WOODBINE, Ga. (AP) — A southeast Georgia man was arrested and charged in the 1985 killing of a couple at a Black church after the original suspect was exonerated on DNA evidence, authorities said.

ATLANTA — Georgia’s economy will continue growing next year but at a slower rate than in 2024, the dean of the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business said Friday. The state’s economy is projected to grow by 2.4% in 2025, down from 3.1% this year, Ben Ayers told a packed ballroom of business leaders at the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta.

ATLANTA – Another Georgian is poised to join the second Trump administration. President-elect Donald Trump nominated former U.S. Sen. David Perdue Thursday to serve as U.S. ambassador to China.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. illegally and was convicted of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley and sentenced to serve life in prison without parole has requested a new trial.

ATLANTA — Six local development authorities have been awarded $9.3 million in grants through a new state program aimed at fostering economic development in rural communities, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday.

ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Agriculture has launched a low-interest emergency loan program to help farmers who suffered losses from Hurricane Helene.

Marion Ralph Collins, age 99, of Gainesville, Georgia, passed away Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson, a member of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, has died, eight months after he announced he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

ATLANTA (AP) — Federal authorities have released an update on the investigation into fires at the BioLab chemical plant near Atlanta that produced a toxic chemical cloud and forced nearby residents to shelter in place.

ATLANTA — Solar power advocates in Georgia are renewing a push for legislation that would let Georgia Power customers buy electricity from third-party providers of solar energy.

ATLANTA – Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Friday officially certified the results of this month’s presidential election in Georgia.

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — Half a dozen state and county agencies are investigating a burned Georgia funeral home after a photographer from England said he found urns, bags of human ashes, and even human remains in what is left of the building.

ATLANTA – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr Thursday became the first candidate to enter the race for governor in 2026. The Republican said GOP victories in Georgia and across the nation two weeks ago have built momentum for his bid to succeed term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp.

ATLANTA – A manufacturer of household paper products will invest nearly $600 million to expand its plant in Macon, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday.

ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp is asking for $12.2 billion in federal assistance to help Georgia recover from the impacts of Hurricane Helene.

ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp has been elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association (RGA) for 2025.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — The Venezuelan man who entered the country illegally and was convicted in the killing of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Spencer Lawton Jr., a former Georgia district attorney who worked to expand the rights of crime victims and prosecuted a Savannah killing made famous by the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” has died. He was 81.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Testimony resumed Monday in the trial of the illegal immigrant accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley with police officers describing searching the man's apartment and questioning him and others who lived there.

ATLANTA – The state is laying the groundwork for a private-school vouchers program by launching a website with details on the initiative.

Reg Murphy, a renowned journalist whose newsgathering career included stints as an editor and top executive at newspapers in Atlanta, San Francisco and Baltimore — and who found himself the subject of national headlines when he survived a politically motivated kidnapping — has died at age 90.

ATLANTA — President-elect Donald Trump will nominate former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins of Gainesville to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, Trump announced on social media Thursday.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia State University plans a rapid $107 million remake of its downtown Atlanta campus before summer 2026, fueled by an $80 million gift.

ATLANTA – State Senate Democrats Friday elected Sen. Harold Jones of Augusta to serve as Senate minority leader.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia state Senate Republicans will stick with their same leadership team. After an election where every incumbent who was running won another term, majority Senate Republicans gathered behind closed doors Thursday to choose their leaders for the next two years.