Hello, Statesboro!
Two things happen in town today, and one of them is already in your way. Max Lockwood Drive closes for what the city says could be 14 weeks. The other is the heat: there is a Heat Advisory in effect until 8 tonight, and the index runs to 109 tomorrow.
Then comes Tuesday. City Council holds the public hearing on the Burkhalter Road rezoning at 5:30 p.m., and since we last wrote, the project has a set of numbers attached to it. A study commissioned by the Development Authority at the developers' request projects $1.2 billion in investment over ten years and 12 full-time jobs. Both figures are in the same report.
Also this week: the school board finished the tax rollback, the hospital is putting $11 million into its cath labs, Georgia Southern moved in its largest freshman class ever, and the burn ban is still on.
Let's get into it.
📰 TOP NEWS
The Data Center Vote Is Tomorrow, and the Study Behind It Is Public Now
City Council takes up the Burkhalter Road rezoning at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, at City Hall, 50 E. Main Street, with a work session at 4 p.m. beforehand. The vote is on changing 26.49 acres at 6539 Burkhalter Road from R-4 high-density residential to O, office and business district.
What is new since last week is the arithmetic. The Development Authority of Bulloch County commissioned a fiscal impact study at the request of 4AM Development LLC, the applicant. Economic Impact Group LLC of Flowery Branch prepared it in May using the LOCI model, on a ten-year horizon. The Statesboro Herald published the figures Aug. 12.
The investment side: $524.9 million in real property, land, building, and fixtures, plus $325 million in initial value for the digital electronics inside it, plus $100,000 in other personal property. Over ten years that is the $1.2 billion headline. For scale, Development Authority CEO Benjy Thompson said the county's largest capital investment to date was Ajin, at $317 million.
The tax side, in net present value over ten years: $22.3 million to Bulloch County, $20.4 million to Bulloch County Schools, $16.9 million to the City of Statesboro.
The jobs side: 12 full-time positions and $1.2 million in annual payroll.
Two more numbers worth carrying into the room. The project has requested a maximum supply of 99 megawatts from Georgia Power. And the developers say they have a water use study prepared for the special use permit stage, which is a separate application with its own public hearing that would still have to happen before a data center could operate on that land. Tomorrow's vote is the rezoning only.
Thompson was direct about where the projections came from: "I don't know if it's realistic or not," he said. "Those numbers were provided to us by the developers."
Developer Charles C. Way, who owns 4AM Development with Bobby Bagwell of the Augusta area, described the investment as landing "somewhere in the high hundreds of millions of dollars," and said of a prospective operator, "We don't have anybody driving this process except for us." The parcel was already approved for 285 housing units before the data center proposal. "Our goal in this was, we saw an alternative use," Way said.
The planning commission recommended approval 5 to 1 on Aug. 4, with a condition that the developer dedicate a 10-foot strip of frontage along Burkhalter Road for future road work. Dozens of residents stood outside City Hall about it on Aug. 8.
Public comment is part of tomorrow's hearing, and the room is open to anyone who walks in.
Max Lockwood Drive Closes Today. Plan on 14 Weeks.
The street between Fair Road and Memorial Park closes Monday, Aug. 17, and the city's estimate is about 14 weeks. Ellis Wood Contracting, a local firm, has the $1.36 million job: drainage improvements, new curb and gutter, sidewalk construction, utility upgrades, and a full reconstruction of the pavement.
Public Works and Engineering Director Brad Deal said the existing pavement was "too thin," and pointed to drainage trouble "especially around the Honey Bowen Building where the water comes off of the El Sombrero parking lot."
How to get where you were going:
For Memorial Park and the Honey Bowen Building, use the new driveway entrance off Fair Road just south of Honey Bowen. Overflow parking is available in the grassed area past the existing lot.
For the shopping center with El Sombrero and Holiday Pizza, use the center's main Fair Road entrance north of the closed street, and exit northward past El Sombrero. Those businesses are open. The street out front is what closed, along with its parking spaces.
Fourteen weeks from today is late November, and "maybe 14 weeks" is the city's own phrasing, so treat the reopening as a moving target.
East Georgia Regional Is Putting $11 Million Into Its Heart Labs
East Georgia Regional Medical Center announced an investment of more than $11 million in its cardiovascular services, centered on a full renovation and footprint expansion of its two cardiac catheterization labs.
