Georgia Trend Daily – Aug. 5, 2026
Aug. 5, 2026 Savannah Morning News
Georgia Port one-year leadership transition plan underway
Evan Lasseter reports that Georgia Ports Authority CEO Griff Lynch said that in many organizations, leadership changes at the highest levels can result in some disruption. But in an industry as vast and fast-moving as global trade, GPA employees and customers experience enough disruption, he said.
Aug. 5, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Georgia’s Growing Energy Needs Require a Strong Grid
Julia Roberts reports, Georgia communities expect safe, reliable and cost-effective power at home, at work and everywhere in between. As the state grows and technology changes how people use energy, the electric grid must be ready to meet rising demand.
Aug. 5, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
World’s largest law firm beefs up politics team in Atlanta ahead of elections
Rosie Manins reports, the world’s largest law firm is bolstering its deeply rooted government affairs practice in Atlanta as economic development surges in the Southeast and Georgia prepares to elect new leaders. Dentons, which has more attorneys globally than any other law firm, just hired Ben Jarrard, the former chief of staff to Georgia Senate Majority Leader Jason Anavitarte.
Aug. 5, 2026 Newnan Times-Herald
Yamaha to cut 100 jobs in production shift
Clay Neely reports that Yamaha will end production of side-by-side recreational vehicles at its Newnan manufacturing plant, a move that will eliminate about 100 full-time jobs. The company said the plant will remain open, continuing production of ATVs, golf cars and personal watercraft.
Aug. 5, 2026 Macon Telegraph
Georgia data center activists are alarmed. EPA wants to change Clean Air Act
Kala Hunter reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to remove public notice and public comments for state-level air quality permits, a significant change to the 1973 Clean Air Act. The change — which could occur in a few weeks — would take away a common form of public awareness for a new data center and public participation, speeding up the review process.
Aug. 5, 2026 The Current
State regulator reviews OpenAI-Georgia Power contract
Mary Landers reports that Georgia’s utility regulators at the Public Service Commission are reviewing a contract between OpenAI and Georgia Power to deliver electricity to the massive data center proposed for Effingham County. OpenAI, the company behind artificial intelligence giant ChatGPT, is developing the $20 billion data center campus that’s projected to launch in 2028.
Aug. 5, 2026 Augusta Chronicle
Gov. Kemp joins ribbon-cutting for Columbia County’s first hospital
Joe Hotchkiss reports that leaders celebrating Columbia County’s first hospital Tuesday applauded the patients it would help and the patience it took to build it. Local and state officials, including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, joined hospital executives to cut the ceremonial ribbon for Wellstar Columbia County Medical Center in Grovetown, more than 12 years after Augusta University first asked the state formally for permission to establish the 100-bed facility.
Aug. 5, 2026 GlobalAtlanta.com
Full Circle: After a Career Built in Atlanta, Construction Entrepreneur Opens Office in Her Native Colombia
Trevor Williams reports, for more than 20 years, Guiomar Obregón has sought to give fellow Colombian engineers the same chances she enjoyed. Ms. Obregon and her husband, Carlos Sanchez, built civil engineering and construction firm P2K from the ground up from 1998, but she never forgot the substantial support from family, friends and the Georgia university system that made it possible.
Aug. 5, 2026 GPB
The grass looks healthy. But most of Georgia’s marshes are losing their roots to sea level rise
Jillian Magtoto reports that Kyle Runion has spent hundreds of hours in Georgia’s salt marshes, battling the tall blades of Spartina alterniflora grass that sticks up past rain boots and into pants. Unbothered by the spikes, Runion kneels into the mud and takes out a hollow tube, then pushes it a foot into the ground.
Aug. 5, 2026 Marietta Daily Journal
Mediation between Cobb School District and county ends without agreement in school tax dispute
Isabelle Manders reports that mediation between the Cobb County School District and Cobb County government over a dispute about school tax collection fees ended without a settlement Friday, leaving the case to continue in Cobb County Superior Court.
Aug. 5, 2026 Capitol Beat News
Metro Atlanta water authority investigates outage as federal authorities warn of Iran-linked hackers
Ty Tagami reports that a water utility that serves 300,000 homes and businesses in metro Atlanta is still investigating whether a hacker caused a service outage last week. That July 27 shutdown in northern Clayton County occurred the same day that water utilities in at least seven states started reporting incidents to the federal government involving the computers that automate their processes.
Aug. 5, 2026 Rome News-Tribune
Sen. Jon Ossoff sets his sights on healthcare
Rachel Hartdegen reports, as summer days come to an end and Georgia voters prepare to return to the polls, Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga. made a stop at the Rome News-Tribune office during a recent visit to Rome to discuss his goals if reelected in the November election and how he plans to serve voters in Northwest Georgia. Ossoff was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2021.
Aug. 5, 2026 Georgia Recorder
Enrollment jumps after lawmakers ease access to Georgia’s medical cannabis program
Alander Rocha reports that Georgia’s medical cannabis program experienced an unprecedented surge of new registered patients over the past month after the law changed significantly to ease access. The patient registry grew from 36,595 patients in late June to 44,854 on Monday, an increase of more than 22% in just over a month.
Aug. 5, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former GOP Sen. Jeff Flake backs Jon Ossoff, saying ‘character matters’
Greg Bluestein reports, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff picked up a high-profile endorsement Tuesday from former U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican whose clashes with President Donald Trump prompted him to back other prominent Democrats. Flake said he still disagrees with Ossoff on key policy issues, but in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he said character outweighed those partisan differences.
