Georgia Trend Daily – April 12, 2021
April 12, 2021 Capitol Beat News
Georgia tax revenues show modest March increase after February spike
Dave Williams reports that tax collections in Georgia rose a modest 3.7% last month, as the state Department of Revenue accelerated the processing of refunds following a delay in February that sent tax revenues soaring. The state brought in nearly $1.9 billion in taxes in March, an increase of almost $67 million over March of last year.
April 12, 2021 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Legal Elite nominations open
Karen Kirkpatrick writes, who do you think is the state’s most effective lawyer? Now through Friday, July 9, 2021, you can tell us. Georgia Trend magazine’s annual Legal Elite listing will highlight the state’s most effective lawyers in 16 different practice areas.
April 12, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Korean companies reach deal on Georgia battery plant
Andy Peters, Tia Mitchell and Greg Bluestein report that the South Korean company behind one of the biggest economic development projects in state history has the green light to keep going. SK Innovation, which is building a $2.6 billion factory near Commerce to make electric vehicle batteries, reached a settlement on Saturday with a rival that had accused it of stealing trade secrets.
April 12, 2021 Georgia.org
Explore Georgia: State Ready to Safely Host Meetings and Conventions
Staff reports that Global Meetings Industry Day, Explore Georgia, the tourism division within the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), is proud to showcase the state’s leading-edge conference centers and destinations. Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) is led by the industry advocacy coalition Meetings Mean Business, and this year’s theme, “Meet Safe,” recognizes the industry’s top priority of operating meetings and events with health and safety top-of-mind.
April 12, 2021 Gainesville Times
When is inland port coming? Here’s what’s needed before project can move forward
Jeff Gill reports that with a wetlands permit and property mostly in hand, the Georgia Ports Authority is now trying to pool together funding before it proceeds with building the Northeast Georgia Inland Port in northeast Hall County. The authority has spent $8 million to $9 million on buying land for the cargo terminal off White Sulphur Road near Ga. 365.
April 12, 2021 GlobalAtlanta.com
Cargo Carrier Alights at Hartsfield-Jackson, Linking Belgium With Atlanta
Trevor Williams reports that CMA CGM Air Cargo, the new aviation arm of the French shipping giant, has launched freighter service to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The service from Liege, Belgium, to Atlanta started March 28, the same day the company started service to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to complement its existing Chicago route.
April 12, 2021 GPB
Georgia Today: After Mixed Calving Season, Advocates Say Time Is Running Out To Save Right Whale
Steve Fennessy and Jeff Mador report, the waters off the Georgia coast are a vital calving ground for the North Atlantic right whale. This calving season, which winds down in April, has been a rare bright spot for the critically endangered whales, with scientists counting more babies than in the last three seasons combined.
April 12, 2021 Georgia Recorder
Golden Ray to weather third hurricane season since St. Simons shipwreck
Stanley Dunlap reports that crews are back to work cutting up a section of the shipwrecked Golden Ray that contains thousands of gallons of fuel as the extensive salvage operation in St. Simons Sound seems doomed to stretch into another Atlantic hurricane season. Nearly a year after the U.S. Coast Guard and other members of the salvage team expected to complete the removal of the massive capsized car carrier from the shipping channel outside the Port of Brunswick, delays caused by weather, COVID-19 and snafus still plague the project.
April 12, 2021 Washington Post
How the corporate backlash to Georgia’s new voting law is shaping other fights around the country over access to the polls
Amy Gardner and Mike DeBonis report, behind closed doors, aides to Georgia’s top Republicans and its leading business interests spent the final days of March hashing out new voting legislation in an effort to quell a growing outcry that GOP lawmakers were pushing measures that would severely curtail access to the polls. The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and representatives of major corporations, including Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, worked directly with legislative leaders and the office of Gov. Brian Kemp (R) to exclude some of the more controversial proposals, according to people familiar with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
April 12, 2021 The Center Square
American Rescue Plan funding raises questions about Georgia schools’ reopening plans
Nyamekye Daniel reports that Georgia K-12 schools are receiving billions of dollars in federal aid through the American Rescue Plan Act, but some policy analysts wonder why certain schools had to wait for the incentive to reopen their doors. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in Georgia will receive $3.8 billion in grants from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund under federal law.
April 12, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republican Kelvin King to challenge Warnock in 2022 Senate contest
Greg Bluestein reports that a Republican owner of a metro Atlanta construction company entered the race for U.S. Senate on Monday with an attack on “cancel culture” and a pledge to run against Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock as a business-minded outsider. Kelvin King becomes one of the first in a likely wave of Republicans to challenge Warnock, the pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church who is up for full six-year term in 2022 after narrowly winning a January special election runoff.
