SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Hyundai Motor Group supplier announced Wednesday that it will invest $76 million in a new plant near Savannah to manufacture parts for the automaker's upcoming in plant in nearby Ellabell, hiring more than 500 workers. Seoyon E-HWA said it will build the plant to make interior and exterior parts including door trim, headlining and tailgate trim. The company plans to begin production in October 2024.

ATLANTA – The state Senate Wednesday passed a bill that would allow the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to independently investigate a wide range of terrorism cases.  The first bill to make it to the Senate floor this session – the “Georgia Fights Terrorism Act”— passed handily, with 49 senators voting for the bill and only three voting against it.   The bill would allow the bureau to open investigations of terrorism independently instead of solely at the request of government agencies or officials, as is typically the case now. 

ATLANTA – Georgia House budget writers approved a $32.6 billion mid-year state budget Wednesday that takes advantage of a $6.6 billion revenue surplus to increase spending 7.8% above the record fiscal 2023 budget lawmakers adopted last spring. “It is putting the focus on the people of this state and our state employees,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, said of the mid-year budget, which covers state spending through June. “We’ve got the money right now to do that.”

ATLANTA – Georgia’s political leaders celebrated Kia Day at the state Capitol Tuesday, touting past successes at Kia’s plant in West Point even as the Korean automaker prepares to start producing EV6 electric vehicles in the U.S. The West Point Kia plant, which opened in 2009, is turning out more than 1,400 cars per day, Stuart Countess, president and CEO of Kia Georgia, said during an outdoor ceremony at Liberty Plaza across from the Capitol. The company expects to pass the 4 million mark sometime in April, he said.

ATLANTA – Georgia lawmakers want to increase the sentence for gang recruitment activities as part of a tough-on-crime push under the Gold Dome this legislative session.  A new state Senate bill would increase the penalties for recruiting someone to join a gang or participate in gang activity through mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines that judges would have to follow in most cases.  Sponsored by Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia, Senate Bill 44 has the backing of Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.   

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta-area officials reiterated Tuesday that they are moving forward with plans to construct a huge police and firefighter training center. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens held a news conference to announce that the city had signed a memorandum of understanding with DeKalb County to build the $90 million Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. He also said officials have pledged to enact certain environmental protections after consulting with a “community advisory committee.”

ATLANTA (AP) — A north Georgia banker defeated the widow of late House Speaker David Ralston to win Ralston's old House seat in a Republican runoff Tuesday, while a Republican former House member cruised to victory in a state Senate seat in south Georgia. In other final, unofficial results from four legislative special elections, two Republicans will advance to a Feb. 28 runoff in a northeast Georgia House district, while a Republican was unopposed in winning a south Georgia House district.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The smoke was coming from inside the fire station. Firefighters in suburban Atlanta returned from a call Sunday to find their own breakfast was in flames. The Times of Gainesville reports that a Hall County fire crew accidentally left the stove on when they left the station to respond to a house fire on Sunday morning.

ATLANTA (AP) — Voters in three Georgia House districts and one state Senate district go to the polls Tuesday to fill vacant seats. Two contests will be decided Tuesday, while two contests with three or more candidates could go to Feb. 28 runoffs if no one wins a majority.

EAST DUBLIN, Ga. (AP) — A police officer in East Dublin was shot Monday while responding to a call of someone firing a gun inside a mobile home park, state investigators said. The officer wounded a man believed to be firing the shots in the park, and both sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that preliminary information indicates the officer was responding to a call of shots fired at the Ponderosa Trailer Park and was immediately shot after getting out of a police vehicle. The officer returned fire and shot David Jermaine Fountain, 35, the agency said.

ATLANTA – Legislation establishing regulations for the fast-growing third-party food delivery industry in Georgia has been introduced in the General Assembly. Senate Bill 34 is an outgrowth of a Senate study committee chaired by Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, that held several meetings last summer and fall to talk about an industry that has no federal oversight and only patchwork state and local regulations.

ATLANTA (AP) — Dozens of Georgia’s most troubled foster children are housed in hotels or state offices each night, because the state can’t find a better place for them to stay. But officials trying to end the practice face fights with the state’s own insurer and a lack of treatment beds. Lawmakers and officials call the practice “hoteling,” with Division of Family & Children Services workers often assigned to stay with children. The practice has been under scrutiny for years, not only because it typically costs $1,500 a night, but also because children lack a stable environment and often aren't getting needed treatment.

