Georgia Trend Daily – Aug. 17, 2023
Aug. 17, 2023 Georgia Ports Authority
Georgia Ports earns AQUA Lane certification with U.S. Customs
Staff reports that the Georgia Ports Authority obtained certification on Aug. 1, 2023, for all GPA terminals from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to unload cargo from vessels prior to being cleared by CBP. Vessels must still obtain Customs clearance, but AQUA Lane allows port operations to start immediately with unloading and loading cargo – while the clearance process is under way.
Aug. 17, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Beating the Heat
Tharon Johnson reports that as we enter one of our hottest months of the year, with the high temperature averaging around 88 degrees in August, all of us are feeling the pain as we step outside and immediately begin to pour sweat in the humid Southern air, not to mention the pain from spiking air conditioning bills.
Aug. 17, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hartsfield-Jackson plans airport office building, hotel next to terminal
Kelly Yamanouchi reports that Hartsfield-Jackson International plans to construct a new airport administration building and to try again at getting an airport hotel built next to the domestic terminal. The land to be used for the administration building and the hotel is just west of the domestic terminal, beyond the taxicab pickup and terminal-to-terminal, hotel and shared-ride shuttle pickup area.
Aug. 17, 2023 The Current
Glynn jail phone provider gives sheriff $160K to replace wrecked cruisers
Jake Shore reports that Glynn County’s sheriff is accepting a $160,000 advance from a company that charges telephone fees to people in his jail, to purchase two new pursuit vehicles, according to the sheriff. County commissioners are expected to approve augmenting Sheriff Neal Jump’s budget with what they’re referring to as a “donation” at their upcoming Thursday meeting.
Aug. 17, 2023 Rome News-Tribune
$10.3M high speed internet project launching in Chattooga County
Staff reports that some 3,400 homes, businesses and schools in Chattooga County will be able to get high-speed fiber internet for the first time, due to a $10.3 million public—private partnership with broadband provider Kinetic, officials said. The project is to provide fiber internet to eligible homes and business in the county, including areas in Summerville, Trion, Lyerly and Menlo.
Aug. 17, 2023 Savannah Morning News
Crime gun recoveries suggest that Georgia is one of key suppliers to the Iron Pipeline
Amy Paige Condon and Drew Favakah report that Joshua Scharff, general counsel and director of programs at the nonprofit Brady: United Against Gun Violence, said he is not surprised most of the firearms recovered in Savannah by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in 2022 were traced to Georgia-based gun and pawn shops. The same is true in other states.
Aug. 17, 2023 Saporta Report
Buckhead history advocate named new leader of Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
John Ruch reports that a prominent Buckhead history advocate has been named the next president and CEO of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. W. Wright Mitchell, an attorney who founded the Buckhead Heritage Society, will take over leadership of the Atlanta-based Georgia Trust on Sept. 5.
Aug. 17, 2023 The Brunswick News
City receives grant for historic building survey
Taylor Cooper reports that city commissioners approved a request from the Planning, Development and Codes Department to accept a grant from the Department of Community Affairs that will pay for most of the cost to survey historic properties in Old Town. Planning, Development and Codes Director John Hunter said he was excited about the project.
Aug. 17, 2023 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Once an “eyesore”, renovated Ralston Tower to reopen in Columbus for the sick and elderly
Brittany McGee reports that the Ralston Tower was the worst building Gregory Jones, chief investment officer at Infinity Capital Partners, had ever been in. The company renovated Ralston Tower as project-based HUD Section 8 housing and will reopen the building for mostly elderly and disabled residents with a grand opening scheduled for Aug. 30.
Aug. 17, 2023 Marietta Daily Journal
Lawsuit challenging Cobb’s ‘home rule’ to move forward, but without Gambrill
Hunter Riggall reports that a Cobb County Superior Court judge has ruled that a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Cobb County’s “home rule” Board of Commissioners map can move forward. The ruling was issued Wednesday after the county had sought to get the case dismissed.
Aug. 17, 2023 The Center Square
Report: Bill to curb useless government reports is useless
Brett Rowland reports that a bipartisan bill to get rid of outdated or duplicative government reports is duplicative itself, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., introduced the Eliminate Useless Reports Act of 2023.
Aug. 17, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Rivian EV plant bonds get final go-ahead
Dave Williams reports that the same judge who refused last year to validate bonds financing a $5 billion Rivian electric vehicle manufacturing plant east of Atlanta now has signed off on the bonds. Superior Court Judge Brenda Trammell has signed an order validating the bonds following the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision last month not to hear an appeal of the bond validation case brought by a group of local residents, the state Department of Economic Development (DED) announced Wednesday.
Aug. 17, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Jolt: Burt Jones braces for legal fight in Fulton County election probe
Adam Van Brimmer, Greg Bluestein, Patricia Murphy and Tia Mitchell report that Lt. Gov. Burt Jones avoided charges in the far-ranging Fulton County indictment filed Monday that accused former President Donald Trump and key allies of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results. But Jones did participate in one of the election interference activities cited in the indictment — the Georgia fake electors scheme — and could still face prosecution.
