Hello, Statesboro!
Late July has a particular feeling to it. The heat is still winning, the pool is still the best idea anyone has, but there is a countdown running now that was not there two weeks ago. Teachers report Thursday. Classes start in two weeks.
And the town is busy in the meantime: state and federal agents searched the Yurezz headquarters, Feed the Boro is about to hand out its four millionth meal, and Tuesday night the county takes up whether data centers should be allowed here at all. We also have a full library week, a live forecast that finally includes some rain, and a spotlight on a Briarwood Lane standby.
Let's get into it.
📰 TOP NEWS
GBI and FBI Search Yurezz Headquarters in Baxley
The Yurezz Home Center case moved from a local collapse to a multi-agency investigation this week. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant Thursday at the company's Baxley headquarters, with the FBI's Savannah Resident Agency and local law enforcement assisting, in a fraud investigation that spans multiple states. It is the most significant step yet in a story that has run through the last two editions of this newsletter.
The timeline now reads: the company announced on June 25 that it had "paused its retail operations," and customers began reporting they could not get answers about unfinished homes; the Statesboro location at 9627 Hwy 301 South closed at the end of June; 21st Mortgage Corporation filed a complaint against the owners on July 7; and co-owner Richard Altman, 42, was arrested at his Baxley home on July 8 on a charge of illegal transmission of monetary funds originating in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. Heather Altman is listed as co-owner.
The business, founded in 2015 as Yess Home Center, sold for 14 manufacturers of mobile and manufactured homes across six states, which is why the fallout reaches well past Bulloch County.
Anyone with information can call the GBI at 1-800-597-8477 and select option 2, submit a tip at gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or use the See Something, Send Something app.
Feed the Boro Hands Out Its Four Millionth Meal Saturday
Some numbers are worth stopping on. On Saturday, July 25, starting at 7 a.m. at Statesboro High School, Feed the Boro will distribute its four millionth meal.
The organization started in the late 1990s with a much smaller idea, a Thanksgiving meal effort that served fewer than 200 people, and it has no paid staff. Every dollar goes to food. Monthly drops began in 2020, and the pace since then tells the story: the three millionth meal went out on May 17, 2025, and the fourth million took a little over a year.
Roughly 1,000 families are expected Saturday. Chair Don Poe and his volunteers have themed the morning around the country's 250th anniversary, Eagle 94.9 will broadcast live, and Food Lion Feeds will hand out random $10 gift cards through the morning with one $250 card going to a single recipient. Representatives from Food Lion Feeds, The Islands, and Shuman Farms will be on site.
If you want to help rather than watch, volunteer slots, donations, and sponsorships all run through feedtheboro.com.
County Moves to Write Data Centers Out of the Zoning Code Entirely
Tuesday night the Bulloch County Planning and Zoning Commission takes up the item a lot of residents have been waiting on since February.
Following a May directive from the Board of Commissioners, Planning and Development staff have drafted a zoning text amendment that does two things. It adds a formal definition of "data center" to the county ordinance, facilities that house computing and networking equipment for the storage, processing, and distribution of digital data, while carving out ordinary server rooms that support a business's own operations. Then it prohibits that use in General Business, Light Manufacturing, and Heavy Manufacturing zones.
The same amendment deletes the county's cryptocurrency mining rules outright, converting "Section 1415: Commercial Cryptocurrency Mining Operation" to "Section 1415: Reserved" and removing crypto mining as a conditional use in Ag-5 and Light Industrial zones.
Planning and Development Director James Pope explained the logic of defining something in order to ban it: "in that way if anyone comes in and wants to do a data center in Bulloch County, our ordinance recognizes a data center use and points to the fact that it is not in the use chart."
The item is last of 11 on the agenda for the commission's 5:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday, July 21, in the North Main Annex community room. The appointed board votes on a recommendation, and the elected Board of Commissioners could take it up as soon as its 5:30 p.m. session on August 4. The county's moratorium on data centers runs through December 31, 2026.
📋 LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS
Grice Connect Is the Only Georgia Newsroom in This Year's Report for America Class
Grice Connect has been selected as a 2026 host newsroom partner with Report for America, the national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms, and it is the only newsroom in Georgia chosen this year. Corps members began work in their host newsrooms on July 13. For a town this size, having a second local outlet add reporting capacity is genuinely good news, whatever you think of any given story.
Two Weeks Out: School Starts August 3
Bulloch County Schools students return Monday, August 3, with staff pre-planning and in-service running July 23 through 31. If you have a rising 7th or 11th grader, the updated immunization record is the thing that trips families up every year.
