Georgia Trend Daily – June 18, 2025

June 18, 2025 Macon Telegraph, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Margaret Walker reports that incumbent Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols convincingly won his primary election Tuesday night, setting himself up to run against Democrat Alicia Johnson for another term. The Republican energy service regulator who presides over District 2 defeated Lee Muns, GOP challenger.

June 18, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!

Tharon Johnson writes, despite being the eighth most populous state in the country, Georgia has one of the shortest legislative sessions at just 40 legislative days. While a “legislative day” is only counted when the House and Senate convene, our legislators are asked to do a tremendous amount of work in a criminally short period of time.

June 18, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Zachary Hansen reports, many Howell Station residents have been locked in fights with data center facility’s operator QTS over the constant construction, its requested tax breaks and its electricity needs. Chad Murray was distraught in May to learn most of the neighborhood’s tree buffer with the Fulton County Jail will be clear-cut to build transmission lines to a substation on the QTS campus.

June 18, 2025 Albany Herald

Lucille Lannigan reports, in rural Georgia, clean and reliable drinking water is not a given.  The Golden Triangle RC&D, a Terrell County-based nonprofit, is one of few organizations in rural Georgia that helps low income households have access to clean, reliable water through its Water Well, Septic and Water Testing Programs.

June 18, 2025 Rome News-Tribune

Adam Carey reports that the Rome-Floyd Development Authority did not receive a $500,000 grant it applied for to mitigate problems at the former O’Neill Manufacturing site on Anderson Street in North Rome. The seven-acre property was home to a wood product manufacturing business until it closed in 2000 following the death of its last chief executive officer, Sean O’Neill.

 

June 18, 2025 The Current

Mary Landers reports, almost 150 miles of canals crisscross Savannah. These manmade drainage systems abound with turtles, wading birds and fish, but they’re also often rife with trash.

June 18, 2025 Marietta Daily Journal

Staff reports that Marietta Mayor Steve “Thunder” Tumlin has received his first challenger in November’s mayoral election. Sully Diaz, a 26-year-old community organizer, announced plans to run for the seat.

June 18, 2025 The Brunswick News

Michael Hall reports that Congressman Buddy Carter is joining the call made recently by a group of Southern governors to shift management of the red snapper and other reef species in South Atlantic fisheries to the states. Carter, R-St. Simons Island, led a group of Georgia Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives in penning a letter last week to Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick expressing “strong support” for the request from Gov. Brian Kemp and the governors of South Carolina and Florida who sent a similar request to Lutnick earlier this month.

June 18, 2025 WABE

Kendall Murry reports that U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams announced a resolution Tuesday that cites the controversial case of Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old metro Atlanta nurse who was kept on artificial life support against the wishes of her family because she was pregnant. Smith was declared brain dead in February after suffering from a medical emergency.

June 18, 2025 Georgia Recorder

Jill Nolin and amber Roldan report, two Democratic candidates for the Georgia Public Service Commission could be headed to a runoff while Republican Commissioner Tim Echols held a strong lead over his GOP challenger Tuesday night, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s Office. Keisha Sean Waites, a former Atlanta City Councilwoman and ex-state representative, was the top vote-getter in the District 3 Democratic primary but may have come just shy of the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff with Peter Hubbard.

June 18, 2025 Capitol Beat News

Dave Williams reports that a state lawmaker from a city with a Hispanic majority marked the 13th anniversary of the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program Tuesday by urging Congress to make its protections permanent. The city of Dalton makes up a large part of Georgia Republican Rep. Kasey Carpenter’s 4th House District in Northwest Georgia. It is widely known as the “Carpet Capital of the World.”

June 18, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Beam report, President Donald Trump’s decision on whether to strike Iran in support of Israel could be one of the most consequential choices of his presidency. But the political fallout back home threatens to split the MAGA movement that propelled his return to power.