Georgia Trend Daily – July 9, 2024
July 9, 2024 Capitol Beat News
Engineers rate Georgia “C+” in infrastructure
Dave Williams reports, the condition of Georgia’s infrastructure received a decidedly mediocre grade of “C+” Monday in a report released by the Georgia section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. “This is a wakeup call,” Tim Echols, vice chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), said during a news conference at the state Capitol.
July 9, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
The Atlanta Sound
Candice Dyer reports, travel down any street in Atlanta, from Buckhead to Bankhead, and you likely will feel the throbbing bass in your sternum. Hip-hop has become, in the words of U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, the “soundtrack of our lives.”
July 9, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fortune 500 packaging giant to keep metro Atlanta HQ after $20B merger
Zachary Hansen reports that one of Georgia’s largest companies finalized a $20 billion international merger earlier this month and confirmed it will continue to run its U.S. operations in metro Atlanta. Sandy Springs-based WestRock on July 5 completed its deal to merge with Dublin-based Smurfit Kappa, forming a new paper and packaging giant called Smurfit Westrock.
July 9, 2024 GlobalAtlanta.com
Aflac’s 50 Years in Japan Marked With Visit From Legislative Caucus
Trevor Williams reports, it was 1970 at the world’s fair in Osaka that Aflac Inc.’s founders saw the opportunity. If Japanese people would wear respiratory masks, they would buy insurance, reasoned John Amos, one of three brothers who founded American Family Life Assurance Co. and the father of the current long-time CEO, Dan Amos.
July 9, 2024 Saporta Report
New report claims Georgia is leading the clean energy boom nearly two years after the Inflation Reduction Act
Mark Lannaman reports, according to a new report from Climate Power, a self-described independent strategic communications organization focused on “winning the politics of climate”, Georgia is, actually, the number one state to do business — clean energy related business, anyway. The report looked at private sector clean energy announcements from August 16, 2022 — the date the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was passed — and May 31, 2024.
July 9, 2024 Augusta Chronicle
This energy company wants Augusta factory to manufacture batteries the size of houses
Joe Hotchkiss reports that a Georgia-based energy-storage manufacturer hopes its proposed Augusta plant will speed the production of some of the world’s largest batteries. Stryten Energy in Alpharetta is asking the city’s perimssion to handle, store and process sulfuric acid on a portion of 3464 Mike Padgett Hwy. that it wants to rename the Southeast Energy Storage Park.
July 9, 2024 Gainesville Times
Hundreds gather to say farewell, pay tribute to Abit Massey
Ben Anderson reports, hundreds of people gathered under the Gainesville High School pavilion Monday to celebrate the life of Abit Massey, the Hall County poultry legend who died June 14 at the age of 96 after a battle with cancer. Known as the “dean of the poultry industry,” Massey took every opportunity throughout his life to promote chicken as “the healthiest, most nutritious, most economical” food a person could eat.
July 9, 2024 The Brunswick News
History is among the Isles biggest attractions
Taylor Cooper reports, the Golden Isles is known as a tourist destination for its natural beauty. But plenty of visitors also come to the area for what’s known in the industry as “heritage tourism.”
July 9, 2024 WABE
Immigrants in Georgia detention centers lose access to sole local pro bono law clinic
Emily Wu Pearson reports that the Southern Immigrant Freedom Initiative, known as SIFI, was the only legal team offering pro bono legal services to people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in both of Georgia’s rural detention centers – Stewart Detention Center in Southwest Georgia and Folkston Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center in Southeast Georgia. Earlier this month, the initiative’s parent organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center, laid off the entire SIFI staff and many others working in immigration across the country.
July 9, 2024 Capitol Beat News
New legislative subcommittee to review prison safety
Dave Williams reports, Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns Monday announced the creation of a special subcommittee to consider funding recommendations aimed at improving safety in the state’s prison system. The panel will function as a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.
July 9, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Jill Biden rejects calls for president to step aside at rally near Georgia’s largest military base
Jill Nolin reports that First lady Jill Biden rallied Democrats in a west Georgia community that’s home to one of the country’s largest military bases Monday as the Biden-Harris campaign works to tamp down concerns after President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance in Atlanta more than a week ago.
July 9, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cornel West campaign submits signatures to secure spot on Georgia presidential ballot
Greg Bluestein reports that independent candidate Cornel West’s campaign said Monday that it submitted more than four times the signatures needed to secure a spot on Georgia’s November ballot and join other little-known candidates who could play an outsized role in the battleground state. West’s campaign said it far surpassed the 7,500 signatures from registered Georgia voters needed to qualify for the ballot ahead of a Tuesday deadline to submit the documents.
