by Ty Tagami | Sep 30, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Georgia’s public school class of 2025 scored marginally worse on the SAT than the class before but still outpaced the nation by a wide margin.
The average score of 1029 was a point lower than that scored by the class of 2024 but 33 points higher than the national average, the Georgia Department of Education announced on Tuesday.
Experts warn about comparing state averages because outcomes are tied closely to the number of test takers. States with higher participation generally produce lower average scores because their population of test takers tends to include students with a history of lower academic achievement.
Indeed, Georgia’s average score fell as participation rose to 55%, up 3 percentage points from the class of 2024.
by Ty Tagami | Sep 30, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — A Georgia Supreme Court ruling about a zoning dispute over small homes on a small barrier island could have big consequences for a big state.
The high court ruled Tuesday that a local referendum against a McIntosh County zoning ordinance could move forward.
The decision reversed a superior court judge’s order that halted the voter referendum on grounds that it violated the county’s constitutional authority to make and enforce its own development rules.
County commissioners had adopted a new ordinance to allow houses to be built on Sapelo Island that exceeded the previous maximum of 1,400 square feet. Locals from the Gullah-Geechee community on the barrier island opposed the idea and secured enough signatures to hold a referendum to stop it.
The high court’s decision interprets ambiguity in a 1983 re-write of the state constitution that altered the relationship between what’s known as county “home rule” and zoning authority.
The justices wrote that “nothing in the text of the Zoning Provision in any way restricts a county electorate’s authority to seek repeal of a zoning ordinance. The superior court therefore erred” when it halted the referendum, which had been authorized by a local probate judge.
The high court also granted an injunction against enforcement of the new zoning ordinance.
“It means that we now have a chance to get this referendum back on the docket,” said Reginald Hall, a local activist opposed to the ordinance allowing larger houses.
The state Supreme Court had already opened the door two years ago to voter challenges of local government decisions when it decided that voters in Camden County could use a referendum to prevent the purchase of land for a spaceport. The facility would have lobbed commercial rockets over the Cumberland Island National Seashore, prompting concerns about the health of the coastal marsh and about the quality of life for nearby residents.
The high court’s ruling Tuesday involved three cases, one by residents who sought an injunction against the ordinance and two between the county and the probate judge who authorized the referendum.
by Ty Tagami | Sep 30, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Farmers and other agricultural producers in Georgia will get financial aid to help with recovery from Hurricane Helene, the massive storm that wiped out crops and timberland more than a year ago.
Georgia and U.S. agriculture officials announced Tuesday that the state will receive $531,236,000 from the U.S. government for a Hurricane Helene Block Grant Program.
It is “funding to provide much-needed relief to impacted farmers and producers,” Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said in a statement, adding that the money “is absolutely essential to help our farm families bounce back” from the devastation.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture spent hundreds of hours in negotiations to secure the money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he said, praising Brooke Rollins, President Donald Trump’s agriculture secretary, for the collaboration.
Harper said the grants will cover infrastructure and timber losses as well as future economic losses. Gov. Brian Kemp said in a post on X that the proceeds will cover as many farmers as possible, calling the outcome “great news.”
Helene wreaked at least $5.5 billion in damage to crops, ranches, poultry houses, orchards and timberland.
Congress passed a bipartisan relief package in December earmarking $21 billion for affected farmers in Georgia and other states. The federal package also was in response to other natural disasters.
Kemp also redirected $100 million from a state capital projects fund to help farmers and timberland owners. Then, in March, the General Assembly set aside $867 million for disaster relief as part of the fiscal 2025 mid-year budget.
by Ty Tagami | Sep 30, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — A half dozen state lawmakers are now running for Georgia lieutenant governor, as another Republican senator joins the race, hoping to outflank his opposition on the right.
Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, a conservative from the northern Atlanta suburbs, joins a cast of fellow conservative senators, all from outside the biggest metro area — plus an Atlanta Senate Democrat and a GOP state representative from Buford.
Dolezal will campaign to succeed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, the Trump-backed Republican running for governor.
Dolezal’s campaign announcement on YouTube Tuesday focused on his right wing credentials as the chief sponsor of the Riley Gaines Act, a new law that bans students born male from participating on female athletic teams in schools and colleges.
