Georgia Trend Daily – March 23, 2026
March 23, 2026 WSB Radio
Mayor Andre Dickens confirms deployment of ICE agents to Atlanta airport Monday
Heather Taylor reports, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens confirmed on Sunday that federal immigration agents will be deployed to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Monday morning. “According to federal officials, these personnel will be assigned to support operational needs directed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), including line management and crowd control within the domestic terminals. Federal officials have indicated that this deployment is not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities,” Dickens said in a press release.
Fielding Calls: David Luckie, executive director of the Griffin-Spalding Development Authority. Photo credit: Eric Sun
March 23, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
South Metro Atlanta: The Next Chapter
Kristen Soles McCracken reports, for decades, South Metro Atlanta has been defined by proximity – close to the world’s busiest airport, threaded by major interstates and anchored by logistics and distribution. Today, that geography still matters, but it no longer tells the whole story.
March 23, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How long are security lines at Atlanta airport? ‘There’s no telling,’ staff says
Staff reports, travelers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport faced lengthy security lines and frustration Sunday, with agents telling passengers to expect to wait as long as five hours at one point, and conflicting instructions led to afternoon chaos as the long lines blocked exits. Lines for security were long early in the day and mostly got worse as the afternoon wore on, with the kickoff of spring break travel season adding to the pressure in the world’s busiest airport.
March 23, 2026 Georgia Futures.org
College application fees waived in March
Staff reports that the Georgia Student Finance Commission is partnering with USG, TCSG and private universities across the state to provide Georgia high school seniors application fee waivers this month. Don’t delay – click here to see which Georgia colleges are waiving fees in March.
March 23, 2026 Marietta Daily Journal
Arthur Blank’s pro women’s soccer club will be based in Marietta
Hunter Riggall reports that the City Council approved a deal Thursday to bring the headquarters and practice facilities of Arthur Blank’s professional women’s soccer club to Marietta. Council members voted unanimously to approve a contract that will give Blank’s company 33 acres of vacant land off Franklin Gateway, half a mile down the road from Atlanta United’s headquarters and practice facility.
March 23, 2026 Georgia Recorder, Grist, WABE
Are Georgia and other states becoming uninsurable? We have the latest data
Staff reports, in recent years, as the United States has suffered a series of damaging climate disasters, experts have warned that the nation is headed toward a homeowner’s insurance crisis. Rates in Georgia have steadily climbed after a string of natural disasters in the last decade, increasing 24% from 2023-2025.
March 23, 2026 Augusta Chronicle
Augusta biotech firm to unveil its sweet new production facilities
Joe Hotchkiss reports, a federal commission studying national security will tour an Augusta factory poised to help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign biotechnology. The Manus factory on Lovers Lane uses and improves eco-friendly manufacturing methods to produce Reb M, a sweetener derived from the stevia plant but missing the bitter aftertaste in other stevia extracts.
March 23, 2026 Gainesville Times
Rep. Andrew Clyde seeks disaster declaration in wake of Winter Storm Fern
Jeff Gill reports that U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens, has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to recommend presidential approval for a major disaster declaration for four Northeast Georgia counties severely affected by Winter Storm Fern. Habersham, Stephens, Rabun and White counties were especially hit hard by the storm, Clyde said in a press release Thursday, March 19.
March 23, 2026 The Imprint
Key Child Welfare Bills Being Considered In Georgia
Jordan Anderson reports, more than halfway through Georgia’s legislative session, several child welfare-related bills have cleared key hurdles — measures aimed at supporting children with autism and victims of abuse, as well as improving child welfare spending oversight. Some proposals failed to advance.
March 23, 2026 Macon Telegraph
New GA Senate committee hopes to save film industry from AI
Sundi Rose reports, with the ubiquitous presence of artificial intelligence across all industries in Georgia and the debate about data centers in the state, Senate Democrats want a closer look at what the use of AI could mean for the state’s creative industries. SR789, introduced in February and is now sitting before the Senate Science and Technology Committee, would create a new study committee to examine AI’s impact across the board.
March 23, 2026 Georgia.gov
Gov. Kemp Signs Major Tax Relief Bills for Hardworking Georgians
Staff reports that Gov. Kemp, joined by First Lady Marty Kemp and members of the General Assembly, on Friday signed HB 1000 and HB 1199 into law, authorizing the return of nearly $1.2 billion in state income tax refunds to hardworking Georgians and suspending the state motor fuel tax for 60 days, respectively, among other provisions. When added to previous tax rebates, rate reductions, and suspensions of the gas tax, Governor Kemp will have saved or returned over $11.8 billion to Georgia taxpayers with the help of the General Assembly.
March 23 2026 Albany Herald
Dougherty County’s Sedrick Rowe seeks Democratic nomination for Georgia ag commissioner
Alan Mauldin reports, Dougherty County will have a homegrown candidate in the race for state agriculture commissioner on the May 19 ballot in a political newcomer who is looking to be the Democratic candidate for the fall statewide election. A rarity in being a first-generation farmer in an occupation that often is handed down in families, the 2009 Westover High School graduate is looking to help modernize farming in the state.
March 23, 2026 State Affairs
The Gold Leaf: Week 10 of the 2026 legislative session
Beau Evans reports, lawmakers spent the session’s tenth week grinding out revisions and approvals for dozens of bills in committees, shepherding them closer to the finish line in a final sprint to pass legislation before Sine Die on April 2. Many measures have long been percolating in the General Assembly, such as new regulations for homeowners associations and a ban on cellphones in high school.
March 23, 2026 Capitol Beat News
Feral hogs can’t catch a break in Georgia
Ty Tagami reports, after passing a budget that puts a bounty on wild pigs, Georgia lawmakers reiterated their lethal intent by enlisting cutting-edge technology to hunt them down. Feral hogs have been ripping through farmers’ fields, inflicting millions of dollars of damage a year.
March 23, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Speaker Jon Burns’ sweeping literacy overhaul caught in legislative crossfire
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Beam report, one of House Speaker Jon Burns’ signature priorities is suddenly stuck in the Gold Dome’s familiar crossfire, raising the risk it becomes collateral damage in the annual House-Senate endgame. Burns’ sweeping literacy overhaul — which he cast as the biggest shift in Georgia education policy in three decades — easily cleared the House last month.
