It’s Friday and here’s a rundown of big headlines affecting business today:
State Senator Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, was the sponsor of Senate Bill 129, the religious liberty bill that failed in the recent legislative session. Bob Andres BANDRES/AJC.COM
A showdown may soon be afoot at the Gold Dome over "religious liberty," and a state legislator's remarks to a local county Republican Party meeting shows a rift that's present in the GOP ranks.
Political reporter Greg Bluestein has this dispatch:
A testy divide in the ongoing fight over Georgia’s “religious liberty” proposal erupted into the open when the chief sponsor of the measure accused Delta Air Lines and other international corporations of “liberal, far-left cultural norms.”
Expect to see a whole lot debate on this issue, especially as the legislative session starts in January and in the lead-in to the March 1 presidential primary.
Braves legend Hank Aaron speaks during a ceremony to lay the first bricks at the new SunTrust Park in Cobby County. Thursday, August 27, 2015. J. Scott Trubey/STAFF
On Thursday, the Atlanta Braves and Cobb County dignitaries laid the ceremonial first bricks at SunTrust Park. Those on hand included Braves hall of famer Hank Aaron, current first baseman Freddie Freeman and SunTrust Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers.
See a gallery from the even here.
Health care shortfall? Political reporter James Salzer has the scoop on troubles to come in the state health care plan.
He reports:
Two weeks after being told their premiums would decline, more than 600,000 teachers, state employees, retirees and their dependents found out Thursday their health care plan faces a major shortfall that could have major consequences.
The State Health Benefit Plan is running a substantial surplus now, but Department of Community Health officials projected that it will amass a $42 million shortfall in 2016-2017 and a nearly $301 million deficit the next year.
Good read: Today is the 52nd anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, and staff writer Ernie Suggs has this dispatch on the origins on the speech that you likely haven't heard.
Friday marks the 52nd anniversary of King's "I Have A Dream" speech.
But earlier this month, North Carolina State University scholar Jason Miller held a listening party for something many assumed had been lost forever — King's Nov. 27, 1962, speech at Booker T. Washington High School in Rocky Mount. The speech might have been the first documented time King uttered the phrase, "I have a dream."
