Georgia Trend Daily – March 16, 2021
March 16, 2021 Washington Post
Coca-Cola, Home Depot come out in opposition to Georgia voting restrictions
Christopher Ingraham reports that civil liberties groups are ratcheting up pressure on major corporations based in Georgia — including Coca-Cola, Aflac, Delta Air Lines, Home Depot and UPS — to oppose a Republican-led effort to make it harder to vote in the Peach State.
March 16, 2021 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Business Casual: The Blessings of Friendship
Susan Percy writes, every Sunday evening since March, at about 6:00, I have poured myself a glass of wine and “dialed” into a Zoom call with a group of people I used to dine with regularly. It has become the anchor for my week, a closing out of the weekend and a warmup for the seven days to come.
March 16, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Improving air travel demand brings Delta close to financial turnaround
Kelly Yamanouchi reports that Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian, pointing to a budding recovery in travel demand, said Monday he expects the carrier to end March “at or pretty darn close to break even” after burning through billions of dollars of cash last year. The hopeful talk came as more than 1.35 million people passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints last Friday, the most since March 15, 2020, according to TSA figures.
March 16, 2021 Brunswick News
Spaceport decision on hold
Gordon Jackson reports that a long-awaited decision to determine if Camden County gets a launch site operator license for a proposed spaceport has been delayed once again. The Federal Aviation Administration’s decision was due this month, but it has been placed on hold while comments from the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation are completed.
March 16, 2021 WABE 90.1
As The End Of Their Ga. Season Nears, Concerns About North Atlantic Right Whales Grow
Molly Samuel reports, this has been a better winter than other recent ones for North Atlantic right whales. The rare giants, dubbed Georgia’s official marine mammal, have their calves off the Georgia coast.
March 16, 2021 Georgia Recorder
Georgia Dems urge state to accept sweetened Medicaid expansion deal
Jill Nolin reports that Georgia Democrats called on the state’s GOP leadership to take advantage of new federal incentives to fully expand Medicaid that were baked into the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package President Joe Biden signed last week. Georgia is one of a dozen states that did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, with Republicans calling it too costly in the long run.
March 16, 2021 Capitol Beat News, Rome News-Tribune
Legal homeless camps in Georgia pitched in General Assembly bill
Beau Evans reports that a plan to create legal homeless camps on public and private properties in Georgia by redirecting some funds from existing local outreach and shelter groups drew debate in a General Assembly committee on Monday. Legislation sponsored by Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, would send state dollars currently earmarked for building shelters and short-term housing to be used instead on so-called “structured camping facilities” for a city or county’s homeless population.
March 16, 2021 Gwinnett Daily Post
State Rep. Pedro Marin files bill to legalize manufacturing, dispensing of medical marijuana
Curt Yeomans reports that a state lawmaker from Gwinnett is pushing to expand accessibility to medical marijuana in Georgia after years of the state edging toward making it available to residents with serious health conditions. State Rep. Pedro Marin, D-Duluth, has introduced House Bill 738, which would make it legal to manufacture, produce and dispense medical marijuana to people who need it.
March 16, 2021 Saporta Report
This might be the year Georgia starts funding transit annually
Maggie Lee reports that this might be the year Georgia joins the list of states that annually help fund their big-city transit — albeit in a very very small way — if the Georgia Legislature decides to designate an existing ride-share fee to buses and subway lines. It’s a step that’s being called “historic.”
March 16, 2021 The Center Square
Georgia to use $277M in federal coronavirus aid on transportation projects
Nyamekye Daniel reports that Georgia will use $277 million in federal coronavirus relief for local transportation projects, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said Monday. Kemp’s office said the money was set aside for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to offset projected COVID-19-related revenue gaps.
March 16, 2021 GPB, Georgia Recorder
Children In Low-Income Families Stand To Gain Much From Rescue Act
Ross Williams reports that Sen. Raphael Warnock toured an Atlanta church’s vaccination efforts Friday and told a small group of mothers how provisions in the pandemic relief bill signed by President Joe Biden on Thursday can help children in need. “As a kid who grew up in poverty, I know personally the struggles that families have,” said Warnock, who was raised in a Savannah housing project.
March 16, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sonny Perdue under consideration to lead Georgia’s higher ed system
Greg Bluestein reports that former Gov. Sonny Perdue is under serious consideration to lead Georgia’s higher education system, one of the most powerful and influential jobs in state government, five people with direct knowledge of the search told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
