Georgia Trend Daily – April 21, 2026
April 21, 2026 The Brunswick News
Drought conditions worsening as fire risk increases, burn ban still in effect
Michael Hall reports that dozens of wildfires and thousands of acres burned this past weekend around the state, the Georgia Forestry Commission reported on Monday. It is a stark reminder of the dangers of dry conditions brought on by an extreme and exceptional drought.
Booming Business: Deb Rowe, right, owner of Shenanigans Restaurant & Irish Pub and co-owner of Bourbon Street Grille, received funding and coaching from ACE. Photo credit: Contributed
April 21, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs
Candace Dyer reports, while Dahlonega has been a big tourism draw in Georgia over the past few decades, it has had a stubbornly high poverty rate. “There was very little capital there, so we decided to take a chance on Dahlonega,” says Martina Edwards, president and CEO of Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, Georgia’s largest community development financial institution dedicated to small businesses.
April 21, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Insurers seek to bar coverage for Sapelo Island gangway collapse
Rosie Manins reports that with $35 million at stake, two insurers of the architect for the Sapelo Island gangway that fatally collapsed in 2024 are trying to avoid paying coverage as victims and their families seek damages in court. Seven people were killed when the 80-foot ferry dock gangway collapsed in October 2024 during a celebration of the Gullah Geechee community on the island, about 70 miles south of Savannah.
April 21, 2026 Georgia.gov
Gov. Kemp: Red Cat’s Blue Ops, Inc. to Bring Hundreds of New Jobs with Lowndes County Manufacturing Facility
Staff reports that Gov. Kemp on Monday announced that Blue Ops, Inc. will invest $30 million in its new manufacturing facility in Valdosta, which is expected to create 200+ jobs over the next several years in Lowndes County. Blue Ops is the maritime division of Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: RCAT), a U.S.-based provider of advanced all-domain drone and robotic solutions for defense and national security.
April 21, 2026 GPB
Antiretroviral therapies for HIV prevented thousands of deaths, saved Georgia billions over 40 years
Ellen Eldridge reports, the public health benefits of antiretroviral therapies that suppress HIV are more than clinical, according to a study from Patrick Sullivan with Emory University. Improved life expectancy and resulting labor market outcomes totaled more than $100 billion since 1987.
April 21, 2026 Georgia Recorder
Georgia’s ACA enrollment plunges, raising concerns for rural hospitals
Ariel Hart reports, more than half a million Georgians have dropped health insurance coverage amid stiff premium price hikes for federally subsidized Affordable Care Act plans, according to data obtained by The Current GA and the Georgia Recorder. The 37% enrollment drop – from 1.5 million Georgians in January 2025 to 950,000 as of April 17, 2026 — dwarfs any previous decline in the state since the launch of so-called Obamacare health insurance plans in 2014.
April 21, 2026 Macon Telegraph
A tiny, ‘gorgeous’ bird is vanishing from Georgia wetlands. GCSU is tracking them.
Margaret Walker reports that Georgia College & State University students are studying a species the Department of Natural Resources has listed as a “greatest conservation need,” as part of a state-funded effort to understand its decline. Prothonotary warbler populations have been falling for decades as wetlands, the habitat the birds depend on for breeding, continue to disappear, according to Michelle Moyer, an assistant professor of biological and environmental sciences at GCSU who is overseeing the project.
April 21, 2026 Savannah Morning News
Impacts of plutonium pit production at Savannah River Site unveiled
Jillian Magtoto reports that the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) released its draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for national production of up to 205 plutonium pits per year (ppy) on April 10. The two-volume document identifies the half-century potential environmental and health impacts within 50 miles of the nation’s two facilities, the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, SC and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in Los Alamos, NM, that process the materials fueling the explosions from nuclear warheads.
April 21, 2026 Saporta Report
Gubernatorial hopefuls meet to discuss manufacturing in Georgia forum
Mark Lannaman reports that the Georgia Association of Manufacturers (GAM) is hosting a nonpartisan Gubernatorial Candidate Forum on April 21 from 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Comcast Central Division HQ at The Battery, where candidates can talk about plans for manufacturing in the “number one state to do business.”
April 21, 2026 Georgia Recorder
Georgia governor stumps for Dooley in closely watched U.S. Senate race
Ross Williams reports that Gov. Brian Kemp toured metro Atlanta Monday to stump for his preferred candidate in Georgia’s U.S. Senate race, former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley. Dooley entered the race in August with Kemp’s backing after Kemp declined to throw his hat in the ring to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.
April 21, 2026 The Current
Fitz Johnson prevails in PSC residency challenge
Mary Landers reports, Fitz Johnson meets the legal residency requirement to run for the Republican nomination for the District 3 Georgia Public Service Commission seat, an administrative law judge ruled Friday. Judge Kimberly Schroer issued her advisory decision after weighing evidence from a three-and-a-half hour hearing earlier in the week.
April 21, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Buddy Carter campaign ad ignites new GOP Senate clash
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Beam report, Georgia’s three-way Republican race to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff just took one of its sharpest turns yet. U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter rolled out a new TV ad Monday morning that hugs President Donald Trump while unloading on rival U.S. Rep. Mike Collins over a congressional ethics probe into allegations of misused taxpayer funds.
