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US NEWS Dialuna 20 December 2021
Johnny Isakson, former Georgia Republican U.S. senator, dies

(AP) — Johnny Isakson, ways found a way to get along to the Senate. In 1990, he
an affable Georgia Repub- and do the work the people lost the race for governor
lican politician who rose deserve.” to Democrat Zell Miller. In
from the ranks of the state 1996, Guy Millner defeated
legislature to become a After the speech, Lewis him in a Republican primary
U.S. senator known as walked over to hug a hob- for Senate before Millner lost
an effective, behind-the- bling Isakson, saying, “I to Democrat Max Cleland.
scenes consensus builder, will come over to meet you,
died Sunday. He was 76. brother.” Many observers chalked up
the loss to Isakson not being
Isakson’s son John Isakson An Atlanta native, Isakson tough enough on abortion. In
told The Associated Press that failed in his first bid for elect- the primary race, Isakson ran
his father died in his sleep ed office: a seat on the Cobb a television advertisement in
before dawn at his home in County Commission in which he said that while he
Atlanta. John Isakson said 1974. Two years later, he was was against the government
that although his father had “Johnny was one of my very elected to the Georgia House funding or promoting abor-
Parkinson’s disease, the cause best friends in the Senate,” In August 2019, not long after of Representatives, becoming tion, he would “not vote to
of death was not immediately Minority Leader Mitch Mc- fracturing four ribs in a fall at the only Republican to beat amend the Constitution to
apparent. Connell, a Kentucky Repub- his Washington apartment, a Democratic incumbent in make criminals of women
lican, said Sunday. “But the Isakson announced he would Georgia the same year Jimmy and their doctors.”
“He was a great man and I amazing thing about him was retire at year’s end with two Carter was elected president.
will miss him,” John Isakson that at any given time, ap- years remaining in his term. Isakson served 17 years in “I trust my wife, my daughter
said. proximately 98 other Sena- the state House and Senate. and the women of Georgia to
tors felt the same way. His In a farewell Senate speech, Always in the minority in make the right choice,” he
Johnny Isakson, whose real infectious warmth and cha- he pleaded for bipartisanship Georgia’s General Assembly, said.
estate business made him a risma, his generosity, and his at a time of bitter divisions he helped blaze the path to-
millionaire, spent more than integrity made Johnny one between Republicans and ward the GOP ascendancy He later changed his mind on
four decades in Georgia po- of the most admired and be- Democrats. He cited his long of the 2000s, fueled by At- the contentious issue.
litical life. In the Senate, he loved people in the Capitol.” friendship with U.S. Rep. lanta’s suburban boom. By
was the architect of a popular John Lewis, an Atlanta Dem- the end of Isakson’s career, Isakson’s jump to Congress
tax credit for first-time home In 2015, while gearing up to ocrat and civil rights hero, as some of those same suburbs came about in 1998, when
buyers that he said would seek a third term in the Sen- an example of two men will- were swinging back toward U.S. House Speaker Newt
help invigorate the struggling ate, Isakson disclosed that ing to put party aside to work Democrats. Gingrich decided not to seek
housing market. As chairman he had been diagnosed with on common problems. reelection. Isakson won a
of the Senate Veterans Affairs Parkinson’s, a chronic and “As a businessman and a gift- 1999 special election to fill
Committee, he worked to ex- progressive movement dis- “Let’s solve the problem and ed retail politician, Johnny the suburban Atlanta seat.
pand programs offering more order that had left him with then see what happens,” Isak- paved the way for the mod-
private health care choices for a noticeably slower, shuffling son said. “Most people who ern Republican Party in He finally made it to the U.S.
veterans. gait. Soon after winning re- call people names and point Georgia, but he never let par- Senate in 2004 when he de-
election in 2016, he under- fingers are people who don’t tisan politics get in the way of feated Democrat Denise Ma-
Isakson’s famous motto went a scheduled surgery have a solution themselves.” doing what was right,” Geor- jette with 58% of the vote.
was, “There are two types of on his back to address spinal gia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a He served with Georgia se-
people in this world: friends deterioration. He frequently Lewis, who died last year, sa- statement. nior Sen. Saxby Chambliss,
and future friends.” That ap- depended on a cane or wheel- luted Isakson on the House a close friend and classmate
proach made him exceeding- chair in later years. floor in 2019, saying, “We al- Isakson suffered humbling from the University of Geor-
ly popular among colleagues. setbacks before ascending gia.

Security protocols leave threat responses up to schools

(AP) - School systems na-
tionwide rely on high-lev-
el expertise from the U.S.
Secret Service and others
as they work to stay vigi-
lant for signs of potential
student violence, train-
ing staff, surveilling social
media and urging others
to tip them off.
vestigation. post to students “joking”
When it comes to how to about bomb threats, all while whether a student would be intendent of North Shore
respond to a possible threat, Security experts and school weighing safety concerns helped by counseling, should School District 112 in High-
however, it’s the local educa- administrators say there is against a student’s right to an be reported to police, sent land Park, Illinois, described
tors who make the call. detailed guidance to help education. back to class or something in an “all hands on deck” ap-
schools recognize concerning between. proach whether a report
In the Nov. 30 shooting at an behavior and when to inter- Widely accepted best prac- comes in about a scuffle be-
Oxford Township, Michi- vene. But exactly how to re- tices for threat assessment To set blanket policy — for tween students or a serious
gan high school, authorities spond, including whether to have been adapted from Se- example, always sending stu- threat.
say the 15-year-old student remove students from school cret Service guidance de- dents home for certain acts
charged with killing four property or involve law en- veloped in the years since — would be to go backward He recalled a scenario in
peers was allowed to remain forcement, is for school of- the 1999 Columbine school to an era of zero-tolerance one of the district’s middle
in school despite troubling ficials to decide in each indi- massacre. The agency’s Na- policies, when everyone was schools last year, in which a
behavior including a draw- vidual case. tional Threat Assessment punished but few students child was overheard “indicat-
ing of a handgun and a per- Center recommends multi- got help, said Lina Alathari, ing he wanted to do a violent
son with bullet wounds. The Educators routinely assess disciplinary teams of school chief of the Secret Service act.” It was close to the end
school’s handling of the stu- how to deal with behavior administrators, security and National Threat Assessment of the day, with little time to
dent before the shooting is that can range from mentions mental health profession- Center. investigate. So he summoned
among the topics under in- of weapons in social media als be established to assess Michael Lubelfeld, super- police, who arrived in force.