Georgia Trend Daily – Aug. 13, 2026
Aug. 13, 2026 Georgia Ports Authority
Port of Savannah exports up 8 percent in July
Staff reports, the Georgia Ports Authority reported exports totaled nearly 115,000 TEUs, up 7.7 percent or more than 8,200 TEUs over July 2025. Imports reached 251,888, an increase of 5 percent or 12,300 TEUs.
Over the shoulder view of young woman holding smartphone, having a telemedicine consultation with doctor. Telehealth and telemedicine concept. Healthcare and technology concept.
Aug. 13, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Why Hybrid Healthcare Is a Business Imperative for Employers in Georgia
Amanda Free reports, access to healthcare is more than an employee benefit. For many Georgia employers, it’s one of the largest business investments they make each year and a critical factor in attracting talent, supporting productivity, and managing long-term costs.
Aug. 13, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Metro Atlanta population growth slows slightly amid tight housing, study says
Mirtha Donastorg reports that while metro Atlanta is adding thousands of new residents, population growth is slowing, hampered by housing supply, a new study found. The 11-county metro added 53,690 residents between April 2025 and April 2026 — the slowest pace of population growth in more than a dozen years, according to a report released Wednesday by the Atlanta Regional Commission, the metro area’s planning agency.
Aug. 13, 2026 WABE
Federal judge grants millions in class action lawsuit involving foreign workers recruited to work at KIA Georgia
Emily Wu Pearson reports, a federal judge in Georgia awarded $11.5 million in a class action lawsuit to foreign workers on visas for highly educated professionals who alleged they were caught in a bait-and-switch scheme. Engineers recruited from Mexico on TN Visas, specialized visas for professionals from Mexico and Canada, said they were hired to work in their field for Kia Georgia and Hyundai Mobis by Georgia-based staffing agency Allswell and recruitment agency SPJ Connect.
Aug. 13, 2026 Saporta Report
MARTA Tackles World Cup demand with ease, successfully handling over 1 million additional rail trips
Ammiel Jones reports, during MARTA’s July board meeting, Interim CEO/General Manager Jonathan Hunt provided praise and reflection on the transit agency’s operational success during the World Cup’s tenure in Atlanta. “After more than eighteen months of planning and preparation, [our] team demonstrated that MARTA would be ready”, said Hunt.
Aug. 13, 2026 Fox 5 Atlanta
Marietta council approves data center despite six-month moratorium
Denise Dillon reports, Marietta City Council members voted 5-2 to approve an 11-acre data center on Powers Ferry Place off Delk Road. The move followed heated debate and protests outside City Hall over environmental impacts and potential utility bill increases.
Aug. 13, 2026 Rome News-Tribune
Residents protest data centers as Floyd County Commission reviews draft ordinance
Baylen Parker reports, several Floyd County residents held up signs opposing data centers as county commissioners received a proposed ordinance that would place new restrictions on where and how the facilities can operate in the unincorporated area. The ordinance, which received unanimous approval from the Rome-Floyd Planning Commission last week, includes requirements addressing setbacks, noise, infrastructure and decommissioning.
Aug. 13, 2026 Newnan Times-Herald
Grantville mayor proposes free Wi-Fi downtown
Laura Camper reports, technology and modernization. That’s what the mayor of Grantville is proposing for the city with city-provided internet services for downtown, he said.
Aug. 13, 2026 Georgia Recorder
The cost of child welfare services has jumped in Georgia. A new panel is about to dig into why.
Ross Williams reports, taking care of vulnerable children in Georgia has gotten a lot more expensive, and lawmakers are hoping to figure out why. “We’re trying to figure out what happened,” said state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Marietta Republican. “And unfortunately, nobody had a whole lot of notice that we were in a deficit situation with that particular population.”
Aug. 13, 2026 Rough Draft Atlanta
Raffensperger launches bipartisan Election Integrity Task Force
Collin Kelley reports that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced the formation of a bipartisan Election Integrity Task Force on Aug. 12, bringing together local leaders, election officials, and policy experts. According to a press release from Raffensperger’s office, the task force will serve as an ongoing forum for leaders, election officials and policy experts from across the political spectrum to help ensure Georgia’s elections remain “fair and secure.”
Aug. 13, 2026 State Affairs
Nearly half billion raised in Georgia’s 2026 elections
Beau Evans reports, the 2026 elections in Georgia have fueled a staggering nearly $500 million raised by candidates for statewide, federal and General Assembly races with three months remaining until the Nov. 3 midterms. As campaigns enter the home stretch, both parties’ quest to lock up control of the state’s top elected offices look primed to ride the money wave of two candidates in particular: Republican governor hopeful Rick Jackson and incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Aug. 13, 2026 Georgia Recorder
‘That’s easy’: Collins tells pardoned Jan. 6 defendant that government should pay wronged Americans
Ross Williams reports, a Savannah man who received a pardon for his actions on Jan. 6 and who is a self-described provocateur is at the heart of the latest stir in Georgia’s closely watched U.S. Senate race. During the question-and-answer portion of a Tuesday breakfast event at a Savannah golf club, Dominic Box introduced himself as a “non-violent Jan. 6-er from here in Savannah” and asked Collins about his thoughts on a controversial plan to compensate victims of the “weaponization” of the justice system.
Aug. 13, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Democrats talk property taxes as they eye a possible House takeover
David Wickert reports, at a library 20 minutes from downtown Athens, Democratic state Rep. David Wilkerson asked for a show of hands. “Raise your hand if getting rid of property taxes is the number one thing that you’re concerned about,” he told the crowd of about 40 people at the Bogart Library.
