to mitigate them.
Lilburn’s Sarah Roberts wins DAR conservation award
Sarah Roberts receives the DAR Conservation Award Certificate from Kathy Lobe, past Philadelphia Winn Conservation Committee Chair.
The Philadelphia Winn Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Lawrenceville has presented the National DAR Conservation Award to Sarah Carter Roberts of Lilburn for work during her tenure at the Atlanta History Center. She is the Olga C. de Goizueta vice president of Goizueta Gardens and Living Collections. Goizueta Gardens, consisting of 33 acres, uses the landscape to tell the stories of the region’s unique horticultural and agricultural history.
Goizueta Gardens is located around Smith Farm and Swan House at the History Center. It is dedicated to Georgia’s native plants, and those that highlight ornamental plants from other regions that are characteristic of the southern landscape. Sarah was inspired by her design training in England to offer a place of beauty for quiet reflection with year-round blooms and fragrant plants.
Sarah’s interest in gardening and improving the environment began when she was a child, gardening alongside parents and grandparents. She has spent most of her life in Gwinnett County and is a graduate of Parkview High School. With a horticulture degree from Berry College, her gardening experiences prior to returning home included time at the University of Reading, UK Garden Design School, and Dorney Court Blooms of Bressingham, and five years as Curator of Herbaceous Plants and Outdoor Gardens at the New York Botanical Garden.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
From Martha Studer, Greenville, S.C. | This novel, a fictional representation of actual events, is set during WWII. In her debut work, the author focuses on the lives of her Polish family, including great grandparents and children during the war and through their eventual resettlement following the armistice. Well to do, well-educated Poles, the Kurcs find themselves victimized and endangered, and conclude their survival is one of luck. The novel begins in 1939 in Poland at Passover and ends in 1946 celebrating the same holiday in Brazil. Hunter’s narrative is historically accurate; her characters are dynamic and realistically portrayed, with each setting rife with specificity to that location. The plot is driven by the lives, the horrors, the struggles, and the joys the Kurcs experience on their separate journeys. But, it is the thematic foundation of faith in their family and persistence in the face of insurmountable odds that make this a novel worth reading.
- An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (150 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. Send to: elliott@brack.net
Travelers visit Georgia for landscapes, recreation, history
Since the 1800s travelers have come to Georgia to enjoy natural landscapes, recreation, and historic sites. For nearly as long, competing interests have fought for the right to preserve, alter, or exploit these sites. Debates over race, class, and accessibility have also shaped the development of tourism in the state.
Seeing Georgia: Changing Visions of Tourism in the Modern South investigates how the state transformed itself during the 20th century from a way station along the route to Florida into a popular tourist destination. It highlights six popular destinations in Georgia and considers questions of access, preservation, and economics. The exhibition also explores the professionalization of the tourism industry and the roles that state and local governments have played in promoting Georgia to travelers. And finally, it examines the modern amenities that shape the experience of the modern tourist, from the improvement of roadways to the development of roadside culture and accommodations.
The Good Roads Movement (1880s-1920s) spurred unprecedented social and political changes in the South. In 1904 only 4 percent of public roadways—macadamized or graded gravel roads—were classified as improved. Dirt roads had long plagued farmers in their attempts to move crops from rural farms to markets. By 1908, when small numbers of northern motorists began to trickle to the South, a movement for better roads evolved into a campaign to create interstate tourist highways.
New South boosters like Atlanta mayor Robert F. Maddox and Atlanta Constitution editor Clark Howell expected improved roads to further unite the North and South and boost the South’s economic vitality through increased tourism and business. Construction of the National and Capital highways connected Georgia with major northeastern cities, while the Dixie Highway connected Georgia to the Midwest.
In 1956 U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, authorizing the construction of 41,000 miles of roadways. Largely funded with federal fuel taxes, interstates were built with consistent standards, wide lanes, and paved shoulders, and they consisted of at least four lanes to accommodate vehicle speeds of up to seventy miles per hour. The new system quickly became the primary route for tourist traffic.
(To be continued)
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Figure out where this terra-cotta statue is located
This edition’s Mystery Photo is of a recently-completed terra-cotta statue. Your job is to tell us where it is, and what it signifies. Send your answers to elliott@brack.net, and include your hometown.
That Mystery Photo aerial view of a pond with an island in the shape of an airplane stumped all but the most eagle-eyed last week. Only George Graf of Palmyra, Va. and Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. recognized the mystery.
Peel wrote: “It is an aerial shot of the 20-acre retention pond near the Charleston International Airport in North Charleston, S.C. The pond was built by the Boeing Company, one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world. It serves as a baffle and collection pond for incoming storm waters. Measuring over 1,400-feet long by 550-feet wide, the pond is about 15 football fields in size. It can hold the same amount of water as 100 Olympic-size swimming pools. The land mass that juts out into the pond looks like a jet airplane and is huge … 1.5-acres in size. Locally, the retention pond is known as “The Plane Pond” and air passengers departing from, or arriving at, the Charleston Airport get the best view of the feature from the air.”
The bright red leaves on the maple trees at the Lawrenceville Library headquarters in Lawrenceville are about gone these days. But the bright reds in this photo by Roving Photographer Frank Sharp sparkle with color.
Photographic show at Duluth Public Library by Frank Sharp. It’s entitled as “Six Continents in One Lifetime” and will run from November 22 through January 31, 2022. Hours are from Mondays to Thursdays, 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sundays from noon until 5 p.m.
Every ten-year redistricting open house will be Tuesday (tonight) November 23 at the Lucky Shoals Park Community Center, 4651 Britt Road in Norcross. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m., and is scheduled to last until 8 p.m. It is hosted by the Gwinnett Board of Commissioners.
Partnership Gwinnett 4.0 Campaign will be kicked off on Tuesday, November 30, from 8 to 10 a.m. at Eagle Rock Distributing Company at 6205-A Best Friend Road in Norcross. Unveiled will be the five-year strategic economic development initiative designed to drive economic prosperity to Gwinnett County. Breakfast will be served to attendees.
Christmas Tree lighting in Norcross will be December 3. As in the past, local resident Steve Howington traditionally has pulled the switch lighting the decorated tree.
First Friday Breakfast of the Southwest Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce will be December 3 at 7:30 a.m. at Atlanta Tech Park, 107 Technology Parkway in Peachtree Corners. Speaker will be former Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Wayne Hill.
Silent Auction at the Norcross Gallery and Studios is now underway. Bid on 100 original paintings, all 12×12 inches, during this annual FUNdraiser. You may view these paintings in many styles and genres through December 4 at the gallery, at 116 Carlyle Street in Norcross.
Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair will be Saturday, December 11 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Lilburn Activity Building, 788 Hillcrest Road. Local artists will be selling their creations, and there will be fun activities for kids and adults alike with food trucks on-site to provide lunch options.
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