by Ty Tagami | Jul 17, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — People spent more money on the Georgia Lottery over the past year than the prior one, sending more than $1 billion to public educational programs for the 11th year in a row.
The more than $1.5 billion raised during fiscal year 2026, which ended June 30, exceeded the prior fiscal year profit by nearly $70 million, according to Gov. Brian Kemp’s office.
Since 1993, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has given financial aid to more than 2.3 million college students through the HOPE Scholarship Program. It also has paid for 4-year-olds to attend pre-kindergarten, with more than 2.2 million having participated in the voluntary program.
The ongoing strength in lottery sales led the state to restore scholarship amounts to fully cover tuition at Georgia public colleges and universities.
That, along with the removal of the higher education institutional fee, will keep education accessible and affordable, Kemp said in a statement.
Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin said fiscal year 2026 was “an exceptionally strong” one.
It was also a big year for whoever bought a winning Mega Millions ticket in Newnan in November. In January, that person claimed the largest lottery prize in history — $983 million.
by Ty Tagami | Jul 16, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — President Donald Trump plans to visit Georgia next week to highlight tax breaks, grants to newborns and other policies aimed at affordability, a top concern ahead of the November elections.
The president is scheduled to visit Wheeler High School in Marietta on Wednesday.
“As the most pro-family president in our nation’s history, President Trump is giving every American child a head start in life, a nest egg to grow up with, and a real stake in their own future through Trump Accounts,” Liz Huston, a White House spokeswoman, said in an email to Capitol Beat when asked about the purpose of his visit.
She was referring to the tax-advantaged accounts for U.S. minors that were established by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year.
Citizens born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028 also are eligible to receive a $1,000 contribution to their accounts, which their parents manage until age 18.
Trump also is expected to highlight the Working Families Tax Cuts, which increased average federal tax refunds.
by Ty Tagami | Jul 16, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — A soldier based at Fort Benning has been charged along with his wife in connection with the death by starvation of their son and one of their dogs.
A federal grand jury indicted Emma Bradshaw, 22, of Carson City, Nevada, and Ladarrion McCray, 23, of Valdosta, on eight counts, including felony murder by child abuse, on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney William R. “Will” Keyes said in a statement.
Other charges include child abuse, false statements and animal cruelty, according to the statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Middle District of Georgia.
Each faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Bradshaw was pregnant when the couple arrived at Fort Benning, where McCray was stationed, the statement said. It did not say when they arrived and did not release the age of their child.
The indictment said their boy was starved starting Jan. 14 and that he died Jan. 28, Keyes’ office said. When Army investigators searched the home that day, they found the remains of the couple’s female dachshund in a trash barrel outside with the household garbage, prosecutors said.
The couple told the Army Criminal Investigation Division that they had buried the dog in a park off base after it died from illness, Keyes’ office said, adding that a necropsy determined the pet had died of starvation.
Two other dogs, a hound and a Doberman pinscher, were severely malnourished, the statement said, adding that the couple had failed to provide adequate food, water, sanitary conditions or ventilation.
The Army initiated discharge proceedings for McCray.
by Ty Tagami | Jul 15, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff raised about 10 times as much in campaign contributions over the past three months than U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, his Republican challenger in the November general election, according to numbers from the two campaigns.
Ossoff’s campaign said it raised $20 million from April through June, ending the period with $42 million on hand.
Collins’ campaign said it raised a little over $2 million in the second quarter and had about $2 million on hand.
Ossoff’s campaign suggested his financial advantage could change after a U.S. Supreme Court decision two weeks ago that struck down a federal law limiting how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates.
Ossoff’s campaign manager, Ellen Foster, said Ossoff is building momentum “to push back against Republican dark money, power our massive and winning coalition over the next four months, and resoundingly defeat Trump loyalist Mike Collins at the ballot box come November.”
Both candidates characterized their campaigns as “grassroots.”
The Ossoff campaign said it averaged $42 from more than 474,000 donors, adding that nearly 340,000 gave less than $200.
The donations came from all 159 Georgia counties, Ossoff’s campaign said.
Collins’ campaign said it averaged $19.05 from about 16,000 donations but did not characterize the maximum amount of most donations. The Collins campaign also did not say where its donors were located but said it had an operation spanning all 159 counties.
Collins’ camp asserted its opponent took in significant amounts from donors in other states.
Ossoff’s “California and New York donors know exactly what they’re funding: a senator who will push their socialist agenda in Washington,” Collins’ campaign manager Josh Siegel said in a statement. “Mike Collins’ support comes from everyday Georgians because they know he will always put Georgia first,” he added.
by Ty Tagami | Jul 14, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Brady Lum liked to play music, but he did not like to pay for his hobby.
Instead, he used the Southeast’s leading visual arts museum as a piggy bank, according to federal court documents.
Lum, 59, of Atlanta, pleaded guilty to stealing from the High Museum of Art during his nearly seven years as its chief operating officer, using creative accounting to disguise purchases of music lessons, luxury guitars and other musical equipment, and woodworking equipment.
The High receives money from the federal government, so the FBI got involved, leading to a charge of theft from a federally funded institution.
Lum pleaded guilty Monday in the Atlanta federal courtroom of Judge Michael L. Brown, accepting a deal that could put him behind bars for up to a decade and that will require restitution.
Lum, who was the High COO until December, was charged on April 14, according to his docket sheet filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
The charging document said Lum used various schemes to cover his tracks, including altered invoices and accounting adjustments.
For instance, in November 2024, he used the High’s online expense platform to alter a $9,147.87 invoice for a guitar and accessories to appear as a purchase of a speaker array, subwoofers and equipment cases, the document said.
The office of U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg prosecuted the case and said in a statement that Lum had engineered more than 700 reimbursements totaling more than $600,000.
“Over several years, Lum deceptively plundered the southeast’s premier museum of visual art,” Hertzberg said in the statement.
The FBI seized Lum’s ill-gotten goods, and now he has to repay the victims — with interest, according to the plea agreement he signed.
Lum remains free on bond pending his Nov. 2 sentencing.
The plea deal said Lum could be ordered to serve anywhere from zero to 10 years in prison, with prosecutors recommending a sentence at the low end. Lum also faces supervised release of zero to three years.
