Georgia Trend Daily – Feb. 14, 2025
Feb. 14, 2025 State Affairs
Why California is losing its grip to Georgia over the film industry
Emily Hamann and Tammy Joyner report, the scene cuts to a car chase on San Francisco’s famously hilly streets. A wide shot shows the superhero Ant-Man flying to the rescue, the TransAmerica Pyramid in the background.
Feb. 14, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Travel Blazer: Paul Cramer
Susana Hills reports, Paul Cramer, President and CEO of The Classic Center, has been honored with the esteemed Tom Kilgore Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Georgia Tourism Awards, presented by the Georgia Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus (GACVB). The Georgia Music Collections exhibit from the University of Georgia Libraries at Akins Ford Arena was also recognized as a 2025 Travel Blazer for its impact on destination development.
Feb. 14, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cars, cans, construction. How tariffs on metals could hit Georgians
Zachary Hansen and Kelly Yamanouchi report, what do new cars, Coca-Cola cans and skyscrapers have in common? They each contain a lot of metal — steel and aluminum to be precise — and not all of it is made in the United States.
Feb. 14, 2025 GlobalAtlanta.com
Norwegian Battery Firm Pulls Plug on $2.6B Georgia Plant
Trevor Williams reports that a Norwegian firm has pulled the plug on a $2.6 billion factory in Newnan that was set to make utility-scale battery energy storage systems. Freyr Battery informed the Coweta County Industrial Development Authority of its pullback in a letter last month, with executives officially announcing the plan during the authority’s board meeting Feb. 6, the Newnan Times-Herald first reported.
Feb. 14, 2025 Athens Banner-Herald
Can we work from home? Georgia ranked in top 20 states for remote jobs
Miguel Legoas reports, remote jobs have become more typical since the COVID-19 pandemic. Assuming it stays that way, is Georgia prepared for this new platform for work?
Feb. 14, 2025 Marietta Daily Journal
Cobb Advances $45 Million Bond to Finance 470-bed KSU Dorm
Annie Mayne reports that up to $45 million in tax-exempt bonds are likely to be issued by the Development Authority of Cobb County to build a 470-bed student housing facility at Kennesaw State University. The Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve a resolution from the development authority approving the issuance of the bonds.
Feb. 14, 2025 The Brunswick News
Corps criticized for port dredging delay
Gordon Jackson reports that the lack of progress on planned dredging work at the Brunswick Harbor by the Army Corps of Engineers is raising questions by U.S. Sens. Jon Offoff and Raphael Warnock, the state’s voices in the U.S. Senate. The two Democrats have sent a letter to Corps leadership expressing “alarm over the Corps’ failure to dredge the Brunswick Harbor in a timely manner.”
Feb. 14, 2025 Macon Telegraph
New flights from Macon to international airport in nearby state coming soon, officials say
Jesse Fraga reports that the Middle Georgia Regional Airport will soon offer new flights to an international airport in Virginia, according to a news release from Macon-Bibb County. This is the first time Contour Airlines has offered jet service to Washington Dulles International Airport, about 30 minutes west of downtown Washington, D.C.
Feb. 14, 2025 GPB
Georgia Today: Senate passes gun-tax holiday bill; Atlanta nightlife report; Insurance clawbacks
Staff reports, on the Thursday, Feb. 13 edition of Georgia Today: The Georgia Senate creates a tax holiday for guns, ammo and gun storage devices; Atlanta releases a new report on the economic impact of the city’s nightlife industry; and a look at the impact of so-called insurance clawbacks.
Feb. 14, 2025 WABE
Georgia Senate advances bill tossing out legal immunity for ‘sanctuary cities’
Rahul Bali and Meimei Xu report, the Georgia State Senate passed Republican-backed legislation Thursday that would take away legal protections from local governments, agencies, departments and their employees that don’t follow immigration laws. Under sovereign immunity, individuals typically can’t sue local governments in Georgia.
Feb. 14, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Georgia Senate OKs tax holiday for guns, bill to require safe storage faces GOP headwinds
Ross Williams reports that Georgia senators passed a bill Wednesday that could make it cheaper to buy guns, ammunition and accessories like scopes, stocks and gun safes on a party line vote, and behind the scenes, lawmakers and lobbyists are tussling over a Democrat-sponsored plan to encourage gun owners to lock up their weapons. Senate Bill 47 would be in effect for 11 days each year, starting on the second Friday in October, set to coincide with the start of deer hunting season.
Feb. 14, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia lawmakers weigh public spending for Super Bowl, Final Four
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Beam report Atlanta has always been a top target for major sporting events. But with the Super Bowl and the NCAA Men’s Final Four scheduled to arrive over the next six years, are state lawmakers still willing to help pay for them?
