Georgia Trend Daily – Feb. 12, 2024
Feb. 12, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Georgia environmental regulators issue draft permits for strip mine near Okefenokee
Jill Nolin reports that state regulators have issued draft permits for a controversial mining proposal near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The state Environmental Protection Division announced late Friday afternoon that it had decided to issue draft permits for Alabama-based Twins Pines Minerals LLC.
Feb. 12, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Visionary Cities
Betty Darby, Brian A. Lee and Stephanie Kalina-Metzger report that the Oxford dictionary defines the word visionary as “thinking about or planning the future with imagination or wisdom.” So it makes sense that to be considered a visionary city, the nominated region would have community leaders who are intelligent, thoughtful and creative, consistently looking for ways to make their community a better place to live and work, for residents and future generations.
Feb. 12, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mid-winter housing sales flat, but that was before rates rose
Michael E. Kanell reports that the new year’s housing market in metro Atlanta got off to its usual winter-chilled start with just about the same number of home sales in January as during the same month a year ago, according to the Georgia Multiple Listing Services. And that was before a shiver went through the market with the rise of mortgage rates in early February.
Feb. 12, 2024 Visit Macon
Rock Candy Tours’ “Macon Music Live: Origins”
Staff reports, experience a guided journey through Macon, Georgia’s musical origins as the hometown of legendary musicians and the Birthplace of Southern Rock on stage. A talented cast of musicians and actors return with a new collision of music, history, performance and entertainment with Rock Candy Tours’ “Macon Music Live: Origins.”
Feb. 12, 2024 Savannah Morning News
Filling the Gaps – Coastal Georgia nonprofits help teens aging out of foster care
Latrice Williams reports that the Georgia Department of Human Services does not keep statistics on how many 18 to 21year-olds are homeless in the state. According to the Fostering Success Act, which was signed by Gov. Brian Kemp in July 2022, 700 young people age out of the foster care system each year in Georgia.
Feb. 12, 2024 Covington News
First reading of impact fees set at 50 percent
Evan Newton reports that council members for the city of Covington voted to set impact fees at 50 percent during the first reading at the Feb. 5 meeting. Back in November, members of the council voted to deny impact fees at 100 percent. This came in a split 3-3 vote by the council, with then-mayor Steve Horton breaking the tie.
Feb. 12, 2024 Capitol Beat News
New study touts economic impact of World Heritage Site designation for Okefenokee
Dave Williams reports that UNESCO World Heritage Site designation would double visitation at the Okefenokee Swamp Park, create about 750 long-term jobs, and deliver $60 million in annual economic impact, according to a new study. The report, commissioned by The Conservation Fund, would generate an additional 800,000 annual visits to the Okefenokee in addition to the more than 800,000 who currently visit the swamp each year.
Feb. 12, 2024 New York Times
Black Churches in Georgia Unite to Mobilize Voters in a Key Battleground
Nick Corasaniti and Maya King reports that two of the largest Black church groups in Georgia are formally uniting for the first time to mobilize Black voters in the battleground state ahead of the November presidential election. The two congregations, the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, plan to combine their resources and their more than 140,000 parishioners in the state for the get-out-the-vote program, which they are set to announce on Monday at the Georgia Capitol.
Feb. 12, 2024 State Affairs
Lawmakers and advocates see movement on mental health reform
Jill Jordan Sieder reports, the Carter Center organized a Mental Health Parity Day at the state Capitol on Thursday, attracting agency heads, advocates and lawmakers to discuss implementing a 2022 law requiring insurers to cover mental health and addiction treatment the same as medical or surgical treatment. Eve Byrd, the Carter Center’s mental health program director, said that as part of its mental health parity awareness campaign the center launched www.GeorgiaMentalHealth.com to explain what parity violations are and how to make a complaint to the state.
Feb. 12, 2024 Savannah Morning News
Georgia Senate passes bill that threatens incentives for companies whose workers seek to unionize
Maya Homan reports that a bill that would diminish protections for unions in Georgia passed in the state Senate on Thursday with a 3123 vote, following hours of debate. Senate Bill 362, which was authored by state Sen. Mike Hodges (RBrunswick), would bar companies from receiving certain tax incentives from the state unless their decision to unionize was conducted via secret ballot.
Feb. 12, 2024 Dalton Daily Citizen
Legislation zeroes in on GDOT contract negotiations
James Swift reports that a House bill introduced in 2023 revolving around project contract negotiations was “favorably reported” by substitute by the Georgia House Committee on Transportation on Feb. 6. The bill seeks to increase “the minimum amount for a public road construction or maintenance contract that prohibits negotiation” with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT).
Feb. 12, 2024 Capitol Beat News
State Senate targeting controversial library organization
Dave Williams reports that two years ago, the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed legislation letting parents petition school principals to ban from school libraries books they consider obscene. This year, the state Senate is considering two additional bills aimed at making it easier to ban books from school libraries.
Feb. 12, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PG A.M.: Lawyer wants Lt. Gov. Jones charged for serving as Trump elector
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Van Brimmer report that an attorney who sought to have Lt. Gov. Burt Jones disqualified from office has filed a new legal complaint seeking to force a state agency to appoint a prosecutor to pursue election interference charges against the Republican. The litigation, from attorney Wayne Kendall on behalf of four plaintiffs, asks a Clayton County Superior Court judge to order the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to take action because the council has “completely failed” to perform its duties.
