January 31, 2023
ATLANTA – An agreement reached by email constitutes a valid contract the state must uphold, even if that means delaying the execution of a person on death row, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday.
ATLANTA (AP) — The University System of Georgia is following Gov. Brian Kemp's lead and banning the use of TikTok, WeChat and Telegram on computers and phones owned by the system or any of its 26 universities and colleges.
ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia Public Service Commission approved a $1.8 billion Georgia Power Co. rate increase Tuesday, raising rates by 12% over three years after tweaking an agreement between the company and commission staff to give the company more of what it wanted. The regulatory commission voted 4-1 for the plan, after agreeing to give the company more money to build charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, adopting a lower payment rate for electricity generated by rooftop solar panels than staff had recommended, and letting the company earn more on its capital than staff had recommended.
ATLANTA – Georgia should institute a 30% to 35% tax credit for music-production expenses to help grow the state’s music industry, a bipartisan legislative study committee recommended this week. The tax incentive would encourage out-of-state productions to invest in Georgia musicians, the committee said. The state should also set the amount of spending needed to qualify for the tax incentive to $25,000 for recorded musical productions and allow companies to aggregate multiple projects to meet that threshold.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man who threatened to kill Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky has pleaded guilty to making threats in interstate commerce, federal prosecutors announced Monday. Robert Wiser Bates, 39, of Ridgeland, threatened to kill Walensky in voicemails left in July 2021 at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, court records said.
ATLANTA (AP) — The family of a man who was fatally shot by a since-retired Atlanta police officer is grateful for an indictment in the case, his father said Monday. Sung Kim was indicted Friday on charges including felony murder and involuntary manslaughter in the 2019 death of Jimmy Atchison.
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia Court of Appeals judge has died at age 64. Judge Clyde Reese died on Saturday, the court announced, saying he died unexpectedly after a short hospital stay. No cause of death was given. A former commissioner of the Department of Community Health, Reese was appointed to the 15-judge court in 2016 by Gov. Nathan Deal, winning election to a six-year term in 2019.
ATLANTA – The federal government should ensure Medicare Advantage insurers Humana and Aetna cover cataract surgeries for older Georgians without delays or denials, Georgia’s Democratic Congressional representatives said this week. Aetna started requiring prior authorizations for cataract surgeries in its Medicare Advantage plans across the country last year. After protests from doctors and others, Aetna rolled back the policy – except in Georgia and Florida.
Two teenage boys were shot dead and three more minors were wounded in a shootout at an Atlanta apartment complex Saturday that police said originated as a dispute online.
WINDER, Ga. (AP) — An incoming Georgia state representative has been arrested after investigators said he stole prescription narcotics at the retirement complex he manages. Danny Rampey, 67, of Statham, was arrested Thursday, jail records show. He was charged with six counts of obtaining drugs by misrepresentation or theft, six counts of exploiting an elder or disabled adult, five counts of burglary, and one count of drug possession.
