Georgia Trend Daily – June 16, 2023
June 16, 2023 Valdosta Daily Times
Thousands without power in South Georgia
Terry Richards reports that power outages were reported in South Central Georgia in the wake of strong thunderstorms that moved through the area Thursday. Colquitt Electric Membership Corporation reported more than 2,400 customers were out of power at 2 p.m. in its Tifton region.
June 16, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Organizations: Northeast Georgia History Center
Candice Dyer reports that the Northeast Georgia History Center works to make the past come alive with interactive, family-friendly exhibits and programming. “We don’t just throw out a bunch of dry names and dates,” says interim executive director Libba Beaucham.
June 16, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How many Fortune 500 companies does Georgia have?
Zachary Hansen reports that the Peach State picked up a new Fortune 500 company this year, expanding Georgia’s collection of marquee corporations that includes Delta Air Lines, Home Depot and Coca-Cola. Assurant, a global insurance provider, officially moved its headquarters from New York to its Cobb County office at the end of 2022 to follow the company’s new CEO, who lives in Atlanta.
June 16, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Georgia 400 toll lanes project being delayed
Dave Williams reports that a plan to add toll lanes along Georgia 400 in Fulton and Forsyth counties is being delayed by about four months after one of three contractor finalists dropped out of consideration. Express 400 Partners, one of three roadbuilding consortiums the Georgia Department of Transportation had short-listed for the project, withdrew from the selection process last month, Meg Pirkle, the DOT’s chief engineer, told members of the State Transportation Board Wednesday.
June 16, 2023 Marietta Daily Journal
Why Cobb is the perfect staging ground for Chattahoochee RiverLands
Jake Busch reports that for too long, the Chattahoochee River served as a boundary, a dividing line between Cobb County and the city of Atlanta, according to Walt Ray with the Trust for Public Land in Georgia. “It’s now a connective tissue,” Ray said. “People have changed, our communities have changed and evolved.”
June 16, 2023 State Affairs
Living behind the eight ball: Rural Georgians fight long health care odds
Tammy Joyner reports, with no OB-GYN and one pediatrician in Walker County, Angela Pence has to go to nearby Catoosa County for those basic health care services. There also are no emergency medical doctors in Walker County, home to about 69,000 mostly white residents and the famed tourist attraction Lookout Mountain.
June 16, 2023 WABE
Georgia is becoming a hub for electric vehicle production. Just don’t mention climate
Sam Gringlas reports that Georgia is pushing ahead with a plan to establish itself as the “electric mobility capital of the country,” or as Gov. Kemp, a Republican, recently pledged at one event – the world. Kemp says the new jobs will be a game-changer for Georgia’s economy.
June 16, 2023 The Center Square
Georgia lawmakers begin review of state’s tax credits
T.A. DeFeo reports that Georgia offers an array of tax credits, ranging from credits for historic preservation to the much-ballyhooed credit to attract film production to credits Peach State politicos tout whenever a business relocates to the state. Lawmakers could consider overhauling the state’s tax credits when they reconvene in January, but the specific action they take could depend on what they hear from experts over the next few months.
June 16, 2023 Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI News
Georgia committee starts assessing needs for restrictions on health care access
Asia Ashley reports that legislation to reform or scrap Georgia’s certificate of needs laws for health care facilities stalled in the 2023 legislative session but now committees are meeting to determine the best way forward. The Senate, in a 42-13 vote Feb. 27, approved Senate Bill 99, which would exempt acute care hospitals looking to locate in rural counties (or counties with less than 50,000 residents) from adhering to CON requirements. The bill, however, stalled in the House.
June 16, 2023 Georgia Recorder
With eye on 2024, Georgia GOP gears up to recruit minority voters to bigger tent
Aaleah McConnell reports, as the 2024 election approaches, Georgia conservatives are concerned about the direction of the party, and the tension between establishment Republicans and Donald Trump supporters is especially fraught. But a growing number of Black and brown voters in the Georgia GOP say more needs to be done to bridge the divide between conservatives of color and the party’s leadership.
June 16, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Georgia unemployment rate posts slight increase in May
Dave Williams reports that Georgia’s unemployment rate rose slightly last month to 3.2% after holding steady at 3.1% for the previous nine months, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. Still, the Peach State’s jobless rate in May was half a percentage point lower than the national unemployment rate of 3.7%.
June 16, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Jolt: Brad Raffensperger challenges Donald Trump to a verbal duel
Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell report that Gov. Brian Kemp isn’t the only Georgia Republican taking the gloves off with Donald Trump. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is also fed up with the attacks from the former president and his allies. A few days after Trump slammed Raffensperger at the Georgia GOP convention in Columbus to the delight of thousands of delegates, the secretary of state trekked to west Georgia to deliver his own speech.
