Georgia Trend Daily – April 13, 2021
April 13, 2021 Capitol Beat News
Georgia traffic, internet needs highlighted in Biden infrastructure plan
Beau Evans reports that White House officials highlighted sluggish highway traffic, slow bus travel and spotty rural internet service in Georgia Monday as part of pitch to boost support for President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure package. The high-priced “America Jobs Plan,” which has not yet gained Congress’ approval, would take aim at road and bridge repairs to cut down on Georgia commute times that have increased nearly 11% over the past decade, according to a White House fact sheet of the issued Monday.
April 13, 2021 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Georgia School Zones Become Safe Zones with Verra Mobility
Julia Roberts reports, we all have somewhere to be, and we all want to be there now. But our go-go-go world crosses right through Georgia’s schools, resulting in a dangerous problem for students and school personnel.
April 13, 2021 Atlanta Business Chronicle
Braves Chief People Officer on how to heal from ASG move: ‘Honor where people are with their feelings’
Eric Jackson reports, some executives focus on driving revenues and overseeing budgets. Others focus on establishing policies and procedures. For DeRetta Cole Rhodes, the focus is on people. The Atlanta Braves executive vice president and chief people officer has built a career exploring what makes employees tick and shaping their perspectives in the workplace.
April 13, 2021 Augusta Chronicle, Golfweek
Golf cart-maker Club Car sold to investment firm run by Detroit Pistons owner
Jason Lusk reports, as rounds of golf played in the U.S. surge, mechanical equipment manufacturer Ingersoll Rand Inc. has agreed to sell golf car-maker Club Car to Platinum Equity, an investment firm and holding company founded and operated by Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores. The price: $1.7 billion, Platinum Equity said.
April 13, 2021 Clayton News-Daily
No renters: Clayton Board of Commissioners eliminates builders’ ability to rent, lease new homes
Heather Middleton reports that single-family home builders wishing to develop in Clayton County can no longer do so with the intent to rent or lease the new homes. The Board of Commissioners approved an ordinance to amend the county’s code under subdivision regulations that states: “No developer or builder shall develop or construct a new residential lot/house in a subdivision for rental or lease purposes by the developer, builder or any entity having a business relationship with the developer or builder.”
April 13, 2021 WABE 90.1
Georgia requests more time for Spaceport Camden review
Emma Hurt reports that the Georgia Department of Natural Resources has asked for more time to release an impending decision about a proposed spaceport in South Georgia’s Camden County, citing among other reasons, “the complexity of the proposed project.” The state agency is required to review whether the proposal violates any Georgia laws protecting the coastal environment.
April 13, 2021 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Economic Development Around the State
Christy Simo reports that the state of Georgia was ranked one of the country’s top 10 exporting states for the first time in 2020, despite headwinds from the global pandemic. In total, the state exported $38.8 billion in goods, and total trade reached $137.7 billion in 2020, serving 221 countries and territories.
April 13, 2021 Georgia Health News
White bagging: Insurer shift on drugs raises alarm
Andy Miller reports that a big change in drug treatment for cancer is arriving in Georgia. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Georgia’s largest health insurer, is requiring that oncology infusion drugs for its patients be purchased through CVS Specialty, or through the insurer’s own specialty drug network that has similar pricing.
April 13, 2021 Saporta Report
Coal ash battle alive in Ga. Court of Appeals, new ‘Rising from the Ashes’ video
David Pendered reports that the campaign to remediate coal ash in Georgia is now active in two venues: A court that will help influence if customers or shareholders pay a $525 million cleanup bill; and a persuasion campaign built around a new video documentary. When lawmakers return in January 2022, they face two big proposals related to coal ash.
April 13, 2021 Georgia Recorder
Ga. voting law controversy follows overhaul’s point man to Washington
Stanley Dunlap reports that the Washington City Council voted Monday to ask state Rep. Barry Fleming to resign his city attorney job for his key role in passing sweeping voting legislation that detractors say will disenfranchise Black people and other minorities. Tensions flared throughout Monday night’s meeting, when four city councilmen said they no longer wanted Fleming to represent the city in legal matters after his role in ushering controversial new state voting laws through his special legislative election committee reverberated in his communities.
April 13, 2021 Washington Post
Apple and Will Smith move their new film ‘Emancipation’ about slavery out of Georgia to protest voting-rights law
Steven Zeitchik reports that Apple and Will Smith became the biggest Hollywood entities to take concrete action to leave Georgia as they and director Antoine Fuqua announced plans Monday to move production of their new drama about slavery, “Emancipation,” out of the state to protest its restrictive new election law. The move marks Hollywood’s first major exit from the state where it shoots much of its work since the bill was signed into law last month.
April 13, 2021 The Center Square
Black church leaders bash Biden, Abrams for ‘lies’ regarding Georgia’s voting reform law
Nyamekye Daniel reports that a group of Black ministers and pastors have published a full-page ad against President Joe Biden and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to combat their criticisms of the state’s new election law. In the ad, which appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Conservative Clergy of Color accused Biden and Abrams of lying about the new voting rules passed in the Georgia Election Integrity Act of 2021.
April 13, 2021 Gainesville Times
Clyde plans to challenge $15,000 in fines for evading metal detector after failed appeal
Robbie Sequiera reports that U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens, is looking to take his appeal of $15,000 in fines levied against him for refusing to walk through metal detectors to enter the House floor in February, to a federal courtroom after a failed appeal to the House Ethics Committee.
April 13, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lobbyists spent less on lawmakers this COVID session, but nobody went home hungry
James Salzer reports that on the day the Georgia House gave final passage to a bill to ban volunteers from providing food and water to people waiting in line to vote, Statehouse lobbyists spent almost $8,400 feeding lawmakers, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of ethics reports.
