The Battle of Bloody Marsh was fought between Spanish forces and colonists under James Oglethorpe on St Simons Island, Georgia in 1742 on a date that is variously cited as June 9 or June 7, 1742. Thus began the rivalry between Georgia and Florida.
On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution before the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia calling for American independence from Great Britain.
Lee’s resolution declared: “That these United Colonies are, and of right out to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; that measures should be immediately taken for procuring the assistance of foreign powers, and a Confederation be formed to bind the colonies more closely together.”
Four weeks later, Georgia’s members of the Continental Congress – Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton — voted for a version written by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia and called the Declaration of Independence.
The expulsion of the Cherokee from Georgia began on June 6, 1838 as 800 members left by riverboat.
The first successful ascent of Mt. McKinley, also called Denali, in Alaska, the highest mountain in North America, was completed on June 7, 1913.
On June 6, 1944, seventy-eight years ago, Allied forces under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower began the invasion of France, called D-Day.
On the morning of June 5, 1944, U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe gave the go-ahead for Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious military operation in history. On his orders, 6,000 landing craft, ships and other vessels carrying 176,000 troops began to leave England for the trip to France. That night, 822 aircraft filled with parachutists headed for drop zones in Normandy. An additional 13,000 aircraft were mobilized to provide air cover and support for the invasion.
By dawn on June 6, 18,000 parachutists were already on the ground; the land invasions began at 6:30 a.m. The British and Canadians overcame light opposition to capture Gold, Juno and Sword beaches; so did the Americans at Utah. The task was much tougher at Omaha beach, however, where 2,000 troops were lost and it was only through the tenacity and quick-wittedness of troops on the ground that the objective was achieved. By day’s end, 155,000 Allied troops–Americans, British and Canadians–had successfully stormed Normandy’s beaches.
The first Porsche automobile was completed on June 8, 1948.
On June 6, 1949, George Orwell published 1984.
Ronald Reagan became the Republican nominee for Governor of California on June 7, 1966.
Ghostbusters was released on June 8, 1984.
Ferris Bueller took the day off school on June 5, 1985.
On June 8, 2004, Georgia hosted the G-8 summit meeting of the world’s major industrial democracies, which included representatives from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom, plus a representative from the European Union. The 30th meeting of the G-8 was held at Sea Island at the Cloister.
June 7, 2016 was declared “Prince Day” in Minnesota under a proclamation issued by Governor Mark Dayton. Prince was born on this day in 1958. Governor Dayton missed his chance to begin a proclamation with “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together today….” The next year, Dayton proclaimed Prince Day on April 21, 2017.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Early voting in the Statewide Special Primary Elections for Public Service Commission:
Republican – 11,206 – 38.80%
Democrat – 17,519 – 60.66%
Non-partisan – 114 – 0.54%
TOTAL – 21611
Today is National Donut Day, according to USA Today.
The Salvation Army established National Donut Day in 1938 to honor the organization’s Donut Lassies and Donut Girls, women who traveled to France to serve donuts and other snacks to soldiers during World War I. “National Donut Day is a time to remember the lasting impact of a unique piece of history and to honor the heroic men and women who have served our country,” said The Salvation Army’s national commander, Merle Heatwole, in a press release.
The Salvation Army will distribute donuts to veterans in several cities across the U.S. and have other events, including the National Donut Day World Donut Eating Championship, scheduled to be held at the National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Governor Brian Kemp is flying to Canada to avoid the GAGOP Convention discuss trade, according to the AJC.
Gov. Brian Kemp is heading north this weekend with a different goal: strengthening ties with Georgia’s biggest trading partner.
The second-term Republican will join other southeastern U.S. officials at a cross-border economic summit in Saint John, New Brunswick, as part of the Southeast U.S.–Canadian Provinces Alliance.
The three-day conference aims to promote trade and investment between the region and Canada — a relationship that’s taken a hit amid Trump’s tariff war and his goal of annexing the U.S. neighbor.
I am hopeful he will bring me back a can of Ketchup-flavored Pringles, my favorite snack from the Great White North.
The Georgia Republican Party hosts their Convention this weekend in Dalton, according to the AJC.
Activists are gathering as the alliance between Trump and billionaire Elon Musk collapsed into a messy public quarrel that could threaten the president’s signature domestic policy initiative and complicate the GOP’s hopes in the midterms.
And efforts to purge moderates from the party haven’t disappeared, though some far-right provocateurs are meeting increasing resistance from GOP leaders.
