Georgia Trend Daily – Dec. 16, 2025
Dec. 16, 2025 GPB
The wait is over. Atlanta naturalization ceremony swears in 90 new U.S. citizens
Amanda Andrews and Sarah Kallis reports that around 90 new citizens were sworn in Friday at a naturalization ceremony in Atlanta — though not all those who were scheduled to be there attended. Officials in the Northern District of Georgia federal court said three immigrants’ ceremonies were canceled at the last minute, but they would not say why.
Dec. 16, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Young Guns to Take the House
Brian Robinson writes, you’d probably need to go back to the 1990s to find a time when Georgia’s congressional delegation carried a lot of clout. Democrat Sam Nunn held sway in the Senate as he was wrapping up his four terms in office, while on the House side U.S. Rep. Newt Gingrich led the Republican Revolution and captured the speaker’s gavel.
Dec. 16, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2025 has been a rough year for UPS. How leaders plan to rebound.
Emma Hurt reports, while a company’s stock price doesn’t always tell the whole story, Sandy Springs-based UPS’ shares have certainly been telling one in 2025. This year, the global shipping giant’s stock reached lows it hadn’t seen since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the markets in 2020.
Dec. 16, 2025 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Who leads combined company after Synovus-Pinnacle merger? Columbus links to board
Jordyn Paul-Slater reports, as Synovus Financial Corp. and Pinnacle Financial Partners move toward finalizing their merger, the companies have announced the combined board of directors. The companies announced the new board will have eight directors from Pinnacle and seven from Synovus.
Dec. 16, 2025 Macon Telegraph
Second natural gas turbine arrives at Georgia Power’s Plant Yates
Margaret Walker reports, the second of three new Mitsubishi Power natural gas turbines has arrived at Plant Yates in Coweta County, Georgia Power announced Monday in a news release. The first new turbine arrived in August and the third is supposed to arrive in early 2026.
Dec. 16, 2025 Augusta Chronicle
Unemployment claims in Georgia increased last week
Staff reports that initial filings for unemployment benefits in Georgia rose last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday. New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, increased to 8,890 in the week ending December 6, up from 2,887 the week before, the Labor Department said.
Dec. 16, 2025 Augusta Chronicle
Three data centers? Developer eyeing Columbia County land near I-20
Joe Hotchkiss reports, Columbia County now is weighing three separate development proposals that could establish large-scale data centers in the area near Interstate 20 Exit 183 north of Harlem. Data centers store and manage the digital information that drives modern society.
Dec. 16, 2025 Albany Herald
Battery energy storage system draws discussion by Dougherty Commission
Alan Mauldin reports that Dougherty County’s role in clean energy could get a fresh charge with a proposed battery storage system that would be located at the site of a Moultrie Road solar farm. Dougherty County commissioners heard from county zoning personnel Monday and a company representative during a public hearing.
Dec. 16, 2025 Athens Banner-Herald
Christmas gifts being mailed from Georgia may be disrupted. Here’s why
Miguel Legoas reports that Georgians are looking at relatively warmer weather this weekend, but not everyone is so lucky, and it’s starting to show. On Friday morning, the U.S. Postal Service posted an update saying there may be potential disruptions due to winter weather up north.
Dec. 16, 2025 The Current
Meg Heap sworn in to continue as region’s top federal prosecutor
Margaret Coker reports that federal judges in the Southern District of Georgia have voted to continue Margaret “Meg” Heap as the district’s Savannah-based U.S. attorney, removing her “interim” status following her appointment by the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi early this year. The decision bypasses a potentially thorny Constitutional problem that other states have grappled with during the second presidency of Donald Trump whereby the White House has largely ignored the Senate confirmation process for U.S. attorney candidates and instead appointed friends and allies of the president to these powerful jobs.
Dec. 16, 2025 Marietta Daily Journal
Election Day for Senate District 35 runoff is Tuesday
Isabelle Manders reports that election Day for the Senate District 35 special runoff election is Tuesday. Democrats Roger Bruce, a former state representative, and Dr. Jaha Howard, a former Cobb County Board of Education member and dentist, will be vying for the vacated seat of former state Sen. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta.
Dec. 16, 2025 Savannah Morning News
Marjorie Taylor Greene criticizes Trump for post about Rob Reiner death
Miguel Legoas reports, many in the entertainment industry are sharing words of mourning and condolences over the sudden death of Rob Reiner. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said something much more controversial, and one of Georgia’s leaders responded.
Dec. 16, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Trump administration slashes Georgia migrant farmworker H-2A wages
Lautauro Grinspan reports that tens of thousands of migrant farmworkers in Georgia saw their hourly wages slashed by as much as 35% in late 2025 after a Trump administration policy change. The affected farmworkers are in the U.S. legally, having come in for months at a time through a temporary visa on which the state’s agricultural employers have come to rely for their labor needs: the H-2A guest worker program.
