ATLANTA – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Thursday announced new sanctions against a Mexican drug cartel that smuggles fentanyl and other synthetic opioids into the United States.
Yellen’s announcement during a news conference in Atlanta coincided with the arrests of eight leaders of the cartel La Nueva Familia Michocana on 13 indictments.
More than 1 million Americans have died of drug overdoses since 2000, while fatal overdoses of fentanyl among Georgians rose by 200% between 2019 and 2021, Yellen said.
“Far too many families in communities across the United States are losing their loved ones to opioids,” she said. “That’s why President Biden has directed the entire U.S. government to use every tool at our disposal to combat the opioid epidemic.”
“Illicit drugs imported into the United States are killing our citizens at an unprecedented rate,” added Ryan Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
Yellen said the sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Assets Control are aimed at denying cartels the funds they need to carry out their illegal activities.
“Cartels that peddle fentanyl operate in many respects like other businesses,” she said. “They rely on access to banking systems … to make payroll and finance purchases.”
Yellen said the federal government needs help from the private sector to make the sanctions work. Toward that end, the Treasury Department also issued an advisory Thursday to help financial institutions detect and report flows of money fueling the fentanyl supply chain.
“One of the most powerful things we can do is deny (cartels) the fruits of their labor, the very essence of what these cartels need – their money,” said Robert Murphy, special agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta office. “We don’t want them to use that money to make them stronger and have a bigger impact in the United States.”
Yellen said La Nueva Familia Michocana not only ships fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamines into the U.S. but also smuggles illegal immigrants across the southern border and engages in arms trafficking.
Yellen said Chinese officials have agreed to cooperate with the American effort to combat fentanyl, and she is reaching out to Claudia Sheinbaum, recently elected president of Mexico, to work with the U.S. on choking off the flow of dangerous drugs across the border.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate rose slightly last month but remained well above the national rate, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
The Peach State’s jobless rate of 3.2% for May was eight-tenths lower than the national rate of 4.0%.
Several other employment indicators were up last month. The number of jobs in Georgia rose by 0.2% to an all-time high of almost 5 million, the state’s labor force was up to nearly 5.4 million – also a record – and the number of employed Georgians increased to more than 5.2 million, yet another all-time high.
“Despite national economic challenges and inflation, Georgia’s businesses are stepping up and creating more opportunities for hardworking Georgians to secure high-quality jobs,” state Commissioner of Labor Bruce Thompson said Thursday.
The job sectors posting the largest over-the-month gains in May were local government, which added 3,200 jobs; accommodation and food services, which gained 2,700 jobs; and health care and social assistance, which added 2,300 jobs.
On the downside, the state government sector lost 1,600 jobs last month, with durable goods down 1,500 and arts, entertainment and recreation losing 1,300 jobs.
Initial unemployment claims were down by 7% to 20,034 in May compared to the previous month, while jobless claims declined by 16% last month compared to May of last year.
ATLANTA – Hall County Solicitor General Stephanie Woodard has been indicted on 11 counts of theft by taking and 34 counts of false statements and writings.
Woodard is accused of unlawfully obtaining funds from Hall County and the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to cover personal and other expenses unrelated to her official duties. She also allegedly was reimbursed for travel expenditures that either she had previously submitted or that she never actually incurred.
“Those elected to uphold the law must operate honestly, ethically, and transparently,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said Tuesday. “Anything less undermines our system.”
“As a public official, Hall County citizens trusted Solicitor Stephanie Woodard with their community’s interests,” added Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. “This indictment indicates that no one is above the law and must be held accountable for their actions.”
The offenses alleged in the indictment took place between July 2018 and September 2022. The attorney general’s Public Integrity and White Collar Crime Unit presented the evidence to a Hall County grand jury last week, leading to the indictment.
ATLANTA – Brian Jack, a former White House aide to Donald Trump, was well on his way Tuesday night to capturing the Republican nomination to seek Georgia’s only vacant congressional seat.
With 949 of 1,643 precincts reporting as of 9 p.m., Jack led former state Sen. Mike Dugan in west-central Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District with 66.1% of the vote to Dugan’s 33.9%, according to unofficial results.
Jack will face Democrat Maura Keller in November in the 3rd District, which stretches from Paulding and Polk counties south to Columbus. U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-West Point, decided not to seek a fourth term in Congress.
Trump’s endorsement gave Jack a decided advantage over Dugan, who served two terms as the Georgia Senate’s majority leader before leaving the General Assembly earlier this year to mount the congressional bid.
Jack played up his close ties with the Trump administration during the campaign, including his role in securing America’s southern border against illegal immigrants.
Jack was the top vote-getter last month in a Republican primary race that featured five candidates. However, he failed to win a majority of the total votes, forcing Tuesday’s runoff against Dugan.
In other congressional runoffs, Wayne Johnson defeated Chuck Hand to capture the Republican nomination in Southwest Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District. Johnson will oppose veteran incumbent Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, in November.
In the 14th Congressional District in Northwest Georgia, Shawn Harris won a Democratic runoff over Clarence Blalock. Harris will take on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, on Nov. 5.
ATLANTA – Thirteen hospitals in rural Georgia will receive $6 million in grants through a state program that will give them a choice of how to use the money.
The Georgia Department of Community Health’s Dual Track Rural Hospital Support program gives grant recipients the option of choosing between funding new or existing graduate medical education programs or providing direct hospital support.
“Since I took office, my administration has worked to deliver on the promise that we would work with state and local partners to develop Georgia’s rural communities, including efforts to improve our rural health-care system,” Gov. Brian Kemp said Tuesday.
“These awards will provide further support to those hospitals that serve rural Georgians and communities in need.”
The largest of the grants – $1 million – are going to Archbold Memorial Hospital in Thomasville and the Colquitt Regional Medical Center in Moultrie.
Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin in Milledgeville, Emanuel Medical Center in Swainsboro, Effingham Medical Center in Springfield, Putnam General Hospital in Eatonton, and Washington County Regional Medical Center in Sandersville will receive $500,000 each.
Grants of $250,000 are going to Coffee Regional Medical Center in Douglas, Memorial Health Meadows Hospital in Vidalia, Fairview Park Hospital in Dublin, Jefferson Hospital in Louisville, Upson Regional Medical Center in Thomaston, and Union General Hospital in Blairsville.
The grant program is funded through the state’s Rural Hospital Stabilization Grant, established in 2014. Since then, it has awarded more than $40 million in grant funding.
“These grant awards reflect our commitment to addressing the health-care needs of rural hospitals and providing effective solutions,” said Joel Presley, executive director of the State Office of Rural Health. “These funds will provide support to initiatives that address critical needs for both Georgia’s rural hospitals and citizens.”
