Georgia Trend Daily – Dec. 23, 2020
Dec. 23, 2020 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Georgia breaks record for single-day COVID cases — again. Here’s the latest data
Nick Wooten reports that the Georgia Department of Public Health reported 6,242 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday — the highest single-day total since the start of the pandemic. It’s the third time in December that health officials reported more than 6,000 new cases in a single day.
Dec. 23, 2020 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Southwest Georgia: Constant Activity
K.K. Snyder reports, you can’t keep a good region down. While the nation’s economy continues to be impacted by the pandemic, economic developers across Southwest Georgia are singing the same tune: activity is constant.
Dec. 23, 2020 Brunswick News
Richland Rum recognized by state
Gordon Jackson reports that Richland Rum has been named a recipient of the 2020 GLOBE Award in the international trade division. It’s the fourth consecutive year the company has earned the annual award that highlights companies that entered new international markets during the previous year.
Dec. 23, 2020 University of Georgia
Georgia Ag Forecast to be held online Jan. 29
Josh Paine reports, economists from the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) will discuss the effects of COVID-19 on farming, highlight agritourism impacts in the state, and give a forecast of top commodities for the next year during the annual Georgia Ag Forecast. The live seminar will take place via Zoom webinar Friday, Jan. 29, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Dec. 23, 2020 Atlanta Business Chronicle
Gas South completes acquisition of Florida’s largest natural gas marketer
Grace Donnelly reports that Atlanta natural gas provider Gas South completed the acquisition of Florida-based Infinite Energy, the company announced Friday. Under the terms of the deal, Gas South acquired Infinite Energy’s wholesale and retail natural gas business and customer list, located primarily in Georgia and Florida, but the transaction does not include Infinite Energy’s retail electricity business in Texas.
Dec. 23, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What has been proposed at Gwinnett Place Mall?
Arielle Kass reports that the owners of Gwinnett Place Mall suggested they had big plans: the addition of green space, to feel more like Atlantic Station. More outdoor restaurants, and even the demolition of part of the building.
Dec. 23, 2020 Capitol Beat News
Re-designation of Jimmy Carter National Historic Site clears Congress
Dave Williams reports, legislation aimed at drawing more visitors to former President Jimmy Carter’s hometown of Plains is on its way to President Donald Trump for his signature. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill on Monday that already had cleared the House of Representatives re-designating the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site as the “Jimmy Carter National Historical Park.”
Dec. 23, 2020 WSB-Radio
Georgia finishes first phase of signature match audit; White House shows up with questions
Nicole Carr reports that as state investigators moved into the final stages of an unprecedented signature match audit of the election, the White House made an appearance on the investigation site. Mark Meadows, President Trump’s Chief of Staff, arrived at the Marietta site Tuesday afternoon, where the audit is focused on the county’s November absentee ballot envelopes.
Dec. 23, 2020 Valdosta Daily Times
Election officials to consider challenge
Staff reports that election officials will meet Wednesday afternoon to consider the credibility of a challenge to the U.S. Senate runoff races underway. The Lowndes County Board of Election announced it will convene at 1 p.m., Dec. 23 on a telephone conference call to discuss what it called “the sufficiency of a challenge.”
Dec. 23, 2020 WABE 90.1, Votebeat
Ossoff Uses TikTok To Court Young Voters Crucial To Democrats’ Success
Christopher Alston reports, with the help of online influencers, Georgia Senate candidate Jon Ossoff is using social media app TikTok as one tactic to get young voters, who were essential to President-elect Joe Biden’s November victory, to vote again. Ossoff joined TikTok in early December, shortly before early voting began in the runoffs that will determine control of the U.S. Senate and a Public Service Commission race.
Dec. 23, 2020 Capitol Beat News, Athens Banner-Herald
Defense lawyer takes aim at no-knock search warrants
Dave Williams reports that evidence police typically obtain through no-knock search warrants aren’t worth the inherent risks of knocking unannounced on a citizen’s door in the middle of the night, a criminal defense lawyer said Tuesday. “No-knock warrants are almost exclusively used for drug cases. They’re never used for kidnapping, burglary, murder or theft,” Catherine Bernard, a partner with Atlanta’s Bernard & Johnson LLC, told members of a state Senate study committee.
Dec. 23, 2020 The Center Square
Unemployed Georgians say they still await benefits months after filing jobless claims
Nyamekye Daniel reports, facing the holidays jobless, unemployed Georgians pleaded for help from the state Monday during a hearing with House Democrats. Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) officials said they are doing what they can to issue unemployment benefits to workers in a timely manner.
Dec. 23, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lawsuit tries to block effort to disqualify Georgia voters
Mark Niesse reports that the voting rights group Fair Fight plans to fight a Texas organization in court over its challenge to the eligibility of more than 364,000 voters to participate in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoffs. Fair Fight, founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams, announced it plans to file a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday to block an election watchdog group, True the Vote, from trying to disqualify voters from the runoffs by questioning their residency.