Green technology, solar power and entrepreneurship are the focus of a new, free course being offered at Georgia College and State University (GCSU).

MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Green technology, solar power and entrepreneurship are the focus of a new, free course being offered at Georgia College and State University (GCSU).

It’s thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Partnership of Inclusive Innovation that was awarded to GCSU’s School for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in September.

“We’re starting a Workforce Development Program,” assistant professor of business law end ethics Dr. Nicolas Creel said.

Creel will take the lead with teaching the entrepreneurship class. On the solar side, Dr. Hasitha Mahabaduge, an associate professor of physics, will take the lead.

Both professors say the only requirement to sign up is passion.

“We will start with the very basics,” Dr. Mahabaduge said, adding he will meet each student where they are when teaching the course. He says he recogznies  there could be students who have no background in physics.

The course will encompass four different cohorts and will span between the months of January and June.

At the end of the course, 10 students will be selected to install a new solar panel system on a Milledgeville building, a requirement for the college since it was awarded the grant.

To register, you can sign up through Georgia College and State University’s Department of Continuing and Professional Education here.

By DAVE WILLIAMS

Capitol Beat News Service

ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Transportation is looking for a developer to build a publicly accessible hydrogen fueling station in Southeast Georgia.

The DOT just released a Notice of Intent to Advertise and plans to put out a Request for Proposals during the first quarter of 2024 to seek bids from developers looking to partner with the state on the project. The hydrogen fueling station is intended to be used by commercial fleet vehicles.

Hydrogen-powered electric fuel cells are a promising technology for commercial vehicles, including large trucks. They could be used for fast recharging of heavy vehicles, enabling goods to be delivered over long travel distances.

While the technology is in the early stages of development in the U.S., it has been deployed successfully in several other countries.

“This is the first step in the process that will ready Georgia for vehicles of the future that support alternative fuels for transportation,” state Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry said. “I am pleased that GDOT continues to innovate and is preparing for the future of commercial vehicles, especially on the heels of Georgia’s manufacturing revolution.”

The proposed scope of work is expected to include the design, permitting, site development, construction, operation and maintenance of both a temporary and a permanent hydrogen fueling station. The winning bidder would be responsible for supplying the hydrogen fuel, as well as operating and maintaining the fueling station.

The Georgia DOT intends to enter a public-private partnership contract with the winning developer, which will qualify the project for federal funding.

An industry forum is expected to be held in January for interested developers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Georgia Legislature approved gerrymandered congressional and legislative maps this week after being ordered to draw new districts by a federal judge.

Georgia legislators were tasked with adding additional Black-majority seats in the state’s House, Senate and congressional maps, after the existing maps were ruled to have diluted the voting strength of Black voters in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling stemmed from three lawsuits filed by Black voters. 

The process has moved swiftly, with legislators gaveling into a special session last week to meet tomorrow’s deadline to enact the maps.

While the maps feature the additional majority-Black districts as ordered, they entrench Republican power in the state by way of extreme gerrymanders, and Democrats and activist groups have said that the maps are not compliant.

The House and Senate maps cleared the Legislature on Tuesday, and both preserve the heavy Republican advantage conservatives have enjoyed in the state. 

Democrats would see miniscule gains in the House, where they would be expected to control 81 of the state’s 180 districts, while  in the Senate, Democrats would be stuck with the current 33-23 Republican majority. Some have expressed concerns that these maps violate the Voting Rights Act.

Meanwhile, the congressional map, which cleared the Legislature this morning in a party-line vote, preserves Republicans’s 9-5 delegation majority and seemingly violates the requirements of the judge’s order.

The map defies the court’s mandate that lawmakers keep together minority-opportunity districts — the proposed congressional map dismantles a majority-minority district currently represented by Rep. Lucy McBath (D).

In defending the move, Republicans have claimed that they interpret minority-opportunity to mean majority-Black, an interpretation that many, including the anti-gerrymandering group Fair Districts GA, argue is incorrect.

In a fiery speech on the Georgia House floor, Democratic Rep. Billy Mitchell alleged that the map “disenfranchises hundreds of thousands of Georgia voters and distorts the democratic process.”

All three maps have now headed to Gov. Brian Kemp (R) who must sign the maps by tomorrow. If the plaintiffs in the case who challenged the maps want to object to the Legislature’s changes, they must do so by Dec. 12. A hearing over the objections would then take place on Dec. 20.

Catch up on the process here.