by Dave Williams | Jan 10, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia emergency management officials and motorists appear to be heeding the example of “Snowmageddon” – the snowstorm that paralyzed the state in 2014 with hours-long traffic jams and multiple collisions.
The state Department of Transportation (DOT) started treating roads and highways with brine on Wednesday, two days before snow began to blanket the northern half of Georgia with accumulations up to several inches in some areas. Traffic was light, with schools and government offices closed.
“We have learned a lot of lessons,” Chris Stallings, director of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), told reporters Friday morning during a briefing at the State Operations Center in southeast Atlanta. “We stayed in front of it.”
Georgia Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry said DOT crews have treated more than 20,000 miles of roadways with more than 770 tons of salt. Interstates are getting top priority, followed by highway ramps and state routes, he said.
The goal is to clear two lanes of highway, enough so motorists can get through, McMurry said.
“We can’t clear the roads immediately, (but) we’re going to make them passable,” he said.
Will Lanxton, a meteorologist with GEMA, said the snow that was falling on Friday morning was expected to turn into freezing rain later in the day before tapering off by midnight.
“This rain on top of snow is going to freeze and make driving worse,” Gov. Brian Kemp cautioned.
Kemp said Georgia’s power companies have prepositioned resources in case winds forecast to reach speeds of up to 20 miles an hour Friday and Saturday topple trees and cause power outages.
Kemp thanked Georgians for heeding the warnings of emergency management officials and for the most part staying off the roads, resulting in light traffic.
Stallings urged motorists to stay home for the rest of Friday into the weekend, so DOT crews can treat the roads.
“Let us clear the roads,” he urged. “It’s much easier without broken-down, disabled vehicles.”
Lanxton said road conditions could remain hazardous into Sunday morning if temperatures stay low enough to refreeze the highways, forcing DOT crews to go back and re-treat.
“We’re going to do our part to stay ahead of it,” McMurry said. “We are 24-7 until this event subsides and everyone is safe.”
by Dave Williams | Jan 9, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Two more U.S. attorneys from Georgia are resigning ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month.
Peter Leary, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, will step down effective Saturday, while Jill Steinberg, his counterpart for the Southern District of Georgia, will be leaving effective Jan. 17.
Ryan Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, announced last week that he would be stepping down effective Jan. 19.
Leary, who will be joining an Atlanta law firm, began his federal career in 2007 working on complex civil litigation before he joined the U.S attorney’s office as a prosecutor in 2012.
Raised in Watkinsville, he received undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia, then clerked for U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson in the Macon-based Middle District.
Steinberg began serving as a U.S. attorney in Savannah in 2023. Before that, she was an assistant U.S. attorney and deputy criminal chief in the Atlanta-based U.S. attorneys’ office and in Washington, D.C., served as associate deputy U.S. attorney general.
In private practice, Steinberg was a partner at Ballard Spahr LLP and an associate at Rogers & Hardin LLP, both in Atlanta.
She earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Georgia and a law degree from Duke University.
by Dave Williams | Jan 9, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp declared a statewide state of emergency Thursday ahead of a winter storm expected to strike the northern half of Georgia on Friday.
A mix of rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow will move into western Georgia by sunrise Friday and spread across much of North and Middle Georgia throughout the morning. While the greatest impacts are expected along and north of Interstate 20, snow and/or ice accumulations are possible as far south as Columbus and Macon.
“The Georgia Department of Transportation, along with the Department of Public Safety, began treating roads early this morning,” Kemp said Thursday. “I’m asking all Georgians to help them do their jobs by limiting travel as much as possible in the coming days.”
The state of emergency suspends hours-of-service limitations for commercial vehicles involved in storm-response activities and temporarily increases weight, height, and length limits for commercial vehicles transporting essential supplies. The governor’s order also prohibits price gouging.
Snow and sleet accumulations of 2 to 4 inches are forecast for North Georgia, with up to 2 inches expected in Metro Atlanta and points to the east.
