Georgia Trend Daily – Feb. 24, 2025
Feb. 24, 2025 Valdosta Daily Times
More than $1.7 million raised to aid farmers impacted by Hurricane Helene
Staff reports, in the wake of devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, more than 40 agriculture organizations joined forces to establish a relief fund for farmers whose livelihoods were upended by the storm. With overwhelming support from hundreds of donors, the fund successfully raised $1,774,282 in just three months, providing vital aid to those who sustain our communities with locally grown food and fiber, according to a press release from the Georgia Farm Bureau.
Feb. 24, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Clifton Sanctuary and Joe’s Place
Candice Dyer reports, Joe Coppage was a beloved Lake Claire fixture who struggled with schizophrenia in the 1970s and ’80s. His neighbors allowed him to sleep on their porches, which is where he seemed the most comfortable.
Feb. 24, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘The sky’s the limit’: How high can Atlanta’s aerospace industry soar?
Zachary Hansen reports that like Detroit with cars or Wall Street with banks, Atlanta has intertwined its reputation with aviation. The city’s airport — the busiest by passenger volume in the world — is as central to Atlanta’s image as Coca-Cola and the 1996 Olympic Games. But Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is just one part of Georgia’s bustling aerospace industry, which ranges from jet turbine manufacturing to military drone innovation.
Feb. 24, 2025 GlobalAtlanta.com
Macon Symposium Focuses on Pluses of International Engagement for Georgia
Trevor Williams reports, at a time of growing upheaval in international relations, a symposium in Macon earlier this month yet again focused on the opportunities rather than the threats of cross-border connections. The sixth annual Global Trade and Investment Symposium, sponsored by Danish honorary consul and local attorney Christopher N. Smith, was held Feb. 6 at Wesleyan College, the first institution in the world chartered to grant degrees to women.
Feb. 24, 2025 Athens Banner-Herald
Starting construction, accreditation process expected this year at UGA’s new School of Medicine
Wayne Ford reports that the University of Georgia is only about two months away from beginning construction on a new 92,000-square-foot building on the UGA School of Medicine off Prince Avenue. But earlier this month, the university announced that “a significant step in the accreditation process,” will take place this fall.
Feb. 24, 2025 The Brunswick News
Shrimp Alliance testing shrimp served in Ga. restaurants
Hank Rowland reports that the Southern Shrimp Alliance is awaiting the results of genetic testing of shrimp served in Georgia restaurants for an indication of how many may be stretching the truth of the origin of their product. The testing will determine whether diners are eating shrimp caught in waters off the coastal states or are farm-raised imports from countries that are not obliged to follow U.S. rules and regulations.
Feb. 24, 2025 Rough Draft Atlanta
Atlanta Beltline Partnership raises almost $2 million for Enota Park development
Staff reports that Atlanta Beltline Partnership announced that it has raised $1.85 million in philanthropic contributions for Enota Park, a new Atlanta community greenspace that is in the works. Funding for the Beltline-based park came from several organizations and contributors, including a “Friend of the Atlanta Beltline” ($750,000), Georgia Power ($500,000), Norfolk Southern ($250,000), The Fraser-Parker Foundation ($250,000) and an anonymous donor ($100,000).
Feb. 24, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Gold Dome Nuggets: Pink-clad predators, sickly shrimp and ABCs of child care tax credits
Ross Williams and Stanley Dunlap report, if you want to legally shoot a deer in Georgia, you are supposed to be wearing orange, but what if you could wear pink? A coastal Georgia lawmaker has a bill he says will help you be sure the little crustaceans on your plate of scampi or within your grits came from the briny blue and not “shallow ponds in their own feces.”
Feb. 24, 2025 Capitol Beat News
Two bills targeting mining near Okefenokee Swamp
Dave Williams reports, supporters of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge are taking another crack at protecting the environmentally fragile swamp from mining. Two bills introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives Thursday call for prohibiting mining along Trail Ridge, the Okefenokee’s eastern hydrologic boundary, where Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals is seeking state permits to open a titanium mine.
Feb. 24, 2025 WABE
Georgia Gov. Kemp’s push to curb civil litigation advances, despite some Republican reservations
Sam Gringlas reports that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is one step closer to notching his top legislative priority — overhauling Georgia’s civil litigation rules. The controversial bill passed the Georgia State Senate Friday, after a combination of threats and negotiations secured the votes of wavering Republicans.
Feb. 24, 2025 Newnan Times-Herald
Local business owners push back on SB 122, warn of risks to Georgia’s beer distribution system
Laura Camper reports that a piece of legislation in the Georgia State Senate proposes a number of changes in the way breweries can do business in the hope that it can help craft brewers in an increasingly crowded beer market. Senate Bill 122 proposes allowing the breweries to self distribute up to 3,000 barrels of their product, deliver and accept delivery from other small breweries and donate their product directly to a charity rather than going through a distributor.
Feb. 24, 2025 11 Alive
State Sen. Josh McLaurin discusses tort reform alternative, Democrats’ path forward, and state of national politics
Zach Merchant reports that the new legislative session inside the Georgia General Assembly is now well underway. One of the most high-profile legislative efforts to emerge so far is an effort to limit civil lawsuit verdicts in some cases — an effort commonly referred to as tort reform.
Feb. 24, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Will lawmakers end the practice of allowing Georgians with disabilities to be paid subminimum wage?
Jill Nolin reports that a bipartisan measure that would phase out a program that allows employers to pay people with disabilities below the minimum wage – including less than $1 an hour – is gaining traction in the Senate. A bill, sponsored by Republican Statesboro state Sen. Billy Hickman, was recently unanimously voted out of committee over the objections of one of the few centers left in Georgia that are still participating in the program.
Feb. 24, 2025 State Affairs
Georgia General Assembly Week 6 roundup: Bills advance on tort reform, criminal justice and bigger tax breaks for working parents. Plus, the circus comes to town
Tammy Joyner reports that a key piece of Gov. Brian Kemp’s legislative effort to overhaul Georgia’s civil litigation system is headed to the House. The Senate on Friday passed Senate Bill 68 by a 33-21 vote after a lengthy debate.
Feb. 24, 2025 Capitol Beat News
Legislature considering multiple measures that would affect transgender people
Ty Tagami reports that transgender people, particularly youths, remain a subject of Republican-led policy in Georgia, as lawmakers consider several bills that would regulate their interactions with the medical industry and with female athletes. Both the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives have measures that would ban transgender students born male from female teams in K-12 schools and in higher education.
Feb. 24, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Republicans push for Clarence Thomas statue by state Supreme Court
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Beam report that Senate Republicans are once again pushing for a statue of Georgia native and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. But instead of placing it on the grounds of the state Capitol, Senate GOP leaders are now advocating for the monument to stand at the judicial building across the street.
