Morning Reads for National Chocolate Mint Day (February 19)

Break out the thin mints, because it’s National Chocolate Mint Day!

Pat Conroy

• Don’t forget to register by Monday, February 24th, if you want to vote in the presidential preference primaries. Early voting starts March 2nd.
• The House Governmental Affairs Committee advanced the partisan primaries for special elections bill, but only after moving its implementation date to 2021. This means that Loeffler and Collins won’t go head-to-head this year, and therefore, Governor Kemp won’t veto it.
• The first residential center for sex trafficked youth will open next week in Georgia.
• Former state senator Jimmy Lester, who represented Augusta during the 1970s and early 1980s, has passed away.

Alice Walker

• President Trump pardoned a bunch of D-List felons. Did anyone else feel like they were trapped in a 1960s-era Batman episode by this? You know this crew isn’t competent enough to do anything truly dangerous, but the fear is always there that they’ll goof up and actually manage some mischief.
• A group of federal judges convened an emergency meeting this week after the Department of Justice intervened in the Roger Stone case.
• The Boy Scouts have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The organization says this will put a hold on the sexual abuse litigation while they come up with a way to pay victims.
• Protests by indigenous groups have effectively shut down the Canadian rail network. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to meet with the activists to negotiate, but didn’t invite the conservative leader to join.
• A different prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has an upcoming corruption trial, which will begin two weeks after the upcoming Israeli elections.

Flannery O’Connor

• According to WalletHub, Georgia is the 5th most sinful state in the country.