Georgia
Contracts awarded for bridge replacements, resurfacings in Southwest Georgia
TIFTON, Ga. (WALB) – Several contracts were awarded for bridge replacements and road resurfacing projects in Southwest Georgia.
According to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), about $21 million in awarded construction contracts will go towards a 65-year-old bridge on a county road in Colquitt County.
The largest portion of the money will be used to replace “aging, weight-posted bridges” on Ellenton Omega Road in Colquitt County.
The bridges over Warrior Creek were built in 1936 and reconstructed in 1959, Warrior Creek overflow was built in 1959, and Ty Ty Creek which was also built in 1959, according to GDOT. The bridge replacements are part of the Department’s Local Bridge Replacement Program.
“They are being replaced due to the ages of the bridges and because none meet current design standards. Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) bridge programs help replace bridges that aren’t on the state highway system, which reduces the number of deficient or weight-posted bridges,” the release said.
The release said the bridges will be raised three feet to provide “adequate clearance over the 100-year flood elevation.” Traffic will not have to detour off site during construction.
The $11.6 million construction was awarded to Southern Concrete Construction Co. Inc. Construction is expected to be completed in summer 2026.
The road resurfacing projects will be on State Route 122 in Thomas County and State Route 91 in Dougherty County. A total of 21 miles of roadway will be resurfaced, according to GDOT.
Reames and Son Construction Co. Inc. was awarded about $5 million. It will go to resurfacing State Route 122 in Thomas County from east of US 19/Thomasville bypass to the Brooks County line.
About $4.5 million was awarded to Griffin Grading & Concrete LLC. State Route 91 in Dougherty County will be resurfaced from north of SR 234 to the Lee County line.
Both resurfacing projects are expected to be completed in spring 2025.
GDOT said that the contracts were awarded in May and June to the lowest qualified bidder.
“A reminder that start dates have not been determined for any of these contracts and scheduled completion dates are subject to change,” the release said.
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Georgia
Wynk THC seltzer coming to stores across Georgia. Here’s what we know
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This Thanksgiving, want something a little different to wash down your meal? If so, there’s a new beverage you might like to try.
On Wednesday, Wynk announced the statewide debut of its THC-infused seltzers. According to the company’s news release, Wynk delivers a refreshing social experience with a balanced 1:1 ratio of THC and CBD using high-quality manufacturing standards.
The drink comes in a variety of flavors including “Black Cherry Fizz,” “Lime Twist,” “Juicy Mango,” and “Tangerine.” They come in 7.5 oz cans with 2.5mg of THC and CBD and 12 oz cans with 5mg of each. The prices are as follows:
- 6-Pack: 2.5mg $24.99; 5mg $35.99
- 12-Pack: 2.5mg $44.99; 5mg $67.99
- 24-Pack: 2.5mg $89.99; 5mg $129.99
Products like these may be legally sold due to Congress legalizing hemp production in the 2018 Farm Bill, according to a press release on Georgia’s Hemp Farming Act. Hemp is a cannabis plant that naturally contains small amounts of the psychoactive cannabinoid delta-9 THC, along with other natural cannabinoids that may be used for medicinal purposes. Under Georgia’s new legislation, products that contain these kinds of ingredients are restricted those 21 and older.
Wynk is being sold in a variety of stores across Georgia like Chevron, Circle K, and BP. To find your nearest store that sells it, go to drinkwynk.com/find-in-stores.
Georgia
Jimmy Carter Christmas ornament now available at Georgia stores
ATLANTA – The White House is honoring former President Jimmy Carter this Christmas with his own ornament, and Georgians can get their own for their tree.
The ornament is in the shape of an anchor, a symbol of hope that also represents Carter’s service in the U.S. Navy.
It also features historic moments from Carter’s life and presidency and comes with a keepsake box and illustrated booklet on Carter’s presidency.
“It is a great honor to offer the Official 2024 White House Christmas Ornament at Home Depot stores for the first time in Georgia,” said Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association. “This year we pay tribute to President Jimmy Carter’s remarkable life and enduring legacy as he continues to be a fixture in our country’s ongoing history.”
Shoppers can find the ornament at around 60 Home Depot stores across Georgia and in the Washington, D.C. area.
You can also buy the ornament on The Home Depot’s website.
Georgia
Georgia Senate study panel considers restrictions on trans women’s college sports participation • Georgia Recorder
A Georgia Senate study committee that bills itself as tasked with protecting women’s sports met Thursday for the last time before it is set to release recommendations before next year’s legislative session, and transgender Georgians are bracing themselves.
At Thursday’s hearing, transgender women and allies argued that vanishingly few transgender women participate in school sports, and those who do are largely not at the top of the competitive heap. Many said the national focus is making life difficult.
“It’s so hard to face this kind of opposition,” said Aaron Baker, a transgender woman and activist. “It’s so hard to be at a hearing like this and hear the language. It’s so hard for you to hear people describe me as a biological man because it’s not
true. I am hormonally female, I’m phenotypically female, I’m psychologically female, and that is a gross oversimplification of who I am and my identity, and it hurts.”
Committee Chair Greg Dolezal, a Cumming Republican, told members he would spend the next week or so reviewing testimony from the committee’s three hearings and plans to announce the date for presenting recommendations shortly after. Study committee recommendations could take the form of proposed legislation in time for the 2025 General Assembly, which is set to begin Jan. 13.
Dolezal indicated he is interested in considering regulations for college sports. A previous hearing featured testimony from cisgender women college swimmers who said they were placed at an unfair disadvantage when they had to compete against a transgender woman at a competition at Georgia Tech.
“A few years ago, I believe it was three years ago, the General Assembly passed a bill essentially prescribing the control to make decisions around transgender participation in sports to the Georgia High School Association, they passed a resolution that stated that participation in sports, high school sports, in the state of Georgia was based on the sex prescribed on a birth certificate. The law is currently silent on the collegiate competition level. So right now, we just have a law as it relates to high school associations,” he said.
Other Republicans on the committee suggested they would like to see legislation in K-12 schools, especially surrounding restrooms and locker rooms.
“As a father of two young daughters, we’ve got to protect women,” said Gwinnett Republican Sen. Clint Dixon. “We’ve got to protect their sports, we’ve got to protect them in changing rooms from what we heard from many of those athletes who testified, four or five of them who testified in the first committee hearing, having to change, which took 20, 30 minutes at a time, in front of a transgender female, but still had the genitalia of a male, which was horrific for them to witness that, some of them ended up changing in a storage closet, some of them waited until that athlete left the room, having to miss some of their competition, and that’s just at the college level, we’re not even talking about minors in K-12.”
Some activists indicated that they would oppose any kind of restriction on transgender participation, while speakers like Lambda Legal attorney Sasha Buchert urged the lawmakers to take a nuanced approach over a blanket ban, which could mean a committee including medical experts to consider safety or competitive concerns on a case-by-case basis. Others said such decisions should be left to athletic associations and leagues rather than politicians or political appointees.
“Sports are already managed by expert organizations like the NCAA, the International Olympics Committee, and professional leagues,” said Delfina Booth, a former Georgia Tech student and high school athlete who said she has lost transgender friends to police violence and suicide.
“These governing bodies have developed policies over decades that analyze fairness based on unique needs of each sport,” she added. “Contact sports have different rules than non-contact sports, children’s sports focus more on teamwork and development than adult sports, et cetera. These nuances cannot be addressed through broad government legislation. Additionally, decisions about athletic ability involve multiple complex factors, including the signs of physical development and the specific demands of each sport. These aren’t matters that lend themselves directly or easily to blanket rules.”
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