Georgia Trend Daily – March 25, 2024
March 22, 2024 Albany Herald
First blooms of spring seen on southwest Georgia citrus trees
Lucille Lannigan reports, the first blossoms bloomed from the buds of Justin Jones’ navel orange trees on the first day of spring. Jones, a Lee County farmer, has about 12,000 citrus trees across 70 acres of land in Smithville.
March 22, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Douglas | Coffee County: Percolating with Promise
Jennifer Hafer reports that the city of Douglas may be 45 miles from the nearest interstate highway, but the county seat of Coffee County is home to major industry that continues to expand locally, and the retail sector is booming. “This is the community that got a Walmart distribution center without an interstate running through it,” says Matt Seale, CEO of the Douglas-Coffee County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Authority (EDA).
March 22, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Centennial Yards begins next phase: new towers, entertainment district
Zachary Hansen reports that development of the long-awaited Centennial Yards in downtown Atlanta is about to shift into a new gear. The partners behind the $5 billion downtown project plan to begin construction this year on six buildings, including an entertainment district opposite State Farm Arena and Mercedes-Benz Stadium with components that will open in time for the 2026 World Cup, and joining a hotel and apartment tower already under construction.
March 22, 2024 Athens Banner-Herald
High-paying jobs in Athens among potential benefits for new UGA medical school
Jim Thompson reports, it may be a bit premature to accurately assess the economic impact of a new medical school at the University of Georgia, a project approved in February by the University System Board of Regents. However, the 14-year presence of the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership in Athens provides some strong clues of a decidedly positive effect on the local economy.
March 22, 2024 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Funding secured for low-income senior housing in Columbus as part of Georgia-wide effort
Kelby Hutchison reports that a new government funding bill passed by the Senate will help to house approximately 130 low-income senior residents in Columbus. The state of Georgia will receive federal funding totaling $207 million for 74 projects across the state after advocacy from Senator Raphael Warnock, according to a news release on the senator’s website.
March 22, 2024 Marietta Daily Journal
Cobb Commissioner Asks State Election Board to Intervene
Jake Busch reports that Cobb Commissioner Keli Gambrill is asking the State Election Board to take action against the Cobb Board of Elections for using the “home rule” map for the Cobb Board of Commissioners electoral districts instead of the map approved by the Georgia General Assembly in 2022. Gambrill asserts in the complaint the Cobb elections board broke Georgia law by using the home rule map when qualifying candidates for three commission races earlier this month.
March 22, 2024 Valdosta Daily Times, KFF Health News
Georgia’s Medicaid work requirements costing taxpayers millions despite low enrollment
Andy Miller and Renuka Rayasam report that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s plan for a conservative alternative to Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion has cost taxpayers at least $26 million so far, with more than 90% going toward administrative and consulting costs rather than medical care for low-income people. Kemp’s Georgia Pathways to Coverage offers government health insurance to people earning up to the federal poverty level — $15,060 for an individual adult — if they can document that they’re working, in school, or performing other qualifying activities.
March 22, 2024 The Current
Lawmakers resurrect Okefenokee mining moratorium bill
Mary Landers reports that state lawmakers on Thursday revived a proposed three-year ban on mining near the Okefenokee. The House Rules Committee approved by substitute Senate Bill 132 to “provide for a three-year moratorium on the acceptance of applications for new permits by the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources for surface mining utilizing dragline mining for heavy mineral sands.”
March 22, 2024 Marietta Daily Journal
Legislature Approves Bill Requiring Clerks to Report Passport Fee Collections
Jake Busch reports that the Georgia General Assembly has passed legislation requiring county clerks and probate judges to disclose to their county governing bodies how much in passport fees they personally collect each quarter. It now awaits Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature.
March 22, 2024 Dalton Daily Citizen
State House committee takes up school security bill
James Swift reports that twenty state senators, including District 54 Sen. Chuck Payne, of Dalton, are sponsoring a piece of legislation that, if signed into law, would require all local education agencies in Georgia to install mobile panic alert systems within their facilities. Georgia Senate Bill 32 was introduced on Jan. 26, 2023.
March 22, 2024 State Affairs
Bills to expand hospitals, protect renters, honor former slaves move in Legislature
Jill Jordan Sieder and Tammy Joyner report that Georgia lawmakers passed bills this week to expedite hospital construction, create a private school voucher program, monitor undocumented immigrants and reignite gender-based culture wars. As often happens on the homestretch of the legislative session, which ends March 28, legislators used sleight of hand maneuvers to advance some bills.
March 22, 2024 Savannah Morning News
Georgia bill would revoke irrigation rights for farmers who install solar systems
John Deem reports, a single word is fueling opposition to a recently introduced Georgia Senate bill that critics consider a potential roadblock to the growth of solar power in the state’s rural expanses. Senate Bill 578, sponsored by Republican Sen. Sam Watson of Moultrie, would require revoking state permits for irrigation wells on farms with solar arrays covering at least 10 acres.
March 22, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Georgia lawmakers could still tinker with election rules in waning days of 2024 legislative session
Stanley Dunlap reports that as Georgia’s lawmakers head into the final week of the 2024 legislative session with pending legislation designed to add a new security feature to paper ballots, provide online access to ballots, change the way votes are tabulated and a bill intended to provide more clarity on voter eligibility challenges.
March 22, 2024 Capitol Beat News
Lawmakers target illegal immigrants after hearing from murder victim’s father
Dave Williams reports that the Georgia Senate passed two bills aimed at illegal immigration this week, one day after the father of murder victim Laken Riley urged lawmakers to take a tougher stand on the issue. The 22-year-old nursing student was killed on the University of Georgia campus in Athens last month.
March 22, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lawmakers eye a remake of the Georgia prison system
Carrie Teegardin and Danny Robbins report, with prison violence in Georgia at a crisis point, the state Senate has authorized a group of senators to take a fresh look at the Georgia Department of Corrections and identify ways to improve the troubled system. A new seven-member committee, approved unanimously by the Senate, is charged with examining “current issues impacting the ability of the Department of Corrections to operate secure and safe facilities and to ensure the welfare of both its staff and those in its custody.”
