Tag Archives: Nathan Deal

Who gets to serve on the Brooks County School Board —VDT

The VDT caught up with the TV stations today on the Quitman 10 story,
and provided updates and context they did not.

David Rodock wrote on the front page of the VDT today,

Gov. suspends `Quitman Ten’ officials,

On Tuesday, Deal issued his order prior to the Brooks County Board
of Education’s first meeting of 2012. Dr. Nancy Whitfield-Dennard,
Elizabeth Diane Thomas and Linda Faye Troutman were notified of this
suspension at approximately 4:30 p.m., according to sources.

That’s a bit more context than

the TV stations provided.

The VDT also says who gets to serve instead:

Following the governor’s suspension this week, Brooks County school
board member Brad Shealy, who is also an assistant Southern district
attorney, was appointed to serve as president of the board with
board member Larry Cunningham serving as vice president. Shealy
served many years as the school board president prior to
Whitfield-Dennard being named president last year.

That seems to be

the same Brad Shealy who used to be chairman
until the recent election.

The VDT adds this context:

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Gov. Deal suspended 3 Brooks Co. School Board members

The two local TV stations have an update on the Quitman 10:
the governor has suspended the three who were elected to the Brooks
County School Board.
If the VDT has covered this, I must have missed it.
(OK, I should look at
today’s paper….)
There’s also nothing about this on the

Brooks County School Board website.

Jade Bulecza wrote for WALB yesterday,

Governor orders Brooks Co. School Bd. suspensions



Superintendent Debra Folsom got the governor’s order Tuesday
suspending the three board members.

“This is all new territory for us,” said Folsom. “We’re consulting
our attorney to see what the next steps we will take to fill the
positions.”

December 20 a review commission made up of the attorney general and
two school board members from across Georgia were appointed by the
governor to review the case.

“They heard evidence from the prosecution and from the accused and
the conclusion of that they made a determination and forwarded that
to the governor’s office whether to suspend or not to suspend the
three school board members,” said South Georgia District Attorney
Joe Mulholland.

December 30, the review panel unanimously made their decision.

That would be the same Joe Mulholland

who’s been on TV saying things like

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Quitman 10 to see Gov. Deal in Atlanta —George Rhynes

Received today. -jsq


Moreover, I have just been notified that the Quitman 10 will be
traveling to Atlanta on Friday

to meet with Georgia Governor Deal
about remaining on the Brooks County Board of Education.
I will most certainly miss

Senator Robert Brown here in the

State of Georgia.

-GEORGE BOSTON RHYNES

Valdosta State Students defend their right of free speech



Campus authorities tried getting students to move away from the University
Center where

Governor Nathan Deal was having a luncheon.
The students stood their ground.

Here’s

the video.




Protesting Gov. Nathan Deal at Valdosta State University (VSU), 16 September 2011.

Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

The students had been standing on the sidewalk in front of the

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Pardons board rejects clemency for Troy Davis

So now it’s down to Gov. Deal.

In the
VDT via AP today:



Georgia’s pardons board rejected a last-ditch clemency plea from death
row inmate Troy Davis on Tuesday despite high-profile support from figures
including the pope and

a former FBI director for the claim that he was
wrongly convicted of killing a police officer in 1989.



Davis is scheduled to die Wednesday by injection for the killing of
off-duty Savannah officer Mark MacPhail, who was slain while rushing to
help a homeless man being attacked. It is the fourth time in four years
that Davis’ execution has been scheduled by Georgia officials.

Steve Hayes, spokesman for the Board of Pardons and Paroles, said

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Gov. Deal: the bad, prison slave labor competing with free labor

Gov. Nathan Deal said he was for free-enterprise chickens,
but he wants the government to supply prison slave labor to grow them.



Continuing
Gov. Deal: the good, the ugly, and the bad on prisons,
quoting again from
David Rodock’s interview with Gov. Nathan Deal

in today’s VDT.

