KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — A teenager died after playing with friends on the frozen surface of a Georgia lake and falling through the ice into frigid water, authorities said Thursday. Residents of Kennesaw north of Atlanta called 911 Wednesday evening after seeing several young people playing on a sheet of ice that covered a portion of the small lake's surface. They reported hearing screams as the ice gave way beneath two of the teens, plunging them into the water.

ATLANTA – Most bills the General Assembly passes each year take effect on July 1. But a smattering of new laws enacted during the 2022 legislative session will kick in this Sunday, Jan. 1, including a bill making it easier for food trucks to do business and several new or expanded tax credits. The food truck legislation does away with a current requirement in Georgia law that food truck operators obtain a permit and inspection in every county where they do business.

ATLANTA – After failing to win federal approval to exit the federal insurance marketplace earlier this year, Georgia has established its own health-insurance portal directing people to private insurers and brokers to buy health insurance.  The new website, called Georgia Access, includes links to 10 health-insurance companies – including big players such as United, Kaiser Permanente, and Aetna – as well as seven online brokers, organizations that help people shop for and enroll in health insurance.  

Sea turtles are beloved visitors in the Golden Isles during nesting and hatching seasons through the summer and fall. But at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, they are year-round guests. And during the cold winter months, many incoming patients at the sea turtle rehabilitation facility on Jekyll Island are admitted with what’s known as “cold-stunning.” “Cold-stunning is like hypothermia in humans,” said Dr. Terry Norton, director of veterinary services and wildlife health at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.

ATLANTA (AP) — A county jail in Atlanta has been without running water or heat for days, relatives of the people incarcerated there say, raising concerns about what the families call “inhumane” living conditions. The recent blast of cold temperatures ruptured a water line, requiring officials at the Fulton County Jail to shut off the water as crews make repairs, WAGA-TV reported. Leslie Frazier said it's been days since her son, who’s being held in the jail, has been able to shower or use the toilet in his shared cell.

ATLANTA (AP) — An Atlanta-area hospital system could take over the hospitals affiliated with Georgia's only public medical school under a deal announced Tuesday. Augusta University Health System said it signed a letter of intent to join the Marietta-based nonprofit Wellstar Health System.

CORDELE, Ga. (AP) — Officials have closed the hotel at a south Georgia state park, saying the buildings are structurally unsafe. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources announced Friday that it was closing the lodging at Lake Blackshear, part of Georgia Veterans State Park & Resort west of Cordele.

ATLANTA – The Georgia Senate seat vacated this week by Sen. Dean Burke, R-Bainbridge, already is drawing attention. State Rep. Sam Watson, R-Moultrie, has resigned his House seat to run for the opening in Southwest Georgia’s 11th Senate District.

ATLANTA (AP) — A south Georgia state senator is leaving his elected office for a state job while Georgia’s prison chief is stepping down. State Sen. Dean Burke, a Bainbridge Republican will step down from his Senate seat effective Dec. 31 to become the chief medical officer of Georgia's Department of Community Health, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — On paper, the Peach Bowl matchup between No. 1 Georgia's defense and No. 4 Ohio State's offense is a test of strengths in the College Football Playoff semifinal.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia officials are warning residents to take precautions against high winds and bitterly cold temperatures from an approaching winter storm.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The brother of a deceased Georgia state representative won a special election to replace him on Tuesday.

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.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's red-hot job market continued to cool in November, with unemployment ticking up and payrolls flat. While the numbers don't show an economy in reverse, the rapid job growth of the last two years appears to have stalled. The state's jobless rate rose to 3% in November from 2.9% in October. It was the second straight monthly increase after three months at an all-time low of 2.8%.

ATLANTA (AP) — Five people were arrested Tuesday on charges including domestic terrorism as authorities tried to remove the protesters from the site of a planned public safety training center, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. The arrests happened as agents from the GBI, Atlanta police officers, and other state and local law enforcement officers removed barricades blocking some entrances to the site, the GBI said in a news release.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday immediately banned the use of TikTok and two popular messaging applications from all computer devices controlled by Georgia's state government, saying the Chinese government may be able to access users' personal information. Kemp also banned the messaging apps WeChat and Telegram, saying their control by Chinese and Russian companies poses similar risks.