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Statesboro Brief

Statesboro's weekly newsletter keeping our community informed. Local news, event calendars, and Georgia Southern updates. Free every Monday morning. Join us!

08/31/2026

Tuesday is the day, twice.

At 9 a.m., Statesboro City Council meets at City Hall. On the agenda: a $459,895 contract with EMC Engineering Services to design the Creek on the Blue Mile Multi-Use Trail, paid for with a
Transportation Alternative Grant and the local transportation sales tax, and a vote on naming the short street behind City Hall for Nicholas Anciaux, a Revolutionary War veteran who served with the
French forces at Yorktown and took a land grant near Mill Creek in 1807.

At 5:30 p.m., the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners meets at the North Main Annex. The first of seven zoning items is the data center ban they tabled on Aug. 4: a text amendment that would
prohibit data centers in the General Business, Heavy Manufacturing and Light Manufacturing districts, write a definition of "data center" into the county code, and remove the existing references to cryptocurrency mining. Planning and Zoning recommended approving it 5-1 on July 21.

Two things worth knowing before you read anything into Tuesday's vote. First, a temporary moratorium on data centers across the unincorporated county already runs through Dec. 31, 2026, so
a no vote does not open the door tomorrow. Second, county staff floated a different approach on Aug. 18, allowing data centers in specific overlay areas with restrictions, but that idea has not
entered the formal amendment process and is not what commissioners vote on Tuesday.

Also in this week's edition: an arrest in the May 5 shooting at Azul, a new county fire insurance rating that takes effect Tuesday and could lower some homeowners' premiums, three city property tax
hearings coming Sept. 8 and 15, and the Eagles open at home Saturday night.

https://statesborobrief.beehiiv.com/p/the-county-decides-on-data-centers-tuesday-and-your-insurance-rating-just-improved

08/24/2026

The Burkhalter Road rezoning passed Tuesday night, and the way it passed is the story.

Among council members the vote was 2-2. Tangie Johnson of District 1 and Ginny Hendley of District 3 voted yes; Shari Barr of District 5 and John Riggs of District 4 voted no. Mayor Jonathan
McCollar broke the tie in favor, making it 3-2. The chamber and the second-floor corridor reached their 133-person fire code limit before the meeting started, roughly a hundred more people stood
outside City Hall, and the room booed when the result was announced.

The reason there were only four council votes: District 2 has had no member since Paulette Chavers resigned in May. Qualifying for that seat closed Thursday with three candidates, and the special
election is Nov. 3.

What the vote did: rezoned about 26.49 acres at 6539 Burkhalter Road from R-4 residential to O, office and business. What it did not do: approve a data center. Under the technological facilities
ordinance the city adopted effective June 2, that needs a special use permit, a separate public hearing and a separate council vote. No date has been announced.

The figures the applicant gave council, and they are the applicant's rather than the city's: a 99-megawatt maximum requested from Georgia Power with 40 to 90 expected in practice, about 156,000
gallons of water a year on closed-loop cooling, and roughly 50 decibels at the property line.

Also in this week's edition: the 1920 Coca-Cola bottling warehouse downtown becomes a restaurant and brewery with 108 apartments, the police department renewed its Flock camera contract for five
years, Raising Cane's opens on Highway 80 today, and the Blue Mile Phase 2 open house is Tuesday evening.

Full Edition, click below: https://statesborobrief.beehiiv.com/p/the-mayor-broke-the-tie-and-the-burkhalter-rezoning-passed

08/17/2026

The data center rezoning goes to City Council tomorrow night, and since last week the project has a set of numbers attached to it.

A study the Development Authority commissioned at 4AM Development's request projects $1.2 billion in investment over ten years. The same study projects 12 full-time jobs and $1.2 million in annual payroll. Ten-year net present value to local government: $22.3 million to the county, $20.4 million to the schools, $16.9 million to the city. The project has asked Georgia Power for up to 99 megawatts.

Development Authority CEO Benjy Thompson was straightforward about the source: "I don't know if it's realistic or not. Those numbers were provided to us by the developers."

One thing worth being precise about: tomorrow's vote is a rezoning, from R-4 residential to O, office and business. Even a yes does not authorize construction. A special use permit, with its own public hearing, would still have to follow.

Tuesday, Aug. 18, 5:30 p.m., City Hall, 50 E. Main Street. Work session at 4. Public comment is part of the hearing and the room is open to anyone who walks in.

Everything else in this week's edition: Max Lockwood Drive closed today for about 14 weeks, the school tax rollback is final at 10.125 mills, East Georgia Regional is putting $11 million into its cath labs, and Georgia Southern moved in the biggest freshman class it has ever had.