ATLANTA (AP) — Republicans in the Georgia Senate on Thursday announced goals to further lower state income tax rates and improve reading instruction for young public school students, although tax changes are unlikely to occur before the 2024 legislative session and leaders could be find themselves short of time to build the consensus for changes in literacy instruction this year. The majority party in the Senate, which will likely have 33 of 56 senators once a special election is concluded, also voices support for a number of plans already proposed by Gov. Brian Kemp.

ATLANTA – Last weekend’s violent protests in downtown Atlanta have prompted Gov. Brian Kemp to activate up to 1,000 Georgia National Guard troops. Kemp declared a state of emergency Thursday, citing violence by masked protesters last Saturday that included rock throwing, setting off fireworks and burning a police vehicle. “Georgians respect peaceful protests but do not tolerate acts of violence against persons or property,” the governor’s order stated.

ATLANTA – With a bruising but successful re-election campaign behind him, Gov. Brian Kemp vowed Wednesday to build on the successes of his first term in education, public safety, economic development, and health care. “The campaigns have all been run … and the people have spoken,” Kemp told a joint session of the Georgia House and Senate in his annual State of State address. “They have given us our marching orders, and it’s time to get back to work.”

ATLANTA – A South Georgia lawmaker has introduced legislation into the General Assembly aimed at banning surface mining near the Okefenokee Swamp. House Bill 71 is being sponsored by state Rep. Darlene Taylor, R-Thomasville, who backed a similar bill last year that failed to gain passage. Taylor’s bill would not affect plans by Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals to mine titanium along Trail Ridge near the Okefenokee. Twin Pines already has a permit application before the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, while the legislation would prohibit the EPD from considering permit applications submitted after July 1.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Georgia officials have signed off on a plan to raise Savannah's towering suspension bridge to make room for larger cargo ships to reach the city's busy seaport.

ATLANTA – Georgia House Republicans are backing legislation that would increase the statewide cap on income tax credits offered to donors to a fund that provides private school scholarships. House Bill 54, introduced by state Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, would raise the cap from the current $120 million per year to $200 million. The program offered $58 million in tax credits through 2018, then was increased to $100 million in 2019 and $120 million this year.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Southeastern Grasslands Institute is developing a grasslands conservation plan for the Cumberland Plateau in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee, thanks to a $495,000 federal grant. The money from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will help the institute prioritize habitat needs for at least 185 species of conservation concern, according to a news release from the institute at Austin Peay State University. Those species include at least 125 grassland plants and at least 60 animals that make grasslands their homes.

ATLANTA – The 26-year-old man shot to death by law enforcement in Atlanta last week legally purchased the gun he used to shoot a state trooper, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported Monday. Manuel Esteban Paez Teran was shot last Wednesday at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, a project that has drawn protests for more than a year. Teran was shot as multiple law enforcement agencies were removing 25 campsites from the area. Officers returned fire after Teran did not comply with verbal commands and instead shot and wounded a state trooper, according to the Bureau.

ADEL, Ga. (AP) — A storm that tore through southwest Georgia over the weekend spawned a tornado that damaged homes, flipped trailers and mowed down trees along a path nearly 6 miles long, officials confirmed Monday. The National Weather Service reported Monday that damage observed in the rural community of Adel appears to have come from an EF2 tornado with peak winds estimated at 115 mph. The tornado touched down at about 5:20 p.m. Sunday west of Interstate 75.

ATLANTA (AP) — A now-retired Atlanta police officer who was indicted last month in the 2019 fatal shooting of a man hiding in a closet after running from authorities wants the case moved from state to federal court. Sung Kim was assigned to an FBI fugitive task force when he shot Jimmy Atchison. In seeking to have Kim's murder case moved to U.S. District Court, Kim's attorney, Don Samuel, noted that Kim was working with the FBI’s Atlanta Metropolitan Major Offender Task Force at the time, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta police are continguing to investigate a protest that turned violent in downtown Atlanta on Saturday night in the wake of the death of an environmental activist who was killed by authorities this week after officials said the 26-year-old shot a state trooper.

ATLANTA (AP) — A protest turned violent in downtown Atlanta on Saturday night in the wake of the death of an environmental activist who was killed by authorities this week after officials said the 26-year-old shot a state trooper.

ATLANTA (AP) — New Georgia House speaker Jon Burns says he doesn't want to pass any laws on abortion while awaiting court action, isn't interested in fully expanding Medicaid, and leans toward giving Atlanta more time to reduce crime before allowing citizens in its Buckhead area to secede. But on many more issues, the self-proclaimed “country boy” who has taken the reins of the House after David Ralston's death is avoiding a public position, saying he wants to see the details of legislation or what his committee chairs think.