The Bulloch County Health Department at 1 West Altman Street takes walk-ins for vaccines and for hearing, vision, and dental screenings, no appointment needed, to satisfy Georgia's forms 3231 and 3300. Hours are Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Call 1-855-473-4374 with questions. Two weeks is enough time. One week is not.
Path2College 529 Changes Took Effect This Week
Georgia's Path2College 529 plan, the state-sponsored college savings program, rolled out a set of improvements that took effect this week. If you have been meaning to look at one for a child or grandchild, the start of a school year is as good a prompt as any to actually read the terms.
Still No Arrest in the Lanier Drive Case
Three weeks after the July 2 shots-fired incident at St. Charles Place Apartments, 17-year-old Levi River Williams remains wanted on warrants for aggravated assault and criminal damage to property, with no arrest announced as of this writing. Nobody was injured, but there was property damage from gunfire.
If you know anything about the case or where he is, call Senior Detective Cross at 912-764-9911 or use the "Submit a Tip" link at statesboropd.com.
📅 THIS WEEK'S EVENTS (July 20-26, 2026)
Statesboro Regional Library: A Full Week
124 S. Main Street | All week | FREE | 912-764-1341
The library does not slow down just because summer reading wrapped. This week:
Family Constellation Craft Activity: Mon., July 20, 4 p.m., whole family
Baby Play Time: Tue., July 21, 10 a.m., ages 0-24 months
Graphic Novel Book Club: Tue., July 21, 4:30 p.m., ages 6-11
Toddler Play Time: Wed., July 22, 10:30 a.m., ages 2-5
Chess: Wed., July 22, 6 p.m., all ages
Adult Book Club: Thu., July 23, 5:45 p.m., ages 18+
Senior Bingo: Fri., July 24, 11 a.m., ages 55+
Call ahead to confirm times.
Three Meetings, One Tuesday Night
Tuesday, July 21 | Times below | FREE
Tuesday is the busiest civic night of the month, and two of the meetings overlap. Bulloch County Board of Commissioners meets at 8:30 a.m. in the Board of Commissioners Room at the North Main Annex.
Then at 5:30 p.m., the Bulloch County Planning and Zoning Commission meets at the same North Main Annex to take up the data center and crypto mining amendment (last of 11 agenda items), while the Statesboro Mayor and Council meet at the same hour in City Hall Council Chambers on East Main Street. If the data center question is what brought you out, the North Main Annex is the room you want.
Bulloch County Board of Education Work Session
Thursday, July 23 | 6:30 p.m. | Board room, Central Office and Transition Learning Center, Williams Road | FREE
The last board gathering before staff pre-planning gives way to the first day of school.
Feed the Boro: The Four Millionth Meal
Saturday, July 25 | 7:00 a.m. | Statesboro High School | FREE
See Top News above. Roughly 1,000 families, a live Eagle 94.9 broadcast, and a milestone nearly three decades in the making. Volunteers welcome through feedtheboro.com.
Statesboro Main Street Farmers Market
Saturday, July 25 | 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | The Market at Visit Statesboro, 222 S. Main Street | FREE admission
Produce, meats, baked goods, artisan goods, and food trucks. The market runs Saturdays into late November, but late July is peak tomato season, so go early.
Splash in the Boro
Open daily | Mill Creek Regional Park, 1388 GA-24 East | Admission varies
Two weeks of summer left for the school-age crowd. Bulloch County residents get discounted admission, and hours vary by day, so check before you load the car.
🦅 GEORGIA SOUTHERN UPDATES
The Eagles Have a New Voice
Georgia Southern named Adam Young its new Voice of the Eagles and Director of Broadcasting for the Georgia Southern Sports Network. He becomes just the fourth play-by-play voice in the history of Eagles football, following Nate Hirsch, Chris Blair, and Danny Reed, and he will call football, men's basketball, and baseball.
Young came from New Mexico State, where he directed broadcasting, and has been named one of the Top 20 Collegiate Sportscasters in America. He is a native of Waterloo, Illinois, and moves to Statesboro with his wife Ashley and their three-year-old son, Porter.
Athletic Director Chris Davis said Young was "an elite broadcaster whose preparation, professionalism and passion for storytelling immediately stood out throughout our search." For a lot of Eagles fans, this voice is the sound of fall Saturdays, so it is a bigger hire than the job title suggests.
Workplace Readiness Institute Takes Career Exploration to Hinesville
Georgia Southern's Youth Workplace Readiness Institute spent four days with nine Liberty County students entering eighth and ninth grade, walking them through career options available close to home. It is a small program, but the kind of thing a regional university is supposed to do.
