Georgia Trend Daily – July 29, 2019
July 29, 2019 Georgia Dept. of Education
Students record strongest-ever overall gains on Georgia Milestones assessments
Meghan Frick reports that Georgia students showed strong gains on the spring 2019 Georgia Milestones assessments. Scores increased or held steady on 25 of 26 assessments – the strongest overall gains recorded in the five years the assessment has been administered. The percentage of students reading on grade level or above increased or held steady in every tested grade and both English language arts high school courses.
July 29, 2019 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Social Circle, Atlanta, Peachtree City, Blue Ridge, Jackson, Macon
Julia Roberts reports that going south from Atlanta to Jackson (an hour) and Macon (an hour & 40), you can find a highly-rated BBQ joint called Fresh Air Barbeque. Known across the country for its old fashioned slow cooking since 1929, you’ll love this mouth-watering BBQ and Brunswick stew. The only question: white bread or cornbread with your stew?
July 29, 2019 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Henry, Lawrenceville cyberattack recovery will be slow, experts say
Leon Stafford reports that Henry County and Lawrenceville residents who are hoping the recent cyberattacks on their communities will be resolved anytime soon are in for an unwelcome surprise, experts in cybersecurity say. Restoring computer networks after a malware infection can take weeks if not months because of the voluminous amount of software programs, passwords, stored data and servers that have to be inspected, cleaned and then re-inspected before a system can be brought back up.
July 29, 2019 Atlanta Business Chronicle
Atlantic Station tower sells for $177 million, as Midtown values soar
Douglas Sams reports that the 171 17th St. tower soars over Atlantic Station. Now, the market value of the building, with “Wells Fargo” emblazoned across its top, is soaring, too. Singapore real estate investment trust Prime US REIT just paid nearly $177 million for the 21-story tower, according to Fulton County property records.
July 29, 2019 Savannah Morning News
Federal grant to help unify regional innovation efforts
Katie Nussbaum reports that a Federal grant from the Economic Development Administration is helping to lay the groundwork for a partnership between the Creative Coast and Bluffton’s Don Ryan Center for Innovation to fund and grow the startup scene on both sides of the Savannah River. The $300,000 grant, along with matched local fundraising of $390,000, will fund the launch, marketing and management of a $2 million to $10 million seed fund, known as The Bridge Fund.
July 29, 2019 University of Georgia
UGA ranked among the state’s best employers by Forbes
Staff reports that the University of Georgia has been ranked the state’s 13th best employer in a new national survey of worker satisfaction recently released by Forbes magazine. Forbes partnered with the market research company Statista to identify the institutions liked best by employees in its first-ever ranking of America’s best employers by state.
July 29, 2019 Macon Telegraph
Middle Georgia peach growers see tourism as a chance to build ‘connection’ to crop
Wayne Crenshaw reports, in the 1980s the sales team for Lane Southern Orchards worked in a plain, cinder block building on Ga. 96 near Fort Valley, but there was a big problem. They kept getting interrupted by people knocking on the door wanting to buy peaches, so in 1988 they decided to hire a college student, said Wendy Barton, marketing director for Lane.
July 29, 2019 Saporta Report
Atlanta’s economic development agency to face tighter control by Atlanta City Council
David Pendered reports that the Atlanta City Council is set to impose greater control over Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm that acts as Atlanta’s agent to promote housing, economic development and redevelopment – all of it under control of a board chaired by the mayor, whose top advisor argued against the council’s exercise of authority.
July 29, 2019 Brunswick News
Legislation could boost grants for coastal climate adaptation
Wes Wolfe reports that two bills are working through the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee that could open up millions of dollars in grant funding for living shorelines — with a hope to increase resiliency to sea-level rise, storms and other aspects of climate change — and another grant program that would specifically address climate change preparedness and could be used for all manner of coastal projects. Thursday, the committee’s Water, Oceans and Wildlife Subcommittee held a hearing on those bills and others that take a look at similar concerns.
July 29, 2019 GPB
Judge Will Decide Fate Of Georgia’s ‘Too Old And Archaic’ Voting Machines For Fall Elections
Stephen Fowler reports that a federal judge who said Georgia officials allowed its election system to “grow way too old and archaic” will soon decide if hundreds of county and municipal elections in 2019 must be conducted on hand-marked paper ballots. After hearing two long days of testimony, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Totenberg expressed concern about balancing security issues with the outdated direct-recording electronic voting machines with the state’s existing planned transition to touchscreen ballot-marking devices with a paper ballot component by next year.
July 29, 2019 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Jolt: Doug Collins erupts at a hearing on immigration policy
Jim Galloway, Greg Bluestein and Tamar Hallerman report that the topic before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday was family separations at the U.S. border. U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., began opening statement in a somewhat bored, droning fashion. He soon interrupted himself. “Look, I’m going to stop. I’m not going to read this.” And then he erupted: “You know what is dehumanizing? It’s continuing to bring the same witnesses, or the same people from the same agencies, to talk about this over and over and over again.
