Georgia Trend Daily – July 12, 2023
July 12, 2023 WABE
Georgia is making its first-ever climate change plan
Emily Jones reports, for the first time, Georgia is working on a statewide plan to address climate change. There’s a plan in the works for metro Atlanta, too. The efforts are thanks to federal funding in the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law last year.
July 12, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
From Georgia to the World
K.K. Snyder reports that Georgia’s top agricultural export commodities, including forest products, poultry, pecans, peanuts and cotton, together with the Port of Savannah’s proximity to major producers, direct access via road and rail, broad global network and responsiveness to customer needs, made it the busiest port on the U.S. East Coast for the export of containerized agricultural goods last year.
July 12, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Metro Atlanta’s glut of available office space hits a record high
Zachary Hansen reports that Metro Atlanta has too much available office space to rent and not enough companies willing to fill up the office parks and skyscrapers that define the region’s skyline. Roughly a quarter of the total office space in the metro area is considered vacant.
July 12, 2023 Golden Isles CVB
Golden Isles named Best U.S. Islands by Travel + Leisure
Staff reports that Travel + Leisure has named the Golden Isles as the #1 Best U.S. Islands in the 2023 World’s Best Awards. This is the ninth consecutive year the Golden Isles has made the list of World’s Best Islands, also taking first place in 2020.
July 12, 2023 Marietta Daily Journal
Truist Park in mix for 2025 All-Star Game after ’21 contest was pulled
Staff reports that Atlanta is one of the cities under consideration for the 2025 All-Star Game. That is significant because the city lost the 2021 Midsummer Classic when Major League Baseball pulled the game amid backlash to changes in Georgia’s voting laws.
July 12, 2023 GlobalAtlanta.com
New Trade Leads Seek Georgia-Made Food, Manufactured Goods
Trevor Williams reports that the Georgia Department of Economic Development has released the latest set of trade leads gathered from around the world, revealing demand for Georgia-made manufactured goods, food items and other products across key international markets.
July 12, 2023 Athens Banner-Herald
Athens soap maker proceeds in competition to win $1 million, launches soaps on Amazon
Mary Renfroe reports that sensitive skincare brand Gently Soap has been named a 2023 semifinalist for Black Ambition, an entrepreneurial competition created by celebrity music artist Pharrell Williams. Gently’s founder and University of Georgia master’s student Kristen Dunning will take part in a three-month business mentorship program and continue on her journey toward the $1 million grand prize along 249 other semifinalists.
July 12, 2023 Georgia Recorder
Georgia public health leader sounds alarm as report confirms spike in pregnancy-related deaths
Jill Nolin reports that a new and long-awaited report shows the rate of pregnancy-related deaths in Georgia increased during a three-year period that includes the first year of the pandemic. Dr. Kathleen Toomey, the commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, had warned lawmakers early this year the report would show an increase.
July 12, 2023 The Current
Unplug Chatham County’s voting machines, activists demand
Craig Nelson reports, in a sign of tumult to come in next year’s elections in Georgia, more than a dozen Chatham County voters took the lectern at a meeting of the county’s board of elections yesterday to demand it scrap the county’s voting machines and replace them with paper ballots before next year’s elections. One-by-one, they took their allotted three minutes to demand that the five-member board abandon the county’s voting machines and replace them with paper ballots.
July 12, 2023 State Affairs
Rep. Mainor leaves Democratic Party of Georgia for GOP
Issac Morgan reports that following criticism from Georgia Democrats over supporting the private school voucher proposal and other issues, state Rep. Mesha Mainor, of Atlanta, on Tuesday decided to ditch the Democratic Caucus and officially join the Republican Party of Georgia.
July 12, 2023 The Center Square
Lawmaker questions audit on Georgia’s Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit
T.A. DeFeo reports that a Georgia lawmaker is pushing back on a state audit that indicated Georgia’s Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit could save the state and local school districts millions of dollars in expenses, calling it a “loser for Georgia taxpayers.”
July 12, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Overcrowded 5th Congressional District membership on DNR Board prompts replacement
Dave Williams reports that Gov. Brian Kemp has removed veteran Republican political operative Nick Ayers from the state Board of Natural Resources, citing an oversupply of board members from Georgia’s 5th Congressional District. In an executive order Kemp issued late last week, he pointed to a provision in Georgia’s Constitution that no more than two members of the board can come from the same congressional district.
July 12, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Jolt: New GOP election bill looks back to old 2020 grievances
Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Greg Bluestein report that the U.S. House Administration Committee held a field hearing in Atlanta on Monday. Republicans on the panel announced the “American Confidence in Elections Act” to regulate elections in Washington, D.C., and around the country. The time and place for the hearing were no coincidence.
