Georgia Trend Daily – Jan. 25, 2021
Jan. 25, 2021 Georgia.org
Spring Mountain Center to Open Manufacturing, Distribution Headquarters in Barrow County; $45 Million Investment to Create 205 Jobs
Staff reports that Governor Brian P. Kemp today announced that Spring Mountain Center will invest $45 million in opening their manufacturing and distribution headquarters in Barrow County, delivering 205 jobs to the local community. Spring Mountain Center is a leading manufacturer of plumbing fixtures, home furniture, and more.
Jan. 25, 2021 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Remembering Hank Aaron
Mary Ann DeMuth reports that one of baseball’s brightest lights went out last week. Henry “Hank” Aaron, Major League Baseball’s one-time homerun king died in his sleep at the age of 86. As recently as the first week of January he made news for receiving his COVID-19 vaccination at a Morehouse School of Medicine clinic in Atlanta, part of an effort to save Black lives by encouraging immunization.
Jan. 25, 2021 Georgia.gov
Georgia Unemployment Rate Drops in December, Job Growth Outpaces U.S.
Staff reports that Governor Brian P. Kemp announced on Friday that Georgia’s unemployment rate fell to 5.6 percent in the month of December. Additionally, the state added 44,700 jobs in December, while job numbers across the United States trended downward.
Jan. 25, 2021 Atlanta Journal Constitution
Hartsfield-Jackson to hold virtual job fair
Kelly Yamanouchi reports that Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport will hold a virtual job fair Feb. 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The job fair will involve video interviews with more than 30 airport businesses, including concessionaires and other vendors, seeking to fill an estimated 600 positions, according to the airport.
Jan. 25, 2021 Gainesville Times
State, Corps sign water contract over Lanier
Jeff Gill reports that Georgia and the Army Corps of Engineers have agreed to a $71 millon water contract for permanent water storage at Lake Lanier. The move ties up a loose end from 2012, when the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that water supply was an original, authorized purpose of Lanier.
Jan. 25, 2021 Saporta Report
Right whale caught in deadly tangle of fishing gear spotted off Georgia’s coast; watch continues
David Pendered reports that state environmental officials continue to watch the waters off Georgia’s coast for a North Atlantic right whale tangled in a potentially deadly mess of line that looks like commercial fishing gear. This endangered species is Georgia’s marine mammal.
Jan. 25, 2021 WABE 90.1, Votebeat
Republican Officials Continue Push To Require Photo IDs For Ga. Absentee Ballots
Christopher Alston reports that after Republicans suffered high-profile losses in Georgia’s presidential and Senate races that featured record numbers of early voters and votes cast by mail, many in the GOP expressed support for new restrictions on absentee voting they said would improve security. That support has not gone away, leading Republican House Speaker David Ralston to form a Special Committee on Election Integrity when the Legislature resumed earlier this month.
Jan. 25, 2021 Brunswick News
Golden Isles state delegation receives marching orders
Taylor Cooper reports that Glynn County’s representatives in state government got their marching orders this week in the form of committee appointments, some desired and some less so. With 180 member and 56 members, respectively, the legislative process in the Georgia House and Senate would be much slower if each and every member had to educate themselves on and investigate every bill.
Jan. 25, 2021 Rome News Tribune, Marietta Daily Journal
Introducing new anesthesia laws, Kirkpatrick has her eye on patient safety
Chart Riggall reports that the Georgia General Assembly proceeds through the 2021 legislative session, marquee issues such as voting laws and the state budget are expected to dominate the debate under the Gold Dome. But state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, R-east Cobb, is working on some unfinished business from last year’s session.
Jan. 25, 2021 Georgia Recorder
State lawmakers float raised tobacco tax, tax break review to fill budget hole
Jill Nolin reports that a key state lawmaker said Friday that he will continue to press his colleagues on ways to grow revenues as they consider a budget proposal that carries forward many of the cuts made when the financial outlook was bleak. “We obviously need to look at continuing to increase the revenue,” Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, a Rome Republican who heads the Senate Finance Committee, said Friday at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute’s annual legislative conference that was held virtually this year.
Jan. 25, 2021 Capitol Beat News
Kemp focusing budget proposals on rural Georgia economy
Dave Williams reports, when it comes to economic development, rural Georgia is punching above its weight. More than half of the 16,000 jobs created in Georgia during the first half of this fiscal year and more than half of $6 billion in new investment have gone to communities outside metro Atlanta.
Jan. 25, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia clout under Biden will be potent but less formal
Tia Mitchell and Greg Bluestein reports that Georgians will play a key role in the new balance of power now that Joe Biden is in the White House, even though no high-profile former state officials are part of the president’s Cabinet. Georgians are exerting a different sort of influence, one earned by winning elections in ways that have benefited Biden.
