CHICAGO – Former President Jimmy Carter is staying home from this year’s Democratic National Convention, but his grandson Jason Carter took the stage Tuesday night and delivered a speech in his honor, including an update on the 99-year-old Georgia native.

“Paw Paw is holding on,” he said. “He’s hopeful, and though his body may be weak tonight, his spirit is as strong as ever.”

Jimmy Carter, who is set to celebrate his 100th birthday in October, is the longest-living president in American history and the only president from Georgia.

He entered hospice care in early 2023. Jason Carter, a former state senator and gubernatorial candidate, said in May that he believes his grandfather is nearing the end, but has since said his grandfather is holding on to cast his vote for Vice President Kamala Harris as president.

“My grandfather can’t wait to vote for Kamala Harris. She reminds us all that the promise of America remains unchanged,” Jason Carter said.

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, Jimmy Carter’s wife of 77 years, died in November.

“I can tell you that he wishes he could be here tonight,” Jason Carter said. “He and my grandmother led their lives with an unwavering faith in God, a respect for human dignity, honesty and a commitment to loving their neighbors as themselves. Those principles guided them throughout their lives, including during their four years in the White House and the four decades since. For my grandfather, it was never about fame, recognition, accolades or awards, his legacy is measured by the lives he has touched and the good he has done.”

“Kamala Harris carries my grandfather’s legacy,” he added. “She knows what is right, and she fights for it. She understands that leadership is about service, not selfishness, that you can show strength and demonstrate decency, and that you can get a whole lot more done with a smile than with a scowl.”

Throughout the United Center Tuesday, Democrats from around the nation shared well wishes for and fond memories of Jimmy Carter.

Kevin Jacobson, an alternate delegate from Wisconsin, said he wasn’t around for the Carter administration, but decided to research Carter after learning that he had solar panels installed on the White House back in 1979.

“He was very present, I think he was looking very forward,” Jacobson said. “He did so many things around clean energy, even back in so long before we even knew what climate change really was. So I’ve always really appreciated him. He comes from such humble roots, and I think that we should get back to those roots as the Democratic Party.”

Fellow Wisconsinite Josefine Jaynes agreed.

“Something that has always struck me about Jimmy Carter is that he is just a man of faith, and I think sometimes Dems are afraid to talk about faith and lean into faith, and Jimmy Carter showed that Republicans don’t own Christianity, so I really like just how important his faith is to him.”

Carter was known to teach Sunday school classes at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains Georgia until 2020.

Jake Metcalfe, former party chair for the Democratic Party in Alaska, said folks there remember Carter for the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which set aside more than 100 million acres of land.

“His administration was responsible for providing land for parks, and that was controversial at the time, but he saved a lot of the country and helped preserve the land of Alaska,” Metcalfe said. “So some people see him as a hero, some people see him as a president that prevented development, but I think more people in Alaska like him now and are happy with what he did.”

Metcalfe said he’s in the latter camp.

“He’s going to go down as one of our better presidents and, you know, he’s one of the few guys, few presidents that has basically not cashed in and has done a lot for his country and his community,” he said.

Carter was celebrated more for his post-presidency accomplishments, including as a mediator and volunteer. He was particularly known for showing up to Habitat for Humanity job sites and helping to construct homes well into his advanced years.

“I’m glad of what he has done and what he’s accomplished in his life and how he’s been able to lead a footprint to show what you can do after your presidency,” said New York state Sen. Leroy Comrie. “And I hope that other people can follow in his footsteps and not worry about being elected to find a cause or an issue that they want to work on and put their time and effort into it.”

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Hours before Vice President Kamala Harris makes history Thursday night, Republican vice presidential hopeful JD Vance will speak in south Georgia on an issue he and Donald Trump are making a central part of their campaign to return the 45th president to the White House.

Vance will speak at the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office in Valdosta at 1 p.m. on border security and immigration.

