May 17, 2021 – Georgia Trend Daily
May 17, 2021 Saporta Report
Feds raise protections for North Atlantic right whales, but sea turtles may suffer
David Pendered reports that North Atlantic right whales have gained protections and sea turtles are more imperiled under a new federal calendar for harbor dredging that came to light May 14 in a federal lawsuit that seeks to protect sea turtles. The entire calendar for dredging at some seaports along the East Coast has been modified in an effort to increase protections for North American right whales, according to a federal report with the new calendar.
May 17, 2021 Georgia Trend
New TV series spotlights Georgia
Mary Ann DeMuth reports that the new Amazon Prime series The Underground Railroad is just out and one of its biggest stars is … Georgia. Filmed around the state, including locations in Macon and Savannah, the 10-episode series was adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel with the same name by Colson Whitehead.
May 17, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgians, businesses reconsider routines as CDC loosens COVID rules
Matt Kempner and Tamar Hallerman report, had it been Thursday, Adrienne Grzeskiewicz would have arrived at the Great Harvest Bread Co. in Milton wearing a mask. But Friday was different. Less than 24 hours after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention significantly relaxed COVID-19 guidelines for vaccinated Americans, Grzeskiewicz had shed her face covering.
May 17, 2021 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
When will Aflac, other big Columbus companies return to the office? Here’s what we know
Nick Wooten reports that Americans are being vaccinated, and the CDC says fully vaccinated Americans can largely ditch masks. Aflac, Global Payments and Syonvus are evaluating plans for a majority of their employees to be back to the office, at least part of the time.
May 17, 2021 The Center Square
Kemp extends suspension of Georgia gas tax by a week
Jason Schaumburg reports that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp extended the state’s temporary suspension of the fuel tax through May 22 as Colonial Pipeline works to become fully operational after a cyberattack. Kemp issued an executive order Monday that suspended the gas tax, increased weight limits for trucks transporting fuel and prohibited price gouging.
May 17, 2021 Capitol Beat News
Decision time approaching on Spaceport Camden
Dave Williams reports that Camden County is pulling out all the stops to win approval of plans to build a commercial spaceport supporters say would represent a huge economic boost for southeastern Georgia. The county spent nearly $825,000 between July 2020 and March of this year on a team of lobbyists, including a former chief of staff to Gov. Brian Kemp, to convince the state to endorse Spaceport Camden, according to documents filed by the county.
May 17, 2021 Albany Herald
Georgia Chamber’s Chris Clark understands the south Georgia way
Carlton Fletcher reports that when many of Georgia’s top-level leaders come to south Georgia, natives tend to dismiss their words as condescending, knowing all too well that most haven’t touched base in the region except to hunt at an area plantation or stop off on their way down to Florida’s beaches. But Chris Clark is different. Born to the region (a Fitzgerald native), when Clark — the president/CEO of the Georgia Chamber — talks of south Georgia’s economic strengths and weaknesses, there is a true sense that he knows what he’s talking about.
May 17, 2021 Georgia Recorder
Conservative Heritage group takes credit for Georgia voting overhaul
Ross Williams reports that the director of the conservative Heritage Action for America claims the lobbying organization played a pivotal role in some of the most controversial provisions in Georgia’s sweeping new voting overhaul. In a leaked video shared with the liberal-leaning magazine Mother Jones, Heritage Action Executive Director Jessica Anderson boasted of the organization’s influence over Georgia and other states’ voting laws during an April 22 donor summit in Arizona.
May 17, 2021 GPB
‘It’s Essentially An Incumbent Protection Act’: New Law To Allow Unlimited Fundraising — For A Few
Rickey Bevington reports that thirty years ago, state lawmakers in Georgia agreed to limit how much money candidates could raise to run for state office. They also agreed that lawmakers should not accept donations while they are debating and passing legislation — lest they be influenced to pass laws that benefit special interests over what’s best for Georgians.
May 17, 2021 Savannah Morning News
Sen. Ossoff: Okefenokee a ‘sacred natural resource’
Mary Landers reports that Sen. Jon Ossoff toured the Okefenokee Swamp by boat and helicopter last week and was briefed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials there on the swamp’s conservation status, biological and hydrological conditions, and ongoing efforts to assess the potential environmental impact of a mining company’s plans to mine near the edge of the wetland wildlife refuge.
May 17, 2021 Covington News
Warnock pushes big action to boost nation’s future
David Clemons reports, plans to improve roads, bridges and internet access, and to expand education and child care access, top Sen. Raphael Warnock’s agenda as the nation emerges from the pandemic. In an exclusive interview with The Walton Tribune and The Covington News, Warnock said he’s been busy trying to pass legislation that will bring aid for families — and now he wants to pass the ambitious American Jobs Plan.
May 17, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Jolt: GOP’s internal post-defeat report: What defeat?
Patricia Murphy, Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell report, post-election autopsy reports from defeated political parties are typically filled with introspective soul-searching or at least advice for future political candidates on how to do things better. But in the Donald Trump era in Georgia Republican politics, there are no losers anymore, only candidates who fell victim to cheats, even in a year following the GOP’s devastating defeats in the presidential race and the U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia.
