Thursday, May 23, 2013 | 10:55 a.m.
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Stories by Greg Bluestein
State eyeing Medicaid expansion options
Gov. Nathan Deal has for months argued that the state can’t afford to expand its already-strained Medicaid program to include at least 650,000 more Georgians. His administration, though, is quietly studying ways other states are expanding in case an alternative emerges. Deal’s aides said budget analysts are just doing due ...
Foreclosures too easy, Georgia Supreme Court says
Foreclosures in Georgia are too easy, the state Supreme Court said Monday, but it added in a ruling that changing the process is up to the legislature and not the court. The ruling, which came in the case of a pair of Suwanee residents who lost their home, effectively upheld ...
Appropriator background challenges Kingston in Senate primary
Jack Kingston’s 20-year career in the U.S. House has been shaped by his work on the powerful Appropriations Committee, where he has risen to a significant perch. But as Kingston, of Savannah, attempts to navigate a wide-open Republican primary for Senate he must reckon with the tricky politics of being ...
Incentives for Dalton-area carpet plants could top $100M
The company that plans two two new factories in Georgia’s carpet country could get state incentives worth as much as $105.6 million over several years, information released Wednesday by state economic development officials shows. Calhoun-based Engineered Floors expects to hire 2,400 workers at new plants in Whitfield and Murray counties. ...
Coca-Cola unveils global anti-obesity push
In a sign of how health concerns have shaken the beverage industry, Coca-Cola used a boisterous anniversary celebration on Wednesday to pledge to make low-calorie drinks and clearer nutritional information more available around the world. Facing increasing criticism from consumer advocates and politicians over the link between sugary soft drinks ...
Democrats set out to find another recruit after Barrow’s decision
For months, many Georgia Democrats have believed their best shot at taking an open U.S. Senate seat was Rep. John Barrow, the battle-tested campaign veteran who has the conservative profile that could have given him a statewide shot. But Barrow ended months of speculation Tuesday when he announced he would ...
Deal signs ethics overhaul, says give it a chance
Gov. Nathan Deal signed an ethics overhaul into law Monday that imposes Georgia’s first-ever limitations on gifts to public officials, and he hailed the move as a watershed moment shoring up the public’s trust of its elected leaders. The new rules place a $75 cap on dinners and many other ...
Fulton bills spark fear of ‘meddling’ elsewhere
In the next two days, Gov. Nathan Deal will decide the fate of a flurry of bills that would reshape Fulton County government in what could be a watershed moment in Georgia politics.Among other things, the bills would reshuffle the County Commission, make it easier to fire county employees and ...
Kingston’s in the Senate race, and he won’t be outflanked
U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston has a message for his conservative challengers for an open Senate seat: He won’t be outflanked on the right. In announcing Wednesday that he’s joining the race for retiring U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ seat, the Savannah Republican told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he’s a workhorse who ...
Deal: Flooring firm to bring 2,400 jobs to Georgia
Engineered Floors will open two new carpet plants that would employ 2,400 people in recession-battered northwest Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal said on Wednesday. Deal said the company, founded by former Shaw Industries chief Bob Shaw, will invest $450 million in the two plants. One factory would be built in Whitfield ...
Nathan Deal on the inmates in his midst
Gov. Nathan Deal's speech at Tuesday's Atlanta Press Club event seemed a fitting place for the governor to put his signature on the ethics overhaul bill. After all, he's made it clear he'll sign the legislation, despite concerns about its shortcomings, and his aides often joke about the intense press ...
Local commissioners: Veto Fulton tax bill
A group of Democratic and Republican county officials from across metro Atlanta has asked Gov. Nathan Deal to veto a proposal that would prevent Fulton County from raising property taxes, saying the bill is “bad for the county and bad for the state.” On Tuesday, Fulton County Commission Chairman John ...
Ga. embraces public-backed venture capital fund
Eager to keep startups from fleeing Georgia when funding dries up, the state took a significant step Monday toward creating a public-backed venture fund that could eventually pump $100 million into innovative new companies.Gov. Nathan Deal’s decision to sign House Bill 318 forges a new, riskier, path for state funding ...
Flooring maker could bring 2,000 jobs to state
A major flooring company is considering building a new factory – and hiring more than 2,000 workers – in northwest Georgia, an area hit hard by layoffs after the housing bust. Two people with direct knowledge of the potential plan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution a deal to bring the factory ...
Despite long odds, Dalton mayor considers challenging Deal
Dalton’s City Hall is an unlikely springboard to the state’s top office, but Mayor David Pennington seems eager to try his luck. The conservative mayor has been stumping across Georgia threatening to bring a tea party-tinged challenge against Gov. Nathan Deal. He says he’ll abstain only if a challenger he ...
Land deal connected to Deal ally raises more questions
Hall County officials have quietly decided to spare from taxes a development of hundreds of acres connected to Gov. Nathan Deal’s campaign chairman. The Hall County Board of Assessors this month voted to make the Gateway Industrial Centre near Gainesville a tax-exempt property, which could save the property’s developers tens ...
Georgia to focus on inmate rehabilitation
The first two phases of Gov. Nathan Deal’s overhaul of the criminal justice system will become law by next month. Now his office is working on a third part that could prove equally challenging: A better way to smooth the transition of inmates as they re-enter society. Deal said he ...
Four of six ousted DeKalb school board members ask governor for jobs back
They’ve already been rejected by him once, but that hasn’t stopped most of the suspended members of the DeKalb County school board from asking Gov. Nathan Deal for their jobs back. Four of the six suspended members are petitioning Deal for reinstatement, three of them filing their requests this week ...
Southeast’s largest movie studio planned for Gwinnett site
The developer behind Midtown’s Atlantic Station is planning to build the Southeast’s largest movie studio in Gwinnett County. The new project is the latest of at least five major movie and television studio developments or expansions announced in Georgia this year, begging the question of whether the state could end ...
New boating restrictions signed into law in wake of Lanier tragedies
An emotional Gov. Nathan Deal signed a measure into law Tuesday that lowers the blood-alcohol limit for boaters and requires new water safety training. Senate Bill 136 was prompted by tragedies. The deaths of three boys in boating accidents last summer became a rallying point for lawmakers and Deal, who ...
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