Georgia Trend Daily – May 3, 2023
May 3, 2023 Georgia Recorder
State regulators hear pleas for relief from rising electric bills in Georgia Power fuel rate case
Stanley Dunlap reports that Savannah resident Evelyn Jackson told Georgia utility regulators Tuesday that being a retiree on a fixed income means making more sacrifices in order to cover the rising costs to keep her home’s lights on. Jackson was among a host of Georgia Power ratepayers who urged the Georgia Public Service Commission to stem the tide of power bill rate hikes as commissioners are set to vote May 16 on a fuel rate case that could have the average household spending $16 more on monthly utilities over a three-year period beginning in June.
May 3, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Encouraging Entrepreneurial Dreams
Betty Darby reports, Grace Fricks’ first career was as a social worker, but then she hit upon an idea: Maybe the way to help people out of poverty was to enable them to start a small business.
May 3, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Economic analysis shows ‘best case’ scenario for possible NHL arena
Zachary Hansen reports, a Forsyth County arena with an NHL hockey franchise would generate $6.6 million per year in county sales taxes and nearly $18 million in tax revenues annually for the state, according to an economic impact analysis obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
May 3, 2023 The Center Square
IRS data shows more taxpayers moving to Georgia
T.A. DeFeo reports, Georgia had more taxpayers move to the state than out between 2020 and 2021, new IRS data shows. Federal tax forms filed in 2021 show Georgia welcomed 282,626 taxpayers and dependents, including 278,474 from other states.
May 3, 2023 The Covington News
Rivian appoints Anthony Sanger as first vice president for Georgia manufacturing plant
Gabriel Stovall reports, in a sign that operations are continuing to surge ahead for Rivian’s planned Georgia manufacturing facility, Rivian announced Tuesday that it has hired Anthony Sanger as the first Vice President of Facilities for its planned manufacturing facility in the Stanton Springs area. Sanger previously spent six years with global professional services firm Turner & Townsend, and before that, worked at international consulting firm AECOM for 20 years.
May 3, 2023 Augusta Chronicle
Wellstar agrees to spending nearly $800 million over next decade in AU Health merger
Abraham Kenmore reports, the agreement on the merger between Augusta University Health System and Wellstar Health System into Wellstar MCG Health is finally public. The office of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr received the notice on Friday, kicking off a legal review followed by a public hearing.
May 3, 2023 WABE
Thousands of Northeast Georgia Health System patients now out-of-network with UnitedHealthcare
Jess Mador reports that Northeast Georgia Health System locations are now out-of-network for patients with commercial UnitedHealthcare insurance after price negotiations between the insurance giant and the health system recently failed. UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans and Health Insurance Exchange plans are not affected.
May 3, 2023 WSB-Radio
$100 million to go to affordable housing effort in Atlanta neighborhood
Richard Elliott reports that Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens joined city leaders and a formerly homeless Atlantan to announce a new, potentially $200 million, effort to create affordable housing in the Georgia capital. The investment announced Tuesday was described as possibly the largest single investment in affordable housing in city history.
May 3, 2023 The Current
Georgia’s hedge against climate change: the Okefenokee’s peat
Mary Landers reports that the Okefenokee gets its name from formations that are part land and part water, what the Muskogee (Creek) people are said to have deemed “trembling earth.” Peat is what makes that trembling possible. It’s the foundation of the Okefenokee Swamp, and of wetlands around the world.
May 3, 2023 Fresh Take Georgia
Georgia schools grapple with how to transport students
Haley Combs reports that in recent years, the familiar sight of lumbering yellow school buses on rural Georgia roads and metro streets has been replaced with “help wanted” signs posted by districts in search of qualified drivers. A stubborn shortage of school bus drivers has swept the nation, and Georgia is not exempt.
May 3, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kemp to sign bill to give insurance chief more review of auto rates
James Salzer reports, last year when John King was running for a full term as Georgia’s insurance commissioner, he heard the same thing over and over from voters. “What are you going to do about auto insurance rates?” King told a House committee, recalling those conversations on the campaign trail. “And when I told them I had no authority to at least negotiate with companies, they couldn’t believe that.”
