Good Morning Gwinnett Podcast

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com John was born in Atlanta and have lived in Georgia his whole life. He went to North Gwinnett and Collins Hill High School. He graduated from the University of Georgia where he graduated with a bachelors in business administration with a major in management information systems. He worked in software development for about 15 years. It was during that time that he started to home brew as a creative outlet and fell in love with the whole process. It was during this time that he started talking about the possibility of starting a brewery with his brother in law Marty during this time and Slow Pour Brewing Company was born.#Podcast, DailyHoroscopes, GwinnettCountyPodcast,

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Florida and Georgia, two states that were among the first to announce the reopening of businesses and public spaces amid the health crisis, have come under scrutiny for their reporting on Covid-19 cases.In Florida, Rebekah Jones, the official behind the state's "dashboard," a web page showing the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in Florida that's been praised by Dr. Deborah Birx, says she was removed from the project and questioned the state's commitment to accessibility and transparency, according to Florida Today.In Georgia, data tracking Covid-19 cases in the state has come under question after a misleading chart was posted on the state Department of Public Health's web page, according to an article by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.Late last Friday, Jones announced in an email to researchers and people who had signed up to receive updates about the data portal that she had been removed from her post at the Florida Department of Health, according to Florida Today."As a word of caution, I would not expect the new team to continue the same level of accessibility and transparency that I made central to the process during the first two months," Jones wrote, according to Florida Today.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis contested the claims during a press conference Tuesday, referencing an email from Jones and said her words had been "misrepresented," and that the situation was "a non-issue."SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com#Podcast, #DailyHoroscopes,

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com That is how many people visited the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds in Lawrenceville over a period of 10 hours, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Monday to cast their ballots early for the June 9 primary election. It was one of two early voting sites that opened Monday — the other being the county's elections office in Lawrenceville — and it was chosen because it's large indoor space provided plenty of room for social distancing during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic.But hardly anyone came by."I think the interesting thing to note is that there is no line at the fairgrounds, and there hasn't been one all day," county spokesman Joe Sorenson said.There were a few hundred people who came out to vote in person in the election on Monday, but most of them went to the elections office.Shortly before the fairgrounds early voting location closed at 7 p.m., county officials said 92 people had voted there. The elections office polling location, which closed at 5 p.m., had a line of about 20 voters when it opened and saw a total of 327 voters come by on Monday.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com#GwinnettCountyPodcast, #Podcast, #DailyHoroscopes

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Gwinnett County residents will be able to get food grown in Georgia in unincorporated Lawrenceville later this month as part of an effort to help both residents and farmers who are in need because of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic.The Georgia Grown To Go market event is expected to be held from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. May 27 at Coolray Field, Gwinnett Community Services Deputy Director Lindsay Jorstad told county commissioners on Tuesday. The event is a partnership with the Georgia Department of Agriculture.“In addition to pre-ordered mixed boxes, there’s supposed to be an array of fresh perishable food options that folks can order,” Jorstad said.Gwinnett officials will be looking at a Georgia Grown To Go market that will be held in Cobb County before the one at Coolray Field to study its format and logistics.Jorstad said the Gwinnett market will offer an opportunity to support local co-ops with additional food supplies as well.Coolray Field is located at 2500 Buford Drive in Lawrenceville.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com#GwinnettCountyPodcast, #Podcast, #DailyHoroscopes

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Joe Allen started his career of service to Gwinnett County in the Tax Commissioner's Office, where he served as Director of Administration and then Chief Deputy Tax Commissioner. Later, he was Gwinnett’s Division Director of Risk Management and Employee Services. Allen also spent a number of years as the Director of Public Affairs and Business Resources for the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. While at the Chamber, he helped organize the business leaders that later formed the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District. In April 2006, Joe was named Executive Director for the CID. Joe is married to Melanie and they have two children.#GwinnettCountyPodcast, #GwinnettPodcast,#DailyHorscopes

