Georgia
Georgia man sentenced to prison for distributing fentanyl in Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Georgia man was sentenced to prison for distributing fentanyl in Jacksonville, according to the Department of Justice.
Officials said on March 23, 2023, Leonel Bautista Solis traveled from Atlanta to Jacksonville to sell fentanyl.
When Solis was arrested, federal agents recovered 1,600 pressed fentanyl pills, cocaine packaged for sale, and six guns in his car.
Solis admitted he bought the guns in Atlanta and was bringing the fentanyl to Jacksonville. Investigators said he also admitted he would deliver the guns with the drugs.
Solis was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison for distributing at least 40 grams of fentanyl. He pled guilty on Feb. 28, 2024.
Copyright 2024 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.
Georgia
Georgia and Katie Abrahamson-Henderson Mutually Agree to Part Ways – University of Georgia Athletics
ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Georgia and women’s basketball head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson have mutually agreed to part ways, the UGA Athletic Association announced Saturday.
Abrahamson-Henderson compiled a 69-59 overall record with a pair of NCAA tournament appearances during her four seasons as Georgia’s head coach.
“We would like to thank Coach ABE for her leadership and wish her well moving forward,” J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Josh Brooks said. “We are committed to building on the proud tradition of Lady Bulldog basketball and will continue to support our program with the necessary resources for future success. We have an outstanding group of alumni and a dedicated fan base. Our search for a new head coach will focus on someone who will carry on this legacy and connect with our student-athletes, alumni and supporters in an impactful way.”
Georgia’s search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
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Georgia
GOPers ignore election officials’ warnings, leaving Georgia little time for paper ballots switch
Georgia election officials have less than three months to convert the state’s entire voting system from touchscreen machines to paper ballots, after the state Senate failed to vote Friday on legislation that would have delayed the conversion until 2028.
The rushed system switch risks compromising election security and will complicate ballot counting, delay reporting results and create “widespread confusion” for voters and election administrators, county officials say.
Georgia’s current touchscreen system generates QR codes for ballot counting. But in 2024 GOP state lawmakers voted to sunset these machines by July 1 of this year, making it illegal to use them beyond that. Last week, the state Senate passed a bill to change over to a completely hand-marked ballot system.
However, local election officials urged lawmakers to delay that switch until 2028 so that they would have time to put the new system in place, which would include pre-printing millions of ballots and re-training election workers.
The state House passed a bipartisan bill this morning that would’ve allowed for that two-year grace period. But the Senate – led by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R), who is running for the GOP nomination for governor – declined to bring it forward for a vote Friday, the final day of this year’s legislative session.
That means election officials now have until July 1 to develop a system where voters use a pen to fill in oval bubbles to select their candidates.
“This proposal would create widespread confusion for Georgia voters and election officials,” said Joseph Kirk, a county election supervisor and president of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials (GAVREO), last month. “Simply put, transitioning to a new election system and implementing major changes to the voting process this close to the 2026 general election is unworkable.”
Among the problems with doing a ballot system conversion in a crunch – and so close to midterms and Georgia’s gubernatorial election – is that the bill offers no funding for implementing the switch or for technology that could help expedite it. It also creates a security risk, according to GAVREO, given that election officials have little time to train staff and develop protective measures for guarding the millions of pre-printed ballots required by the law before Election Day.
Election officials also warn that the law’s new reporting requirements will cause delays in ballot counting and in delivering timely results. Those problems often trigger chaos, controversy and conspiracy theories, as seen in the fallout over Fulton County’s 2020 election ballot count, which is still being probed today.
Leaders of both parties are now scrambling to see if they can make other modifications or resuscitate the delayed deadline through a special emergency session.
Georgia
Tyson Foods to shut down Georgia prepared food plant, laying off 168 employees
Tyson Foods is shutting down its prepared foods plant in Rome, Georgia, next month, laying off over a hundred employees as part of the closure.
According to a notice posted to Georgia’s WARN Act database, the company plans to close its plant on Darlington Drive, which is operated under The Hillshire Brands Company, on May 31. The notice shows that all 168 workers employed at the plant will be laid off.
The WARN Act, or Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, requires certain employers to give advance notice of large layoffs or closures, giving workers time to prepare for job loss.
In a release shared to CBS News Atlanta, a spokesperson for the company called the closure a “difficult decision.”
“The facility has operated under a unique single-customer model, but recent changes have made continued operations at the site no longer viable,” the spokesperson said. “We recognize the impact this has on our team members and the Rome community. Supporting our people is our top priority, and we are encouraging impacted team members to apply for other roles within the company while working with state and local partners to provide support during this transition.”
This is the latest closure by the multinational meat giant, which has struggled with losses in the beef business. Last year, the company closed its beef plant in Lexington, Kentucky, which had employed roughly 3,200 people in the city of 11,000. In 2024, Tyson closed a pork plant in Perry, Iowa, that employed 25% of the town’s working-age residents.
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