Georgia Trend Daily – March 30, 2023
March 30, 2023 WSB Radio
EV battery recycling plant opens in Covington
Jonathan O’Brien reports that East Georgia is now home to North America’s largest electric vehicle battery recycling facility. Massachusetts-based Ascend Elements cut the ribbon Wednesday on its 150,000-square-foot facility, which can process 30,000 tons of used lithium-ion batteries and manufacturing scrap per year. That’s equivalent to 70,000 electric vehicle batteries.
A Model for Other Cities:
Clyde Higgs, president and
CEO of Atlanta BeltLine Inc
Photo: Ben Rollins
March 30, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Ripple Effect
Betty Darby reports that some construction and redevelopment projects are much larger than themselves, as their impact expands in ripples around their original footprint. These transformational projects, typically mixed-use developments, rewrite the built environment around them entirely.
March 30, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Spring travel squeezing airports, airlines as summer surge looms
Kelly Yamanouchi reports that airlines have been working for months to gird for soaring demand, with persistent staffing woes and decades of under-investment in aviation infrastructure threatening to create a repeat of last summer when similar troubles created havoc at airports across the globe. But it turns out, spring is already proving to be a test for airlines and travelers.
March 30, 2023 Marietta Daily Journal
Developer proposes 84-foot-tall apartment building off Marietta Square
Hunter Riggall reports that real estate developer Bridger Properties has submitted plans to the city proposing the construction of a 135-unit, 84-foot-tall apartment building off Marietta Square. Just minutes after the plans were submitted, the City Council discussed ways it could stop the building.
March 30, 2023 GPB
Savannah seeks input on new name for square formerly named after slavery supporter John C. Calhoun
Benjamin Payne reports that Savannah City Council is asking the public for suggestions on what name should be given to the former Calhoun Square, one of the 22 iconic public squares in the city’s downtown Historic District. The nameless square had since 1851 been named after John C. Calhoun until last November, when the Savannah City Council voted to remove the former vice president’s name, on the grounds that he was a staunch defender of slavery and had no known ties to the city.
March 30, 2023 The Center Square
Legislature signs off on bill to ban TikTok
T.A. DeFeo reports that Georgia lawmakers have sent a measure to bar TikTok and other “national security software threats” on state-owned devices. Lawmakers in both chambers unanimously signed off on Senate Bill 93, which they say would also bar Telegram and WeChat, and sent the measure to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
March 30, 2023 Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI News
Senate OKs DA oversight panel
Asia Ashley reports that district attorneys and solicitors general may soon be overseen by a partisan commission if Gov. Brian Kemp signs off on it. Tweaks to the proposed Senate Bill 92 received final approval in the Senate March 27 in a 32-24 mostly party line vote.
March 30, 2023 Augusta Chronicle
Georgia General Assembly passes budget with smaller cuts to USG, Cyber Center
Abraham Kenmore reports that a report issued Wednesday, last day for the 2023 session of the Georgia General Assembly, on the state budget keeps some, but not all, cuts to the University System of Georgia teaching budget made in the Senate version. This version of the budget passed the Senate 54-1 and the House 170-3 before heading to Gov. Brian Kemp for final approval.
March 30, 2023 The Brunswick News
Jones Hooks honored by Georgia House of Representatives
Hank Rowland reports that members of the Georgia House of Representatives took time this week to recognize the man credited with bringing new life to Jekyll Island, one of Georgia’s premier state parks. Jekyll Island Executive Director Jones Hooks was recognized with a resolution in the House chamber Monday.
March 30, 2023 Dalton Daily Citizen, CNHI News
Georgia bill prohibiting outside funds for local election departments heads passes
Asia Ashley reports that local election offices may soon be further challenged with funding woes as the Georgia Senate and House approved a bill expanding restrictions to prevent outside funding and donations. The Republican-led legislature in its massive 2021 election overhaul bill, Senate Bill 202, prohibited elections superintendents from accepting funding, grants or gifts from any source other than the county, municipality, state or federal government.
March 30, 2023 Georgia Recorder
Sound but less fury: Georgia lawmakers leave town with betting, vouchers, med cannabis undone
Ross Williams, Jill Nolin and Stanley Dunlap report, the final day of the Georgia Legislative session comes with many traditions, like throwing fistfulls of paper, wearing seersucker suits in early spring and, in recent years, failing to pass a bill to allow for medical cannabis. Sine Die, pronounced “see-nay dee-ay” in Latin but “Sigh-nee Die” in Georgia, typically sees lawmakers scramble to get their favorite bills past the finish line before the 40-day session expires.
March 30, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DeSantis to visit Cobb gun store that’s a favorite of GOP contenders
Greg Bluestein reports that when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visits the Adventure Outdoors shop on Thursday, he’ll be joining a long line of Republican officials who have made the giant Cobb County gun store a favorite campaign stop. Country crooner Travis Tritt raffled off guns outside Adventure Outdoors to supporters of then-U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler in December 2020. Gov. Brian Kemp and failed U.S. Senate hopeful Herschel Walker picked the store for their sole joint event last year.
