The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Health issues leave 3 seats empty in session
Two senators say they’re still able to serve constituents.
With the Georgia General Assembly heading into the final stretch of the 40-day legislative session, sickness has caused constituents in three districts to have limited representation this year.
Two state senators have missed most or all of the session due to illnesses this year. And House District 90 has been vacant due to the resignation in September of former state Rep. Pam Stephenson. It will be filled next week by the winner of a special election that was held Tuesday.
But technology and staff support have allowed the senators to remain in contact with their constituents and try to address their concerns, they said.
After attending the first few weeks of the legislative session, state Sen. Donzella James said she tested positive for COVID-19.
“I left the Capitol and went straight to the ER, and I haven’t been home since,” the College Park Democrat said this week.
Since then, she temporarily lost her speaking voice, was diagnosed with pneumonia and transferred to a lung center for recovery.
James said her health has improved enough that she hopes to make it back to the Capitol before the end of the session, which is slated for March 31.
Through her office staff, James has filed a dozen bills and resolutions throughout the session and, when she regained her voice, she attended virtual community meetings and took calls from constituents with issues.
James said the only drawback of not being at the Capitol is not being able to advocate for her legislation the way she would like to or take part in any major votes this year, such as those for
high-profile bills overhauling state election laws.
“I feel that — in fact, I was told by several of my constituents — that I’m doing more in the hospital bed than some of the people that are down there every day,” she said.
Atlanta Democratic state Sen. Horacena Tate, on the other hand, has missed the entire session.
In a statement, Tate said she began treatment for an illness in December for which she remains hospitalized. She did not specify her illness, other than to say that it is not COVID-19.
“I deeply regret my absence, and have asked my
legislative aide, Ms. Karen Thompson, to immediately address constituent issues during my illness,” she said in the statement. “I am recovering and with God’s grace will return to my Senate responsibilities soon.”
Liz Flowers, executive director of the Senate Democratic Caucus, said constituents still have a voice in the chamber despite their senators’ absence.
“Technology has been extraordinarily helpful to ensure any elected official can remain connected to their constituents,” she said.
Health concerns also triggered a vacancy in House District
90, when Stephenson’s daughter in September, citing power of attorney, withdrew the lawmaker’s candidacy from the November ballot. In mid-december, the secretary of state’s office set the special election to fill the vacancy for February and a runoff that was held earlier this week.
But House District 90 residents, at least, are ensured to have a representative by next week.
After winning Tuesday’s runoff special election, Rep.elect Angela Moore, D-lithonia, is expected to be sworn in to replace Stephenson early next week. The district
includes parts of Dekalb, Henry and Rockdale counties.
Moore said she will make the best use of the little time she has in the chamber this year, especially with lawmakers being slated to redraw legislative and congressional district lines based on 2020 census data — a process known as “reapportionment.” Lawmakers are expected to begin this process in the fall.
“With this being a year of reapportionment, we should have had a representative in the House all session,” Moore said. “I’m going to do my best to get to know my colleagues and make relationships as soon as I get sworn in.”
A federal judge Thursday denied a request from a Woodstock woman accused in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to be removed from solitary confinement in the Washington, D.C. jail.
Lisa Marie Eisenhart, 57, had asked Judge Royce Lamberth to move her out of protective custody and into the jail’s general population, calling her 23-houra-day
isolation cruel and unusual punishment. In a five-page order handed down Thursday, Lamberth said he could not rule on the request because his order detaining Eisenhart and her son,
Eric Gavelek Munchel, without bond was under appeal.
“If the Court modified the order, it would present a moving target for the (appeals court),” Lamberth wrote.
Moreover, the judge said he could only modify the terms of her confinement if she could show the decision to hold her away from other prisoners was “irrational.” In filings with the court, the D.C. Department of Corrections said all suspects in the
Jan. 6 riot are segregated from the other prisoners for their own safety and to maintain order in the jail.
“Here, the defendant has not established that the Department of Corrections treated her differently from other inmates held for similar offenses,” Lamberth wrote.
