Georgia

US Senate passes bill extending grant programs for Georgia fire departments

Published

1 year ago

June 19, 2024

US Senate passes bill extending grant programs for Georgia fire departments

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First)- The U.S. Senate has passed the Fire Grants and Safety Act.

When signed by the president, the bill will reauthorize key grant programs that provide federal funding to Georgia’s fire departments.

Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff said strengthening fire safety in Georgia is one of his key priorities.

“There’s no worse nightmare for any family than waking up in the middle of the night, smelling smoke, calling 911, but there’s no fire rescue service available in time,” Ossoff said. “After hearing from fire chiefs across the state about aging equipment and understaffed departments, I worked to bring Republicans and Democrats together to pass this bipartisan bill that will upgrade fire safety across Georgia.”

The bill extends authorizations for the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) Program, the Fire Prevention and Safety Grants Program, and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant (SAFER) Program, which can be used to upgrade equipment, hire and retain firefighters and provide better training.

Gary Clark, the Georgia State Firefighters Association president, celebrated the passage of the bill as a big win for departments struggling to pay for the rising cost of equipment.

“The money is tight right now, with inflation the way it is,” Clark said. “For instance, a new engine truck, say a new engine, five years ago, you could have purchased that truck for, you know, around $750,00-800,000. Now it’s $1.2 million. Inflation has gone and just skyrocketed. It eats into a lot of other budgetary items that the city or counties may have, to buy a new apparatus, turnout gear, needed air packs, or supplies for the station. The funding from this legislation is greatly needed and without it, it would be detrimental to a lot of departments in the state.”

Since taking office, Ossoff has delivered dozens of grants through these federal programs to cities, counties and agencies across the state— including Columbus and West Point; Augusta and Twin City; Metro Atlanta and North Georgia, Middle Georgia, Southwest Georgia, and Coastal Georgia.

The bipartisan bill now heads to the president’s desk for his signature.

Source link

Click to comment

Georgia

Why Georgia football moved its game against Texas in 1957 from Athens to Atlanta

Published

3 minutes ago

November 12, 2025

Press Room

Why Georgia football moved its game against Texas in 1957 from Athens to Atlanta

Most of the biggest brands in college football have never lined up against Georgia football inside Sanford Stadium.

Alabama, of course, is an exception, as an SEC program that first played between the hedges in 1935.

Notre Dame made its only visit to Athens in 2019 in a game deemed so big extra seating was brought in to accommodate a record crowd.

These top 10 winningest FBS programs of all-time have never been on the visitor’s sideline: Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Nebraska and USC.

Texas is on that list, too, but won’t be after it plays Georgia for the first time in Athens on Saturday, Nov. 15.

The Longhorns were scheduled to do that on Sept. 21, 1957, but the game was moved to Georgia Tech’s Grant Field in Atlanta.

But why?

According to the Feb. 7, 1957, edition of the Red & Black student newspaper, the game was shifted to the second of a doubleheader with Georgia Tech and Kentucky playing at 2 p.m. and Georgia and Texas at 8 p.m.

“The Texas tilt was scheduled for Athens, but the Georgia student body does not return until Sept. 23, the first day of registration,” the story said.

Georgia and Georgia Tech had played a doubleheader in 1955 in Atlanta as well: Georgia-Ole Miss and Georgia Tech-Miami.

Moving the 1957 game was “financially necessary,” according to Dan Magill’s “The Georgia Bulldog” newsletter from Feb. 18, 1957, provided to the Athens Banner-Herald by Jason Hasty, a UGA athletics history specialist with the UGA’s Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Magill was secretary of the Georgia Bulldog Club, which he founded in 1953.

That 1955 Georgia-Ole Miss game in Atlanta drew 33,400 — more than three times the average paid attendance for games in Athens in recent years, other than games against rivals Georgia Tech and Alabama, Magill wrote.

Coach Wally Butts cited conflicts with Georgia Tech home games as a “major factor,” in moving the games from Athens, according to the Red & Black.

“Whenever these conflicts exist, it hurts the gate receipts at both schools, particularly Georgia, which is located in a sparsely populated area,” Magill wrote.

The game in Atlanta — just the second against Texas after a 41-28 Orange Bowl Longhorns win on Jan. 1, 1949 — was considered a Georgia home game and students were admitted free with an ID card.

Loran Smith, a Georgia historian who has been associated with UGA athletics for more than 60 years, said Magill complained, “Tech plays the afternoon and we’re the damn sideshow.”

Smith said Georgia Tech coach Bobby Dodd convinced Butts it would be a good move to play the game in Atlanta.

The game in 1957 was the season opener and marked the debut of Texas coach of Darrell Royal, who is the namesake of Texas football’s Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium. He took over a program coming off a 1-9 season.

Texas won 26-7 before a “sweltering short sleeved crowd of 33,000,” according to an AP report.

Georgia trailed 13-7 in the third quarter after sophomore quarterback Charley Britt threw a 5-yard touchdown to Jimmy Orr, but Texas scored 13 in the fourth quarter.

Georgia finished the season 3-7. Texas went 6-4-1 and ranked No. 11.

Georgia played Texas A&M in Athens in 1954 and went to Michigan in 1957 and 1965.

Butts was on a football rules committee with Michigan AD Fritz Crisler which led to the games in Ann Arbor, Smith said.

“Both on the road,” Smith said. “We were like one of the directional schools playing for a check.”

Saturday will be the eighth all-time meeting between the Longhorns, who are No. 5 in all-time wins with 968, and Georgia which is No. 9 with 900.

Texas was scheduled to play at Georgia on Sept. 1, 2029, as part of the second game of a home-and-home series set up in 2018, but then the Longhorns joined the SEC.

Georgia won twice last season, 30-15 in Austin and 22-19 in overtime in Atlanta in the SEC championship game.

The teams have also played in Miami, Dallas and New Orleans.

And now in Athens.

“It’s huge,” Georgia tight end Oscar Delp said. “It’s going to be super fun. I know the city is going to be rocking. Our fans are going to show up. We’re going to show up. We know what kind of game it’s going to be. It’s going to be like the last two. It’s going to be a physical game, who can run the ball, who can stop the run. We’re excited for that.”

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said he will take a moment to soak in the atmosphere of what will be his first game in Athens, too.

“I definitely will appreciate it and I hope our players do, too,” he said. “One of the beauties of going into this conference is the opportunity to play in some of these stadiums around the Southeastern Conference. …I’d be remised if I didn’t take it in, if our players didn’t take it in because that’s when teams can get overwhelmed. You’ve got to embrace the moment, embrace the environment you’re in and then you’ve got to go fight.”

Source link