Georgia Trend Daily – Oct. 6, 2026

Oct. 6, 2026 Capitol Beat News

Georgia’s public school class of 2026 scored higher on SAT

Ty Tagami reports that Georgia’s public school class of 2026 did better in math and a little worse in reading and writing on their SAT tests than students who graduated the year before. The overall SAT score still rose: the mean score for public-school students in the state was 1031, up two points from last year, according to figures released by the Georgia Department of Education.

Oct. 6, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!

Connecting Education, Industry and Opportunity

Patty Rasmussen reports, on July 1, a quiet but significant change marked the beginning of a “new era of partnerships” in how Georgia coordinates education and workforce policy. When Gov. Brian Kemp signed the Education and Workforce Strategy Act (HB 1302) on May 11 and it went into effect a couple of months later, the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement became the Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Strategy, ensuring a broader, more unified approach to creating and implementing workforce education policies and programs.

Oct. 6, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia Power data breach hits 300,000 customers

Kristi E. Swartz reports, hackers hit Georgia Power’s online customer portal last week, exposing information of hundreds of thousands of customers and fueling the debate over online security in a digital economy. Georgia Power said Monday it was in the process of telling roughly 300,000 of its 2.8 million customers that an “unauthorized party” gained access to “limited” information.

Oct. 6, 2026 Augusta Chronicle

$1 million BlackRock grant boosts skilled trades training in Augusta

Joe Hotchkiss reports that the world’s largest financial asset manager has given $1 million to Goodwill in Augusta to help train more Helms College students in skilled careers. Goodwill of Middle Georgia and the CSRA recently announced the grant, coming from BlackRock Future Builders, a national philanthropic initiative funded by the BlackRock Foundation to train and support 50,000 workers nationwide.

Oct. 6, 2026 Walton Tribune

Social Circle looks to build new wastewater treatment plant

Jim Thompson reports that the Social Circle City Council is poised to act on two contracts and associated costs, totaling more than $35 million, that are the centerpieces of a largely bond-funded initiative to upgrade long-deferred work on the city’s water and wastewater treatment infrastructure. At their non-voting Oct. 1 work session, the council heard two contract recommendations — one for a new wastewater treatment plant, and the second for a gravity-feed sewer line connected to the new wastewater treatment plant.

Oct. 6, 2026 Savannah Morning News

Architectural Digest named this coastal town the prettiest in Georgia

Miguel Legoas reports that Georgia has a ton of Instagram-worthy sites from the bustling metropolis of Atlanta, the mountains in the north and the coastal destination that is Savannah and everywhere in between. But only one won Architectural Digest’s recent beauty pageant: St. Marys took our crown.

Oct. 6, 2026 Gainesville Times

ICE bought these Oakwood warehouses for $68M. Now it appears ready to sell them

Jeff Gill reports, after months of speculation, it now appears that ICE wants to sell the warehouses it bought in Oakwood for a detention center, deeming them as “excess property.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has invited local officials and the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office “to comment on the proposed undertaking,” the Department of Homeland Security says in a Sept. 29 letter obtained by The Times.

Oct. 6, 2026 GPB

Plan to move hundreds of pretrial detainees from Atlanta area to South Georgia draws challenges

Staff reports, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) plans to move hundreds of people awaiting trial at a detention center near Atlanta to a facility in South Georgia. The plan is drawing sharp criticism from Atlanta-area attorneys and others in the legal community.

Oct. 6, 2026 WABE

SNAP is changing. Here’s what it means for Georgia

Molly Samuel reports, as of this month, Georgia is shouldering more of the cost to manage the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the federal food aid program known as SNAP. It’s the latest change to the program to take effect following the passage of the tax and spending legislation President Donald Trump pushed last year, H.R. 1, nicknamed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Oct. 6, 2026 WSB TV

Georgia voters could decide who controls board overseeing utility rates

Candace McCowan reports, voters have a chance to change control over the five-person board that approves utility rate hikes here in Georgia. There are two Public Service Commission seats up for grabs in the midterm elections.

Oct. 6, 2026 Georgia Recorder

‘It’s complicated’: A southwest Georgia district presents both opportunity, risk for Republicans

Maya Homan reports, at first glance, a largely rural district that stretches across 30 counties in middle and southwest Georgia might not seem like friendly turf for a Democrat. But Congressman Sanford Bishop, a moderate Albany Democrat, has comfortably fended off GOP attempts to flip the seat in recent years.

Oct. 6, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia midterms will decide who Oks how people vote in a battleground state

Caleb Groves reports that the vote for Georgia’s next secretary of state is more than a contest to choose the state’s next elections chief. It will also decide who OKs how people will vote in a presidential battleground state for years to come.