ATLANTA  – The Georgia Department of Public Safety released a preliminary report Friday indicating there were 21 traffic fatalities across the state over the 78-hour Independence Day holiday travel period.

ATLANTA – Georgia closed out fiscal 2022 last month with a bulging budget surplus fueled by a significant increase in tax revenue. The state Department of Revenue collected $2.85 billion in taxes in June, up 14.2% over June of last year, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office reported Friday.

ATLANTA – Officials at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Thursday announced a $40 million plan to upgrade Concourse D at the world’s busiest airport. The project, being funded through the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure spending bill Congress passed last fall, will widen and modernize the terminal.

ATLANTA (AP) — A rural Georgia monument that some people have dubbed “America's Stonehenge” has been demolished after a bomb destroyed one of its four granite panels. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says the monument near Elberton was damaged by an explosive device and that authorities demolished the remaining structure for safety reasons.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s highest court has thrown out a murder conviction for a once-prominent Atlanta attorney who fatally shot his wife as they rode in an SUV. The unanimous opinion says the jury should have had the option of a misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter charge. Seventy-nine-year-old Claud “Tex” McIver was convicted in 2018 of felony murder, aggravated assault, influencing a witness and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in the September 2016 killing of his wife, 64-year-old Diane McIver.

ATLANTA – Georgia’s population increased between July 2020 and July 2021, according to annual data from the Census Bureau. The state’s 2021 population was roughly 10.8 million, an increase of almost 74,000 residents, or about 0.7%, over 2020. 

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's governor is extending the suspension of the state's motor fuel tax through mid-August. Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday signed an executive order extending the suspension for a second time. The order also suspends the state sales tax on locomotive fuel.

ATLANTA (AP) — Most new laws traditionally take effect in Georgia on July 1. But this year, many of the most important measures became law as soon as Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed them. A few of the General Assembly’s most consequential accomplishments won’t take effect until January or even later.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The federal government says the number of whales entangled in fishing gear has declined recently, but the entanglements remain a critical threat to rare species. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday there were 53 confirmed cases of large whales entangled in gear in the U.S. in 2020.

ATLANTA – Ocmulgee Electric Membership Corp. announced plans Tuesday to launch a fiber-optic network that will provide high-speed internet service to customers in five Middle Georgia …

ATLANTA – Georgia is about to embark on a new form of transportation technology that fits the needs of the era of e-commerce. Legislation the General Assembly passed this year that takes effect on Friday will authorize “personal delivery devices” better known as delivery robots to ply the state’s highways and sidewalks.

ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia generated an economic impact of $19.3 billion across the state during the last fiscal year, up $700 million – or 3.8% – over fiscal 2020. That economic impact translated into 152,629 full- and part-time jobs, about a third of which were on campus and two-thirds off campus.

ATLANTA – Georgians now have easier access to information about their government, thanks to a small-but-mighty team working behind the scenes to present data to the public. The Georgia Data Analytics Center website features “data dashboards” that take complex data from state agencies and put it into simple charts, graphs, and maps.  

ATLANTA – Georgia Power is asking the state Public Service Commission (PSC) for a rate hike of nearly 12% during the next three years, with the vast majority of the increase front-loaded into 2023.

BUFORD, Ga. (AP) — Shoe manufacturer Okabashi says it will hire 250 workers and invest $20 million to double production at its headquarters in suburban Atlanta. CEO Sara Irvani says the privately-held company will be able to make more than 2 million pairs of shoes annually at its Buford factory within five years.

ST. CATHERINES ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — Crews are fighting a wildfire that's scorched hundreds of acres on an unspoiled island known for archaeological treasures on the coast of Georgia.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s highest court has overturned the murder and child cruelty convictions against a man whose toddler son died after he left him in a hot car for hours. The Georgia Supreme Court opinion released Wednesday says the jury saw evidence that was “extremely and unfairly prejudicial.”

ATLANTA (AP) — State Rep. Bee Nguyen will be the Democratic candidate for Georgia secretary of state in November. Nguyen is set to face Republican incumbent Brad Raffensperger and Libertarian Ted Metz in the general election.

ATLANTA – Georgia is home to three of the nation’s 100 dirtiest power plants, the Atlanta-based Environment Georgia Research & Policy Center reported Monday. Georgia Power’s …

PARKLAND, Wash. (AP) — The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office was searching for a suspect who fatally shot an active duty soldier Saturday evening during a social gathering at a Parkland home.

STILLMORE, Ga. (AP) — The most powerful earthquake to hit Georgia in years was felt across a broad region when it struck just after 4 a.m. Saturday. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 3.9 magnitude tremor was centered east of Stillmore, a town between Macon and Savannah.

ATLANTA (AP) — One of the owners of a nuclear power plant being expanded in Georgia says it’s shifting costs to Georgia Power Co. in exchange for giving up a sliver of its ownership. Oglethorpe Power Corp said Saturday that it had exercised a contractual option to freeze its costs for Plant Vogtle at $8.1 billion.

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia county is tossing out 264 speeding tickets after police disclosed that they were behind in testing required to ensure their speed detectors were accurate. The Brunswick News reports Glynn County police officers handed out the tickets for more than two months after certification of their radar and LIDAR speed-detecting equipment had lapsed.

ATLANTA – Car traffic in Georgia is at an all-time high despite rising prices at the pump, state Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry said Thursday. The cost of gasoline has soared across the state to an average of $4.48 per gallon, up from $2.87 a gallon in June of last year, McMurry told members of the State Transportation Board.

ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate fell to an all-time low of 3.1% last month, well below the national jobless rate of 3.6%, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. At the same time, the number of jobs rose to a record high of nearly 4.8 million in May, up more than 18,000 from April.