Beware of free cruises
Nothing I write to you is nearly as interesting as what people write back. Morris and Sue are retired Kentucky teachers who owned an RV for over a year.
Life on the road turned out to be not exactly their cup of tea. They enjoyed it for awhile, saw a lot of the country, but as Morris put it, “You can buy a lot of motel rooms for the cost of an RV.”
Sue’s breaking point was breakfast. She was correct that most hotels offer a free breakfast of some kind, some better than others, and you just toss your trash and walk away.
With an RV there was always a mess to clean up, the thing needed maintenance and some days it was hard to find a place to put it.
Morris’ brother had a time-share in the American Virgin Islands which he could not use in his allotted time, so Morris and Sue took their week.
They were hooked. Morris and his wife enjoyed the American Virgin Islands so much they invested in a condo there, but not a time-share.
They own it but it has paid for itself thanks to Canadian snowbirds and a local guy who manages properties of absentee owners.
After retirement they were free to spend as much time as they wanted and do.
Morris wrote that they watch for deals on flights to San Juan and once they land they start moving by ferry.
Ferries operate all over the Caribbean as well as
Alaska.
With a little planning, travelers can jump on/off ferries and see the state of Alaska without being bound to the schedule of a cruise ship.
Ferry ships operate all up and down the coast of Alaska from Bellingham Washington to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. It is known as the Alaska Marine Highway System.
I knew a man who bragged that he had won a cruise to the Bahamas.
After he bought tickets to Fort Lauderdale and paid for the ground travel to the marine terminal he and his wife boarded the ship for the “cruise” to Freeport, Bahamas. It was a four-hour ferry ride.
Once in Freeport they endured a two-hour time-share sales pitch in order to get the coupon for the free night in a hotel.
The “cruise” to Freeport was free but the ride back wasn’t. They were able to buy “discounted” standby airline tickets from the time-share people back to the mainland to catch their flight home.
They were on the ground in the Bahamas less then twentyfour hours and are ashamed to tell anybody about their cruise.
Ferries are a good way to travel, but if someone offers you a free cruise, kindly decline.
ATLANTA — A constitutional amendment to legalize online sports betting in Georgia is the only game in town after the state House of Representatives shelved a bill that would not require a constitutional change.
Lawmakers still had not taken up House Bill 86, legalizing sports betting by statute, when the General Assembly’s annual Crossover Day deadline fell shortly before midnight Monday, March 8.
With that bill essentially dead for the year, the only sports betting measure left for lawmakers to consider is a constitutional amendment the state Senate passed last week putting the issue on the statewide ballot next year for Georgia voters to decide.
While a coalition of Atlanta’s four professional sports teams was pushing for the House bill, the group is comfortable pursuing the constitutional amendment route, Billy Linville, spokesman for the Georgia Professional Sports Integrity Alliance, said Tuesday.
“We still believe sports betting could be done by statute,” Linville said. “[But] we’re in a strong and positive position. … We’re confident it will move forward.”
The most significant difference between the House bill and the Senate legislation is that constitutional amendments require twothirds majorities in the House and Senate to pass, while statutes only need simple majorities.
Sports betting cleared that difficult hurdle last week (week of Feb. 28), passing in the Senate 41-10, marking the first time in more than a decade of effort that any expansion of legalized gambling in Georgia beyond the lottery has made it to the floor of either legislative chamber and passed.
“We were not surprised,” Linville said. “This is a popular piece of legislation throughout Georgia. We knew we were in a strong position once we got it to the floor.”
Rep. Ron Stephens, RSavannah, was the chief sponsor of House Bill 86. But he, too, said Tuesday, March 9, he believes he can get the constitutional amendment through the House Economic Development & Tourism Committee, which he chairs.
“So many people are more comfortable with pushing this on to voters,” he said. “I’m supremely confident it will come out of committee.”
Stephens said a key reason he favored passing online sports betting by statute is that it could have been put in place quickly, so the state could begin bringing in tax revenue from the proceeds. Going the constitutional amendment route means delaying sports betting until 2023 because it couldn’t be put on the statewide ballot until November 2022.
