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.

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Federal authorities announced a blitz of arrests and indictments Wednesday against more than 100 people charged with gun and drug crimes in three U.S. states. The flurry of charges from the Justice Department in Georgia, West Virginia and New York comes as federal officials work to combat an uptick in violent crime, particularly involving guns. Federal prosecutors and FBI agents were particularly busy in southern Georgia, where an indictment was unsealed charging 76 people with involvement in what authorities called a gang-related network that distributed methamphetamine, fentanyl and other illegal drugs. Authorities called it the largest indictment ever filed in the 43-county Southern District of Georgia.

ATLANTA –- The Georgia House and Senate passed separate resolutions primarily along party lines Wednesday setting rules for the two-year term that began this week. The resolutions set the procedures – most of them routine – for the operation of the two legislative chambers. But this year, the resolutions included a few notable changes.  Most controversial was the addition of new provisions that exempt communications between lawmakers and non-legislators about legislative business from public disclosure.

ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp vowed Wednesday to fulfill a pledge he made on the campaign trail by doubling down on a tax rebate the General Assembly passed last year. Kemp, who won reelection in November, told Georgia business and political leaders he will seek another $1 billion state income tax rebate. In addition to that, he will propose a second $1 billion rebate of property taxes Georgians pay to their local governments, which should result in a check of about $500 to each taxpayer.

ATLANTA (AP) — A South Korean solar panel maker will invest more than $2.5 billion to build factories in Georgia, hiring 2,500 new employees and making components usually manufactured outside the United States, the company announced Wednesday. Qcells, a unit of Hanwha Solutions, will build a new factory in Cartersville that will employ 2,000 people, with construction starting within weeks and production starting before the end of 2024.

ATLANTA (AP) — State gasoline and diesel taxes make their return in Georgia on Wednesday. The state will resume collecting a tax on gasoline of 29.1 cents per gallon and tax on diesel of 32.6 cents per gallon from wholesalers. That change is likely to trickle through rapidly to retailers who sell fuel to drivers. In March, with broad bipartisan support, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law suspending the state’s gas tax. He signed seven separate extensions after that, with the state forgoing an estimated $1.7 billion million in revenue according to the governor's office.