Georgia Trend Daily – June 12, 2026
June 12, 2026 Marietta Daily Journal
Cobb tourism industry prepares for World Cup
Jack Lindner reports that kickoff to the 2026 FIFA World Cup began Thursday, and the Cobb tourism industry is well underway with hosting duties. The World Cup is a single-elimination knockout soccer tournament held every four years.
June 12, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Georgia Trend Writer’s Book Inspires a Film
Kathleen Conway reports, Georgia Trend journalist Jerry Grillo has won awards for his hard-hitting business stories – most recently, we are proud to say, a 2026 Award of Excellence from the Atlanta Press Club for his article “Fighting for Farm Futures” in our June 2025 issue. But his true love has always been sports.
June 12, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Turner alumni, luminaries celebrate the mogul at private Atlanta memorial
Savannah Sicurella reports that CNN reporters, executives and other Turner Broadcasting alumni gathered in Atlanta on Wednesday to honor the legacy of the late Ted Turner, emphasizing the importance of fulfilling Turner’s legacy by fighting for editorial independence, as the empire he built heads toward another multibillion-dollar merger. The event was held at the Techwood campus in Midtown and beamed to all Warner Bros. Discovery employees across the globe.
June 12, 2026 Georgia Ports Authority
GPA’s Ocean Terminal renovation now 55 percent complete
Staff reports, renovations at the Port of Savannah’s Ocean Terminal have passed the halfway mark. The nearly $1.6 billion project will allow the 200-acre facility to grow its annual container capacity from 200,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units to 1.75 million TEUs.
June 12, 2026 GlobalAtlanta.com
Is Atlanta Ready for a World Cup Traffic Spike? A Canadian Tech Firm Investing Here Has the Answer
Trevor Williams reports, to say that traffic will spike during matches anticipated in FIFA World Cup host cities across North America is an understatement. But some cities may be better suited to handle it than others, according to Geotab, a Canada-based telematics platform that tracks real-world telematics data from commercial vehicles, helping fleet operators improve management, save fuel and get ahead of maintenance issues.
June 12, 2026 Augusta Chronicle
Entrepreneur trying a different ‘whey’ to distill new vodka in Augusta
Joe Hotchkiss reports that a distillery preparing to make vodka from dairy byproducts could be bottling its first batches in Augusta this July. Entrepreneur Gianluca DeBerardinis this week won approval from the city of Augusta’s Public Services Committee to pursue a nano-distillery license for the Grazed Distillery Co. at 2227 North Leg.
June 12, 2026 GPB
Research fund will reach communities contaminated by Superfund sites in Coastal Georgia
Sofi Gratas reports that four research institutions, led by Atlanta’s Emory University, will use money from the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences to investigate the depth of exposure on humans and the environment from Superfund sites on Georgia’s coast. An awarded $15 million over five years will fund the state’s first Superfund Research Center, for work in Glynn County, home to Brunswick and St. Simon’s Island.
June 12, 2026 Newnan Times-Herald
Coweta commissioners consider second data center moratorium
Jeffrey Cullen-Dean reports that the Coweta County Board of Commissioners will vote on whether to implement another data center moratorium at its June 16 meeting. At a work session Thursday morning, the commissioners discussed the moratorium because of potential revisions to the county’s data center ordinance.
June 12, 2026 Georgia Recorder
Georgia lawmakers plan to redraw district lines, even as dispute over current maps remains unsettled
Maya Homan reports that Georgia is just days away from the start of another special session — the third during this decade that will center around redrawing district lines for Congress and the General Assembly. But unlike the last round of redistricting, in which state lawmakers were tasked with creating additional districts to protect the voting power of Black Georgians, this time the Republican-controlled Legislature may choose to strip electoral power away from minority voters to gain a partisan advantage.
June 12, 2026 State Affairs
Georgia’s special session starts next week. Here’s what to know
Jack Rutherford reports that Georgia’s first special legislative session in three years will kick off next Wednesday. It’s expected to be a hot affair at the Gold Dome.
June 12, 2026 Georgia Recorder
High-profile races boost GOP turnout, spelling trouble for Democrats in one Georgia Senate seat
Alander Rocha reports that Democrats worry a wave of early voters in runoffs for the governor’s office and U.S. Senate could flip a Gwinnett County-based state Senate district just as lawmakers prepare to convene for a special session. Out of over 300,000 ballots cast statewide during early voting as of Thursday, nearly 66% came from Republicans, who are outvoting Democrats by a 2-to-1 margin due to competitive GOP primary runoffs for the U.S. Senate and the governor’s mansion.
June 12, 2026 Capitol Beat News
Trump leans back into Georgia governor’s runoff with another tele-rally for Jones
Ty Tagami reports, with days to go before the final votes are cast in Georgia’s Republican gubernatorial runoff, President Donald Trump committed to another tele-rally to help his preferred candidate across the finish line. Last month, Trump said, “I love you,” after Lt. Gov. Burt Jones introduced him during a public phone call.
June 12, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Carr and Raffensperger voters could pick the winner of GOP governor’s race
Patricia Murphy reports, if you voted for Chris Carr or Brad Raffensperger in the GOP primary for governor last month, what are you doing next? That’s the riddle for Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Rick Jackson, who finished with 38% and 33% of the vote, respectively.
