Georgia
Have Georgia lawmakers finally hit on the winning formula to pass bill legalizing sports betting? – Georgia Recorder
The ability to legally place a bet in Georgia on an Atlanta Falcons game and other sports competitions is gaining traction with this week’s filing of legislation endorsed by a powerful coalition of Republican and Democratic senators.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Butts County Republican, and Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler are banking on getting a majority of lawmakers enticed by the possibility of legalized sports betting raising millions of dollars for the state lottery’s HOPE collegiate scholarship and Pre-K programs. Butler, a Stone Mountain Democrat, is one of five Democratic and seven GOP legislators who are sponsoring Senate Bill 386 that would make it legal to place online and retail sports bets in the Peach State.
Sen. Clint Dixon’s bill treats sports gambling like a lottery game in order to bypass a constitutional amendment referendum that requires support from a two-thirds majority of the Legislature and approval from Georgia voters in November. The bill is likely to be introduced at the next Senate Economic and Tourism Development Committee, which is chaired by GOP Sen. Brandon Beach, who is also one of the bill’s sponsors.
Under the bill, the state would issue 16 sports betting licenses that would be divided among Georgia professional sports teams, the owners or operators of a Georgia-based car racetrack and professional golf tournament or tour. The Georgia Lottery Corp. would own one license while also issuing the seven remaining licenses at a price of $1 million annually. The state would charge a 15% tax on sports betting revenue.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Jones endorsed the idea of opening up Georgia to sports betting. Lobbyists for an international sports betting and gambling company that co-owns online sportsbook BetMGM traveled to Atlanta last fall to pitch legislators on how to gain enough support to legalize retail and online sports betting and other types of sanctioned wagering.
Critics of sports betting have long cited the dangers of a gambling addiction that go well beyond the potential financial pitfalls. There are also doubts about whether avoiding a constitutional amendment will stand up to legal scrutiny.
Former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton wrote an opinion last year that legalizing sports betting in Georgia does not require a statewide ballot referendum if it is incorporated into the state’s lottery system.
Mike Griffin, a public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, questioned why legislators endorsing Dixon’s bill want to prevent giving Georgia voters control over sports betting.
“If this type of gambling is so popular then why is there an unwillingness to do so through a constitutional amendment where the people make the final decision,” Griffin said in an email. “I do not believe it is legal to do it this way and I do not believe when the lottery was approved, the people in the state of Georgia intended something like this to be made legal.”
The push for legal sports gambling gained momentum in 2020 when four Atlanta professional sports franchises formed an alliance advocating for sports betting in Georgia. Since May 2018, more than 30 states have legalized sports betting after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 1992 federal law banning commercial sports betting in most states.
In the last couple of years, Georgia’s legislative sessions have ended with failed attempts to legalize sports betting, horse racing, and casinos in combination or as standalone propositions as legislators were divided on everything from the ills of gambling addiction, to how revenue would be distributed, and what forms of gambling to permit.
The fact that a large number of people in Georgia already wager on sports illegally does not justify legalization, Griffin said.
“Something as detrimental as sports gambling made legal will be like putting gasoline on a fire. It will make something that is already bad, just worse,” he said.
The bipartisan coalition sponsoring this year’s measure likely nixes any shot of the senate adopting another sports betting bill that has stalled in the senate chamber since Jan. 11. Senate Bill 172, sponsored by Athens Republican Sen. Bill Cowsert, would establish a gaming commission to supervise sports betting that would raise money for scholarships, gambling addiction treatment, and other programs. Cowsert’s bill requires voters to approve a constitutional amendment.
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Georgia
Georgia early voting begins for primary runoffs ahead of June 16 Election Day
MACON, Ga. (WGXA) — Early voting is underway across Georgia for the state’s primary runoff elections, part of a final week of campaigning before voters head to the polls.
The runoffs will determine the major-party candidates for the upcoming general election, following a primary last month where some candidates did not receive a majority of the vote.
MORE INFO ON ELECTION | Georgia Primary Election Day | State, local races across Middle Georgia
Key races include the Republican contest for governor, featuring Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and businessman Rick Jackson. The candidate who wins the runoff will face the Democratic nominee, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, in the fall.
