Georgia Trend Daily – Feb. 25, 2025
Feb. 25, 2025 WSB Radio
Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta to give $60 million in grants to help people buy a house
Staff reports that Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta announced $60 million dollars in grants to help families and individuals purchase a home. The funding helps borrowers with down payments, closing costs, and home repairs. The grants are being offering through the Affordable Housing Program.
Feb. 25, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Augusta University | Healthcare Workforce: A Prescription for the Future
Patty Rasmussen reports, a native of the Augusta region, Russell Keen, president of Augusta University (AU), soldered copper pipes in an old dental lab at AU during summer breaks as he worked his way through Georgia Southern College (now Georgia Southern University) as a young man. In 2025, he presided over the opening of AU-Medical College of Georgia’s Savannah campus, a collaboration with Georgia Southern.
Feb. 25, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Empty offices? Not in Savannah, and the space crush is worsening
Adam Van Brimmer and Zachary Hansen report that Johnson Square is more business than leisure, the outlier in this tourism hub. Instead of hotels, restaurants and shops, Johnson is flanked by banks and office buildings.
Feb. 25, 2025 Athens Banner-Herald
Change in leadership at Boswell Oil Co. announced as Robert Boswell takes reigns
Wayne Ford reports that Boswell Oil Co., the largest Chevron distributor of lubricants in Georgia, announced recently that Robert Boswell IV is the new CEO. Boswell takes over the reign from his father, Bob Boswell III, who has led the company for 40 years as CEO and president.
Feb. 25, 2025 Augusta Chronicle
Southern Living magazine reveals the 18 ‘most beautiful places in Georgia.’ See where
Vanessa Countryman reports that Georgia, a state brimming with natural beauty, often leaves its residents unaware of its unique charm and Southern Living has released its most beautiful spots. From farmlands and majestic mountain ranges to pine forests and barrier islands, Georgia’s diverse landscapes are captivating.
Feb. 25, 2025 Marietta Daily Journal
County Eyes Grant Funding for Trail Projects
Annie Mayne reports that Cobb County Board of Commissioners will consider approving the submission of two grant applications for roughly $10 million to support trail projects Tuesday. The Town Center Community Improvement District (CID) and Cumberland CID are both seeking funding from the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) to construct a pedestrian bridge on the Noonday Creek Trail and pay right-of-way costs required for a portion of the Cumberland Sweep, respectively.
Feb. 25, 2025 Clayton News Daily
Clark Wins Workforce Development Award
Staff reports that Southern Crescent Technical College President Irvin Clark recently won the South Metro Development Outlook 2025 Excellence in Education and Workforce Development Award. Nominated by Henry County Board of Commissioners Chair Carlotta Harrell, Clark was presented the award at the 23rd annual South Metro Development Outlook Conference at the Georgia International Convention Center on Feb. 19.
Feb. 25, 2025 Covington News
Takeda in Stanton Springs unveils Biomedical Waste Processing Facility
Kate Verity reports that Takeda, a global biopharmaceutical company with a manufacturing site in Stanton Springs, unveiled its new Biomedical Waste Processing Facility on Thursday, the first of its kind that is on the same site as a plasma-derived therapies manufacturer. The company’s research estimates that the new facility at the Takeda Covington Manufacturing Facility will divert over 400 metric tons (about 441 American tons) of waste from ending up in landfills this year.
Feb. 25, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Georgia-style DOGE bill intended to make agencies assess cost of rules clears state Senate
Ross Williams reports that a GOP proposal designed to ease regulatory burdens on small business is being billed as Georgia’s DOGE, a reference to the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. “The Senate is leading the way to combat burdensome and costly regulations on behalf of business owners and employees across the state,” Lt. Governor Burt Jones said in a statement Monday that was sent out with the subject line “Georgia does DOGE.”
Feb. 25, 2025 Capitol Beat News
House lawmakers OK increase in foster care tax credit
Dave Williams reports that the state House of Representatives voted Monday to increase an income tax credit for Georgia taxpayers who contribute to nonprofit organizations that help foster children who age out of the foster care system. House Bill 136, which passed 170-2, would raise the annual cap on contributions to the program from $20 million to $30 million.
Feb. 25, 2025 GPB
Workers laid off from CDC gather at Capitol to urge Georgia officials to defend them
Rebecca Grapevine reports that public health employees and contractors who lost their jobs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gathered at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta on Friday to put a face on the mass terminations and demand that state officials speak up for them with the Trump administration. The federal agency laid off hundreds of workers last week.
Feb. 25, 2025 State Affairs
Georgia lawmakers take aim at sex changes in state prisons
Beau Evans reports that state-funded sex changes would be outlawed for prison inmates under a bill that cleared its first hurdle Monday with passage by the Georgia Public Safety Committee. Senate Bill 185 now heads to the full Senate, where it will likely face heated debate.
Feb. 25, 2025 The Current
Kemp’s efforts to limit court settlements occupy center stage, with nudges from Coastal Georgia business leaders
Jabari Gibbs and Craig Nelson report, on the eve of the state legislature’s current session, Gov. Brian Kemp took the bully pulpit. Speaking at the state chamber of commerce’s annual Eggs & Issues breakfast early last month, he exhorted Georgia’s business and political leaders to get behind his push for “tort reform” – to change state laws that he says excessively favor plaintiffs over defendants in personal injury trials.
Feb. 25, 2025 Fresh Take Georgia
Georgia House considers bill revising driving rules for funeral motorcades
Gabby Miller reports that one of the bills under consideration in the Georgia House of Representatives would change how drivers react to funeral processions. HB 77 seeks to clarify driving rules on two lane roads when a line of cars head to the cemetery. Funeral processions are cars with a flag, pennant, or sign on them.
Feb. 25, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Georgia House panel unanimously backs proposed state law to protect IVF procedures
Ross Williams reports that a bill aimed at enshrining the right to in-vitro fertilization into state law cleared its first hurdle Monday, passing a House committee with a unanimous vote. “I feel great. That went very well,” said the bill’s sponsor, Statesboro Republican state Rep. Lehman Franklin after the vote.
Feb. 25, 2025 Capitol Beat News
State Senate panel approves $40.5B mid-year budget
Dave Williams reports that the state Senate is upping the ante on funding to help victims of Hurricane Helene recover from the massive storm that marched through South Georgia and east Georgia from Valdosta to Augusta last September. The Senate Appropriations Committee signed off Monday on a $40.5 billion mid-year budget that would add $125 million to the $812 million Gov. Brian Kemp and the state House of Representatives already have earmarked for residents, business owners, farmers, and timber producers who suffered losses from Helene.
Feb. 25, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As decision on mine near the Okefenokee looms, new swamp protection bills emerge
Drew Kann reports that Georgia environmental regulators could decide any day now whether to clear an Alabama-based company to mine next door to Georgia’s famed Okefenokee Swamp. Now, a pair of bills that would prevent mining from expanding near the swamp has been introduced at the Georgia General Assembly, reviving a push to protect the ecosystem after previous attempts fizzled.
