Former House Speaker Ralston’s widow loses in runoff for his seat
ATLANTA - A banker from Blue Ridge defeated the widow of former Georgia House Speaker David Ralston Tuesday in a runoff election for Ralston’s Northwest Georgia House seat. Republican Johnny Chastain captured 52.8% of the vote to 47.2% for Sheree Ralston, according to...
New bill would set mandatory minimum sentences for gang recruitment
ATLANTA – Georgia lawmakers want to increase the sentence for gang recruitment activities as part of a tough-on-crime push under the Gold Dome this legislative session. A new state Senate bill would increase the penalties for recruiting someone to join a...
Kia celebrates Georgia success while looking to future
ATLANTA - Georgia’s political leaders celebrated Kia Day at the state Capitol Tuesday, touting past successes at Kia’s plant in West Point even as the Korean automaker prepares to start producing EV6 electric vehicles. The West Point Kia plant, which opened in 2009,...
Ossoff goes to bat for two proposed land preservation projects in Georgia
ATLANTA - U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is asking the United States Forest Service to support two fiscal 2024 Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) projects in Georgia. The proposed Dugdown Mountain Corridor project would build on a multi-state effort to connect the...
Georgia Senate bill aims to regulate third-party food delivery industry
ATLANTA - Legislation establishing regulations for the fast-growing third-party food delivery industry in Georgia has been introduced in the General Assembly. Senate Bill 34 is an outgrowth of a Senate study committee chaired by Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, that held...
Affordable housing challenge puts local control issue in the spotlight
ATLANTA -- As high-tech manufacturing plants – many in the electric vehicle and battery sectors – are lured to Georgia, affordable housing for workers is emerging as a key challenge. “The transformational projects, good paying jobs, and new...
Sustainable building materials company bringing jobs to rural Georgia
ATLANTA - A sustainable building materials company will build a new headquarters in rural Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Friday. Green Georgia LLC will invest $59 million in a project that will create more than 170 jobs. The facility will be located in Thomaston,...
Georgia House committee OKs ‘alternative’ contracting for road and bridge projects
ATLANTA - A bill tweaking a transportation project contracting option Georgia lawmakers authorized in 2021 will likely be among the first to hit the floor of either legislative chamber in a slow-moving start to the 2023 session. The House Transportation Committee...