Georgia Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry
ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) has closed a seven-mile stretch of westbound Interstate 16 north of Soperton following the discovery of settlement in the supports holding up a bridge.
DOT bridge inspectors discovered the problem Aug. 4 during a routine inspection, Georgia Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry told members of the State Transportation Board Thursday.
“That’s why we do bridge inspections every two years,” McMurry said. “You look for things that may have changed since the last time you were there. This is absolutely a good catch by our bridge inspectors.”
The DOT is diverting motorists to an 11-mile detour around the bridge while repairs are completed. Ironically, the route of the detour includes a bridge overpass the DOT replaced two years ago after a truck knocked off its supports.
“The detour has worked very well so far,” McMurry said.
McMurry said the DOT plans to reopen one lane of westbound I-16 by Monday, although the reopening could come sooner depending on how the work progresses.
ATLANTA – A Georgia man has been sentenced to one year and nine months in federal prison for obtaining nearly a half million dollars through fraudulent pandemic relief loan applications.
Maurice Lawson, 39, of Lithia Springs also will be on supervised release for three years after completing his sentence and has been ordered to pay more than $435,000 in restitution.
Lawson pleaded guilty in May to applying for at least seven loans for six different businesses between April 2020 and May 2021. He sought the loans through the Paycheck Protection and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs.
The applications contained an assortment of false information, including false tax forms, fake Social Security cards, fraudulent addresses, falsified payroll claims, and false claims of employing between five and 12 workers, according to U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan. Lawson sought $537,120 in loan proceeds and received $419,020, Buchanan said.
“Congress enacted the Paycheck Protection Program to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Buchanan said. “[Lawson’s] crimes [will] make it harder for the United States to provide disaster relief during the next large-scale emergency.”
Among the businesses Lawson used to seek loans was Coastal Drape LLC, the same company he used to commit mortgage fraud, for which he was sentenced in March 2021 to three years of federal probation. He received funds from one of the fraudulent pandemic relief loan applications days after being sentenced for mortgage fraud.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General and the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate held steady last month at 3.2%, three-tenths of a percent lower than the national average, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
The labor force was up by 9,038 in July to more than 5.3 million, an all-time high, with the workforce participation rate increasing to 61.4%. The number of employed Georgians rose for the ninth consecutive month to more than 5.1 million, also a record.
“Georgia’s economic resilience hinges on a delicate balance between job creation and industry growth,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Bruce Thompson said Thursday.
“While we are thrilled to have an unemployment rate lower than the national average and a record number of workers to fill essential roles, we are maintaining a watchful eye on unemployment trends to ensure a sustainable path forward.”
One trend the labor department is tracking closely is the filing of first-time unemployment claims, which increased by 34% last month to 31,410.
Meanwhile, job numbers in July were at record highs in leisure and hospitality, one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic, as well as financial activities. There were 526,300 Georgians working in leisure and hospitality last month and 282,400 employed in financial activities.
The sectors with the most over-the-month gains were administrative and support services, which added 1,700 jobs in July, and health care and social assistance and accommodation and food services. Each of those two sectors gained 1,100 jobs during the month.
More than 115,000 jobs listings were posted online for Georgians to access. The greatest needs were in health care, which listed 15,272 openings; administrative and support services, which posted 10,425 jobs; and retail trade, which listed 9,875 openings.
ATLANTA – The same judge who refused last year to validate bonds financing a $5 billion Rivian electric vehicle manufacturing plant east of Atlanta now has signed off on the bonds.
Superior Court Judge Brenda Trammell has signed an order validating the bonds following the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision last month not to hear an appeal of the bond validation case brought by a group of local residents, the state Department of Economic Development (DED) announced Wednesday.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit were attempting to appeal a ruling by the Georgia Court of Appeals overturning the lower-court decision Trammell had issued last September.
Trammell had invalidated the bonds, declaring that the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton, and Walton Counties failed to demonstrate the project would be an economic benefit. Her ruling cited financial troubles Rivian was experiencing as evidence the company might not be able to deliver the project.
On Wednesday, the DED issued a statement characterizing the judge’s new order validating the bonds a victory for Georgia and the residents of the four counties.
“We are grateful for Judge Trammell’s quick entry of an order validating the bonds for this great project,” the statement read. “We also thank the Georgia Court of Appeals for its prompt review and decision concluding what we have known from the outset thanks to the research and vetting process: the Rivian project is sound, reasonable, and feasible and will provide enormous benefit to the community for decades to come.”
The agency’s statement went on to describe the project as on track, with grading 90% complete. Vertical construction is expected to begin in the coming months, and production is due to begin in 2026.
The Rivian plant will generate 7,500 jobs, making it the second largest economic development project in Georgia history, behind only the $5.5 billion Hyundai EV plant under construction west of Savannah.
Under the validated bond agreement, Rivian will not pay property taxes but will make Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) and pay personal taxes on machinery and equipment. However, the annual PILOTs will be reduced by the amount of personal property taxes paid.
ATLANTA – The Georgia Supreme Court Wednesday removed suspended Judge Christian Coomer from the state Court of Appeals.
In a unanimous decision, the justices upheld the recommendation of a state Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) hearing panel, which found Coomer’s misuse of campaign funds and dealings with a client before he became a judge undermined public confidence.
“The judiciary’s judgment will be obeyed only so long as the public respects it, and that respect will not long survive judges who act in a manner that undermines public confidence in their judgment and integrity,” the court wrote in a 49-page ruling.
Coomer, a Republican and former state legislator, was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2018 and elected to a full six-year term in 2020. Later that year, the JQC charged him with violating the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct, and he was suspended from the bench with pay in January 2021 pending the outcome of the case.
The JQC recommended removing Coomer from the bench following a three-month hearing early this year.
The charges against Coomer stemmed from his relationship with James Filhart, an elderly client he began representing in 2015. Filhart hired Coomer to pursue an action for guardianship of Filhart’s girlfriend, according to the court ruling.
After the matter was resolved successfully, Coomer continued to represent Filhart in other legal matters, including drafting a will that named Coomer and his heirs among the beneficiaries and Coomer as executor and trustee.
Coomer also accepted several loans from Filhart, including a loan of $130,000 in 2018 to a business Coomer controlled that lacked assets, the ruling stated. The loan was not secured, and Coomer provided no personal guarantee.
By 2019, the relationship between the two men had soured, and Filhart e-mailed Coomer demanding that the judge return the money he had borrowed. Coomer repaid the loan in 2020 after Filhart filed a lawsuit against him.
Coomer also was accused of transferring campaign funds to his law firm’s operating account and, in two instances, failing to report the transfers on his campaign contributions disclosure report. A third instance involved a trip to Hawaii before Coomer left the General Assembly that he said was for legislative business but ultimately was found to have been for leisure, according to the ruling.
Coomer reimbursed his campaign account for expenses from the trip after the state Campaign Finance Commission began investigating him.
Wednesday’s ruling prohibits Coomer from being elected or appointed to any judicial office for seven years.
