Clear-cutting trees for billboards now law

Outdoor advertisers can start taking chain saws to trees that block their signs under legislation signed into law Thursday by Gov. Nathan Deal

House Bill 179 allows billboard owners to clear-cut trees on the public rights of way in front of their signs. The measure passed the Legislature this year after a decade-long battle between the industry and advocates of beautified highways.

Deal signed 115 other bills into law Thursday. Most were local legislation.

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April Hunt

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Republicans grumble about Democrat Jon Ossoff’s spending wins in Congress

The Senate vote on health subsidies sets up Georgia’s 2026 race

What we learned from a Democratic win in an Athens House seat

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