From Campus to Classroom: Stories That Shape Education
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport GM traces Spirit Airlines collapse to Iran war fuel price spikes, risking the airport's $66 billion annual impact.
- Homeowners sue Meta over alleged water contamination and aquifer disruption from the Newton County data center construction.
- Effingham County agencies promise lower homeowner taxes from an OpenAI windfall, with further allocation questions pending.
- Savannah City Council approved a 155 day moratorium on large data centers to develop local regulation and policy.
- Republicans target Keisha Lance Bottoms' Atlanta mayoral record as a liability in the governor's race; Andre Dickens backs her.
Sept. 1, 2026 GlobalAtlanta.com
Trevor Williams reports that Primark, the Irish fashion retailer, is set to open its first store in Georgia Sept. 8, a 26,000-square-foot location at Sugarloaf Mills in Lawrenceville. Owned by a British food and retail conglomerate, Primark was founded in Dublin in 1969 and remains headquartered in Ireland, where it is known as Penneys.
Sept. 1, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Jerry Grillo reports, on a weekday afternoon in June at the world’s busiest airport, Ricky Smith is tracing the chain of geopolitical cause and effect that made Spirit Airlines disappear a month earlier. “The war in Iran had a profound effect on fuel prices, and you can attribute the demise of Spirit to that,” says Smith, the general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, a global gateway that generates more than $66 billion a year in economic impact for Georgia.
Sept. 1, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dylan Jackson and Zachary Hansen report, several homeowners near Meta’s massive Newton County data center have filed a lawsuit accusing the tech company and others of tainting their water and destroying their rural way of life. They allege the extensive tree clearing, blasting and excavation required to construct the more than $1 billion campus disturbed the area’s underground aquifer, polluting their well water with silt and sediment that clogged their water lines and damaged their appliances.
Sept. 1, 2026 The Current
Maggie Lee reports, this week, three Effingham County agencies promised lower taxes for homeowners due to part of a windfall from OpenAI. Next week will bring the details — and questions about what to do with the rest of the money expected from a complicated and unfinished transaction.
Sept. 1, 2026 Savannah Morning News
Evan Lasseter reports that Georgia’s artificial intelligence infrastructure boom won’t be coming to Savannah anytime soon. Savannah City Council approved Thursday a 155-day moratorium on large scale data centers, a move intended to give the city time to craft local policy regulating the use.
Sept. 1, 2026 WABE
Marisa Mecke reports that after a dip in the Atlanta film industry stopped a production facility expansion project, a movie studio in southwest DeKalb County is pitching a data center plan to the local community – even though the county currently has a moratorium on data center development. At an invite-only meeting on Aug. 27, Shadowbox Studios CEO Peter Rumbold told the 30 or so attendees that he recognizes the narrative around data centers is very negative at the moment.
Sept. 1, 2026 Saporta Report
Gabi Hart reports, some of the biggest challenges in health care cannot be solved by one organization alone. Health Connect South is betting that bringing the region’s leaders into the same room can help change that. Health Connect South will return to the Georgia Aquarium on Sept. 16 for its 13th annual gathering, bringing together health care leaders, researchers, executives and innovators from across the Southeast to discuss the challenges shaping the future of health.
Sept. 1, 2026 Valdosta Daily Times
Staff reports, the 2025 Georgia Quality Cotton Awards were presented at the 2026 Georgia Cotton Commission Mid-Year Meeting on July 29. The awards are co-sponsored by the Georgia Cotton Commission and Bayer Crop Science/Deltapine and administered by the University of Georgia (UGA) Cotton Team, according to a press release from the Georgia Cotton Commission.
Sept. 1, 2026 Augusta Chronicle
Staff reports that Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia will celebrate a $100,000 contribution from Georgia Power to support the Trails to Tomorrow Capital Campaign, an initiative aimed at strengthening Camp Tanglewood and expanding opportunities for girls across the Augusta area. The donation will be presented during a check ceremony at Camp Tanglewood on Sept. 11 at 2 p.m.
Sept. 1, 2026 Athens Banner-Herald
Miguel Legoas reports that Georgia landed in the No. 10 spot overall ranking 9th in direct work factors. According to a detailed breakdown WalletHub emailed, the Peach State also ranked 6th best in average commute time and 10th best in average workweek hours.
Sept. 1, 2026 GPB
Chase McGee reports that research from the University of Georgia shows workers that use medical marijuana are less likely to miss work. For decades, the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics have collected detailed but anonymous data on employment.
Sept. 1, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Beam report, Republicans want to make Keisha Lance Bottoms’ record as Atlanta mayor a major liability in the governor’s race. Mayor Andre Dickens told roughly 1,000 people at a virtual rally for Bottoms that her track record through the coronavirus pandemic and protests for racial equality gave him no doubt she could lead Georgia as the nation’s first Black woman elected governor.
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