The work adds eight patient bays for pre-procedure prep and post-op recovery, a new waiting area for cardiac and diagnostic imaging patients, and upgraded procedure rooms built so a diagnostic case can move to a therapeutic one without changing rooms. The imaging platform going in reduces radiation exposure.
Completion is expected in mid-2027. Cardiovascular services stay open through construction.
"This $11 million investment gives our growing community access to a safe, advanced environment for healing," CEO Stephen Pennington said. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alan Scott said the expansion "will provide advanced, comprehensive medical intervention to local patients." Director of Cardiovascular Services Tonya Eagle said the new room capabilities and imaging "allow our cardiologists to perform intricate interventions with higher precision."
The hospital puts the announcement alongside $17.5 million in recent technology and equipment spending. The practical read for a county this size: cardiac patients who would otherwise be driven somewhere else can be worked on here.
📋 LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS
The School Tax Rollback Is Final
The Bulloch County Board of Education adopted the FY27 millage rate Thursday, Aug. 13, lowering it from 10.400 mills to 10.125. That is the full rollback the board tentatively approved in July, which cancels out inflation in assessed values rather than quietly collecting more at the same rate.
On a home assessed at $300,000, it works out to about $33 a year.
"Super excited to report that our board approved our rollback rate of 10.125," Superintendent Dr. Torian White said. "This is a representation of our fiscal responsibility to our constituents in our community."
The City and County Picked a Firm to Design the Burkhalter Road Widening
Separately from the rezoning, and on the same road: the City Council and the Board of Commissioners each voted Aug. 4 to authorize staff to negotiate with Kimley-Horn & Associates for engineering design on the Burkhalter Road improvements. A joint city-county staff committee scored four finalists out of eleven submissions using Georgia DOT policy.
The project widens Burkhalter from Herman Rushing Road to Highway 67 and rebuilds the intersections at Cawana Road and Highway 67. About $1 million is budgeted for design and engineering, split 50/50 between the city and county, with T-SPLOST as the funding source. Right of way and construction costs are still to be determined, and no construction timeline has been set.
City Manager Charles Penny put it plainly: "When you look out across the city, the one road that probably needs a lot of attention is that area."
Title I Parent Nights Start Tomorrow
All 13 Title I schools in Bulloch County hold Parent Nights between Aug. 18 and Sept. 22. Mattie Lively Elementary goes first, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Langston Chapel Elementary and Sallie Zetterower Elementary both run Thursday, Aug. 20, at 5:30 and 6 p.m. respectively.
Translation and childcare are free during the events, by request. Pre-register at bullochschools.org/parentnight or scan the code on the flyer that came home.
Bulloch Teens Are Being Asked to Fundraise for a 5-Year-Old From Twin City
Sydney Walker is 5 and is being treated for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia at Memorial Health Children's Hospital in Savannah. Blood Cancer United, formerly the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, is recruiting high school students for its Student Visionaries of the Year program, a seven-week campaign where teams fundraise for one patient and pick up project management and marketing experience doing it. Scholarships are attached and the hours count for community service. Last year more than 180 students in the region raised $330,000 in seven weeks.
"Given how close to home Sydney's story is, we'd love to see some Bulloch County students step up to represent her," said campaign development manager Sarah Tigue. Students can apply alone or in teams of two or three at studentvisionaries.bloodcancerunited.org.
The Burn Ban Is Still On
No commission vote has rescinded it. The emergency ordinance from July 31 took effect Aug. 1 and runs until drought conditions improve and commissioners formally vote to lift it, and nothing in this week's forecast makes that case: rain chances sit between 11 and 14 percent through Thursday.
No burning yard debris, limbs, grass, leaves, or other vegetative matter in unincorporated Bulloch County. State-permitted agricultural and forestry burns are exempt, and so are attended cooking fires in grills and fire pits. Maximum penalty is a $1,000 fine or 60 days.
