March 25, 2023
PERRY, Ga. (AP) — A middle Georgia prosecutor says he won't pursue criminal charges against a sheriff's deputy who in February 2022 shot and killed a man who had been reported as suicidal. Houston County District Attorney William Kendall told The Telegraph of Macon that the shooting of Matthew Deese, 32, was justified after a two-hour standoff with local officers in Perry. "The individual involved raised a firearm, pointed it directly at one of the deputies and the deputy in response returned fire,” Kendall said.
ATLANTA – A record number of Georgians – over 846,000 – signed up for health insurance for 2023 under the Affordable Care Act during the latest open enrollment period, which ended on Sunday. That’s about 8% of the state’s population, and at least 145,000 more than signed up for the program last year. The program allows individuals – many of them low-income or self-employed – to sign up for private health insurance. It offers significant tax subsidies to offset insurance costs for people earning between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level, or between $13,590 and $54,360 for an individual.
ATLANTA – Schools account for a major portion of the $600 million bond package Gov. Brian Kemp is recommending in the $32.5 billion budget proposal the governor released late last week.
ATLANTA – A partnership between Augusta University Health System and WellStar proposed last month is in line with national trends toward healthcare partnerships, experts said this week as a few additional details emerged about the plan. Augusta University Health System is a key training facility for medical residents and other future healthcare providers. It houses the Medical College of Georgia, the state’s only public medical school. WellStar, a non-profit health system, currently owns nine hospitals in the Atlanta region.
Annual tributes and commemorations of the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., which began nationwide Friday, typically include a mix of politics, faith and community service.
ATLANTA (AP) — Gov. Brian Kemp, in budgets released Friday, proposed increasing spending in the current budget year by $2.4 billion, largely to pay for two billion-dollar tax givebacks, and then to maintain spending in next year's budget, funding $2,000 pay increases for all state and university employees and public school teachers. Georgia saw state revenues spike to $36.6 billion in the year ending June 30, driven by a surging economy propped up by a bonanza of federal COVID-19 relief.
ATLANTA (AP) — CNN is moving out of the CNN Center, its longtime downtown Atlanta home by the end of this year. The cable channel's weekday anchors are all already in New York or Washington, but CNN still has digital and CNN International operations in Atlanta. Spokesperson Bridget Leininger confirmed in an email that the remaining CNN staff and operations in Atlanta would move to the Techwood Turner Broadcasting campus in Midtown.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp likes to tout how his smart shepherding of state resources and track record landing major economic development projects helped make Georgia a success story during the pandemic. He’s about to get a chance to tell that story on an international stage. Kemp’s office announced Wednesday he will be addressing the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week.
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's Brian Kemp is scheduled to be sworn in for a second term as governor Thursday, promising across-the-board pay raises for state employees and public school teachers. The Republican plans to use his inaugural address to propose further pay raises, according to draft remarks viewed by The Associated Press, although the exact amount won't be unveiled until he speaks Thursday. The 59-year-old Kemp begins his second term atop Georgia's political world. He rode his stewardship of the economy to a big win over Democrat Stacey Abrams, even though Abrams again outspent Kemp.
ATLANTA (AP) — Startup of a nuclear power plant in Georgia will be delayed since its operator found a vibrating pipe in the cooling system during testing. Georgia Power Co., the lead owner of Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, announced the delay Wednesday. The company said that the third reactor at the plant is scheduled to begin generating electricity for the grid in April. The unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. had previously given a startup deadline of March.
