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MARIETTA – The coronavirus pandemic and its imprint on politics, training, work and society in all corners of Georgia made headlines all through most of 2020.
However the yr additionally included the high-stakes November election and early voting in a pair of Senate run-off elections that solid a white-hot highlight on Georgia. Two high-profile killings drew sharp consideration to racial justice points in a yr that additionally noticed the passing of civil rights icon John Lewis.
A take a look at the highest 10 tales in Georgia in 2020:
VIRUS OUTBREAK-GEORGIA: The coronavirus pandemic invades all features of life in Georgia. Giant festivals, church providers and different occasions are canceled as eating places and different small companies battle to usher in prospects. Main companies shift to distant work when doable, and the lives of fogeys and their kids are disrupted as colleges shut and studying shifts on-line. The pandemic additionally causes political upheaval in Georgia, as Gov. Brian Kemp faces sharp criticism for not imposing the form of extreme restrictions a number of different states have applied. New circumstances and deaths surge in the course of the summer time months, and start spiking once more within the fall, resulting in a file variety of folks with confirmed infections hospitalized by mid-December.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPORTS: The pandemic prompts the cancellation of what would have been certainly one of Georgia’s largest sporting occasions: The Nationwide Collegiate Athletic Affiliation’s “Ultimate 4″ Division I basketball championship. In Augusta, organizers announce the postponement of one other marquee occasion: The Masters golf match. Excessive colleges, schools {and professional} leagues cancel a number of video games and play others in largely empty stadiums and arenas.
GEORGIA ELECTION: Former Vice President Joe Biden turns into the primary Democratic presidential nominee to win Georgia since 1992, defeating President Donald Trump. The president claims there was widespread voting fraud within the state. He blasts Republican officers, together with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp, accusing them of failing to take acceptable motion. Raffensperger insists there was no proof of systemic fraud. Votes within the presidential race are recounted a number of occasions, with recounts affirming Biden’s win. Trump and his allies file quite a few lawsuits alleging the election consequence was tainted by fraud, however fail to persuade any court docket to take motion.
GEORGIA SENATE RUNOFFS: Twin runoffs for 2 U.S. Senate seats are additional proof that Georgia is now a battleground after practically 20 years of Republican dominance. The 2 races, set to be determined Jan. 5, focus consideration on Georgia as the end result will decide the steadiness of energy within the Senate. Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler is being challenged by the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, in a single runoff. The opposite options Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff. Early voting started this month, and a good portion of the votes are anticipated to be solid this yr.
JOHN LEWIS: Civil rights icon John Lewis dies in July at age 80. Three former presidents eulogize him at his funeral at Ebenezer Baptist Church, as soon as pastored by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Lewis championed equal rights and voting entry in the course of the Civil Rights motion and later in Congress as a longtime U.S. consultant. He was recognized worldwide for main protesters within the 1965 “Bloody Sunday” march throughout the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, the place he was overwhelmed by Alabama state troopers.
AHMAUD ARBERY: The slaying of Ahmaud Arbery by armed white males provides gas to a nationwide outcry over killings of unarmed Black males. In coastal Georgia, greater than two months handed earlier than authorities cost Gregory McMichael and his grownup son, Travis McMichael, in Arbery’s loss of life. Additionally charged was William “Roddie” Bryan, whose cellphone video of the taking pictures turned public proper earlier than arrests had been made in Might. The McMichaels armed themselves and chased after Arbery in a truck after they noticed him operating of their neighborhood exterior Brunswick. They instructed police they suspected him of being a burglar, and that the taking pictures was in self-defense.
RAYSHARD BROOKS: Police physique digicam video exhibits two Atlanta officers having a peaceful and respectful dialog with Rayshard Brooks for greater than 40 minutes after responding to complaints that Brooks had fallen asleep in his automobile in a Wendy’s drive-thru lane on June 12. When the officers tried to handcuff Brooks, he resisted in a battle caught on sprint digicam video. Brooks grabbed a Taser from one of many officers and fired it at Officer Garrett Rolfe as he ran away. Rolfe fired his gun and an post-mortem discovered Brooks was shot twice within the again. The killing sparks new demonstrations in opposition to police brutality in Atlanta. Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields resigns lower than 24 hours after the taking pictures. The Fulton County district legal professional recordsdata costs together with felony homicide in opposition to Rolfe, and costs Brosnan with aggravated assault and violating his oath. Their attorneys have stated their actions had been justified.
IMMIGRATION INVESTIGATION: An Related Press assessment of medical information and interviews reveals rising allegations that surgical procedures and different procedures had been carried out on immigrants being detained in Georgia who by no means sought them or did not absolutely perceive the scenario. Attorneys and consultants say the ladies’s lack of consent or data raises critical authorized and moral points. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Appearing Director Tony Pham says he is dedicated to the well being, welfare and security of ICE detainees.
CHURCH MURDERS: A choose in July overturns the convictions of a person who was discovered responsible of killing two folks of their south Georgia church in 1985, and orders a brand new trial. Dennis Perry had been in jail for 20 years after the killings of Harold and Thelma Swain, who had been killed inside Rising Daughters Baptist Church in Waverly, Georgia. The ruling comes after DNA recovered from the crime scene matched an alternate suspect throughout reinvestigation of the case.
MEDICAID EXPANSION: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in November unveils a plan to broaden Medicaid to the state’s poorest able-bodied adults, on the situation that they work, volunteer, obtain job coaching or attend faculty.
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