After David Cross, an election conspiracist running for Georgia GOP chair, circulated an antisemitic conspiracy theory, a roster of influential conservatives swiftly condemned him.
“Many of the divisions in the party are reconciled, and Trump and Kemp both have roles to play,” said Jason Shepherd, the former head of the Cobb GOP. “Now the bigger fight is over who will control the apparatus.”
That internal fight comes to a head this weekend, as Cross challenges Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon — a former firebrand state senator who once styled himself as an antiestablishment outsider.
Now, McKoon is firmly in the party’s establishment, with backing from grassroots conservatives and the GOP elite. All nine Republican members of Georgia’s congressional delegation support him. So does Trump, who recently praised McKoon for doing a “fantastic job.”
As he campaigns for another term, he boasts of steering millions in contributions to pay the legal bills for party members charged in Fulton County’s election interference case.
And McKoon touts the GOP’s successes on his watch, including Trump’s victory last year in Georgia, as he frames the party’s 2026 stakes: Ossoff’s Senate seat, every statewide constitutional office and control of the Georgia House.
“You don’t fire the head coach who wins the Super Bowl,” said McKoon.
Governor Brian Kemp joined his peers from Florida and South Carolina signing a letter seeking state control over red snapper and other reef fish, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Currently, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has regulatory authority.
“Federal management is driven by flawed data and regulations that threaten the economies of our coastal communities,” the letter reads. “Our states are committed to helping our recreational fishing communities, while also conserving our fisheries resources for future generations.”
What drove the governors to make the request is that “there is an unprecedented abundance of red snapper, red snapper is no longer overfished or undergoing overfishing (and) a large quota increase is warranted.”
“While prior leadership at the department has struggled with accepting these facts, our states are equipped to effectively manage the stock to balance public access to the resource while maintaining a healthy stock for the long-term health of our fishery,” the letter reads.
The first thing the states would do is reverse the rules imposed by Amendment No. 59 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region. According to NOAA’s website, Amendment No. 59 is intended “to end and prevent overfishing of the South Atlantic red snapper stock and maintain adequate rebuilding progress.”
In effect, however, it would shorten red snapper fishing seasons and severely limit the public’s access to fisheries, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-1, told The News earlier this year. He strongly opposed the amendment on the grounds that it would hurt “fishing tourism during a time when red snapper have never been more abundant.”
Carter wrote the U.S Secretary of the Interior requesting abandonment of the red snapper amendment. He had received no response as of last week, a spokesperson for Carter said.
In their letter, the three governors say “decades of inaction by career bureaucrats within the … NOAA, combined with actions in the waning hours of the Biden administration to cut off public access to the fishery have hampered access for our recreational angling communities from exercising their God-given right to fish and support their local economies and way of life.”
Democratic candidates for Governor are focused on healthcare, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.
The wide-open race for governor of Georgia in the next election will have Democrats assailing Republicans on access to health care and other quality of life issues, as a fourth liberal partisan enters the race.
State Rep. Derrick Jackson, a retired naval officer with a background in corporate marketing, cited hospital closures and Georgia’s refusal to expand Medicaid as top issues in an interview Wednesday, as the Democrat from Tyrone explained why he is contesting a fellow lawmaker, state Sen. Jason Esteves of Atlanta; former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and Pastor Olu Brown in the Democratic primary next year.
Jackson echoed other critics of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s alternative to Medicaid expansion. The Pathways to Coverage, rolled out in 2023, had enrolled about 6,500 Georgians by early this year despite an estimated 200,000 without health insurance. To qualify, adults must work, go to school, volunteer or do other qualifying activities for 80 hours a month.
“He’s just been a disaster, in my humble opinion, around health care,” Jackson said, citing a shortage of doctors, especially in rural Georgia.
Bottoms and Esteves also cited health care as a top priority when they announced their plans to run for governor earlier this year.
State Attorney General Chris Carr was the first candidate to enter the race. The Republican is expected to see a challenge from Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who has been piling money into his own campaign fund.
Carr cited jobs as a top priority late last year, when he announced his plan to run for the state’s highest office. He also focused on combating crime and “the left’s failed immigration policies.”
Jackson, who served 22 years in the U.S. Navy, called President Donald Trump’s approach to immigration “kidnapping” and said it is an affront to core American principles and the U.S. Constitution.