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Gwinnett County officials are looking at how to spend a total of about $188.2 million in stimulus funds that are coming from various federal agencies to help deal with the COVID-19 novel coronavirus impact on the county.The largest amount is $163.37 million that the county received from the U.S. treasury department to help communities and businesses during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic. The funds were allocated to Gwinnett as a result of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act.The funding is expected to cover uses ranging from public facility enhancements designed to increase social distancing, to funding to help small businesses and address housing and food insecurities.A list of uses for the funding was presented to county commissioners Tuesday.“What we’ve done is kind of broken out funding categories where we see immediate need,” Gwinnett County Grants Manager Shannon Candler told the commissioners. “Just to refresh your memory, we did do a needs assessment here in Gwinnett County in the month of April and the key elements that have been identified in the community are economic assistance, emergency food assistance, rental assistance, health care, shelter and long-term housing, medical and cleaning supplies as well as emotional and spiritual care as well as prevention and education resources.”

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Gwinnett County government is planning to step in to pick up where Gwinnett County Public Schools' meal service will leave off when it ends this weekend, making sure kids continue to have access to meals during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic.The county government and school system are working together to transition from the meal service program that the district has run for the last two months to the county's expanded Summer Meals program. The school system's program ends Friday. The county's Summer Meals program will begin the following Monday.“It is the common goal of the Board of the Commissioners and the Board of Education to assist families and make sure children receive nutritious meals during this challenging time,” Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Chairman Charlotte Nash said. “For some kids, this may be the only meal they get that day.County officials said parents and kids can pick up meals while supplies last between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and registration is not required. Additional information about the program is available by visiting www.GwinnettSummerMeals.com or calling 770-822-8840.The Summer Meals locations include:Pinckneyville Park, 4650 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Berkeley LakeShorty Howell Park, 2750 Pleasant Hill Road, DuluthSOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com#GwinnettCountyPodcast, #Podcast, #DailyHoroscopes

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com The shooting of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick has prompted state Rep. Chuck Efstration, R-Dacula, to reiterate calls for the Georgia Senate to pass a hate crimes bill previously passed by the Georgia House of Representatives.Efstration, who is chairman of the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, said the Senate should quickly take up House Bill 426 when the Georgia General Assembly reconvenes this summer. The bill, also known as the Georgia Hate Crimes Act, was passed by the Georgia House last year, but it is still sitting in the Senate Judiciary Committee.“For two years, I have been working to pass a hate crimes law in Georgia,” said Chairman Efstration. “Speaker David Ralston made this bipartisan bill a priority in the Georgia House of Representatives last year, and I am calling on the State Senate to pass House Bill 426 as soon as possible.”SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com#GwinnettCountyPodcast, #Podcast, #GeorgiaPodcast, #DailyHoroscopes

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com A second large-scale coronavirus testing event will be held at the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth on Friday, Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Director Audrey Arona said.The Friday event has the capacity to test 1,200 people. The first testing event at the venue two weeks ago served about 800 people.Promote health. Save lives. Serve the vulnerable. Visit who.intAnyone who is experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, is eligible to get tested. Those symptoms include cough, fever and shortness of breath. Testing is free and the health department does not collect any insurance or financial information. Those who are tested should receive results within two days.Tests will also come with a coupon for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich. The Atlanta-based fast food chain has donated the coupons to the department to help encourage people to get tested and reduce no-shows, Arona said at a Norcross City Council meeting Monday.SOURCE: www.AJC.com#GwinnettCountyPodcast, #Podcast, #DailyHoroscopes

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com The Atlanta Hawks, State Farm and anti-hunger organization Goodr are hosting a free drive-thru grocery store in Norcross this week.The NBA team has been working with the two companies to feed people in metro Atlanta since its season was cut short due to coronavirus on March 11. The need for feeding programs and food banks has grown in Atlanta and nationwide as the pandemic has caused millions of people to lose their jobs. SOURCE: www.AJC.com#GwinnettCountyPodcast. #Podcast, #DailyHoroscopes

