State

ATLANTA — A state law requiring lactation care providers to obtain a license is unconstitutional, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday.

ATLANTA — Both of Georgia’s U.S. senators put aside their concerns over how the debt limit agreement reached by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy would affect spending on federal programs to vote for the deal.

With the recent overhaul of teaching standards and ensuing approval by the Georgia Board of Education, public school teachers in the state will be focusing more on phonics and other approaches to teaching English that are supported by a vast body of research known as the “science of reading.”

ATLANTA — The Georgia Supreme Court Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit five University System of Georgia professors brought challenging a 2017 amendment to state law that did away with a ban on weapons on public college and university campuses.

ATLANTA — A Finnish company that specializes in industrial manufacturing of buildings will construct its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Waycross, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday.

ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp won’t be on the ballot next year, but his leadership committee will be hard at work.

ATLANTA — Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter has dementia, according to a statement the Carter Center released Tuesday.

ATLANTA — The first of two additional nuclear reactors Georgia Power is building at Plant Vogtle has safely reached 100% power, a key milestone toward getting the unit into full commercial operation.

ATLANTA — After taking some hits during the pandemic, Georgia tourism is poised for a record summer.

ATLANTA — Hyundai Motor Group is doubling down on its commitment to Georgia.

ATLANTA — Georgia’s rural hospital tax credit program is in compliance with the state law that created it in 2017 and just needs to tighten up its reporting procedures, according to a new audit. The program raised $58.7 million in contributions to eligible rural hospitals last year, down sli…

Green anole lizards are native to the southeastern U.S., but they thrive particularly well in Georgia and South Carolina along the Savannah River that runs from the foothills to the coast.

Georgians living in rural communities continue to call into the national suicide prevention hotline at higher rates than other parts of the state as the one-year anniversary of the rollout of 988 approaches.

The harsh reality for many wrongly convicted Georgians is that after spending decades locked away by the state, they are released without a financial safety net of any kind. So, getting absolved of guilt provides only a bit of solace.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Wednesday voted to overturn the Biden administration’s one-time student debt relief plan that is currently on hold awaiting a Supreme Court decision expected within weeks.

ATLANTA — Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has joined a 19-state coalition of attorneys general in urging the Biden administration not to use the 14th Amendment to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.

ATLANTA — The Memorial Day holiday weekend kicks off the beginning of the busy summer travel season across Georgia and the nation. As motorists begin making travel arrangements, the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) reminds drivers to plan their trips carefully and to remember to make safety a priority.

ATLANTA — An administrator at Georgia Tech has been tapped to become the next president of the University of North Georgia (UNG).

ATLANTA — Longtime Georgia Commissioner of Natural Resources Mark Williams is leaving the post to take the reins at the Jekyll Island Authority.

ATLANTA — Southeastern Georgia has landed another supplier for the state’s fast-growing electric mobility industry.

ATLANTA — U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee, Tuesday became the first elected official from Georgia to endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president.

ATLANTA — Southwest Georgia’s popular Providence Canyon State Park is about to become larger.

ROSWELL — First responders, law enforcement officers, and teachers looking to buy a home for the first time would get help from the federal government under legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.

ATLANTA — With four members of Georgia’s congressional delegation serving on either the U.S. House or Senate Agriculture Committee, Peach State lawmakers will have a lot to say about the next Farm Bill.

ATLANTA — Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Friday announced several steps his office is taking to ensure ballot security in next year’s elections.

ATLANTA — More than $225 million in federal pandemic relief funding will be used to finance 142 neighborhood improvements including parks and sidewalks across Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp announced last week.

ATLANTA — The U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed civil rights lawyer Nancy Abudu of Georgia Thursday to become the first Black woman to serve on the Atlanta-based U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

ATLANTA — The Atlanta-Sandy Springs metropolitan area was the nation’s eighth-largest again last year, according to population figures the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday.

ATLANTA — The State Transportation Board gave the go-ahead Thursday to a series of improvements along Georgia 316 between Lawrenceville and Athens to relieve traffic congestion and improve safety along the heavily traveled corridor.

ATLANTA — Georgia’s carbon emissions are declining despite strong economic and population growth, according to a statewide research initiative begun in 2020 by a multi-university collaboration.

ATLANTA — Georgia’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.1% last month for the ninth consecutive month, three-tenths of a point below the national jobless rate of 3.4%, state Commissioner of Labor Bruce Thompson reported Thursday.

ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp will lead an economic development mission to Israel this weekend, the governor’s office announced Wednesday.

ATLANTA — The state Public Service Commission (PSC) Tuesday unanimously approved a fuel costs recovery plan submitted by Georgia Power that will increase the average residential customer’s bill by $15.90 per month.

ATLANTA — In a move that contradicts the South’s non-union history, about 1,400 workers at Blue Bird Corp.’s Fort Valley school bus manufacturing plant have voted to join the United Steelworkers Union (USW).

ATLANTA — A new commission formed by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to look for ways to reform a business licensing process critics say is hampering workforce development held its first meeting Monday.

ATLANTA — The University System of Georgia is holding the line on tuition despite a $66 million budget cut the General Assembly imposed in March.

ATLANTA — A manufacturer of materials for the lithium-ion batteries used to power electric vehicles will invest $800 million in a plant in Southwest Georgia that will create more than 400 jobs, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday.

ATLANTA — When the state agency overseeing Georgia’s medical cannabis program issued the first dispensary licenses late last month, it gave the two licensees four months to get them up and running.

ATLANTA — A major textile mill in Northwest Georgia has agreed to permanently stop using a group of chemicals that provide protective coatings for its products.

ATLANTA — The Georgia Professional Standards Commission voted unanimously Thursday to remove the words “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion” from the state’s educator preparation rules despite an outpouring of opposition.

ATLANTA — The state Board of Education adopted a new set of “Georgia-grown” standards for English/language arts (ELA) instruction in public schools Thursday, the last step in abandoning the federal standards known as Common Core.

WASHINGTON — The deadliest outbreak of bird flu in U.S. history is prompting growing concern in Congress, and Department of Agriculture researchers are awaiting the preliminary results of four trials of vaccines for poultry.

State regulators have heard final pleas imploring them to reject Georgia Power’s request for ratepayers to foot an expensive fuel expense bill, which would result in higher electricity bills starting in June.

ATLANTA — Lawyers representing environmental groups and manufacturers asked the state Public Service Commission’s Energy Committee (PSC) Thursday to reject an agreement letting Georgia Power recover 100% of higher fuel costs incurred during the last two years from customers.

ATLANTA — A planned “inland port” in Gainesville designed to reduce traffic congestion on Georgia highways has gotten a green light from the feds. The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has received National Environmental Policy Act approval to move forward with plans to build a rail hub along th…

ATLANTA — A New York-based long-term care advocacy group is criticizing Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to remove a pay raise for direct care workers serving Georgians with intellectual and developmental disabilities from the fiscal 2024 state budget.

ATLANTA — A large daily operation in Sumter County has entered into a consent decree with several surrounding row crop and orchard farmers resolving a federal lawsuit over pollution of creeks in the Flint River basin.

ATLANTA — A downturn in state tax collections predicted several months ago is starting to show up.

ATLANTA — The commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health is leaving state government for a position in the private sector.