DNR: Legislators, not biologists, behind potential change in hunting rule
Deer baiting — the practice of using bait stations for deer hunting — could become legal in North Georgia under legislation moving through the General Assembly. Currently, only hunters in South Georgia are allowed to pour corn or other grain on the ground or in a manufactured bait station to attract deer, News Channel 9 in Chattanooga, Tenn., reports. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources makes it clear that legislators, not state biologists, have chosen to allow this practice, the station reports. "There have been no measurable changes to deer harvest or deer populations, positive or negative, in South Georgia that can be directly attributed to the use of bait," the agency says on its website.
Thomasville paper: Delta didn’t need the tax break
In a piece in the Times-Enterprise of Thomasville, longtime Capitol writer Tom Crawford weighs in on lawmakers' decision to ax the idea of a jet fuel tax break, largely benefiting Delta Air Lines, because of the carrier's decision to stop giving a discount to the National Rifle Association. "While Republican officials were the target of many jokes on late night talk shows, they actually did the right thing here," Crawford writes. "Delta did not need this kind of corporate welfare. It is not some struggling start-up business — it is a multi-national corporation that reported pre-tax profits of $5.5 billion in 2017."
Figuring out where broadband is needed could be issue
The Chattanooga Times-Free Press is reporting that, as Georgia lawmakers try to expand rural broadband, "woefully" lacking data from the Federal Communications Commission could be the biggest challenge. Christopher Nunn, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, said in a meeting with the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission that the state relies on an FCC map that shows areas without any access to broadband internet. But he said the map "woefully under-reports" the need in some areas, the newspaper reports.
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