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Simon Property Group, which owns the Mall of Georgia in Buford and Sugarloaf Mills in Lawrenceville, reopened most of its malls in Georgia on Monday after being closed throughout late March and all of April because of the pandemic. But, while the malls were open, shoppers were not quick to embrace the opportunity to go shopping.At the Mall of Georgia, for example, where there are thousands of parking spaces, there were only a few dozen cars in front of mall's main entrance, with similar small scatterings of cars located at other entrances that were open, including entrances to anchor stores, such as Macy's.There were small clusters of shoppers to be found here and there in the mall, but not the throngs of crowds that would typically be seen at the Mall of Georgia.SOURCE: www.GwinnettDailyPost.com#GwinnettCountyPodcast, #Podcast, #DailyHoroscopes

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com director-level staff and above are to return to work on-site on Wednesday, May 6. All other staff with the exception of teachers will return to schools on Monday, May 11. Teachers will return to classrooms on Monday, May 18.“We want to make sure it is clear that students aren’t returning to the schools,” said spokeswoman Sloan Roach. “We need teachers to close out their classrooms before families come to pick up personal items.”SOURCE: www.AJC.com

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.comThe Norcross Community Market has transitioned from an open-air market to a drive-thru market. The public can visit the market’s online store between 9 a.m. Tuesday through 5 p.m. Thursday each week to place an order at www.norcrosscommunitymarket.com. Drive-thru pick up will take place at City Hall, 65 Lawrenceville St., each Saturday between 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.Customer appointments will be made to prevent “rush hour” scenarios for obtaining food orders. Sections of the parking lot will be closed off so people can park, wait inside their car, and then drive through and pick up their order.While SNAP cannot be processed online, the market is making provisions to have customers order online and a separate handling table will be set aside for SNAP beneficiaries. The Norcross Community Market is one of only 2 Gwinnett county farmers markets that accept SNAP payments.SOURCE: www.AJC.com#GwinnettCountyPodcast, #Podcast, #DailyHoroscopes

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com Seventy meals a day, seven days a week, Bruce Kennedy and his employees at Universal Joint in Lawrenceville have been trying to support the workers at Northside Hospital Gwinnett in the way they know best: with food.Universal Joint has been making meals to serve the staff at the hospital in Lawrenceville since late-March through its Feed Our Heroes effort. Costumers and other members of the community have been helping by raising money to pay for the meals.It’s a way the restaurant is showing backing to hospital workers working on the front line of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic.“It’s been really good,” said Kennedy, who owns Universal Joint. “It’s been a blessing. You get to see those guys and they’re really happy to have you come over to see them.”Kennedy and his staff at Universal Joint recently hit a major milestone by delivering their 1,000th meal to Northside Gwinnett. The idea was inspired by a Meal Bridge effort in Decatur where local restaurants were enlisted to help provide meals that are provided to hospital workers at Emory.“I see doing this until no one wants to do it anymore,” Kennedy said. “I’m going to keep this thing going with the meals at least another month, or maybe do it until this COVID thing is completely over with.”The Universal Joint staff makes 35 meals to be delivered in the morning and another 35 meals to be delivered in the afternoon while following strict protocols to make sure there is no potential for COVID-19 to be spread.#GwinnettCountyPodcast, #Podcast

www.GoodMorningGwinnett.com To honor Gwinnett County's frontline workers and to recognize COVID-19 survivors and families who have lost loved ones to the novel coronavirus, community leaders in Gwinnett have launched the “Paint the Town Blue” campaign.“We want them to know we support them every step of the way,” said Paige Havens, spokesperson for GwinnettCares.org.GwinnettCares.org is an initiative developed by community leaders to help strengthen communication to Gwinnett’s close to one million residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.Lawrenceville to light city blue nightly to support COVID-19 frontline workersNEWSLawrenceville to light city blue nightly to support COVID-19 frontline workersBy Curt Yeomans curt.yeomans@gwinnettdailypost.comThe campaign calls for Gwinnett residents to tie a blue ribbon around a tree, a mailbox post or a front porch banister, and change front porch lightbulbs to blue.#GwinnettCountyPodcast, #GwinnettHoroscopes