🏈 SPORTS & CAMPUS EVENTS
Statesboro High Names Courtnei Houston Interim Boys Basketball Coach
Statesboro High has appointed Courtnei Houston as interim boys head basketball coach for the 2026-27 season. He replaces Keith LeGree, a Statesboro High alumnus who was let go on June 29 after six seasons, a 120-33 record, and four state playoff appearances; no reason for the dismissal was given, and LeGree remains a physical education teacher at the school.
Houston is a PE teacher at Langston Chapel Elementary with four years there, coached Langston Chapel Middle to back-to-back Coastal Empire Championships, has run his own basketball training business for more than 11 years, holds a sports management degree from Georgia Southern, and is working on a master's in health and physical education. He is also the brother of retired NFL All-Pro Justin Houston.
Principal Keith Wright said Houston's "familiarity with our student-athletes and community, combined with his proven leadership and commitment to developing well-rounded individuals, makes him the perfect fit to lead our program during this transition."
Southeast Bulloch Cheerleader Named GCCA Finalist
Mia Oliver of Southeast Bulloch was named a finalist for GCCA Cheerleader of the Year.
Erk Russell Would Have Turned 100 on Thursday
July 23 marks 100 years since the birth of the coach who built Eagles football from nothing. Georgia Southern Athletics is running an "Erk 100" campaign in his honor through the season, pointing toward the White Out game against Appalachian State on October 31. No standalone public event has been announced for Thursday itself, but it is a good day to tell the story to someone who did not grow up here.
Note: local high school programs are still in summer conditioning, so the fall schedule is the next real thing on the calendar. The Eagles open at home September 5 against Charleston Southern.
🍽️ RESTAURANT SPOTLIGHT
Locos Grill & Pub
91 Briarwood Ln | 912-681-2002
Locos is not trying to be the new thing in town, and that is the point. It is a wings-burgers-and-sandwiches place with the games on, a decent-sized menu, and live music most Friday and Saturday nights, which makes it one of the more reliable answers to "where can we go where everybody will find something."
The wing list runs Mild, Medium, Hot, Extra Hot, Lemon Pepper, Teriyaki, and Honey Sriracha. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
With football season and the student return both coming, this is a good few weeks to go while a table is still easy to get.
🌤️ WEATHER ADVISORY
Good news for anyone tired of a forecast that says nothing but "hot." Rain returns to the picture in the back half of the week. This is the live National Weather Service outlook for Statesboro as of Monday morning:
Mon, July 20: 95°F, 0% rain. Sunny, heat index up to 104.
Tue, July 21: 95°F, 30% rain. Sunny early, thunderstorms possible later.
Wed, July 22: 94°F, 20% rain. Mostly sunny, slight storm chance.
Thu, July 23: 93°F, 60% rain. Showers and storms likely, mainly after 2 p.m.
Fri, July 24: 93°F, 60% rain. Showers and storms likely after morning.
Sat, July 25: 89°F, 50% rain. Partly sunny, coolest day of the week.
Sun, July 26: 91°F, 40% rain. Partly sunny, scattered showers and storms.
Monday is the dangerous one. A heat index of 104 with no cloud cover is the kind of afternoon that sends people to the ER, so if you are working outside, take the breaks.
By Thursday and Friday the storm chances jump to 60 percent, which will cool things off and complicate any evening plans. Saturday's 89 degrees is a genuine break, and it lands on the Feed the Boro morning and the farmers market, which is lucky timing.
👀 LOOKING AHEAD
Tuesday, July 21: The data center hearing. Planning and Zoning Commission, 5:30 p.m., North Main Annex. The recommendation made here is what goes to the county commissioners.
Thursday, July 23: Teachers report. Bulloch County Schools pre-planning and in-service run July 23 through 31.
Saturday, July 25: Feed the Boro's four millionth meal. 7 a.m., Statesboro High School.
Monday, August 3: First day of school. Classes resume across Bulloch County Schools.
Tuesday, August 4: Board of Commissioners could vote on the data center amendment. 5:30 p.m. session, if the item moves on schedule.
Friday, September 5: Eagles football home opener. Georgia Southern hosts Charleston Southern at Paulson Stadium, the first of six home games this fall.
Bulloch County is moving to ban data centers outright. Where do you land?
✉️ THANKS FOR READING!
That's Edition 41. A federal search warrant, four million meals, and a zoning vote that will shape what gets built here for a decade, all in the same week that teachers start packing up their summers.
If you go to one thing this week, make it Saturday morning at Statesboro High. Four million meals in a county this size is not a statistic, it is a couple thousand neighbors who kept showing up.
Got a news tip, correction, or just want to say hi? Hit reply, we read every message.
Know someone who'd love the Statesboro Brief? Forward this to a neighbor, a coworker, or anyone who just moved to town. It's the single best way to help us grow, and we'd rather earn new readers from people who already trust us than from an ad. See you next Monday!
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