Friday, September 4, 2026

Good morning! On this day in 1979, Hurricane David came ashore near Savannah as a Category 1 storm, raking the coast with sustained winds of about 90 mph.

Labor Day weekend will bring packed roads, extra patrols, and sizzling temperatures. Buckle up and head to Top Stories to see what to expect.

Today’s sponsor is AutoCamp, bringing boutique hotel comfort to the growing outdoor lodging market through major partnerships with Hilton and Airstream while offering investors a chance to participate in its expansion.

Carr: No Former Pros in College

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr urged schools and conferences to use all legal means necessary to keep professional athletes off college rosters, with Louisiana State University set to field former NFL players.

Courts in Texas and Louisiana issued rulings that cleared the way for LSU to add former professional players to its roster.

Carr joined the legal fight this week, saying the decisions threaten eligibility standards across college football and could affect Georgia's college athletic programs.

The SEC has said it will prohibit athletes who declared for drafts or signed contracts with the NBA, WNBA, or NFL from returning to college teams.

Kemp Fills School Board

Gov. Brian Kemp appointed seven temporary members to the Dublin City school board, filling every seat left vacant by last month's suspensions.

Kemp suspended the previous board amid a $20 million financial crisis and after the district's accreditation fell to the level immediately preceding a loss of accreditation.

A five-member nominating committee reviewed applicants and recommended the appointees, who took office immediately. Suspended members may petition for reinstatement.

Labor Day Travel Peaks Today

Peach State drivers will face the busiest roads of the Labor Day weekend today, following Thursday night's initial rush.

Troopers begin a 78-hour enforcement period at 6 p.m. today, joining agencies in neighboring states for a crackdown on impaired driving.

Sobriety checkpoints will include the continuation of a large operation that began last week at the South Carolina border. Officials say nearly 40% of Georgia's Labor Day traffic deaths involve impaired drivers.

Weather forecasters expect highs in the 90s and heat indexes topping 100 degrees for much of the holiday weekend before a possible cooldown Sunday into Monday.

Flying together with our sponsor

Hilton Hotels Enter High-Growth World of Outdoor Lodging

Hilton Hotels didn't become a global hospitality giant by standing still. When they see a category worth backing, they move.

So it didn’t take long for them to form a first-of-its-kind partnership with AutoCamp.

AutoCamp brings boutique hotel comfort to the great outdoors, an industry estimated to be $732B. As the first outdoor lodging brand ever bookable on Hilton.com, AutoCamp’s 700+ rooms are in front of 200M+ Hilton Honors members who can earn and redeem points on every stay.

In fact, direct AutoCamp bookings on the Hilton channel are up 30% year-over-year.

It’s not just Hilton Hotels partnering with AutoCamp, either. Iconic American travel brand Airstream also formed an exclusive partnership. In total, AutoCamp’s model has earned more than $150M in location revenue since inception.

For investors, it's a signal: some of the travel industry’s largest players are partnering with AutoCamp in the outdoor lodging race. Become an AutoCamp shareholder before they expand to 10,000+ rooms.

➤ Effingham County: OpenAI will cover breakfast and lunch for all county students this school year through a $4.8 million grant, the first major investment from its $80 million community fund. (More)

➤ Cedartown: A police officer said a small donkey charged his K-9 team during a missing-child search and that using a taser didn't stop it, prompting him to fatally shoot the animal. (More)

➤ Statewide: A legislative committee met Thursday to continue work on replacing Georgia's QR-code ballot counting by 2028. (More)

➤ Milledgeville: Baldwin County's interim manager revealed the county owes $15 million, with commissioners saying tax increases will likely be needed to cover the debt. (More)

➤ Savannah: Carver Village residents said noise from a nearby biofuels company has disrupted their lives for nearly two years, with some reporting shaking foundations. (More)

➤ Columbus: Leaders from Jinju, South Korea, arrived this week as part of a new sister-city partnership, beginning their visit with a Columbus Clingstones baseball game. (More)

➤ Toccoa: Stephens County Hospital reached an agreement to join Marietta-based Wellstar Health System, with the transaction expected to close late this year. (More)

➤ Ellijay: A former school vendor was sentenced to 40 years in prison for using artificial intelligence to alter photos of minors in Gilmer County and elsewhere into child sex abuse material. (More)

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➤ Georgia Tech football lost its season opener 14-13 to Colorado on Thursday after former Carrollton High star quarterback Julian Lewis threw a late go-ahead touchdown for the visiting Buffaloes, who then blocked the Yellow Jackets’ last-second field goal attempt. (More)

➤ Ronald Acuña Jr. became the fastest player in MLB history to reach 200 home runs and 200 stolen bases, homering in the Braves' 9-0 win at Washington on Wednesday. (More)

➤ The Georgia High School Association suspended coaches and players and issued fines after a pregame fight canceled a Rockdale County football game last week. (More)

➤ Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson was voted No. 3 on this year's NFL Top 100 Players list, tying Julio Jones in 2017 as the highest-ranked player in franchise history. (More)

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➤ The Savannah Oyster Company is farming 3 million oysters on Bull River as peak harvest season begins, growing from seed rather than harvesting wild oysters. (More)

➤ Georgia film executives support a proposed federal tax incentive backed by President Trump designed to keep film and television productions from moving overseas. (More)

➤ Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport's terminal expansion is nearing its next milestone, part of a 20-year master plan to handle the fast-growing region's passenger traffic. (More)

➤ A Georgia Southern professor said Southeast Georgia's data center boom places the region at the center of a global race over artificial intelligence, calling it a fourth revolution. (More)

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How Solving Camping’s Biggest Problem Earned $150M+

Most people love the idea of being outdoors. Almost nobody loves what it takes to get there.

Campsites book months in advance. Gear’s expensive and collects dust. RV ownership’s a financial and logistical burden. Hotels are comfortable, but lose the very thing people were chasing in the first place.

AutoCamp solves all that. Guests arrive with a suitcase, check in like a hotel, and wake up at an iconic outdoor destination like Yosemite or Joshua Tree. But instead of hard ground and outhouses, they have a boutique room or custom-designed Airstream trailer with a spa-inspired bathroom.

And travelers can’t get enough, with 1M+ happy campers so far. That’s earned $150M+ in location revenue for property owners operating with the Company’s Brands since inception.

Now you can invest as AutoCamp works to scale from 9 locations to 100+.

This is a paid advertisement for AutoCamp's Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.autocamp.com

➤ Savannah's 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb will honor fallen firefighters as communities across the region mark 25 years since the attacks. (More)

➤ A nonprofit auto shop in Augusta offering affordable repairs has helped about 90 people keep their cars running since opening in June. (More)

➤ The Savannah College of Art and Design launched a bachelor's degree in vocal performance with eight-time Grammy winner Jon Batiste serving as the program's founding director. (More)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes.

➤ The U.S. military destroyed another vessel accused of refueling drug traffickers off the coast of South America. (Full Story)

➤ Popular baby wipes have been recalled after federal testing revealed bacteria that can cause life-threatening infections in infants. (Hear Details)

➤ The nation's largest school district has pulled the plug on artificial intelligence for most of its students. (Listen Now)