Under the Senate measure, a state tax of 16% on the proceeds from online sports betting would be divided between need-based scholarships, rural health care and broadband deployment.
“I just hate the loss of that potential revenue,” Stephens said.
An amendment senators approved on the floor of the chamber last week specifies that least 50% of the state’s share of the proceeds from sports betting would be earmarked for needs-based scholarships. The lottery-funded HOPE Scholarships program originally based awards on family income when the lottery was created during the 1990s but soon was converted into strictly a merit-based initiative.
Legislative Democrats pushed for needs-based scholarships to be included in the legislation in order to win their support.
Stephens said needsbased scholarship awards have become increasingly essential as cuts to HOPE awards that began in 2011 have eaten into the tuition coverage it provides. At one time, HOPE covered full tuition, books and fees for eligible students.
“Especially now that HOPE only pays 70% of the scholarship, it’s become a [financial] barrier,” Stephens said.
The constitutional amendment’s Senate supporters also sought to attract votes by putting a provision in the legislation prohibiting bettors from using credit to place bets and limiting the amount of money a bettor could deposit into his or her online account each month.
A major argument against legalizing sports betting has been that it would lead to problem gamblers squandering their paychecks or the family’s grocery money.
“The issue for us was to do what we could with the compulsive gambler to make sure they don’t bet the farm on sports betting,”
Stephens said.
With time growing short in the 2021 General Assembly session, Stephens said he plans to bring the Senate legislation before his committee soon.
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ATLANTA — A major overhaul of Georgia’s absentee voting system and other election changes brought by Republican lawmakers passed in the state Senate Monday, March 8, by a party-line vote, sparking cries of voter suppression from Democratic leaders.
The wide-ranging bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan, R-Carrollton, was one of 12 measures focused on election changes up for debate on the Senate floor Monday, March 8, marking a swell of proposals to change voting procedures after the 2020 election cycle.
Dugan’s bill contains some of the most sweeping and controversial election changes pitched so far in the legislative session, including provisions to require a driver’s license or state identification card number to request an absentee ballot and do away with Georgians’ ability to vote by mail without giving a reason.
The bill passed by a 2920 vote along party lines after more than three hours of debate. It now heads to the state House of Representatives.
Among about two dozen proposals, the bill also calls for prohibiting the use of mobile voting units unless a regular polling place is damaged, requiring outside groups to post disclaimers when sending voters absentee-ballot request forms and giving state elections officials power to assume control of poor-performing county election boards.
The proposals in Dugan’s bill overlap with several other Republican-backed measures that were set to be voted on Monday, March 8, in the Senate, including a measure by Senate Rules Committee Chairman Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, to end no-excuse absentee voting that was ultimately shelved.
Two other controversial measures – both of which did not face votes Monday, March 8 – would end the practice of automatically registering Georgians to vote when they obtain or renew their driver’s licenses and prohibit state and local elections officials from sending voters absentee-ballot application forms unless the voter requests one first.
Monday, March 8, saw the Senate jam-packed on the last day for bills to cross out of one chamber and still be considered before the legislative session ends on March 31, with nearly onefourth of the 45 bills dedicated to election changes.
Georgia Republican lawmakers argue the proposed changes are needed to shore up confidence in the state’s election system after the 2020 election cycle drew claims of voter fraud from former President Donald Trump, who lost the general election in Georgia to President Joe Biden by 11,779 votes. State election officials and federal courts have rejected those fraud claims.
Democratic leaders have blasted the GOP-brought bills, framing their opponents’ focus on election integrity as a smokescreen for wooing conservatives still loyal to Trump and to halt Democrats’ momentum after the party’s historic wins in the recent presidential and U.S. Senate contests.
Dugan, speaking from the floor on Monday, traced the intent of his bill’s more controversial proposals to the lack of confidence many Georgians have in the state’s process for verifying signatures on mail-in ballots, as well as to ease burdens for local election workers who were overwhelmed by huge numbers of absentee ballots in the 2020 elections.
He also argued many Georgians would still be eligible to vote by mail even by restricting absentee voting to physically disabled persons, voters required to be at work or those ages 65 and older.
