GNB Update

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of GNB...Here's the news...

Several electric membership corporations say no thanks to a proposed power plant. Macon.com reports that four EMC's in middle Georgia have pulled out of a deal to build a coal-fired power plant in the region. They represent half the stake in that proposal. The two companies that had the largest stake in the deal--Jackson and GreyStone Power, pulled out, as did smaller companies Excelsior and Diverse Power. The six remaining EMC's, however, say they're moving forward with the Plant Washington project. It's being developed just north of Sandersville, and will cost more than $2 billion.

Some heated debate over lost funding. The Albany Herald reports that state Senator Freddie Powell Sims accused state Representative Ed Rynders of fighting to eliminate funding for Albany State University during the 2009 legislative session. Sims claims the funds were eliminated because she refused to vote for House Speaker Glenn Richardson's GREAT plan in 2008. But Rynders says such a conversation never took place. Sims says that she called the press conference to provide "clarity and transparency" to the issues that affect southwest Georgia.

There's good news for those working in Georgia's biotechnology industry. The Associated Press reports that Governor Sonny Perdue announced plans for the state to start a new "drug discovery" institute on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta earlier today. The governor also announced plans to build a new research center to built next to Georgia Tech's campus. Both announcements were made during the 2009 BIO International conference in Atlanta.

That's the news. GNB is available online at georgianewsbeat.blogspot.com, and on Twitter at twitter.com/georgianewsbeat. Have a good Tuesday night.