Among her other claims, a lawyer for Eisenhart told the judge in a hearing Wednesday that the blanket order segregating Jan. 6 suspects could give the impression of unfair treatment based on their politics.
Eisenhart and Munchel were arrested last month for their alleged role in the Capitol insurrection. Social media posts and surveillance cameras show the two inside the Capitol, and Munchel earned the nickname “ziptie guy” from online sleuths who identified him as the man climbing over seats in the Senate gallery carrying plastic wrist restraints in each hand.
Debate over the detention status of suspects in the Capitol is an emerging issue as federal authorities manage the massive investigation. About half of those arrested remain in jail.
In the past week, Americus attorney William Mccall Calhoun and 18-year-old Milton resident Bruno Cua both successfully challenged their continued detention. They were granted release from jail but are under house arrest.
Bradley’s Rule: A team coming off a regular season worth celebrating is a team that’s vulnerable in its first conference tournament game. Georgia Tech fit the profile. Picked to finish ninth in the ACC, the Yellow Jackets came in fourth, beating North Carolina for the first time since New Year’s Eve 2016 and Duke for the first time in 11 years.
Since winning at Wake Forest on March 5, Tech had hunkered down in a Greensboro resort, which has a spa and a golf course. Because it was the No. 4 seed, it wouldn’t open the ACC Tournament until the event’s third day, and the unprecedented-for-tech
Only The AJC
double bye figured to dull the senses even more. And if that weren’t enough, the Jackets’ opponent was Miami, a team they beat by 27 points in Coral Gables last month and which, by winning twice in two nights, became the first No. 13 seed to reach the ACC quarterfinals.
In sum, this was an on-paper mismatch that had “trap game” scrawled all over it. Sure enough, Tech trailed by four points at halftime, by seven with 18 minutes remaining. Moses Wright, the newly minted ACC player of the year, would manage almost as many points (seven) as fouls (five); he fouled out inside the final three minutes. Jose Alvarado, the league’s defensive player of the year, missed the final 3½ minutes of the first half when he banged knees with Miami’s Isaiah Wong.
Had Tech been matched against an opponent a bit better and a bit less fatigued, the No. 4 seed would have been eliminated – and the NCAA basketball committee, gathered in Indianapolis, might have had reason to re-examine the Jackets’ qualifications vis-à-vis the Big Dance. But Tech won, if only just. Final score: 70-66. They’ll play topseeded Virginia in a semifinal today. The long-sought NCAA bid remains safe. In sum, whew. “We’re in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament,” coach Josh Pastner said, and something that hasn’t happened since 2010. For the record, this was Tech’s first victory in the conference tournament under Pastner, who after a Round 1 elimination in 2018 stayed in Charlotte to watch how the big boys – Duke, Carolina, Florida State and Virginia – do it.
“We just have to get off Tuesdays,” he said that night, meaning the day reserved for the league’s lesser lights. These Jackets won enough to miss Tuesday and Wednesday, and on this sunny Thursday they prevailed on a day where so much went wrong.
Said forward Jordan Usher, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half: “We played a pretty bad game. Moses had his worst game in a long while, but I told him, ‘Better now than in the Elite Eight.’”
The climactic moment came with 25 seconds remaining. Tech led 68-66. Usher was inbounding from the sideline in backcourt.
His pass went to nobody and was headed out of bounds for a turnover that would have given Miami a chance to win. But Alvarado, scurrying on two bad legs, ran down the ball and saved it to Bubba Parham, who flipped it back to Alvarado, who threw long to an unencumbered Usher, who dunked.
Said Usher of Alvarado’s iron will: “I figured Jose would get it – unless I heard something break, God forbid. If somebody would screw his head off, he’d try to screw it right back on.”
Said Pastner, inventing a new standard of excellence: “Jose Alvarado is the greatest guard in the history of Georgia Tech on 50-50 balls.”
Thus did the Jackets get away with one. They won’t see anybody as bad as Miami, which finished 10-17, from here on, but they might also have needed this lesson in the nature of tournaments. It doesn’t matter how good you were against Duke in Mccamish Pavilion if you stink out the joint on a neutral court come March.
