Posted inYour Vote

Georgia’s voting machines will soon be illegal and there’s no backup plan

Georgia lawmakers set up the possibility of swift statewide conversion to paper ballots filled out by hand this year when they failed to pass a bill early Friday morning that would have gradually replaced the state’s touchscreen voting system. The Senate’s refusal to vote on the bipartisan elections bill leaves Georgia with computer-generated ballots that […]

Posted inHealth

New law would let women in Georgia get birth control without a prescription

Birth control medications will be provided at pharmacies across Georgia without needing a prescription, according to a bill that won final approval from the General Assembly on Thursday. Lawmakers said the bill makes contraceptives more available to women, especially in the 82 of Georgia’s 159 counties without an obstetrician. “We talk a lot about prevention […]

Posted inYour Government

New Georgia law would ban silencing childhood sex abuse victims

Victims of childhood sexual abuse can’t be silenced by nondisclosure agreements in legal settlements, according to a bill that cleared the Georgia General Assembly on Thursday. The Senate voted unanimously to approve the bill, which is called Trey’s Law in memory of Trey Carlock, a former Atlanta-area resident who was sexually abused at a Missouri […]

Posted inHealth

Georgia Senate sidelines ivermectin bill

The Georgia House passed a sweeping public health bill Thursday — the final day of the legislative session — that would allow pharmacists to sell ivermectin without a doctor’s prescription. However, the Senate did not take the bill up, effectively killing it. What’s happening: Senate Bill 440 passed the House on April 2, the last […]

Posted inYour Government

New Georgia law would create one-stop help centers for abuse and trafficking victims

The Georgia General Assembly passed House Bill 1283 on Thursday, the final day of the legislative session. The bill now goes to the governor. If signed, it would allow counties, cities, and district attorneys across the state to open Family Justice Centers — single locations where victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder […]

Posted inRepresenting You

Georgia lawmakers won’t fix the state’s dismal health care, but they may change the state flower

Georgia could soon have an official new state flower.  Senate Bill 240, sponsored by Milledgeville Republican Sen. Rick Williams, calls for changing the state floral emblem from the invasive Cherokee rose, which is native to southern China, to the native sweetbay magnolia.  Similar bills have run into opposition in the past, including from the chairman […]

Posted inCrime

Two Macon postal workers arrested in mail theft case

Two U.S. Postal Service employees in Macon have been arrested on felony charges tied to a mail theft investigation, and authorities are looking for two more suspects connected to the same case. What’s happening: 26-year-old Anthony Tyler Thomas and 28-year-old Toni Jones-Coleman, were both identified as suspects after a joint investigation by the Bibb County […]

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