During COVID-19, Georgia and Tennessee have both fared substantially better economically than Kentucky and Michigan with no significant increase in cases from reopening their economy. This, according to a report that members of the Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee published this month. Beacon is a free market think tank.
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Three members of Congress who represent Georgia and Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives said Monday that U.S. President Joe Biden must resign from office. This, after Biden decided to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
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Henry County Chief Judge Brian Amero late last week ordered that all parties involved in the Fulton County mail-in ballot case appear in court next month — for reasons unspecified. According to court documents, Amero ordered the parties to appear at 9 a.m. September 20 in Courtroom A of the Henry County Courthouse in McDonough.
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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has announced the indictments of 14 defendants on 15 charges of human trafficking, racketeering, criminal street gang activity, charity fraud, and money laundering. This, according to a press release that members of Carr’s staff published this week.
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A plurality of people who participated in a recent Telephone Town Hall with U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA-09) said they worry most about what’s taking place at the U.S.-Mexico border. Clyde told his constituents in an emailed newsletter this week that more than 4,700 residents in his district participated in his Telephone Town Hall.
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Georgia officials have announced that economic development projects throughout the state during fiscal year 2021 have delivered record-setting jobs and investments. This, according to a press release that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and officials with the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) published this week.
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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger wants members of the Georgia General Assembly to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to clarify that the state constitution permits only American citizens to vote. Raffensperger, at a press conference Wednesday, said seeing this through was one of his top priorities when he ran for his seat in 2018.
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Georgia State Sen. Burt Jones (R-Jackson) announced Tuesday he’s running for lieutenant governor, and, while he didn’t elaborate, said he feels “real good” about getting an endorsement from former U.S. President Donald Trump. The Georgia Star News asked Jones Tuesday if he knows something about a possible Trump backing that he has not yet publicly disclosed.
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Officials with the Atlanta-based Delta Airlines would not comment Monday after a rabbi accused the airline of anti-Semitism. This, after airline officials barred a group of Orthodox Jewish girls from boarding a flight from Amsterdam to New York last week — and then removed them from another flight the next day, according to BusinessInsider.com
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U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11) said this weekend that forces within the Biden administration and other Democrats in Washington, D.C. want to force a COVID-19 vaccine upon all Americans. “There are few things that remain very consistent, and one of those — and it is of grave concern to most of the people in our district, and I believe most of the people in America — is the attacks on our individual liberties. The one that is most prominent right now is the government trying to force a medical procedure, a vaccine, on every citizen,” Loudermilk said during a podcast Saturday.
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U.S. Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA-12) has sounded the alarm bell over what he calls wasteful and excessive spending at the federal level, but his pleas to trim the budget went unheeded. Allen, on the floor of the House, criticized Democrats for what he called “a bloated spending package.”
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Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger said Thursday he’s taking another step to update voter lists to safeguard election integrity. Georgia election officials will this week send nearly 200,000 notifications to voter files that have registered no contact with Georgia’s election system for at least five calendar years.
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Federal officials have sentenced a Stonecrest, Georgia man for defrauding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Coronavirus Food Relief Program and attempting to defraud the IRS’s COVID-19 relief program. This, according to a press release that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia published this week.
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A group of about 30 Georgia residents who have formed the group Project Opal said this week they have identified certain irregularities in last year’s presidential election in Cobb County. Project Opal spokesman Paul Nally told The Georgia Star News Tuesday that group members are trying to determine if criminal acts took place.
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Georgia State Rep. Timothy Barr (R-Lawrenceville), currently running for Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, is not friendly to former U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a recent article on NationalFile.com Barr did not return The Georgia Star News’ two requests for comment before Monday’s stated deadline.
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U.S. Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA-08), who serves on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, shared his worries about cheap produce imports, the impact of cheaper labor costs in Mexico, and how this affects Georgia farmers. Committee members held a hearing entitled, “21st Century Food Systems: Controlled Environment Agriculture’s Role in Protecting Domestic Food Supply Chains and Infrastructure.”
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U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) has introduced the Empowering Law Enforcement Act to provide backup to federal immigration enforcement officials. “I’ve visited the border four times as a member of Congress, including twice this year, to fully understand the struggles we face there. Immigration is getting out of control and every state is becoming a border state. As of last month more than 1.1 million illegal immigrants have been encountered at the border,” Carter said in an emailed newsletter to his constituents Sunday.
