Morning Reads for Groundhog Day (February 2)

Good morning! The groundhogs had diverging opinions this morning, with General Beauregard Lee not seeing his shadow and Punxsutawney Phil seeing his. Staten Island Chuck and Woodstock Willie agree with our guy. So, three to one for an early spring… so far. Sir Walter Wally, however, isn’t making a prediction until noon, and he’s apparently right more than 50% of the time. You can watch him here.

In the interim, let’s get to the news.

Pat Conroy

• Both Spelman University and Fort Valley State University received bomb threats on the first day of Black History Month – along with other HBCUs nationwide.
• Georgia Power will shut down all of its coal-fired plants by 2035.
• Yesterday, Governor Brian Kemp announced $408 million in grant awards from COVID-relief funds for the expansion of rural broadband.
• Also announced yesterday was that Georgia will receive $225 million to repair bridges over the next five years as part of the federal infrastructure bill passed last fall. (Alternate link.)
• Democratic House members of the Government Affairs Committee had strong thoughts about Rep. Bonnie Rich’s desire to override the proposed Gwinnett County Commission map.
• Rep. Matt Dollar has resigned from the House of Representatives to take a job with the Technical College System of Georgia.

Alice Walker

• The Washington football team finally has a new name.
• ABC has suspended Whoopi Goldberg from The View over her recent Holocaust comments. (Alternate link.)
• Senator Lindsey Graham is back to being a RINO in former President Donald Trump’s eyes. (Alternate link.)
• The United States continues to have a higher death rate from COVID than other wealthy countries. (Alternate link.)
• President Joe Biden is sending more troops to Poland and Germany as tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalate.
• Belgian government workers no longer have to answer their bosses’ emails after hours.
• The EU has moved to label nuclear and gas energies as “green.”
• India will soon unveil the digital rupee.

Flannery O’Connor

• Two 2020 lightning strikes have set records for the longest duration and flash distance.