Republicans are also deciding their nominee to challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. This race is between U.S. Rep. Mike Collins and former football coach Derek Dooley.
Other runoffs include contests for lieutenant governor. On the Democratic side, Josh McLaurin and Nabila Parks are competing for the nomination. The Republican runoff is between Greg Dolezal and John F. Kennedy.
Georgia Secretary of State GOP candidates Tim Fleming and Vernon Jones are included in the runoff. The winner of the two will challenge the Democratic nominee, either Dana Barrett or Penny Reynolds, who are also in a runoff.
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Candidates Marshall Talley and Ron Lemon are on the ballot in the upcoming Bibb County runoff election for the District 2 seat on the Macon Water Authority Board.
Incumbent Monroe County Commissioner Al Turner is also in a Republican primary runoff election with William Kerry Osborne for the District 4 seat.
“I think every election is important,” Said Thomas Gillon, Election Supervisor for Bibb County. “The party you picked for the May election is the party you would need to be voting for this election. If you voted non-partisan in the May election, you can vote for any party in the runoff, but we had about a little over 21,000 people vote in May. I’d like to see at least that many people come out to vote for this one.”
Gillon explained there are three locations to vote in Bibb County: the main office at the Macon Mall (3661 Eisenhower Pkwy, STE MB101), Elaine H. Lucas Senior Center (132 Willie Smokie Glover Drive) and Theron Ussery Community Center (815 N Macon Park Drive). This goes until 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
Under state law, voters who cast a ballot in the initial primary must vote in the same party’s runoff. Registered voters who did not vote in the primary are eligible to participate and may choose either party’s ballot.
State election officials encourage voters to check their designated polling locations and hours, which can vary by county during early voting. Voters can verify their registration status and find their precinct by visiting the official Georgia My Voter Page online.
Election Day is Tuesday, June 16.
Stick with WGXA as we keep you ready for what’s next.
Georgia
$44 Million Georgia Estate, Held by the Same Family for 130 Years, Could Break Jake Paul’s Record Purchase
Spring Creek Plantation will set a record for the most expensive sporting estate in Georgia history if it sells for more than $39 million, which is what YouTube star and boxer Jake Paul paid for a ranch in the state last year.
The property, whose acreage spans two counties, is in the heart of the wild quail belt and offers opportunities to hunt trophy whitetail deer. Other recreational activities include fishing, boating, paddleboarding, jet skiing and sailing.
MORE: A Former Gilded Age Inn Perched on a Cliff Above the Hudson River Lists for $2.9 Million
“A property of this size and ambition rarely becomes available and never stays available long,” said Jon Kohler of Jon Kohler & Associates, who listed it Monday. “It’s 8.5 square miles of land, and almost all of it is one contiguous plot. That’s really rare in the South. It’s more like something you’d see out West.”
After being held by the same family for 130 years, the farm was converted to recreational use, Kohler said, adding that the current landowner “spent an untold amount of money” to transform it into a modern year-round recreational and sporting estate.
Stats
The 5,519-acre property includes a newly built, fully furnished lakefront lodge that’s 5,000 square feet and a 182-acre private spring-fed lake. There’s also a lake house, a 2,167-square-foot guest house, a 2,828-square-foot cottage, and a carriage house that has a three-car garage and a guest suite. The buildings were recently remodeled and are being sold fully furnished.
Amenities
The property produces $500,000 in annual income from farmland and mining royalties, which makes it “one of the highest-yielding recreational properties in the South,” Kohler said.
The price includes $1 million in equipment. There’s a full-time management team in place. The automated irrigation system has 12 center-pivot sprinklers that cover 1,060 acres.
Neighborhood Notes
Spring Creek Plantation is in the Albany Plantation Belt, which Kohler said is “one of the most intensively managed sporting grounds in the Southeast.”
Its location is prime: It’s 10 minutes from a 5,000-foot-long private-jet strip that Kohler said has the added bonus of “allowing you to come and go with anonymity.”
