From Campus to Classroom: Stories That Shape Education
- Cartersville-Bartow County's economic boom needs deliberate channeling after a decade of jobs, investment, and population growth.
- Blue Ops marks first anniversary of its Valdosta manufacturing facility; plans to hire more than 200 over several years.
- Augusta commissioners approved a proposed data center ordinance despite public opposition; centers underpin AI computing needs.
- Tybee Island lost about 60% of its beach; federal reinforcement funding was not distributed this cycle.
- Hartsfield-Jackson spill released roughly 33,000 gallons of untreated sewage into Sullivan Creek, EPD confirmed.
Sept. 21, 2026 GlobalAtlanta.com
Trevor Williams reports, the the problem of water scarcity isn’t one-dimensional, says the Irish co-founder and CEO of Atlanta’s WattAir, which aims to turn vapor from the air into usable water, even in some of the world’s driest environments. It turns out the most direct route toward impact in remote regions could be through existing industrial pathways.
Sept. 21, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
LeeAnn Dance reports, for much of the past decade, Cartersville-Bartow County has been in Georgia’s economic fast lane, fueled by new jobs, industrial investment and a steady influx of residents. The challenge now isn’t generating momentum – it’s channeling it.
Sept. 21, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Zachary Hansen reports that Barry Hinckley is president of Blue Ops, a marine drone startup that Monday celebrates the first anniversary of its manufacturing facility in Valdosta near the Florida border. In April, the company announced it would hire more than 200 over several years.
Sept. 21, 2026 Augusta Chronicle
Erica Van Buren reports that Augusta commissioners approved a proposed data center ordinance Tuesday despite opposition from some commissioners and members of the public. Data centers are facilities that house computer servers and provide computing power for artificial intelligence, or AI.
Sept. 21, 2026 Savannah Morning News
Stephanie Castellano reports, this April, when erosion from storms, sea-level rise and ship traffic had eaten away about 60% of Tybee’s beach, Tybee Island officials received some unwelcome news: The federal funding that has allowed for periodic reinforcement of the beach for the last 50 years would not be distributed to them this time around.
Sept. 21, 2026 Savannah Morning News
Evan Lasseter reports that Savannah is home to about 24 major drainage basins, and the city has conducted flood modeling for 10 of them. The 14 in need of that foundational study have been faced with a $2.1 million funding gap in recent years–until now.
Sept. 21, 2026 GPB
Pamela Kirkland reports, Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division says an estimated 30,000 gallons of untreated sewage reached Sullivan Creek after a spill at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Wednesday. EPD confirmed that about 33,000 gallons spilled from a wastewater lift station, with most of it reaching the creek.
Sept. 21, 2026 WABE
Emily Wu Pearson reports, when parents in Greensboro, Georgia, about an hour east of Atlanta, started getting picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last year, a group of public school teachers realized that, unlike in the metro area, there were no resources to help the families. They started a local nonprofit called the RISE Fund, which raises money to stabilize families with a cash infusion for rent, food and utilities when someone gets taken into ICE custody.
Sept. 21, 2026 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Brittany McGee reports that State Rep. Carolyn Hugley (D-Columbus), the Georgia House minority leader, now has an opponent in the Nov. 3 election after Regina “Reggie” Liparoto officially announced this week she is running for the District 141 seat as a Republican. She qualified in March and ran unopposed in the May primary, Liparoto said, before officially announcing her candidacy at the Republican Women of Muscogee and Harris County monthly luncheon Tuesday.
Sept. 21, 2026 Athens Banner-Herald
Vanessa Johns reports, in a state known for vast forests and sprawling rural estates, the biggest private landowner might surprise you. According to the latest 2026 data from World Population Review, Weyerhaeuser, controls a staggering 579,000 acres of private land and 1.9 million acres of federal land.
Sept. 21, 2026 The Current
Maggie Lee reports, every Georgia county has at least one obscure public agency like the one in Effingham that courted OpenAI in secret and granted it cut-rate property taxes. But the state legislature that created these bodies has set them to work without many formal guardrails or local control.
Sept. 21, 2026 Georgia Recorder
Maya Homan reports that it’s not often these days that candidates from across the political spectrum find common ground. But on the subject of how to create more affordable homes, both Democrats and Republicans running for higher office in Georgia this year can agree on one thing: It’s time to address the rise of corporate-owned housing.
Sept. 21, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Caleb Groves reports, internal records show the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has examined which jurisdictions in Georgia offer election materials in languages other than English, raising new questions about the administration’s pursuit of investigating claims of noncitizen voting. A Dec. 19 email from the acting director of border policy for the Department of Homeland Security references a “Criminal Checklist outlining requirements for prosecution of voter related charges.”
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