“You can’t just abduct a citizen … and then you just put them on a plane, and they end up in El Salvador or Venezuela or wherever else,” he said.
Another reason he gave for running: to raise the minimum wage and help more people cope with the rising cost of food, clothes and housing.
Jackson said his seven deployments and four combat missions instilled leadership skills that make him an ideal candidate for governor, especially when paired with his nine years of legislative experience.
He said he will be a more formidable candidate after learning from his unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor in 2022. Jackson finished sixth with 60,706 votes, less than 9% of the total, in a crowded primary against eight other Democrats.
Democratic candidate for Governor Jason Esteves spoke about how growing up in Columbus affects him and his campaign, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
Georgia state Sen. Jason Esteves (D-District 35 in metro Atlanta), who owns The Flying Biscuit in Highside Market in his hometown of Columbus, plans to use what he has learned about challenges facing the Columbus community to inform his policies and decisions as he runs for governor.
Esteves, 41, announced last month that he plans to run for governor in the 2026 election.
“We have the opportunity to elect a new governor and to focus our attention on investing in our families and investing in our dreams,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer.
“I still have a large family that lives in Columbus,” Esteves said.
“When I was a kid, you didn’t really go to downtown Columbus,” Esteves said. “In fact, you’d avoid it at all costs. But because of the efforts of leaders, the community and with (Columbus State University) development early on, we’ve seen a complete revitalization of downtown Columbus.”
As part of his campaign platform, Esteves aims to help small business owners have more access to capital through low-interest loans and to provide tax deductions and tax credits that support individuals investing in local communities, he said.
“A lot of those small business owners that open restaurants, hotels and everything else in downtown are taking a risk,” Esteves said. “They wanted to do something good for themselves, but most importantly, they wanted to do something good for Columbus.”
Georgia School Superintendent Richard Wood faces opposition to his reelection, according to the Capitol Beat News Service.
Georgia’s top elected school official announced plans to seek another four years in office Thursday, as others sign up to compete for the office against him.
If Richard Woods wins re-election to a fourth term next year, he will be sworn in in January 2027 to serve alongside a third governor.
Republican Gov. Nathan Deal was starting his second term when Woods, also a Republican, took the oath of office to lead the Georgia Department of Education in January 2015. Woods went on to serve during both of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s terms.
“As State School Superintendent, I have focused on transforming the Georgia Department of Education from a compliance-oriented agency to one centered on service and support for school districts,” Woods said in a statement issued by the education agency Thursday. “That vision will continue and, as I seek a fourth term, I am committed to expanding the resources and supports we provide directly to teachers.”
But at least two people so far are hoping to deprive Woods of that opportunity.
“He’s a nice guy, but I’ve got three children in the school system, my wife’s a schoolteacher,” said Randell E. Trammel, who lives in Cartersville and is planning to run against Woods in the GOP primary. “I don’t believe we’re offering excellence in education for every student across the state, and that comes with leadership.”
Trammell, CEO of the Center for Civic Engagement, registered on Monday to raise money for his own superintendent campaign.
Trammell is nearly a year behind Nelva M. Lee, a Locust Grove entrepreneur whom Kemp appointed to a two-year term on the state Board of Community Health in 2021. She filed to raise money last June for her run as a Republican in the superintendent’s race.
At the time, Lee was ending her run as CEO of a technical school for medical and court interpreters and translators. She said the Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission shut it down for no good reason last year, “and I really would like to get rid of them.”
Lee, who now runs a tokenized real estate investment business, said she also wants to be superintendent to promote charter schools and to improve Georgia education overall, which she said is at “the bottom of the barrel.”
“For a state that touts itself as business-friendly, we need to do a better job,” Lee said.
Woods’ news about his candidacy was tucked into a statement that was mainly about a different topic. The news release from the education department led with the announcement that former state Teacher of the Year Christy Todd would be taking over operational control of the education agency as Woods’ new chief of staff.
Matt Jones, who had been in that role since 2015 and had navigated the department through COVID-19 and other crises, is departing the position.
“Matt will continue to be a valued thought partner for me and for the agency, and I wish him the very best as he moves forward in his career – one I know will always be shaped by his deep commitment to Georgia’s public schools and students,” Woods said.
Among the crises Jones faced was the controversy around Woods’ decision last year to withhold recommending an Advanced Placement African American studies course last summer, which was seen as a retreat from curriculum involving diversity, equity and inclusion. Woods reversed himself after numerous critics, including Kemp and the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, questioned his decision.
