Georgia Trend Daily – July 6, 2020
July 6, 2020 Georgia Health News
Covid-19 cases hit record highs in state
Andy Miller reports, another day, another COVID-19 record. Georgia Public Health officials reported 3,472 new cases of coronavirus Thursday, breaking the record of daily reported infections set Wednesday of 2,946 cases.
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July 6, 2020 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Georgia olives take off
Mary Ann DeMuth reports that when it comes to growing olives, our state is giving Spain and Italy a run for the money. A new crop for Georgia within the last decade, olives are starting to take off with about 7,000 acres of trees growing in south-to-mid-Georgia and along the coast, according to Georgia Olive Growers Association executive director, Vicki Hughes.
July 6, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two months after reopen, Georgia economy rests on still-shaky consumer
Michael E. Kanell reports, for more than a month, Erin Freer, like the owners of many small businesses, idled her staff and shut down her two hair and beauty shops for women, part of Georgia’s effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
July 6, 2020 Savannah Morning News
Tybee Island halfheartedly welcomes thousands for Fourth of July
Nick Robertson reports, against the better judgment of local officials concerned about the spiking spread of COVID-19, Tybee Island tepidly welcomed thousands of Independence Day revelers to congregate and celebrate on the coastal community’s open beaches and within its bustling hangouts.
July 6, 2020 Albany Herald
GBI COPS $2.5 million in grants to fight drug distribution
Staff reports that the Department of Justice‘s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) announced recently nearly $42 million in funding to support state-level law enforcement agencies in combating the illegal manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil and prescription opioids.
July 6, 2020 Atlanta Business Chronicle
Atlantans — and others — on the move again to the coast and mountains
Staff reports that as Georgians become increasingly anxious to dine out and get back to the beach and other attractions, the state’s hotels, restaurants and resorts are gearing up to handle the crowds. At popular destinations such as Savannah, visitors are coming back —although not yet in pre-pandemic numbers.
July 6, 2020 WABE 90.1
Georgia Amendment On How The State Uses Fees Goes To Voters This Fall
Molly Samuel reports, if you buy a new tire in Georgia, there’s a $1 fee that gets tacked onto the bill, called the Scrap Tire Management Fee. It’s supposed to go toward cleaning up illegal tire dumps in the state and other recycling and trash programs. But it often doesn’t.
July 6, 2020 Brunswick News
Future of Brantley landfill bill uncertain
Taylor Cooper reports that a bill that could have blocked a new landfill in Brantley County near the Satilla River did not pass the state General Assembly this year and its future is uncertain. After being introduced in 2019, Senate Bill 384 made it through to the Georgia House of Representatives before the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March.
July 6, 2020 Gwinnett Daily Post
U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler offers glimpse of what could be coming in COVID-19 response
Curt Yeomans reports that the federal response to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing effort, and there is still money available to help with local aid, according to U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga. Loeffler is set to begin a nine-day, 14-county statewide tour July 8.
July 6, 2020 Georgia Recorder
Citizen’s arrest law, unfinished police reforms await 2021 Ga. Legislature
Ross Williams reports that Georgia lawmakers returned to the Capitol in mid-June in a state transformed not only by the COVID-19 pandemic that prompted them to suspend the 2020 legislative session, but by a growing movement that some days arrived just outside the building as protesters pushed to reform or defund police departments.
July 6, 2020 Capitol Beat News
Legalized gambling fails to reach finish line again in General Assembly
Dave Williams reports, with state tax collections running below expectations even before the coronavirus pandemic hit, supporters of legalized gambling in Georgia were optimistic they could finally prevail during the 2020 legislative session after years of failure. But even the glaring need for additional sources of tax revenue wasn’t enough to get casino gambling or pari-mutuel betting on horse racing over the finish line this year.
July 6, 2020 The Center Square
Bill awaiting Kemp’s signature provides more oversight of Georgia film industry tax credit
Nyamekye Daniel reports that additional oversight may be on the way for an entertainment tax incentive program that costs Georgians millions of dollars. A bill heading to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk would require an audit of film and TV projects that receive the tax credits and would limit the expenses that can be claimed in the process.
July 6, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some Georgia parents to get one-time food payment during pandemic
Maya T. Prabhu and Ty Tagami report that as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hurt Georgia families struggling to make ends meet, a federal program designed to help the parents of school-age children pay for groceries will begin to roll out this month.
