Georgia Trend Daily – July 11, 2023
July 11, 2023 Georgia.org
Georgia Council for the Arts to Distribute $3.5 Million in Competitive State Grants
Staff reports that Georgia Council for the Arts, a strategic arm of the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), today announced that more than $3.5 million in competitive grant funding will be distributed to recipients across the state as part of its Bridge, Project, and Arts Education grants. A total of 269 grants were awarded as part of the state’s initial disbursement for fiscal year 2024, which began on July 1.
Conference attendees at Ray Charles Plaza
July 11, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
GACVB’s Travelblazers
Susana Hills reports that the TravelBlazers program, launched in 2020 by the Georgia Convention & Visitors Bureau, is designed to recognize community destination development projects and the collaboration and creative product development that demonstrate “tourism at the economic development table.”
July 11, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia blueberries and peaches are hard to find. Blame severe weather
Evan Lasseter reports, it was a strange start to the year for most of Georgia’s fruit crops, particularly the state’s trademark peaches and blueberries. Most fruit plants need a certain amount of chill hours, those under 45 degrees Fahrenheit, in order to prepare for blooming come spring.
July 11, 2023 Macon Telegraph
EVs are big business in Georgia, but Peach State struggles on consumer incentives
Hunter reports that Georgia produces more electric vehicles than any other state, but it struggles mightily to encourage its residents to buy them. The Peach State leads the nation in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing subsidies but is second to last in the national scorecard in the state’s efforts to incentivize Georgians to transition to EVs.
July 11, 2023 Marietta Daily Journal
Atlanta Fed president calls for patience as central bank tames inflation
Jake Busch reports that Raphael Bostic, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said Monday he is on the side of patience in letting the central bank’s policies work to bring down inflation. “The message I try to tell everyone is, this is going to take longer than we might think, longer than we might have seen historically, but the trajectory is going in the right direction,” Bostic said.
July 11, 2023 GPB
Georgia moms aren’t getting the right care after pregnancy. A report finds that has fatal outcomes
Sofi Gratas reports that earlier this year, Georgia’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee reported just over 100 cases of pregnancy-related deaths from 2018 to 2020. Almost 90% could have been prevented. According to national estimates, Georgia’s rate of 30.2 pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births is almost double that of states that rank near the top for maternal outcomes.
July 11, 2023 Georgia Recorder
State wildlife officials prepare for deadly deer disease ahead of Georgia hunting season
Stanley Dunlap reports that Georgia conservationists are putting hunters on high alert about the possibility of a deadly deer disease crossing the state border after the discovery of a case in north Florida. The Georgia Wildlife Resources Division will carry out an emergency response once the state has its first detected case of Chronic Wasting Disease.
July 11, 2023 WABE
Firearms licenses in Georgia plummet after ‘permitless carry’ law
Sam Gringlas reports that roughly half as many Georgians applied for permits to carry handguns in the year since they became optional. Twenty-eight states now have “permitless carry” laws on the books, most of which passed in the last decade.
July 11, 2023 11 Alive
Georgia’s hands-free law: Here’s a look at the data over the past 5 years
Jon Shirek reports, five years after Georgia’s “hands-free” cell phone restrictions for drivers took effect, the latest numbers available show that fatal traffic crashes across the state caused by distracted drivers are fewer than before the law took effect. Robert Hydrick with the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety said Monday that the law is the reason.
July 11, 2023 The Center Square
Audit: Georgia’s education tax credit could save the state millions
T.A. DeFeo reports that Georgia’s Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit could save the state and local school districts millions of dollars in expenses. However, the Georgia Department of Audits & Accounts could not determine the exact fiscal impact because the “switcher rate” — the number of scholarship recipients who would have attended a public school without a Student Scholarship Organizations scholarship — is unknown.
July 11, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Congressional Republicans introduce voting reforms in Georgia
Dave Williams reports that Congressional Republicans launched a bid Monday to adopt election reforms modeled after controversial legislation Georgia lawmakers enacted two years ago. Five GOP House members, including U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Cassville, introduced the American Confidence in Elections Act following a news conference in Marietta, part of Loudermilk’s 11th Congressional District.
July 11, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Jolt: Boon or bust? Georgia Republicans clash over EVs
Patricia Murphy, Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell report, as Gov. Brian Kemp and other state Republicans work to make Georgia the “electric mobility capital” of America, other Republicans are blasting EVs like the ones set to be built in Georgia as left-wing luxury items. The latest salvo against EVs is coming from Georgia’s U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, who has introduced legislation to roll back a proposed EPA emissions rule that would favor electric vehicles like the ones set to be built outside of Savannah by Hyundai and in Rutledge by Rivian.
