Georgia Trend Daily – May 22, 2023
May 22, 2023 Georgia Recorder
Rural Georgia still dialing 988 at higher rates as calls increase 12% overall
Jill Nolin reports that Georgians living in rural communities continue to call into the national suicide prevention hotline at higher rates than other parts of the state as the one-year anniversary of the rollout of 988 approaches. But there’s another alarming statistic causing concern in recent years about Georgia’s rural areas: The suicide rate increased even as the overall rate declined.
May 22, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Industry Spotlight: Spurring Increased Investment
Philippa Maister reports that for almost 17 years, a significant share of Georgia’s economy has been tied to the fate and decisions of a single company: South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group. With its 2006 decision to build a $1 billion, state-of-the-art Kia automobile assembly plant in West Point, and its 2022 decision to build an even more forward-looking electric vehicle (EV) assembly plant in Bryan County, Hyundai and its suppliers opened up a new sector for the state’s economy and expanded job opportunities for its residents.
May 22, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Norfolk Southern strikes deal with engineers union for paid sick leave
Kelly Yamanouchi reports that Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern has reached an agreement with a key union to offer paid sick leave for engineers, signaling the resolution of a lengthy dispute over working conditions for the rail workers. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, one of the two largest rail unions, reached an agreement with Norfolk Southern for up to seven paid sick days for engineers.
May 22, 2023 Rome News-Tribune
Rubber company to invest $8 million in West Rome; start-up plans to hire 100 over the next 5 years
Staff reports that Swami Compounding announced Friday they will be locating in a 110,000 square-foot manufacturing facility at 29 Westside Industrial Blvd. in West Rome. The company will invest approximately $8,000,000 and hire 100 employees over the next five years.
May 22, 2023 Augusta Chronicle
Augusta named ‘hub city’ in president’s Investing in America Agenda. Here’s what to know.
Miguel Legoas reports that Augusta is among five cities from across the U.S. that have been specially selected for a new presidential plan. On Thursday, the White House released details on President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda which looks to help Americans have access to high quality jobs, and Augusta is serving as a ‘Workforce Hub.’
May 22, 2023 WABE
New federal laws have lots of money for climate projects – if cities can actually get it
Emily Jones reports that Tybee Island has a rain problem. The stormwater system, fed by storm drains across the island, funnels into a pipe that comes out on the beach at the southern tip of Tybee. But that pipe gets regularly buried by sand.
May 22, 2023 The Center Square
Georgia doles out $225M for community upgrade projects
T.A. DeFeo reports that Georgia is doling out more than $225 million in federal taxpayer money to pay for various community upgrades, from accessible walkways in Atlanta’s Woodruff Park to restoring a tennis and pickleball court in Athens-Clarke County. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced the grants for 142 qualified projects, which will go to non-profits and local governments to maintain or improve recreational facilities in Qualified Census Tracts.
May 22, 2023 GlobalAtlanta.com
Exchange Program Brings German Police to Atlanta to Share Best Practices, Innovations
Katja Ridderbusch reports that a small delegation of senior police officers from Germany recently visited Atlanta for a week on an exploratory mission organized by the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, or GILEE, Georgia State University’s award-winning international law enforcement leadership program, which marked its 30th anniversary last year.
May 22, 2023 Saporta Report
MARTA union contract negotiations heat up after dragging on nearly a year
John Ruch reports, after dragging on for nearly a year, contract negotiations between MARTA and its labor union are heating up with mutual accusations of delays and misinformation, and talk of workers staging an “action.” Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 732 members are nearly five months past the expiration of a previous contract and apparently remain far apart from MARTA on pay rates, which they claim are lower than national and regional transit agencies.
May 22, 2023 Clayton Crescent
Abudu is first Black woman named to 11th Circuit
Robin Kemp reports that the U.S. Senate has voted 49-47 to confirm Nancy Gbana Abudu, Deputy Legal Director and Director for Strategic Litigation for the Southern Poverty Law Center, to serve as a judge on the Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Eleventh Circuit hears cases from the U.S. Northern District of Georgia, which includes Clayton County and northern Georgia, as well as other districts in Alabama and Florida.
May 22, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Georgia agriculture leaders pitch priorities for Farm Bill
Dave Williams reports, with four members of Georgia’s congressional delegation serving on either the U.S. House or Senate Agriculture Committee, Peach State lawmakers will have a lot to say about the next Farm Bill. It was in that spirit that state Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper led a group of Georgia farm industry leaders to Washington, D.C., to advocate for priorities.
May 22, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kemp, Netanyahu meet to boost Israel-Georgia ‘synergy’
Greg Bluestein reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gov. Brian Kemp met for roughly an hour Sunday at the Israeli leader’s Jerusalem office to discuss U.S.-Israeli relations, the threat of a nuclear Iran and economic development opportunities in Georgia. During their closed-door session, Netanyahu discussed his efforts to isolate Iran and normalize relations with Saudi Arabia, which has never formally recognized Israel.