The appointment of Georgia’s 2024 teacher of the year to succeed Jones was promising news for Tracey Nance, who was Georgia Teacher of the Year in 2020 and 2021.
“Georgia Teachers of the Year are excited for Christy and look forward to her bringing a nuanced perspective of what teaching looks like today,” said Nance, who directs a fellowship for the National Network of State Teachers of the Year. “And we look forward to her being a cheerleader for all educators and for the rights of all students.”
Seven candidates seek election to the State Senate District 21 seat vacated by Sen. Brandon Beach when he became Treasurer of the United States, according to Georgia Recorder.
Election Day is scheduled for Aug. 26.
Senate District 21 includes much of Cherokee County and some of north Fulton County. With seven candidates on the ballot, it’s likely that none will win an outright majority, and the most probable outcome is a runoff between the top two vote getters regardless of their party. The runoff is planned for Sept. 23.
Beach, who had served in the Senate since 2013, won just over 70% of the vote against his Democratic opponents in 2024 and 2018, the only times he faced a challenge from the other party. In 2024, Beach slightly outperformed Trump in the district, earning 81,481 votes, good for just over 70%, compared with Trump’s 78,544, or about 66.5%, according to data from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office analyzed by the Georgia Recorder.
So it’s no surprise that six of the seven Senate hopefuls are running as Republicans. Five of them came to Canton Monday for a forum hosted by the conservative Americans for Prosperity and answered questions about their commitment to principles like smaller government and lower taxes.
Policy-wise, there was not a whole lot of space between the candidates at the forum. Each said they support legislation expanding school vouchers, reducing or eliminating the state income tax and reducing government regulations – though the candidates did express some disagreement on accomplishing those goals.
Headline of the Year: “Marjorie Taylor Greene sours on Trump tax bill over ‘Skynet’ worries” from WRDW.
Apparently referring to the fictional “Skynet” as portrayed in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hugely successful “Terminator” films, Greene said, “I’m not voting for the development of Skynet and the rise of the machines by destroying federalism for 10 years by taking away state rights to regulate and make laws on all AI.
“Forcing eminent domain on people’s private properties to link the future Skynet is not very Republican,” said Greene, who represents Georgia’s solidly Republican 14th congressional district, on social media. “AI is going to replace a vast array of human jobs, everything from media to manufacturing to even construction through AI computer systems and robotics.
Greene added: “That means in my manufacturing district, that currently has a 2.8% unemployment rate, AI will replace many human jobs. And my district with the one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country could go to one of the highest unemployed districts in the country.”
Greene also said she did not know about the bill’s section she said “strips states of the right to make laws or regulate AI for 10 years.”
“I am adamantly opposed to this and it is a violation of state rights and I would have voted no if I had known this was in there,” Greene said, again on social media. “We have no idea what AI will be capable of in the next 10 years and giving it free rein and tying states’ hands is potentially dangerous.
“This needs to be stripped out in the Senate.”
United States Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Extreme NW GA) announced her opposition to federal preemption of state regulation of Artificial Intelligence contained in the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” according to the Savannah Morning News.
‘The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act,’ also known simply as OBBB and the ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ is President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and policy bill with more than 1,000 pages of changes. It passed the U.S. House on May 22 and Politico reported it’s most likely to hit the Senate floor the last full week of June.
Greene voted in favor of the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ and has been very vocal in her support of it. Posts in favor of it are all over her social media, with the most recent one from last night where she said on X she’s not happy with the price tag, but saying it’s still “A critical step toward delivering the America First MAGA mandate voters gave us in November.”
The bill contains a part called Section 43201: The ‘Artificial intelligence and information technology modernization initiative.’ If the bill passed with this section, it would ban states from enforcing any laws or regulations on AI except in a few specific circumstances. This applies to any laws or regulations limiting, restricting, or otherwise regulating AI models, AI systems, or automated decision systems entered into interstate commerce.
In other parts, the bill goes further by investing funds to AI projects which cover things like naval shipbuilding, unmanned aerial systems, and audits.
“We have no idea what AI will be capable of in the next 10 years and giving it free rein and tying states hands is potentially dangerous,” Greene said. “This needs to be stripped out in the Senate. When the OBBB comes back to the House for approval after Senate changes, I will not vote for it with this in it.”
Then why did she vote for it? Greene says, at the time, she didn’t know about it and would have voted against it had she known.
Six Georgia state legislators signed a letter opposing the federal preemption, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.
