Georgia Trend Daily – Aug. 22, 2025

Aug. 22, 2025 The Current

Robin Kemp and Craig Nelson report, International Paper, a longtime pillar of Coastal Georgia’s economy, announced Thursday that it will permanently close its Savannah and Riceboro plants by the end of September and cut some 1,100 hourly and salaried jobs. In its press release, the firm, the world’s largest pulp and paper company, said it will shutter its operations in Savannah and Riceboro “in phases by the end of September 2025.”

Aug. 22, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!

Julia Roberts reports, if you’re always looking for something new and different when it comes to dining options, we’ve rounded up four choices from our archives that may pique your interest. Bon Appétit!

Aug. 22, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Drew Kann and Zachary Hansen report that the server-packed warehouses are the nerve centers of artificial intelligence and our digital lives. And right now, there is no hotter destination for them than Atlanta.

Aug. 22, 2025 Georgia.gov

Staff reports that Gov. Kemp announced that stow Group, a leading industrial storage and automation solution company, will invest $36 million to establish a new manufacturing presence and create approximately 200 new jobs in Gordon County. Based in Belgium, stow manufactures industrial racking systems and develops customized warehouse and storage solutions.

Aug. 22, 2025 GlobalAtlanta.com

Trevor Williams reports that a European provider of warehousing and automation solutions is set to invest $36 million in a new factory in a region of the state where Belgian companies have thrived for decades. Stow Group says it will hire 200 at the facility in northwest Georgia, where the reputation as the “carpet capital of the world” in the 1970s helped make the state grow to become the No. 1 destination for Belgian firms.

Aug. 22, 2025 The Brunswick News

Michael Hall reports that Maggie Rhodes sat 18 people last weekend at Skipper’s Fish Camp on the Darien waterfront who had a shorter than normal trip from the north end of St. Simons Island. Rather than the nearly one-hour drive required to get from the end of Lawrence Road to downtown Darien, the group had a roughly half-hour boat ride, thanks to the new public day docks the city’s Downtown Development Authority recently built using a $1.6 million Rural Downtown Redevelopment grant from the state Department of Community Affairs.

Aug. 22, 2025 WABE

Chamian Cruz reports that Fulton County Commissioners have given the green light to move forward with a plan to renovate the county’s existing, crumbling jail, but only after building a separate special-purpose facility. In a 4-to-1 vote on Wednesday, commissioners approved the $1.1 billion plan that’ll take approximately nine years to complete, with the first five years being spent on new construction meant to address the growing mental health and medical needs of pre-trial detainees.

 

Aug. 22, 2025 Macon Telegraph

Lucinda Warnke reports that a sinkhole that opened underneath Watson Boulevard in Warner Robins Tuesday afternoon is still causing water service disruptions, but it’s expected to be repaired by 8 p.m. Thursday, city officials said during a press conference. The sinkhole opened in the eastbound lanes of Watson Boulevard near Olympia Drive after a water main dating back to the 1960s broke about 25 feet beneath the surface of the road, officials said in an email Wednesday morning.

Aug. 22, 2025 Marietta Daily Journal

Jack Lindner reports that the qualifying period for Cobb’s municipal elections has ended. Five more candidates threw their hats in the ring on the final day of qualifying Wednesday, bringing the total number of candidates to 50.

Aug. 22, 2025 Capitol Beat News

Ty Tagami reports, smoking kills, but many still do it, and a small group of Georgia lawmakers want to help people kick the habit and discourage others from starting. A big challenge for a bipartisan panel in the state House of Representatives: their main proposal is a tax increase, and tax increases are not popular in an election year.

Aug. 22, 2025 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Brittany McGee reports that U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, met with local military veterans and elected officials Wednesday in Columbus as he celebrated a new law aimed at helping veterans facing foreclosure keep their homes. The VA Home Loan Program Reform Act will help veterans who have fallen behind on their VA home loan mortgage payments move missed payments to the back of their loan term to avoid immediate foreclosure.

Aug. 22, 2025 Georgia Recorder

Alander Rocha reports that Vice President JD Vance spoke in Peachtree City Thursday where he promoted the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) as a “tax cut for families” while mounting a campaign against Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia.nVance, who spoke for just over 30 minutes at the ALTA Refrigeration facility, promoted OBBBA as an “American tax cut,” which he said was designed to benefit American families and workers.

Aug. 22, 2025 Capitol Beat News

Ty Tagami reports, anticipating federal cutbacks or funding freezes, Georgia lawmakers held a hearing Wednesday to explore a redesign of the state’s public health system, which protects residents from diseases and offers preventative health care in some places. The state’s public health districts operate under the Department of Public Health.

Aug. 22, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

David Wickert reports that two top Georgia Republicans squared off in court Thursday in a fight over the rules of raising campaign cash ahead of next year’s race for governor. A lawyer for Attorney General Chris Carr argued that Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has an illegal advantage as both seek the Republican nomination for the state’s highest office.