Georgia Trend Daily – May 5, 2026
May 5, 2026 Georgia Ports Authority
Port of Brunswick again nation’s busiest auto terminal
Staff reports, for the second year in a row, the Port of Brunswick maintained its position as the nation’s busiest port for automobiles in 2025, handling 779,000 units of autos, plus more than 53,000 units of heavy machinery, representing both import and export movements. 731 ships called the Port of Brunswick in calendar year 2025.
May 5, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Labor Pains: Rural Access to Maternal Care in Georgia
Kenna Simmons reports, imagine that the moment a mom-to-be has been anxiously, eagerly awaiting is here: She’s in labor. But she lives in Jefferson County, where there are no OB-GYNs and the local hospital doesn’t provide labor and delivery care, so she now has to travel about an hour to have the baby in Augusta.
May 5, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wells Fargo gives nearly $3 million to Atlanta organizations for housing, small business
Mirtha Donastorg reports that two prominent Atlanta organizations have received grants totaling $2.8 million from Wells Fargo and its foundation, they announced Monday. The funding aims to support small businesses and housing across the city.
May 5, 2026 Coastal States Bank
Coastal States Bank Announces Small Business Loan Program with 48-Hour Lending Decisions
Staff reports that Coastal States Bank (“CSB”) has announced its 48-Hour Small Business Loan Program, a streamlined lending solution designed to provide qualified small businesses with loan approval decisions in as little as two business days. The program was created to help business owners access capital more quickly when timing matters most.
May 5, 2026 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Pinnacle’s first post-Synovus earnings beat forecasts. What fueled the success?
Jordyn Paul-Slater reports that the first earnings report from Pinnacle Financial Partners after its merger with Columbus-based Synovus Financial Corp, surpassed analysts’ expectations. The merged bank, based in Nashville, Tennessee, reported a net income of $134.7 million for the first quarter of 2026.
May 5, 2026 Macon Melody
Macon-Bibb, Houston and Peach counties to form new megasite recruiting authority
Laura Corley reports that Macon-Bibb, Houston and Peach counties are in the process of creating a new, joint business-recruiting body to find an industrial tenant for a megasite in Peach County. The “Middle Georgia MegaSite” includes 1,534 acres west of Interstate 75 along state Route 96 just outside the city of Fort Valley.
May 5, 2026 Georgia.gov
Gov. Kemp: Special Tax Refunds Begin Issuing
Staff reports that Gov. Kemp and the Georgia Department of Revenue (DOR) announced Monday that the state has begun issuing the one-time, special tax refunds authorized by HB 1000 during the 2026 legislative session. The fourth such refund of its kind under Governor Kemp’s leadership, it will return over $1 billion to Georgia taxpayers, thanks to the state’s approach to maintaining a balanced budget.
May 5, 2026 The Brunswick News
Residents return to charred memories as wildfire evacuations lift
Michael Hall reports that life is beginning to return to normal for some in Brantley County following the lifting of all evacuations prompted by the Highway 82 fire over the weekend. Brianna Elliott is not one of those people. The house on Brushy Creek Road that she and her fiancée rented was destroyed in the fire that ripped through more than 22,000 acres in the areas around Atkinson and Waynesville between April 20 and Monday.
May 5, 2026 Marietta Daily Journal
Marietta considers regulating short-term rentals amid resident complaints
Megan Jackson reports that the Marietta City Council is looking to increase regulations for short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs and VRBOs. During committee meetings this week, the council discussed a need to regulate short-term rentals after concerns about the rentals and cars parked on streets and noise came up at a previous meeting.
May 5, 2026 The Current
Florida businessman suspends data center plans in Camden County
Jabari Gibbs and Craig Nelson reports that a Florida businessman suspended his efforts Monday to transform a nearly 700-acre tract of land in Camden County into a data center, amid mushrooming local controversy over the proposed facility’s economic and environmental impact and an unusual plea from the commander of the Naval Submarine Base at nearby Kings Bay.
May 5, 2026 Savannah Morning News
The first—and maybe last—peek inside a plutonium pit facility
Jillian Magtoto reports, a physicist, lawyer, and three heads of nuclear watchdog organizations walked into the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility (SRPPF) on Apr. 21 in Aiken, S.C. around 4 p.m., when construction workers were beginning to file out. While it was merely the end of the workday for some, it would be the first and potentially last time the public would get a glimpse of a facility soon filled with confidential equipment annually producing up to 125 plutonium pits, described by the US Department of Energy as the bowling-ball-sized spherical triggers used to create nuclear explosions.
May 5, 2026 Georgia Recorder
Voter guide: Democratic candidates for Georgia Secretary of State
Maya Homan reports, the race to become Georgia’s next top election official is well underway, with nine candidates vying for the role of secretary of state. The four Democratic contenders have focused on ensuring that elections are both transparent and accessible to voters.
May 5, 2026 Georgia Recorder
Voter guide: Republican candidates for Georgia Secretary of State
Maya Homan reports that the secretary of state, who serves for a four-year term, is responsible for overseeing elections across the state, granting business licenses for a variety of professions and regulating Georgia’s securities market. On the Republican side, five candidates are competing in a race dominated by debunked concerns about widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election and a push to implement hand-marked paper ballots.
May 5, 2026 Capitol Beat News
Five GOP Senate candidates debate path to defeating Ossoff in November
Ty Tagami reports, if a blue wave washes across the country in November, Republicans vying for one of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seats say they can stand as a bulwark for the GOP. Two incumbent congressmen squared off against three challengers in a debate last week, as they attempted to differentiate themselves ahead of the May 19 primary election.
May 5, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Republican voters are still all-in for Trump
Riley Bunch reports that Republican candidates competing in the crowded primaries for a pivotal U.S. Senate seat and the Governor’s Mansion are sticking strong in their support for President Donald Trump — for good reason. A new Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll shows that Republican voters in Georgia still overwhelmingly back the president and are optimistic that the nation is heading in the right direction.
