AC repair inCrescent, GA

Industrial facilities released more than 5 million pounds of toxic chemicals into Georgia’s waterways in 2020, putting Georgia in 13th place nationwide, according to a new report released by Environment Georgia.

Georgia is also one of the top 10 states with the highest pollution loads for chemicals linked to cancer as well as developmental and reproductive health risks, according to the report.

“All too often, polluters use our rivers as open sewers with no repercussions” said Jennifer Duenas, public health advocate for Environment Georgia.

Some of the pollutants in Georgia’s waterways come from traditional sources, such as run-off and wastewater from factories.

But long-lasting particles such as micro plastics and PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) are also a serious problem in rivers and lakes, said Duenas. The EPA first required companies to report PFAS data in 2020 and much less is known about these pollutants.

Such chemicals are difficult to track and regulate because they are found in many common consumer goods, from plastics to fertilizers, said Amy Sharma, executive director of Science for Georgia, a group that seeks to make science accessible to the public.

“We also need to upgrade our definitions and legal limits. [They] should reflect current knowledge, not 1970s science,” Sharma said. “We need to double down on accountability, enforcement and infrastructure.”

The Clean Water Act, a landmark federal law that took effect 50 years ago, helped improve the country’s water health, Sharma said. The act had far-ranging effects, from ensuring clean drinking water to putting limits on industrial polluters.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about the law earlier this week. If the plaintiffs in that case are successful, the federal government’s ability to regulate waterways and wetlands would be reduced.

Though federal regulation is important, state policymakers can take steps to help protect waterways, Duenas said.

“On the state level, you can create policies, legislation, that reduce the amount of PFAS actually produced as part of manufacturing systems,” she said. “You can also strengthen permits that protect waterways.”

“The state issues permitting in respect to agricultural waste,” said Georgia Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, who serves on the House Science and Technology Committee and is a board member of the Altamaha River Keeper.

Oliver noted there is currently an effort to set up Georgia’s first national park around the Ocmulgee River basin and that clean water would be essential to that effort.

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.

You cannot blame Willie Fritz for choosing to depart for Georgia Tech, as reports Sunday have begun to indicate. The timing is right.

Fritz is 62 years old, so if he is going to move, the veteran coach who has not yet had a Power 5 job needs to move very soon.

There are those that would argue that Georgia Tech is not a great job in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and that may be true. However, Fritz is a master at rebuilding projects. What he has done in seven years at Tulane is downright impressive.

Georgia Tech isn’t Clemson, but if it can be done, Fritz can make it happen.

Along with the Power 5 gig comes the Power 5 paycheck. Fritz will, at the very least, double his salary that is currently estimated at about $2 million per season.

The 2022 version of the Green Wave is the best team he’s had at Tulane and figures to have for some time.

Running back Tyjae Spears, the best player in his tenure, is heading to the NFL. In a 27-24 win at Cincinnati, Spears was absolutely sensational. It will be a different world without him in 2023. Fritz knows it.

On the current depth chart, the Wave starts nine seniors, including defensive stars Dorian Williams and Nick Anderson.

Coaches leaving Tulane when they are offered elsewhere is nothing new.

In 1970, Tulane won the Liberty Bowl, defeating Colorado. Jim Pittman left for TCU.

Nine years later, Arizona came calling for Wave head coach Larry Smith, after a 9-win season.

In 1987, Mack Brown led Tulane to an Independence Bowl invite and left for North Carolina.

In 1998, Tommy Bowden fashioned a perfect regular season and didn’t coach the bowl game. He was off to Clemson.

Some fans will be angry that the news has emerged when Fritz is preparing Tulane for their first AAC title game. New coaching jobs with substantial and immediate recruiting demands wait for no one these days.

The news of Fritz emerging as the top candidate at Georgia Tech came hours after Wisconsin reportedly hired Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell. He probably assessed the situation this way: “I have done everything I can here. Wisconsin isn’t the best job in the Big Ten, but with the right support I can have success there. So, I am going to bet on myself.”

My guess is Willie Fritz can use that exact wording with Georgia Tech and ACC. And you can’t blame him.

NEW ORLEANS – Stetson Bennett, the national championship winning quarterback from the University of Georgia, has been selected as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week for the second time this season. He earns the honor over seven other Manning Award Stars of the Week in the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Facebook contest.

Facebook Voting Results

Bennett, a sixth-year senior for the top-ranked Bulldogs, completed 17-of-25 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns as the then third-ranked Bulldogs upended No. 1 Tennessee, 27-13, in a huge SEC showdown. He opened the scoring with a 13-yard run, then added a pair of passing touchdowns in the highest ranked matchup in Sanford Stadium history.

Bennett, a native of Blackshear, Ga., is 23-3 as a Bulldog starter and has completed 64.3 percent of his passes. The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday when they head to Starkville for another SEC matchup against Mississippi State at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.

The closest competition for Bennett and his Bulldog supporters in the Facebook voting contest came from BYU’s Jaren Hall and Austin Aune of North Texas. Hall completed 29-of-42 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing 83 yards and a score, as the Cougars gained a 31-28 road victory over Boise State. Aune completed 25-of-34 passes for 414 yards and five touchdowns, setting his career-high for passing yards while matching his best for passing touchdowns, as he led the Mean Green to an early 38-0 advantage cruising to a 52-14 C-USA win over FIU.

While the Manning Award selected 30 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List and then made 12 midseason additions in October, all quarterbacks remain eligible for the honor. Ten finalists will be selected and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.