The Bad

Remember Gov. Deal mentioned poultry operators as an illustration
of his bogus point that government intervention is always bad?
Well, I guess he forgot that when he answered this question:

THE TIMES: Your proposal to have probationers replace illegal immigrants
for farm labor. Did that idea work? If it didn’t or it did, what’s
going to happen next year during the picking season?


DEAL: “Well, it worked with some success. I think there was a great
deal of skepticism about it on whether these people will work and there
is a threat associated with their presence. We have to remember that
probationers are not under arrest. They are free in our society.

Really?
Except for little things like not being able to vote if they are felons,
and having to pay their probation officers.
But back to the Gov.:

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Gov. Deal: the good, the ugly, and the bad on prisons

Gov. Nathan Deal proposed a half-measure to reduce the Georgia prison population


that nonetheless is a useful measure (the good).
He reiterated a bogus talking point (the ugly).
Then he proceeded to contradict it in advocating something that would
work against reducing the prison population (the bad).

David Rodock’s interview with Gov. Nathan Deal

is in the VDT today.

The Good



THE TIMES: How are we going to address

the large number of incarcerated citizens
and decrease those numbers?

DEAL:
“I think one of the better things we can do is have accountability
in courts whether they be drug courts, DUI courts, mental-health courts,
towards sentence reform.

the like. We know that they work. We know the recidivism rate, if they go
through those approaches rather than directly into the prison system. We
have less recidivism. We break the addictions, and we’ve got to work
very closely on that.”

I’ve previously noted that Gov. Deal has taken at least a tentative step
towards sentence reform.
That’s good, but not enough.
Let’s do the rest,

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WALB on protesters and Gov. Deal at VSU

Jade Bulecza wrote for WALB today,

Protesters approach governor on Troy Davis

South Georgia death penalty opponents took their protest to the governor
while he was in Valdosta.

Governor Deal was in Valdosta to tour VSU’s nursing college but death
penalty opponents confronted him about the upcoming execution of cop
killer Troy Davis.



A small group of demonstrators gathered a VSU to plead for clemency for
Troy Davis.

“We hope he uses his influence to the pardons and parole board to get
out get rid of this execution,” said Deandre Jones, the president of
the VSU’s NAACP college chapter.



Protesters approached the governor as he left the university center.

“The committee has followed the legal process and has gone through the
appellate court,” said Deal.

Davis’ execution is set for Wednesday for killing an off duty Savannah
police officer in 1989.

Student protesters greet GA Gov. Nathan Deal @ VSU 16 Sep 2011

Possibly the last thing Gov. Nathan Deal expected to find at Valdosta
State University greeted him: student protesters!

Their main question was about the impending Sept. 21st execution of

Troy Anthony Davis,
about whom Amnesty International says there is too much doubt.





Student protesters greet Governor Nathan Deal at Valdosta State University, 16 Sep 2011.

Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

The press had already noticed:

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Gov. Deal in Valdosta right now tomorrow

A little birdie tells me this is his schedule for today tomorrow. -jsq

7:30 Breakfast at the Quitman-Brooks Co. Museum &
Cultural Center (202 North Culpepper Street, Quitman)
8:00 Walk across the street to Brooks Co. Courthouse to
have a skillet contest and media opportunity (Brooks Co. Skillet
Festival is the next day – Saturday, September 17 <96> a kickoff for the
festival)
8:30 Depart Brooks Co., travel to Wiregrass Georgia
Technical College (4089 Val-Tech Road, Valdosta)
9:00 Arrive WGTC, tour for one hour
10:00 Depart WGTC, travel to South Georgia Medical Center
(2501 North Patterson Street, Valdosta)
10:15 Arrive SGMC, tour for 45 minutes
11:00 Depart SGMC, travel to Valdosta State University
Nursing Building (1500 North Patterson Street, Valdosta)
11:15 Tour VSU Nursing Building
11:35 Walk across street to VSU University Center for lunch/presentation
11:45 — 1:15 Luncheon, VSU University Center

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