(GA. NEWS NETWORK)
*Approximately 1,1001 employees will be losing their jobs at International Paper, a company that’s operated on the Georgia coast for 88 years. The company announced Thursday that it will close facilities in Savannah and Riceboro as part of a strategic transformation aimed at improving cost efficiency and enhancing customer experience. The employees reportedly affected will be offered severance packages and assistance with job placement. The shutdown of the mills in Riceboro and Savannah is expected to occur in phases, with completion by the end of September.
*Property owners in Walton County are looking at a significant property tax increase. FOX5 reports the board of commissioners approved a hike of nearly 20-percent earlier this month, which will help raise funds to build a new public safety center.
*Vice President JD Vance was in the metro Atlanta area on Thursday promoting President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” aimed at tax cuts for working-class families. He reiterated that point during his stop at an industrial refrigeration manufacturing facility in Peachtree City. But Sen. Jon Ossoff wasted no time criticizing Vance for trying to sell an agenda that Ossoff tells MSNBC is defunding hospitals and nursing homes to cut taxes for the wealthiest people in the country.