Georgia Trend Daily – April 15, 2022
April 15, 2022 GPB
Bald eagles around the U.S. are contracting the bird flu
Rina Torchinsky reports, as the avian flu rips through the United States, birds across the country are contracting the fatal disease, including bald eagles. At least three bald eagles who contracted bird flu are dead, Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources said Thursday.
April 15, 2022 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Economic Development Around the State
Christy Simo reports that for the first half of fiscal year 2021 (July-December), Georgia saw record- breaking job creation, with 24,400 new jobs and $9.8 billion in investment. Areas outside Metro Atlanta accounted for 60% of the jobs created and 78% of investments during that period.
April 15, 2022 Capitol Beat News
Georgia unemployment down, wages up
Dave Williams reports that Georgia’s unemployment rate fell to an all-time low of 3.1% last month, creating a tight labor market that drove up wages. The jobless rate in Georgia was five-tenths of a percent lower than the national average for March of 3.6%.
April 15, 2022 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Report: Controversial rural jobs program generates hundreds of jobs
Dylan Jackson reports that venture capital funds participating in a Georgia rural jobs program say they have created or retained roughly 1,400 jobs, according to the state program’s most recent annual report. The Georgia Agribusiness and Rural Jobs Act (GARJA), first passed in 2017, was created to help spur investment into Georgia’s rural counties by leveraging state tax dollars.
April 15, 2022 WSB-TV
Blackhall to become largest movie studio in Southeast with DeKalb expansion
Richard Elliot reports that the largest movie studio in the Southeast will soon be in south DeKalb County, and an agreement made Thursday could also mean 2,400 new jobs for the area. Blackhall Studios is where they shot Jumanji, the Jungle Cruise, Doctor Sleep and other movies. It’s already a big studio.
April 15, 2022 Georgia.gov
Gov. Kemp: Timing of Tax Filing Deadlines Leads to Large One-Month Increase in State Revenues
Staff reports that the State of Georgia’s net tax collections for March totaled $2.76 billion, for an increase of $862.9 million, or 45.5 percent, compared to March 2021, when net tax collections approached $1.90 billion. Year-to-date, net tax collections totaled $22.52 billion, for an increase of nearly $3.59 billion, or 18.9 percent, compared to the previous fiscal year when net tax revenues totaled $18.94 billion at the end of the third quarter.
April 15, 2022 Georgia Heath News
Can an out-of-state hospital system block a new project in Georgia?
Andy Miller reports that the owners of an aging northwest Georgia hospital want to replace it with a smaller state-of-the-art facility about 5 miles away and closer to I-75. Under the state’s regulatory certificate-of-need (CON) system, other hospitals can contest CHI Memorial Hospital Georgia’s bid to get state approval for the replacement hospital, which would be located in Ringgold. No Georgia hospital system has objected.
April 15, 2022 Rome News-Tribune
Coming Home: Library system gets grant to help newly released prisoners find resources
Imani Beverly-Knox reports, local residents returning from a prison term will be able to get help reintegrating into the community through a new program at the Sara Hightower Regional Library System. The system — headquartered at the Rome Floyd County Library — won a $2,000 grant from the American Library Association to launch Coming Home: Essential Resources for Re-entering Citizens.
April 15, 2022 The Current
Camden rejects voters’ will on spaceport but Union Carbide hesitates on deal
Mary Landers reports that Camden County bills itself as having “Leadership that Listens.” But it’s not listening to its voters. On Tuesday, the County Commission unanimously agreed to move forward with its purchase of a property for its planned spaceport, despite the results of a March 8 referendum in which voters rejected the purchase.
April 15, 2022 Georgia Recorder
Trump sends cash to anti-Kemp group, marking his first big midterm donation
Ross Williams reports that former President Donald Trump has opened up his wallet – or at least his political action committee – in the hopes of thwarting Gov. Brian Kemp’s bid for a second term. Trump’s Save America PAC has donated $500,000 to Get Georgia Right, a Virginia-based anti-Kemp super PAC.
April 15, 2022 New York Times
Georgia’s 2018 Rematch, in a Courtroom
Nick Corasaniti reports that the 2018 race for governor in Georgia ended in a bitter dispute between Brian Kemp, a Republican who was serving as secretary of state at the time, and Stacey Abrams, the Democratic challenger who accused the state of voter suppression. The election, won by Kemp, was plagued by long lines, especially in communities of color where wait times occasionally exceeded two hours.
April 15, 2022 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia joins lawsuit over Biden’s plan to stop quick expulsions at border
Lautaro Grinspan reports that Georgia has signed on to a Republican-led lawsuit challenging the Biden administration over its plans to lift Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allows for the quick expulsion of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border on public health grounds. In a federal court complaint filed Thursday, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr joined other Republican officials to warn that “unmitigated chaos and catastrophe” could follow Title 42 revocation.
