The summary is: 1) The Ocmulgee National Monument in Georgia is one step closer to becoming a national park after Congressmen introduced a bill to change its name and boundaries. 2) Lowndes County and the city of Valdosta, Georgia will vote on budgets this week, with Lowndes County proposing a smaller budget compared to last year. 3) Five Guys Burgers and Fries opened in Valdosta, Georgia and attracted hundreds of customers on its first day despite being in the morning.

1. Congressman
Austin ScottRepresenting Georgia’s 8th District
Congressman Austin Scott Morning News Clips
Monday, June 15, 2015
JAS News
WMGT 41: Ocmulgee National Monument one step closer to becoming national
park
The Ocmulgee National Monument is one step closer to becoming a national park. Last
week, congressmen introduced a bill that would change the site's name as well as create a larger
boundary for the existing area. The superintendent of the monument, along with U.S.
congressmen Austin Scott and Sanford Bishop, are working to change the name and grow the
park. Scott and Bishop introduced a bipartisan bill to make that happen and maybe look a step
further.
Local News
Valdosta Daily Times: Lowndes, Valdosta voting on budgets
Lowndes County and the City of Valdosta will vote on Fiscal Year 2015-16 budgets this week.
The Lowndes County Commission will vote on its budget today at 5 p.m., a $100,544,485
budget. The overall number is down from $112,785,361 in FY 2014-15. The budget does not
include a tax increase.
Valdosta Daily Times: Five Guys burgers opens in Valdosta
After months of driving to Valdosta and seeing structural progress — concrete being poured,
frames going up and red chairs and red umbrellas being placed — rising senior Brooks County
offensive tackle Austin White finally got his chance to enjoy Five Guys Burgers and Fries on the
store’s opening day Monday. According to the rules of the clock, it was still morning and lunch
time had not yet come, yet White and hundreds of Valdosta residents forewent the rules to get a
hamburger.
Thomasville Times-Enterprise: Tired Creek open house held
Hundreds of Grady County taxpayers showed up Saturday to see for themselves the progress
made on the multi-million dollar Tired Creek Lake project during an open house and tour of the
site. According to Mike Binion, lake manager, 200 to 300 people came out for the informal open
house. Tours of the dam and lake were given, and Binion and county commissioners were on
hand to answer questions.
Thomasville Times-Enterprise: Thomas County BOE approves $55.2 million
budget
The Thomas County Board of Education adopted a $55.2 million budget for the 2015-2016
school year that is expected to end furlough days for all employees without raising local property
taxes. The county school system expects to receive about $950,000 more in state Quality Basic
Education (QBE) funding in 2015-2016 thanwas received during the 2014-2015 school year.

2. The increase results from a partial restoration of austerity cuts imposed since the state stopped
fully funding the state education formula.
Macon Telegraph: J-STARS wing gets new commander
One of the highest profile units at Robins Air Force Base has a new leader. Col. John J. Cooper
took command of the 461st Air Control Wing on Monday in a ceremony before hundreds at the
Museum of Aviation.
Macon Telegraph: New Perry Hotel on the verge of “her next cotillion”
Designer James Farmer likens the New Perry Hotel to a Southern belle waiting in her ball gown
for her big moment. “The New Perry is waiting for her next cotillion,” said the 33-year-old
Farmer, a fourth-generation Houston County native who lives in Perry. His company, James
Farmer Inc., is under contract with the new owners of the historic hotel to provide interior
design and marketing services.
State News
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia’s move to dismiss Supreme Court ‘water
wars’ case is denied
The Florida-Georgia “water wars” case will carry on, as a special master appointed by the U.S.
Supreme Court denied Georgia’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Special Master Ralph I. Lancaster ruled that the federal government does not have to be a party
to the case, and also kept Alabama out of the litigation.
Florida sued Georgia in the Supreme Court, asking for the state to restrict its water use to 1992
levels because it claimed the Peach State’s over-consumption was depriving the Apalachicola
Bay and its oystermen.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Pipeline company appeals Georgia permit denial
Pipeline builder Kinder Morgan recently appealed Georgia’s decision to kill the Palmetto
Pipeline which would run from South Carolina to Florida. The Texas-based infrastructure
company claims the Georgia Department of Transportation wrongly denied last month a permit
needed to build the 210-mile long gas, diesel and ethanol pipeline through east Georgia. DOT
commissioner Russell McMurry ruled that Kinder Morgan hadn’t demonstrated that the
pipeline met a public need.
WABE 90.1: Study: Ga. Abortion Law Impacts Women Beyond The Southeast
Public health researchers have found that a Georgia law banning later abortions is having
significant effects on women outside the state and even the Southeast region. And the law
isn’t even in full effect yet. Women in Georgia used to be able to get legal abortions as late as
26 weeks into a pregnancy. That changed two years ago when Gov. Nathan Deal signed a bill
reducing that time to 20 weeks from fertilization.
National T op Line News
Jobs and Economy
CNN | Walmart to stop selling Confederate flag merchandise
Walmart, the country's largest retailer, will remove all Confederate flag merchandise from its stores, the
company toldCNN Monday.
Full Story
Washington Post | Here’s why home sales are finally surging
Home sales are on pace for their best year since2007. First-timebuyers are streaming back into the
market. Prices are skyrocketing, aided by a strongerjob marketand tantalizingly low mortgagerates that
are creating pressure for buyers to act fast.
Full Story