Dolezal also said he would crack down on extremists who riot and burn cities, as well as illegal immigration, diversity equity and inclusion programs, and “soft on crime” prosecutors.
“I’m running for lieutenant governor because we’re at a turning point as the radical left continues to threaten our public safety,” Dolezal’s advertisement says, as a siren wails in the background.
The chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee and vice chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee is up against political powerhouses.
Sen. John F. Kennedy, R-Macon, stepped aside as president pro tempore of the Senate — the highest office in that chamber below lieutenant governor — to run for lieutenant governor. Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, stepped down as majority leader — the next highest office — to run for lieutenant governor. And Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, who outranks Dolezal on Appropriations as chairman of that budget-writing committee, is also running for lieutenant governor.
Add Rep. David Clark, R-Buford, who served in Afghanistan with the Green Berets, and next year’s Republican primary is shaping up to be a rowdy contest as the candidates attempt to differentiate themselves.
Clark said in his campaign announcement that “a world on fire” needs warriors not politicians. His entry came one day after Tillery announced his candidacy, both hitting similar notes about tax cuts, illegal immigration and transgender issues. Kennedy and Gooch are also running on platforms aimed to appeal to President Donald Trump’s MAGA base.
They would all likely appreciate an endorsement from Trump, but Dolezal was the only member of the bunch who got to speak at Jones’ gubernatorial campaign opener for governor at Indian Springs State Park in Flovilla.
That was in late August, a couple weeks after Trump had already endorsed Jones for governor.
Dolezal railed against Republicans who were silent on Trump when he was down politically.
“This is what I call political opportunism,” Dolezal said. “These politicians want a ticket on the Trump train, but they never paid the price.”
At least one candidate for lieutenant governor wants nothing to do with Trump.
Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, regular ridiculed the president on the Senate floor during this past legislative session. He is the only state lawmaker campaigning for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, the office that sets the agenda for the state Senate and influences the fate of legislation in that chamber.
by Ty Tagami | Sep 30, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Alex Willson knows how to grow a pecan and turn it into a cake, but he is not so great at analyzing shipping logistics.
The president and CEO of Sunnyland Farms in Albany is running an agricultural business that dates to 1948 — not the kind of operation one associates with cutting edge technology.
Yet Willson said he was able to harness artificial intelligence to boost his bottom line about 8%, even 10%.
He had help from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Sunnyland used to pay several shippers to send its candied or salted nuts to consumers across the country.
Willson felt like he could get a better deal, either by renegotiating with the shippers or opening a warehouse out West to consolidate costly shipments.
Then, an intern from Tech showed him the best move. The intern, with help from the federally funded Georgia AIM project, fed “reams and reams and reams” of his company’s shipping data into an AI-powered program that produced leverage for Willson. Knowledge is power, he said, and the Tech intern showed him how his shipping patterns could translate into a better deal with just one of the shippers.
The innovation also freed up time. Instead of staging pecan products at multiple locations for each of several shippers, the goods now go to one spot.
The project has subsequently helped with other data analysis that has, in turn, boosted sales and saved money and time.
“I’m thinking more strategically instead of just putting out little fires all day,” Willson said. He said his managers and workers also have more time to try out ideas for increasing revenue or reducing costs.
Georgia AIM stands for Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing, a program that started four years ago with $65 million in federal seed money.
State and private investment has increased that to $82 million, said Donna Ennis, a Tech administrator who is helping to lead Georgia AIM Week, a series of demonstrations across the state through Friday.
On Monday, middle and high school students visited Carrollton-based Southwire, a manufacturer of wire, cable, tools, electrical components and many other products.
On Tuesday, the show is moving to the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins. On Wednesday the topics include cybersecurity in Augusta and hydroponics and other agricultural advances in Albany. Thursday features robots at the University of Georgia, and career-related events for students in LaGrange, Dublin and Savannah.
The week culminates with manufacturing tours in Savannah.
“This is a program that is striving to make manufacturing cool again,” said Enis, who wants to disabuse people of the notion that factories are dull, dirty, dark and dangerous.
“That’s how people generally think of manufacturing, but manufacturing is not like that anymore,” she said.
