Georgia Trend Daily – May 10, 2023
May 10, 2023 GPB
Georgia tax revenue down 16.5% compared to April 2022, Kemp’s office says
Sarah Kallis and Orlando Montoya report that state tax collections slipped significantly in April. Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said Tuesday that revenues decreased by more than $800 million, or about 16%, compared to April of last year. It’s the second straight month of revenue decline, reversing a boom that started with the end of COVID-19 restrictions in 2020.
May 10, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
A Seat at the Tech Table
Patty Rasmussen reports, for years, firms in the technology sector scooped up MBA graduates like happy kids playing in the sand at the beach. Big-name companies like Amazon, Deloitte, Microsoft and Facebook [AKA Meta] heavily recruited MBAs fresh out of business school, typically offering hefty signing bonuses and six-figure salaries.
May 10, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
More Georgia biomass plants could soon burn a new fuel: Scrap tires
Drew Kann reports, when scientists think of a “biomass” fuel, organic materials like wood pellets, timber scraps or other plant matter that can be burned typically comes to mind. But recent votes by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) have stretched that definition, potentially allowing facilities to add scrap tires and even natural gas to the mix they burn to produce electricity.
May 10, 2023 The Center Square
Georgia ranks second in magazine’s economic development listing
T.A. DeFeo reports that a national economic development trade publication ranked Georgia second in a new listing of how well states attract investment. Site Selection placed Georgia behind only North Carolina in its 2023 edition of the Prosperity Cup.
May 10, 2023 GlobalAtlanta.com
Norway’s Consul General Aims to Share Georgia’s Clean-Energy Story
Trevor Williams reports that Georgia isn’t known for its ties to Norway, but the $2.6 billion investment Freyr Battery is rolling out here is causing its home country look more deeply into factors drawing companies to the state. Norwegian Consul General Heidi Olufsen came into her New York posting in August 2021 and was handed a portfolio of 22 states including Georgia.
May 10, 2023 WSB Radio
Atlanta homes are the most overpriced in the country, new study finds
Staff reports, according to research conducted by Florida Atlantic University, Atlanta residents are paying nearly 50% more for their homes than the expected price. That’s down slightly from last August, when home buyers were paying 55% more than the expected price on average on their home.
May 10, 2023 Marietta Daily Journal
‘A positive direction’: Battery Atlanta generating record tax revenue, says county CFO
Hunter Riggall reports, last year, Truist Park and The Battery Atlanta produced more property tax revenue than Cobb County paid out of its general fund for debt service on the project, the county’s chief financial officer said Tuesday. Cobb CFO Bill Volckmann said the county had crossed a major milestone in 2022 in a presentation to the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
May 10, 2023 Rough Draft – Atlanta
Sen. Ossoff announces $500,000 grant to support small businesses in Atlanta’s historic Sweet Auburn neighborhood
Dyana Bagby reports that U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia) announced Monday a $500,000 federal grant to support small businesses and entrepreneurs in Downtown Atlanta’s historic Sweet Auburn neighborhood. The funding, approved as part of last year’s Congressional appropriations bill, was awarded to Sweet Auburn Works.
May 10, 2023 Georgia Recorder
Environmental groups score reprieve for sea turtles as Army Corps backs off Georgia coast dredging plan
Stanley Dunlap reports that Georgia coastal protection activists are celebrating good news for the rare sea turtle population that has been threatened by a channel dredging process that acts like a vacuum cleaner along the sea floor. In response to the conservation group One Hundred Miles’ lawsuit, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agreed this month to study the threat of hopper dredging on loggerhead turtle fisheries and other wildlife in the Brunswick Harbor.
May 10, 2023 Capitol Beat News
End of public health emergency won’t affect COVID vaccines, testing for now
Dave Williams reports that COVID-19 tests and vaccines will continue to be offered for free in Georgia despite the ending of the federal public health emergency later this week, Dr. Kathleen Toomey, commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, said Tuesday. The public health emergency that took first effect in early 2020 will end on Thursday.
May 10, 2023 Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI News
Medical marijuana hits Ga. shelves
Asia Ashley reports that the wait is over for many Georgians who have waited nearly a decade to legally purchase medical cannabis in the state.The rocky battle toward bringing the medicine to shelves in Georgia ended late last month with the opening of two medical marijuana dispensaries operated by Trulieve — one at 3556 Riverside Drive in Macon and the other at 220 Cobb Parkway in Marietta.
May 10, 2023 The Current
Data dive: How Savannah measures crime
Maggie Lee reports, every week Savannah’s police department publishes a “crime report” with benchmark statistics that end up in headlines, political debates, and kitchen table talk. Savannah PD — like thousands of agencies nationwide – has yet to update reporting to a new FBI standard set in 2021.
May 10, 2023 Dalton Daily Citizen, CNHI News
Republican leaders to appoint members to new prosecutor oversight commission
Asia Ashley reports that in less than two months, state Republican leaders will appoint members to a new commission tasked with overseeing and disciplining prosecutors. Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill on May 5, create the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, which would have the power to investigate, discipline or remove elected district attorneys or solicitors-general in specific instances, including if they are consistently not fulfilling their duties.