Six state legislators from Georgia have signed onto a letter urging members of Congress to oppose a provision tucked inside President Trump’s massive budget bill that would freeze state and local regulation of artificial intelligence for 10 years.
The bipartisan letter, dated Tuesday and signed by more than 250 state lawmakers from across the nation, warns of the dangers of stopping in its tracks state-level efforts to put guardrails around rapidly growing AI technology.
“Over the past several years, states across the country have enacted AI-related laws increasing consumer transparency, setting rules for the government acquisition of new technology, protecting patients in our health-care system, and defending artists and creators,” the letter states.
“A federal moratorium on AI policy threatens to wipe out these laws and a range of legislation, impacting more than just AI development and leaving constituents across the country vulnerable to harm.”
The Georgia lawmakers who signed the letter include three Republicans – state Sen. John Albers of Roswell, and state Reps. Todd Jones of South Forsyth and Gary Richardson of Evans – and three Democrats – House Minority Whip Sam Park of Lawrenceville, House Democratic Caucus Chair Tanya Miller of Atlanta, and Rep. Scott Holcomb of Atlanta.
The U.S. House passed Trump’s bill – the cornerstone of his second-term agenda – last month by a single vote and sent it to the Senate. The huge bill contains a series of controversial spending cuts that would help fund an extension of the tax cuts Congress enacted early in the president’s first term.
But a host of provisions unrelated to tax and spending policies are inside the measure, including the freeze on state- and local-level AI regulations.
Some House Republicans – including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Rome – have said they didn’t know the AI provision was in the bill. Greene told The New York Times that she would have voted against the legislation had she known of the AI provision.
Jones, who chairs the Georgia House Technology & Infrastructure Innovation Committee, called the provision “catastrophic,” particularly given the fast pace at which AI technology is advancing.
“Ten years is untenable. There’s too many things happening,” he said. “By putting in a 10-year moratorium … we’re putting our dependence on a federal government that hasn’t been able to do anything effectively or efficiently.”
The General Assembly has been actively addressing AI issues in recent years, passing legislation in 2022 authorizing the use of autonomous service-delivery robots to deliver cargo, and passing bills this year requiring the Georgia Technology Authority to conduct annual inventories of AI use by state agencies and giving the state Department of Transportation authority over “vertiports,” which serve small aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing.
Legislation outlawing the creation of AI-generated “deep fakes” to spread false information or images in political campaigns cleared the House this year but died in the Senate.
Police Blotter: Not Yet
Stone Mountain Mayor Beverly Jones is being accused by City Council members of mishandling public funds, according to WALB.
Jones is facing allegations that she removed two councilmembers from the city’s bank accounts, leaving herself as the only signer.
The issue was flagged when the city manager said Truist Bank contacted him about a “potential problem,” and claimed the mayor had shown the bank a resolution allowing her to modify access to the accounts.
According to Atlanta News First’s partners at Decaturish, the council did not approve such a resolution, and it is unclear who wrote it.
“I was informed that there is a cyber problem,” the mayor said, adding that the bank told her anyone whose name is authorized to use it.
“My purpose, and my sole purpose, was to go in there, was to take them off the signature card. No one else. Nothing else,” she went on.
The Stone Mountain City Council met on Friday, May 30, and directed the city attorney to begin drafting an ordinance regarding procedures for removing elected officials.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the Evans County Board of Education, according to WSAV.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) confirmed that they are investigating the Evans County Board of Education Thursday.
The investigation was initiated following the results of an audit of the Board of Education conducted by the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts, a GBI spokesperson told WSAV.
The investigation is active and ongoing.
In February, WSAV reported on the BOE’s new millage rate. The rate would require an almost 32% property tax increase and many residents voiced their concerns regarding the change.
The GBI says this investigation was launched following results of an audit of the Board of Education conducted by the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts (GDAA).
Less than a month ago, WTOC reported that the Evans County Board of Education voted to part ways with Superintendent Doctor Martin Waters.
That decision came just after the Evans County Board of Education was placed on a corrective action plan by the GDAA in May.
A review by the agency found mismanagement of the district’s money.
The GDAA found that during the 2023-2024 school year, some employees within the school district didn’t go through the proper procedures to spend money, or use proper payroll procedures.
The report also said the district lacked formal policies related to comp time, which resulted in an unregulated accumulation of hours.
Banks County Sheriff Billy Carlton Speed is accused of living outside the county, according to the AJC.