Said Alvarado: “We were
sitting down (idle) too long. We’re a team that needs to be in rhythm.”
Tech is still going, which can’t be said for the sport’s most famous program. Because of a positive test, Duke had to withdraw from the ACC Tournament, which means it won’t be going to the NCAA Tournament, either. If nothing else, the Blue Devils’ fate lent even more resonance to Pastner’s incessant imprecations to his players about the necessity of masking and social distancing and general COVID-19 avoidance.
“I repeat myself a lot anyway,” he said (and he does). “Imagine how often I’m repeating myself on this – like 50 million times. … But we’re going to Indianapolis for the NCAA Tournament. Do you know how precious that is? We know we’re going. We just have to get there.”
They’ve negotiated the first hurdle. Now they get Virginia, which Tech hasn’t beaten under Pastner. But a lot of things that hadn’t happened under this coach are happening now. This is a program, finally, with the wind at its back.
The Georgia Bulldogs will open spring football practice Tuesday. Each day between now and then, The Atlanta Journalconstitution will break down the various position groups, analyze the personnel and examine their relative spring-practice objectives. G-day, the annual spring intrasquad scrimmage, is April 17 at Sanford Stadium. Today: outside linebackers
ATHENS — Adam Anderson was coming on at the end of last season. And he needs to keep coming on if the Georgia Bulldogs are to continue to have the kind of defensive success they have had in recent years.
Nolan Smith, too.
The Bulldogs remain incredibly talented at outside linebacker, but they’re suddenly somewhat thin at the position, especially when experience is taken into account. Azeez Ojulari is about to become an NFL first-round draft pick, Jermaine Johnson decided he would get more snaps as a fifth-year senior at Florida State than at Georgia and Walter
Grant is, well, gone.
Next thing you know, the Bulldogs are going to have to get walkons involved to come up with a true three-deep at the two outside linebacker spots.
But there’s a lot to like about the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Anderson. Specifically, he seemed to take his pass-rushing skills to a different level last season. To that, some might say, “about time.” A 5-star prospect and No. 1-rated OLB in America coming out of Rome High, he had 2.5 sacks in his first two seasons. But he had 6.5 last season, and that’s while spending a good bit of time playing behind others.
After Johnson bolted at the end of the regular season, the path cleared for Anderson against Cincinnati in the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl. The Bearcats definitely know who No. 19 is now, as Anderson responded with three tackles, two sacks and six quarterback hurries.
Georgia is going to need some more of that this season.
RETURNING STARTERS: None
OTHERS: Junior Nolan Smith, senior Adam Anderson, senior Robert Beal, sophomore Mekhail Sherman, junior Matthew Brown, freshman Chaz Chambliss, freshman Smael Mondon, freshman Xavian Sorey
ALL EYES ON: Anderson and Smith
OUTLOOK: If all you needed was one player to play every down at each outside linebacker spot, Georgia would be well-covered with Anderson and Smith. But few positions require more constant exertion of energy than designated pass rushers. That’s why the Bulldogs prefer a heavy rotation to keep legs fresh for the fourth quarter and specified roles … Expect to see more of Smith this season, too. Another former 5-star recruit at the position, Smith has been relegated mainly to strongside, or “Sam,” linebacker responsibilities his first two seasons. That is an increasingly obscure position against modern, passfirst, spread offenses. But he’s proved adept both in pass coverage and pass rush and remains one of the best run tacklers of Georgia’s second-level players. The Bulldogs will find a role for him. … Meanwhile, Georgia has recruited extremely well at outside linebacker, but it’s a complicated position that requires as much recognition as reaction outside of straight-rush responsibilities. That’s why it’s hard for incoming freshman such as Smael Mondon, Xavian Sorey and Chaz Chambliss to show up and make an immediate impact, especially while being cross-trained at inside linebacker. A thorough knowledge of the duties of the position is what makes a fifthyear senior like Robert Beal and a fourth-year junior like Matthew Brown so valuable.