Georgia Trend Daily – March 15, 2023
March 14, 2023 Marietta Daily Journal
KSU economist ‘optimistic’ about banking sector stabilizing; local bankers unperturbed
Hunter Riggall reports that a Kennesaw State University economist told businesspeople Tuesday that he’s optimistic that steps taken by the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will stabilize the banking sector in the wake of two regional banks collapsing.
Parklet Expert: Adeline Collot, planning and capital projects program director for the Upper Westside CID, at the Brady Avenue parklet Photo: Daemon Baizan
March 14, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Managing Progress
Patty Rasmussen reports, “You don’t have to be big to have a big impact,” says Kevin Green, president and CEO of Midtown Alliance, the nonprofit coalition of business and civic leaders that staffs and operates the 1.2-square-mile Midtown Improvement District. In 2022, Midtown Alliance harnessed the power of the parklet – orphaned parking spaces transformed into mini-parks – along Spring Street, amping up the district’s livability by inviting residents and visitors to linger longer.
March 14, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta engineers build AI drones to fire from helicopters in combat
Zachary Hansen reports that more than a hundred engineers in a newly opened Atlanta facility are designing, coding and building cutting-edge drones to do dangerous tasks from tracking hurricanes to flying into active war zones. That’s the work military defense contractor Anduril Industries is doing at its Atlanta office and production center, which opened in early March.
March 14, 2023 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Amid financial crisis, Synovus says the Columbus-based bank is stable
Brittany McGee reports, in light of the collapse of three banks in the last week, the Columbus-based Synovus bank reassured customers that the financial institution is stable, according to a statement to the Ledger-Enquirer. Silicon Valley Bank collapsed historically on March 10 after a bank run spurred on by a downturn in the tech industry.
March 14, 2023 WSB Radio
Farmers scramble to save crops as freezing temps put them at risk
Staff reports that freezing weather causes issues for crops, plants, and farms, and one farm is trying its best to preserve its crops for the season. Southern Belle Farm is one of several local farms in danger after the back-to-back freezing temperatures threatened their crops
March 14, 2023 Georgia Ports Authority
Port of Savannah gains national market share
Staff reports that in the latest information from logistics data provider PIERS, the Georgia Ports Authority now handles one out of every 8.8 loaded twenty-foot equivalent container units in the U.S., its highest national market share ever. The Port of Savannah moved 11.4 percent of the nation’s loaded international containers for Fiscal Year 2023 through December, with more than 2 million TEUs.
March 14, 2023 State Affairs
New Department of Labor commissioner is taking stock and making changes, aiming for a better experience for Georgians
Tammy Joyner reports, when Bruce Thompson says he has an open-door policy, he means it. Literally. The badge-only elevator access to his sixth-floor executive suite in downtown Atlanta is gone, removed shortly after his arrival in January as Georgia labor commissioner.
March 14, 2023 The Current, Prism
Sapelo Island’s Geechee residents worry state Senate bill could disenfranchise them
Alexandra Martinez reports that the Georgia General Assembly quietly passed a bill on March 2 to modify the rules of the Sapelo Island Heritage Authority without the input of the island’s Geechee residents, descendants of enslaved Africans on Sapelo Island. A group of Republican representatives introduced House Bill 273, and it passed unanimously; the bill now moves on to the Senate Committee for Natural Resources and the Environment for a vote.
March 14, 2023 Georgia Recorder
Supporters of mine near Okefenokee hint at lawsuit if Georgia lawmakers pass bill protecting swamp
Jill Nolin reports that supporters of a plan to mine Trail Ridge near the Okefenokee Swamp say the local community sorely needs the economic boost. Defenders of the swamp argue it isn’t worth the risk. The two sides battling in the nearly four-year saga over whether an Alabama company should be allowed to move forward with its plans to mine the site for titanium dioxide and zirconium were allowed to make their case to lawmakers during a two-hour public hearing held Tuesday.
March 14, 2023 The Center Square
Georgia House committee votes to keep COVID-19 vaccine proof prohibition
Steve Wilson reports that a bill that would permanently extend Georgia’s prohibition on local governments requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for services was approved by the House Public Health Committee on Monday. Public Health Chairwoman Sharon Cooper, R-Marietta, broke a party-line tie to get the bill through to the House floor.
March 14, 2023 WABE
Senate Bill 140 advances during a Georgia House Public Health Committee hearing
LaShawn Hudson reports that a proposed bill that blocks trans youth from receiving hormone replacement therapy, as well as prohibits medical professionals from performing certain surgical procedures at hospitals and other licensed healthcare facilities, is one step closer to becoming law. On Tuesday, SB140, backed by Sen. Carden Summers and several other lawmakers, passed during a Georgia House Public Health Committee hearing.
March 14, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New rift over HOPE funding divides Georgia leaders
Greg Bluestein reports, a few weeks ago, Gov. Brian Kemp tucked a surprise into his spending proposal for the upcoming fiscal year: a budget item that would boost funding for the HOPE scholarship and at least temporarily end the two-tier award system that many lawmakers long hoped to eliminate. The plan won plaudits from Democrats who otherwise oppose Kemp’s agenda, pledges of support from GOP lawmakers and hurrahs from student groups
