Georgia Trend Daily – May 10, 2024
May 10, 2024 Newnan Times-Herald
Hello Fresh to permanently close: 727 employees to be laid off
Laura Camper reports that Newnan will soon say “goodbye” to Hello Fresh. The Newnan facility will permanently close its doors as of July 10, according to Robin Schweitzer, the company’s director of public relations and communications.
May 10, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Gold Dome Needs a Shine
Brian Robinson writes, let me start with the disclaimer that I love the Georgia Capitol, with its Indiana limestone exterior, the pink Georgia marble on its inner walls, and its dome gilded with Dahlonega gold. It’s where I worked for nearly five years in Gov. Nathan Deal’s administration, where I met my wife and later proposed to her.
May 10, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
GOP states, including Georgia, sue to stop power plant pollution rules
Meris Lutz reports that twenty-five Republican-led states, including Georgia, filed a legal challenge Thursday to new federal regulations on air pollution from power plants that generate electricity. The new rule, announced in April, would likely end coal-burning for power in the U.S. over the next 15 years and make it significantly harder for utilities to continue using natural gas.
May 10, 2024 Marietta Daily Journal
Georgia Supreme Court Dismisses Cobb ‘Home Rule’ Lawsuit
Hunter Riggall reports that the Georgia Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Cobb County over Cobb commissioners’ attempt to draw their own district lines, ruling that the residents who filed the suit lacked proper legal standing. The unanimous decision reverses an earlier ruling from Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris, who had found the county commission’s “home rule” resolution to be unconstitutional.
May 10, 2024 GPB
Morehouse partners with Hartsfield-Jackson to support diverse business owners
Amanda Andrews reports that Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is partnering with Morehouse College to offer a diverse group of Atlanta businesses owners a course on entering airport concessions. The Airport Concessioner Accelerator Program just welcomed its first cohort of 20 business owners into the eight-week program.
May 10, 2024 Athens Banner-Herald
Athens officials to push forward with zoning changes to boost growth of research labs
Jim Thompson reports, Athens-Clarke County planning commissioners are recommending unanimously that the county commission amend the county’s zoning and development standards to allow scientific research and development enterprises in areas zoned for commercial-office or commercial-neighborhood uses.
May 10, 2024 Saporta Report
ARC announces $1.2 million in community grants and new healthcare study funds
Delaney Tarr reports that the Atlanta Regional Commission announced $940,000 in grant funding for five communities on May 8 through its Livable Centers Initiative, a program that helps pay for planning studies and transportation projects centered around walkability, connectivity, and placemaking.
May 10, 2024 GlobalAtlanta.com
Ireland Exchange to Deepen Georgia’s Payments Ties With Europe
Trevor Williams reports that moving into its second decade, an Atlanta-based trade association for the payment processing industry is deepening its international ties through a strategic agreement in Ireland. The American Transaction Processors Coalition in February signed a pact with The Fintech Corridor, a group aiming to bridge the industry gap between Belfast, Northern Ireland, which remains in the United Kingdom, and Dublin, the capital of the republic of Ireland in the European Union.
May 10, 2024 Savannah Morning News
Industry, residential development threaten Savannah’s drinking water sources, report says
John Deem reports, water quality and quantity have become barometers for the Savannah area’s population and industrial growth, a statewide watchdog group noted in a report released Thursday. “Metro Atlanta has long been Georgia’s poster child for out-of-control and poorly managed growth,” the Georgia Water Coalition noted in its 13th annual Dirty Dozen report. “Today, Georgia’s water conflicts have gone coastal.”
May 10, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Water-hogging data centers flagged in latest ‘Dirty Dozen’ environmental watchdog report
Stanley Dunlap reports that the Georgia Water Coalition released its annual report Thursday on the biggest threats to healthy waters throughout the state by highlighting the unintended consequences of record economic development in the coastal region and how a rash of new state-of-the-art data centers is a threat to Georgia’s rivers.
May 10, 2024 Rome News-Tribune
Rome Transit Considers $1.25 Fare Return in 2024
David Crowder reports that Rome Transit Department bus riders may see the return of fares at the first of the year. The move is expected to help sustain the service following a loss of federal revenue.
May 10, 2024 The Brunswick News
Townsend stands by Kratom bill amid criticism
Gordon Jackson reports that the state lawmaker who convinced the Georgia General Assembly to pass the Kratom Consumer Protection Act this past legislative session is the target of criticism by the organization representing the product’s manufacturers. Mac Haddow, senior fellow with the American Kratom Association, claims legislation sponsored by state Rep. Rick Townsend, R-St. Simons Island, accomplished little other than requiring needed product standards and labeling.
May 10, 2024 State Affairs
Kemp signs a bevy of bills on elections, public safety and workforce development
Jill Jordan Sieder and Tammy Joyner report that Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday ended a six-week whirlwind statewide bill-signing tour that enacted hundreds of new laws governing agriculture, families, elections, public safety and workforce development. He also vetoed a dozen bills — including those dealing with homestead exemptions and easing eligibility for the HOPE Scholarship for former foster youths — during that time.
May 10, 2024 Capitol Beat News
Independent pharmacists cry foul at Kemp veto
Dave Williams reports that owners of independent pharmacies in Georgia are criticizing Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision this week to veto legislation aimed at rectifying a situation that has left them at a competitive disadvantage with pharmacy chains. Senate Bill 198, which the state House and Senate passed with only one “no” vote, would have required the State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP) covering teachers and state employees to reimburse independent pharmacies filling prescriptions at rates no less than the average reimbursement provided to chain pharmacies.
May 10, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia election board proposes an ‘inquiry’ before certifying results
Mark Niesse reports, the State Election Board started writing a new rule Wednesday that would require a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying Georgia elections, granting a request from a Republican county election board member who refused to sign off on this year’s presidential primary. If certification rules are changed, local election board members could use them as a justification for voting against approving the results of upcoming elections, state board member Sara Tindall Ghazal said.
