Georgia Trend Daily – March 27, 2026
March 27, 2025 Valdosta Daily Times
FEMA provides nearly $23 million in funding to support survivors in Southeast
Staff reports that FEMA approved $22.9 million in funding to support state-managed recovery programs as a result of Hurricane Helene and other past disasters across the Southeast. These funds directly support individuals, families and communities by addressing some of their most urgent needs after a disaster, the agency said in a press release.
March 27, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Goodwill North Georgia
Candice Dyer reports, Goodwill began in 1902 when Methodist Minister Rev. Edgar J. Helms collected used household goods and clothing around wealthy areas of Boston and then trained poor and immigrant adults to mend and sell the items. Two decades later, Goodwill Industries of Atlanta started.
March 27, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Braves announce agreement with Xfinity
Chad Bishop reports that the Braves and Comcast announced Thursday a distribution agreement to provide the BravesVision network to its Xfinity customers. BravesVision, which will air pregame, postgame and live-game telecasts, will be available on Xfinity beginning Friday.
March 27, 2026 Augusta Chronicle
Completion of Augusta data center could take years
Joe Hotchkiss reports that a proposed data center near Fort Gordon could take years to completely come online while the project undergoes regulatory oversight. Developer QTS Data Centers has added the $2 billion center known as “Project Eisenhower” to a regional interconnection queue seeking permission to tap into Augusta’s power grid, according to Cleanview, a research company that tracks clean-energy projects and data centers.
March 27, 2026 WABE
Climate, faith groups challenge Georgia Power expansion
Emily Jones reports that faith groups and environmental advocates are asking a judge to reverse the Georgia Power expansion that regulators approved late last year. Their filing in Fulton County Superior Court argues that the Georgia Public Service Commission overstepped its legal authority.
March 27, 2026 Marietta Daily Journal
Housing, treatment, Narcan: How Cobb plans to spend $5.8M in opioid funds
Isabelle Manders reports, nearly $5.8 million in opioid settlement funds is being allocated to 10 local organizations, nonprofits and government agencies to support treatment, prevention and recovery across Cobb County after the Board of Commissioners unanimously approved its first round of disbursements this week.
March 27, 2026 Healthbeat Atlanta
Four states, four strategies: Lessons for Georgia’s public health review
Rebecca Grapevine reports, state representatives have this year taken a look at how Georgia’s public health system works and what changes might be needed. A resulting report found that there is a “wide variance” in the public health services offered across the state, with many rural health departments offering fewer services than urban ones, and public health departments facing workforce shortages.
March 27, 2026 GPB
Social Circle community leaders gather at state Capitol to share concerns over planned ICE facility
Sarah Kallis reports that opponents of an immigration detention facility planned for the town of Social Circle, east of Atlanta, took to the state Capitol to on Thursday to speak out. Community members and activists cited concerns with infrastructure and economic impact and said they are exploring legal options to stop the facility altogether.
March 27, 2026 Oglethorpe Echo
Lexington lands $40K grant to address water needs
Riley Baugh reports that Lexington residents will soon have upgrades to their water treatment system, thanks to a $40,000 grant from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority’s (GEFA) Small, Underserved and Disadvantaged Communities Grant Program. City clerk Kim Bradford said the funding will primarily go toward early-stage planning for improvements to one of the city’s wells, including engineering and design work, helping the city comply with federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards.
March 27, 2026 State Affairs
Data centers may keep tax breaks amid stalls in Legislature
Beau Evans reports, a push to eliminate tax breaks for data centers in Georgia is at risk of falling apart in the closing days of the 2026 legislative session. Legislation to prevent data centers from securing new tax breaks and phase out roughly $2.5 billion in existing incentives by 2032 has sat in the House for weeks since clearing the Senate on the March 6 Crossover Day.
March 27, 2026 Georgia Recorder
Lawmakers may restrict access to police video and mugshots in Georgia
Ross Williams reports, a bill making its way through the Georgia Legislature in the final days of the session aims to protect the innocent and victims of tragedies, but free speech advocates say it could disadvantage some news outlets. The goal of Senate Bill 482 is to prevent businesses lawmakers characterize as exploitative – like websites that publish booking photos or shock sites that show gruesome crime scenes or police shooting videos – from making money off of the tragedy of others.
March 27, 2026 Capitol Beat News
GOP measure to cap out-of-state campaign donations advancing through Georgia House
Ty Tagami reports that a Republican measure to limit out-of-state support of Georgia political campaigns passed a state House committee and is nearing final passage in the final days of this year’s legislative session. Senate Bill 423 would make it a felony punishable by up to a decade in prison for an intermediary to launder money from out-of-state donors and give it to a local campaign.
March 27, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Daylight saving switcheroo puts Georgia’s clocks one step closer to Canada
Patricia Murphy reports that we’re nearing the end of the 2026 legislative session, which means the sausage-making factory is working double shifts. In the case of a bill to make Georgia the only state in the country to go on something called “Atlantic Standard Time,” it has meant that a measure that would affect the lives of every Georgian, every day, was subject to grand total of 10 minutes of Senate debate before a vote on Monday so fast you could have blinked and missed it.
