Georgia Trend Daily – July 23, 2025
July 23, 2025 Macon Telegraph
Coca-Cola to sell classic Coke with cane sugar in US following Trump request. Here’s when
Sundi Rose reports that Coca-Cola, one of Georgia’s oldest and most significant companies, has made national headlines with an announcement stating it will debut a new version of the original Coke in the fall, made with real U.S. cane sugar. The Atlanta-based beverage giant revealed Tuesday, as part of the company’s second-quarter earnings report , it plans to expand its core product lineup in response to evolving consumer taste and recent comments from former President Donald Trump.
Fischer, McGriff, Koski, Harris
July 23, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Doing Good Work
Don Sadler reports, Atlanta is getting worldwide recognition, the likes of which the city hasn’t seen since the 1996 Olympics, because it will be among the host cities of the world’s most popular sporting event, the FIFA World Cup 2026. When choosing host cities, key areas of focus include roads, airports, public transportation, the city’s ability to provide security and safety and its overall stability.
July 23, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘I couldn’t lose.’ Georgia apprenticeships get boost from federal grant.
Jason Armesto reports, it’s a 90-degree summer day and Levar Smith Sr. is wearing a jacket and big, blue gloves. There is no air conditioning in this small hangar on the airfield of Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where the Atlanta summer is made hotter by Smith’s welding torch and its white-hot flame.
July 23, 2025 Gainesville Times
Here’s how $5B freeze on federal education funds could impact schools in Hall, Gainesville
Ben Anderson reports that President Donald Trump’s abrupt freeze on billions in federal education funding has created uncertainty in school districts across the country, and local education leaders are feeling the pressure too. Heather Barrett, director of Title I services for Hall County Schools, estimated that more than $1.8 million in federal funds remain frozen — though about $1.3 million will carry over from last year, leaving the district with a $560,000 shortfall.
July 23, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Family members, free speech advocates push for release of detained Georgia journalist
Maya Homan reports that lawyers, free speech advocates and family members gathered Tuesday at Georgia’s state Capitol in Atlanta to advocate for Mario Guevara, an Emmy-award winning Spanish-language journalist who has remained in federal custody more than a month after his arrest at a metro Atlanta protest. Guevara, who was known for his immigration reporting, was covering a protest against the Trump administration’s immigration policies when he was arrested in DeKalb County on June 14.
July 23, 2025 Fox 5 Atlanta
Georgia among top states as non-criminal ICE arrests surge around country
Joyce Lupiani reports that immigration enforcement has intensified under President Donald Trump’s second term, with non-criminal arrests making up nearly half of all U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apprehensions in June 2025. In Georgia, 42% of arrests that month involved individuals with no documented criminal convictions.
July 23, 2025 Capitol Beat News
State GOP returns political contributions to court receiver for First Fidelity, an alleged Ponzi scheme
Ty Tagami reports, the Georgia Republican Party has returned money contributed by a family associated with a financial institution that the federal government alleged was a Ponzi scheme. Saying he was not obliged to return the money but felt it was a “moral duty,” state GOP Chairman Josh McKoon announced Tuesday that the party had delivered $36,844 to the court-appointed receiver for First Liberty Building & Loan.
July 23, 2025 Rome News-Tribune, KFF Health News
Georgia shows rough road ahead with Medicaid work requirements
Renuka Rayasam and Sam Whitehead report, every time Ashton Alexander sees an ad for Georgia Pathways to Coverage, it feels like a “kick in the face.” Alexander tried signing up for Pathways, the state’s limited Medicaid expansion, multiple times and got denied each time, he said, even though he met the qualifying terms because he’s a full-time student.
July 23, 2025 WABE
Abortion-rights, anti-abortion advocates mark three years of Georgia ban
Jess Mador reports that Georgia’s abortion law H.B. 481 took effect three years ago, following the U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision ending federal abortion protections. Proponents of the law say it’s working as designed. Atlanta abortion-rights advocates, doctors and patients say the state law continues to interfere with pregnancy care.
July 23, 2025 Georgia Recorder
2026 comes early: Georgia Senate prepares for mass exodus
Niles Francis reports, at least 10 state senators — Republican and Democrat — are leaving behind their seats and leadership positions to run for “some other higher office,” in the colorful words of the speaker. And that number could grow as more offices open up ahead of the 2026 elections.
July 23, 2025 Capitol Beat News
State ethics panel dismisses complaint against Burt Jones
Dave Williams reports that the State Ethics Commission has dismissed a complaint calling for an investigation of Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ $10 million loan to his gubernatorial campaign. In a letter dated Monday, commission Director David Emadi wrote that the complaint failed to allege a violation of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Act.
July 23, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Trump ally no longer believes Kemp, Raffensperger should be prosecuted
David Wickert reports that for years Bill White picked fights with some of Georgia’s top elected Republicans, going so far as to say some should be prosecuted for failing to help President Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election. On Tuesday, White had to answer for some of those statements at a hearing before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is considering his nomination to be Trump’s ambassador to Belgium.