Somehow, the border between two rural Georgia counties abruptly moved behind Speed’s house a few years ago, a curved line that puts his residence in Banks County, where he’s the chief lawman, rather than in Franklin County, where he’s not.
The shifting boundary unleashed allegations — none proved — of mapping manipulation, corruption and fraud in this county in the northeast corner of the state. Known as the birthplace of baseball Hall of Famer Ty Cobb, Banks County is about 85 miles northeast of Atlanta.
Disgusted by what he sees as “an unethical attempt to falsify a county boundary,” the recently elected county commission chairman is trying to restore the border to a straight line as it was mapped until early 2019.
If the map changes back, Speed’s house wouldn’t be located in Banks County. And if Speed doesn’t live in Banks County, state law says he’s not qualified to be the sheriff.
If he shouldn’t have been allowed to run for sheriff when he was first elected in 2012, investigations and lawsuits could soon follow.
Speed, a Republican and former president of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, said claims that he doesn’t live in Banks County are “a personal vendetta” by fellow Republican Dan Gasaway, a former state representative.
Gasaway proved in court that ineligible voters tainted his 2018 election loss. The judge in that case ordered a new election but ruled at the time that the evidence showed Speed’s residence — one of the properties that Gasaway disputed — was located in Banks County.
Speed wrote that the property has been in his wife’s family since the 19th century, and it’s always been within Banks County. He pays taxes in Banks County and his children attended Banks County schools, he wrote.
“We’ve got tampering with a federal election boundary — clear, undisputed tampering,” Gasaway said. “We’ve got an unconstitutional sheriff, and someone has to step in. I’m not trying to make friends. I want to see this fixed.”
Moving the border back west could change the counties of the six voters in the Speed household and a handful of other residents who live near the disputed area.
Borders aren’t always immutable lines with distinct features such as rivers and roads. They were often created long ago, before the modern era of GPS coordinates and satellite imagery.
In this case, the county line starts in the south, running from the 10-mile marker on an old wagon road to Gainesville, then stretching directly north to Kesler’s Bridge. The road and bridge are long gone, but their locations are still mapped on county surveys. State lawmakers set the border when Banks County was created in 1859, and — at least according to state law — it shouldn’t have changed since.
But the border did shift in Banks County maps published online in January 2019.
Days before Gasaway’s case went to trial, a county employee uploaded a new map to the government’s website. This map introduced the bent border around the back of Speed’s house, which a county mapping analyst called “a kink in the line” when she testified.
“We know beyond a shadow of a doubt the change that was made then was wrong. Without a doubt, the line between the two points in question is straight,” Banks County Commission Chairman Taylor Griffith told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m certain she did not do that of her own will, but I do not know what led to it.”
Homeland Security officers raided a Marietta nail salon seeking undocumented immigrants, according to WALB.
Federal agents escorted at least a dozen individuals out of a nail salon in Marietta as part of a nationwide effort to conduct about 3,000 immigration arrests each day.
Homeland Security Investigations Atlanta posted a video on X, writing that its agents arrested 12 undocumented workers at Luxx Nail Lounge in Marietta.
Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division said Twin Pines Minerals has not posted a $2 million dollar bond required for their permit to mine near the Okefenokee Swamp, according to the AJC.
Georgia Environmental Protection Division spokeswoman Sara Lips confirmed on Wednesday that Twin Pines has yet to submit the financial assurance required for permit approval. The agency requested a bond or other collateral from the company in February 2024, shortly after draft permits were released.
Georgia law requires that mining operators put up financial assurance to ensure land restoration after mining is completed.
Twin Pines says the $300 million mine project would employ hundreds of full-time workers and double the county’s tax base. These commitments have helped the company garner strong support from Charlton County public officials, who say the additional tax dollars can be used to fund essential public services.
Brunswick City Commissioners voted to place a local property tax homestead exemption on the November 25, 2025 ballot, according to The Brunswick News.
Commissioners voted 5-0 to pass the resolution.
The city will forward the question to the Glynn County Board of Elections to be put on the ballot, City Attorney Brian Corry said.
The Georgia General Assembly passed a bill this year that initiated the homestead exemption process, which was signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp in April.
According to the bill, if voters pass the ballot item, city residents will be granted an homestead exemption from Brunswick ad valorem taxes in an amount equal to a percentage of the assessed value of a person’s homestead based upon how long the resident has owned the homestead.
