Georgia Trend Daily – Dec. 23, 2024
Dec. 23, 2024 WSB Radio
Georgia leaders thankful for disaster relief funding in short term funding bill
Staff reports that the state of Georgia’s leading officials say they are thankful for the disaster relief funding that was included in the short term spending bill passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden on Saturday. The $100 billion in disaster aid and the $10 billion for farmers will help Georgia farmers still trying to recover after Hurricane Helene.
Dec. 23, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Taking the Pulse of Georgia’s Hospitals
LeeAnn Dance reports, almost five years after the shock of the global pandemic, the heartbeat of many of Georgia’s urban hospitals is strong. But in the state’s outer extremities – its 120 rural counties – the pulse is often moderate to weak.
Dec. 23, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rising like a phoenix, Centennial Yards hotel reaches highest point
Zachary Hansen reports, Atlanta’s story is one of rebirth, seizing opportunity from ashes and rubble. After the Civil War reduced the city to cinders, it was reborn as the Capital of the South.
Dec. 23, 2024 GPB
Sustainable packaging giant with Georgia connections being sold to International Paper
Orlando Montoya reports that the world’s largest pulp and paper company is acquiring a British firm that has a North American headquarters in Atlanta and a paper mill on Georgia’s coast. The pending sale of London-based DS Smith to Memphis-based International Paper still needs to be approved by antitrust regulators in the European Union.
Dec. 23, 2024 WABE
U.S. nominating Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to UNESCO World Heritage site list
Marisa Mecke reports, each year, the U.S. can nominate one site to the United Nations’ list of culturally and naturally significant sites around the world. This year, it is nominating the Okefenokee Swamp.
Dec. 23, 2024 Cartersville Daily Tribune-News
BCPC recommends approval for Stamp Creek Quarry
David Herron reports, in a standing-room-only courtroom Dec. 16, the Bartow County Planning Commission recommended approval for a new quarry near Stamp Creek and Old Furnace roads. The meeting lasted for a little over five hours.
Dec. 23, 2024 The Current
Okefenokee mining controversy spotlights property rights
Mary Landers reports Joe Hopkins has more than 50,000 reasons to support mining near the Okefenokee. That’s how many acres his timber company, Toledo Manufacturing, owns in Charlton County, where Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals has proposed a controversial plan to strip mine.
Dec. 23, 2024 WABE
Former Georgia Sen. and Democratic Whip Vincent Fort dead at 68
Stephannie Stokes and Kendall Murry report, former Georgia Sen. Vincent Fort, a Democratic party leader in the Georgia Senate who was once a candidate for Atlanta mayor and Congress, has died. The cause of death has been cited as complications from cancer.
Dec. 23, 2024 Georgia.gov
Governor Kemp, Elected Leaders to Visit Georgia Guardsmen at Texas Border
Staff reports, on Friday, Gov. Kemp today announced plans for a Command visit of the Georgia National Guard Task Force at the U.S. Southern Border in Texas. He will be accompanied by Lt. Governor Burt Jones; Speaker Jon Burns; Chairman Chuck Payne of the Senate Veterans, Military, and Homeland Security Committee; and Chairman Josh Bonner and Representative Chas Cannon from the House Defense and Veterans Affairs Committee.
Dec. 23, 2024 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Columbus has sewer and water pipe problems. $10 million in help could be on the way
Kala Hunter reports that Columbus will join other Georgia cities in having a new federal spending account specifically for water infrastructure projects, thanks to a new bill that passed through the Senate on Thursday. The Georgia Stormwater Management Act, introduced by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), is intended to help mend the issues with aging water infrastructure around Columbus.
Dec. 23, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Caregivers of Georgians with disabilities finally realizing long-awaited pay hike
Jill Nolin reports that workers who assist Georgians with disabilities are starting to see a long-awaited pay-bump, giving providers hope that they can finally compete again with the fast-food and retail jobs that have been eroding their workforce and hamstringing their capacity to function. The pay increase is the result of a wage study two years ago that led to a recommended $6-per-hour increase for workers called direct support professionals.
Dec. 23, 2024 Rome News-Tribune
Legislators Continue To Look At School Safety As We Enter a New Year
Rachel Hartdegen reports, schools in Georgia have spent the last half of the year working on making schools safer following the shooting at Apalachee High School in September. Rome City and Floyd County schools restructured safety plans and brought in additional law enforcement to the schools.
Dec. 23, 2024 Clayton News-Daily
Bill Would Protect Pregnant Incarcerated Women
Staff reports, this summer, Georgia women testified to abuse of pregnant women in Georgia’s prisons and jails. Now, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, and U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, introduced the bipartisan Births in Custody Reporting Act to strengthen federal oversight of pregnancy care in prisons and jails.
Dec. 23, 2024 State Affairs
Kemp targets ‘judicial hellhole’reputation with push for tort reform in 2025
Tammy Joyner reports, Gov. Brian Kemp frequently touts Georgia as the No. 1 place to do business in America. But a national tort reform group says the Peach State is among the top “judicial hellholes” in the country because of frivolous lawsuits and excessive jury verdicts.
Dec. 23, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New Georgia election law has new requirement for homeless voters
Caleb Groves and Phoebe Quinton report, because people experiencing homelessness don’t have permanent addresses, they face many challenges. It can be difficult to get access to social services, credit and even travel. And starting next year, homeless Georgians can include voting on that list.
