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Harris is attending church in Georgia and encouraging Black congregants to vote

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Harris is attending church in Georgia and encouraging Black congregants to vote


ATLANTA (AP) — Kamala Harris is going to church in Georgia on Sunday, where she will speak to the faithful and encourage Black congregants to vote as part of a nationwide campaign push known as “souls to the polls.”

The Democratic nominee for president plans to attend services at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest and Divine Faith Ministries International in Jonesboro, joined by singer Stevie Wonder, before taping an interview with the Rev. Al Sharpton. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is scheduled to go to church in Saginaw, Michigan, and his wife, Gwen, will be at a service in Las Vegas.

The mobilization effort that launched Oct. 20 is led by the National Advisory Board of Black Faith Leaders, which is sending representatives across battleground states as early voting begins in the Nov. 5 election.

“My father used to say, a ‘voteless people is a powerless people’ and one of the most important steps we can take is that short step to the ballot box,” Martin Luther King III said Friday. “When Black voters are organized and engaged, we have the power to shift the trajectory of this nation.”

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Harris’ schedule reflects her campaign’s push to treat every voting group like a swing state voter, trying to appeal to them all in a tightly contested election with early voting in progress.

On Saturday, the vice president rallied supporters in Detroit with singer Lizzo before traveling to Atlanta to focus on abortion rights, highlighting the death of a Georgia mother amid the state’s restrictive abortion laws that took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court, with three justices nominated by Donald Trump, overturned Roe v. Wade.

And after her Sunday push, she will campaign with former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., in the suburbs of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

“Donald Trump still refuses to take accountability, to take any accountability, for the pain and the suffering he has caused,” Harris said.

Harris is a Baptist whose husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish. She has said she’s inspired by the work of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and influenced by the religious traditions of her mother’s native India as well as the Black Church. Harris sang in the choir as a child at Twenty Third Avenue Church of God in Oakland.

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“Faith is a verb. It is something we show in action and in service,” she said on Instagram last week as she attended services at a church in Greenville, North Carolina.

“Souls to the polls” as an idea traces back to the Civil Rights Movement. The Rev. George Lee, a Black entrepreneur from Mississippi, was killed by white supremacists in 1955 after he helped nearly 100 Black residents register to vote in the town of Belzoni. The cemetery where Lee is buried has served as a polling place.

Black church congregations across the country have undertaken get-out-the-vote campaigns for years. In part to counteract voter suppression tactics that date back to the Jim Crow era, early voting in the Black community is stressed from pulpits nearly as much as it is by candidates.

In Georgia, early voting began on Tuesday, and more than 310,000 people voted on that day, more than doubling the first-day total in 2020. A record 5 million people voted in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.



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Georgia

Created in a small Georgia town, a cup has become 1 of the World Cup’s biggest souvenirs

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Created in a small Georgia town, a cup has become 1 of the World Cup’s biggest souvenirs


They were designed to hold a drink, but cups produced in Rome, Georgia, have become one of the FIFA Men’s World Cup’s most unexpected souvenirs.

Inside the Top Cup plant in Rome, millions of cups were created to celebrate the world’s biggest sporting event.

“We made 10 million over 70 different graphics for the World Cup,” said Rome native and Top Cup General Manager Zach Dixon.

The plant in north Georgia produces up to 750,000 cups a day.

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“We’ve always been really proud of the cup … but the World Cup has obviously taken it to another level,” said Top Cup CEO David Cuthbert.

Fans have been taking them home from matches. Some have even been listed for sale online.

“We’ve always been really proud of the cup… but the World Cup has obviously taken it to another level,” said Cuthbert.

Dixon said they begin the process with massive coils of aluminum, each weighing about 30,000 pounds. The metal is stamped, stretched, washed, and moved down the line.

The plant produces about 1,100 cups every minute.

