Briefs
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 […]
State carbon emissions down, renewable sources rising
Carbon emissions are down across the southeastern United States, including Georgia, driven by a declining appetite among consumers to use electricity amid a growing demand for more renewable sources like solar power, according to a report by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. However, the decreasing trend in electricity consumption may not translate to power […]
Weekend shootings in Ohio and Texas prompt call for tighter gun laws
State Democrats renewed calls for tighter gun laws in Georgia in the wake of the back-to-back mass shootings that left 31 people dead and dozens injured this weekend in Texas and Ohio. “Because of how our gun laws are in this nation and in this state, either one of those tragedies could have taken place right […]
Perdue wavers on supporting ‘red flag’ legislation
Georgia U.S. Sen. David Perdue stopped short of saying he would support “red flag” gun legislation, citing concerns that such a law could threaten a person’s due process rights. Bipartisan support appears to be growing for a federal law that would authorize law enforcement to take weapons away from a person the courts have found […]
Democrats, Abrams’ PAC aim to take control of Georgia’s House in 2020
The Democratic Party of Georgia and the Fair Fight Pac announced Wednesday an effort to raise millions of dollars in an uphill effort to take control of the Georgia House next year. The new fundraising effort, Legislative Victory Fund, is connected to Fair Fight Action, a voting rights group founded by former House Minority Leader Stacey […]
State senator breaks with his crowd on immigration
Amid a tense political climate surrounding immigration, a conservative north Georgia lawmaker offered glowing words about his Latino constituents during an event Tuesday in Atlanta celebrating an immigrant-rights and prison reform lobbying group. Speaking at a lunch at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, state Sen. Chuck Payne (R-Dalton) touted the diverse makeup of the 54th […]
Public Service Commission targets ‘human error’ after cyber attacks
A string of recent cyber attacks on public entities has a state agency honing in on what it sees as its biggest cyber security weakness: click-happy employees. The Georgia Public Service Commission sent its own employees fake phishing emails as a way to pinpoint its less discerning staffers. The first test email, sent under the […]
Coal ash decisions need more public scrutiny, environmentalists say
Georgia regulators ought to hold more public meetings before issuing state permits for power plants to dispose of toxic coal ash, local environmentalists said during the only public hearing scheduled to discuss the state’s new ash-disposal rules. The hearing, held Tuesday at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Atlanta headquarters, came a day after several […]
Georgia GOP offers prayers after shootings; Dems want legislation
WASHINGTON — In the wake of two devastating mass shootings over the weekend, Georgia Democrats are imploring the U.S. Senate to take action on sweeping gun control legislation. After the tragic shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohiom which killed at least 29 people and injured many more, Democratic lawmakers this week assailed the […]
Hice profile rises with immigration spat, Atlanta conference
A Georgia congressman’s recent trip to the U.S.-Mexico border prompted a social media spat with a high-profile House of Representative colleague last week over sanitary conditions at migrant detention centers. Rep. Jody Hice (R-Monroe), who represents a broad stretch of rural Georgia from north of Atlanta to Augusta, published a video on July 29, in […]