State House leaders unveil portrait of ‘Dean’ Calvin Smyre
ATLANTA - Calvin Smyre made history as the longest-serving member of the Georgia House of Representatives, and now his likeness will grace the state Capitol for years to come. Lawmakers unveiled his official portrait Tuesday, the seventh of a Black person to be...
Ports of Savannah, Brunswick report healthy growth
ATLANTA - The Georgia Ports Authority is reporting a strong first half to the current fiscal year. The Port of Savannah handled more than 2.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containerized cargo from July through December, an increase of 11.4% over the...
Georgia Chief Justice Boggs pitches judicial pay raises
ATLANTA - Georgia Chief Justice Michael Boggs used his annual State of the Judiciary address to members of the General Assembly Tuesday to plug two bills raising the salaries of superior court and statewide judges. "An independent judiciary must be able to attract and...
State Supreme Court upholds creation of Mableton
ATLANTA - The Georgia Supreme Court Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the creation of the city of Mableton inside the borders of Cobb County. In a unanimous ruling, the justices rejected the plaintiffs' argument that the 2022 state law creating Mableton and...
Georgia prisons chief pitches spending hikes for staffing, infrastructure needs
ATLANTA - State prisons chief Tyrone Oliver asked Georgia lawmakers Monday for $10.4 million to hire an additional 330 correctional officers during this fiscal year to staff a prisons system the U.S. Justice Department harshly criticized in an audit last fall. The...
Kemp hammering home tort reform message
ATLANTA - The signs are clear as Georgia lawmakers prepare to resume the 2025 General Assembly session on Monday after a weeklong recess: Gov. Brian Kemp is making tort reform a high priority. Even before the session began two weeks ago, Kemp issued a call for tort...
Burt Jones unveils Red Tape Rollback of 2025
ATLANTA - Lt. Gov. Burt Jones announced a new round of legislation Friday aimed at helping small businesses by reducing government regulation. The Red Tape Rollback Act of 2025 is a follow-up to legislation the General Assembly passed last year. The 2024 bills...
Georgia Board of Education updates school safety rule
ATLANTA - The Georgia Board of Education has adopted a requirement aimed at ensuring cooperation between local school systems and public safety experts in the design of school safety policies and infrastructure. Under an amended rule the state board approved, local...