Georgia Trend Daily – May 6, 2024
May 6, 2024 Augusta Chronicle
The die is cast: Swiss company bringing 350 jobs to Augusta area. Here’s what it makes.
Joe Hotchkiss reports that a Swiss maker of lightweight components for autos, energy and aerospace is bringing 350 new jobs to Augusta. GF Casting Solutions AG plans to invest more than $184 million in a new manufacturing facility in Augusta.
May 6, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Help for Entrepreneurs
Ben Young reports, as we see frequently in our profiles of different parts of the state, small business is the backbone of Georgia’s economy. Following are some of the resources available to help Georgians start and grow their own small businesses – and we ask you to bear with an alphabet soup of acronyms for the varied supporting players.
May 6, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
World Congress Center plots possible $1B future for 20 downtown acres
Zachary Hansen and Kelly Yamanouchi report, millions of tourists, conventioneers and event-goers are drawn to downtown Atlanta every year, but they often have to cross an ocean of parking lots to reach the city’s island of attractions. Now one of downtown’s biggest players, the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, is thinking of ways to transform 20 acres of parking lots north and west of its namesake convention center into a live-work-play community.
May 6, 2024 Capitol Beat News
Producer of nutritious foods to fight hunger dedicates expansion
Dave Williams reports that a South Georgia-based manufacturer dedicated an expansion Friday with the capacity to produce millions of packets a day of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) to prevent and treat acute malnutrition. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a $200 million initiative to maximize the procurement and distribution of RUTF produced by MANA Nutrition in Fitzgerald.
May 6, 2024 Savannah Morning News
Feds aim to slash Port of Savannah vehicle pollution with $15 million in funding
John Deem reports that more than $15 million in recently announced federal funding is aimed at slashing truck pollution tied to the port, even with continued expansion. A California-based clean-energy infrastructure company will put a $7.8 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration toward development of a 23-megawatt truck-charging center in Garden City
May 6, 2024 Augusta Chronicle
Has climate change impacted the peanut growing season in Georgia?
Erica Van Buren reports that unpredictable and extreme temperatures associated with climate change can have a negative impact on the peanut growing season in Georgia, say experts. “Georgia is the number one state in the U.S. for growing peanuts,” said Scott Monfort, peanut agronomist with the crop and soil science department at the University of Georgia.
May 6, 2024 Saporta Report
‘Changing the Odds’ report finds racial disparities persist in Atlanta
Delaney Tarr reports that the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2024 “Changing the Odds” report found that despite some changes since 2019, Atlantans still face racial inequities across education, housing and income. At a May 2 convening in the Loudermilk Center officials from the foundation and around Atlanta gathered to break down the data revealed in the 2024 report.
May 6, 2024 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
La Niña’s wrath could mean drought conditions, stronger hurricanes in Georgia this summer
Sundi Rose reports that the effects of weather occurrences El Niño and La Niña have made their way to Georgia. And it looks like summer is when we’ll feel them most.
May 6, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Bill to create Ocmulgee Mounds National Park near Macon gets broad backing from Georgia delegation
Ross Williams reports, if you could travel back in time to visit the Macon Plateau of more than a thousand years ago, you’d see a community made up of ancestors of the Muscogee people living, meeting, growing food and burying their dead in earthen mounds, some of which are still around today. Soon, some of that land could be preserved in America’s newest national park, and the first one in the state of Georgia.
May 6, 2024 GPB
Taxpayer dollars at work: Warnock at The Stitch, Ossoff on youth program, big push for National Park
Ambria Burton reports, for the week ending May 3, 2024, Sens. Warnock and Ossoff worked on improving youth mentorship, reconnecting undeserved communities in Atlanta, creating Georgia’s first National Park and Preserve and expanding nursing programs in West Georgia. On April 29, Sen. Ossoff announced that he is delivering $250,000 in federal funding to strengthen youth mentorship programs in Atlanta.
May 6, 2024 Savannah Morning News
‘Unjust?’ Cash bail reform advocates react to controversial new law
Maya Homan reports that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp last week signed a controversial cash bail bill into law in a move that bail reform advocates see as unraveling decades of progress on criminal justice policies. Senate Bill 63 adds 30 additional felony and misdemeanor crimes to the list of bail-restricted offenses, meaning that those accused of crimes would be required to post cash bail.
May 6, 2024 Capitol Beat News
Data centers tax break debate pits industry against environmentalists
Dave Williams reports that the debate over a tax break the data center industry has enjoyed in Georgia for the last six years has moved from the General Assembly to the governor’s office. The legislature passed a bill during this year’s session suspending for two years a state sales tax exemption on purchases of data center equipment aimed at attracting more data centers to Georgia.
May 6, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PG A.M.: Collins’ social media post belittling campus protests draws rebukes
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Van Brimmer report, Georgia U.S. Rep. Mike Collins used a social media post to amplify a video of a counter-protester who appeared to make monkey noises at a Black student taking part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the University of Mississippi. The Jackson Republican was quickly condemned for writing “Ole Miss taking care of business” with a link to the video showing the racist jeers.
