Georgia Trend Daily – Feb. 11, 2025
Feb. 11, 2025 Macon Telegraph
Congress didn’t pass effort to make Ocmulgee Mounds GA’s first national park. What now?
Margaret Walker reports that the bill to make the Ocmulgee Mounds a national park and preserve didn’t make it into the end-of-year congressional agenda like many hoped. Seth Clark, the executive director for Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative and a Macon-Bibb County commissioner, said Hurricane Helene created a pressing need for disaster relief, reducing space for other legislation.
Feb. 11, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
The State of Cardiac Care
Mary Anne Dunkin reports, heart disease is still the No. 1 cause of death for both men and women, but 25 years into the new millennium, the chance for life-saving treatment has never been better. Simple devices can detect heart problems.
Feb. 11, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia lifts ban on poultry markets, swaps after bird flu cases
Drew Kann reports that sales, markets and swaps involving live poultry can resume in Georgia, state agriculture officials announced Monday evening, lifting a ban on the activities that had been in place since a deadly strain of bird flu rocked the industry last month. In January, broiler chickens at a commercial poultry facility in Elbert County tested positive for the H5N1 strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.
Feb. 11, 2025 Gainesville Times
Carol Burrell named 2025 Gainesville Woman of Distinction
Greg Finan Jr. reports that Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia has announced that Carol Healan Burrell has been named the 2025 Gainesville Woman of Distinction. Burrell, who is the president and chief executive officer of Northeast Georgia Health System was selected for her positive contributions to the community.
Feb. 11, 2025 Augusta Chronicle
Georgia Power unveils plan to grow power-generating capacity; some criticize noted coal use
Erica Van Buren reports that Georgia Power recently announced the filing of its 2025 Integrated Resource Plan with the Georgia Public Service Commission with the utility saying it provides a pathway to clean energy and others criticizing the continued inclusion of coal as a resource. “An integrated resource plan is Georgia Power’s long-term planning process,” said Jennifer Whitfield, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit environmental legal advocacy organization.
Feb. 11, 2025 Georgia.gov
Gov. Kemp Announces 104 Appointments to Boards, Authorities, and Commissions
Staff reports that Gov. Kemp on Monday announced 104 appointments and reappointments to various state boards, authorities, and commissions.
Feb. 11, 2025 GPB
Safe food, water. Less chronic disease. Affordable care. These are Georgians’ priorities, poll says
Ellen Eldridge and Sofi Gratas report that access to affordable health care, safe food and water, and reducing chronic disease like high blood pressure and heart disease are the top three public health priorities, according to a new poll from Gallup and Emory University. Chronic diseases like hypertension, heart disease and obesity are going up nationwide, some more than others, according to the latest Healthy Georgia Report.
Feb. 11, 2025 Augusta Chronicle
Southern Living suggests visiting this small Georgia town known for famous tv shows, movies
Vanessa Countryman reports that Southern Living magazine has highlighted this small town in Georgia as a place you need to go to. “Few towns find the balance between sensationalized and sleepy, yet Senoia, Georgia manages to do just that,” the magazine wrote.
Feb. 11, 2025 WABE
Georgians could vote to make state school superintendent an appointed, not elected, role
Rahul Bali and MeiMei Xu report that a group of powerful Georgia state lawmakers have rolled out a plan that shifts the state school superintendent from being elected by Georgia voters to being appointed by members of the Georgia State Board of Education. If passed, House Resolution 174 would appear on the ballot for Georgians in 2026 as a proposed state constitutional amendment.
Feb. 11, 2025 Georgia Recorder
East Georgia GOP House candidate loses suit to redo closely contested November election
Stanley Dunlap reports that a judge ruled Monday against Republican state House candidate Tracy Wheeler’s bid to overturn her narrow Nov. 5 election loss to incumbent Democratic Rep. Mack Jackson. Tifton Judicial circuit Senior Superior Court Judge Gary McCorvey ruled Monday that Wheeler failed to prove that there were enough votes or other systemic irregularities in the east Georgia district race to warrant a new election following the Nov. 5 election.
Feb. 11, 2025 Capitol Beat News
Lawmakers, mostly but not all Democrats, seek extra funding for impoverished students
Dave Williams reports that some legislative Republicans are joining Democrats in seeking to send additional state funding to schools with students in poverty. Supporters of House Bill 245 argue that Georgia is one of six states that has not adjusted educational funding to account for poverty and that it’s time to change that.
Feb. 11, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Republicans seek to shield carpet industry, cities from costly toxic PFAS lawsuits
Dylan Jackson reports, as northwest Georgia’s carpet manufacturing industry faces a barrage of potentially costly lawsuits, a new proposal introduced in the state legislature would grant broad immunity to carpet companies and municipalities accused of tainting the public water supply with the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS. House Bill 211, introduced recently by several northwest Georgia Republicans, comes as the area’s carpet industry faces at least half a dozen lawsuits accusing them of contaminating local drinking water with PFAS — compounds connected to a host of negative health effects, including fertility problems and certain cancers.
