Sunday Solutions — Jan. 12, 2025
Good morning! Over the past weeks, we’ve asked you to tell us what topics you’d like to see your state lawmakers focus on. Today, we report back with your answers. We also have a some news from Chatham County Commission where “emergency” might have a different meaning when it comes to building a 911 center, and we have one more visit with Jimmy Carter’s legacy. We’ll leave you with a shot of knowledge on bird flu. Let’s fly into this…
ANALYSIS: GEORGIA LEGISLATURE
Legislative priorities — what you said
Okefenokee protection, firearms safety, legalized gambling. One of these things isn’t like the other two when it comes to your priorities for the Georgia General Assembly. Every year we ask our newsletter readers for issues they want your state lawmakers to put at the top of their to-do lists. Results are in and The Current’s Craig Nelson has analyzed them. In a two-part series, Nelson breaks down the results and then compares what our most loyal readers said to what Coastal Georgia’s lawmakers said as the legislature opens on Monday. And, yes, the outlier in three things above: Legalized gambling is not at all a priority for those who answered the survey, but the other two are top of the charts. Read the whole breakdown here and watch for the second part Tuesday in Soundings.
NEWS: GOVERNING
What’s your emergency? Ops, 911 center still on hold
This past week, the Chatham County Commission again OK’d more money for the design of the emergency operations and 911 center it has been planning since 2018 and broke ground for in May. And, there’s still no actual construction contract. The Current’s Jake Shore previewed the situation earlier last week, and on Friday the commission chair said all four bidders for the long-sought construction contract have been turned away in a second round of bids. The construction bid process restarts for the technology-complicated, storm-resilient building that would house disaster operations in a hurricane as well as give the ever-busy 911 emergency call center an urgently needed upgrade.
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Living legacies
As we move past the 6-day recognition of former president and Georgia governor Jimmy Carter, we’ve found a few more stories that highlight his steady work during and after his time in Washington. We can all take inspiration from the focus he maintained on the common good.
- Jimmy Carter was a champion for women’s rights from The 19th*
- What Jimmy Carter taught us about public health: Peace, faith, science can work together from KFF Health News
- Carter ushered in new era of race relations after Georgia’s long racially segregated history from Georgia Recorder
- Jimmy Carter Took on the Awful Guinea Worm When No One Else Would — And Triumphed from NPR and KFF Health News
EXPLAINER: PUBLIC HEALTH
☕ Your second cup: bird flu
In recent days, we’ve heard about the first human death from bird flu in the U.S. On Friday, we learned its inching closer as a backyard flock of chickens in metro Atlanta has been euthanized after one chicken was found to have the disease. What should we be considering as a public health threat returns to our midst? Here’s a piece from Scientific American and KFF Health News to help answer your questions and fuel discussions about whether we are headed for another pandemic — or not.
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Georgia’s legislative priorities: Readers weigh in
By Craig Nelson
Readers say lawmakers should drop these topics to the bottom of their to-do list: Legalizing gambling, tort reform and funding for the state prison system.
Georgia lawmakers ready to take up usual mix of old, new business
By Dave Williams/Capitol Beat
Supporters of perennial to-do items including tort reform and legalized sports betting will be back for another crack at getting their favorite causes through the legislature and to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for his signature.
Georgia developing resource plan to keep pace with incoming industries
By Emily Jones/WABE, Grist
As Georgia attracts more industries that need substantial amounts of energy and water to operate, the need for resource planning has become critical.
Georgia’s fourth case of bird flu detected in backyard chicken flock in metro Atlanta
By Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
This is the fourth detection of HPAI in Georgia since a nationwide outbreak began in February 2022, according to the department.
Scientists aim to track, save right whales off the Georgia coast
By Emily Jones/WABE, Grist
Underwater acoustic monitoring aids detection of highly endangered right whales.
Costs, delays increase as unbuilt Chatham emergency ops center still without contractor
By Jake Shore
Chatham County still without a contractor to build sorely-needed new 911 and emergency operations center. Costs continue to rise as more time passes.
State lawmakers to explore industrial energy usage in Georgia
By Dave Williams/Capitol Beat
An influx of data centers setting up operations in Georgia in recent years has prompted concerns that the state’s utilities might not be able to handle the increasing demand for electricity.
Kemp unveils plan to spend millions intended to restore order in Georgia prisons
By Stanley Dunlap
Georgia Department of Corrections and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp unveiled a plan to spend an additional $600 million on the state prison system, which has suffered from inadequate staffing, violence, and facilities in disrepair.
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