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Ricardo Marques, the senior vice president of marketing for Michelob ULTRA, said that there have been venue-specific, match-specific, and Finals-specific stadium cups for the World Cup. There are also three separate red, white, and blue designs available for fans at bars and restaurants around the U.S.

“We’ve seen an incredible response to the collection. Together, these commemorative cups give fans a unique keepsake and a lasting reminder of an unforgettable FIFA World Cup experience and the moments that brought millions of people together through the world’s game,” Marques said.

Cuthbert said his company has seen how the World Cup has done wonders for metro Atlanta businesses.

“Our team in Rome, Georgia takes tremendous pride in helping bring this fan experience to life for one of the world’s biggest sporting events,” he said.

So when soccer fans celebrate the surprise victory or mourn their last-minute loss, they’re doing so with a little piece of Georgia.

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Mayor Kelly Girtz Inducted Into Georgia Municipal Hall of Fame

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Mayor Kelly Girtz Inducted Into Georgia Municipal Hall of Fame


Kelly Girtz (second from left) recently became the first Athens mayor in 40 years to be inducted into the Georgia Municipal Government Hall of Fame in Savannah.  The Georgia Municipal cited Girtz’s work on housing affordability, economic development, transportation, environmental sustainability, literacy and preserving local Black history. Under his leadership, Athens-Clarke County has made significant progress in housing affordability, economic development, transportation, and environmental sustainability. In 2022, the community adopted an inclusionary zoning policy designed to expand affordable housing options and encourage thoughtful, equitable growth. He has also championed redevelopment initiatives that have created new mixed-income housing opportunities and strengthened neighborhoods throughout the community. “Mayor Kelly Girtz has demonstrated a remarkable commitment to building a community where every resident has […]



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Athlon Sports tabs Florida-Georgia among SEC’s best games in 2026

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Athlon Sports tabs Florida-Georgia among SEC’s best games in 2026


Athlon Sports projected the best SEC games for each week of the 2026 regular season.

The conference features some of the most compelling matchups in all of college football, from opening weekend through rivalry week. The selections emphasize games anticipated to have the biggest impact on the SEC championship race and College Football Playoff picture.

Florida’s annual clash with Georgia was tabbed as one of the SEC’s premier fixtures. The game has grown in national significance since it began in 1904, continuing as a battle of blue-blood programs that routinely produces iconic results. The game temporarily moves to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta during the Jacksonville stadium renovations.

The Jon Sumrall era carries with it an increasing sense of belief — many experts see the Gators as a dark-horse CFB playoff contender. Regardless of its final win-loss record, UF will play a part in shaping the season’s narrative as they face several post-season favorites in Texas, Georgia and Oklahoma.

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Noted in the article is the SEC’s depth and newly implemented nine-game conference schedule. Georgia, Texas, Alabama and LSU appear multiple times on this list, with Georgia facing Alabama in Week 6 and Ole Miss in Week 10 while LSU hosts Clemson in Week 1 and will see Texas in Week 11 take on Alabama.

Many contenders from the SEC face multiple nationally relevant foes over the course of the season.

Athlon Sports’ Best game for every week of the 2026 season

  • Week 1: Clemson at LSU (Sept. 5)
  • Week 2: Ohio State at Texas (Sept. 12)
  • Week 3: LSU at Ole Miss (Sept. 19)
  • Week 4: Oklahoma at Georgia (Sept. 26)
  • Week 5: Auburn at Tennessee (Oct. 3)
  • Week 6: Georgia at Alabama (Oct. 10)
  • Week 7: Alabama at Tennessee (Oct. 17)
  • Week 8: Ole Miss at Texas (Oct. 24)
  • Week 9: Florida vs. Georgia (Atlanta) (Oct. 31)
  • Week 10: Georgia at Ole Miss (Nov. 7)
  • Week 11: Texas at LSU (Nov. 14)
  • Week 12: Texas A&M at Oklahoma (Nov. 21)
  • Week 13: Texas at Texas A&M (Friday) (Nov. 27)

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.





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