BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Authorities have identified a man who drowned off the Georgia coast last weekend as a prominent defense attorney. Glynn County Coroner Marc Neu said that 55-year-old Page Pate was swimming off St. Simons Island on Sunday when strong rip currents swept him into open waters. Neu said a rescue crew pulled Pate from the water and worked to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

ATLANTA – Emory University ranks as the 22nd best university in the nation, while the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech are among the top 20 public universities, U.S. News & World Report announced Monday.

ATLANTA – Reversing learning loss stemming from the pandemic, boosting the education workforce and stepping up school safety measures will be Gov. Brian Kemp’s top education priorities if he wins a second term in November, Kemp said Monday. At an elementary school in Oconee County, the governor announced he will ask the General Assembly for a $25 million grant program in the mid-year state budget to help schools pay for additional tutoring and other steps to supplement existing learning loss services.

ATLANTA – Georgia’s film industry took off after the General Assembly significantly strengthened the state income tax credit for movie and TV productions in 2008. The industry’s annual economic impact has soared from a relatively paltry $242 million the year before lawmakers upped the ante on the credit to $4.4 billion last year. Now, the Peach State’s musical performers and producers are urging lawmakers to give them the same boost by sweetening the incentives the state offers their industry.

ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) — A single-engine plane crashed into a lake on Saturday near the border of South Carolina and Georgia. The Federal Aviation Administration told news outlets that the Beechcraft B55 Baron crashed into Lake Hartwell near Anderson Regional Airport in Anderson, S.C. Lake Hartwell is a 56,000-acre lake that spans part of the border between Georgia and South Carolina.

ATLANTA – Sonny Perdue has been a Georgia state senator, governor and U.S. secretary of agriculture. But not until Friday did the longtime public servant officially take on what he called, “maybe the most impactful job I’ve ever had,” when he was formally invested as the 14th chancellor of the University System of Georgia.

ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities say two deputies were killed in an ambush while serving a warrant at a home in a suburb near Atlanta. Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens said the deputies had returned to their vehicle Thursday night after knocking on the door when another car pulled up. The deputies got out of the vehicle and were talking to a suspect when shots were fired.

ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities say two deputies have been killed while serving a warrant in a suburb near Atlanta, and that a suspect remains barricaded in a home. The sheriff’s office in Cobb County outside Atlanta tweeted that the two deputies died Thursday evening “in the line of duty" and that a SWAT team and other law enforcement officers were at the scene.

ATLANTA (AP) — A pastor, political operative and former high-ranking Atlanta city official was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in prison after a jury found her guilty of charges stemming from a long-running federal investigation into corruption at City Hall.

ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia will waive SAT and ACT test requirements at most of the system’s 26 institutions for another year, system Chancellor Sonny Perdue announced Thursday. The university system didn’t include the tests as an admissions requirement for the fall semester this year at all schools except the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Georgia College & State University.

ATLANTA – Georgia’s new fiscal year is off to a healthy start after the first two months. The state Department of Revenue collected almost $2.31 billion in taxes in August, an increase of $180.4 million – 0r 8.5% – over the same month a year ago.

ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Transportation is trying to find homes for historic bridges that have outlived their usefulness and need to be replaced. The agency’s Office of Environmental Services announced Wednesday the launching of a website that will spread the word about historic bridges that are available for relocation and preservation.

ATLANTA (AP) — Nick Carusillo died when he was hit by multiple vehicles on a Georgia interstate, just days after he was abruptly discharged from an addiction treatment center. Now his parents hope a substantial jury verdict in their favor will prompt change that helps others suffering from mental illness and substance abuse.

VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) — A roofing company plans a factory in the south Georgia city of Valdosta, investing $146 million and hiring 135 workers over six years. GAF made the announcement Wednesday. Construction is supposed to start this fall, with production beginning in early 2024. The company will make a plastic membrane used to roof commercial buildings.

ATLANTA (AP) — A five-bedroom Victorian house south of Georgia’s capitol was in severe disrepair until an Atlanta couple saw its potential. Then they learned it was built around 1900 by South Atlanta postmaster and civil rights activist Luther Judson Price. Kysha and Jonathan Hehn say they’re trying their best to honor the family's role in uplifting the Brownsville community.

SUMMERVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Officials are scrambling to restore water service in northwest Georgia after flash flooding submerged pumps and flooded buildings. Chattooga County officials said Tuesday that taps for 8,000 customers in Summerville, Menlo and surrounding areas would stay dry through at least Wednesday. Officials report some progress in restarting pumps and repairing electrical components at the Summerville water treatment plant.

ATLANTA – Georgia and 31 other states have reached a $438.5 million settlement with Juul Labs in a lawsuit over the e-cigarette manufacturer’s marketing and sales practices. The agreement announced Tuesday ends a two-year bipartisan investigation that revealed Juul aggressively marketed to underage users with launch parties, ads using young models, social media posts and free samples.

SUMMERVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Flood watches are in effect in the U.S. southeast as forecasters warn of the possibility of torrential downpours across already saturated ground. Forecasters said waves of showers and storms were expected to develop Monday in the region, as moisture from the Gulf of Mexico continued to stream across the South. Parts of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia were under flash flood watches through Monday evening.

ATLANTA – Farmers in Southwest Georgia haven’t been permitted to drill new irrigation wells for a decade due to low stream flows.  But a new grant program funded with federal COVID relief aid promises a workaround for that moratorium that will provide a new source of water for irrigation in the region and thereby help stabilize Georgia’s number one industry.

BUFORD, Ga. (AP) — At least one person was stabbed and another shot at the Mall of Georgia outside Atlanta. Police say the incident happened Friday when a suspected thief began smashing jewelry counters inside the Macy's store at the mall. News outlets report the suspect then stabbed at least one person and a Gwinnett County police officer shot the suspect.

ATLANTA (AP) — One of Atlanta’s largest hospitals says it plans to shut down in two months after experiencing more than $100 million in losses over the past year. Wellstar announced late Wednesday that the Atlanta Medical Center will close on Nov. 1. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens blasted the decision, noting the hospital's vital role in treating emergencies and low-income residents.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s governor is extending the suspension of the state’s motor fuel tax through mid-October. Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday signed an executive order extending the suspension for a fourth time. Georgia’s gasoline price normally includes a state tax of 29.1 cents per gallon. Motorist group AAA says the average price for regular gas in Georgia is $3.37 a gallon.

ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Education Wednesday announced a pilot project to test a new method for evaluating teacher performance.  The new program will be called GaLEADS. It will be tried in a dozen Georgia school districts beginning in the 2023-2024 school year. Districts will be able to apply to participate in the pilot beginning Thursday.

STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) — A biracial man who says he was fending off a racist attack when he fired a gun into a pickup truck on a Georgia highway has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter for killing one of the truck's teenage passengers. The jury verdict in Statesboro spared 23-year-old Marc Wilson from a felony murder conviction sought by prosecutors. Defense attorneys acknowledged during the weeklong trial that Wilson fired the shot that killed 17-year-old Haley Hutcheson in June 2020.

ATLANTA – The University of Georgia is ranked 10th on a new list of top public colleges and universities in the country. The list, released by the rankings platform Niche this week, rates more than 500 schools based on academic, admissions, financial, and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education. UGA scored high marks for academics, value, diversity, and athletics.