About The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (June 25, 2025)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2025 BANKS COUNTY NEWS PAGE 9A State News Georgia Republicans, Democrats disagree over bombing Iran By Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service Georgia politicians are re acting to President Donald Trump’s weekend decision to bomb Iranian nuclear sites mostly along party lines. Republicans have rushed to support the president’s action, while Democrats criticized Trump for order ing the bombing without congressional authorization and warned it could drag the U.S. into a lengthy war. “America can never al low Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon,” Gov. Brian Kemp posted on social media. “Thank you to President Trump, our service mem bers and intelligence per sonnel, and administration officials who conducted this successful operation.” “It’s one of the best oper ations that I’ve seen in quite a long time,” added Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King, who is seeking the Republi can nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., next year. “The operational security was incredible.” While praising U.S. troops, Democrats objected to Trump’s decision to move forward with the air strikes without consulting mem bers of Congress. “I pray for the safety of U.S. military service mem bers deployed around the world and express my admi ration for their courage and professionalism,” Ossoff wrote in a prepared state ment. “Congress must be fully briefed on (the) oper ation and consulted on the administration’s strategy.” “President Trump ... has now entered another Middle East conflict,” added Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga. “He has not sought congres sional approval and has not sufficiently explained why this operation was neces sary right now. ... And this is not the first time the Ameri can people have been told it will end quickly. The people deserve to hear more than they’ve heard so far.” U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, departed from the GOP party line in opposing the U.S. air strikes and warned of dire conse quences, echoing concerns among Republican base voters who historically have backed Trump’s “America First” agenda. “Every time America is on the verge of greatness, we get involved in a foreign war,” Greene posted on so cial media. “This is not our fight.” Meanwhile, Georgia po litical leaders at the state level took the partisan po sitions of their respective camps. “Iran messed around and found out the hard way — President Trump means business and delivered on his promise of peace through strength,” said state Senate Majority Leader Ja son Anavitarte, R-Dallas. “Iran must never be able to hold a nuclear arsenal.” “I am thankful for the safe return of all service members involved in (Sat urday) night’s air strikes,” said Senate Minority Lead er Harold Jones, D-Augus- ta. “(But) I believe, like so many others, that diplomacy is the only way we can truly resolve this crisis.” After years of trying, environmentalists neutralize a mining threat near Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge By Ty Tagami Capitol Beat News Service The Alabama company that planned to mine tita nium dioxide next to the Okefenokee Swamp has agreed to sell its property to an environmental fund, end ing — for now — a threat to more than 350,000 acres of designated national wilder ness that is home to several endangered and threatened species. The Conservation Fund announced Friday that it had agreed to buy Twin Pines Minerals’ property on Trail Ridge near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, ending a six-year effort to protect North America’s largest blackwater swamp. “By purchasing this land from Twin Pines, The Con servation Fund will ensure that the Okefenokee Nation al Wildlife Refuge remains wild and unspoiled for all Americans,” Stacy Fun- derburke, the Fund’s vice president for the central Southeast region, said in a statement. Funderburke said in an interview that the Fund had agreed to pay about $60 million for the nearly 8,000- acre property. The transaction will oc cur in two phases, with the first phase Friday involving a transaction for 40% of the purchase price and the final closing July 31. He said his organization continues to raise money for that final phase-two transaction. Twin Pines had no com ment but confirmed the sale through a spokesman. The fund pulled together money from private donors with the help of advoca cy group One Hundred Miles. “Twin Pines’ decision to sell their land to a conser vation buyer instead of to a mining company is a re spectable response to the hundreds of thousands of voices who have spoken out against the mining pro posal,” Megan Desrosiers, president and CEO of One Hundred Miles, said in a statement. Alice Keyes, a vice presi dent of One Hundred Miles, credited “the unbelievable public outcry” against min ing the swamp. About a quarter million people submitted comments against the mining project to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and to the state of Georgia, said the Southern Environmental Law Center, which worked against the mine. “It was one of the largest public campaigns that I have ever been involved in,” said Keyes, who has worked on environmental issues for three decades. The Okefenokee is a rich ecosystem hosting bald ea gles, bobcats, black bears, and 13,000 alligators. Wood storks, indigo snakes and red-cockaded woodpeckers are among the endangered and threatened species that rely on the swamp. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat who has been in volved in the effort to stop the mine, called the pur chase “great news for all Georgians and our beloved natural treasure.” Threats remain, though. Josh Marks, president of Georgians for the Okefeno kee, said the purchase was a “huge victory” to protect a natural treasure “from a dangerous project promoted by an atrocious company. But the threat is not over by a long shot.” The Conservation Fund struck a deal with DuPont in the early 2000s to stop a different titanium dioxide mine. Marks is worried that Chemours, which spun off from DuPont a decade ago, could still mine nearby pri vate property, and said the General Assembly should pass the Okefenokee Pro tection Act, legislation that has stalled. Funderburke agreed that a couple other private prop erties nearby could also be mined, but said the Twin Pines sale reduced the risk. He said the company’s in ability to secure a mining permit after six years of try ing could discourage other mining efforts. And he said that such a large mine so close to the swamp would have set a ter rible precedent. He said other options besides outright purchases exist, such as buying