Good Morning Gwinnett Podcast

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Maria Taylor is the President of ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI), a professional development company specializing in providing online training and certificates, child care registry development, and administrative solutions for the early care and education industry. Maria is the former President and Chief Operating Officer of DirectoryNET, LLC., prior to her position as COO, Maria was the Senior Manager of National Accounts for ABC School Supply and served as Group Vice President for School Specialty, Inc. Maria received her B.A from the University of Georgia and an M.B.A. from Georgia State University. Currently she is a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) as well as a board member of the National Registry Alliance and a member of the Southern Early Childhood Association (SECA).

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com The Gwinnett County Public Library will hand out food later this month to those struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.Beginning Jan. 27, the library will stop at its Buford location on Wednesdays and its Centerville location on Thursdays to distribute meals to the community. Gwinnett County residents can stop by the branches to pick up a frozen meal on these days starting at 11 a.m. until the volunteers run out of food.Originally purchasing its mobile van to deliver books and sign people up for library cards before the pandemic hit, the library is now using it to transport food. A table will be set up under the van’s awning in the branch parking lots. Anyone interested in picking up meals can drive up to the table without getting out of their car and library volunteers will deliver meals to drivers while wearing masks and gloves.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com In response to pandemic concerns and the upheaval over social justice that swept metro Atlanta and the nation last year, more Gwinnett teachers are publicly criticizing the school district — and some want explicit protections against retaliation for doing so.Only a handful of people addressed the school board at meetings before the pandemic reached Georgia, and only some of those were employees. But since June, at least 20 speakers have come before the board nearly every month, many of them employees denouncing district practices. Teachers rallied over the summer to oppose in-person classes and demand more inclusive practices in the diverse school district. Some said they became more outspoken last year in campus meetings and on social media.Many are social studies teachers who saySOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Alice O’Lenick Election Boards New Chairwoman — who referred to 2020 as a “terrible elections cycle” during the GOP meeting — outlined several changes pertaining to elections that she would like to see made in Georgia. Several of them pertain to how Georgians can cast ballots ahead of election day.One of them is having the state require up to 21 days of early voting — officially called advance-in-person voting — with one mandatory Saturday voting day and one mandatory Sunday voting day. County elections officials should be free to set their own hours on the Sunday voting, she said.Two even bigger changes would center around absentee voting in Georgia, however.One would be a partial rollback of no excuse absentee-by-mail voting. Georgia has had no excuse absentee voting for more than a decade and its popularity exploded in 2020 as officials at the Georgia Secretary of State’s office pushed it as a safe alternative for voters who were concerned about waiting in line to vote amid the COVID-19 pandemic.O’Lenick suggested only certain population groups should be allowed to ask for an absentee ballot without giving a reason for the request.“The absentee-by-mail, you exclude the elderly and infirm (from needing an excuse), and everyone else would have to have an excuse,” she said.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com. Today is one of the hardest days of my life. Today we lay my mom to rest. I’m grateful for the time we had her with us. I’m grateful that my family and friends are altogether today. This will be tough, but I know God will bring us through this.Thank You all for your prayers I really appreciate you all and love you to life for loving me.

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com The Norcross Police Department is hiring. Starting salaries can be up to $47,633 and certified officers will receive a $2,000 hiring bonus. Benefits include 11 paid holidays, 80 vacation hours, 80 hours of sick leave, full medical benefits, life insurance, retirement and a take home car.To apply, you must be at least 21 years old, have a high school diploma or GED, be a U.S. citizen and have a valid Georgia driver’s license. All applicants must complete a background investigation including the applicant’s employment history, criminal history, credit history, education and military records as well as personal references.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com New Gwinnett District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson and Solicitor General Brian Whiteside have agreed to pay fines to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission for campaign violations, according to an attorney for the commission.Austin-Gatson has agreed to pay a $2,500 fine to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission for two state campaign law violations. Meanwhile, Whiteside has reportedly agreed to pay a $5,000 fine for five violations stemming from missing campaign contribution and personal finance disclosure statements.The commission took up consent orders against Austin-Gatson and Whiteside at its meeting on Thursday.One of the violations against Austin-Gatson stemmed from an allegation made by former District Attorney Danny Porter, whom Austin-Gatson defeated in November. It involved Austin-Gatson’s husband, Travis, handing out her campaign business cards to a judge and other officials while picking up a search warrant in Hall County in August. Travis Gatson is an investigator in Whiteside’s office, and Austin-Gatson also worked in that office until her election as district attorney.The other violation stems from an allegation the commission’s investigators found while they were investigating the claims made by Porter. Austin-Gatson was accused of attending a criminal justice event at the state Capitol last year and engaging in campaigning while she was there.Commission attorney Joe Cusack said she did not take leave to attend the event in a campaign capacity and, therefore, was campaigning on county time.“This was an inadvertent situation,” Austin-Gatson’s attorney, Andy Morgan, told the commission. “Mrs. Gatson believed that since she is a salaried employee and was normally able to make up time for work during the day during after hours, she thought it would satisfy the requirement, She understands the violation and is therefore accepting the consent order as currently presented. (It’s) the same thing with her husband, who happened to be overzealous ... It was an unfortunate situation. He recognizes that as well and accepts the order.”The fine will be paid by Austin-Gatson’s campaign.Meanwhile, the campaign finance commission’s staff filed a complaint against Whiteside, saying he had not filed five campaign contribution disclosure reports. Three of those reports were due in 2018 while the other two were due in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Even after candidates are elected, they must still file campaign contribution disclosure reports in non-election years under state law.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com the proposed changes include $200,000 for warming stations, to help homeless residents find shelter when the temperatures dip below freezing.Matthew Elder, the director of HomeFirst Gwinnett, said a partner had received a grant to pay staff at such a shelter overnight, after failing to find enough volunteers to do so as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.But Elder said he doesn’t think the one warming station he operates, near Norcross, is enough. Gwinnett is so large, and with limited accessibility on public transportation, there’s an opportunity for more services, he said.SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Rev. Raphael Warnock will make history when he becomes Georgia's first Black senator and the first Black Democrat to represent a southern state in the Senate.Once sworn in, Warnock will be the 11th African American to serve in the US Senate -- a group that includes former President Barack Obama, who served as a US senator from Illinois, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who is a US senator from California.CNN projected early Wednesday morning that Warnock beat incumbent GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler, with Black voters in the Atlanta metro area, the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement, and suburbs turning out to help Warnock win the seat.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Today is one of the saddest days of my life. My mom passed away this morning and although I feel numb right now, I know she would want me to do my show, because she knew how important it is to me. I would like to thank all of you who sent love and prayers. I know she's in a better place right now where there is no pain.

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.comGwinnett and Georgia Gwinnett College are partnering to operate and staff the new Gwinnett Entrepreneur Center, an incubator for fledgling Gwinnett start-ups and small businesses looking to grow. The 6,718-square-foot center on Perry Street in downtown Lawrenceville, will open in the spring. The center will actively recruit business owners from low-to-moderate income households, as well as diverse business owners.Gwinnett will provide the facilities, such as co-working spaces, a training room with technological equipment, conference rooms, a breakroom/dining area, outdoor workspace and offices.GGC will supply instruction and supporting services, such as workshops, coaching, peer learning, connections to customers and capital and market research, plus membership opportunities. The project is being headed by the county’s Office of Economic DevelopmentSOURCE: www.ajc.com

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