Georgia Trend Daily – July 29, 2026
July 29, 2026 Marietta Daily Journal
Wellstar to eliminate over 700 jobs
Megan Jackson reports that Wellstar Health System is eliminating more than 700 administrative and corporate jobs throughout the system, Wellstar officials confirmed Tuesday. The health system, which employs over 33,000 people, according to its website, is reducing its workforce by 761 positions.
July 29, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Feeling 250 on Peachtree Road
Brian Robinson writes, Americans have looked forward to this July when we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the greatest nation in history – called our “semi-quincentennial,” a word we’ll all learn this year and then forget because we’ll never use it again. We’ll party like we always do with fireworks, parades, concerts and backyard cookouts, only this time BIGGER for the most momentous number we’ve seen since 1976’s bicentennial.
July 29, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cereal and pet food facility poised for $32M expansion in Fairburn
Zachary Hansen reports, one of the largest names in breakfast cereal and dog food is prepared to spend $32 million to expand a warehouse southwest of Atlanta, but there’s a catch. Company leaders say they need a tax break to seal the deal — just like the warehouse’s developer argued nearly a decade ago when building it.
July 29, 2026 GPB
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Rollins visits Georgia to announce interstate meat compact
Sarah Kallis reports that U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins visited a turf farm in Whitesburg, Ga., on Monday to announce Georgia’s participation in a new program. Georgia is now part of a cooperative interstate meat shipping agreement that allows Georgia-inspected meat to be shipped to all 50 states with the USDA stamp of approval.
July 29, 2026 Augusta Chronicle
LinkedIn names Georgia city America’s fastest-rising career hub
Vanessa Johns reports, Augusta is best known for hosting the Masters Tournament, but a new report says Georgia’s second-largest city is also becoming one of the country’s fastest-growing places to build a career. LinkedIn has named Augusta the No. 1 “City on the Rise” in the U.S. for 2026, topping its annual ranking of metropolitan areas experiencing strong career growth and economic momentum.
July 29, 2026 GlobalAtlanta.com
Christkindl in July? German Christmas Market Announces Second Location South of Atlanta
Trevor Williams reports, in just a year, Atlanta’s longest-standing German Christmas market has gone from finding a new home outside the perimeter to adding a second location on the south side of the city. The Atlanta Christkindl Market, having established itself as a bona fide tradition since its founding in 2016, stretched for some additional elbow room last year, moving from a cramped parking lot at Buckhead Village to a much larger location: the Lawrenceville Lawn, just off the Gwinnett city’s main square.
July 29, 2026 Savannah Morning News
AI project touted as ‘Largest taxpayer in Effingham County history’
Latrice Williams reports that hundreds of protesters gathered outside Effingham College and Career Academy Thursday evening as OpenAI hosted an open house on Project Camellia, a proposed data center planned for Rincon. The gathering came a day after Effingham County officials announced on Facebook that OpenAI had selected a site in the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub for the project, a $20 billion capital investment.
July 29, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Unofficial Guide Issue 07.28: Eat, Visit, Do, and Shop
Jana Lawrence reports, as the schools all get back in session, maybe you’re making some last minute summer memories. With old-timey and quirky places on the list, you’ll probably find some Instagram-worthy moments to capture!
July 29, 2026 GPB
In partisan times, are data centers the one thing to unite people?
Grant Blankenship reports, in mid-July, data center rumors in the Southwest Georgia city of Albany demanded attention. That was why city officials scheduled four public sessions on data centers: to clear the air.
July 29, 2026 Athens Banner-Herald
UGA School of Medicine welcomes first class of 64 students
Staff reports, the University of Georgia School of Medicine has welcomed 64 students to its inaugural class, selected from more than 2,000 applicants during a condensed two-week admissions cycle. School officials interviewed 235 candidates before extending offers, according to an article in UGA Today.
July 29, 2026 WSB TV
DNR says $4,751 fish kill on South River was due to chemical spill from Atlanta water facility
Sam Sachs reports, a spill on the South River led to the deaths of more than 1,200 fish. In a recent report, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said the fish kill in late June, where 1,254 fish died, was a result of a chemical spill from Atlanta’s South River Water Reclamation Center.
July 29, 2026 Albany Herald
Dougherty courthouse renovation plans could come in October
Alan Mauldin reports, for a building that is nearing 60 years old, the Dougherty County Courthouse building is looking good for its age. But it is in need of a good makeover that includes providing courtroom functions and modernization.
July 29, 2026 WABE
Two candidates head to runoff election to succeed late US Rep. David Scott
DorMiya Vance reports that Democratic candidates will face off next month for a special election runoff to serve Georgia’s 13th Congressional District for the rest of the year. Candidates Marcye Scott and Everton Blair will go another round in August for a runoff because neither candidate secured more than 50% of the votes.
July 29, 2026 Georgia Recorder
New panel begins work reviewing options for Georgia’s next election system
Maya Homan reports that a committee tasked with helping select Georgia’s next statewide election system is scheduled to hold its first meeting next week as lawmakers, election officials and other appointed members begin to envision a QR code-free method of voting. The use of ballot QR codes have been a contentious issue throughout the last several years in Georgia politics.
July 29, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rick Jackson’s $87M ad buy targets Keisha Lance Bottoms’ mayoral record
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Beam report, Billionaire Rick Jackson is reaching into his fortune again, this time for an $87 million ad buy that amounts to a huge down payment on the fall campaign. During a stop in Thomasville, Jackson offered a preview of what all that money will buy — and how Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens figures into both halves of his pitch.
