Georgia Trend Daily – Aug. 2, 2019
Aug. 2, 2019 WABE 90.1
Georgia’s Young Children At Risk For Undercount in 2020 Census
Roxanne Scott reports that for the 2020 Census, 4.5 million children live in areas that are hard-to-count. Georgia is one of the states most at risk for a miscount, according to the Urban Institute. That’s because of the state’s changing demographics. Children under the age of five are especially at risk of being undercounted.
Aug. 2, 2019 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Political Notes: Ups, Downs and In-betweens
Susan Percy reports that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has set March 24 as the date for the 2020 presidential primary election. The date is three weeks after the March 3 Super Tuesday date, when several other states will hold primaries; Georgia has held its most recent such primaries on the Super Tuesday date.
Aug. 2, 2019 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gulch bond controversy could be headed back to court
Scott Trubey reports that a dispute over a blockbuster incentive package for downtown Atlanta’s Gulch project could be headed back to court. A lawyer for Redlight the Gulch, a group opposed to the up to $1.9 billion in public financing for the project, filed notice on Wednesday that it will appeal a recent judge’s decision to approve part of the agreement. The appeal will be made directly to the Georgia Supreme Court.
Aug. 2, 2019 Atlanta Business Chronicle
Delta extends corporate benefits to Virgin Atlantic and Aeromexico
Alex Gailey reports that Delta Air Lines announced it is further extending its corporate benefits to loyal business travelers who fly with its joint venture partners, Virgin Atlantic and Aeromexico. Benefits will be available on Virgin Atlantic and Aeromexico beginning this month.
Aug. 2, 2019 Georgia Dept. of Transportation
GDOT awards $173 million in construction contracts for June
Staff reports that Georgia DOT awarded 54 construction contracts for statewide transportation projects totaling $173,927,084. The projects included in the award were advertised on May 24, bids were received on June 21, and contracts were awarded to the lowest qualified bidders on July 8.
Aug. 2, 2019 Albany Herald
Albany awarded $8 million utilities improvement grant
Carlton Fletcher reports that in the aftermath of the destruction brought by weather-related calamities in the community, including twin January 2017 storms and Hurricane Michael in October 2018, when entire electrical circuits in the city of Albany were decimated, a resident asked city officials why utilities personnel didn’t simply convert overhead electric and fiber optics to underground infrastructure.
Aug. 2, 2019 Saporta Report
Atlanta joins Rockefeller program to jumpstart investment in poorest pockets of city
Maggie Lee reports that Atlanta will receive $920,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation under a program that’s meant to help link “responsible private investment” with certain designated communities scattered mostly in the city’s south and southwest. The communities are what are already called federal “Opportunity Zones.”
Aug. 2, 2019 Metro Atlanta CEO
Italian Manufacturer to Open First U.S. Facility in Gwinnett County
Staff reports that Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday, Aug. 1, that Rivacold, a manufacturer of refrigeration systems, will create 140 jobs and invest $5 million in a new facility in Buford. The jobs will include skilled positions in manufacturing.
Aug. 2, 2019 Georgia Health News
Kemp administration probing ethylene oxide risk in Georgia
Brenda Goodman and Andy Miller report that Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said Thursday that it’s investigating toxic pollution involving two medical device sterilization plants in metro Atlanta. An EPA report last year flagged two census tracts in the Smyrna area and one in Covington — along with dozens of other areas in the United States — for higher risks of cancer, driven largely by airborne releases of ethylene oxide, a gas used by sterilization facilities.
Aug. 2, 2019 Marietta Daily Journal
Vice President Pence to land at Dobbins Friday
Staff reports that Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to land at Dobbins Air Reserve Base on Friday morning. Pence is landing on Air Force Two before traveling to deliver remarks at Erick Erickson’s conservative conference at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead.
Aug. 2, 2019 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Play this game – and influence metro Atlanta’s future
David Wickert reports that the Atlanta Regional Commission has come up with a novel way to seek public input as it updates its long-range plan for the region’s development: “Let’s play a game.” The agency, which oversees regional planning and serves as a conduit for federal funds, will use a game to pick the brains of metro Atlanta residents.
