ATLANTA – Avian influenza, which wild birds have been transmitting to poultry during the last two years, has now spread to dairy cows, State Epidemiologist Dr. Cherie Drenzek reported this week.
Cows in 40 dairy herds in nine states – but not Georgia – started coming down with the H5N1 strain of bird flu in March, Drenzek told members of the state Board of Public Health. The outbreak began in Texas last December, she said.
Thus far, the only human infected with the virus was a dairy farm worker in Colorado, Drenzek said.
“The human health risk remains low for the general public,” she said.
While H5N1 manifests in poultry as a severe respiratory infection, it tends to be mild in dairy cows, Drenzek said. However, it can be spread in raw milk, she said.
“H5N1 is killed by pasteurization,” she said.
As a result, the state Department of Public Health is monitoring both dairy and poultry farmworkers in Georgia for the virus, Drenzek said.
Two outbreaks of avian influenza occurred in Georgia two years ago, both in backyard poultry flocks. While 117 people were exposed, none came down with the virus, Drenzek said.
ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) is moving to expand a network of toll lanes in the Atlanta region that began a few years ago on interstates 75 and 85.
The State Transportation Board voted Thursday to work with the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) to add toll lanes to the top half of I-285 and along Georgia 400 to the North Springs MARTA station.
As with the Northwest Corridor along I-75 north of 285 and a second stretch of I-75 just south of Atlanta, the Georgia Department of Transportation will work in partnership with the private sector on the 285 toll-lane projects. The DOT will coordinate the work, while a private developer will design, construct, operate, and maintain the new lanes, Helen Pinkston-Pope, senior counsel to the DOT, said Thursday.
“We really see the benefits in bringing in the developer early on,” she said.
I-285 perennially ranks among the most congested stretches of highway in the nation, said Tim Matthews, program manager with the DOT division in charge of projects built through public-private partnerships. Atlanta’s “Perimeter Highway” sees 250,000 to 300,000 vehicles per day, he said.
As with the earlier toll-lane projects, SRTA will coordinate the financing and collect the revenue from the tolls.
Pinkston-Pope said the DOT will seek bids on the I-285 East Express Lanes project first, covering a stretch from Georgia 400 east and south to Interstate 20. Procurement for the I-285 West Express Lanes – from Georgia 400 west and south to I-20 – will follow, she said.
“The size of these projects is significant,” Matthews said. “We can’t build them with one contract.”
In a related matter, Matthews said the DOT has received two bids from contractors interested in adding toll lanes to Georgia 400 in Fulton and Forsyth counties. The agency will evaluate the bids and recommend a contractor for that project to the State Transportation Board in August, he said.
ATLANTA – U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., introduced legislation Thursday to launch a feasibility study aimed at designating the Benton MacKaye Trail as a National Scenic Trail.
The Benton MacKaye Trail, named in honor of a 20th century forester and conservationist, runs for 280 miles from Springer Mountain in the North Georgia mountains into Tennessee and North Carolina. It is considered a sister trail to southern portions of the better known Appalachian Trail.
“More than simply initiating a new federal walking path through our natural environment, this bill is an investment in our nation’s forests and green spaces, a bridge connecting communities, and a powerful catalyst for our rural economies,” Warnock said.
“By preserving the natural beauty of our landscapes, we help protect the planet for future generations to enjoy.”
The trail has been protected and maintained by a volunteer association since 1980. Completion of the proposed feasibility study would allow Congress to add it to the National Trails System, improving mobility for hikers and more leisurely walkers through the mountainous three-state region.
A companion bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday by cosponsors including Reps. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, and Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.1% in April for the fourth month in a row, even as several jobs categories reached all-time highs, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
The state’s labor force was up by 13,655 last month to a record high of nearly 5.4 million. The number of employed Georgians also hit an all-time high of almost 5.2 million, an increase of 11,620 in April over the previous month.
The monthly trends reflected jobs activity for the past year, Georgia Commissioner of Labor Bruce Thompson said.
“With nearly 70,000 jobs added to the economy over the last year, including a whopping 15,000 this past month alone, there are now more opportunities than ever to launch Georgians into high-demand careers that meet industry needs head-on,” Thompson said.
“While the future remains unclear, all signs are pointing toward Georgia as a perennial leader in growing jobs and creating economic opportunity for all.”
The job sectors with the most over-the-month gains included professional, scientific, and technical services, which rose by 4,300 jobs; durable goods manufacturing, which was up by 3,500; and health care and social assistance, which rose by 3,100 jobs.
The most over-the-year job gains were posted in the health care and social assistance sector, which was up by 25,100 jobs; local government, with job gains of 13,500; and the accommodation and food services sector, which rose by 11,400 jobs.
On the down side, jobs in the information sector- which includes the film industry – fell by 13,700 jobs, while the administration and support services sector declined over the year by 11,500 jobs.
First-time unemployment claims rose by 21% in April to 21,552. However, over the year, first-time jobless claims fell by 15%.
ATLANTA – A former longtime employee of the Augusta National Golf Club pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to stealing millions of dollars worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and memorabilia and selling it to an online broker.
Richard Brendan Globensky, 39, of Augusta admitted committing the thefts while working as a warehouse assistant from 2009 until 2022. The stolen items included Masters shirts, hats, flags, and watchers, as well as historically significant items such as the Green Jackets won by Arnold Palmer, Gene Sarazen, and Ben Hogan, and documents written and signed by Bobby Jones.
Globensky pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Chicago to a federal charge of transporting and transferring stolen goods in interstate commerce. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
The stolen items, which Globensky sold to an online broker in Florida, were worth about $5.6 million. The broker then resold the items, often at significant markups from the amounts paid to Globensky.
