Georgia Trend Daily – July 8, 2025
July 8, 2025 Athens Banner-Herald
The Hi-Lo Trail from Athens to Savannah remains a vision, but much still to be done
Wayne Ford reports, recently, the Georgia Hi-Lo Trail organization gained the land it needs for a 4-mile section in Washington County in the Sandersville and Tennille area, but the actual trail is still on the drawing board. “Going after funding has been really tough this year for anything trail related,” said Mary Charles Howard.
July 8, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Where Community Thrives: How Town Center Community Inspires Connection and Creativity
Julia Roberts reports, in Atlanta’s fast growing and evolving landscape, “placemaking” isn’t just a buzzword. It’s a strategy for economic growth, community identity, and long-term vitality. Town Center Community, located in the heart of Cobb County, is proving that when you put purpose into place, great things happen.
July 8, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
California upgraded its film incentive program. How will this affect Georgia?
Savannah Sicurella reports, the arms race to land film and television productions in Georgia and the United States at large just got more intense. After months of lobbying from Hollywood unions, crew members and studios, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a measure to more than double the cap on its film tax credit program to $750 million.
July 8, 2025 The Brunswick News
Search ongoing for industrial sites
Gordon Jackson reports that the Golden Isles Development Authority is in the midst of negotiations to acquire different tracts of land for industrial development.Ryan Moore, the authority’s president and CEO, said the authority owns about 60 acres that are waiting for development, as well as property near the Brunswick Golden Isles Airport specifically for aviation-related businesses and about 1,400 acres available at the Georgia Breakbulk Logistics Park.
July 8, 2025 Appen Media
Forsyth County uses zoning pause to chart future building requirements
Jon Wilcox reports that a pause on residential projects could provide the Forsyth County Commission some breathing room to make long-term changes to shape future development. At a June 24 work session, commissioners reviewed possible changes to development codes and the comprehensive plan that range from the type of trees that should be planted to subdivision amenities.
July 8, 2025 Rome News-Tribune
Esplanade: 650-acre ‘resort style’ subdivision planned for Bartow County
Staff reports, plans for a 650-acre subdivision of approximately 1,100 upscale homes in Emerson are out for review by Floyd and nearby counties in the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission area. The “resort-style residential development” — Alpharetta-based Taylor Morrison’s Esplanade brand — exceeds the threshold to be classified as a development of regional impact.
July 8, 2025 Marietta Daily Journal
Mableton residents could see new tax as city grapples with $9.5M county agreement
Isabelle Manders reports, to pay the $9.5 million Cobb County is charging Mableton, Mayor Michael Owens tells the MDJ his city is looking to set up a special service district for police, meaning a new tax for residents. About a month ago, the county and city reached a deal to fund Mableton residents’ services for the next year. That deal was made after 12 hours of mediation, two rounds of voting and one missed deadline.
July 8, 2025 Savannah Morning News
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s next focus: Chemtrails. Georgia rep seeks to ban ‘weather modifications’
Ryne Dennis reports, after voting to pass President Donald Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ last week, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has turned her focus to something more pressing: Chemtrails. Greene will introduce a bill soon on the House floor that will prohibit “the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere for the express purpose of altering weather, temperature, climate, or sunlight intensity,” she said Saturday on X, formerly Twitter.
July 8, 2025 Capitol Beat News
Appellate court: Local elections officials must certify results
Dave Williams reports that certification of election results in Georgia is a mandatory duty of local elections officials – not a discretionary decision – the state Court of Appeals has ruled. The decision dismissed a lawsuit filed by Julie Adams, a Republican member of the Fulton County Board of Elections and Registration who refused to certify the results of last year’s presidential primary and maintained she had the legal authority to do so.
July 8, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Former south Georgia lawmaker Dean Burke appointed to lead DCH
Maya Homan reports, Dean Burke, a doctor and former state lawmaker, has been chosen to lead Georgia’s Department of Community Health, a state agency tasked with regulating health care facilities across the state and overseeing programs like Medicaid, PeachCare and the State Health Benefit Plan. Burke, who currently serves as the state agency’s chief medical officer, will take over as commissioner in August.
July 8, 2025 Capitol Beat News
Georgia lawyers consider limited role for legal assistance by non-attorneys
Ty Tagami reports that a committee created by the Georgia Supreme Court is recommending that the state try letting people with special legal training do limited kinds of attorney work that would give more people access to the justice system. A three-year pilot program in three parts of the state — rural, urban, and a mid-sized community — would allow the legal community to experiment with expanding legal practice “into new areas with the urgent unmet legal needs of low-income and rural Georgians,” said the report, which was released Monday by the high court’s Study Committee on Legal Regulatory Reform.
July 8, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Burt Jones enters Georgia governor’s race with Trump-aligned platform
Greg Bluestein reports, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones entered the race for governor on Tuesday with a campaign modeled after President Donald Trump’s agenda, complete with promises to slash taxes, combat illegal immigration and fight Democratic priorities. The long-expected announcement was paired with a sunny campaign video emphasizing Jones’ record as Georgia’s No. 2 politician and his long-standing ties to Trump.
