Georgia Trend Daily- Feb. 9, 2024
Feb. 9, 2024 Savannah Morning News
Savannah National Wildlife Refuge goes with flow to combat climate change
John Deem reports, when the remnants of Hurricane Irma moved north across the Georgia-South Carolina border in 2017, nature revealed the fragile line separating coastal habitats. At the nearly 32,000-acre Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, Irma’s storm surge sent torrents of saltwater over levees and into expanses of carefully protected freshwater wetlands.
Rural Mural: The Schley County mural graces the side of the building at 28 Church Street in Ellaville, on the town’s historic courthouse square.
Feb. 9, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Murals Beautify Rural Areas
Kathleen Conway reports that Flint Energies, headquartered in Reynolds, is hoping to brighten up Middle Georgia one mural at a time. The company’s Rural Murals Program works with rural communities across Flint’s service territory to create murals that have a positive impact, not only by beautifying the area and supporting artists, but by boosting tourism revenue.
Feb. 9, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hyundai going ‘full throttle’ on staffing, building Savannah EV plant
Adam Van Brimmer reports that the Hyundai Metaplant under construction near Savannah has trained its first 500 production workers in anticipation of the electric vehicle manufacturing plant’s opening in early 2025 — if not sooner. Those initial employees are learning skills in four Savannah-area training centers operated by QuickStart, a division of the Technical College System of Georgia.
Feb. 9, 2024 GlobalAtlanta.com
Georgia Tends to Swiss Investment Ties During Governor’s Davos Trip
Trevor Williams reports that Gov. Brian Kemp was meeting global leaders and industry heavyweights in the alternate universe of World Economic Forum, investment recruiters from Georgia were fanning out around Switzerland, using the opportunity to deepen the state’s growing investment ties with the host country. Mr. Kemp made his second straight visit this January to Davos, the enclave transformed each year into a private preserve for global power brokers, where countries and companies seize the chance to hang a temporary shingle.
Feb. 9, 2024 The Brunswick News
Industrial parks generate commerce for the Isles
Gordon Jackson reports that the Golden Isles Development Authority purchased a 1,430-acre tract off U.S. 82 about five miles west of Interstate 95 a year ago in anticipation the site would attract interested occupants. The main selling points to the site, called Georgia Breakbulk Logistics Park, are close access to the Port of Brunswick, I-95 and rail access on the property.
Feb. 9, 2024 Augusta Chronicle
Megachurch preacher donating $500,000 to help build Augusta grocery in Laney-Walker area
Joe Hotchkiss reports that Augusta could be a half-million dollars closer to helping establish a grocery store in one of the city’s many food deserts. The faith-based nonprofit T.D. Jakes Foundation, collaborating with banker Wells Fargo, announced Thursday that a $500,000 donation to the Community Foundation of the CSRA is targeted to “fund the introduction and development of a grocer” in Augusta’s Laney-Walker neighborhood, the Jakes Foundation said in a prepared statement.
Feb. 9, 2024 Fox 5 Atlanta
Metro Atlanta Black-owned tech company hoping to change delivery industry with app
Alex Whittler reports that an Atlanta-area Black-owned tech company hopes to change the delivery industry. With a hub at Atlantic Station and plans to expand, Derek Bailey says his app, Exceeder, and rentable electric trucks will help business owners save money.
Feb. 9, 2024 Marietta Daily Journal
High Court Decision Raises Questions Around Property Rights and Competition in Healthcare
Annie Mayne reports that the Georgia Supreme Court remanded a decision made by the lower appellate court in a feud between two local hospital systems, raising questions around the legal obligations of healthcare facilities in the state and when private property rights can be applied. This week’s ruling came after an appeal of a lawsuit Wellstar Windy Hill had faced from the Emory University Hospital Smyrna, which both serve the same part of Cobb County.
Feb. 9, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Georgia House panel endorses bill to force social media political messenger disclosures
Stanley Dunlap reports that state House Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously supported a bill Thursday requiring public disclosure of any content that political campaigns and candidates pay celebrities and other social media influencers to post. Rep. Scott Hilton’s House Bill 1039, the so-called social media influencer bill, now goes to the House Rules Committee, which will determine if the measure makes it before the full chamber for a vote.
Feb. 9, 2024 Capitol Beat News
State Senate Republicans pass bill Dems deride as ‘union-busting’
Dave Williams reports that the Republican-controlled state Senate passed legislation Thursday Democrats charged would make it harder for unions to organize in Georgia. Senate Bill 362, which passed 31-23 along party lines, would prohibit businesses seeking state economic development incentives from voluntarily recognizing the establishment of a union if a secret-ballot election option is available.
Feb. 9, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Georgia lawmakers, environmentalists blast tax break plan to expand crypto-mining in state
Jill Nolin reports that a proposal designed to boost the already thriving Bitcoin-mining industry in Georgia has crashed into concerns over the noise created by local crypto-mining operations and the drain on electricity and water resources. The bill, sponsored by Peachtree Corners Republican Rep. Scott Hilton, would grant crypto mining companies a sales tax on equipment purchased to outfit their centers, set out in state code that the centers can lawfully exist in areas zoned for industry and block local officials from passing any noise limits specific to the centers.
Feb. 9, 2024 Capitol Beat News
General Assembly looking to limit film tax credit
Dave Williams reports that l egislation introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives Thursday would place new limits on the state’s popular film tax credit and suspend the tax exemption aimed at encouraging the construction of high-tech data centers. The bill is the product of the Joint Tax Credit Review Panel, a committee of state lawmakers formed last year to examine the various tax incentives Georgia offers and determine whether the state is getting a healthy return on the lost revenue.
Feb. 9, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lawmakers call for action on crisis in Georgia’s state prisons
Carrie Teegarden and Danny Robins report that state legislators concerned about the rampant violence, massive understaffing and thriving criminal enterprises inside Georgia’s state prisons are calling for faster action and more money to address the problems. “We’re all aware of the safety and security concerns within the state’s prison system,” said Rep. Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, as he introduced large spending increases in the midyear budget for the prison system.
