Georgia Trend Daily – June 7, 2024
June 7, 2024 Georgia.gov
Gov. Kemp Announces $16.9 Million to Fund Transportation Infrastructure Projects
Staff reports that Gov. Kemp and the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) Board of Directors on Thursday announced the approval of $16.9 million in Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank (GTIB) loans and grants that will help fund five transportation infrastructure projects across the state. This round of funding includes the fourth largest loan amount allocated in the program’s history, all four of which have come under Governor Kemp’s administration.
June 7, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Preserving Georgia’s Land
Ben Young writes, I was in St. Simons recently at Barbara Jean’s restaurant, having the shrimp salad sandwich and crab bisque I always get when I visit, when a printed flyer caught my eye. A certain percentage of proceeds from my meal evidently supports the St. Simons Land Trust (SSLT).
June 7, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Film and TV production drops in Georgia as risk of new strike looms
Savannah Sicurella reports, film and television production in Georgia slumped significantly during the first three months this year compared to the same period a year ago, signaling the industry’s rebound from the 2023 writers and actors strikes has been weaker than anticipated. About 36% fewer scripted projects were actively filming in the first quarter compared to the first quarter of 2023, according to data from global production tracker ProdPro.
June 7, 2024 Marietta Daily Journal
‘Bold Vision’: RiverLands to Bridge Generations across Chattahoochee
Annie Mayne reports, it’s Walt Ray’s goal to see Atlanta become a “river city.” Ray is a landscape architect and the Chattahoochee program director for the Trust for Public Land, which has embarked on an ambitious project that is reimagining access to the Chattahoochee River in the metro Atlanta area.
June 7, 2024 WABE
Georgia-based Blue Bird ratifies first union contract in historic push for labor rights
Marlon Hyde reports that last month, over 1,500 Fort Valley workers at Electric School bus maker Blue Bird recently ratified their first union contract. The previous year, employees at the nearly 100-year-old company voted overwhelmingly to join the United Steel Workers, a major win for unions in the South and one of Georgia’s most notable labor victories in 2023.
June 7, 2024 Savannah Morning News
Structures at historic Ossabaw Island near Savannah set for restoration project this year
John Deem reports, a century after her late parents bought a 26,000-acre Chatham County island that she would love and protect for nearly as long, the late Eleanor “Sandy” Torrey West’s former home is set for an extensive restoration project. The project will involve the Torrey West House, Little Torrey House and a building that served as a garage and studio on Ossabaw Island.
June 7, 2024 WSB Radio
Did you feel that? Confirmed earthquake in Buford shakes up residents late Thursday night
Staff reports, according to the USGS, there was a confirmed 2.3-5 km earthquake in Buford at 11:15 p.m. It was a very shallow earthquake with a depth of three miles.
June 7, 2024 Augusta Chronicle
Augusta University vice president named as sole finalist to be AU’s next president
Miguel Legoas reports, on Thursday, the University System of Georgia announced via news release that USG and the Board of Regents have voted for Russell Keen as the sole finalist to lead AU. This follows former AU President Brooks Keel’s retirement, which kicked off this summer after 40 years in office.
June 7, 2024 Athens Banner-Herald
Say goodbye to the Southern drawl, y’all! UGA research suggests South is losing its accent
Erica Techo reports, linguists Margaret Renwick and Jon Forrest from the University of Georgia turned heads in 2023 after publishing a study about Georgia’s fading Southern accent. The Southern drawl − extending and stretching out vowel sounds in words like taste (tuh-eest) or back (bahyuck) − is disappearing, and younger generations in Georgia are less likely to possess that distinctive twang.
June 7, 2024 State Affairs
Primary runoff primer: What you need to know before June 18
Tammy Joyner reports that the May primary was low-key, with low turnout and few surprises. Most incumbents headed back to the Statehouse in January. However, some races in the June 18 primary runoff could determine who will represent Georgia in Congress and who will become CEO of DeKalb County, Georgia’s fourth-largest county. In addition to local and judicial races, the runoff has 11 congressional and state legislative races.
June 7, 2024 Marietta Daily Journal
Cobb: Transit Tax Would Increase Ridership Twelvefold
Hunter Riggall reports that Cobb County expects that using a 30-year 1% sales tax to overhaul its transit system would increase ridership more than twelvefold by 2050. The county unveiled that projection Thursday morning as it was seeking approval from a state oversight agency to move forward with a countywide referendum on the proposed tax.
June 7, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Georgia Democrats amplify warning that November election poses threat to access to birth control
Jill Nolin reports, Georgia Democrats are warning of a continued threat to reproductive rights after U.S. Senate Republicans blocked an attempt to reinforce Americans’ access to contraception that GOP leaders dismissed as an election-year political stunt. The Senate proposal failed to advance Wednesday with a 51-39 procedural vote when it needed the support of 60 senators to move forward.
June 7, 2024 Capitol Beat News
Burt Jones: Economic worries will help Trump win back presidency
Dave Williams reports, innflation will drive support for former President Donald Trump’s bid to return to the White House, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones predicted Thursday. “2020 was the personality vote,” Jones, the first Georgia elected official to back Trump’s first campaign for president in 2015, said during a luncheon speech at the Georgia Press Association’s annual conference. “2024 is going to be a pocketbook vote.”
June 7, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PG A.M.: Trump verdict swings few Georgia voters to Biden, poll shows
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Van Brimmer report, most Georgia voters agree with the New York jury’s verdict that found former President Donald Trump guilty of hush money charges. But Trump is still narrowly leading President Joe Biden in the first post-conviction poll in Georgia.