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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has announced that his office’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit has indicted eight individuals for 54 gang and human trafficking charges. A Dougherty County Grand Jury returned the indictment this week.
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Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) officials have announced they will require people who receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits on or after December 27 of last year to provide proof of employment or self-employment. Those people must also show a valid officer to begin employment and proof of wages by August 14.
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Georgia officials have filed a motion to dismiss the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) lawsuit against the state’s new voter integrity law, Senate Bill 202. Gov. Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr this week released a statement and called the lawsuit “politically-charged” and said it seeks “to intrude into the State of Georgia’s constitutional authority to regulate the time, place, and manner of its elections.”
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Georgia officials rewarded an Alpharetta-based medical company with a generous no-bid contract and cited a provision in state law that allowed them to do so during emergencies — in this case, COVID-19. Jackson Healthcare provides medical staff to several of Georgia’s hospitals and nursing homes through its subsidiary Healthcare Workforce Logistics (HWL). Company CEO Rick Jackson donated generously to Georgia’s top politicians, including Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Jackson’s company subsequently received a $434 million no-bid contract. Company officials said politics “had absolutely nothing to do with it.”
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The president of an Alpharetta-based medical company whose CEO donated generously to Georgia’s top politicians and subsequently received a $434 million no-bid contract said Tuesday that politics “had absolutely nothing to do with it.” Rick Jackson, the CEO of Jackson Healthcare, donated roughly $1 million to various statewide political candidates. Jackson donated to, among others, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
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A Cobb County school counselor who advocates for Critical Race Theory (CRT) and intersectionality has resigned from her job. That woman, Jennifer Susko, said the school district’s ban on anti-racism curricula prompted her to leave. Susko announced her intentions this week.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger accepted generous campaign donations from a medical company that got a $434 million no-bid contract with the state to help fight COVID-19. This, according to a new article in The Georgia Health News.
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U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) sparred last week with a CNN anchor who asked whether right-leaning news sites are “killing people.” The CNN anchor in question, Kate Bolduan, specifically asked Carter about the COVID-19 vaccine.
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Federal officials in Georgia have charged 22 people in connection with what they call a fraudulent scheme to obtain approximately $11.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. Those people allegedly used that money to purchase luxury vehicles, jewelry, and other personal items.
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U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reportedly disapproves of a field hearing that U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) held in Georgia last week to undermine that state’s new voter integrity law, Senate Bill 202. This, as Klobuchar and four other Democratic U.S. senators who attended refused to answer The Georgia Star News’ questions about other states whose voting requirements are stricter than Georgia’s.
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Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R-Cumming) on Thursday proposed a $250 million state tax credit that he said will lower crime statewide. Duncan, in a press release, said he plans to work with members of the Georgia General Assembly on this Law Enforcement Strategic Support (LESS) Crime Act during next year’s legislative session.
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A now-retired English instructor at Oconee County High School in Watkinsville used her platform to proselytize to captive students last January in an attempt to turn them against former U.S. President Donald Trump and his supporters. The teacher, Lynne Ely, did not return The Georgia Star News’ requests for comment Wednesday. But angry Oconee County residents uploaded a nearly-45 minute recording of Ely ranting against Trump and the events of January 6 on the Facebook group Oconee County 411 (GA).
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Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) this week proposed spending $3 million in additional state law enforcement resources to fight Atlanta’s worsening crime problem. This, according to an emailed press release.
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Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Vernon Jones this week, referring to the November 2020 presidential election, asked for a forensic audit of all of the state’s 159 counties. Jones said this in an emailed message this week to his supporters.
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ATLANTA, Georgia — U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) came to Atlanta Monday to bash Georgia’s Senate Bill 202, and she left believing she had uncovered “a smoking gun” that proved the law was a case of overreach.
That “smoking gun” was testimony from Georgia State Sen. Sally Harrell (D-Atlanta). But Harrell’s words were refuted by another state legislator — a Republican — when The Georgia Star News contacted that man Monday.