Blakely, the nearest town, is home to Kolomoki Mounds State Park.
“It’s a farming town,” Kohler said. “It looks like the set of the old TV show ‘Dukes of Hazzard.’ With its mom-and-pop shops surrounding the courthouse square, it’s like a little American town.”
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One of the plantation’s neighbors is Will Harris, owner of White Oak Pastures, the largest organic farm in the state, and author of the 2023 memoir “A Bold Return to Giving a Damn.”
Harris, an early and ardent promoter of humane animal husbandry and environmental sustainability, once leased land at Spring Creek Plantation, Kohler said.
Agent: Jon Kohler, Jon Kohler & Associates
View the original listing.
Georgia
‘Oh-Ma-Ha! Oh-Ma-Ha!’ Georgia baseball’s celebration 18 years in the making
Georgia baseball players were setting up to take a photo in front of the Foley Field scoreboard with an “OmaDawgs,” graphic on it when fans in the standing room seats and on Kudzu Hill in right field serenaded the team.
“Oh-Ma-Ha! Oh-Ma-Ha!”
It was a moment that a Bulldog team had not experienced for 18 years.
David Perno, the Georgia coach for that 2008 team, and his star player, Gordon Beckham, were in the house on a day the Bulldogs clinched an 11-9 victory over Mississippi State that sent them to Omaha.
The game on Sunday, June 7, took four hours and 14 minutes and wasn’t decided until the 10th inning with two runners on when Justin Byrd struck out Jacob Parker swinging on a 1-2 pitch.
“Kind of just willing it to happen,” catcher Daniel Jackson said. “The second it hit my glove, just knowing it was over, was an incredible feeling.”
Georgia, now 51-12, celebrated. They are used to it after soaking up SEC regular season, SEC tournament and NCAA regional titles this season.
A few Georgia players even jumped up to sit on the center field fence.
Coach Wes Johnson shared a long embrace and then a kiss with his wife, Angie, near the Georgia dugout.
The former Minnesota Twins pitching coach was emotional in the postgame press conference, too, when he said how much making it to the College World Series in his third season means.
“People don’t understand the sacrifices you make to do that,” he said. “The birthdays you miss, anniversaries. A lot.”
Johnson took over a Georgia program that went 0-for-5 in regionals in 2009, 2011, 2018, 2019 and 2022, until his first team featuring Charlie Condon got to a super regional in 2024.
After the win Sunday, Johnson’s voice was cracking when he mentioned Condon sticking with Georgia after he arrived.
“Could have left, didn’t, helped us build this thing,” Johnson, wearing a super regional champions cap, said.
N.C. State stopped them in three games in 2024 to end their season one game short of the CWS.
Georgia then was bounced in the regionals a year ago, again as a national seed.
This one came just over three years after Georgia hired Johnson.
“We think we found the leader to take us to the next level in baseball,” athletic director Josh Brooks said at Johnson’s introductory press conference.
Johnson was on the way then to Omaha where LSU won the College World Series.
“That’s something I want to do here as well,” he said then.
His team now is headed there for just the seventh time in program history.
Johson also went to the CWS with Arkansas in 2018 when the Razorbacks reached the finals.
Georgia will head to Omaha as the highest remaining national seed at No.3 with the momentum that comes with going 8-0 in the postseason, starting with the SEC Tournament.
It will play on the biggest stage in college baseball, but the Bulldogs weren’t ready to turn the page quite yet.
“We’ll soak it in for about 12 to 24 hours and then get right back to the grind,” said Jackson, whose 31st homer of the season, a two-run shot over the fence in left field in the 10th inning, broke a tie game.
An hour after the game ended, Byrd and first baseman Bryce Calloway were among players still in uniform on the field soaking up the super regional title with their families.
Branch, one of the four players that have been with Johnson for all three of his Georgia seasons. went from the postgame press conference to the field and was handed the Super Regional trophy that the Bulldogs earned by winning the series 2-0.
“I truly do go home thinking about Omaha and think about going to that place and taking Georgia back to this place,” Branch said, “and securing the legacy that Georgia needs to have in Omaha.”
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