The exemption follows a tiered structure, with residents who have lived in the area five years or less receiving a 5% reduction in property taxes; those with six to 10 years of residency 10%; 11-20 years 20%; 21-29 years 30%; and 30 years or more 50%.
Residents will have to apply to City Hall to receive the exemption, which will pass on to spouses of deceased recipients so long as the spouse continues to occupy the home as the primary residence.
It will not affect county or school property taxes. Both agencies have other homestead exemptions homeowners can claim.
The expanded Savannah Convention Center adopted their FY 2026 budget, according to the Savannah Morning News.
The expanded SCC is predicted to log $3 million more in event revenues in fiscal year 2026 than in fiscal year 2025, which ends June 30, with event revenues projected to come in at $14 million in the coming year.
But the tell-tale sign of the SCC’s growth is in its budgeted bottom line, where a roughly $3 million deficit in fiscal year 2025 is set to be cut by nearly 40% in fiscal year 2026. The budgeted deficit last fiscal year stemmed largely from uncertainty around the expansion’s opening due to construction delays.
The fiscal year 2026 budget approved by the Savannah-Georgia Convention Center Authority Board shows the net deficit down to $1.8 million in the next year. That trend is expected to continue in subsequent years with the expanded SCC reaching profitability by 2028, despite most convention centers in the U.S. not operating with profits, Moore said.
The Savannah Chatham County tentatively adopted a $940 million dollar FY 2026 budget, according to WTOC.
The Savannah Chatham County Public School System has tentatively adopted a more than $940 million dollar budget for the 2026 fiscal year budget in a 5-4 vote.
Board members who voted against the potential budget said they support the budget’s priorities, but don’t agree with the millage rate that exists in its proposal.
“In the language of the tentative adoption of the fiscal year budget, you have to say that the estimated millage is going to be a certain amount, which I don’t like,” said District 6 representative Dr. David Bringman.
Even though some board members, like Dr. Bringman, hope to see a reduction in the millage rate, the board ultimately did pass the tentative millage rate at 17.481 mills, which is the same rate as last year.
The millage rate will now go through several public meetings which will be held at the Whitney Administrative Complex.
[Superintendent] Dr. Watts also warned board members that if they ultimately want a millage rate reduction, they’ll need to make cuts out of the district’s fund balance. She cautioned them about making any of those cuts as they don’t know what the future of about $120 million in federal funds.
Brunswick’s Job Corps program will be impacted by federal funding changes, according to WSAV.
The federal government is pausing operations at nearly 100 Job Corps centers across the country, along with the Brunswick location that serves students from right here in Coastal Georgia.
On Wednesday, a judge issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the Department of Labor’s attempt to shut down Job Corps centers.
Staff members have spent the past week scrambling to find assistance for students. Job Corps is a government-funded program that provides free career training to low-income students for ages 16 to 24. Many of those in the program rely on housing and food as they work toward their goals.
“It’s about a $19 million economic impact that we’re talking about here, either paying our staff or subcontractors and vendors in the area right,” [Brunswick Job Corps Director Mary Geoghegan] said. “So, we have a meeting actually tomorrow with the rapid response team through the workforce system. I’ve also spoken with Sharon Morgan, who’s the executive director of the Coastal Workforce Development board.”
Federal budget cuts may also affect Atlanta schools, according to the AJC.
Federal cuts, health insurance cost increases, efforts to reduce property tax revenue and the threat of a recession all loom over Georgia districts. As a result, they’re finding places to trim, dipping into their reserves and preparing for more difficult decisions.
In Fulton County, where leaders closed two elementary schools this year in an effort to cut costs, Superintendent Mike Looney warned the district will be facing “perhaps the most difficult financial challenges that this district has had in a long time.”
“Without mincing words, we’re on a collision course to insolvency,” he said in May.
In Atlanta Public Schools, which initially faced a $100 million budget deficit, Chief Financial Officer Lisa Bracken said the school system is trying not to pull money from its savings — but that comes with its own challenges. This year, APS is cutting a total of 135 central office positions.
In Cobb County, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said recently that while the budget is “not doom and gloom,” the state’s second-largest school district faced a “tougher-than-usual budget season.” Cobb announced its lowest teacher raises in years and is reassigning employees to vacant jobs rather than hiring new teachers.
On average, federal funding accounts for about 12% of school district revenue in Georgia, Young said. It’s an important piece of funding that largely supports marginalized students, including those who are low-income, English language learners and students with disabilities.
