James_September-October_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 7
Is Atlanta full yet? The answer, according to new data
from the Atlanta Regional Commission, is a resounding “no!” The 11-county Metro Atlanta region added
53,690 new residents between April 2025 and April
2026. And while historically the city’s sprawling suburbs
have seen the fastest growth, it’s actually the city center
that’s currently booming, driven by a surge of multifamily high rises in Midtown and along the Beltline. Metro
Atlanta’s population is still RISING . . .
The city of Woodbine in Camden County finds itself in
big trouble after it was revealed city officials haven’t filed
an audit since 2020. Failure to do so has cost the city
hundreds of thousands of dollars in road infrastructure
grants and actually leaves it at risk of being dissolved
entirely by the state legislature. Furious city residents
have filed petitions to recall three separate city council
members, and plan to do the same for the remaining two.
Woodbine’s city leadership is Sinking . . .
Recently, a mother and daughter attended the Atlanta Dream/Indiana Fever basketball game at Atlanta’s
State Farm Arena. With two minutes left in overtime,
the pair were ordered to cover their XX-XY chromosome
shirts— and the censorship incident went viral. Leftwing, pro-trans leaders of the Women’s National Basketball Association are intent on suppressing the message
that men and women are different and that biological
men cannot become women. However, widespread public support exists for these statements of fact, and by
trying to censor them the WNBA is causing these viral
moments. And that seems to be bringing more people
to the side of sanity. RISING . . .
The Clayton County Water Authority was hit by a
cyberattack that experts fear may have come from Iran.
While the disruption only lasted a few hours and led to a
boil water advisory, it resembled a string of attacks made
on other states by “malicious cyber actors” affiliated
with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber
Electronic Command. Future threats of cyberattacks on
Georgia water systems and other infrastructure has our
cybersecurity Sinking . . .
Georgia’s hosting duties during this summer’s FIFA
World Cup were a smashing success. Some numbers:
Mercedes-Benz Stadium welcomed 544,516 fans across
Atlanta’s eight matches while the FIFA Fan Festival in
Centennial Olympic Park saw another 500,000 visitors
during the tournament, making it one of the most popular
in the nation. MARTA transported more than 2.5 million
riders during the tournament, a 200 percent increase over
normal ridership. A team effort from both city and state
officials as well as the entire Atlanta World Cup Host Committee had an action-packed summer RISING . . .
After failing to get one percent of the vote in the 2024
elections, and now unable to collect signatures of 1percent of active voters (roughly 70,000) the Libertarian
Party will not be on Georgia ballots this fall. That could
be a big deal in the state’s marquee elections. U.S. Sens.
Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock both won runoffs created by Libertarian candidates taking about two percent
of the vote. Now the Libertarian Party’s influence in
Georgia is Sinking . . .
It is rare for a native-born Georgian to serve as an ambassador to a foreign nation, but J. Mark Burkhalter is one of
that elite few, having been nominated by President Donald
Trump and then confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be U.S.
ambassador to the Republic of Moldova. The Alpharetta
native represented north Fulton County in the General
Assembly for 18 years and briefly served as speaker of the
House of Representatives. As he prepares to locate in a
country (a U.S. ally) bordered by Romania and Ukraine, his
boat (and Georgia’s) is RISING . . .
City of College Park officials find themselves in hot
water after hastily calling an important City Council
meeting... in Savannah. At that meeting they selected a
new Destination Marketing Organization, ‘Destination
Must Visit Tourism Alliance,’ that has sketchy ties to city
officials, and which has been accused of fudging lists of
past clients that it used in its “winning” bid. The entire
situation smells fishy, and has College Park officials (and
the residents they serve) Sinking . . .
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has announced
the results of an enhanced immigration enforcement operation throughout Georgia. “Operation Safe Community” yielded 1,226 immigration arrests over two months.
Of those individuals who snuck across our borders, 720
had been convicted or charged with crimes in the U.S.,
with charges including aggravated assault, selling drugs,
burglary and crimes against children. Incarceration and
deportation of Georgia’s illegal immigrants are RISING . . .
S E PT E M B E R/O C TO BER 2026
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