Georgia Trend Daily – June 25, 2025
June 25, 2025 Georgia.gov
Gov. Kemp Announces $26.5M for Local Transportation Projects
Staff reports, Gov. Kemp and the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) Board of Directors on Tuesday announced the approval of a record $26.5 million in Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank (GTIB) loans and grants that will help fund 13 transportation infrastructure projects across the state. This round of GTIB awards is possible thanks to a $46 million budget enhancement allocated in the AFY 2025 state budget.
June 25, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Atlas: Georgia Restaurant Review
Sucheta Rawal reports that the St. Regis Hotel in Buckhead is one of the most refined addresses in Atlanta. Its European-style lobby with elegant chandeliers offers a touch of formality. But as guests make their way to Atlas restaurant, the mood changes to bold and dramatic, with décor consisting of leather seats surrounding tables that are adorned with white tablecloths and dark walls decorated with colorful, original masterpieces.
June 25, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Okefenokee deal is a win for Georgians, but swamp isn’t out of the woods
Josh Marks reports, on June 20, it was announced Twin Pines Minerals had finally agreed to give up its dangerous mining plan along the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp. This incredible news came after six years of dogged work by untold numbers of people from all around Georgia and beyond — students, scientists, rabbis, preachers, lawyers, teachers, legislators, columnists, retirees and more — who spoke out incessantly against the project and the mining company and for the swamp.
June 25, 2025 Georgia Ports Authority
Savannah achieves third month over half-million TEUs
Staff reports that the Port of Savannah handled 500,900 twenty-foot equivalent container units in May, an increase of 10,565 TEUs or 2.2% compared to the same month last year. “Three months in a row over half a million TEUs is a testament to customers’ trust in Savannah,” said Georgia Ports Authority President and CEO Griff Lynch.
June 25, 2025 WABE
Atlanta small businesses find opportunity amid tariffs and trade uncertainty
Marlon Hyde reports, Georgia’s small businesses are navigating the back-and-forth of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. After months of volatility and economic uncertainty, some companies have raised prices, while others are struggling to obtain the materials they need.
June 25, 2025 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Columbus ranked in the top 20 best run cities in the US
Sundi Rose reports, despite the recent troubles in the Columbus Consolidated Government, Columbus has earned a spot among the nation’s best-run cities. Although the city government has recently been beleaguered by scandal, the WalletHub Study ranked Columbus number 20 out of 148 major U.S. cities.
June 25, 2025 Marietta Daily Journal
Proposed Acworth hospital to create 1,500 jobs, address ‘critical need’
Isabelle Manders reports that Wellstar Health System has filed a certificate of need application for its proposed 230-bed medical center in Acworth, in an attempt to address growing healthcare needs in the area. The proposed Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center at Acworth would be an eight-story, 675,000-square-foot facility with 70 emergency department bays and eight operating rooms, according to the health system.
June 25, 2025 Rome News-Tribune
Military Women’s Memorial seeking Georgians’ stories
Hannah Dougherty reports, the Military Women’s Memorial is asking for the public’s help with documenting the contribution of servicewomen and female veterans to their register, an interactive database that records and preserves their stories. The MWM register includes the preservation of not only names, but documented service information, photographs, and memorable experiences of each servicewoman involved.
June 25, 2025 11 Alive
New laws taking effect in Georgia on July 1
Alexis Derickson reports, July 1 marks a major day in Georgia, as over 100 new laws will go into effect. These laws will impact areas such as crime, money, and education. Most laws in Georgia passed by the General Assembly take effect the summer after they’re signed by the governor following Sine Die (the final day of the legislature, which usually occurs at the end of March).
June 25, 2025 Macon Telegraph
As GA fentanyl crisis explodes, lawmakers respond with tough new rules
Sundi Rose reports that Georgia is taking a tougher stance on fentanyl trafficking with a new law aimed at curbing the availability of the drug. The Fentanyl Eradication and Removal Act takes effect July 1, and is meant to keep “communities safer and this deadly drug out of our citizens hands and lives,” says Lt. Governor Burt Jones.
June 25, 2025 Georgia Recorder
First Amendment groups push for release of Spanish-language Georgia reporter detained by ICE
Maya Homan reports, several organizations dedicated to preserving free speech and protecting members of the press are calling for the release of a prominent immigration reporter who was detained while covering a protest in Atlanta earlier this month and is now on track to be deported. Mario Guevara, an Emmy-award winning Spanish language reporter based in metro Atlanta, was initially charged with improperly entering a roadway, obstruction of law enforcement officers and unlawful assembly, all of which were misdemeanors.
June 25, 2025 Capitol Beat News
Women share experience with Georgia abortion ban during Senate hearing led by Democrats
Ty Tagami reports, when Kaycee Maruscsak’s baby died before birth, she had to carry the infant’s corpse in her womb for more than a week because, she said, doctors refused to remove it for fear of violating Georgia’s abortion restrictions. The story of the 31-year-old Lilburn woman was part of the bitter testimony during a state Senate Urban Affairs Committee hearing that Democrats hope will galvanize Georgia voters against Republicans, who backed the state’s new limits on abortion.
June 25, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘Power mad’: Why a far-right Georgia GOP faction is splintering
Greg Bluestein reports that they call themselves the Republican wing of the Republican Party. The far-right Georgia Republican Assembly has been trying for years to stoke a conservative revolt within the state party’s ranks. Now it’s facing a rebellion of its own.
