Georgia Trend Daily – Feb. 28, 2020
Feb. 28, 2020 Georgia.gov
Toyota Financial Services to Establish New Service Center in Alpharetta, Create 150 Jobs
Staff reports that Governor Brian P. Kemp announced yesterday that Toyota Financial Services will open a new office in Alpharetta to become the company’s East Dealer Service Center. The investment of more than $8 million will bring 150 new jobs to Fulton County.
Feb. 28, 2020 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
CyberKnife® M6 —Reimagining Cancer Treatment
Julia Roberts reports, imagine battling cancer not once, but twice. It’s a daunting prospect for anyone, but that was the situation facing Fernandina Beach, Florida resident, Phil Whitaker. In 2016, Whitaker was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Feb. 28, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Delta to be airline sponsor of Team USA, Los Angeles Summer Olympics
Kelly Yamanouchi reports that Delta Air Lines will become the official airline of Team USA starting next year and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The sponsorships are worth $400 million, according to Sports Business Journal.
Feb. 28, 2020 Atlanta Business Chronicle
Atlanta manufacturer buys consumer packaging business for $85M
Eric Mandel reports that Graphic Packaging Holding Co. has a deal in place to buy the consumer packaging business from a competing manufacturer. The Atlanta-based food packaging company said Thursday it agreed to buy Hartland, Wis.-based Consumer Packaging Group from Greif Inc. for approximately $85 million.
Feb. 28, 2020 Georgia Health News
State challenges in tackling COVID-19 include testing, funding
Andy Miller reports that Georgia faces a couple of immediate challenges in its preparation for a potential coronavirus outbreak here. One is true for many states: The process for testing patients for the disease is, at best, very slow.
Feb. 28, 2020 Saporta Report
Metro Atlanta to spend $173 billion on transportation by 2050
Maggie Lee reports that looking thirty years into the future, metro Atlanta’s transportation planners see more toll lanes, more transit and $173 billion in spending. But with some 2.9 million more people expected in the region, tomorrow’s commutes will yet be similar to today’s.
Feb. 28, 2020 University of Georgia
Top food products named Flavor of Georgia finalists
Staff reports that judges have selected 30 products to compete in the second and final round of the University of Georgia’s annual Flavor of Georgia Food Product Contest. Narrowed from a field of 117 products, the finalists will compete on April 7 in Athens with an awards ceremony following.
Feb. 28, 2020 WABE 90.1
New Rules Introduced To Try To Protect Right Whales
Molly Samuel reports that new regulations in Canada could help protect the endangered whales that give birth off the Georgia coast. In recent summers, North Atlantic right whales been spending more time off the coast of Canada, where many have been killed in the past few years.
Feb. 28, 2020 Capitol Beat News
Legislation aims to clean up issues with Georgia film tax credit
Beau Evans reports that legislation has been filed in the Georgia House to clean up issues with the state’s lucrative film tax credit following a pair of scathing audits released last month. House Bill 1037, sponsored by state Rep. Matt Dollar, would require all film productions located in Georgia to undergo mandatory audits by the Department of Revenue.
Feb. 28, 2020 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Georgia Fare: Black Sheep in Blue Ridge
Krista Reese reports, it might have been easy to predict why and where the state’s exploding restaurant scene has spiked the most sharply in the past year or so: Atlanta (of course). Athens (always ahead of the curve). Savannah (long overdue). But… the North Georgia Mountains, too? Really?
Feb. 28, 2020 Brunswick News
McNeill announces Georgia Senate candidacy
Taylor Cooper reports that Brunswick resident Sheila McNeill announced Thursday that she will run for state Sen. William Ligon’s Third District senate seat. She is the first candidate to throw her hat in the ring for the senate seat since Ligon, R-White Oak, announced on Wednesday that he will not seek reelection.
Feb. 28, 2020 Clayton News-Daily, Capitol Beat News
Georgia lawmakers add ride-share fee to Hurricane Michael relief bill
Beau Evans reports that a Georgia Senate committee Thursday tacked a fee favored by ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft onto a measure aimed at relieving income taxes for farmers hit hard by Hurricane Michael. A proposed 50-cent excise tax for ride-share bookings cleared the Senate Finance Committee after some lawmakers questioned whether it should be added to legislation before the Georgia House of Representatives meant for such a different purpose.
Feb. 28, 2020 Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI
Federal report: Kemp mocked allegations of voter suppression
Riley Bunch reports that a federal report accuses then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp of mocking allegations of voter suppression with staffers. The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform reported after its investigation it found “concerning information about voter suppression in Georgia.”
Feb. 28, 2020 The Center Square
Georgia House approves lower refund interest rate for large businesses
Nyamekye Daniel reports that the Georgia House voted Thursday in favor of a bill that one lawmaker said will help maintain the state’s business friendly reputation. House Bill 846, proposed by Rep. John Corbett, R-Lake Park, will reduce the interest rate on tax refunds to taxpayers who pay sales and use taxes directly to the Department of Revenue.
Feb. 28, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Duncan’s ties with state health vendor under scrutiny
Staff reports that Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan accepted pricey sports tickets from a health care vendor as he was discussing selling the firm the concept of an app his company was seeking to develop. That was the crux of a story aired late Wednesday by Fox 5’s Dale Russell that scrutinized the first-term Republican’s cozy relationship with Sharecare, a digital healthcare platform based in Atlanta.
