Georgia

General Assembly’s silence is deafening – Georgia Recorder

Published

2 years ago

February 14, 2024

Press Room

General Assembly’s silence is deafening – Georgia Recorder

Listen.

Can you hear it?

What?
Two things in Atlanta.

Clink, clink, clink and tick, tick, tick.

Cocktail glasses of Georgia Power, Twin Pines Minerals LLC and their lobbyists are clinking so loudly that you don’t have to be in Atlanta to hear the unmistakable sounds. The reasons for celebrating are different, but they are really the same. Hold that thought. I’ll explain.

Well, what about that ticking?

Feb. 29 (Leap Day) is Crossover Day in the General Assembly. That means proposed legislation in the House of Representatives must be approved and recommended to “cross over” to the Senate by Feb. 29.

Otherwise, the measure likely dies for 2024. Ditto for Senate-approved legislation that needs a vote in the House.

The Crossover Day clock is ticking—loudly—for two significant environmental issues that are likely to be lost this session in both chambers under the Gold Dome.

And Georgia Power appears to be escaping, again, without any interference from lawmakers who could force the behemoth utility to be more responsible with its storage of millions of tons of dangerous industrial waste—coal ash—that is leaching into ground water.

Twin Pines, the Alabama mining outfit that wants to dig for minerals on the “eastern hydrological boundary” of the Okefenokee Swamp, has—like Georgia Power—spent enough lobbying dollars to convince General Assembly powerbrokers that money is more important than factual science and environmental risks.

As you can see, the two issues are very different. But the silence on both issues is the same. The General Assembly found time to vote for cornbread as the “official bread” of Georgia, but it can’t seem to find room on the agenda to deal with the threat of Georgia Power’s coal ash poisoning our state’s drinking water.

Oh, I’m a fan of hot-buttered cornbread, too. Same goes for just-out-of-the-oven cathead biscuits. But I’d like to have clean water in my tea or coffee to wash down the official state bread. Wouldn’t you?

For years, I’ve been talking about Georgia Power’s bottom-line-driven strategy that prioritizes profits over common sense when it comes to safe handling/storage of coal ash. The heavy metals in coal ash are proven to make you sick and/or kill you. Yet legislative attempts to force Georgia Power to do what’s right are squashed, year after year.

Can you hear the cocktail glasses clinking?

My questions are:

Don’t the families of Democrats, Republicans and Independents all deserve clean, safe water to drink?

If so, what’s the problem?

The silence is deafening.

Now, about the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge—which is under threat from a seems-likely-to-happen mining operation of Twin Pines Minerals LLC.

The Alabama miners say, “Trust us. We know what we are doing.”

Others, who know more than I do, counter, “We can’t trust Twin Pines. Its plan will do irreparable harm to an irreplaceable ecosystem.”

This I do know. There’s only one Okefenokee Swamp in the world, and most of it is in Georgia. Why wouldn’t we want to safeguard this environmental treasure?

One clue is that a piece of protective legislation—with overwhelming bipartisan support—won’t even be brought up for discussion in the House’s committee on environment and natural resources. That nonaction appears to have given Twin Pines what it wanted: a draft permit for mining, courtesy of Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD).

Josh Marks, president of Georgians for the Okefenokee, believes, “The EPD may have signed the death warrant for the Okefenokee Swamp, our state’s greatest natural treasure.”

Can you hear the cocktail glasses clinking?

But wait.

The EPD has declared a 30-day public comment period, even though it earlier promised 60 days. If you have concerns about the proposed titanium dioxide mining, submit your statements to [email protected]. There’ll be a virtual public hearing on March 5 at 6 p.m. Don’t let your silence send the wrong signal.

The disturbing common denominator in both of these environmental issues—coal ash and the Okefenokee—is the deafening silence of Georgia’s General Assembly.

But it might not be too late.

Talk to your representative or senator.

Just remember that Crossover Day is Feb. 29.

Tick, tick, tick.

Source link

Click to comment

Georgia

Ga. lawmakers propose changes to state’s early voting process

Published

2 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Ga. lawmakers propose changes to state’s early voting process

ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – State legislators are considering more changes to Georgia’s voting law, proposing a new bill that would alter the way early voters cast ballots.

State Sen. Greg Dolezal, a Republican from Cumming, introduced SB 568 this week. The proposal would assign early voters to one precinct in their county. Currently, voters can cast early votes at any precinct in their county.

It would also move early voting to a hand-marked paper ballot system, where voters use a pen to mark their selections, instead of the currently used touchscreen system.

“So that we would not have to print so many permutations at the paper ballots, we would assign voters to an early voting location,” said Dolezal. “Most people are going to vote to the at the early voting location closest to their home anyway.”

The bill was immediately met with backlash from democrats as a barrier to the vote.

“I have no idea how voting on a piece of paper, marking it down with your pencil in any way suppresses the vote,” said Dolezal. “For most counties out of, you know, 140 call it out of 159, they just have one location.”

Dolezal’s proposal would also require local clerks to publicly post their entire voting rolls ahead of elections.

“Making public every single voter who is qualified to vote is to some extent, a little bit of an invasion of privacy for each individual voter,” said state Sen. Sonya Halpern (D-Atlanta). “We need to have trust in our election officials to run those elections.”

It’s the latest change the legislature has proposed to Georgia’s voting system.

