Georgia Trend Daily – May 8, 2026
May 8, 2026 Georgia.gov
April Net Tax Revenues Up 5.9%
Staff reports, the State of Georgia’s net tax collections in April totaled almost $3.95 billion, for an increase of $220.2 million, or 5.9%, compared to FY 2025, when net tax collections totaled $3.73 billion for the month. Year-to-date, net tax revenue totaled $28.45 billion, for an increase of $683.7 million, or 2.5%, compared to last year, when net tax collections totaled roughly $27.77 billion through ten months of FY 2025.
May 8, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Resources for Entrepreneurs
Ben Young writes, I’ve always preferred to shop at small businesses. The isolation of the pandemic left me longing for the contact I took for granted at the small shops I frequented. And with respect to Fortune 500 companies, small businesses are the backbone of Georgia’s economy and part of the character of its different communities.
May 8, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
French electrical component maker opens factory in Gwinnett with 300 jobs
Kelly Yamanouchi reports, a French company that makes electrical systems for hospitals and data centers has opened a new facility in Gwinnett County, creating 300 jobs. Socomec, an industrial group based in France that launched its U.S. subsidiary in 2009, spent $10 million on the new facility on Shawnee Industrial Way just outside Suwanee city limits.
May 8, 2026 Marietta Daily Journal
Coca-Cola unveils ‘America 250’ bottle label at Marietta plant tour
Jack Lindner reports, several local and state leaders took a sip of nostalgic Americana Wednesday during a tour of Coca-Cola’s Marietta bottling facility. The tour was held to unveil a specialty “America 250” label that will be plastered on Coke bottles across the country celebrating the United States’ 250th anniversary.
May 8, 2026 WABE
US Soccer’s National Training Center opens in Fayetteville
Marlon Hyde reports, the United States Soccer Federation officially opened its new HQ on Thursday, just South of Atlanta. The $250 million facility has more than a dozen full-size natural grass pitches.
May 8, 2026 GlobalAtlanta.com
Ted Turner Sought to Quell Global Conflicts Through Sports, Business
Trevor Williams reports, billionaire media mogul, conservationist and philanthropist Ted Turner, who died Wednesday at 87, blended his interests in sports, business and news to foster cross-border human connections he believed would contribute to world peace. His legacy of cultivating shared interests as a means to reconcilation is especially poignant as Atlanta, the city where he built a media empire starting with the launch of the satellite network Turner Broadcasting System in the 1970s, gets set to host the FIFA World Cup.
May 8, 2026 Augusta Chronicle
What is the estimated cost for the 2 big Georgia wildfires?
Vanessa Johns reports, a new look at Georgia’s ongoing wildfire response shows just how costly the season has become, with two of the state’s largest active fires already carrying a combined price tag well into the millions. According to data reported by USA TODAY, the Pineland Road Fire in Clinch County and the Highway 82 Fire in Brantley County have together racked up more than $20 million in estimated costs to date.
May 8, 2026 GPB
Health care services at Augusta’s Fort Gordon hospital to be downgraded
Sofi Gratas reports, after preliminary plans were released last fall, Pentagon officials recently announced they will end certain services at Eisenhower Army Medical Center, located at the Fort Gordon army base near Augusta. The federal Defense Health Agency confirmed in a statement sent out this week that it plans to close the medical center’s 60 inpatient beds and shift to ambulatory care.
May 8, 2026 Newnan Times-Herald
$188M mixed-use development underway in Palmetto
Clay Neely reports that a large mixed-use development is underway in Palmetto, bringing plans for housing, retail, restaurants and office space to South Fulton near the Coweta line. The projects, known as the CERES Chatt Hills Mixed-Use Development, is located at 8780 Atlanta Newnan Road and carries an estimated value of $188 million, according to project information published April 17.
May 8, 2026 Oglethorpe Echo
Senate bill could drastically change school district, county funding
Bridget Goodman and Nick Hasnain report that Georgia Senate Bill 33, a bill aimed at capping property tax, could threaten funds for Oglethorpe County’s public schools and reduce county services. Unless vetoed by Gov. Brian Kemp by Tuesday, the bill will become law.
May 8, 2026 Fox 5 Atlanta
Rep. Rich McCormick faces constituents with tight security at Alpharetta town hall
Ron DiRenzo reports that U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick heard from constituents in Georgia’s 7th Congressional District at an Alpharetta hotel ballroom Thursday evening, marking his first major town hall event since one in Roswell went off the rails. The audience was brought into a backdoor at the Marriott, where they were screened for weapons and had their IDs checked.
May 8, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia GOP split grows over Brian Kemp’s redistricting stance
Greg Bluestein reports, a fight over Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision not to immediately redraw Georgia’s political maps is rippling through Republican circles and forging a new dividing line in the U.S. Senate race. With early voting underway and the May 19 primary closing in, Kemp argued that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision weakening the Voting Rights Act came too late in the election cycle to redo the maps for this year’s midterm elections, though he has endorsed an overhaul before 2028.