📅 THIS WEEK'S EVENTS (August 17 to August 23, 2026)
Computer Class
Monday, Aug. 17 | 11 a.m. | Statesboro Regional Library, 124 S. Main Street | Ages 18 and up, no cost listed
Statesboro Line Dancing Club
Monday, Aug. 17 | 5:30 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library | All ages, no cost listed
Bulloch County Board of Commissioners
Tuesday, Aug. 18 | 8:30 a.m. | North Main Annex, 115 North Main Street | Free and open
Statesboro City Council Work Session
Tuesday, Aug. 18 | 4 p.m. | Council Chambers, City Hall, 50 E. Main Street | Free and open
Graphic Novel Book Club
Tuesday, Aug. 18 | 4:30 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library | Ages 6 to 11, no cost listed
Statesboro Mayor and Council
Tuesday, Aug. 18 | 5:30 p.m. | Council Chambers, City Hall, 50 E. Main Street | Free and open, Burkhalter Road rezoning hearing
Bulloch County Planning and Zoning Commission
Tuesday, Aug. 18 | 5:30 p.m. | North Main Annex, 115 North Main Street | Free and open
Mattie Lively Elementary Title I Parent Night
Tuesday, Aug. 18 | 5:30 to 7 p.m. | Mattie Lively Elementary | Free, translation and childcare by request
Georgia Southern Fall Classes Begin
Wednesday, Aug. 19
Cat Adoption Event with Fixing The Boro
Thursday, Aug. 20 | 10 a.m. to noon | Statesboro Regional Library | No cost listed
Statesboro-Bulloch County Airport Authority
Thursday, Aug. 20 | Noon | Bulloch County Airport, 601 Statesboro Airport Blvd | Free and open
Book Binding Class
Thursday, Aug. 20 | 4 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library | Ages 14 and up, no cost listed
Langston Chapel Elementary Title I Parent Night
Thursday, Aug. 20 | 5:30 to 7 p.m. | Langston Chapel Elementary | Free
Sallie Zetterower Elementary Title I Parent Night
Thursday, Aug. 20 | 6 to 7 p.m. | Sallie Zetterower Elementary | Free
Senior Bingo
Friday, Aug. 21 | 11 a.m. | Statesboro Regional Library | Ages 55 and up, no cost listed
Statesboro High at Southeast Bulloch
Friday, Aug. 21 | 7:30 p.m. | Southeast Bulloch High School | Season opener
Main Street Farmers Market
Saturday, Aug. 22 | 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | 222 S. Main Street, behind the Visitors Center | Free to browse
Splash in the Boro
Saturday, Aug. 22, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 23, noon to 6 p.m. | 1388 Georgia Highway 24 | Weekends only through Sept. 6
🦅 GEORGIA SOUTHERN UPDATES
The Biggest Freshman Class the University Has Ever Had Moved In Friday
Georgia Southern expects more than 33,900 students across its campuses this fall, an institutional record, including more than 6,500 freshmen, also a record. About 4,000 of them moved into the Statesboro residence halls Friday, Aug. 14, most of it inside a few hours, with check-in running out of the Recreation Activities Center on Akins Boulevard.
Faculty, staff, students, and community volunteers worked the lines, which is the only reason a few hours is enough.
Classes Begin Wednesday, Aug. 19
Which is when the Boro actually feels full. Lunch lines, parking, and the Fair Road left turn all reset Wednesday, and this year there are more of them than there have ever been.
🏈 SPORTS & CAMPUS EVENTS
Fan Day Was Saturday Night at Paulson
Georgia Southern opened the athletics year Saturday, Aug. 15 at Allen E. Paulson Stadium with First Flight at 5 p.m., the first public Eagle Connection with Director of Athletics Chris Davis at 6:15, an open practice and scrimmage at 7, and an on-field autograph session after. Admission and parking were free.
The Season Opener Is Sept. 5
Georgia Southern hosts Charleston Southern at Paulson at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5, on ESPN+.
High School Football Starts Friday
Statesboro High opens at Southeast Bulloch on Friday, Aug. 21 at 7:30 p.m. County rivalry, first game of the year, and the surest sign around here that summer is over. The Blue Devils then host Burke County Aug. 28 and Emanuel County Institute Sept. 4, both at 7:30.
🍽️ RESTAURANT SPOTLIGHT
Holiday Pizza, 406 Fair Road, Suite 10
The street in front of this place closes today for 14 weeks, so this week the spotlight goes to the shopping center that just lost its front door.
Holiday Pizza is Greek and Italian food run by the Kalloniatis family, and it has already come back from worse than a road closure. Kostas Kalloniatis started it. He died in September 2009. The restaurant ran 14 years before closing in September 2013, squeezed as national chains like Olive Garden moved into town. It stayed dark for years. Then a local investor approached the family about reopening, and brothers Nick and Johnny, along with their mother Dia, brought it back in 2018.