“You have dirty, dirty voting rolls, you’re going to have dirty elections,” Dolezal said.

The bill would also shift responsibility for voter challenges from the counties to the State Elections Board. In addition, it would also move the threshold for an automatic recount in the state from a 1.5% margin to 2%.

Source link

Georgia

No. 3 Georgia to Host Top-Ranked Auburn for Regular Season Finale – University of Georgia Athletics

Published

14 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

No. 3 Georgia to Host Top-Ranked Auburn for Regular Season Finale – University of Georgia Athletics

ATHENS – The third-ranked Georgia equestrian team will host No. 1 Auburn on Saturday at 12 p.m. to conclude the regular season.

Georgia fell at Auburn 14-6 to wrap up the fall slate of their season. The overall record against the Tigers currently stands at 31-31, including a 13-7 record in Bishop.

During their National Championship run in the 2024-25 season, the Mane Dawgs faced off against Auburn on three separate occasions. Georgia was victorious at home, 11-9, before falling on the road, 11-8. In the quarterfinals of the NCEA National Championships in Ocala, the Bulldogs stunned the second-ranked Tigers, 13-4, en route to their eighth National Championship title.

Georgia returns to action following a trip to Blythewood, South Carolina, to take on the third-ranked Gamecocks.

Top-ranked Auburn travels to Bishop after hosting No. 4 SMU at home the prior weekend. The Tigers defeated the Mustangs 13-7 and swept all four MOP honors.

Following the conclusion of the meet, Georgia will honor their seven seniors for their dedication and contributions to the program.

The meet will be streamed on SECN+ at https://gado.gs/e7v, and live scoring will be available at https://gado.gs/e7w.

HOW TO FOLLOW GEORGIA EQUESTRIAN: For complete information on Georgia equestrian, follow the team on its social media channels via @UGAEquestrian on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

JOIN OUR MANE DAWGS FUND: Mane Dawgs Fund contributions make a direct impact in supporting our student-athletes and equines at the Georgia Equestrian program. A gift to the Mane Dawgs fund helps provide resources such as equipment upgrades for our student and equine athletes, travel assistance, and enhance overall team experiences. Contributions to the Mane Dawgs provide benefits such as membership gifts and information about upcoming special events. Click here for more information.

Source link

Georgia

Georgia OC Mike Bobo gets giant pay raise, salary matches DC Glenn Schumann

Published

1 day ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Georgia OC Mike Bobo gets giant pay raise, salary matches DC Glenn Schumann

Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann will be paid equally in 2026 after receiving raises, according to an Athens Banner-Herald report.

Coach Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs are coming off a second consecutive SEC championship season and College Football Playoff Sugar Bowl quarterfinal appearance.

lliw ot eht eht ees .nosaes nosaes deviecer yap raey-eno noillim noillim edam tsal esaercni sih eh morf rof noisnetxe tcartnoc dna a oboB 6202 )%64( 2.2$ 305.1$

saw ot tes suoiverp rep ekam ni ni sih ,noisnetxe tcartnoc .yluJ ,oboB 6202 306.1$

.raey htiw ,raey-eerht eht eht taht yldetroper rep evisneffo noillim noillim si ni diap-tsehgih rotanidrooc tcartnoc segareva a sieW CES s’USL .rJ eilrahC 5.7$ 5.2$

hcihw saw pot ot emit driht eht eht eht eht s’noitan ni eh sah seog rof rof tsilanif tsilanif .hcaoc reerac neeb ,drawa tnatsissa a a s’tI selyorB s’oboB oboB .drawA 5202

eerht eht eht gnitrats .sretrats htxis ,gnirocs deknar kcabretrauq stniop rep evisneffo esneffo wen noitan enil ni ni ni ,emag raey-tsrif gnirutaef dniheb gnigareva dna dna na ehT notkcotS CES rennuG ’sgodlluB 1.23 ht82

gnitov rednu siht eht htneves .nosaes ni dehsinif noitcerid yhporT notkcotS namsieH s’oboB

enoz htiw saw deit deit nwod-driht driht eht eht eht gnirocs der yalp egatnecrep egatnecrep egatnecrep fo noitan noitan noitan ni ni ni ni ni .)slaog nwod-htruof rof rof dleif noisrevnoc noisrevnoc ,gnillac tub dna dna ,osla AGU s’oboB dn23 ,02 ht01 )057. snwodhcuot( 51(

lliw pu ot nosaes noillim noillim tsal og morf tcartnoc osla s’nnamuhcS .)%01( 2.2$ 300.2$

ot taht taht gnitrats tes deviecer esiar ylsuoiverp ylsuoiverp noillim ekam ekil dedulcni mih dah dah rotalacse esualc a a ,nnamuhcS yluJ ,oboB .1 301.2$ 000,001$

sdray siht eht eht dnoces gnidne-nosaes ,nosaes gnirocs deknar stniop stniop rep noitan ssol ni ni ni ni ni ,emag retrauq-htruof neve esnefed dna dna gniwolla gniwolla retfa a CES .snaelrO elO weN ssiM aigroeG 374 ,43-93 02 75.71 ht01

.raey htiw ot raey-eerht eht taht taht noitisop rep diap noillim si ni tsehgih evisnefed rotanidrooc tcartnoc hcaoc deveileb eb segareva a lliW ’saxeT pmahcsuM 8.2$

Source link