Georgia Trend Daily – March 10, 2021
March 10, 2021 Saporta Report
Six metro areas may lose federal designation in potential setback for rural Georgia
David Pendered reports that a federal agency is providing the latest sign of fading times in rural Georgia. Six areas could lose their status as federally designated metro areas because their populations may be too small to meet a new threshold.
March 10, 2021 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Valdosta | Lowndes County: Business as Usual
K.K. Snyder reports that as Georgians ease into this new year anticipating brighter days ahead, leaders in Lowndes County are focusing on business recruitment, downtown improvements, and a myriad of much-needed infrastructure and road projects. Unless they’re leading large cities, most mayors balance full-time careers with their duties to constituents, and Valdosta Mayor Scott Matheson is no exception.
March 10, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Home Depot seasonal hiring surges in metro Atlanta
Michael E. Kanell reports that Home Depot has announced plans to hire more than 3,000 workers in metro Atlanta to handle the spring buying season, roughly triple the number of seasonal hires a year ago. The Vinings-based home improvement giant, which has seen sales surge during the pandemic, is hiring for a range of full- and part-time positions in its stores, including customer service, the filling of online orders picked up by customers either in the store or on the curb, and overnight jobs unpacking freight and merchandise.
March 10, 2021 GlobalAtlanta.com
IT Arm of Korea’s SK Group to Locate in Duluth
Trevor Williams reports that an affiliate of SK Innovation, the Korean firm that is also putting a $2.6 billion electric vehicle battery factory in Georgia, is investing $1.8 million to put a new office in Duluth that will hire 15. Partnership Gwinnett and the Georgia Department of Economic Development announced the investment by SK holdings C&C, which will support the IT needs of SK Battery and other group companies in the region.
March 10, 2021 University of Georgia
Heritage Orchard reclaiming Georgia’s forgotten apples
Michael Terrazas reports, the names tick off like racehorses or colors from some fancy catalog: Carolina Red June, Duchess of Oldenburg, Hewe’s Crab and Rabun Bald, Limbertwig and Nickajack and Parks’ Pippin, and many more. But these aren’t paint chips — they’re apples, hundreds of varieties that thrived in orchards across North Georgia a century ago, before an evolving apple industry swept them off shelves and tables, never to return.
March 10, 2021 GPB
Lawmakers Brief: Georgia House Passes Bill Moving 17-Year-Olds Into Juvenile Court
Rahul Bali reports that the Georgia House has passed legislation which moves many criminal cases for 17-year-olds from superior court to juvenile court. House Bill 272 sponsor State Representative Mandi Ballinger (R-Canton) says 17-year-olds involved in major crimes such as murder and rape would still go to superior court.
March 10, 2021 The Center Square
Legal sports betting clears first hurdle in Georgia General Assembly
Nyamekye Daniel reports that legislation legalizing sports betting in Georgia has cleared the Georgia Senate and will be considered in the House. Senate Resolution 135 would amend Georgia’s Constitution to legalize sports betting as a game played through the state lottery, which already is a legal form of gambling in the state.
March 10, 2021 Georgia Health News
Which health bills are still alive? Facility visitations, newborn screening, clockwork…
Andy Miller reports that a proposal allowing “legal representatives” more access to patients during health emergencies was approved by the Georgia House on Monday after emotional testimony by several lawmakers, including House Speaker David Ralston. The chamber’s passage of House Bill 290, along with a flurry of other measures, came during Crossover Day.
March 10, 2021 Georgia Recorder
Busy Georgia legislative deadline day includes citizen’s arrest overhaul
Jill Nolin reports that a proposal to create a new school voucher program, legislation banning transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams and a pay raise for state lawmakers were among the bills left behind as a key legislative deadline came and went Monday.
March 10, 2021 New York Times
Jimmy Carter is ‘disheartened, saddened and angry’ by the G.O.P. push to curb voting rights in Georgia.
Nick Corasaniti and Glenn Thrush report that former President Jimmy Carter — a one-term Georgia governor who first ran for office in the 1960s — said efforts by Republicans in the state to restrict ballot access represented an attempt to “turn back the clock” on hard-won progress in empowering disenfranchised voters.
March 10, 2021 Capitol Beat News
Push to raise salaries for Georgia lawmakers, officials fails in state Senate
Beau Evans reports that the Georgia Senate has struck down a measure aimed at hiking salaries for members of the General Assembly as well as several other top state officials. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Valencia Seay, D-Riverdale, proposed raising salaries for Georgia elected officials including the lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state school superintendent, and the commissioners of agriculture, insurance and labor.
March 10, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Jolt: The Case of the missing senators on a GOP voting bill
Patricia Murphy, Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell report that even the most grizzled Capitol veterans hadn’t seen anything like it: Before the Georgia Senate narrowly adopted sweeping voting restrictions on Monday, four GOP senators were excused from the debate and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan ducked into his second-floor suite rather than preside over the passage of a measure he opposes.
