Georgia Trend Daily – Dec. 28, 2020
Dec. 28, 2020 Dalton Daily Citizen-News
Trump to hold rally for Loeffler, Perdue in Dalton on Jan. 4
Staff reports that the President Donald Trump will have a “victory rally” in Dalton on Monday, Jan. 4, the night before a runoff election that will decide two U.S. Senate seats in Georgia, according to the Republican National Committee. Trump will speak at the event for Republican U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, which begins at 7 p.m. at the Dalton Regional Airport.
Dec. 28, 2020 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Crash Courses for Georgia’s Private Schools
Kenna Simmons reports, in March, it was a scramble. As the state went into lockdown to combat COVID-19, private schools across Georgia had to figure out how to educate their students remotely. Although they had some advantages over their public-school counterparts because their students were less likely to lack a broadband connection or a laptop, or to rely on school lunch as their main meal of the day, they faced similar challenges.
Dec. 28, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta adds jobs; mostly e-commerce and seasonal
Michael E. Kanell reports that Metro Atlanta rang up a seventh consecutive month of job growth in November, but the growth in jobseekers was faster, causing the unemployment rate to rise from 4.6% to 5.6%, the Georgia Department of Labor reported Thursday. The region added 21,500 jobs last month, with the largest share coming from jobs linked to e-commerce and seasonal hiring.
Dec. 28, 2020 Capitol Beat News, Marietta Daily Journal
Initial unemployment claims up in Georgia along with uncertainty over new COVID-19 relief
Dave Williams reports, first-time unemployment claims increased in Georgia last week as the state Department of Labor began working to implement the new economic stimulus package Congress passed this week. Initial unemployment claims totaled 26,673 last week, up 2,971 from the work before, the labor department reported Thursday.
Dec. 28, 2020 Rome News-Tribune
Rural Center to study workforce transportation program in Northwest Georgia
Staff reports that the Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation is launching a feasibility study on a vanpool program for workers in Floyd and nearby counties. Established by the General Assembly in 2019, the entity also known as Georgia’s Rural Center has identified workforce transportation as a vital piece of the puzzle for job creation and retainment.
Dec. 28, 2020 University of Georgia
A Southern fir Christmas tree is on the horizon for ornamental and timber industries
Mark Czarnota reports, during the holiday season in the U.S., more than 20 million freshly cut Christmas trees are sold every year, with fir trees topping the most-desired list. Unfortunately growers cannot meet the needs of consumers, and every year, there is a shortage of trees, primarily due to the incredible losses of susceptible firs — including balsam, Fraser, Canaan and others — to the root fungus Phytophthora.
Dec. 28, 2020 Gainesville Times
Former Braves pitcher, Hall of Famer Phil Niekro remembered for his heart for children
Megan Reed reports, Baseball Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, who pitched well into his 40s with a knuckleball that baffled big league hitters for more than two decades, mostly with the Atlanta Braves, has died after a long fight with cancer, the team announced Sunday. The Braves said Niekro died Saturday night in his sleep. He lived in Flowery Branch, where a main thoroughfare bears his name.
Dec. 28, 2020 Georgia Health News
Christmas Eve Brings Record Number Of COVID Cases In Georgia
Andy Miller reports that it’s sad to bring unpleasant news on Christmas Eve. But this is the year 2020, when unpleasant things keep happening. Thursday’s preliminary figures show more than 10,600 new COVID cases in Georgia, easily a single-day record.
Dec. 28, 2020 The Center Square
Analysis shows no signs of ballot harvesting in Georgia elections
Jason Schaumburg reports, a statistical analysis of the Nov. 3 election in Georgia showed no incidents of ballot harvesting, according to a federally funded research and development nonprofit. The MITRE Corporation’s National Election Security Lab analyzed the 38 addresses in Georgia where more than 20 absentee ballots were received.
Dec. 28, 2020 Capitol Beat News
Sports betting front and center in renewed legalized gambling debate
Dave Williams reports, advocates for bringing legalized gambling to Georgia will be back under the Gold Dome next month, pitching the financial benefits of casinos, horse racing and sports betting together and separately. But a betting man might give legislation authorizing online sports betting in the Peach State the best odds to advance.
Dec. 28, 2020 Saporta Report
Senate runoff: Okefenokee Swamp represents environmental, security concerns
David Pendered reports, the fate of a proposed strip mine near the Okefenokee Swamp represents environmental and national security issues at stake in the Senate runoff in Georgia. A Democrat-controlled Senate could be expected to confirm President-elect Biden’s cabinet-level nominees who, in turn, could restore environmental protections for the land that’s to be mined.
Dec. 28, 2020 Georgia Recorder
Georgia Senate runoffs set fundraising record
David Newhauser reports that this election cycle saw by far the highest combined total spent on all federal races in history, so it’s only fitting to bring the year to a close with some record-breaking fundraising totals in the Georgia runoffs. More than one-third of a billion dollars flowed into campaign coffers of the four candidates running for two U.S. Senate seats in Georgia over the last two months, according to federal election records, with the bulk of that money going to the Democrats in the races.
Dec. 28, 2020 New York Times
Jon Ossoff Got Some Breaks in Politics. And He Made a Few of His Own.
Reid J. Epstein and Serge F. Kovaleski report, Jon Ossoff was 16 years old when he wrote a letter to John Lewis, the Georgia congressman and civil rights pioneer, that led to a spot as a volunteer in Mr. Lewis’s office. When Mr. Ossoff was 19 and a rising sophomore at Georgetown, he went to work for Hank Johnson as the primary speechwriter and press aide for Mr. Johnson’s 2006 congressional campaign.
Dec. 28, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Trump signs pandemic bill that put Georgia’s senators in vexing spot
Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell report that President Donald Trump’s initial resistance to signing a sweeping aid package that includes $900 billion in coronavirus relief roiled Georgia’s runoffs for control of the U.S. Senate, with Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock demanding that the Republican sign the measure immediately while their opponents largely skirted mention of the catch-all measure.
