Georgia Trend Daily – Sept. 18, 2024

Sept. 18, 2024 Georgia.gov

Staff reports that Gov. Kemp on Tuesday joined the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) in announcing that the state broke tourism records for the second year in a row and maintained its No. 5 market share ranking among all 50 states and Washington, D.C., for the fourth consecutive year.

Sept. 18, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!

Tharon Johnson writes, over the last 40 years, the wealth gap between rich and poor Americans has grown into a chasm. While our economy is larger now than it ever has been, with macroeconomic trends like employment, median household income and the stock market painting a rosy picture, it only takes a little digging beneath the surface to see that the middle class, which once defined our country, is shrinking.

Sept. 18, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Zachary Hansen reports, the country’s largest privately held food producer announced it will be taking up office space within a glassy Midtown tower to establish a new technology hub with 400 workers. Cargill, which is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday it agreed to sublease within the NCR campus at 864 Spring St.

Sept. 18, 2024 Athens Banner-Herald

Vanessa Countryman reports, the BCC named Athens as the U.S. South’s coolest college town because of its musical heritage and as the birthplace of influential bands like the B-52s and R.E.M. Athens, a city nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and just 70 miles northeast of Atlanta, is home to the University of Georgia.

Sept. 18, 2024 GlobalAtlanta.com

Trevor Williams reports that a Portuguese software developer and platform serving financial institutions has selected Atlanta for its entry point into the U.S. market. ebankIT, based in Porto, Portugal, localized its presence in the United States last year, according to its website, but announced only Sept. 10 that had picked as its headquarters the city known as Transaction Alley.

Sept. 18, 2024 Albany Herald

Staff reports that Democratic U.S. Sens. the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees transportation policy, and Jon Ossoff announced they have secured $63,646,755 in federal funds for airports across Georgia, including some $3.76 million for the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport in Albany.

Sept. 18, 2024 Dalton Daily Citizen

Staff reports, during the past five years the city of Dalton has been charting a groundbreaking course with the development and execution of a 21st century stormwater management plan. Last week, members of the city’s Public Works team presented that plan to communities from across the country at the American Public Works Association’s Public Works Expo.

Sept. 18, 2024 The Brunswick News

Taylor Cooper reports, a wildlife corridor running through the middle of Jekyll Island will not only help animals traverse the island easier, but it also will provide a new amenity for residents and visitors. The board of the Jekyll Island Authority discussed the plan at a meeting on Tuesday.

Sept. 18, 2024 GPB

Ellen Eldridge reports, a decade ago, no state reported an obesity rate of more than 35%, but now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there are 23 — including Georgia and several Southern states. Almost 20% of American children ages 2 through 19 are considered obese, and rates for this age group have more than tripled, from 5.5 to 19.7%, according to the latest data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Sept. 18, 2024 Marietta Daily Journal

Annie Mayne reports, with less than seven weeks until Election Day, the Cobb County Board of Elections is calling for calm. The board voted unanimously Monday to pass a resolution which requests a 90-day “quiet period” precede all future federal elections and that the State Elections Board halts the adoption and implementation of any new rules before the Nov. 5, 2024 general election.

Sept. 18, 2024 Rome News-Tribune

John Bailey reports that Georgia’s high court declined to hear an appeal by the Catoosa County Republican Party regarding its failed attempt to block candidates they don’t feel represent their party’s values from the ballot. Part of that reasoning, the order stated, is because attorneys for the Catoosa GOP filed an appeal to the wrong court, and once transferred to the high court — still six weeks away from the May 21 primary election — they did not seek an expedited appeal.

Sept. 18, 2024 Georgia Recorder

Chaya Tong reports, with the federal farm bill set to expire this month and a steep farm profit decline on the horizon, Georgia’s Black farmers, who have faced decades of racial discrimination at the hands of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, remain more vulnerable than ever to economic downturn. Black farmers have long been denied USDA farm loans and assistance despite attempts at reform including a 1999 class action lawsuit where Black farmers sued the USDA for denying them access to low interest grants and loans.

Sept. 18, 2024 WABE

Staff reports, Vice President Kamala Harris weighed in on a ProPublica report linking Georgia’s abortion law to a death ruled preventable by a state maternal mortality committee, saying former President Donald Trump’s actions against abortion rights are to blame. “This is exactly what we feared when Roe was struck down,” she said, referencing the Supreme Court — which Trump appointed three conservative judges to — striking down the longstanding abortion rights law in 2022.

Sept. 18, 2024 Capitol Beat News

Dave Williams reports, Georgia colleges and universities may directly compensate student-athletes for the use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL) under an executive order Gov. Brian Kemp issued Tuesday. Kemp cited a proposed settlement agreement between the NCAA and certain athletic conferences that, if approved, would allow postsecondary institutions to provide direct NIL compensation to their student-athletes.  

Sept. 18, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution