Briefs
Georgia voters challenge certification of elections system
Election security advocates are pushing for a federal judge to press pause on Georgia’s rollout of $107 million-worth of new ballot machines ahead of next year’s election cycle. After a key ruling in federal court last week, voters suing the Georgia Secretary of State’s office over the state’s old touchscreen ballots filed an amended complaint […]
State agency loosens rules on curbside package store service
The state’s alcohol regulators just gave cocktail lovers cause for a toast. New rules announced this week allow customers to pick up liquor through online-ordered curbside service, a convenience popularized by grocery stores. Local ordinances can still prohibit this kind of service, though. It’s a flexibility only recently allowed for wine and beer two years […]
Poultry workers fled Gainesville plants last week amid rumors of ICE raids
Rumors of a roundup by federal immigration authorities at poultry plants in Gainesville late last week sent scores of workers fleeing their jobs and caused a brief panic in an already worried community, according to local Latino advocates. “Hundreds” of poultry-processing employees rushed from several plant sites where they worked after hearing Thursday morning that […]
Georgia’s proposed hate crimes legislation gets renewed push
Georgia lawmakers are renewing calls to pass a bill defining and setting punishments for hate crimes committed in the state, one of only five that do not have a hate crimes law on the books. Supporters of the bill, which stalled earlier this year in the Georgia Senate, say it’s past time for the state […]
Abrams takes Fair Fight 2020 to scene of 2018 voter frustration
Saturday former gubernatorial candidate and state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams plans to launch her Fair Fight 2020 initiative at a Gwinnett County elementary school where people attempting to vote last November were frustrated by long lines and voting machine glitches. Annistown Elementary School is a symbolic choice for a first public event after Abrams […]
Metro Atlanta nonprofit brushes aside criticism over free adoptions
Metro Atlanta’s public shelters are turning to the appeal of free adoptions in hopes of freeing up space after a surge of animals overwhelmed the facilities this summer. The Fulton and DeKalb county shelters took in a combined 1,850 animals during July. That is hundreds more than even last July, when a spike strained shelter […]
Former Sandy Springs lawmaker chairs board overseeing Jekyll
Amid boom times for Jekyll Island, a former state lawmaker has been tapped as the new board chair for the state agency charged with managing the island. Joe Wilkinson, a 16-year Republican state representative from Sandy Springs, was appointed board chairman for the Jekyll Island State Park Authority by Gov. Brian Kemp in July. His […]
Planned Georgia income tax cut small change for many, report says
A new report says a proposed state income tax cut the Georgia Assembly is set to mull early next year would cost the state $550 million in revenue, while saving many taxpayers just $46 a year. Georgia lawmakers are set to consider whether to lower the state’s personal and corporate income tax rate to 5.5% […]
Okefenokee mining proposal gets Folkston hearing Tuesday night
The Georgia Recorder will report from South Georgia this week on reactions from the community, environmental groups and mining company officials on plans to extract materials for titanium manufacturing near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The first of two public meetings this week is set for Tuesday night in southeast Georgia when Twin Pines Minerals […]
Feds shelve plans to house migrant children in SW metro Atlanta
Plans to open a facility in Atlanta to house about 500 migrant children who enter the United States without parents or legal guardians have been shelved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to Georgia state Sen. Mike Dugan’s office. The agency “is no longer moving forward” with its search for a […]
Grant to Georgia College nursing program a remedy for rural health ills
A newborn might be in one room, a great grandmother in the next and an injured farmer in still another room. For Dr. Sallie Coke, this would just be any other day at the small-town clinic where she works in rural Lamar County, which is home to 18,000 people in middle Georgia. “It’s wonderful. You […]
Georgia Recorder stories picked up by other outlets – and that’s great
You’ll see on our “About” page that we view news as a vital community service and believe that government accountability and transparency are valued by all Georgians. The Georgia Recorder welcomes other Georgia news outlets to publish our stories at no cost other than crediting us as the source. Sunday, the Valdosta Daily Times published […]