GNB Update

Hope you enjoyed Monday...Here's the news...

The Georgia Supreme Court rules in favor of Columbus against the parent company of Expedia.com. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that the state's high court voted 4-3 against Expedia Inc. on Monday. The court that Expedia must collect taxes on hotel room rentals. That's based on the amount a customer pays for renting a room. Expedia must remit that amount to the city too. However, the ruling didn't specify whether or not Columbus had the right to go after back taxes. A lower court also ruled in favor of the west central Georgia city.

It could take at least two years for Columbus to regain some of its lost jobs. That's according to two leading Georgia economists. Ledger-Enquirer.com reports that the metro Columbus area is expected to leave behind most of the damage from the recession by the middle of 2011. But IHS Global Insight also reports that such a revival might not happen until near the end of 2012. University of Georgia economic forecaster Jeffrey Humphreys cites the imminent arrival of NCR, and the new Kia plant as the reason behind a potential economic revival in the Chattahoochee Valley. Columbus State University economics professor Vicky Langston also disputes findings from IHS that it could it take almost three years for the region to bounce back from the recession. She did cite U.S. Bureau of Labor that show Columbus had a work force of less than 118,000 workers dating back to April. That's down from more than 123,000 workers near the end of 2006.

"Seven" turns out to not be a lucky number for a metro Atlanta Boy Scout troop. The Associated Press reports that seven scouts from the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody were sent home after testing positive for the H1N1 virus last week. Camp officials say there were no cases as of Monday. Still, health officials suggested that the boys be checked for symptoms daily with infrared thermometers, while staffers face a check-up twice a day.

That's the news. GNB is online at georgianewsbeat.blogspot.com, and on Twitter at twitter.com/georgianewsbeat. Enjoy your Monday night.