Georgia Trend Daily – Dec. 21, 2020
Dec. 21, 2020 Georgia.gov
ByoPlanet® International Expands Operations in Athens, Creates 250 Jobs
Staff reports that Governor Brian P. Kemp on Friday announced that ByoPlanet® International, a leading producer of electrostatic spray technology, is investing nearly $7 million in expanding its Georgia manufacturing operations, delivering 250 jobs to Athens-Clarke County.
Dec. 21, 2020 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Momentum building for rural broadband in Georgia
Mary Ann DeMuth reports that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently completed an auction where high-speed internet providers could bid on delivering service to areas that don’t have it. The FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction attracted 386 providers competing for $16 billion in government funds.
Dec. 21, 2020 The Center Square
Georgia’s personal income decrease lowest in U.S. for third quarter
Nyamekye Daniel reports that Georgia experienced the nations’s lowest dip in personal income during the third quarter of the 2020, according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Georgia was the only state in the quarter that saw personal income decrease by less than 1%.
Dec. 21, 2020 Rome News-Tribune
Rome ranks No. 8 for workers in the manufacturing field
Doug Walker reports, health care and education-related jobs have long been regarded as the mainstays of the local economy, but a recent survey shines a bright new light on manufacturing. According to a SmartAsset survey, 17.98% of local jobs are in manufacturing and Rome ranks No. 8 on the list of top metropolitan areas for manufacturing workers to work and live.
Dec. 21, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Customers see delays as record volumes strain postal service, shippers
Kelly Yamanouchi and Erin Woo report, with Christmas less than a week away, the nation’s public and private shippers are struggling to deliver record numbers of packages, and analysts say consumers should be prepared for delays. The Postal Service is expecting up to a third more packages this year than last, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in a video message Dec. 14.
Dec. 21, 2020 Georgia Health News
As COVID hits records, state extends hospital staffing contract
Andy Miller reports, a Jackson Healthcare unit can get up to $68 million more to supply nurses and other health care workers to help hospitals and nursing homes deal with the COVID surge, under a state contract extension. The Alpharetta-based company received a no-bid contract early in the pandemic for staffing.
Dec. 21, 2020 Brunswick News
Georgia GOP lawsuit against Glynn County Board of Elections thrown out
Taylor Cooper reports that U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood threw out a lawsuit Friday brought against the Glynn County Board of Elections by the Georgia Republican Party, National Republican Senatorial Committee and the campaigns of incumbent U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. Filed Thursday, the lawsuit also named Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, members of the state election board and members of the Chatham County Board of Elections as defendants and three Georgia voters as plaintiffs.
Dec. 21, 2020 WABE 90.1
Cobb County Denies Challenges To Voter Rolls; Raffensperger Rips Fulton For Firing Employees
Emil Moffat reports that the Cobb County Board of Elections voted unanimously Friday to deny three challenges to the residency status of thousands of voters ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff election. The board – and the Cobb County attorneys who weighed in – found no probable cause in the lists of nearly 50,000 voters presented by two fellow Cobb County residents.
Dec. 21, 2020 USA Today, Savannah Morning News
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp draws anger and mockery after attending White House Christmas party amid Trump attacks
William Cummings reports that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp faced a slew of social media criticism after he attended a White House Christmas party with his daughter on Friday, despite being repeatedly insulted by President Donald Trump in the weeks since the Nov. 3 election. Kemp’s decision to go to the party was met with surprise and mockery on social media, given that Trump has assailed the first-term governor for not doing more to help his effort to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia.
Dec. 21, 2020 Georgia Recorder
Conservative cred, Trump fealty Loeffler’s calling card in Senate runoff
Laura Olsen reports that Kelly Loeffler was appointed to the U.S. Senate one year ago by a Republican governor who picked her over a conservative congressman pushed by President Donald Trump. The selection of Loeffler, a 50-year-old wealthy Atlanta businesswoman and political newcomer, for the vacancy created by longtime Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson’s retirement was seen as an attempt to shore up support among suburban Republican women.
Dec. 21, 2020 Capitol Beat News
A race for history: Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoffs poised to steer nation’s course
Beau Evans reports, a defining moment in American history. The most important election of a lifetime. A must-win. These are some of the ways next month’s U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia have been described on the campaign trail by competitors from both political parties over the past nearly seven weeks.
Dec. 21, 2020 New York Times
Georgia Pastors See Attack on Black Church in Campaign Against Warnock
Rick Rojas reports that a coalition of African-American pastors in Georgia assailed Senator Kelly Loeffler on Saturday, arguing that her characterizations of her opponent, the Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock, had crossed a line and amounted to an attack on the Black church.
Dec. 21, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Appeals court rejects Georgia absentee ballot signature lawsuit
Mark Niesse reports that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a Republican Party effort to reject more absentee ballots in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoffs by changing how election officials check absentee ballot signatures. A three-judge panel ruled unanimously Sunday against the lawsuit brought by the political campaigns of Republican U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, as well as the Georgia Republican Party and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