con servation easements. “The threat is not over, so the drumbeat should con tinue,” Funderburke said. “But this is a really import ant milestone in the fight against mining in the Oke fenokee.” That drumbeat has been growing louder. Sonny Perdue, a former Republican governor of Georgia, has pushed for protecting the swamp. The long-serving cabinet mem ber during President Donald Trump’s first term is now chancellor of the University System of Georgia. In April, Perdue urged U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to support the years-long effort to get the national wildlife refuge designated as a Unit ed Nations World Heritage Site. The letter, which Perdue sent on Board of Regents letterhead, cited a study by an environmental conser vation group that said the designation would be an economic boon for the area around the Okefenokee. Others have used the eco nomic argument as well. The Southern Environmen tal Law Center noted that the Okefenokee draws more than 700,000 visits a year, supporting more than 750 jobs and generating about $65 million in annual eco nomic activity for the four counties around the Okefe nokee. Rural site development grants going to four Georgia recipients By Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service Four Georgia communi ties will receive $7.5 mil lion in grants through a state program designed to foster economic development in rural counties. The OneGeorgia Authori ty’s Rural Site Development Initiative helps communities identify, assess, and develop new ready-for-development industrial sites. Eligible activities include site stud ies, land grading, and other infrastructure projects that support site development. “Georgia offers the work force, connectivity, and business-friendly environ ment for companies to be successful in every corner of the state,” Gov. Brian Kemp said late Wednesday. “The Rural Site Develop ment Initiative helps us maintain that competitive edge over other states by empowering communities to build on that success and turn fields of dreams into sources of good-paying jobs for rural Georgians.” Grants of $2 million each will go to the Development Authority of Milledgeville and Baldwin County, the Dublin-Laurens County De velopment Authority, and the Worth County Econom ic Development Authority. The Baldwin County proj ect will include construction of an entry road and other improvements at a 1,500- acre site called Sibley Place. The Dublin-Laurens County grant will help fi nance sewage and drainage improvements at a 250-acre site along Georgia 257. Worth County’s econom ic development agency will use its $2 million for water, drainage, road, and other in frastructure improvements at the 196-acres Worth County Industrial Complex. The fourth grant — worth about $1.5 million — will go the Development Au thority of Bulloch County for site grading and sewer improvements at the 69- acre Cannady Site. In each case, the local de velopment agency contrib uted a share of the financing toward each project. “The Rural Site Develop ment Initiative empowers communities to proactively shape economic growth that aligns with their long-term goals,” said Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Geor gia Department of Econom ic Development. “As we build on years of economic success, investing in new site development ensures we sustain and accelerate that momentum. This was the second round of funding under the state program. A first round of $9.3 million in grants to six local devel opment authorities was an nounced last December. Georgia DOT completes Hurricane Helene recovery efforts across state By Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service It took the Georgia De partment of Transportation seven months to finish clear ing the massive amounts of debris Hurricane Helene left across a wide swath of the state, an engineer with the agency said Wednesday. The DOT used 2,134 em ployees in the response to the storm — more than half of the agency’s staff — to haul nearly 4.8 million cu bic yards of debris from 35 sites, Assistant State Main tenance Engineer Emily Fish told members of the State Transportation Board. The work was completed in April, she said. Helene rampaged through South Georgia and north through the Augusta area in late Sep tember, killing 34 Georgians and causing heavy rainfall and widespread flooding as well as extensive power outages. The General Assembly approved $862 million in disaster relief for victims of the storm. Fish said the DOT has sent five applications for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Man agement Agency. The feds are expected to fully reim bursement the state for the first 120 days of recovery efforts and cover 75% of the costs after that, she said. The Federal Highway Ad ministration also kicked in $9.1 million separately to help repair damaged roads, she said. Fish said the state is having to provide a huge amount of documentation with the various reimburse ment applications. “It be comes incredibly tedious, but we have to do this to get that funding back,” she said. Fish said lessons learned from the massive recovery include a need to improve communications among the various repair crews work ing throughout the disaster area. Cellphone service was out in some areas for up to five days following the storm, she said. Fish said the DOT has bought 1,200 new radios and satellite phones that will help with communication the next time a hurricane or other weather emergency strikes. The 2025 hurricane season outlook from the Nation al Oceanographic and At mospheric Administration (NOAA) is calling for a 60% chance of an above-av erage amount of activity. “I think we’re better pre pared than ever,” Fish said. “But I hope we won’t have to respond.” Georgia unemployment dips slightly for the month By Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service Georgia’s unemployment rate fell slightly in April to 3.5%, seven-tenths below the national jobless rate, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. “After holding steady at 3.6% for nearly a year — and recent job growth — we’re proving once again that Georgia’s busi ness-friendly environment and competitive workforce deliver results,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Barbara Rivera Holmes said. The number of jobs in Georgia increased by 4,900 in May to an all-time high of 4.99 million. 1,900 jobs. The state’s labor force fell by 4,111 last month to near ly 5.4 million, as did the number of employed Geor gians, which dropped by 1,386 to almost 5.2 million. On the positive side, un employment declined by 2,725 to 189,026. The number of first-time jobless claims also was down by 1,901 in May to 19,135. For all your printing needs, call MainStreet Newspapers Inc. at 706-367-5233