“An average of 5,000 illegal immigrants are being released into the U.S. every day,” the Trump-Vance campaign said in the announcement. “In FY 2023 alone, more than 900,000 illegal immigrants were released into the interior of the U.S. and now await future immigration court dates. Experts say the likelihood U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will remove them is ‘virtually nonexistent’ and that they ‘are here indefinitely, if not forever.’”

Harris was given the issue of border security and immigration as her responsibility in President Joe Biden’s administration.

This is Vance’s second trip to the battleground state of Georgia since becoming the GOP’s vice presidential nominee. In early August, Trump and Vance made their first joint appearance in Atlanta at the Georgia State University convocation center, the same site where Harris held a rally only days earlier.

Before their Georgia appearance and fresh off last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Trump and Vance had appeared at one rally together, in Michigan. That rally came exactly one week after Trump would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Atlanta News First and Atlanta News First+ provide you with the latest news, headlines and insights as Georgia continues its role at the forefront of the nation’s political scene. Download our Atlanta News First app for the latest political news and information.

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The Georgia high school softball season is underway and so is the voting for the first SBLive Georgia High School Softball Player of the Week winner of the 2024 season.

Please review our list of nominees and then cast your vote for the athlete you find most deserving.

SBLive voting polls are intended to be a fun way to create fan engagement and express support for your favorite high school athletes and teams. Unless expressly noted, there are no awards for winning the voting. Our primary focus is to highlight the abilities and accomplishments of all the athletes and teams included in our poll. You can vote as often as you wish and are encouraged to share our polls with others. The use of voting bots and other forms of automated voting are not allowed. Individuals will be removed from the poll if any form of automated voting can be verified. – SBLive Sports

Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25th. The winner will be announced in the following week’s poll. Here are this week’s nominees:

Here are this week’s nominations.

In five games played last week, Broome helped her team go 5-0. She went 8-for-13 with a double, triple, home run and six RBIs. 

Hernandez did it all last week helping her team to a 5-0 record. At the plate she went 12-for-15 with six RBIs and in the circle, she had two six inning shutouts. In those two outings she left with a 2-0 record, 18 strikeouts, only four hits allowed and only two walks. 

In two games last week, Mill Creek went 2-0 thanks in part to Brookshire’s hot hand at the plate. Against West Forsyth she went 2-for-3 with a double, home run and three RBIs, then the next game went 3-for-4 with a triple, home run and four RBIs. 

Hill picked up where she left off last season, in three games last week she went 3-0. Versus Collins Hill she completed a seven-inning shutout with 11 strikeouts. Show allowed a total of three runs in the other two contest with 20 strikeouts.

Abernathy showed off her power at the plate in a two-game sweep over Adairsville. In the series she picked up three hits, two being homers, and had six RBIs. 

Rackley earned the win in the circle versus Walnut Grove, and she finished with a career-high 13 strikeouts.

Buford scored 14 runs in the seventh inning versus Walnut Grove and that was spearheaded by Stanton, as she finished with two homers and seven RBIs in that game alone. 

Byrd was a big part of North Cobb’s 15-0 and 23-0 wins over Marietta. She really made her impact with a grand slam in game two. 

The sophomore has started off her season hot. In her first three games she is 5-for-10, with seven RBIs, a double, triple, and a homer. 

Paley had a seven-inning complete game shutout versus Sequoyah and only allowed four hits. 

Whitt went 3-for-4 with a triple, home run, and four RBIs in a win over Walnut Grove. 

Huckaby went 2-0 last week with two amazing performances. She pitched a seven-inning complete game shutout versus Union County and struck out 18 batters while only allowing one hit. In her other outing she again went seven innings with 11 strikeouts and only allowed two hits. 

Thompson got the win in the circle versus Sandy Creek. She pitched a seven-inning complete game and struck out 14 batters as she helped LaGrange maintain its perfect record. 

Jade was lights out versus Duluth as she went seven shutout innings and struck out nine. 

In two games last week, Young went 6-for-8 with two doubles, a home run and six RBIs.