April 4, 2025 Ga Ports Authority
Staff reports, in its busiest March ever, the Port of Savannah’s container trade increased by 22.5 percent or 98,000 TEUs compared to the same month last year. In intermodal cargo, the Port of Savannah set an all-time record of 52,645 containers moved by rail, an increase of 17 percent over the same month last year.
April 4, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Kathleen Conway reports, an 18th century house with connections to the late President Jimmy Carter is on a list of historic properties in danger. The Historic Rock House in McDuffie County, believed to be the state’s oldest stone house, is on the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2025 Places in Peril list.
April 4, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Zachary Hansen reports that dozens of data center announcements have flooded the Atlanta area over the past few years, but the latest such proposal is poised to be the largest of them all — and one of the biggest developments in state history. Preliminary plans for “Project Bunkhouse” were revealed March 31 for a 12-building data center in Bartow County, roughly an hour northwest of downtown Atlanta, according to a Development of Regional Impact filing.
April 4, 2025 Marietta Daily Journal
Annie Mayne reports, as the nation and world are reeling from the sweeping tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, a Kennesaw State University economist is advising people to let the dust settle before panicking. Trump said Wednesday the United States would be instituting a 10% “baseline” tariff on all imports into the country, though some countries were smacked with taxes much higher.
April 4, 2025 Capitol Beat News
Dave Williams reports that the General Assembly has given final passage to controversial religious freedom legislation limiting government intrusion into Georgians’ rights to exercise their religious beliefs. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) passed the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives 96-70 Wednesday night mostly along party lines.
April 4, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Heather Fields reports that the rising cost of child care and workforce shortages have hit Georgia families and providers hard in the aftermath of the pandemic. While the state did see the burden alleviated via temporary federal relief programs for families and financial support for child care workers, those programs have ended.
April 4, 2025 The Brunswick News
Hank Rowland reports that bills sponsored by members of Glynn County’s state delegation are closer to becoming law. Changes made to the grandparent’s bill introduced by Sen. Mike Hodges passed the Senate Wednesday, and the House is considering additions tacked onto the Brunswick Stew legislation sponsored by Rep. Rick Townsend.
April 4, 2025 WABE
Marlon Hyde reports that legalizing online sports betting has failed once again to pass the Georgia Legislature. The Peach State remains one of only a few that have not fully legalized online sports gambling. Dozens of big-screen TVs and projectors simultaneously show the overlapping NCAA tournament basketball games during March Madness.
April 4, 2025 Savannah Morning News
Vanessa Countryman reports that the Georgia Senate amended multiple laws to House Bill 397 that would allow for significant changes to the state’s election laws. The bill was amended Wednesday with a 33-23 vote, largely along party lines.
April 4, 2025 GPB
Sofi Gratas and Jake Cook report, there’s one day left in this year’s legislative session, and Georgia lawmakers are working to advance a number of new bills before it’s too late. And the case of a South Georgia woman arrested following a natural miscarriage remains in limbo.
April 4, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Stanley Dunlap reports that several candidates are vying to defeat a pair of incumbent Republican Georgia Public Service commissioners in an election that challengers say will become a referendum on rising Georgia Power bills. Consumer watchdogs worry that the state’s largest utility will continue to raise rates on residential customers as it girds for a wave of data center growth that will spike demand for electricity over the next decade.
April 4, 2025 The Current
Jake Shore reports that Georgia Republican legislators slotted in major changes to the Georgia Open Records Act – including limiting public access to police reports – near the end of its legislative session without the regular due process most bills receive. The House Rules Committee passed an altered version of Senate Bill 12 late in the day Wednesday, which would restrict the already-limited amount of information the police must disclose to the public after a crime occurs.
April 4, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greg Bluestein reports that former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is preparing to launch a bid for Georgia governor within weeks, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she plans to campaign against President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda. The Democrat is hoping to emerge as the party’s front-runner to succeed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp after U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath this week suspended her exploratory bid to focus on her husband’s health struggles.
