Georgia Trend Daily – June 30, 2022
June 30, 2022 Savannah Morning News
Okefenokee Swamp Park to seek UNESCO World Heritage Site Status for conservation, economy
Marisa Mecke reports that an effort is underway to designate the Okefenokee Swamp a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. To highlight the wetlands’ natural and ecological value, and its potential to stimulate economic tourism for south Georgia, the Okefenokee Swamp Park Inc. is partnering with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in seeking the recognition.
June 30, 2022 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Nominations open for Governor’s Award for Arts and Humanities
Kenna Simmons reports, one of our favorite stories this year was “Celebrating Cultural Vitality,” which featured profiles of some of the Governor’s Arts and Humanities Award winners, from hip-hop artist Lyrika Homes (who shone on our cover) to “Liberty County’s Tyler Perry,” AKA playwright and county commission chair Donald Lovette. The five individual awardees talked about art and advocacy, their lives and their passion for the work they do.
June 30, 2022 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Power will turn millions more tons of coal ash into concrete
Drew Kann reports, as Georgia Power winds down its reliance on coal to generate electricity, it has found that the ash left behind by decades of combustion can be used in one of the most highly sought building materials on Earth: concrete. On Wednesday, the company announced plans to begin harvesting roughly 600,000 tons of coal ash each year from Plant Bowen near Cartersville to produce concrete for roads, buildings and bridges across Georgia.
June 30, 2022 The Center Square
Federal funds to assist broadband project for central Georgia electric co-op
T.A. DeFeo reports that a $19 million American Rescue Plan grant will fund high-speed internet access for the Ocmulgee Electric Membership Corporation’s roughly 8,000 members in central Georgia. The project to deploy upwards of 2,100 miles of a so-called fiber-to-the-home network will take up to four years to complete and cost at least $40 million for the nonprofit, member-owned electric power association, better known as a co-op.
June 30, 2022 Macon Telegraph
Middle Georgia State could bring $1 million in tourism money with new grant. Here’s how
Micah Johnston reports that Middle Georgia State University will receive $1.2 million in American Rescue Plan money to build a new athletic facility, officials announced Tuesday. The grant comes from the Economic Development Administration with the intent to boost tourism in the area by creating a better event space.
June 30, 2022 Albany Herald
Ossoff announces health initiative for mothers, children during Albany visit
Alan Mauldin reports that U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., came to Albany Wednesday to announce a bipartisan initiative to improve the health of expectant mothers and their children, with one of the focuses being on rural areas. “I want to make sure rural mothers have access to the health care they need,” Ossoff said during an afternoon news conference at the Albany Boys & Girls Clubs facility on Thornton Drive.
June 30, 2022 State Affairs
Costs Could Climb for Georgia Women Seeking Abortions as Court Scraps Roe v. Wade
Beau Evans reports that after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade last week, Georgia is poised to ban most abortions after six weeks into pregnancy. The move would leave North Carolina and Florida as the only states in the South within driving distance where women set on having an abortion after the six weeks may have one performed.
June 30, 2022 The Center Square
Georgia Attorney General says not enforcing anti-abortion law is a ‘dereliction of duty’
T.A. DeFeo reports that some Georgia district attorneys say that if a federal court allows Georgia’s fetal heartbeat law to take effect, they won’t prosecute violators. However, the state’s top prosecutor said such an approach “undermines the rule of law.”
June 30, 2022 Capitol Beat News
Kemp allies go after Abrams as anti-police
Dave Williams reports that allies of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp attacked Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams Wednesday as supporting the “defund the police” movement that gained traction two years ago following the murder of a Black man by a Minneapolis police officer. “The Georgia Constitution says it is the paramount duty of government to protect persons and property,” GOP Attorney General Chris Carr said during a news conference at Kemp’s campaign headquarters in Smyrna.
June 30, 2022 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Georgia Democrats take different paths on abortion limits
Greg Bluestein reports that U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and Stacey Abrams have each put a pledge to protect abortion rights at the heart of their November campaigns. But the two Democrats are taking sharply different approaches to how they would do so. https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/top-georgia-democrats-take-different-paths-on-abortion-limits/YRUX4QCN3FFADOHNEF6OX32UJ4/
