Compiled by Laura Lenz
Laura Lenz reported that the Georgia State Senate is set to pass the Save Girls Sports Act which proposes to ban transgender girls from women’s sports teams in both public and private high schools.
The higher education committee passed the bill with a 5-3 vote on Wednesday, sending it to the full Senate. According to the Human Rights Campaign, Georgia is among at least 17 other states that are considering similar exclusions. State democrats pushed back on the bill, stating that other states that don’t have restrictions for transgender girls and school sports haven’t experienced problems.
Lenz reported that Piedmont Athens Regional is opening a vaccine clinic on Mar. 4. The clinic hopes to provide between 700 to 800 vaccines a day to eligible participants.
Clarke County School District will begin vaccinating staff members and teachers next week. The first dose of the vaccine will be offered to CCSD staff members starting Mar. 10 and the second dose on Mar. 31.
Thomas Ehlers reported that Cobb County School District will remove ultraviolet lights from classrooms. The AJC reports that UV lights in Argyle Elementary School. UV lights are designed to turn on when no students or faculty are in the building. These lights, located in the ceiling, kill viruses and other microbes on hard surfaces.
The lights were part of a $12 million program by the district aimed at protecting students and staff from the coronavirus. The district is under negotiations with the light company, ProTek, to end their contract.
Michael White gave stock market updates. It’s been a rough week for the stock market with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones losing roughly 2.5% on Tuesday and Wednesday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq has fallen around 4.5% during that same span.
White explained that treasury yields have increased roughly nine basis points since the start of trade Wednesday, indicating that interest prices are going to be increasing. For the most part, technology stocks carry more debt than other sectors, and are more sensitive to rising interest rates due to the longer timelines for growth that they face.
While most companies take two to three years to be profitable, tech companies can take over double that time due to the increased price points of entry in the markets as well as increased research and development costs. As a result, tech companies have to take on more debt than other sectors to have an influx of cash, making them more susceptible to rising interest rates.
Ehlers reported that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made his first public appearance since Feb. 24 on Wednesday amid three separate sexual harassment allegations. Cuomo is accused of asking inappropriate questions to an aide who thought Cuomo wanted to have relations with her based on the line of questioning. Another aide accused Cuomo of kissing her and asking her to play strip poker. One final accuser said Cuomo tried to kiss her and a photo of Cuomo touching her face was released.
The accusations come after a Cuomo aide admitted that the state, according to the New York Times, “withheld data because it feared an investigation by the Trump Justice Department.”
New York State representatives and candidates have called for his resignation, but in the briefing.
Cuomo said, “I wasn’t elected by politicians, I was elected by the people of the state of New York. I’m not going to resign.”
Mariah Rose reported that K-pop music group BTS has been named best-selling artist in the world, with Taylor Swift trailing ranking second.
Rose reported Dua Lipa is ready to become more private.
The pop star said, “I’ve grown to be more private because so much of my life is public, and I probably censor myself more than I used to.”
Rose gave the update that Square, the mobile payments company led by Jack Dorsey, has announced its plan to own a majority of Tidal, the music streaming service owned by Jay-Z, in a $297 million deal.
White reported that spring training is kicking off for the Braves down in Florida, where they currently sit at 2-2. MVP Freddie Freeman has yet to see the diamond, as he was late getting to Florida due to the birth of his children, but the rest of the Braves are currently taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates.
A few standouts of spring training so far are Austin Riley, who’s gone 4-for-6 with one RBI and Ender Inciarte who is sitting at 2-for-4 with one walk and a stolen base Ian Anderson was dominant in his debut, going for 2.0 innings and allowing zero runs and two strikeouts.
The Hawks released Lloyd Pierce on Monday, a move that was met with some controversy due to Pierce’s standing in the community after this summer. However, Pierce had underwhelmed in the past one and a half seasons, blowing many leads this season. Former Pacers head coach Nate McMillan is taking over the Hawks, who have gone 2-0 since Pierce’s firing heading into the all-star break. The Hawks will take the court again a week from today against the Toronto Raptors.