Private school plans to drug test first on a voluntary basis
The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports that a local private school plans to drug-test students in grades 8-12 on a voluntary basis next year before making it mandatory in future years. Brookstone School in Columbus plans to use students' hair samples to perform the drug tests, the newspaper reports. The samples will be sent to a lab for analysis, with test results back within a few days. In a statement, the school said the program's focus will be the health and well-being of students. Brookstone has about 800 students, including about 370 in grades 8-12.
Push to stop TV tax reaches Big Cannon
At Big Cannon, a popular north Georgia get-away, a channel on the television line-up is titled "Stop the Georgia TV Tax!" The station announcement reads, in part: "Georgia legislators hold the future of your TV bill in their hands!" It urges residents to oppose House Bill 887, which would tax streaming services, such as Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, to fund the expansion of Internet services in rural Georgia, according to local media reports.
Battle is bowing out, as promised
The Daily News Tribune in Cartersville is reporting that state Rep. Paul Battles, dean of Bartow County's legislative delegation, is on the verge of fulfilling a major campaign promise. He'll be bowing out of the General Assembly after 10 years, something he said he'd do when he was first elected to the legislature back in 2008. "I definitely believe in term limits," he told the newspaper, adding that term limits would help eliminate professional politicians.
Bill would promote abuse hotline
Georgia children will benefit from House Bill 655, a measure that passed the House last week and requires K-12 schools and charter schools to post in clearly visible areas signs with the state's toll-free Child Abuse Hotline number, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Terry England said in the Barrow News Journal this week. England said the bill, if passed and signed into law, would make Georgia the 28th state with this requirement.
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