Gooch enters race for lieutenant governor
ATLANTA - Georgia Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch will seek the Republican nomination to run for lieutenant governor next year. Gooch, R-Dahlonega, announced his candidacy Wednesday in a press release, describing himself as "unapologetically pro-life, pro-Second...
State unemployment rate flat again
ATLANTA - Georgia's unemployment rate held steady at 3.6% last month for the 11th consecutive month, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. The jobless rate in the Peach State remained six-tenths lower than the national unemployment rate. "This sustained...
Kemp meets bill signing deadline with rush
ATLANTA - Gov. Brian Kemp has beaten the deadline for signing legislation the General Assembly passed this year with a flurry of bill signing. Kemp signed 120 bills on Wednesday, including Senate Bill 244, combining provisions from two measures related to the criminal...
Kennesaw State students protest losing Black Studies program
ATLANTA - Dozens of Kennesaw State University students demonstrated outside the University System of Georgia offices Wednesday, protesting a decision by the school to terminate its Black Studies degree program. Opponents characterized the KSU decision as a blow to...
Trump Justice Department names new interim U.S attorney
ATLANTA - U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has appointed Theodore S. Hertzberg to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, Bondi's office announced Wednesday. Hertzberg previously worked as an assistant U.S. attorney for nearly 10 years,...
Appellate court takes up mass voter eligibility challenges
ATLANTA - Oral arguments in a federal courtroom Tuesday over whether a Texas-based conservative group's mass voter challenges in Georgia almost five years ago amounted to an attempt to intimidate minority voters boiled down to intent. A lawyer representing Fair Fight,...
Georgia cracks down on fentanyl trafficking, with new sentencing law
ATLANTA - The penalty for trafficking fentanyl just got more serious in Georgia after Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation that seeks to suppress illicit sales of the dangerous drug. When used in a medical setting with proper dosing, the painkiller can help patients...
Schools prepare to ban cellphones through eighth grade, with new law taking effect
ATLANTA - Schools across Georgia will have to figure out how to pry cellphones from students' hands next year now that a new ban will be taking effect. House Bill 340 prohibits personal communications devices in public school classrooms from kindergarten through...
Kemp inks workforce development bills
ATLANTA - Gov. Brian Kemp signed a package of bills Monday aimed at strengthening Georgia's workforce. House Bill 192, which the General Assembly passed this year with just two "no" votes, codifies into state law the Georgia MATCH program, a direct university and...