Georgia has 350,000 job postings but only about 170,000 unemployed Georgians.
State officials routinely highlight Georgia’s low unemployment rate, but that doesn’t address the worker shortage.
Read the full storyGeorgia has 350,000 job postings but only about 170,000 unemployed Georgians.
State officials routinely highlight Georgia’s low unemployment rate, but that doesn’t address the worker shortage.
Read the full storySouth Korean company CJ Foodville Corporation announced this week it will invest more than $47 million to build a new bakery and food processing facility in Gainesville.
Read the full storyPresident Joe Biden unveiled a new advertisement in Georgia this week, making bold claims about the accomplishments of his administration. However, the president’s claims to have addressed the supply chain crisis and lowered the prices of drugs and utilities may not stand up to scrutiny.
In the 30-second video, a narrator claims Biden “got to work” by “fixing the supply chains, fighting corporate greed, passing laws to lower the cost of medicine, cut utility bills, and make us more energy independent.” However, recent reporting reveals the supply chain crisis continued as recently as May, utility bills rose over last year, and the costs of most drugs increased in January.
Read the full storyA stabbing spree at the Fulton County Jail last week has left multiple inmates hospitalized and one dead, according to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.
Read the full storyFulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is reportedly in possession of a meeting transcript that exonerates two defendants named in her August 14 indictment against former President Donald Trump, his former lawyers, and Georgians involved in his effort to contest the 2020 presidential election.
A transcript of a December 14, 2020 meeting of those involved in the effort to create alternative Trump delegates in Georgia for the 2020 election, reviewed by The Federalist, reveals that Shafer and former Trump attorney Ray Smith specifically planned to act as “Republican nominees for Presidential Elector,” and not “duly elected and qualified” electors, in what seems to be a direct contradiction to Willis’s indictment.
Read the full storyGeorgia Piedmont Technical College broke ground on a 24,000-square-foot Regional Transportation Training Center in Stonecrest.
The facility should open to students in the fall of 2024. With this addition, officials said the school has room to double its commercial truck driving program enrollment.
Read the full storyA former White House drug policy advisor wants Georgia’s governor to reject a rule change to allow some independent pharmacies to sell low THC oils.
In June, the Georgia Board of Pharmacy voted in favor of the rule change to allow more than 100 independent pharmacies to sell THC oils.
Read the full storyAnother inmate was recently found dead in their cell in the Fulton County Jail, according to a press release by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO).
On Wednesday, the FCSO announced that inmate Samuel Lawrence, age 34, was found unresponsive in his unit cell on August 26 at approximately 4:20 p.m. as detention officers were conducting dinner rounds.
Read the full storyOn Thursday, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) said at a press conference that he would not support efforts to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from office following her indictment of President Donald Trump.
As reported by Breitbart, Kemp referred to such efforts as “political theater,” after a Republican state senator had already vowed to take action against Willis. Willis’ indictment included 41 different charges against President Trump and 18 campaign surrogates, lawyers, and other prominent allies.
Read the full storyWhen I went to see Music Spotlight artist 12-year-old Brooklyn Summer play at Opry Mills last year, her then 14-year-old friend, Johnathon Heilbroun, played too. I already knew how good Brooklyn was but was quite surprised at how talented Heilbroun was. I knew I would eventually get around to learning his story as well.
Read the full storyFormer President Donald Trump on Thursday pleaded not guilty to 13 felony charges related to his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, and he waived his right to appear in court in Fulton County next week.
Trump was scheduled to be arraigned in Georgia on Sept. 6 alongside 18 co-defendants on charges under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, as well as charges of making false statements and soliciting a public official to violate their oath of office, among other things.
Read the full storyFormer Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani lost by default Wednesday in a defamation lawsuit filed by two Georgia election workers and a judge imposed sanctions on him in the case.
In a scathing 57-page ruling, federal Judge Beryl Howell criticized Giuliani for not producing evidence as required for the case filed by election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, resulting in the default loss.
Read the full storyFormer President Donald Trump is leading the field of candidates in the 2024 GOP presidential primary among Georgia voters, according to a new poll by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The poll surveyed 807 likely Republican primary voters in Georgia from August 16-23.
Read the full storyDaesol Ausys, a South Korean automotive supplier, announced Tuesday it will invest $72 million to establish a new manufacturing facility in Harris County.
Read the full storyWhen officials in Lee County tried to build “a small acute care hospital” with 60 beds and four operating rooms, it began a multi-year process that cost millions of dollars and didn’t end with the construction of a facility.
“When we started our quest to build a hospital, we knew that it was going to be an uphill battle,” Billy Mathis, the Lee County Commission chairman, told lawmakers during a Senate Study Committee on Certificate of Need Reform hearing on Monday. “For the first couple of years, after you are granted a certificate of need, you fight litigation. The code in Georgia encourages litigation, basically. So, you get your certificate of need, and then all sorts of folks sue you — to put it very plainly.”
Read the full storyWhile one Georgia state senator wants a special session to potentially act on the district attorney prosecuting former President Donald Trump, another says it’s impossible.
Last week, State Sen. Colton Moore, R-Trenton, sent a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, calling for a special session “for all purposes, to include, without limitation, the review and response to the actions of [Fulton County District Attorney] Fani Willis.”
Read the full storyActivist groups across Georgia have denounced the City of Atlanta’s decision to use signature matching in order to verify signatures on a petition that would allow voters to decide on the fate of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
Read the full storyThe Georgia Department of Transportation has found a few HEROs to help patrol metro Atlanta’s highways.
In May, GDOT officials said the agency lacked the personnel to maintain 24-hour Highway Emergency Response Operator patrols, a common sight along metro Atlanta’s busy interstates. At the time, the agency said HERO units would continue to patrol when traffic volumes are the highest — during daytime and evening hours seven days a week — and when roughly 91% of mishaps happen.
Read the full storyAs the state looks to evaluate and possibly overhaul its tax system, one state public policy group says officials should improve the tax credit system’s transparency.
“The state has taken a vital step toward creating a fairer tax system by convening this panel and by implementing specific legislative provisions like the one in 2021’s SB 6 that provided for the analyses of tax benefits,” Georgia Budget and Policy Institute President and CEO Staci Fox said in a statement. “While these measures are commendable, past evaluations of tax credits have run into resource and information limitations that hindered meaningful findings and the identification of actionable next steps.
Read the full storyThe Atlanta City Council signed off on spending $4 million to develop “quick-delivery housing” for the city’s homeless population.
Last month, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens issued an executive order directing the city’s chief financial officer to fund a new “Rapid Housing” initiative. The city plans to repurpose shipping containers that the Georgia Emergency Management Agency used as temporary hospitals amid the COVID-19 pandemic and are now being decommissioned.
Read the full storyAnother inmate was recently found dead in their cell in the Fulton County Jail’s medical unit, according to a press release by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO).
Read the full storyInvestigative journalist and former Florida U.S. House candidate Laura Loomer is urging supporters of former President Donald Trump to rally in front of the Fulton County Jail on Thursday.
Read the full storyAttorney John Eastman turned himself in Tuesday to the Fulton County jail, records show, after he was indicted last week alongside former President Donald Trump and 17 other co-conspirators for their alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Eastman said Tuesday that the indictment “should never have been brought” and that it “targets attorneys for their zealous advocacy on behalf of their clients.”
Read the full storyA Georgia Senate joint committee will soon meet to discuss artificial intelligence.
“AI may be one of the greatest disruptors in history providing significant advancements and monumental risk,” State Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell (pictured above), chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Safety, said in a statement. “We must address this head on to protect our citizens, businesses, and state.”
Read the full storyA federal court in the Northern District of Georgia issued rulings on Friday upholding portions of Georgia’s Election Integrity Act while also banning countries from rejecting absentee ballots that contain improper date of births.
Read the full storyGeorgia’s July unemployment rate was 3.2%, unchanged from June’s revised rate, even as more Georgians filed initial unemployment claims.
The state’s unemployment rate is also lower than the national unemployment rate of 3.5%. In July, Georgians filed 31,410 initial claims for unemployment benefits, up 34%, or 7,933, from a month earlier and 2,865 from last year.
Read the full storyA Georgia school board voted Thursday to fire a teacher who read her fifth-grade students a book on gender identity, according to The Associated Press.
In March, Katie Rinderle, a fifth-grade teacher at Cobb County School District, says she got in trouble for reading her class “My Shadow is Purple,” a picture book about a child who discovers they are neither a girl or a boy, according to the AP. The Cobb County School Board voted 4-3 to fire Rinderle, finding that the teacher had violated the state’s divisive concepts law, which bars educators from giving lessons on race and “espousing personal political beliefs.”
Read the full storyGeorgia State Senator Colton Moore (R-Trenton) sent a letter to Governor Brian Kemp calling on him to convene an emergency session to investigate Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
“We, the undersigned, being duly elected members of the Georgia House of Representatives and Georgia Senate, and comprising 3/5 of each respective house, pursuant to Article IV, Section II, Paragraph VII(b), hereby certify to you, in writing, with a copy to the Secretary of State, that in our opinion an emergency exists in the affairs of the state, requiring a special session to be convened under that section, for all purposes, to include, without limitation, the review and response to the actions of Fani Willis,” Moore wrote in his letter on Thursday.
Read the full storyIn a post to his locals.com page Georgia attorney Robert Barnes took subscribers on a little trip down memory lane about the 2020 Georgia election challenges.
As Mr. Barnes explained, detailed affidavits filed by the Trump campaign established the veracity of the claims. Short version: Constitutionally unqualified voters cast Constitutionally unqualified ballots that were Constitutionally unqualified canvassed and counted in far excess of the margin of victory — indeed, more than 10 times the margin of victory. Unlawfully, Fulton County courts blocked the case from ever being heard.
Read the full storyChairman of the Georgia Republican Party (GAGOP) Josh McKoon slammed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as a “power-mad prosecutor” this week after former President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies were indicted for their alleged roles in attempting to “overturn” the results of the 2020 election.
