Georgia Trend Daily – Jan. 11, 2024
Jan. 11, 2024 The Brunswick News
Injured right whale renews call for updated ship-speed rule
Michael Hall reports that news of an apparent boat-propeller injury to the first critically endangered North Atlantic right whale calf documented this calving season has fueled more calls to update a 16-year-old ship-speed rule to include smaller vessels. Boaters from Florida to South Carolina are being asked to report any sightings of the injured calf, which was first seen with its injuries by anglers off the Edisto River Inlet in South Carolina on Jan. 3, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Jan. 11, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Investing the State’s Surplus
Brian Robinson writes, whoever coined the inane phrase “more money, more problems” never met a legislator (or for that matter, anybody whatsoever). As we enter the bleakest part of Georgia’s calendar and the days are short, the temperatures are low and the skies are often gray, the Georgia General Assembly kicks off the 2024 legislative session flush with cash to spend as they enter an election year when they’ll all be on the ballot.
Jan. 11, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Qcells’ Georgia plant offers new hope for American-made solar
Drew Kann reports, when the solar panel giant Qcells opened its first factory in Dalton in 2019, it represented a significant leap forward for domestic clean energy production. In an industry long-dominated by China, Qcells’ Dalton plant — the largest facility of its kind in the Western Hemisphere — represented the biggest single effort yet to establish solar manufacturing roots in the U.S.
Jan. 11, 2024 WABE
Grady Hospital to open new Atlanta area clinics more than a year after Wellstar hospital closures
Jess Mador reports that five new primary care clinics and additional specialty services are coming soon to Fulton and DeKalb Counties as part of a newly negotiated agreement with Grady Health System. Grady continues to expand its footprint across the metro area even as it handles a big influx of patients from two shuttered Wellstar Health System hospitals, previously located in Atlanta and East Point.
Jan. 11, 2024 Rome News-Tribune
Rome And Floyd County Seeing Spike in Interest by Developers
Adam Carey reports that growth in Rome and Floyd County is on an upswing, and expectations are that the trend will increase even more, spurred by the concentric circles of development radiating out of Bartow County. “We’re seeing significant growth in the city and county,” Rome-Floyd Planning Commission Director Brice Wood said.
Jan. 11, 2024 Saporta Report
Nonprofit looks to increase rooftop solar accessibility for low income households
Mark Lannaman reports, a nonprofit is seeking to increase access to rooftop solar for lower and moderate-income households in Georgia through a program called Georgia BRIGHT, which stands for Building Renewables & Investing for Green, Healthy, Thriving Communities. Capital Good Fund, the nonprofit running Georgia BRIGHT, is looking to install between 150 and 200 rooftop solar systems as part of its program’s pilot run.
Jan. 11, 2024 Valdosta Daily Times
County to receive over $1.3 million in GDOT LMIG grant
Kasmira Smith reports that Lowndes County has been allocated over $1.3 million as a part of the Georgia Department of Transportation Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant program. Chad McLeod, the county director of engineering services, said the total funds of $1,337,694.10 will be allocated for the 2024 fiscal year.
Jan. 11, 2024 The Brunswick News
Several options on the table for Superfund site cleanup
Lauren MacDonald reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has narrowed down its options for how to address mercury contamination at one of Glynn County’s four nationally designated hazardous waste sites, and the public will soon have the chance to weigh in on how the cleanup moves forward. A portion of the LCP Chemicals site with high levels of mercury is the focus of a recently released report that details several alternatives for cleanup at the site, a Superfund site off of Ross Road just north of Brunswick and adjacent to the current Glynn County Detention Center.
Jan. 11, 2024 Albany Herald
Steiner among leaders appointed to Georgia Chamber Executive Committee
Staff reports that the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the state’s most influential business advocacy organization, announced the transition of its leadership with Pedro Cherry succeeding Neil L. Pruitt Jr. as Chairman of the organization. The chamber also appointed new members to its Executive Committee, among them Phoebe Putney Health System President/CEO Scott Steiner.
Jan. 11, 2024 Athens Banner-Herald
Gov. Kemp proposes spending $50 million to create a separate UGA
Caitlyn Stroh-Page reports that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp proposed spending $50 million to create a separate medical school at UGA during a speech at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. Currently, a partnership with the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, which began in 2009, is housed at UGA, where students can attend a four-year medical program.
Jan. 11, 2024 State Affairs
House speaker to Eggs & Issues crowd: ‘Washington is broken and Georgia is booming’
Tammy Joyner and Jill Jordan Sieder report that Georgia’s Republican House Speaker Jon Burns, of Newington, told a packed crowd at Wednesday’s Eggs & Issues breakfast in downtown Atlanta that he plans on focusing on five priorities in the House this session, including putting more money into the pockets of Georgians.
Jan. 11, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Kemp, state lawmakers preview legislative priorities for 2024 for business leaders
Ross Williams reports that Georgia’s business elite and state leadership filled up Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium from endzone to endzone Wednesday morning for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s annual Eggs and Issues Breakfast, offering a sneak peek at the new laws that could shape the lives of the state’s 10 million-plus residents. Anti-union action, billions in infrastructure projects and new restrictions on kids’ social media use could all be on the table.
Jan. 11, 2024 Capitol Beat News
Kemp not ready to move on tort reform this year
Dave Williams reports that tort reform in Georgia is going to be a heavier lift than anticipated, requiring more than a single session of the General Assembly to accomplish, Gov. Brian Kemp said Wednesday. “Like every major undertaking our state has tackled in the past, we will work on a Georgia-specific solution; one designed to make meaningful reforms in this area over the next several years,” Kemp told an audience of political and business leaders at the annual Eggs and Issues breakfast sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
Jan. 11, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PG A.M.: Speaker Burns puts legislative focus on the ‘politically possible’
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Van Brimmer report, a hypothetical question was top of mind for many Georgia leaders as the 2024 legislative session opened this week: How to sell an Arkansas-style “private option” to add more Georgians to the Medicaid rolls to Republican legislators who have long opposed any sort of expansion of the program? We asked House Speaker Jon Burns about that challenge in an in-depth interview that airs on today’s “Politically Georgia” radio show and podcast.