“This is not preventing anyone from voting by mail-in absentee,” Dugan said. “All this is doing is laying the groundwork for relieving the stresses that we continue to see moving forward.”
Several Democrats shouted down Dugan’s bill from the floor, saying it would shrink opportunities for Georgians to vote by mail and at mobile polling places in predominantly Black and other minority communities in an attempt at voter suppression.
Sen. Harold Jones II, DAugusta, noted there has been little proven voter fraud in Georgia and across the U.S., arguing far more voters would be disenfranchised by the proposals in Dugan’s bill than any instances of fraud.
“If our concern is just one vote could be lost, then doggone it, we ought to make sure we expand the franchise, not restrict it,” Jones said.
Others urged Republicans to abandon doubt in Georgia’s elections sowed by Trump allies that has battered electoral confidence among conservative voters, saying their perceptions have been fueled by the former president’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
“The foundation for every one of the elections bills introduced today is a lie,” said Sen. Elena Parent, DAtlanta. “This is weaponization of Trump’s lies and it is a willingness and embrace of damage to American democracy.”
The Senate’s Republican leadership dismissed arguments from Democrats that Dugan’s bill would suppress voters to the GOP’s advantage, sticking with the refrain that the measure’s aim is to bolster flagging confidence in Georgia’s election system among conservative voters.
“We want every person to vote,” said the Georgia Senate Republican Caucus. “We want elections to be secure. We are open to solutions, but Georgia will not be vulnerable to voter fraud.”
Several Republicans soured at the proposal to scrap noexcuse absentee voting including Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who recused himself from presiding over the Senate during Monday’s debate. Duncan has long opposed ending no-excuse absentee voting as has the House’s top lawmaker, Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge.
“The lieutenant governor has been clear from day one that the repeal of no-excuse absentee voting – a measure passed by Republicans in 2005 – is a non-starter,” said Duncan’s chief of staff, John Porter.
Some Republican lawmakers including Sens. John Albers, R-Roswell, Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta and Brian Strickland, R-McDonough – all Republicans in contested districts – excused themselves from the vote. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, also excused himself.
Georgia senators could next take up a separate 66page omnibus elections bill that passed in the House late last month, which contains many of the same proposals in Dugan’s bill but nixes the ban on no-excuse absentee voting.
That measure, sponsored by Rep. Barry Fleming, RHarlem, includes dozens of changes to add stricter absentee voter ID rules, set a deadline for voters to request an absentee ballot at 11 days before an election and forbid people from giving food or drinks to voters waiting in line outside polling places.
Senate lawmakers also passed measures to require county elections officials to get monthly reports on dead residents to clean the voter rolls; allow poll watchers access to view ballot counting; require new security paper to track ballots for auditing purposes; curb changes for voters to receive more than one absentee-ballot application; and post signs seven days ahead of an election if a polling place has moved.
After working quietly for two and a half years, the Walker County, Georgia, Peace, Love, Justice, Remembrance and Reconciliation Coalition — in cooperation with the Equal Justice Initiative based in Montgomery, Alabama — held a commemoration at the Rock Creek Fellowship campus in the Durham Community on Lookout Mountain to recognize the lynching of Henry White in 1916 and to promote healing and reconciliation.
The ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 27, included a short program with a welcome by Walker County Historical Society President David Boyle; a review of the purpose of the gathering by Beverly Foster, Walker County African American Historical & Alumni Association Inc.; reading by Rev. Andy Jones of side one words from the LaFayette marker placed on Sept. 19, 2020; a prayer for peace and justice by Rev. Donald
White; and a song, “Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Peace” sung by Vince Stalling, program director of the coalition.
Boyle led a ritual in which each person placed a scoop of earth from a container of gathered soil into two ceremonial jars; the soil
was gathered earlier at the actual site of the lynching. Rev. Hutch Garmany led the benediction/prayer. Rev. Eric Youngblood of the Rock Creek Fellowship was host pastor.
One of the jars filled with soil will be sent to the Equal Justice Insti
tute in Montgomery for display with the marker for Henry White, and the other will remain for display in Walker County at a future museum of African American Heritage.
The final activity of the coalition is the scholarship/essay contest.