Greetings, Georgia.

It's Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023.

The Georgia Bulldogs won the national college football championship last night! See below for highlights.

The Georgia legislature returned to the Gold Dome on Monday to start its 2023 session, welcoming our state's most diverse group of lawmakers ever.

Meanwhile, a Georgia school district is facing a lawsuit after banning Black Lives Matter clothing, and today's your last chance for cheap gasoline for a while, as the state gas tax resumes tomorrow.

Read on for more — including an update on sea turtles rescued from the recent cold snap.

This is Georgia today.

TOP STORIES

✭ UGA dominates TCU to win back-to-back national college football championships

Players congratulate UGA quarterback Stetson Bennett after a play during the national championship football game on Jan. 9, 2023 (Georgia Football / Twitter) 

The Georgia Bulldogs have won back-to-back college football championships after defeating Texas Christian University 65-7 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Monday night.

Coach Kirby Smart's top-ranked team won the championship last year, and Monday night UGA became the first school to repeat as champs in major college football since Alabama a decade ago, and the first to go back-to-back in the nine-year history of the four-team playoff, the Associated Press reported.

Georgia now holds the record for most points scored in a national title game.

Heisman Trophy finalist Stetson Bennett and the Bulldogs had been the No. 1 team in the country in 21 of the last 23 AP Top 25 college football polls, dating back to Oct. 10, 2021.

Since the Bulldogs won their first national title in 1980, only three teams have won consecutive national titles: Nebraska (1994-1995), USC (2003-2004) and Alabama (2011-2012).

✭ Georgia special grand jury finishes probe of 2020 election

Former President Donald Trump speaks as he announces a third run for president, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Nov. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

The special grand jury in Atlanta that has been investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies committed any crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia has finished its work.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who was overseeing the panel, issued an order Monday dissolving the special grand jury. The two-page order says the grand jurors completed a final report and that a majority of the county's superior court judges voted to dissolve the special grand jury.

The end of the special grand jury moves the investigation one step closer to possible criminal charges against Trump and others. The decision whether to seek an indictment from a regular grand jury will be up to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Over the course of about six months, the special grand jury heard testimony from dozens of witnesses, including numerous close Trump associates and assorted high-ranking Georgia state officials. The case is among several around the country that threaten legal peril for the former president as he seeks a second term in 2024.

Special grand juries in Georgia cannot issue indictments but instead can issue a final report recommending actions to be taken.

GPB NEWS HEADLINES

• Lawmakers are kicking off the 2023 legislative session. Here’s what Georgians can expect
• Kemp done being underestimated, aims to steer GOP past Trump
• Inspector general finds state workers got erroneous unemployment payments during pandemic

WHO KNEW?

✭ Sea turtles rescued from the cold

A person holds a cold stunned sea turtle. (GA Dept of Natural Resources)

Workers responded to reports of live stranded cold stunned sea turtles following unseasonably cold temperatures during the Christmas holiday.

A total of six live green turtles were found during the last week of December, including 5 on Georgia beaches (St. Simons, Jekyll, Little Cumberland, and Cumberland) and one found floating in Wassaw Sound.

Cold stunning may occur when a passing cold front causes water temperatures to drop more quickly than normal. Sea turtles foraging in shallow water may become lethargic and float to the surface, where they are washed ashore by winds or tides.

A natural event, cold stunning is a rare phenomenon in Georgia due to its high tidal amplitude. Sea turtles are typically forced to leave shallow water areas at low tide to make them less susceptible to cold.

All the stunned animals were transported to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center at Jekyll Island for rehabilitation. After a quick recovery at the Center, four green sea turtles that were cold stunned during the freezing weather in Georgia last month were  released back to the ocean.

From local elected officials to state and federal government, GPB's Political Rewind takes the time to break down the issues and speak directly to the decision makers who impact Georgia. 

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