Georgia Trend Daily – Oct. 21, 2020

Oct. 21, 2020 WABE 90.1

Proposed Mine Near Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp Gets A Major Hurdle Removed

Molly Samuel reports that a company planning to mine for titanium near the Okefenokee Swamp has had a major hurdle removed: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says there are almost no wetlands or other waterways on the site that are protected by federal water law. That makes the permitting process for the controversial project shorter, cheaper and easier. The decision is a reflection of a Trump administration rule change that narrows the purview of the Clean Water Act.

Octo. 21, 2020 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!

Sustainable Georgia Roundup

Mary Ann DeMuth reports, the expansion of Roswell’s Big Creek Water Reclamation Facility has begun. The $300-million project aims to increase wastewater treatment capacity from 24 million to 32 million gallons per day to accommodate the area’s expected growth and development.

Oct. 21, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

New program to help Black-owned online businesses

Andy Peters reports that an Atlanta nonprofit and another business have committed $150 million to the 1 Million Black Businesses effort, which will make loans and provide financial and business advice to Black-owned startups and established small businesses.

Oct. 21, 2020 Metro Atlanta CEO

Gas South to Acquire Infinite Energy

Staff reports that Gas South will acquire Florida-based Infinite Energy in a deal announced today by the two companies. The acquisition is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of 2020.

Oct. 21, 2020 Cartersville Daily Tribune-News

Cartersville City Council OKs $150M Anheuser-Busch MOU

James Swift reports that members of the Cartersville City Council voted unanimously last week to approve a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would allow Anheuser-Busch to pursue $150 million in bonds for a proposed brewery expansion project. “Back in January of this year, the Development Authority [of Cartersville] recommended a bond issuance for Anheuser-Busch’s new project in the amount of $80 million,” Cartersville Assistant City Attorney Keith Lovell said.

Oct. 21, 2020 Savannah Morning News

Cleantech incubator launched at Savannah’s SeaPoint Industrial Terminal Complex

Katie Nussbaum reports, from a 1-megawatt solar field and a honey bee farm to recycling and repurposing excess steam that’s used on site, sustainability has always been part of the mission at the SeaPoint Industrial Terminal Complex. Now the facility is taking that commitment a little further with the launch of the Cleantech Campus @ SeaPoint.

Oct. 21, 2020 Rome News-Tribune

F&P Georgia planning another expansion in Rome

Doug Walker reports that F&P Georgia is growing again. The expansion will result in a $23 million capital investment and addition of at least 15 new jobs over three years.

Oct. 21, 2020 The Center Square

Rural communities in southwest Georgia to get state-supported health care clinic

Nyamekye Daniel reports that residents in the small town of Fort Gaines, located on the Alabama state line in southwest Georgia, will have access to another local health care facility after three decades with access to only one. A product of a public-private partnership with Mercer University School of Medicine, Mercer Medicine Clay County will open next month at the hospital site that closed in the 1980s.

Oct. 21, 2020 Brunswick News

Rep. Carter, Sen. Perdue send letter to Coast Guard on Golden Ray delays

Larry Hobbs reports, with progress inching closer to an actual start time on the removal of the shipwrecked Golden Ray from the St. Simons Sound, two of Georgia’s voices in Congress are demanding greater accountability from those overseeing the effort. In a letter Monday to U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-1, and U.S. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., demanded weekly updates and greater transparency regarding any further delays in the project.

Oct. 21, 2020 Capitol Beat News

Georgia school chief pitches plan to slice away year-end tests

Beau Evans reports that Georgia public school officials have released a plan calling for the number of year-end tests required for the state’s K-12 students to be drastically reduced and replaced with assessments and coursework tailored more to individual students. Called “A Roadmap to Reimagining K-12 Education,” the eight-page plan outlines broad steps officials want to take to shrink the importance of standardized tests, give local school districts flexibility over evaluating student and teacher performance and free up money for technology and internet access.

Oct. 21, 2020 Georgia.gov

Technical College System of Georgia Awarded Additional $13 million in Dislocated Worker Relief Funding

Staff reports that Governor Brian P. Kemp on Tuesday announced that the Technical College System of Georgia’s (TCSG) Office of Workforce Development, in partnership with the Georgia Department of Labor, was recently awarded an additional $13 million in dislocated worker relief funding by the U.S. Department of Labor, bringing the total grant award to $25 million.

Oct. 21, 2020 Washington Post

The 31-day campaign against QAnon

Stephanie McCrumman reports, there was a time when Kevin Van Ausdal had not yet been called a “loser” and “a disgrace” and hustled out of Georgia. He had not yet punched a wall, or been labeled a “communist,” or a person “who’d probably cry like a baby if you put a gun in his face.”

Oct. 21, 2020 New York Times

Democrats Gain in Georgia Senate Races as Presidential Race Remains Tied

Nate Cohn reports that a shift against President Trump among white college-educated voters in Georgia has imperiled Republicans up and down the ballot, according to a New York Times/Siena College survey on Tuesday, as Republicans find themselves deadlocked or trailing in Senate races where their party was once considered the heavy favorite.

Oct. 21, 2020 Georgia Recorder

State Dems: Perdue’s mangling of Kamala Harris’ name not a mistake

Jill Nolin reports that a group of state Democratic lawmakers – including two legislators who immigrated to America – say Sen. David Perdue intentionally bungled Sen. Kamala Harris’ first name to pander to the president’s supporters.

Oct. 21, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Lawmaker readies legislation to repeal Georgia’s citizen’s arrest law

Maya T. Prabhu reports, when a Black man in Glynn County was followed by three white men and shot and killed by one of them, a prosecutor cited Georgia’s citizen’s arrest law while discouraging police from making an arrest. Since then, criminal justice activists have pushed the state’s lawmakers to repeal the more than 150-year-old statute.