TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalPolice: Georgia mother, son stole $3M from beer distributor
MACON, Ga. (AP) - Authorities say a mother and son who worked for a Georgia alcohol distributor embezzled more than $3 million from their employer over a decade.
Sheriff's investigators in Bibb County, Georgia, arrested 72-year-old Eva Rebecca Wells and her son, 44-year-old Billy Lee Wells, Monday on a combined 21 counts of fiduciary theft.
News outlets report the family members worked for a beer, wine and spirits distributor in Macon. The sheriff's office said in a statement Tuesday its been investigating the accusations since June, when it was informed money was missing from the company's bank account. Investigators say that over a 10-year period an estimated $3.6 million was taken. The statement said investigators traced the funds back to the Wells.
It's unclear whether they have attorneys who can comment on their behalf.
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/georgia/police-georgia-mother-son-stole-3m-from-beer-distributor/1003601091
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp unveils Medicaid plan with work requirement
ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp released a plan Monday to expand Medicaid to the state’s poorest able-bodied adults, on the condition that they work, volunteer, receive job training or attend school.
Under Kemp’s proposal, which is more limited than other states, uninsured adults in Georgia who make no more than the federal poverty level would qualify for Medicaid assistance if they spent at least 80 hours a month working, volunteering, training or studying. They would also have to pay monthly premiums.
The federal poverty level is just under $12,500 for an individual.
The governor’s office called the approach a “conservative reform” that reflects the state’s values as a place that “honors work” and “champions individual responsibility.” It would require approval from the Trump administration.
Read more: https://www.augustachronicle.com/news/20191104/georgia-gov-brian-kemp-unveils-medicaid-plan-with-work-requirement
ACLU says it found problems with Georgia voter removal plan
ATLANTA — The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia says there are discrepancies in the list of voter registrations the Georgia secretary of state’s office intends to cancel if the registrant doesn’t respond to a mailing.
The secretary of state’s office said last week that it plans to notify more than 313,000 people who’ve been in “inactive” status for more than three years, without voting or making other contact with election officials, before canceling their registration.
The ACLU says it found 70 people on that list who voted in November 2018. It’s asked state officials for more information on those people.
Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs said the list is online for people to review, and they encourage people to contact the office if they think data needs to be updated.
Read more: https://www.augustachronicle.com/news/20191104/aclu-says-it-found-problems-with-georgia-voter-removal-plan
More than 7,500 voters in Middle Georgia could be removed from voter rolls. Here's why
Thousands of voters with Middle Georgia addresses could be removed from voter rolls before the end of the year if they don’t vote or update their registration, according to data released by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office and analyzed by The Telegraph.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s office earlier this week released a list of more than 313,000 registered voters that will be removed from rolls if they do not vote or update their registration.
In Houston County, 4,881 voters were listed — the 15th highest total in the state. In Bibb County, 2,651 voters are listed. Bibb’s numbers are lower than other counties with mid-sized cities like Columbus’ Muscogee County (8,859) and Augusta’s Richmond County (5,873). The highest totals in the state are: Fulton (45,525), DeKalb (27,719) Gwinnett (22,156) and Cobb (22,052) counties.
The statewide list, which represents about 4% of Georgia’s voter rolls, is published online on the secretary of state’s website. The office will also mail out a final notice next week to people’s last known address listed on their voter registration, the Secretary of State’s office said in a news release.
Read more: https://www.macon.com/news/local/article236909938.html
Bill banning most SC abortions doomed without rape and incest exemptions, Republicans say
COLUMBIA — Senators will likely advance a bill next week outlawing abortions in South Carolina as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, but even Republicans in this conservative state don’t expect the ban to actually become law.
The measure makes an abortion illegal if an ultrasound detects a fetal heartbeat. Any abortion provider who fails to determine whether a heartbeat exists or terminates the pregnancy anyway is punishable by a $10,000 fine and up to two years in prison.
The House passed the ban 70-31, along party lines, in April. But any chance of it making it through the Senate, where a single opponent can block legislation, may have evaporated last month when a Senate subcommittee struck exceptions for women who are victims of rape or incest.
