Georgia Trend Daily – Dec. 16, 2019
Dec. 16, 2019 WABE 90.1
Georgia Power Rate Case Faces Stalemate Over Profit
Emma Hurt reports that just days before the Public Service Commission is scheduled to vote on the Georgia Power rate increase proposal, there still isn’t a comprehensive consensus. The company and other parties, including regulator’s staff, have a key issue: how much profit Georgia Power is allowed to make.
Dec. 16, 2019 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Georgia’s Fox Theater
Mary Ann DeMuth reports that as Atlanta’s Fox Theatre celebrates its 90th anniversary on Christmas Day, it will also be celebrating its status as the highest-grossing theater of its size for the second consecutive decade. VenuesNow, an entertainment industry trade publication, has named the Fox Theatre as the No. 1 worldwide leader for this decade among venues of the same size (5,000 seats or fewer), based on number of tickets sold.
Dec. 16, 2019 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pepsi to launch ‘cola with coffee’ in April 2020
Nancy Clanton reports that if you prefer to get your caffeine from a soft drink instead of coffee, but you wish that soda were a bit stronger, then Pepsi has a new product for you. Pepsi Café is a cola-coffee hybrid that will have twice the caffeine as can of soda.
Dec. 16, 2019 Atlanta Business Chronicle
FAA issues airworthiness directive to address unsafe condition on Gulfstream G650 jets
David Allison reports that the Federal Aviation Administration on Dec. 13 issued an airworthiness directive for Gulfstream Aerospace’s top-selling G650 business jets after an unsafe condition forced one of the planes to make an emergency landing in October.
Dec. 16, 2019 Savannah Morning News
Savannah startup nears FDA approval for world’s first handheld X-ray device
Katie Nussbaum reports, struggling to reattach a severed hand during a late night surgery several years ago, orthopedic microsurgeon Greg Kolovich needed a better solution when it came to taking X-rays and images to guide him through surgery. So he invented one himself. First introduced in 2017, Micro C is a handheld digital medical imaging solution that takes X-rays and photographs.
Dec. 16, 2019 Brunswick News
CRD finishes $1.25 million hurricane debris project
Wes Wolfe reports that the next time a tropical cyclone whirs its way up the Georgia coast, the hope is there will be less debris out in the marsh and in the waterways, thanks to extensive marine debris clearing by state officials and a state contractor following hurricanes Matthew and Irma. The state Department of Natural Resources’ Coastal Resources Division received two grants totaling around $1.25 million — $650,000 from the Governor’s Office in summer 2018, and $600,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that fall — and contracted with Zulu Marine of Savannah to clear out the state’s coastal waterways of nearly 20,000 tons worth derelict vessels, pieces of docks and various other debris that dislodged.
Dec. 16, 2019 Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI
Activists bring Wifi to rural Georgia to increase census participation
Riley Bunch reports that the decennial U.S. Census will determine where more than a trillion dollars of federal funding is doled out across the nation within the next decade and rural communities are at risk of losing their share. The U.S. Census will deploy a new online count system for the first time, meaning Georgia communities that fall through the cracks on internet coverage are at risk of an undercount.
Dec. 16, 2019 Rome News-Tribune
Local lawmakers to wrap up study committees with recommendations for 2020 Georgia General Assembly
Diane Wagner reports that two study committees local lawmakers have been working on this year will wrap up deliberations this week. Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, chairs the Senate Study Committee on Evaluating and Simplifying Physician Oversight of Physician Assistants and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses.
Dec. 16, 2019 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
6 Surprising Facts About Heart Disease
Julia Roberts reports that while you may be familiar with these statistics, there are some lesser-known facts about heart disease that you can use to reduce your risk of heart disease and cardiac events and to promote overall heart health. Below are six important facts about heart disease you should know.
Dec. 16, 2019 Cherokee Tribune
School board voices opposition to local legislator’s bill
Shannon Ballew reports that the Cherokee County Board of Education reiterated Thursday its opposition to pending legislation that would divert money from public schools to create “education scholarship” accounts for parents. The board voted unanimously to adopt the Georgia Education Coalition’s 2020 legislative priorities, which are closely aligned with the board’s own priorities and include opposition to any state legislation that takes money away from local school districts in the form of vouchers or tax credits to pay for private school tuition and other educational programs.
Dec. 16, 2019 Gainesville Times
What state politicians are doing to try to fix the world of health care
Jeff Gill reports that understanding medical costs upfront was a common theme in health care public hearings held by the state this fall — and one that may play out as an issue in 2020 under the gold dome.
Dec. 16, 2019 Georgia Recorder
Report: State’s tax credit program falls short for neediest rural hospitals
Jill Nolin reports that a state tax credit program meant as a lifeline for struggling rural hospitals is not built to ensure the facilities that need the most help receive the most aid, according to a new report released late Wednesday. The report, called a “special examination” from the state Department of Audits and Accounts, also outlined other flaws in a three-year-old program that state officials pump $60 million into every year for tax credits that are then doled out to donors willing to write a check to support a rural hospital.
Dec. 16, 2019 Capitol Beat
Georgia hospitals get new transparency rules
Dave Williams reports that nonprofit hospitals in Georgia will have to make a wide range of financial data readily available to the public under rules the state Board of Community Health adopted Thursday. Board members voted unanimously to impose new reporting requirements mandated by the General Assembly last March. Republican legislative leaders proposed the bill in an effort to give consumers the ability make a more informed choice when selecting a hospital for care or treatment.
Dec. 16, 2019 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia lowers flags to honor sailor killed in Pensacola shooting
Greg Bluestein reports that Gov. Brian Kemp ordered flags to fly at half-staff on Monday to honor the memory of a Georgia man who was one of three sailors killed in the shooting last week at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida.
