Stonecrest mayor says you can bring company there ‘all day long’
In a conversation with the publication City Lab, Jason Lary, the mayor of the new city of Stonecrest, bluntly rejects criticism of offers of free land and tax breaks for Amazon. "I think that's the dumbest thing on the planet," Lary told the Washington-based publication that focuses on new cities. Amazon would make a $5 billion investment, bring 50,000 new jobs and create spinoff jobs and other commerce. "And people are complaining?" Lary said, laughing. "You can bring it to Stonecrest all day long. I'll take every job. I'll take every inch of traffic." Amazon announced early this year that metro Atlanta is a contender for its second North American headquarters.
Editorial: Savannah Law School’s closing creates hassles, potential hardships
Editorial writers at The Savannah Morning News are lamenting the news of the sudden closing and sale of the Savannah Law School. They said the school's parent, the John Marshall Law School, has sold the shool's home across from Forsyth Park and told students they must be out when the semester ends in May. "The graduating class of aspiring attorneys and law clerks will have to finish their education and prepare for the bar exam in the midst of this drama. It's worse for the underclassmen, who have to figure out how and where to continue their schooling," the editorial states. "Law school is hard enough in the best of circumstances. To disrupt them so heartlessly borders on criminal, at least in the figurative sense."
Gwinnett official says bill could derail plans for Sunday early voting
A bill pending in the Georgia General Assembly could derail Gwinnett County's plan to introduce early voting on Sundays, the chairman of the county elections board told The Gwinnett Daily Post. Senate Bill 363, as it currently stands, says counties can offer weekend voting on one Saturday, one Sunday, but not both. Stephen Day told the newspaper the bill would "destroy the weekend advance voting plans" in Gwinnett by taking away "local control." Gwinnett's 2018 budget includes money to fund two days of Saturday voting and a half-day of voting on one Sunday, the paper reported. That came about because, in 2016, Gwinnett made national headlines for having long lines and wait times during early voting for its general election.
Lawmakers to honor former colleague, slain police detective
Legislation moving through the General Assembly would create lasting tributes to former state Rep. Paul Smith of Floyd County and slain Polk County Detective Kristen Hearne, The Rome News-Tribune is reporting. Senate Resolution 745 calls for the interchange at the South Rome Bypass and U.S. 27 to be named for Smith, a member of the Georgia House for 18 years and the former secretary and chairman of the House Transportation Committee. The resolution also would rename the bridge at Sybil Brannon Parkway over Ga. 278 for Hearne, who was fatally shot in September while investigating a suspicious vehicle.
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