April 2, 2025 WSB Radio
Staff and Graham Carroll report that the National Weather Service has confirmed that at least three tornadoes touched down across the metro Atlanta area during Monday’s round of severe weather, including two EF-0 twisters and one EF-1. The latest confirmed tornado, an EF-0, struck Fayette County with estimated wind speeds of 70 miles per hour.
April 2, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Julia Roberts reports, just in time for Child Abuse Prevention [CAP] Month in April, Prevent Child Abuse Georgia, the state leader in the primary prevention ecosystem is now Positive Childhood Alliance Georgia (PCA Georgia) and will remain the Georgia chapter affiliate of Prevent Child Abuse America.
April 2, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
J. Scott Trubey reports that the CEO of electric vehicle maker Rivian told Bloombergon Tuesday that he and leaders of other automakers are waiting to see how “the dust settles” from the latest round of tariff announcements expected to come Wednesday from President Donald Trump — as well as how leaders of other nations respond. And the “dynamic environment” of the trade disruptions could mean “our production footprint may be different than what we were initially planning,” Rivian Chief Executive RJ Scaringe said.
April 2, 2025 WABE
Marlon Hyde reports that the Metro Atlanta Chamber estimates the FIFA World Cup could spur more than $500 million in economic impact. Some businesses around the airport are preparing a year ahead. Atlanta will host eight matches in next summer’s FIFA World Cup, which is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of spectators to the Mercedes Benz Stadium.
April 2, 2025 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Brittany McGee reports that the Department of Government Efficiency said in a post on X that it isn’t closing Social Security Administration offices in Georgia, including one in Columbus, after its website indicated the offices would be closed. U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock posted about the closure on X on March 19, promising to fight cuts to Social Security.
April 2, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Stanley Dunlap reports that a federal judge has dismissed a long-running lawsuit challenging the security of Georgia’s electronic voting machines even though the judge maintained substantial concerns about the system. According to U.S. District Court Judge Amy Totenberg’s ruling issued Monday, the plaintiffs in Curling v. Raffensperger were not able to demonstrate that the state’s electronic voting system disenfranchises them from exercising their right to vote in elections.
April 2, 2025 Capitol Beat News
Dave Williams reports that the state of Georgia has won another legal case in its long-running “water wars” with Florida and Alabama. A federal judge Monday sided with Georgia, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), and the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority in a dispute over allocation of water from Lake Allatoona.
April 2, 2025 Macon Telegraph
Alba Rosa reports that President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has pulled out of a lawsuit that accused Houston County of violating its Black residents’ civil rights through its election system, court records show. Houston County and its commissioners, Dan Perdue, Shane Gottwals, Gail Robinson, Tal Talton and Mark Byrd were sued by former President Joe Biden’s DOJ in January before Trump took office for allegedly creating an election method that diluted the voting strength of its Black residents, which violated the Voting Rights Act.
April 2, 2025 State Affairs
Beau Evans reports that a flurry of high-profile bills thought to be stalled in the Legislature have been given new breath in the final days of the legislative session, which ends Friday. They include a sales tax holiday for firearm purchases, stiff punishments for librarians who allow children to access “harmful” materials and a ban on policies and curriculums that promote “diversity, equity and inclusion” ideas in schools.
April 2, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Ross Williams reports, with the 2025 legislative session set to expire at the end of the week, supporters of a controversial “religious freedom” bill gathered in the Capitol to call for its final passage. Acworth Republican Sen. Ed Setzler’s Senate Bill 36, also known as the Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, has passed the Senate and a House committee.
April 2, 2025 Capitol Beat News
Ty Tagami reports that legislation that would regulate an alternative method for disposal of the dead is on its way to Gov. Brian Kemp. The Georgia House of Representatives on Monday adopted Senate Bill 241 by a vote of 157-4. The Senate had already approved the bill in a near unanimous vote in early March.
April 2, 2025 The Brunswick News
State Rep. Rick Townsend wants more scrutiny over the regulatory history of out-of-state Gordon Jackson reports that companies seeking to do business in Georgia. Townsend, R-St. Simons Island, in a phone interview Tuesday, called it the “Bad Actors Bill,” intended to ensure the past bad business practices by companies anywhere in the nation are considered when they apply for permits that must be reviewed by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Environmental Advisory Council.
April 2, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Ross Williams and Jill Nolin report, with only a few more days left to pass legislation, the state Legislature advanced two controversial Senate bills that would add new restrictions to gender affirming care. Vidalia Republican Sen. Blake Tillery’s Senate Bill 39 passed through a House committee on a party line vote with a new amendment.
April 2, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greg Bluestein reports that Georgia Democrats are channeling their fury and frustration inward as liberal voters and grassroots organizers demand a more aggressive, confrontational response to President Donald Trump’s return to power. Activists this week forced U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams to resign as the party’s chair in the state, a move backed by powerful insiders — including U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff — who demanded a leadership reset ahead of the senator’s 2026 bid for a second term.