That’s the version the Senate Medical Affairs Committee will take up Tuesday. A “yes” vote in the committee of 10 Republicans and seven Democrats would send it to the Senate floor. Only two of the 17 are women.
Read more: https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/bill-banning-most-sc-abortions-doomed-without-rape-and-incest/article_45192842-fc09-11e9-83f4-c3abb572a12e.html
Elizabeth Warren is having a moment, but will it translate into South Carolina momentum?
For Elizabeth Warren, it was never going to be all about South Carolina.
From the beginning, her presidential campaign set its sights on running a 50-state strategy, which meant the Massachusetts senator would realistically be forced to split her time between the four early primary states every four to six weeks.
She hinted as much when she addressed the South Carolina Democratic Party convention in June.
“It’s been about getting out and building a grassroots movement,” Warren said, after noting she had held more than 100 town halls in 20 states and Puerto Rico.
Read more: https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/elizabeth-warren-is-having-a-moment-but-will-it-translate/article_d9ee29dc-f1ea-11e9-b60a-ab1eed163ccb.html
South Carolina DMV targets poor people with license suspensions, lawsuit alleges
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A team of law firms and civil rights advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles challenging the state’s practice of suspending the driver’s licenses of those unable to pay outstanding traffic tickets.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Seattle-based Terrell Marshall Law Group, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center claim the practice disproportionately punishes the poor and violates citizens’ constitutional rights to due process.
“The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles is running a wealth-based driver’s license suspension system that punishes people who cannot afford traffic tickets far more harshly than those who can, in violation of basic constitutional rights to fairness and equal treatment of rich and poor in the legal system,” said Nusrat Jahan Choudhury, the ACLU’s deputy director of its Racial Justice Program, in a statement.
“Taking driver’s license’s away from people who are struggling financially drives them deeper into poverty, unemployment, debt and entanglement with the legal system,” Choudhury added.
Read more: https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article236822988.html
South Carolina's ACA customers will benefit from lower premiums, more choices in 2020
COLUMBIA, SC -- When open enrollment begins Friday, South Carolinians shopping for health insurance in the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace will see lower rates and more insurance providers to choose from.
Health insurance rates for those Palmetto State customers are dropping for the first time since the 2014 inception of the marketplace, according to the S.C. Department of Insurance.
And the addition of two more insurers — Molina Healthcare and Bright Health Company — means customers in 32 S.C. counties will have their choice of two insurance providers, while customers in three counties can pick from three.
“The consumers usually do benefit from competition,” said former state Sen. Joel Lourie, a Columbia Democrat who unsuccessfully pushed for Medicaid expansion and now runs a life and health insurance company. “It does give consumers the opportunity to shop a little bit.”
Read more: https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article236856648.html
SC budget forecasters may have good news for lawmakers in 2020
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina’s budget forecasters may have good news in store this week, just ahead of lawmakers’ return to Columbia in January.
That good news could affect South Carolinians in all walks of life, from K-12 teachers to inmates and guards in S.C. prisons.
When South Carolina’s 170 lawmakers return to the State House next year, they likely could see at least $1 billion more in new money to spend, an amount that could rival or surpass what economists predicted last year.
That is on top of a $350 million surplus the state’s Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom reported in August.
Read more: https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article236817123.html
Furman football player charged with vandalism, bringing guns on campus
A former Furman University football player has been charged with vandalism after students returned from fall break to find anti-Semitic symbols and "sexually explicit" comments displayed on dormitory doors.
Dan Marwick Dodd III, a former offensive lineman with the Furman Paladins, was out on bond after reportedly bringing guns on campus when he was charged in connection to the vandalism, court records show.
The university confirmed Dodd is still enrolled as a freshman at the school, but associate athletic director Hunter Reid said he is no longer a member of the football team.
The graffiti was drawn on white boards that hang on dorm-room doors at Blackwell Hall, a co-ed dormitory for freshmen, said Clinton Colmenares, a Furman spokesman.
Read more: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2019/10/31/furman-football-player-charged-vandalism-bringing-guns-campus-drawing-swastikas/4096682002/
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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