“The impact could and will be felt even though it is the smallest amount proportionate to state and local revenue sources,” Young said.
At this point, the cuts are uncertain. A recent budget document from the Trump administration suggests that Title I funding — which supports low-income students — would remain untouched. But another $6.5 billion for smaller programs could be at risk.
Also in the same boat: Atlanta projects slated to receive more than $330 million dollars in federal grants, according to the AJC.
[T]he Atlanta Regional Commission estimates that more than $330 million in competitive grants awarded across the metro area are at risk after federal transportation officials announced in March that they planned on reevaluating awards.
That’s just under 60% of the total amount of funds given to Atlanta since 2021.
The at-risk funding includes around $150 million toward the first phase of the ambitious Stitch project that would build a 14-acre retail and green space over the Downtown Connector. The park is aimed at reconnecting Atlanta neighborhoods and boosting economic development in the heart of the city.
Central Atlanta Progress, the influential civic group and downtown business coalition, overseeing the Stitch said in a statement that the project is still moving forward into the design and pre-construction phases with funding that’s already been allocated.
“Despite potential federal funding rollback of similar projects across the country, we feel confident in the path forward for the Stitch,” the organization said.
Other grants that could be lost are $25 million for the Beltline Northeast Trail, $65 million to connect the Flint River Trail to the Beltline and $30 million for the Central and Pryor safe streets project.
Under President Donald Trump’s administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a memo in March rescinding Biden-era programs passed by Congress four years ago.
Albany elected officials discussed federal funding cuts and their Job Corps program, according to WALB.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Mayor Bo Dorough and other leaders encouraged South Georgians to reach out to state and federal leaders in attempt to reinstate funding for job corps centers.
But critics say the program outcomes don’t justify the cost. The Department of Labor (DOL) reports that the Albany Turner Job Corps location reported a 28.6% traditional graduation rate, which includes students who completed the program in good standing.
The total cost to operate the program per traditional graduate was about $91,000.
No matter the data, Albany’s mayor stated that over 500 students were enrolled at Turner Job Corps when the DOL’s closure decision was made.
When WALB asked Mayor Dorough how many local students were enrolled at Turner Job Corps, he said the cuts were so sudden that data had not been given to him by Tuesday’s press conference.
“I personally think this is a grave mistake. If the [Trump] administration was really concerned, you could have put performance measures on Job Corps throughout the country — give you an opportunity to address these problems,” said Mayor Dorough.
Chatham Area Transit Authority launched two new waterjet ferries on the Savannah River, according to WTOC.
The Chatham Area Transit Authority said the new ferries, Juliette Gordon Low II and Susie King Taylor II, align with their mission to provide safe, reliable, and sustainable transportation solutions.
The state-of-the-art ferries have BAE Systems’ advanced electric propulsion system that will provide a smoother, more environmentally sustainable ride, according to CAT.
“These new vessels bring a fresh energy to Savannah’s waterways,” said Stephanie Cutter, Interim Executive Director/CEO of CAT. “We’re thrilled to welcome the Juliette Gordon Low II and Susie King Taylor II, and we look forward to offering ferry rides that are not only iconic but also modern, comfortable, and eco-friendly.”
They can fully operate off of battery power with the capability of charging the batteries with diesel-powered generators onboard.
It cost just more than $11 million to buy them and $6 million of that came from local SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) funding. State and federal dollars also helped to get the shuttle here.
“The introduction of these hybrid ferries represents more than just a technological upgrade — it’s a commitment to environmental stewardship and regional economic growth,” said Chairman Deidrick Cody of theCATBoard of Directors. “This Board is proud to have approved a project that highlights what’s possible through strong partnerships with local and federal agencies. These ferries not only preserve our maritime heritage but also move us toward a cleaner, more connected future.”
Gwinnett County Commissioners voted to spend $714k dollars on mental health crisis teams, according to WSB Radio.
Officials say $714,000 will be allocated towards seven fully staffed teams that will pair Gwinnett County police officers with licensed clinicians to respond to mental health emergencies.
“The Behavioral Health Unit for the Gwinnett County Police Department is a model for law enforcement agencies across the country,” Dr. Jeff Smith.
Dr. Smith says the teams are able to resolve most mental health crises’ without arrests and work to connect people with long-term services and support.
The funding will go towards the Behavioral Health Unit to keep mental health crisis response teams active in the community.
Comments ( 0 )