3. President Obama
AP | US Says IS a Suspect in Benghazi Attack Killed in Airstrike
An Islamic State operative suspected ofinvolvement in the 2012attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in
Benghazi, Libya, has been killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq, the Pentagon said Monday.
Full Story
AP | US to Raise Breach ofGovernment Records at T alks with China
The United States began annual security talks with China on Monday, and an official said it plans to raise
directly the breach ofa federal government serverthat resultedin the theft ofpersonnel and security
clearance records ofmillions ofemployees and contractors.
Full Story
AP | White House: Action Needed Now to Slow Climate Change
Failure to act on climate change could cause an estimated 57,000 deaths a year in the United States from
poor air quality by 2100, the Obama administration argued in a report released Monday that warns ofdire
effects ofglobal warming.
Full Story
Congress
AP | McConnell asks senators to cast pro-trade vote once more
Backers ofPresident Barack Obama's trade agenda are imploring key senators to stand by theirprevious
votes when they revisit the issuein a showdown set for Tuesday.
Full Story
National Journal | House Ethics Panel Extends Review ofAzerbaijan T rip,Slams Leaks
The committee is looking into whether a trip taken by nine lawmakers was secretly sponsoredby a state -
owned oil company.
Full Story
AP | Senate Overwhelmingly Approves New T SA Administrator
The Senate voted on Monday to confirm a new leader for the Transportation Security Administration in
the wake of reports ofstartling security gaps at U.S. airports.
Full Story
Obamacare
T he Hill | McConnell to fast-track ObamaCare tax repeal
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is readying the Senate to take up a repeal ofthe
ObamaCare tax on medical devices.
Full Story
CBS News | Poll: Obamacare and the Supreme Court
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to issuea ruling that could impactthe Affordable Care Act, 47
percent ofAmericans now approve ofthe health care law, the highest in CBS News and New Y ork Times
polling.
Full Story
Veterans Affairs
Las Vegas Review Journal | VA’s Women’s Health Center celebrating first anniversary
The number ofwomen veterans enrolled for health carein Southern Nevada has doubled from 3,000 in
2008 to 6,000 this year, or 10 percent ofthe some 60,000 veterans who havesigned up to receive medical
care in the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System.
Full Story
Opinion
Wall Street Journal | See No Iran Evil at State
Here’s why Obama will ignore Tehran’s nuclear violations.
Full Story
Washington Post | T he power offorgiveness in Charleston
When many relativesofthose cruelly murdered in Charleston —by a man who talked and prayed with his
victims for an hour before systematically gunning them down —publicly offered their forgiveness,it was

4. stunning and admirable in many ways.
Full Story
New York T imes | T ake Down the Confederate Flag,Symbol ofHatred
The flag does not truly honor Civil War dead and South Carolina’s Legislature should remove the flag
from the Capitol grounds.
Full Story