GNB Update

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

Georgia is cutting back on cutting the grass. Macon.com reports that the Georgia Department of Transportation is limiting the number of times grass will be cut on roadsides statewide starting July 1. The grass sides of state highways will be cut only once a year instead of twice. The amount of cutting on interstate routes will go down from four to three times a year. The GDOT hopes to save almost $11 million next year from making that move.

A sugar refinery near Savannah starts over after a deadly explosion more than a year ago. The Associated Press reports that Imperial Sugar plant in Port Wentworth reopened Tuesday after 16 months due to the blast that happened on February 7, 2008. It killed 14 people. Investigators say accumulations of sugar dust igniting like gunpowder caused the explosion.

A south Georgia county is declared a "Work Ready" community. The Valdosta Daily Times reports that Governor Sonny Perdue gave that certification to Cook County north of Valdosta recently. Cook County earned almost 300 work ready certificates, and increased their high school graduation rate to almost 68 percent. That's up from 65 percent. Counties must show a specific increase in public high school graduation rates to be eligible for the "Work Ready" designation. Click here for more on the Georgia Work Ready program.

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