In its first 18 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 13 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with seven Manning Award honorees, while the Big 12 Conference (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) has had five winners. The Atlantic Coast Conference (Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) has had four Manning Award winners. Alabama (B. Young and Jones) joins LSU (Burrow and Russell), Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield) and Texas (McCoy and V. Young) as the only schools with two different winners.

All the Manning Award winners follow in the footsteps of the Mannings themselves. In college, Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning combined for over 25,000 passing yards and 201 touchdowns while playing in 10 bowl games and earning four bowl MVP awards. Archie was the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, while both Peyton and Eli were selected No. 1 overall.

JACKSON — Southern Crescent Technical College held a ribbon cutting at the Butts County Center on Friday, Feb. 17 for a new state-of-the-art Industrial Systems Technology Mobile Training Lab.

The mobile lab will be a teaching tool for students in the fields of industrial systems, mechatronics and automated manufacturing. The lab includes equipment used in today’s advanced manufacturing facilities.

SCTC will also use the new resource to support workforce development projects for municipalities, train current staff at an employer’s workplace, train job seekers looking to gain new skills and work with the next generation of trades workers.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, SCTC President Dr. Irvin Clark spoke of the importance of this lab to the workforce development efforts in Butts and surrounding counties.

He said the mobile lab will be in use next month. Open session mechatronics training will be offered through SCTC in 6-12 week cohorts in 2023. This training targets employed workers, as well as unemployed and underemployed workers who want to increase their skill level.

Timothy Holt, an SCTC industrial systems technology student, shared a student’s perspective on the new mobile lab.

“Anything you need to know for manufacturing can be taught inside this trailer,” said Holt, who works in the automation department at Coca-Cola. “This will help you get the advanced skills you need… and anyone willing to travel to the Atlanta area will be able to get a job based on the skills you learn with this trailer.”

“We are thankful for this opportunity for Butts County,” said Lisa Durden, executive director of the Butts County Chamber of Commerce. “With the development and growth that is coming here, this will further help put us on the map and provide opportunities for our young people in the businesses that we have and the businesses that will come.”

Durden also thanked Clark for recognizing the need for growth at SCTC’s Butts Center and for the advancements that have been made over the past year.

Bob White, executive director of the Butts County Industrial Development Authority, commented on the strength of their partnerships with SCTC.

“For decades, manufacturing has declined in the United States. We were losing jobs and manufacturing, then the pandemic hit and in 2020 we lost more than a million jobs in manufacturing,” White said. “As the economy recovered, only about two-thirds of those jobs came back, and we are still trying to build back the workforce.”

White said the addition of the mobile lab is a major step in providing the skill sets needed to provide the workforce needed in Butts County.

“We are very excited about the tremendous commitment Southern Crescent has made to Butts County,” White said. “In recruiting new business into Butts County and working with our established businesses, we want them to be profitable and to be able to stay in touch with what’s going on in their industries. Mechatronics is a very important part of advanced manufacturing.”

Larry Alford, south metro regional manager of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership at Georgia Tech, shared industry insight on the mobile lab.

“One of the most difficult challenges we face is convincing parents that the technical trade is a great pathway for their students, and for many students, it is by far the best pathway they could choose,” Alford said.

The program concluded with SCTC President Clark cutting the ribbon alongside key individuals and partners who have supported the project.

“This trailer and everything in it will help impact the workforce in the region,” Clark said. “This is not the end. We have more to come, and we will continue to evolve and grow and listen to our workforce partners.”

Industrial systems, mechatronics, and automated manufacturing careers are categorized as High Demand Career Initiatives (HDCI) careers in Georgia. In 2022 Georgia Senate Bill 379, was signed into law by Gov. Brian P. Kemp. As Georgia’s first-ever state-funded apprenticeship initiative, the HDCI Program represents a historic investment by the state of Georgia in and registered apprenticeships.

For more information about this and other SCTC programs, see their website at www.sctech.edu.

Tulane’s football team will play for a conference championship Saturday after becoming just the third Green Wave team in the last 49 years to win at least nine games.

Each of the previous two times, the head coach departed at the end of the season. Could history repeat itself?

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported late Saturday that Willie Fritz is “receiving serious consideration” for the head coaching vacancy at Georgia Tech.

Fritz has ties to Georgia, having coached two seasons at Georgia Southern before accepting the Tulane position in December 2015.

In 1998, following an 11-0 regular season, Tommy Bowden left Tulane to accept the Clemson job.

In the spring after a 9-3 season in 1979, Larry Smith left Tulane to take the job at Arizona.

Additionally, Jim Pittman left following the Liberty Bowl in 1970 to take the TCU job, and in 1987, Mack Brown announced the week of the Green Wave’s appearance in the Independence Bowl that he was leaving for North Carolina.

These are different times at Tulane, however. Fritz is under contract until 2027, and the successes this year are expected to trigger clauses in his deal to enhance his status and make him the highest-paid coach in the American Athletic Conference next season.

Georgia Tech fired athletic director Brent Stansbury and head coach Geoff Collins in late September after a 1-3 start. The school named J Batt as its new athletic director last month, with his first task to hire Collins’ replacement. Batt spent the last five years as executive deputy director of Athletics, chief operating officer, and chief revenue officer at the University of Alabama.

Other names connected to the Georgia Tech vacancy include Coastal Carolina’s Jamey Chadwell and Alabama assistant Bill O’Brien, who was on George O’Leary’s staff at Tech. Tech alumnus Brent Key is also getting consideration after going 4-4 as Collins’ interim replacement.

Georgia Tech’s season ended Saturday with a 37-14 loss to top-ranked Georgia.

Tulane will meet UCF in the AAC title game Saturday at 3 p.m. at Yulman Stadium. Tulane put tickets on sale to the public Sunday morning.