Oct. 2, 2024 WSB TV, WSB Radio
Staff reports that Gov. Brian Kemp has issued an executive order suspending the state’s gas tax following Hurricane Helene. In the order, it says that Helene “has negatively impacted the supply chain of goods and services to impacted areas and the social and economic well-being of Georgia’s residents.”
Oct. 2, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Sucheta Rawal writes, when I walked around the Vining Farmers Market on a recent Thursday afternoon, I was amazed by the selection of prepared international foods available. Entrepreneurs were selling Caribbean ginger juices, Filipino style empanadas, lucuma fruit ice cream and ube baked goods.
Oct. 2, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Michael E. Kanell reports, the owner of a North Georgia factory has agreed to pay more than $154,000 in back wages to hundreds of employees to settle a U.S. Department of Labor investigation into allegations the company failed to pay overtime, the government said. Primex Plastics Corp. also agreed to pay $128,589 in penalties to the government, which alleged the failure to pay overtime to 743 workers was “willful,” according to a Monday DOL press release.
Oct. 2, 2024 GPB
Benjamin Payne reports that unionized workers at the Port of Savannah and the Port of Brunswick began going on strike Tuesday, as part of a larger walkout by about 45,000 dockworkers at ports across the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico that marked the first such strike since 1977.
Oct. 2, 2024 11 Alive
Melissa Nord reports that a chemical cloud has been emanating from Conyers since Sunday after a fire broke out at the facility of a company that makes pool and spa treatments, and the sprinkler system water reacted with chemicals on site. Evacuations in the area were needed, and even surrounding counties, for a time, reported the smell of chlorine and a haze in areas.
Oct. 2, 2024 The Brunswick News
Michael Hall reports that Shea Brown was thankful Tuesday to be able to get back into the house she lives in with her friend Stacey Boone on Blaine Street in Brunswick. But just getting inside the house and having access to the wheelchair ramp for Boone will not remove the tree that fell on the house as Hurricane Helene pounded the Golden Isles with wind gusts as fast as 80 mph.
Oct. 2, 2024 Gwinnett Daily Post
Staff reports, Georgia Gwinnett College recently received a $400,000 gift from Georgia Banking Company to provide scholarships to students studying exercise science and wellness. “This is part of our own culture to support organizations that have a positive impact on the community,” said Bartow Morgan Jr., CEO of Georgia Banking Company, and a trustee for GGC. “In the case of Georgia Gwinnett College, the impact is generational.”
Oct. 2, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Ross Williams reports, Georgia Democrats urged a Fulton County judge Tuesday to throw out changes made by the Republican-controlled State Election Board ahead of next month’s presidential election. There are two new rules at the center of the case, the first requires county elections boards to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” into election results before certifying them, and the second allows county board members to examine election-related documents before certification.
Oct. 2, 2024 WABE
Sam Gringlas reports that a Fulton County judge indicated Tuesday he is unlikely to invalidate controversial new rules on certifying election results but could still issue a ruling clarifying that certification is mandatory. The case focuses on two measures approved in August by the Republican majority on the Georgia State Election Board that some fear may result in local board members declining to certify results.
Oct. 2, 2024 Marietta Daily Journal
Annie Mayne reports that the Cobb County Elections Board may soon sue the State Elections Board to get clarity on a slew of controversial rule changes approved ahead of the November election. In a 4-0 vote Monday, with member Debbie Fisher absent, the board authorized its legal counsel to seek a declaratory judgement on rules approved by the state board on Aug. 6 and Sept. 20.
Oct. 2, 2024 Rome News-Tribune
John Bailey reports, in a scathing report released Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice called out the Georgia Department of Corrections for violating the constitutional rights of prisoners and being “deliberately indifferent” to violent and unsafe conditions. Hays State Prison in Trion was among the 17 facilities the DOJ visited in 2022 and 2023 as part of the investigation, which began in 2016.
Oct. 2, 2024 Washington Post
Rachel Shin reports, Michelle Kang had the man’s attention. “This is a life or death situation,” she said to the South Asian man standing in the door frame in pajamas and slides. Kang was pitching her candidacy for the Georgia state House of Representatives and the election’s impact on his existence, “especially for Asian Americans like us.”
Oct. 2, 2024 Capitol Beat News
Dave Williams reports that former President Donald Trump has opened up a solid lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in Georgia five weeks before the Nov. 5 election, according to a new poll. A survey of 942 likely voters in Georgia conducted Sept. 25-29 by Quinnipiac University showed Republican Trump with 50% of the vote in the Peach State to 44% for Democrat Harris, well outside the poll’s margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.2%.
Oct. 2, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Beam report, Hurricane Helene’s deadly march through Georgia has quickly become a campaign issue, as former President Donald Trump accused Vice President Kamala Harris of neglecting storm-stricken areas ahead of his own tour of hard-hit Valdosta. The Republican slammed Harris on Sunday for holding fundraisers in California when parts of the nation “have just been devastated by a massive hurricane.”