Read the full storyA bipartisan bill to get rid of outdated or duplicative government reports is duplicative, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., introduced the Eliminate Useless Reports Act of 2023. It would require federal agencies to list any recurring reports they identify as outdated or duplicative.
Read the full storyTwo inmates at the Fulton County Jail have died this month, according to press releases by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO).
Read the full storyGeorgia Governor Brian Kemp responded to former President Donald Trump’s indictment in the Peach State for his alleged role in attempting to “overturn” the results of the 2020 election.
Read the full storyAtlanta journalist George Chidi announced Saturday he was asked by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office to testify before a grand jury this Tuesday in the 2020 election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
Read the full storyGeorgia’s news outlets from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to Atlanta News First have reported about a shortage of teachers plaguing the state’s education system. Data from the state’s Department of Education paints a different picture.
Georgia had a total of 123,210 teachers in 2022-23, according to their data. This is an increase of 1,711 teachers from the previous school year when Georgia had 121,499 teachers.
Read the full storyGeorgia lawmakers will likely consider legislation requiring social media companies to help crack down on cyberbullying.
Lt. Governor Burt Jones and Senate Majority Caucus Chair Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, plan to introduce legislation for lawmakers to consider during the 2024 legislative Session to require social media companies to take “concrete steps” to verify their users’ ages.
Read the full storyAtlanta received a failing grade for its charter school funding gap.
A new report from the School Choice Demonstration Project, an educational research project within the University of Arkansas’ Department of Education Reform, examined funding disparities between traditional public schools and public charter schools in 18 cities nationwide.
Read the full storyThe State of Georgia broke records for the third year in a row in regards to economic development as total investments in facility expansions and new locations totaled more than $24 billion during fiscal year 2023 (FY23).
Read the full storyThe City of Atlanta has the second most generous indoor and outdoor living spaces out of the 50 largest U.S. cities, according to recent research analyzed by online nationwide self-storage search website StorageCafe.
Read the full storyEarlier this year, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed House Bill 118 and House Bill 622 to triple Bartow County’s homestead tax exemptions for school and county ad valorem taxes.
But property owners across the Peach State have seen their property tax bills balloon. State Rep. Matthew Gambill, R-Cartersville, spoke with The Center Square recently about property taxes and what action state lawmakers might take.
Read the full storyThe Georgia Lottery Corp. recently announced that it raised $1,516,383,000 for education in the Peach State during fiscal year 2023 (FY23), which spanned from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023.
Read the full story“Structural racism” contributes to higher Type 2 diabetes rates in black Americans, according to a new paper from Emory University researchers.
The researchers used a framework that “consider[s] the domains of health behaviours and social norms, structural racism, access to high-quality care, economic development, and public awareness.”
Read the full storyStudents that attend Fulton County Schools and DeKalb County Schools were met with new security improvements including weapon detection systems and push-button alert systems.
Read the full storyAn inmate who was in charge of coordinating a shipment of methamphetamine from Atlanta into Western North Carolina and the leader of a Savannah-area drug trafficking conspiracy were both sentenced to federal prison this week
Read the full storyA Fulton County grand jury has indicted eight former state employees on unemployment insurance fraud charges.
Prosecutors say the eight submitted false claims and weekly certifications to the Georgia Department of Labor during the COVID-19 pandemic to receive unemployment insurance benefits when employed by the state. According to the State of Georgia Office of the Inspector General, the eight received $170,931 in unemployment insurance benefits and federal supplements.
Read the full storySouth Korean company Duckshin Housing announced this week it will invest more than $15 million to establish its first U.S. manufacturing presence in Athens.
Read the full storyThe family of Lashawn Thompson reached a $4 million settlement with Fulton County in the death of Thompson, who was found dead in a cell on the county jail’s psychiatric floor covered in bed bugs and insects last year.
Fulton County commissioners voted six to zero to approve the family’s settlement, 11 Alive reported. The outlet noted that the settlement comes two months after the family released the results of a private autopsy of Thompson, which showed that he died from “severe neglect.”
Read the full storyAtlanta Mayor Andre Dickens plans to use $4 million to develop “quick-delivery housing” for homeless people in the city.
Dickens issued an executive order directing the city’s chief financial officer to fund a new “Rapid Housing” initiative. The city plans to repurpose shipping containers that Georgia Emergency Management Agency used as temporary hospitals amid the COVID-19 pandemic and are now being decommissioned.
Read the full storyAtlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum held a press conference on Tuesday announcing an increase to the cash reward in the search for a “very small group of extremists” responsible for a series of arson attacks across the city.
Read the full storyElection security will likely remain a hot-button issue in Georgia when lawmakers return to the Gold Dome in January and heading into the 2024 election.
Last week, Lt. Governor Burt Jones met with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both Republicans, to discuss a 2021 report by Alex Halderman, a University of Michigan computer science and engineering professor. The Georgia Republican Party has raised concerns about the report, which it said uncovered vulnerabilities.
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