DALTON, Ga. (AP) — School bus drivers are on strike in the northwest Georgia city of Dalton, leaving parents and school officials scrambling to take students to and from school. Bus drivers began manning picket lines on Monday, attacking what they say are anti-union actions by First Student, the Cincinnati-based company that contracts with Dalton schools to run buses.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is making an economic development trip to Israel. Kemp spokesperson Garrison Douglas confirmed the trip Wednesday. Douglas said Kemp will be meeting with Israeli companies that do business in the state, as well as with government officials. For security reasons, Douglas said he couldn't provide the exact itinerary, but he said the governor is leaving this weekend and will be gone for a week.

ATLANTA (AP) — A former state House member and a former South Fulton city council member are heading to a runoff June 13 for Georgia House District 68. Former councilman Mark Baker won nearly a third of the vote in a five-candidate field on Tuesday. Running close behind was Derrick Jackson, who held the seat for three terms before running for lieutenant governor last year. Both are Democrats.

ATLANTA – The state Public Service Commission Tuesday unanimously approved a fuel costs recovery plan submitted by Georgia Power that will increase the average residential customer’s bill by $15.90 per month. The rate hike, which takes effect next month, was the product of an agreement between the Atlanta-based utility and the commission’s Public Interest Advocacy staff that will let Georgia recover 100% of $2.1 billion in higher fuel costs it has incurred during the last two years from its customers.

ATLANTA (AP) — The cost of attending Georgia's public universities and colleges will remain mostly flat in the 2023-2024 academic year, despite concerns that declining enrollment and a legislative funding cut are stressing school budgets. Regents voted Tuesday to increase tuition or fees at only four of the system's 26 schools — Middle Georgia State University, Georgia College and State University, the University of West Georgia and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — A toddler has died after being run over in a parking lot at a Georgia beach, authorities said. The 2-year-old girl died at a hospital Sunday evening after being struck by a driver on Tybee Island, according to the Georgia State Patrol.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Two people were killed and three others injured when shooting broke out at a motorcycle club gathering in Georgia, authorities said. The Richmond County Sheriff's Office said it arrested 10 people in the shootings in Augusta, where a motorcycle club was holding an event Saturday night.

BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (AP) — A company that's trying to become a major American-based supplier of graphite for electric batteries announced Monday it will invest $800 million to build a factory in southwest Georgia, hiring 400 workers. Anovion Technologies, based in Chicago, said it would make synthetic graphite anode in Bainbridge. Production of the key ingredient for lithium-ion batteries is supposed to start in 2025.

FORT VALLEY, Ga. (AP) — Workers in Georgia at one of the nation's largest school bus manufacturers have voted to unionize. Employees at Blue Bird Corp. chose to be represented by the United Steelworkers union by a vote of 697-435, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

ATLANTA – The state Board of Education adopted a new set of “Georgia-grown” standards for English/language arts (ELA) instruction in public schools Thursday, the last step in abandoning the federal standards known as Common Core.

CHATTAHOOCHEE HILLS, Ga. (AP) — The remains of two people found on a farm near the Chattahoochee River in March have been positively identified as two Georgia friends and business partners who went missing in February. Jason Salter, 39, and Kenny Guerra, 35, who owned the Rockstar Printing Shop, were last seen on February 25.

ATLANTA – A planned “inland port” in Gainesville designed to reduce traffic congestion on Georgia highways has gotten a green light from the feds. The Georgia Ports Authority has received National Environmental Policy Act approval to move forward with plans to build a rail hub along the Interstate 85/I-985 corridor that will take in containerized cargo shipped by freight rail from the Port of Savannah and transfer the containers to trucks.

Fort Benning officially became Fort Moore Thursday during a dedication ceremony at “the home of the infantry” south of Columbus. Political and business leaders from the Chattahoochee Valley joined current base officials and Army veterans for a “closing of the colors” ceremony, furling Fort Benning’s flag to mark its formal retirement and unfurling the new Fort Moore colors.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia workers at one of the nation's largest school bus manufacturers will begin voting Thursday on whether they want to be represented by a labor union. More than 1,400 employees at Blue Bird Corp.'s two factories and warehouse in Fort Valley will be voting through Friday on whether they want to unionize under the banner of the United Steelworkers. That union represents more than 850,000 workers nationwide in a variety of industries.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia remains on track for another budget surplus, even after the state's tax revenues fell in April. The state has collected $27.8 billion in General Fund revenue through April, according to figures released Tuesday by Gov. Brian Kemp. That's only about 1% more than last year, with revenue growth slowing down after running red hot during the pandemic.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A U.S. agency has agreed to an in-depth environmental study into whether dredging a Georgia shipping channel in the spring and summer would threaten rare sea turtles nesting on nearby beaches — a review demanded by conservationists who sued to stop the project.

ATLANTA (AP) — Raises are coming for state and university employees and public school teachers and Georgia will pay full college tuition for all HOPE Scholarship recipients under the budget signed Friday by Gov. Brian Kemp. The Republican governor ratified the budget in a ceremony at the construction site for the new Hyundai Motor Group electric vehicle plant in Ellabell.

NEW YORK (AP) — Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, submitted her resignation Friday, saying the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic was a good time to make a transition. Walensky's last day will be June 30, CDC officials said, and an interim director wasn’t immediately named.

MOULTRIE, Ga. (AP) — A man recorded by a security camera fatally shooting his manager Thursday at a fast food restaurant in rural south Georgia is also suspected of killing his mother and grandmother at their nearby homes before taking his own life, authorities said.

ATLANTA – Who knew a kid in Georgia is supposed to have a permit to set up a lemonade stand at the end of their driveway? That won’t be the case come July 1, however, thanks to the General Assembly.

ATLANTA (AP) — The suspect in a mass shooting in Atlanta that left one woman dead and four others wounded has been charged with one count of murder and four counts of aggravated assault, Fulton County Jail records show. Deion Patterson was awaiting his first court appearance Thursday after police say he opened fire in the waiting room of an Atlanta medical practice Wednesday. Workers and others in a bustling commercial district took shelter for hours during the manhunt.

ATLANTA (AP) — Police say they have apprehended a man who allegedly opened fire inside the waiting room of an Atlanta medical facility, killing one woman and injuring four others Wednesday. Authorities had swarmed the city’s bustling midtown neighborhood earlier in the day in search of the suspect, who fled after the shooting. Police said in a statement that the gunman, who they identified as 24-year-old Deion Patterson, was captured Wednesday evening. A

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — A federal jury has awarded a Georgia couple $135.5 million for damages to their property by a Tennessee-based solar company and its contractor. The award against Silicon Ranch Corp. and its contractor, IEA Inc., was announced Friday by James E. Butler, attorney for plaintiffs Shaun and Amie Harris who live near Lumpkin, Georgia, south of Columbus, WRBL-TV reported.

ATLANTA (AP) — Police said a man opened fire inside the waiting room of an Atlanta medical facility, killing one woman and injuring four others Wednesday as authorities swarmed the city’s bustling midtown neighborhood in search of the 24-year-old suspect.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia has banned local governments from accepting any funding for elections from outside groups, after Gov. Brian Kemp signed the measure on Wednesday. Senate Bill 222, which threatens local officials who violate the law with felony charges, still allows contributions to the state or federal government. It took effect upon Kemp's signature