James May-June 2025 web - Flipbook - Page 47
in the late 16th century. State and local leaders have
been pushing hard for the park to become America’s
64th National Park, and Georgia’s first. That would
grant increased funding and protections, and could
happen later this year with Congressional approval.
Troup County Local officials are scrambling to get in
Augusta The Masters Tournament ended with Rory
McIlroy taking home his first green jacket, but that’s
not the only exciting news coming out of Augusta.
Tiger Woods and the Augusta National Golf Club
partnered to create a TGR Learning Lab for local students that provides access to science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics education and other
opportunities. Woods’ design firm is also renovating
and redesigning the Augusta Municipal Golf Course,
including building a state-of-the-art nine-hole course
called The Loop at The Patch. “This is a transformational opportunity to empower the next generation
and deliver meaningful educational programming and
access to fun and affordable golf,” Woods says.
Columbus It’s happy 100th birthday time for the Liberty Theatre, the first African-American theater in
the Fountain City. Festivities include a black-tie gala,
a short film festival, a talent show, a jazz concert and
more— all celebrating the theater’s historic legacy. The
Liberty Theatre opened in 1925 as a movie house for
the black community, then over the years hosted some
of the most famous names in show business including
Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Lena Horne. Organizers want to memorialize the rich cultural and civic
history of the theater while ensuring it endures for
many generations to come.
on the data center boom that’s sweeping the state, and
Troup County leaders are zeroing in on a major score.
A data center project dubbed Project West is proposed
outside LaGrange, bringing with it an eye-popping $9.7
billion price tag and the promise of nearly 600 high
paying jobs. There are various hoops to jump through
to secure a project of this magnitude— most importantly working with Georgia Power for reassurance
that the energy grid can sustain it. But supporters
believe it should and say it would be a major long-term
boon for Troup Countians.
Tybee Island Tariffs are in the news these days and
roiling the stock market as critics and supporters argue
over their implementation. Yet among some Georgia
industries that very much stand to gain by them is
shrimping. Georgia’s shrimp industry has struggled
in recent years due to pond-farmed shrimp from Asia
and Latin America flooding the market and undercutting prices. Shrimpers say tariffs have been saving
the local industry by leveling the playing field against
foreign shrimp imports that play by a totally different
set of rules.
Valdosta Officials from the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Georgia Emergency Management and
contractor AshBritt met here to sign a memorandum
officially marking that the Hurricane Helene cleanup
is fully complete. The storm crashed through South
Georgia in September, leaving a trail of devastation
and massive amounts of debris across 10 counties.
The cleanup effort required collaboration between
different levels of government, businesses and local
communities as they worked together to process more
than 5 million cubic yards of debris.
Macon One of Georgia’s historical crown jewels is
getting international attention from a lofty source.
Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park outside
Macon was named as one of the “World’s Greatest
Places of 2025” by Time magazine. The mounds date
back a staggering 17,000 years, when the Mississippian
people arrived after the last Ice Age and were populated for millennia, long before Spanish explorers arrived
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