It’s Friday!
Quotes of note
“Duty, honor, country. These three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be.” – Gen. Douglas MacArthur
“Honor to the Soldier and Sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor also to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field, and serves, as best he can, the same cause – honor to him, less only than to him who braves, for the common good, the storms of heaven, and the storms of battle.” – Abraham Lincoln
“…And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we shall strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice.” – Ronald Reagan
On Our Desks
Dry heat: In a special dispatch from Palm Springs, Kyle Wingfield asks what drove explorers to persist? And what inspired the pioneers that followed them?
Trouble brewing: Georgia craft brewers are running a 21st-century industry under Prohibition-era laws. In his first investigative report for the Foundation, Christopher Butler dives into the beer laws that are brewing trouble for this booming industry.
Economy
Pain at the pump: On Thursday, Governor Kemp extended Georgia’s gas tax suspension through July 14. The original suspension was set to expire June 1. An estimated 1.2 million Georgians are expected to hit the road for the Memorial Day weekend, and gas prices for regular unleaded averaged $4.13/gallon in metro Atlanta as of Tuesday, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This is the highest price ever for this weekend, and the second-highest when adjusted for inflation.
Government Accountability
New policies: While a baby formula shortage is sweeping across the nation, the Georgia Department of Public Health is finally changing a policy that led to the destruction of infant formula that was unopened and unexpired. According to WSB-TV, the old policy stated that all returned formula or WIC-eligible foods were to be destroyed, even if they were sealed and still in date.
Taxation
Going up: Cherokee County property owners have started to receive their annual assessment notices, according to The Georgia Sun. Those property owners may see inflationary increases in their assessment values due to trends in real estate and inflation. The average assessment increase is about 23 percent. Exactly 100,575 parcels in Cherokee County have increased in value.
Healthcare
Kickbacks: This week, a federal grand jury indicted a former Georgia insurance commissioner, John W. Oxendine, on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, as reported in the Center Square. Oxendine “conspired to obtain kickbacks for unnecessary genetic and toxicology lab tests, and used his insurance business to hide those kickbacks,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in an announcement. Oxendine pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Nurse to the rescue: Funded by a $23.6 million gift from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, a new partnership between Georgia State University and Grady Hospital will enhance the pipeline of nursing education to combat the critical nursing shortage, according to the Saporta Report. The capacity of the GSU nursing school will expand from 80 new students this year to 250 by 2024. Grady will become the primary clinical training hospital for the GSU nursing program, with new high-quality educational simulation labs at both institutions.
Have a great weekend.
Kyle Wingfield
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