Georgia Trend Daily – March 13, 2019
March 13, 2019 Savannah Morning News
Savannah Harbor deepening slated for $130M in funding
DeAnn Komanecky reports that Savannah’s Harbor Expansion Project, known as SHEP, got another year closer to the finish line Monday with the release of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ proposed budget. The budget includes a recommendation of $130 million for fiscal year 2020 for the project.
March 13, 2019 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Sustainable Georgia Roundup
Mary Ann DeMuth reports that the Ocmulgee Land Trust, a Macon nonprofit, last year preserved nearly 1,000 acres along the Ocmulgee River – the most since the group was formed in 2004. Musician Chuck Leavell, a keyboard player for The Rolling Stones and The Allman Brothers Band, and his wife, Rose Lane, were responsible for about a quarter of the preserved acreage.
March 13, 2019 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia job growth last year wasn’t as robust as first thought
Michael E. Kanell reports turns out that Georgia’s economy in 2018 was good – but not as good as initially reported. The state added 87,500 jobs, a solid year of hiring, but a 27 percent decrease from what had been previously reported, according to a report Monday from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
March 13, 2019 Atlanta Business Chronicle
Atlanta’s OneTrust acquires London-based regulatory research platform DataGuidance
Jessica Saunders reports that Atlanta data privacy company OneTrust has acquired a London-based privacy and security regulatory research platform, DataGuidance. The deal which closed March 8 adds 50 employees and 350 customers to OneTrust’s footprint, creating a combined company with 2,500 customers across more than 100 countries and 700 full-time employees in six global locations.
March 13, 2019 Savannah Morning News
Lawmakers push Savannah as home to new Air National Guard Squadron
Staff reports that U.S. Sens. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga., 1st District) are urging the Pentagon to consider Savannah as home to a new Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron within the Air National Guard. The Air Force is considering locations to establish an additional AES to meet recommendations by the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force.
March 13, 2019 Rome News Tribune
Rome Lumber to receive $30 million in plant upgrades
Staff reports that Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific announced Tuesday it will spend approximately $30 million to purchase and install new equipment at its Rome Lumber facility. The company said in a press release the investment will enable the facility to produce 20 percent more lumber at a higher quality and with more variety. The plant is located on Mays Bridge Road near International Paper.
March 13, 2019 Savannah Morning News
Georgia lawmakers look to change rules of beach development
Mary Landers reports, as they have for several years, state lawmakers are again looking to amend The Shore Protection Act, which designates the extent of the state’s influence on private property near the beach. House Bill 445, sponsored by Don Hogan (R-St. Simons island) proposes a 25-foot regulated zone between private beachfront development and either the high tide line on beaches without dunes or the landward reach of the sand dune where dunes exist.
March 13, 2019 Newnan Times-Herald
Grantville depot grant would require creation of jobs
Kandice Bell reports that Grantville could receive a $95,000 grant for the interior renovation of the Passenger Depot, if certain requirements are met. In September, the council approved Preservation South LLC to complete the interior design work at the downtown passenger depot.
March 13, 2019 GPB
Proposal Would Create Authority to Oversee Spaceport Camden
J. Cindy Hill reports that Camden County residents are getting a final chance to voice their opinions on plans to create a Spaceport Authority. GPB’s Cindy Hill has more on Tuesday night’s meeting. The Authority would oversee the proposed Spaceport Camden, a commercial facility to launch rockets over Cumberland and Little Cumberland Islands on Georgia’s coast.
March 13, 2019 Brunswick News
Oyster bill approved following heated words
Wes Wolfe reports that Tyler Harper, the state Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee chairman, may have tried to speed along the passage of the oyster mariculture bill — House Bill 501 — by noting it had the same language in Senate Bill 182, which earlier passed the committee and the full Senate.
March 13, 2019 Marietta Daily Journal
Bill expanding Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park signed into law by President Trump
Ricky Leroux reports that Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park just got a bit bigger. Legislation that adds about eight acres to the park was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
March 13, 2019 Georgia Health News, WABE 90.1
Proposals To Fight HIV Move Forward In Georgia General Assembly
Andy Miller reports, a month after metro Atlanta was announced as a focus of a federal anti-HIV initiative, Georgia lawmakers are moving forward on their own to fight the disease here. The Georgia House has passed legislation to facilitate needle exchange programs to help prevent new infections among intravenous drug users.
March 13, 2019 Saporta Report
Georgia lawmakers almost done for the session – here’s some of what’s still in the running
Maggie Lee reports, on Thursday night, it became a lot clearer what just might, and what probably won’t, become state law in Georgia this year. Some of the things that still have a chance? A near-total ban on abortions, a state takeover of the airport, medical cannabis cultivation and more.
March 13, 2019 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia cost-cutting panel to pay staffer six-figure salary
Greg Bluestein reports that Brian Kemp reminded voters every chance he got during last year’s race for governor that he wanted to cut business regulations and unnecessary bureaucracy, sometimes taking out a chain saw to emphasize his point. But the new governor’s solution conflicts with his small-government ethos: He plans to create more government in order to reduce it.
