Political Notebook: Warner Robins recognizes man for civil rights stand
On Tuesday, Warner Robins City Council honored a local man who was part of a landmark civil rights lawsuit in Atlanta.
Charles Bell, 97, is the last surviving litigant in Holves vs. Atlanta, a U.S. Supreme Court case that led to the full integration of public golf courses in Atlanta.
Bell has lived in Warner Robins for 30 years. He was introduced at the council meeting by his friend, local attorney Michelle Smith.
Mayor Randy Toms read a proclamation declaring Feb. 16 to be Charles Bell Day in Warner Robins.
REPS. SCOTT, WESTMORELAND TO CAMPAIGN FOR RUBIO
U.S. Reps. Austin Scott and Lynn Westmoreland are scheduled to be in Georgia on Monday to campaign for Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio.
They will be in attendance for opening of the Rubio for President Georgia Headquarters in Atlanta and meet with voters in Macon and Columbus later that day to share why they support Rubio for president in 2016.
Doors open at 8:30 a.m. for the 9 a.m. meet and greet in Macon, which will take place at Jeneane's Cafe, 524 Mulberry St., according to a release.
Anyone interested attending is asked to RSVP at bit.ly/1KZMoiM.
The Columbus event will take place at 12:30 p.m., and the grand opening of Rubio's headquarters in Atlanta is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
FIRE STATION 2 TO BECOME MUSEUM
Fire Station 2 in Warner Robins, which is no longer used, will become a museum.
The idea has been in the works for a while, but City Council made it official by approving $11,000 on Tuesday to pay for renovations on the building.
MERCER FUNDING CLOSE
The House and Senate have all but written the check that Gov. Nathan Deal had recently promised to Mercer University by appropriating some $35 million for the school's rural health efforts.
The school plans to use the money for service-cancelable student loans for medical students who work after graduation in the state's rural and underserved areas.
The cash comes from a settlement Georgia reached with the federal government in state overpayments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The funding, included in a midyear budget adjustment bill, is now on Deal's desk.
SPECIAL VISIT
The man who Robins Air Force Base knew as commander of the 402nd Maintenance Wing from 2009 to 2011 visited the state Capitol in Atlanta this week to talk about what Georgia can do about future defense needs.
Lee Levy, now a lieutenant general commanding the Air Force Sustainment Center at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, told the state House that Georgia and its bases play a vital part in readiness and the future of the nation.
"We are counting on all Georgians to continue to embrace those installations," Levy said. "Provide for their welfare, to embrace the military families that serve there, to work hard to increase our science, technology, engineering and math education so we can have the kind of workforce we need for a fifth generation Air Force," he said.
The Georgia Legislature is working on some similar things this year. Both Democrats and Republicans have authored bills to make it easier for military families to get professional licenses and do other formalities when they move to Georgia. On the STEM front, the House has passed a bill to encourage college students to take such classes by making them worth 0.5 extra points toward grade-point averages, the measure that determines if they get a HOPE scholarship.
SENATE VOTES ON RELIGION AND HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
The state Senate passed a bill that its sponsor says will help make sure student athletes can express religious beliefs.
State Sen. Burt Jones, R-Jackson, said his Senate Bill 309 was inspired by the case of a high school runner who was reportedly disqualified from a race for writing a Bible verse on his headband.
The body that organizes most high school sports, the Georgia High School Association, follows uniform rules from the National Federation of High School Associations. Those rules ban all uniform "adornments" except sponsor logos. That rules out any kind of commentary on athlete apparel, be it a Bible verse, a poem or unkind things about opposing teams.
Jones said that student athletes whose uniforms conform to an event "should not be punished for expressing certain beliefs ... whatever their religion might be."
Specifically, his bill would ban public schools from joining any sports organization that bans voluntary religious expression. It's a strategy to force a rule change at GHSA.
Senate Republicans passed the bill over DemocratIC objections by a 39 -16 vote.
The House has passed a similar bill.
Staff writers Maggie Lee, Wayne Crenshaw and Stanley Dunlap contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Political Notebook: Warner Robins recognizes man for civil rights stand ."