Coverage of Georgia state government, legislation, statewide policy, and issues impacting communities beyond metro Atlanta.
article30 stories
AJC: Campaign finance records released late Friday show the GOP nominee took in about $13 million between June 11 and July 31, led by a $10 million Republican Governors Association check.
A new bipartisan Capitol committee began redesign work Friday aimed at replacing statewide touchscreens with hand-marked paper ballots, as purchasing staff warned a single vendor protest can freeze procurement.
Atlanta News First will stage a one-hour live debate at Assembly Atlanta, with statewide Gray Media carriage and dedicated pre- and post-debate shows.
Two days after Colt Gray received life without parole, a Barrow County judge sentenced his father to 15 years for second-degree murder and related charges tied to the 2024 school shooting.
A rule set to take effect Sept. 14 would stop treating habitat destruction as ‘harm’ under the Endangered Species Act, drawing sharp criticism from Georgia wildlife leaders and environmental lawyers.
A Barrow County judge imposed life without parole Tuesday after the 16-year-old pleaded guilty to 55 counts in the September 2024 school shooting that killed four people.
The southeast Georgia swamp is Georgia's first World Heritage destination and the first U.S. national wildlife refuge on the list, after a decades-long push culminated in a vote in Busan, South Korea.
President Donald Trump visited Wheeler High School in Marietta on Wednesday to promote the administration's Trump Accounts child investment program and to appear with Rick Jackson, the Republican nominee for governor. Traffic along I-75 and surface streets around Dobbins Air Reserve Base was halted for the motorcade.
Protesters gathered at the Georgia Capitol Saturday as part of a nationwide day of action against rapid data-center development, pressing for more community control as new Georgia Tech research finds economic gains alongside higher local electricity prices.
The Fulton County Board of Commissioners adopted a bipartisan resolution on July 17 declining to participate in the City of Atlanta's proposed 30-year extension of its Tax Allocation Districts. Co-sponsors cited a Georgia legal opinion that said extending an existing TAD carries the same legal requirements as creating a new one.
President Donald Trump's Thursday evening primetime address from the White House East Room returned to debunked 2020 election theories without referencing Georgia, GPB News reported. Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson used the moment to open his general-election campaign without invoking Trump's name.
A six-figure-plus Georgia Lottery win is circulating statewide after a Mega Millions ticket sold in Georgia matched for $4 million. Lottery officials urged players to check tickets from recent drawings.
The first slice of a planned $155 million housing investment bond goes before commissioners at 9 a.m. at the Government Service Center in Decatur. The meeting also features data-center, homelessness, and vacant-property ordinance votes.
The federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment grant will fund fiber buildout to roughly 22,000 unserved homes and businesses across 38 rural Georgia counties.
Starting today, students in kindergarten through eighth grade must keep cellphones, smart watches and other personal electronic devices off and out of sight from bell to bell. The ban expands to high schoolers next year.
A wide-ranging slate of new state laws hits the books Wednesday, touching everything from K-8 cellphone bans in schools to HOA transparency, school-zone speed cameras, and the state budget.
A bill that would require Georgia to hand recount every ballot in US Senate and gubernatorial races passed the state Senate on Monday. It now heads to the House, where its future is uncertain.
Gov. Brian Kemp formally endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones on Monday, ending months of speculation about whether the governor would back his second-in-command or stay neutral in the open 2026 governor's race.
The biennial United Ways of Georgia study reveals that 44% of households live below the survival threshold, struggling to cover essentials as costs outpace wages.
The governor's endorsement reshuffles a Republican primary that was widely expected to be a cakewalk for the incumbent Lt. Governor. Now it's a three-way fight.
The 6-1 ruling preserves Atlanta's withdrawal rights from Lake Lanier — but the court's narrow reasoning leaves the door open for future challenges.
A sweeping wave of legislation signed during the 2026 session touches property rights, criminal penalties, consumer protections and more
Every K–8 public school in Georgia must enforce a personal-device restriction during instructional hours by July 1. High schools get another year.
The legislature referred the trio of proposed changes during the 2026 session, setting up a packed ballot alongside a governor's race and new voting-equipment rules
A state audit finds nearly 60 percent of Georgia teachers now use generative AI for instructional prep. Educators say it saves hours — but the classroom conversation about critical thinking is just starting.
The landmark gathering continues a three-decade mission to reduce stigma and advance mental health policy nationwide
HB 350 adds ambulances, public safety vehicles, and approved safety devices to the list of locations where newborns can be surrendered, part of a broader child welfare push in the 2026 legislative session.
House Bill 1193 commits $70 million in the FY 2027 budget to place literacy coaches in every public school serving grades K–3 and mandates instruction grounded in the science of reading.
From tax relief to insurance reform, the 2026 General Assembly session is zeroing in on kitchen-table costs
A year after the storm dumped catastrophic rainfall across the mountains of northeast Georgia, hundreds of private roads remain damaged. Stephens and Wilkes counties were added this week to the federal Individual Assistance declaration.