Georgia Trend Daily – Dec. 11, 2023
Dec. 11, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Georgia tax revenues increase slightly in November
Dave Williams reports, state tax collections rose slightly last month compared to November of last year, the Georgia Department of Revenue reported Friday. The state brought in $2.32 billion in November, up 1.5% over the same month a year ago.
Dec. 11, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Hip-hop Influences Everything
Julia Roberts reports, at its 50th anniversary, hip-hop has defied early predictions of being a passing music trend and stands as a transformative global cultural movement. This piece explores the multifaceted impact of hip-hop on music, fashion, technology, architecture, social justice, and education.
Dec. 11, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Facing ‘forever chemical’ crackdown, Georgia cities weigh hard choices
Drew Kann and Meris Lutz reports, in his 36 years in the water industry, Stephen Smith’s job has required him to remove a long list of dangerous contaminants from the drinking water he supplies. None, he said, have proven as challenging as the “forever chemicals” he and his colleagues at the Chatsworth Water Works Commission are now trying to clean up.
Dec. 11, 2023 Savannah Morning News
Gulfstream looks to sun to power Savannah research campus
John Deem reports that Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. plans to use on-site solar panels to supply one quarter of the electricity for its Savannah Research and Development Campus near the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport. The rooftop systems are operational on four campus buildings and will go online at a fifth facility next year, said Rexford Ofosu, Gulfstream’s corporate sustainability manager.
Dec. 11, 2023 Capitol Beat News, Rome News-Tribune
Plant Vogtle debate splits environmental, consumer advocates
Dave Williams reports that the final stage of the nuclear expansion at Plant Vogtle has produced an unusual twist in the back-and-forth between Georgia Power, state energy regulators and the environmental and consumer advocates who act as watchdogs. The long-delayed, overbudget project has managed to split groups that for years have opposed the construction of two additional nuclear reactors at the plant south of Augusta as a boondoggle.
Dec. 11, 2023 The Current
Liberty County, Riceboro officials oppose log-fumigation plant
Robin Kemp reports, a plan by the world’s largest real estate company to open a toxic log fumigation plant in a rural African-American community faces opposition from local elected officials. Seattle-based Weyerhaeuser, which in 2022 owned or held long-term contracts on 631,000 acres of timberland statewide, has filed an application with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to open a log fumigation plant near Riceboro.
Dec. 11, 2023 Augusta Chronicle
Data shows greenhouse gas emissions in Augusta on par with similar cities, but still a cause for concern
Erica Van Buren reports, the recent release of data from a Georgia environmental group dedicated to lowering carbon use in the state helped show the scale of the problem in the Augusta area. Drawdown Georgia, a statewide initiative that issues quarterly greenhouse emissions data per county, has some experts saying that Richmond County’s numbers show some cause for concern, but it’s not out of step with similar metropolitan areas.
Dec. 11, 2023 The Brunswick News
House committee will likely go different direction on CON recommendations
Taylor Cooper reports that a Georgia Senate study committee recommended doing away with Certificate of Need laws, but the sister committee in the state House won’t go the same direction, said House committee member Scott Raynes, CEO of the Brunswick-based Southeast Georgia Health System. Last week, the Senate study committee said the state should abolish its requirements for permits to build health facilities, setting up a renewed push on the issue after a debate in the 2023 legislative session.
Dec. 11, 2023 GPB
Georgia aims to grow workforce housing amid statewide housing shortage
Laura Corley reports, a shortage of housing for Georgia’s growing workforce is becoming a greater issue for the state’s economic prospects as it works to attract more manufacturers and big businesses who want to know where their employees will live. The issue “wasn’t high on the list years ago, but now they’re asking more about their workers” including where employees might live affordably based on the wages they would earn and how far their daily commute to the job would be, said Clint Mueller, director of governmental affairs for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, said Wednesday at the Georgia Association of Land Bank Authorities summit in Macon.
Dec. 11, 2023 Albany Herald
House Committee on Fishing Access finalizes report
David Dixon reports that during the 2023 legislative session, the Georgia House of Representatives passed Resolution 519 (HR519) creating a House Study Committee on Fishing Access to Freshwater Resources. The committee held four public meetings around the state in October to gather comments.
Dec. 11, 2023 Macon Telegraph
A judge ordered 5 new Black-majority House districts for Georgia. Macon got 2 of them
Gautama Mehta reports that Macon voters will elect state representatives in newly drawn House districts in 2024. State legislators have been at the capitol for the last week for a chaotic and contentious special session of the General Assembly, racing against a deadline imposed by a court order to redraw Georgia’s political maps to better represent Black voters.
Dec. 11, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Feds providing more funding for passenger rail in Georgia
Dave Williams reports that the Biden administration is stepping up federal funding of three planned intercity passenger rail projects in Georgia. The Federal Rail Administration has awarded $1.5 million in grants to explore linking Atlanta with Savannah; Charlotte, N.C.; and Chattanooga, Tenn.
Dec. 11, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
More Georgia voting law battles ahead in 2024
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Van Brimmer report, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is renewing his push for a state constitutional amendment to ban noncitizens from voting, a prohibition already enshrined in Georgia law. Meanwhile, a Republican-aligned polling firm is out with a new survey of Georgia voters that indicates broad support for key parts of Georgia’s current election infrastructure.