Read More: https://statesborobrief.beehiiv.com/p/a-1-2-billion-number-12-jobs-and-tuesday-s-data-center-vote

08/14/2026

Your weekend, sorted.

Saturday is the day. Main Street Farmers Market at 9, behind the Visitors Center, until 12:30. The SHE Women's Expo runs 9 to 1 at The Venues at Ogeechee Tech, free, about 70 exhibitors and free health screenings. Splash in the Boro is 10 to 6, and there are only four weekends left before the season ends Sept. 6.

Then Saturday night, Georgia Southern Fan Day at Paulson, and it is free. Admission and parking. First Flight at 5, Eagle Connection with AD Chris Davis at 6:15, open practice and scrimmage at 7, autographs on the field after.

Friday is quieter: two programs at the library, and Akins and Fair will be slow in the morning.

One thing to plan around: Friday hits 99, the hottest day of the week, and the county burn ban is still on. Grills and fire pits are fine, yard debris is not.

Full calendar in Edition 44. Link in bio.

08/13/2026

Move-In weekend means somebody's parents are in town, they just carried a mini fridge up three flights of stairs in 99 degree heat, and they would like to sit down somewhere nice.

Bull and Barrel Steakhouse, 30 W. Main Street, downtown. Hand-cut steaks, a menu that changes with the season, and the part a lot of people in town still do not know about: brunch, Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles, prime rib benedict.

Closed Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday 5:30 to 9. Friday 5:30 to 10. Saturday dinner 5 to 10.

On a move-in weekend, make a reservation. (912) 259-9990.

This week's Restaurant Spotlight in the Statesboro Brief. Link in bio.

08/10/2026

Last Tuesday the county tabled its data center ban 3 to 2, and the same evening the city planning board voted 5 to 1 to recommend rezoning almost 27 acres on Burkhalter Road for a 230,000 square foot data center. Saturday morning, dozens of neighbors were standing outside City Hall about it.

City Council holds the public hearing Tuesday, Aug. 18 at 5:30 p.m. The county's amendment comes back Sept. 1.

Edition 44 also has the Statesboro High fire the sprinklers caught at 1 a.m. Sunday, $3.47 million in bridge contracts, Raising Cane's hiring through Sunday, Thursday's final millage vote, and everything you need for Move-In Friday.

Read it here: https://statesborobrief.beehiiv.com/p/the-data-center-fight-just-moved-inside-the-city-limits

08/07/2026

Eight things to do in Bulloch County this weekend, with times and addresses.

FRIDAY
Public riding at the Ag Complex, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Family Dinosaur D&D at the Statesboro Regional Library, 1 p.m., all ages.
Homeschool co-op introduction at the library, 3 p.m.

SATURDAY
Main Street Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., behind the Visitors Center on South Main.
Splash in the Boro, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sean of the South at the Emma Kelly Theater, 7 p.m.
Jason Crabb at Bible Baptist on Highway 24, 7 p.m.
Tormenta vs. Westchester SC at Tormenta Stadium, 7:30 p.m.

SUNDAY
Splash in the Boro, noon to 6 p.m. Everything else is quiet.

One more thing: Operation Move-In is Friday, Aug. 14. Enjoy the open roads while you have them.

The full week lands in your inbox every Monday morning. Free at statesborobrief.com.

08/05/2026

"Girls Can 'Que Too" is not our line. It is on the sign at 239 S. Main.

Dolan's Bar-B-Q is this week's Restaurant Spotlight in Edition 43. Pit smoked the slow way, downtown on the South Main stretch. Plates run $13 to $24 and come with two sides, bread and sauce.

Seven sides at three dollars each. Trivia Tuesday at 6:30, wings six for $12 on Wednesday.

One thing to plan around: they are closed Sunday and Monday. Tuesday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m.
to 10:30 p.m.

Swipe for the menu, the weeknight specials, and what it costs to feed a crowd before fall books up.

Edition 43 is out now. https://statesborobrief.beehiiv.com/p/school-buses-roll-this-morning-commissioners-decide-the-data-center-ban-tuesday

08/03/2026

Tomorrow night at 5:30 at the North Main Annex, Bulloch County commissioners vote on whether to ban
data centers outright. Not another recommendation. Not another moratorium. The decision.

Swipe for what is actually on the table, how it got here, and what the same deal looks like one county over in Effingham. Plus the burn ban, what started the Brooklet fire, and what is open to you
this week.

Edition 43 is out this morning. Click on the link below: https://statesborobrief.beehiiv.com/p/school-buses-roll-this-morning-commissioners-decide-the-data-center-ban-tuesday

07/28/2026

The 2026 Georgia Southern home football schedule is officially here!

From Little Eagles Day to Homecoming and Senior Day, there’s plenty to look forward to this season. Which game will you be at? 💙🦅

EagleNation

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