Georgia Trend Daily – Oct. 26, 2021
Oct. 26, 2021 Capitol Beat News
Half of all Georgians now fully vaccinated against COVID, officials say
Tim Darnell reports that state health officials said Monday that 50% of all Georgians, or 5,154,793 residents, are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers individuals have been fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of a two-dose series (Moderna or Pfizer) and two weeks after a single-dose vaccine (Johnson & Johnson).
Oct. 26, 2021 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Ghosts, goblins and ghouls around Georgia
Mary Ann DeMuth reports, it’s that time of year when kids and adults look forward to frightful activities – and the potential for sweet rewards. Across the state, there are many ways to get into the mood and celebrate the spooky season, starting with The Haunted Georgia Halloween Road Trip, the ultimate supernatural tour from Atlanta to Jekyll Island created by Explore Georgia, the Department of Economic Development’s tourism division.
Oct. 26, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Coke offers $2,000 to employees who follow new vaccination requirement
Matt Kempner reports that Coca-Cola has told its U.S. employees the company must comply with new COVID-19 vaccination requirements for federal contractors. But the Atlanta-based beverage giant is offering a carrot: $2,000 one-time bonuses to each fully vaccinated staffer as well as those who receive medical or religious exemptions by the government’s Dec. 8 deadline.
Oct. 26, 2021 Gainesville Times
The latest on Kubota’s new research and development center in northeast Hall
Jeff Gill reports that construction of Kubota Manufacturing of America Corp.’s $90 million North America research and development center is nearing completion, with the facility “ready to move into” by early 2022, said Phil Sutton, Kubota vice president. A grand opening ceremony is planned for April, he said.
Oct. 26, 2021 Gwinnett Daily Post
Northside Hospital wins appeal to open outpatient surgical center in Braselton
Curt Yeomans reports that a state appeals panel has given Northside Hospital its blessing to build an outpatient surgery center in Braselton. The Georgia Certificate of Need Appeal Panel decision is being hailed by the hospital system — which has hospital campuses in Lawrenceville and Duluth — as a win for patients in northeast Georgia.
Oct. 26, 2021 Albany Herald, Georgia Dept. of Education
Office of Rural Education and Innovation named for Butch Mosely
Staff reports that the Georgia Department of Education’s new office to support rural schools and districts will now be known as the Dr. David “Butch” Mosely Office of Rural Education and Innovation, State School Superintendent Richard Woods announced. Dr. David C. Mosely – known as “Butch” to his friends and colleagues – was a lifelong educator who served Georgia’s students as a coach, teacher, administrator, and superintendent in school districts across the state.
Oct. 26, 2021 Georgia Health News
State says technical ‘reporting errors’ caused data gap on kids’ Medicaid referrals
Andy Miller reports that state officials say “reporting errors’’ from the government led to recent data indicating that Georgia had a stunningly low rate of referring poor kids under Medicaid to specialty medical services. “We’re certainly not below every single state’’ when it comes to referrals, Ryan Loke, deputy commissioner of the Department of Community Health, told the agency’s board earlier this month.
Oct. 26, 2021 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Helping the Body Repair Itself
Mary Ann DeMuth reports, regenerative medicine is booming these days because one thing this relatively new field has done well is generate a lot of buzz. Often associated with stem cells, it’s the branch of medicine devoted to repairing, replacing or regrowing damaged or diseased tissues, cells or organs.
Oct. 26, 2021 Brunswick News
Rep. Carter pushes back against Dems’ proposal for IRS revisions
Hank Rowland reports that after facing heavy criticism from Republicans and banks, senior Democrats in the U.S. Senate backed their party and the administration of President Joe Biden away from a plan to lower the tax reporting threshold to under $1,000 yearly. In a plan supported by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, banks would be required to report the transactions of all personal and business accounts to the Internal Revenue Service where the inflow and outflow totaled $600 or more annually.
Oct. 26, 2021 Georgia Recorder
Former federal, state officials slam proposed mine at swamp’s ‘doorstep’
Jill Nolin reports, a bipartisan group of former federal and state officials – including former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, who helped block a strip-mining proposal near the Okefenokee Swamp decades ago – have come out in opposition to a plan to mine at the “doorstep” of the wildlife refuge. The group took out a full-page ad in the Sunday edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to prominently publish a letter condemning the proposed mining project.
Oct. 26, 2021 Syracuse.com, Rolling Stone, Rome News-Tribune
Jan. 6 organizers say they met with members of Congress, including Rep. Greene, before Capitol riot
Geoff Herbert reports that a new report says pro-Trump rally organizers regularly met with Republican members of Congress or their top staff in the weeks leading to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Two protest organizers, who were not named because they are cooperating with the House select committee’s investigation into the insurrection, told Rolling Stone on Sunday that “a dozen” GOP lawmakers or their teams were involved in planning briefings about objecting to the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory over former President Donald Trump.
Oct. 26, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Biden taps Atlantan to key ambassador post
Staff reports that President Joe Biden has tapped Atlantan Michèle Taylor as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council. She’s the second Georgian to be nominated to serve in a key diplomatic post in weeks. Taylor is a board member of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and has helped lead a range of other humanitarian groups.
