Georgia Trend Daily – Aug. 12, 2026
Aug. 12, 2026 Augusta Chronicle
Why warmer winters are putting Southern peaches at risk | 5 Things
Erica Van Buren reports, peach growers in Georgia and South Carolina are adapting to warmer winters, earlier blooms and harsher heat, but the changes could affect both harvests and the regional economy.
Aug. 12, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Unofficial Guide Issue 08.11: Eat, Visit, Do, and Shop
Jana Lawrence reports, the Dog Days of Summer are in full force. It’s hot. It’s humid. It’s summer in Georgia. Even though the children may have gone back to school, we’re all still traveling around soaking up the last drops of summer before fall ramps up and sports take up all of our weekends and free time! And we have suggestions for you.
Aug. 12, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Migrant workers at Georgia factories get multimillion-dollar settlement
Lautaro Grinspan reports that in 2022, Heber Zapata was among a group of Mexican college graduates who told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution they had been recruited for engineering work in Georgia’s auto industry — only to be put to work as manual laborers on the assembly line once they arrived. The pay, they said, also fell short of what had been promised.
Aug. 12, 2026 Savannah Morning News
OpenAI to pay average wage of $80,000 at Effingham County data center
Latrice Williams reports that OpenAI says it has committed to an average wage of $80,000 for its new data center in Rincon. At least 400 permanent jobs are expected to come to Effingham County as OpenAI advances plans for its $20 billion Project Camellia data center campus. Employment is projected to reach 1,000 positions at full buildout.
Aug. 12, 2026 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Georgia’s free school lunches are in danger. How it affects Muscogee County
Sundi Rose reports, more than 1.25 million Georgia students and over 50 local schools could lose access to free breakfast and lunch at school thanks to federal cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. Many Muscogee County schools rely on Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a federal meal service option under the National School Lunch Act.
Aug. 12, 2026 Newnan Times-Herald
Project Oak drops 200 acres, but application still includes them
Jeffrey Cullen-Dean reports that a Coweta resident accused Project Oak’s developers of a “bait and switch” Tuesday as questions continue over why a nearly 200-acres parcel the developers say they no longer want rezoned remains part of the project’s pending application. District 3 resident Kimberlee Shields told the Coweta County Board of Commissioners that leaving the parcel in the application and public notices has misled residents.
Aug. 12, 2026 Macon Telegraph
‘People on top of each other’: Bibb jail expands psychiatric treatment space
Katharine Tucker reports, every year, River Edge assists hundreds of Bibb County inmates who have mental health challenges. But jail overcrowding has sometimes made it difficult to provide counseling and treatment.
Aug. 12, 2026 WABE
A new plan to preserve Georgia’s marshes: Give them space to migrate
Emily Jones reports, in coastal Liberty County, a creekside park nestled between the town of Midway and I-95 is losing its battle with high tide. “If we walk that way, you’ll be able to see some of the, well, just plain erosion,” said Phil Odom, chairman of Liberty County’s Consolidated Planning Commission, on a recent afternoon.
Aug. 12, 2026 Georgia Recorder
GOP candidates outraise Democrats so far in most — but not all — of Georgia’s statewide contests
Maya Homan and Alander Rocha report, with less than three months until the November election, Republican candidates are outraising Democrats in most of Georgia’s statewide races, according to the latest round of campaign filings. However, the most recent data comes with a silver lining for Democrats.
Aug. 12, 2026 Capitol Beat News
Jackson leads Bottoms in fundraising for Georgia governor’s race
Ty Tagami reports that Rick Jackson, the Republican running to be Georgia’s next governor, raised more money in the past two months than his Democratic opponent, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, has collected since starting her campaign more than a year ago. The latest reporting period ended July 31, with filings due by the end of last week.
Aug. 12, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Trump tries to broker truce between Jackson, Jones after bitter GOP primary
Greg Bluestein reports that President Donald Trump is trying to play peacemaker between Rick Jackson and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, personally stepping in to broker a truce after one of the nastiest Republican primaries for governor in Georgia history. Trump called Jones last month and urged him to meet with Jackson, who defeated Jones in a GOP primary in June, according to three people with direct knowledge of the conversation who aren’t authorized to speak publicly about the exchange.
