Georgia
Georgia football’s Smael Mondon has charges dismissed
The reckless driving and racing charges originally brought against Georgia Bulldogs football player Smael Mondon have been dismissed, according to reports.
Instead, his attorney reached a plea deal with the prosecutor in which Mondon agreed to plead guilty to driving too fast for conditions while the other charges were dropped.
Mondon also completed a victim impact class and paid a $500 fine.
Mondon was originally arrested late on the night of July 10 after officers reported they saw two cars driving “at a high rate of speed” and the started racing each other.
The original report claimed that Mondon was paced at 75 mph in a 40 mph zone and that he denied racing and claimed to not know the identity of the driver next to him.
Police identified the other driver as Georgia freshman defensive back Demello Jones.
Mondon was arrested and booked at the Athens-Clarke Co. jail and released on bond.
Mondon played in 13 games for Georgia last season and started 11 games at linebacker, placing second on the team with 68 stops.
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Georgia
Gas prices in Georgia decrease slightly compared to last week
Gas prices in Georgia dropped on average in the last week, according to data from AAA.
On average, Georgians are paying $3.22 per gallon of gas. This is a cent lower than a week ago but also 41 cents more than a year ago.
The most expensive Georgia metro markets are Savannah ($3.31), Hinesville-Fort Stewart ($3.27), and Atlanta ($3.25), while the least expensive Georgia metro markets are Augusta-Aiken ($3.10), Dalton ($3.09), and Catoosa-Dade-Walker ($3.03).
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The national gas price average also dropped nationally over the last week.
“The slight rise in crude oil last week has put a damper on the prior decline in gas prices, muddying the waters of hope for cheaper fuel this week,” said AAA spokeswoman Montrae Waiters.
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Georgia
Georgia Star Signs Huge NIL Deal with Private Jet Company
University of Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck has been the talk of the offseason thus far, and for good reason, following his on-field play. According to most accounts, Beck is a probable first-round NFL Draft pick and, in all likelihood, one of the top Heisman Trophy contenders. Most recently, he signed a major NIL deal with Airstar Charter, a private jet company. It’s the latest in a shifting college athletics landscape, as athletes at the top level—like Beck—cash in on their fame and marketability with seven-figure endorsement deals.
The deal with Airstar Charter, worth seven figures, came as a result of a marketing agent for Beck, Dan Everett, and ESM. It is one of those where, although the terms are not disclosed, both parties win the deal. In exchange for using Airstar’s private jets, Beck appeared in a one-minute commercial published Friday with his mother, Tracy, and sister, Kylie. Taped at Athens-Ben Epps Airport, the ad showed Beck’s off-field demeanor as he offered, “Remember, it’s not about the destination; it’s the journey that counts,” promoting the luxury service and reflecting his rapid ascension to the highest level of college athletics.
This deal puts Beck in elite company, as only a few college athletes have landed deals that include endorsements that involve private jets. Of those few, Quinn Ewers of Texas and Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss share this distinction, most with the already high exposure of being a high-profile athlete.
Field performance alone has made Beck quite a magnet for NIL opportunities. He holds a $1.4 million On3 NIL Valuation, good enough to place him in the top 10 of college football and to rank No. 9 on the On3 NIL 100.
As Beck continues to excel on the field, his off-field ventures, such as the Airstar Charter deal, are reshaping the landscape of college athletics. These ventures add a new dimension to Beck’s career and hint at the potential for star athletes like Beck to become significant influencers and entrepreneurs, influencing the evolution of the college star.
Georgia
A statue honoring John Lewis will replace a former Confederate monument in Georgia
A Georgia square that was home to a Confederate monument for more than a century will now host a statue of the late civil rights icon John Lewis.
Authorities began installing the sculpture of the former Georgia congressman in Decatur last week ahead of its official unveiling on Saturday.
“It’s exciting to see it going up and exciting for the significance of what it represents and what it’s replacing,” Basil Watson, the artist behind the new statue, said at the installation.
Its arrival comes about four years after Decatur officials removed a 30-foot-tall obelisk erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy in 1908.
That statue was taken down in June of 2020, amid national racial justice protests that erupted across the U.S. following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes as he lay facedown, hands cuffed behind his back.
Lewis died in July 2020 at the age of 80 after being diagnosed with advanced-stage pancreatic cancer.
The following summer, a group created by DeKalb County called the John Lewis Commemorative Task Force kicked off its search for a new public art installation at the site of the former Confederate monument.
Watson told Decaturish in 2022 that the 16-foot-tall sculpture of Lewis depicts him with his hands over his heart in a gesture of love that he was fond of.
A civil rights activist, Lewis led sit-ins protesting segregation in the Jim Crow-era South and was beaten alongside other demonstrators during a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., in 1965.
Lewis was first elected to Congress in 1987, where he served as a Democrat until his death four years ago.
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