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Members of Americans for Prosperity – Georgia (AFP-GA) are scheduled to host an event opposing what they said was U.S. President Joe Biden’s proposed $4 trillion infrastructure plan. AFP-GA has scheduled the event for 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Friday July 23 at Tom Triplett Community Park, Pavilion No. 1 in Pooler, Georgia.
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Members of the Georgia House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee are scheduled to meet Monday to address Atlanta’s rising rates of crime. State Rep. J. Collins (R-Villa Rica) chairs the committee. Those committee members are scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. Monday, July 19, in Room 406 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building in Atlanta.
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Federal officials have sentenced a Florida man — also a convicted felon — to federal prison following a high-speed chase along Interstate 75 after he robbed a traveler at gunpoint. U.S. District Judge Louis Sands sentenced that man, James Clemente Holloway, 43, of Jacksonville, Florida, to serve 80 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. This, after Sands previously pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump announced this week he will not endorse Georgia State Sen. Butch Miller (R-Gainesville) to replace current and outgoing Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan. Trump announced the news on his website this week.
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U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA-04) this week used race to disparage people who believe in originalism when interpreting the U.S. Constitution. Johnson, who serves on the House Judiciary Committee, made these remarks during a hearing about diversity on the federal bench.
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The Republican National Committee (RNC) released a television ad during Tuesday night’s All-Star Game and told Atlanta residents that Democrats stole the game from their city, all to push a divisive political agenda. The ad features former Georgia State Rep. Melvin Everson. Everson, according to Ballotpedia, is a Republican who served in the legislature from 2005 to 2011.
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A federal grand jury has returned a 12-count indictment charging a Sycamore, Georgia, resident with bank fraud, money laundering and making false statements related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Officials indicted Anthony C. Boncimino, 46, this month with four counts of bank fraud, four counts of money laundering and four counts of making false statements.
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Republican and former state legislator Meagan Hanson has announced her intentions to unseat Georgia U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA-06). Hanson announced her candidacy Monday on her Facebook page.
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Matt Richards, running to replace current U.S. Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA-10) in the U.S. House of Representatives, said Monday that people in his district worry most right now about a labor shortage. “I hear it every day from business owners,” Richards told The Georgia Star News this week.
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Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan appeared on FOX News this past weekend and defended the state’s new voter integrity law, Senate Bill 202. On Monday, though, Duncan and members of his staff would not say why he did not fight for a special session to address these matters late last year.
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U.S. Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA-08) said grocery products are rising in price due to the increased cost of inputs farmers are facing. Scott addressed the matter in a newsletter to his constituents Sunday.
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U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11) and three other congressmen have introduced legislation that aims to modernize the United States’ digital identity infrastructure and protect Americans from having their personal information stolen. This, according to an emailed newsletter that Loudermilk sent his constituents Friday.
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Georgia gubernatorial candidate Vernon Jones commented Saturday on a new report that said state officials collected more than 10,300 illegal votes in Georgia in the November 2020 general election. The Federalist reported the story about the illegal votes Friday.
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A Bartow County, Georgia businessman has pleaded guilty in federal court to harboring illegal aliens for financial gain. That man, Juan Antonio Perez, 48, of Rydal, illegally encouraged and induced aliens to reside in the United States where they worked for his own commercial advantage and private financial gain. This, according to a press release the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia published this week.
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Federal officials have charged an elected official in the Augusta city government with a two-count indictment charging him with destroying records in a federal investigation and lying to federal investigators researching the case. That elected official, Sammie Lee Sias, 66, serves as District 4 commissioner on the Augusta Commission. Officials have charged Sias with destruction, alteration, falsification of records in federal investigations, and false statement or representation made to a department or agency of the United States.
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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and other state attorneys general this week told U.S. President Joe Biden they formally oppose new federal guidelines they say will force radical changes on employers and schools nationwide. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Education issued these guidelines. The group of attorneys general responded to the federal agencies’ claim that using biologically accurate pronouns could violate the law.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-GA-03) have blasted the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for denying the state’s appeal for emergency assistance. This, after a tornado struck the city of Newnan and surrounding areas in March.
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A U.S. District Judge on Wednesday denied one group’s request that he issue a preliminary injunction against certain sections of Georgia’s new voter integrity law, Senate Bill 202. The Coalition for Good Governance requested the injunction for the July 13 runoff election for Georgia State House District 34.
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