With winds increasing on Saturday, any remaining snow and ice could topple trees and powerlines. Temperatures dropping into the low 20s on Saturday night across North and Middle Georgia could refreeze any remaining moisture by Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon temperatures should reach into the 40s.
by Dave Williams | Jan 9, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Former President Jimmy Carter was remembered Thursday as a man ahead of his time who leaves his country and the world better off for his service.
Georgia’s only president thus far, who died Dec. 29 at the age of 100, was eulogized at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., at a service attended by President Joe Biden and all four living ex-presidents.
“Today, many people think he was from a bygone era,” said Biden, whom Carter had asked to give his eulogy. “In reality, he saw the future, a white Southern Baptist who led on human rights, a decorated veteran who brokered peace … a hardworking farmer who championed conservation, a clean-energy president who redefined the relationship for the vice president.”
Thursday’s service culminated three days of commemorations in the nation’s capital in honor of Carter, who lay in state inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday and Wednesday. Before that, Carter’s casket lay in repose at the Carter Center in Atlanta for several days.
The national funeral service began with a scripture reading by Andrew Young, a Georgian appointed by Carter as the first African American to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Steve Ford, the son of former President Gerald Ford, who lost to Carter in 1976 but later developed a strong friendship with him, and Ted Mondale, the son of Carter Vice President Walter Mondale, delivered eulogies their late fathers wrote for Carter.
Stuart Eizenstat, who served as a domestic advisor inside the Carter White House, described Carter as a Renaissance Man with an array of skills who brought a sense of honesty and decency to the presidency after the Watergate years.
“He was the first president to make honesty a priority for U.S. foreign policy,” Eizenstat said. “He uniquely combined the soft power of human rights with the hard power of rebuilding America’s military. … He may not be a candidate for Mount Rushmore, but he belongs in the foothills of making the U.S. stronger and the world safer.”
Grandson Jason Carter talked about Carter’s four-decade post-presidency as the founder of the Carter Center and its mission promoting human rights and the eradication of diseases across the globe. He mentioned Guinea worm disease as an example of his grandfather’s far-reaching contributions.
“That disease existed from the dawn of humanity until Jimmy Carter,” he said.
After the service, Carter’s remains were flown back to Georgia for a private funeral service at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains. He was to be buried beside Rosalynn Carter, his wife of 77 years who died in November 2023 at the age of 96.
by Dave Williams | Jan 8, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia House will form a special committee this year to try to get a handle on the growing demand for energy among power-dependent industries moving into the state, House Speaker Jon Burns said Wednesday.
While the effort will not specifically target data centers, it will be comprehensive, Burns, R-Newington, told reporters outside the House chamber during a briefing ahead of the start of the 2025 General Assembly session next week.
“We’ll leave no stone unturned,” he said.
An influx of data centers setting up operations in Georgia in recent years has prompted concerns that the state’s utilities might not be able to handle the increasing demand for electricity.
Just this week, Amazon Web Services announced plans to invest an estimated $11 billion to expand its infrastructure in Georgia to support cloud computing and AI technologies. Two data-center projects in Douglas and Butts counties are expected to create at least 550 new high-skilled jobs.
The drain data centers are putting on the state’s electric supply was documented early last year when executives from Georgia Power testified before the state Public Service Commission that 80% of the additional demand for electricity behind the utility’s request for a huge increase in electrical generating capacity was due to data centers.
Lawmakers also have questioned the economic value of data centers. During last year’s legislative session, state Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, cited a 2022 state audit that found the tax exemption for data centers was only returning 24 cents on the dollar.
The General Assembly responded by passing legislation last year that would have temporarily suspended a state sales tax exemption aimed at attracting data centers to Georgia. However, Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed the measure at the urging of business groups including the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
Burns said he will ask state Rep. Brad Thomas, R-Holly Springs, to chair the special committee. Thomas chaired a House subcommittee on artificial intelligence last year.
