Georgia Trend Daily – July 17, 2023
July 17, 2023 Georgia Recorder
Tens of thousands of Georgians at risk of losing food assistance under state’s new work rules
Stanley Dunlap reports that food assistance advocates contend that a Georgia agency’s refusal to apply for a federal work exemption puts thousands of Georgians in danger of losing much-needed monthly payments for groceries. Since July 1, more than 87,000 Georgian adults without children are required to work at least 80 hours a month in order to receive benefits provided through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps.
Photo contributed
July 17, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Ahmaud Arbery Foundation
Candice Dyer reports that Ahmaud Arbery – “Maud” to his friends – liked to jog to clear his head. But when the 25-year-old was murdered in a racially motivated hate crime while jogging in Glynn County in 2020, Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, channeled her grief into action to preserve her son’s legacy, establishing the Ahmaud Arbery Foundation.
July 17, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Supreme Court declines to hear Rivian incentives case
Zachary Hansen reports that the Georgia Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal challenging the validity of roughly $700 million in property tax breaks that Rivian is expected to receive for its future $5 billion electric vehicle factory. The state’s highest court said Thursday it will let stand an appellate court’s ruling that primarily sided with the state and a local development authority and paved the way for a bulk of those property tax breaks to be reinstated for Rivian.
July 17, 2023 GlobalAtlanta.com
Delta Posts Record Profit on Surge of International Sales Growth
Trevor Williams reports, it was the first to go and the last to return, but international traffic has come roaring back for Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. with the pandemic officially over. Revenue from the segment jumped 61 percent in the June quarter from the prior period last year, contributing to record quarterly sales and profit three years after COVID-19 forced a shutdown of most cross-border passenger routes.
July 17, 2023 Augusta Chronicle
Why does Augusta need a new arena and a sales tax to pay for it? Coliseum authority explains
Miguel Legoas reports, the Bell Auditorium is closed for renovations, leaving the James Brown Arena as the Augusta Entertainment Complex’s sole venue. But the arena is looking at an even bigger facelift as the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority works to get a new arena off the ground.
July 17, 2023 Clayton News-Daily
Georgia Wildlife Federation president wins national award
Staff reports that Mike Worley, the president and CEO of Georgia Wildlife Federation, was awarded the Charlie Shaw Affiliate Partnership Award by the National Wildlife Federation at the recent annual meeting in Lake Tahoe. Selected by NWF staff, Worley was recognized as the state-level leader that best typifies the partnership between NWF and its state affiliates.
July 17, 2023 State Affairs
Already struggling child care providers brace for end of federal relief funds
Jill Jordan Sieder reports that results of a survey of Georgia child care providers released last week found that most are struggling to fully staff their programs and to meet the growing demand for child care. And the imminent end of COVID-related federal funding that has stabilized many center- and home-based child care programs is expected to exacerbate these challenges.
July 17, 2023 GPB
Taxpayer dollars at work: What your U.S. senators from Georgia were doing for the week ending July 14
Ambria Burton reports, U.S. Sens. Ossoff and Warnock introduced legislation focused on maternal mortality, a universal insulin cap, small-business support for disabled veterans, fentanyl trafficking and Georgia’s citrus industry. Warnock, with Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), reintroduced legislation on Tuesday that will help lower the maternal mortality death rates seen in women of color.
July 17, 2023 Marietta Daily Journal
Sam Olens on the antisemitism bill
Staff reports, when half a dozen neo-Nazis descended on the sidewalk in front of an east Cobb synagogue last month, grotesquely waving Nazi flags, former Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens told the MDJ that education was the answer to combating the rise of antisemitism in this country. Georgia has a hate crimes law, but it doesn’t apply to simply protesting in the right of way, Olens said at the time.
July 17, 2023 Capitol Beat News
What to do with another state budget surplus behind looming debate
Dave Williams reports that Georgia taxpayers could be in for a third round of income tax rebates next year now that the state is reporting another hefty budget surplus. But a progressive-leaning think tank that keeps a close eye on Georgia fiscal policies is arguing the tax rebates Gov. Brian Kemp and his fellow Republicans in the General Assembly adopted during the last two legislative sessions came at the expense of critical government services that have been underfunded since the Great Recession more than a decade ago.
July 17, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘He kept them straight’: Political journalist Shipp praised at funeral
Greg Bluestein reports, the cantankerous journalist Bill Shipp once surprised former Gov. Roy Barnes with a prediction that they’d both have good crowds at their funerals. Barnes, taken aback, noted that both weren’t exactly universally beloved.
