GNB Update

Hope you've had a productive Tuesday...Here's the news...

Anticipated cutbacks from the state strike again. This time it's happening in southwest Georgia. The Albany Herald reports that the Dougherty County School System plans to do more with less financially for fiscal year 2010. It has tentative plans to work with $5.7 million less than last year. The preliminary cut will drop next year's budget to just over $122 million. Last year's budget originally totaled $128 million.

High-speed Internet access could soon be coming to a community near you. The Albany Herald reports that officials with the Southwest Georgia Regional Development Center on Monday unveiled a plan that would bring such access to some of the most poverty-stricken areas of the region. Executive Director Dan Bollinger made that pitch to Dougherty County commissioners convincing them to become one of 21 counties to come on board with the project. The federally-funded project would cost $60 million to implement.

Coastal Georgia has center stage for a new movie. The Associated Press reports that Tybee Island will serve as the setting for a new film starring teenage pop music star Miley Cyrus. The movie titled "The Last Song" was originally scheduled to be filmed in North Carolina, but chose Savannah and Tybee Island because Georgia offered a better incentive package. The film is scheduled for release next year.

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