Georgia Trend Daily – Sept. 30, 2026
Sept. 30, 2026 Savannah Morning News
Savannah’s port on pace for strong September with favorable global trends
Evan Lasseter reports that this storm season in Coastal Georgia has been notably quiet, but that hasn’t stopped extreme weather events from straining shipments to the Port of Savannah in recent weeks. But Georgia Ports Authority officials expect a rebound is coming, forecasting a strong September as the month ends.
Recreational Transformation:
Sugar Hill Mayor Brandon Hembree,
at Gold Mine Park. Photo credit: Woodie Williams
Sept. 30, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
A Sweet Escape
Jennifer McKee reports, parks, recreation and greenspace dominate many of the conversations among Gwinnett County leaders. This focus on the great outdoors is particularly evident in Sugar Hill, where Amy Parris Cook – a resident since 2012 and a recent board appointee to Sugar Hill’s Downtown Development Authority – has witnessed the region’s recreational transformation firsthand.
Sept. 30, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A $3B Georgia pipeline changed course — away from a utility leader’s property
Kristi E. Swartz reports that Donnie Peek is used to living with a pipeline. One carrying propane already crossed his property in Fortson, a suburb of Columbus in western Georgia, when he bought the land in 1967.
Sept. 30, 2026 Georgia Ports Authority
Savannah’s Ocean Terminal renovations 60 percent complete
Staff reports that renovations at the Port of Savannah’s Ocean Terminal are now more than 60 percent complete. The $1.6 billion project will grow the facility’s annual container capacity from 200,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units to 1.75 million TEUs.
Sept. 30, 2026 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
50 volunteers, 40 beds: Aflac event aims to help Columbus kids in need
Jordyn Paul-Slater reports that more than 50 Aflac employees in Columbus gathered Monday to saw, drill and stain beds for local children in need. Aflac, in collaboration with Sleep In Heavenly Peace (SHP), a nonprofit that builds, assembles and delivers beds to children in need, hosted this event to assemble 40 beds.
Sept. 30, 2026 Saporta Report
The 2028 Olympic torch relay will hit all 50 states — and it starts in Atlanta
Delaney Tarr reports, for the first time in history, the famed Olympic Torch will relay through all 50 U.S. states before landing in its host city of Los Angeles — and the tour will kick off in Atlanta. The flame will be lit in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, before heading through the United States in 2028.
Sept. 30, 2026 Savannah Morning News
How will Georgia’s farmers vote? Peanut commissioner chooses blue
Irene Wright reports, from the peanut and cotton fields to the chicken houses and cattle herds, there are more than 40,000 farms across the state of Georgia. Agriculture accounts for $91.4 billion of the state’s economy, and covers more than 9 million acres of land in the Peach State.
Sept. 30, 2026 GPB
State Election Board passes resolution urging voting machine software update
Sarah Kallis reports that the State Election Board passed a resolution Monday aiming to address voter privacy concerns. The resolution urges Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to quickly implement a software update to voting machines to patch a security concern that critics say could make it possible to see how people voted.
Sept. 30, 2026 Capitol Beat News
Georgia Republican candidates at rally target Bottoms, rarely mention Trump
Ty Tagami reports, when Republicans running for office rallied with Gov. Brian Kemp south of Atlanta this week, they rarely mentioned President Donald Trump but repeatedly targeted Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms. The event at the Monroe County Conference Center in Forsyth Monday night featured GOP candidates up and down the ballot, with gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson as the headliner.
Sept. 30, 2026 Augusta Chronicle
Augusta business leaders share concerns with GOP officials
Joe Hotchkiss reports that Republican leaders convened in Augusta on Tuesday to hear area business concerns in a state tinted by the shadow of contentious midterm elections. Business, industry and civic leaders gathered downtown at the Pinnacle Club for the ninth stop of the 18-city Build Georgia roundtable tour, sharing feedback with U.S. Rep. Rick Allen and Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon in a gathering closed to media.
Sept. 30, 2026 Georgia Recorder
Debate over data center growth in Georgia heats up race for governor
Alander Rocha reports that as Georgia becomes a national leader in new data center construction, debate over how to regulate the booming industry has become a hot issue in the race for governor. The two candidates have proposed contrasting visions for how to deal with the massive, power-hungry facilities that help power and advance artificial intelligence, but voters don’t seem entirely sold on either’s plan.
Sept. 30, 2026 Capitol Beat News
Bottoms proposes housing fund, free technical and community college
Ty Tagami reports that former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms pitched more proposals to help Georgians cover major expenses in her bid to be the state’s next governor. Last week, the Democrat and her Republican opponent, businessman Rick Jackson, touted their affordability plans for farmers.
Sept. 30, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Texas data center project puts Rick Jackson’s Georgia promises to the test
Greg Bluestein reports, the paved road abruptly ends near a sprawling collection of rusting military vehicles off a lonely Texas highway, where a dirt trail splinters toward hundreds of acres of scrubland that have improbably been thrust into the middle of Georgia’s race for governor. The nearly 600-acre site is being developed by a firm that, until recently, was led by Georgia’s Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson.
