Georgia Trend Daily – Sept. 17, 2026
Sept. 17, 2026 Capitol Beat News
Former business executive to lead Georgia’s public colleges and universities
Ty Tagami reports, it took five months to find a successor to University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue, and after looking far and wide the Board of Regents picked someone close to home. Thomas A. Fanning will come out of retirement to be the next leader of Georgia’s 25 public colleges and universities.
Sept. 17, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Ted Turner: Honoring a Life of Giving
Kathleen Conway reports that media mogul and hometown hero Ted Turner will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at a luncheon celebrating National Philanthropy Day in November. The Greater Atlanta Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals is hosting the event at the Georgia Aquarium.
Sept. 17, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Raphael Bostic is ‘looking for the next chapter’ after leading Atlanta Fed
Mirtha Donastorg reports, when Raphael Bostic stepped down as president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta at the end of February, he said the first day of his retirement he was going to sleep in. “The idea is really just to exhale, to relax, to recover and to try to just clear my head of all the things that I’ve just had to be juggling, and then see what comes in,” Bostic said at the time on the Atlanta Fed’s “Economy Matters” podcast.
Sept. 17, 2026 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
One of the nation’s largest rowing regattas could move to Columbus. Impact explained
Jordyn Paul-Slater reports that Columbus could land one of the nation’s largest rowing regattas if Head of the Hooch organizers decide to leave Chattanooga. Head of the Hooch has not committed to relocating, but officials told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that Columbus would be their “backup,” if they don’t find a “successful outcome” in Chattanooga.
Sept. 17, 2026 Valdosta Daily Times
Map guides Georgians to fall agritourism sites
Staff reports that farms in Valdosta and Nashville are among almost 70 sites listed on the Georgia Grown Fall Agritourism Map, which was announced Tuesday by Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper. The map features Dasher Family Fun Center and Market, 2327 S. Patterson St. in Valdosta, and A-Maze-N-Corn, 7292 Old Valdosta Road in Nashville, as well as four other farms in the region: Rutland Farms in Tifton, Calhoun Produce in Ashburn, Mitchell’s Family Farms in Boston and Long Farms in Bainbridge.
Sept. 17, 2026 Gainesville Times
NGHS leader joins executives from Apple, JPMorgan, Harvard on national ‘Top 100’ list
Ben Anderson reports that Northeast Georgia Health System’s chief clinical officer has been named to a national list recognizing longtime business and industry leaders. Dr. Vik Reddy was named one of Promena’s Top 100 Elite Trailblazers of Impact for 2026, according to a Wednesday, Sept. 16, news release from NGHS.
Sept. 17, 2026 WABE
‘Morale is extremely low,’ Georgia air traffic controllers await the rest of their raise
Marlon Hyde reports, ten-hour shifts, six days a week. That’s the schedule for many Air traffic controllers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, who are still waiting for the rest of a raise approved months ago, along with others across the country.
Sept. 17, 2026 GPB
How the EPA rollback of carbon emission rules could play out in Georgia’s coal-fired power plants
Grant Blankenship reports that federal Environmental Protection Agency has rolled back rules restricting climate warming emissions at electrical power plants, including those in Georgia. The rules the EPA ended this week date from the Biden administration and would have required coal and natural gas-fired power plants to restrict carbon emissions starting in 2030.
Sept. 17, 2026 State Affairs
Georgia ‘police power’ faces new test over damaged hemp crops
Beau Evans reports, a lawsuit that could rewrite the rules on when police must pay for damaging private property in Georgia has gained new life in the state’s highest court. In a Sept. 9 ruling, Georgia Supreme Court justices revived a case from hemp farmers in Dahlonega who sued the state after drug-enforcement officers flew helicopters and a small plane over their fields in 2021, destroying more than $37,000 worth of crops.
Sept. 17, 2026 Griffin Daily News
Elections director warns residents about confusing voter registration mail
Avery Caldwell reports that Spalding residents have received confusing mail from a third-party voter registration group, according to elections director Kimberly Slaughter. The mail comes from Ready to Register, a group that gained national attention over the summer.
Sept. 17, 2026 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Georgia to get new state senator after record-setting 33 years
Brittany McGee reports that State Sen. Ed Harbison (D-Columbus) is the longest-serving member of the Georgia Senate, representing District 15 for 33 years. But in March, he announced he wouldn’t seek reelection so he could retire from the legislature at the age of 84.
Sept. 17, 2026 Macon Telegraph
Incumbent agriculture commissioner faces Democratic challenger in Georgia
Chelsea Madden reports that Georgia agriculture commissioner seat is up for election on the Nov. 3 ballot. The incumbent, Tyler J. Harper (R), is running against Katherine Juhan-Arnold (D). The position is a four-year executive role in the Georgia Department of Agriculture with no term limit.
Sept. 17, 2026 Georgia Recorder
Former Georgia regulator who helped set policy for data centers now works for company building them
Alander Rocha reports that Tricia Pridemore, who until recently served as an elected utility regulator in Georgia, is now working for a corporation that builds data centers primarily in the southeast. Pridemore, who is a Republican, will serve as the executive vice president of energy, regulatory and policy for DC BLOX, where she will represent the company in policy discussions with lawmakers, regulatory bodies and utility providers.
Sept. 17, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A $3.6M bet from Jon Ossoff that goes beyond his own reelection
Greg Bluestein reports that U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is tapping his formidable fundraising operation to transfer more than $3.6 million into the Democratic Party of Georgia’s coordinated campaign, an investment aimed not just at securing his own reelection but boosting Democrats up and down the ballot. The spending, some of which the campaign disclosed for the first time Wednesday, was made over the past two years and offers some of the clearest evidence yet of how deeply Ossoff has invested in a state party operation that he helped overhaul ahead of the 2026 midterms.