"The community was great to us before and we missed the people," Nick said at the time. Johnny's version was funnier and probably truer: "What we discovered is that the customers had a chance to miss us!"
The family says the recipes trace to Dia's father, a chef for King Paul of Greece. What that means on a plate is gyros, grinders on artisan hoagie rolls, hand-cut salads, pastas with alfredos and red sauces made in house, calzones and stromboli, and a Detroit-style pan pizza with a crisp cheesy edge that eats lighter than it looks. Desserts are made in house too. It is counter service, which is the right speed for a weeknight.
Order online at holidayboro.com, or call. Dine in, delivery, and catering are all available.
Hours: Closed Monday. Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m.
Phone: (912) 764-7669
Getting there during the closure: Use the shopping center's main Fair Road entrance north of Max Lockwood, and exit northward past El Sombrero.
🌤️ WEATHER ADVISORY
A Heat Advisory is in effect for Bulloch County until 8 p.m. tonight, issued by the National Weather Service in Charleston at 7:31 this morning. Tomorrow is hotter by the index. Real rain does not show up until Friday afternoon.
Monday: High near 98, heat index up to 107, sunny, rain 12 percent
Tuesday: High near 98, heat index up to 109, sunny, rain 14 percent
Wednesday: High near 98, sunny, rain 13 percent
Thursday: High near 99, sunny, rain 11 percent
Friday: High near 98, chance of storms after 2 p.m., rain 30 percent
Saturday: High near 94, chance of storms after 2 p.m., rain 50 percent
Sunday: High near 94, slight chance of storms after 2 p.m., rain 20 percent
Two practical notes. The low is 78 tonight and 75 the rest of the week, and the index stays near 106 into the evening tonight and tomorrow night, so a house that does not cool off after dark will not catch up the next day. Check on the neighbors without good air conditioning. And Wednesday is the first day of classes at a high of 98, which means several thousand people walking to a building they have never been to before in full sun. Water bottles.
Saturday's 50 percent is the best chance in a week, and scattered afternoon storms still will not end a moderate drought.
Forecast pulled from the National Weather Service Charleston office at 9:17 a.m. ET Monday, Aug. 17. Afternoon storm timing shifts. Check weather.gov before outdoor plans.
👀 LOOKING AHEAD
Tuesday, Aug. 18: The Burkhalter Road rezoning hearing.
Work session 4 p.m., council 5:30 p.m., City Hall at 50 E. Main Street. Public comment is part of the hearing.
Tuesday, Aug. 18: Title I Parent Nights begin.
Mattie Lively Elementary, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Twelve more schools follow through Sept. 22.
Wednesday, Aug. 19: Georgia Southern fall classes begin.
Friday, Aug. 21: Statesboro High at Southeast Bulloch.
7:30 p.m. Season opener, county rivalry.
Monday, Aug. 24: Raising Cane's opens on Highway 80.
24087 U.S. Highway 80, the old Applebee's site in front of Lowe's.
Thursday, Aug. 27: Board of Education work session.
6:30 p.m., Central Office on Williams Road.
Tuesday, Sept. 1: The county data center text amendment is back on the agenda.
Tentatively, per the 30-day table from Aug. 4. That one covers unincorporated Bulloch, not the city parcel.
Saturday, Sept. 5: Eagles home opener.
Charleston Southern at Paulson, 7 p.m., ESPN+.
Late November: Max Lockwood Drive, if 14 weeks holds.
Mid-2027: East Georgia Regional's cath lab expansion is due to be finished.
Fourteen weeks without Max Lockwood Drive. How much does that cost you?
✉️ THANKS FOR READING!
That's Edition 45. A road closed, a class arrived, a tax rate came down, and a $1.2 billion projection landed on a room that meets tomorrow at 5:30.
If you read one thing twice this week, make it the two numbers in the same study: $1.2 billion of investment and 12 full-time jobs. Neither one is a secret and neither one is the whole picture, and Tuesday night is when the applicant has to answer questions about both in public. City Hall, 50 E. Main, doors open to anybody.
Until then: drink water, take the Fair Road entrance, and the burn ban is still on.
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