Hello, Statesboro!
Week two of school. The car line has found its rhythm, the water bottles have mostly stopped disappearing, and the county is about to get a lot busier: Operation Move-In is Friday, and roughly 4,000 students come back to campus in a single morning.
The bigger story this week is one nobody expected to break the way it did. Last Tuesday was supposed to be the night Bulloch County commissioners voted a data center ban into the code. Instead they tabled it. Across town the same evening, the Statesboro Planning Commission 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 people showed up outside City Hall about it.
Also this week: sprinklers did their job at Statesboro High early Sunday, the school board sets the final tax rate Thursday, and the burn ban is still on with no real rain in the forecast.
Let's get into it.
📰 TOP NEWS
The County Tabled Its Ban. The City Advanced a Data Center the Same Night.
Two meetings, one Tuesday, opposite directions.
At the North Main Annex, the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners was expected to vote on the zoning text amendment that would have written data centers out of the county's code. They tabled it instead, 3 to 2. Commissioners Ray Mosley, Timmy Rushing, and Anthony Simmons voted to table. Commissioners Toby Conner and Ray Davis voted against tabling. Chairman David Bennett, who votes only to break a tie, spoke against an outright ban, saying commissioners had concerns about going that far and that there had been discussion with legal counsel about adopting the text amendment language now and adding zoning provisions later.
A motion to table runs 30 days, which tentatively puts the amendment back on the Sept. 1 agenda.
A few blocks down Main Street, the Statesboro Planning Commission spent that same evening on a different question and answered it 5 to 1. The commission recommended conditional approval of a zoning map amendment for 26.94 acres at 6539 Burkhalter Road, changing it from R-4 high-density residential to O, office and business district. Chair Cathy Dixon cast the only no vote. Member Joseph Folsom was absent.
What is proposed for that land: a two-story building of roughly 115,000 square feet per floor, 230,000 square feet in all, plus a 32,000 square foot electrical substation and a stormwater detention pond. The applicant is 4AM Development LLC, owned by Bobby Bagwell of the Augusta area and Charles C. Way of Savannah, with civil engineer John Paul Moore of Thomas & Hutton presenting. The cooling design submitted is a closed loop water system, with projected makeup water use of 30 to 100 gallons a day and a combined peak around 1,000 gallons a day for cooling and domestic use together.
Two things worth being precise about, because they get blurred fast.
First, the county's ban and the city's rezoning are not the same fight. County commissioners have zoning authority only over unincorporated Bulloch. Whatever they do on Sept. 1 does not reach a parcel inside Statesboro city limits.
Second, the planning commission's vote is a recommendation, and even a yes from City Council would not authorize construction. Council holds a public hearing and votes on the rezoning at its 5:30 p.m. meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 18, at City Hall, 50 E. Main Street. After that, the developer would still have to come back through a separate special use permit application and its own public hearing before a data center could operate there.
So the calendar now reads: Aug. 18 at City Hall, then Sept. 1 at the North Main Annex.
Dozens Gathered Outside City Hall Saturday Morning
William McDaniel did not plan a rally. After the planning commission vote, he made a post on social media suggesting people show up. On Saturday, Aug. 8, dozens of residents were standing outside Statesboro City Hall.
"I just made a post," McDaniel said. "I didn't think there was going to be a huge turnout, it means a lot to me, the community engagement, the kids out here."
Brooke Jarrett, who drove over from Effingham County, described the crowd this way: "There were many people of different demographics, old people, republicans, democrats, those who are non-partisan."
The objections raised were the ones that have followed this project since the application was filed: noise, air quality, how much water and electricity the facility would draw, and what happens to the wildlife on and around the site. Some of those concerns have documented answers in the application, some do not, and the Aug. 18 hearing is where the applicant has to say so on the record.
McDaniel's ask was simple: "Make your voice heard, don't be afraid to speak up."
Whichever side of this you land on, the mechanics are the same as they were for the county vote last week. Council meets at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 18, public comment is part of the hearing, and the room is open to anyone who walks in.
Sprinklers Caught a Fire at Statesboro High Early Sunday
Bulloch County 911 dispatched the Statesboro Fire Department to a fire alarm at Statesboro High School shortly after 1 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9. By the time crews located the fire, in the main gymnasium's concession stand near the main hallway and cafeteria, the building's sprinkler system had already put it out.
The sprinklers held the damage to the concession stand area, though smoke worked its way through parts of the school. No injuries were reported. Officials have not released a cause.
School officials confirmed Statesboro High is open on a normal schedule this morning.
This is what a functioning sprinkler system looks like on a Sunday at one in the morning in a building with nobody in it. Worth a thought the next time a school bond or a facilities line item shows up on an agenda.
📋 LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS
Commissioners Put $3.47 Million Into Two Bridges
The same Aug. 4 meeting that tabled the data center amendment also approved two bridge construction contracts, both on the consent agenda, 5 to 0.
Cypress Lake Road goes to Southeastern Site Development for $1,876,727, replacing the bridge damaged in a Feb. 25, 2025 vehicle crash that closed the road. The project draws a $2.25 million Georgia DOT Local Maintenance and Improvement Grants award. Getting the right of way required condemnation proceedings on two parcels.
G.W. Oliver Road goes to Gregory Bridge Company for $1,589,926, replacing a culvert system that Tropical Storm Debby wrecked in August 2024 and later rainfall finished off. That one is paid with a mix of federal FEMA reimbursement, state GEMA funds, and county T-SPLOST.
County officials expect both roads to reopen in the fall of 2027, weather permitting.
Grand Jury Indicts Former K-9 Handler on 12 Counts
A Bulloch County grand jury returned a true bill of indictment on Aug. 3 against James Michael Duncan, a former K-9 handler and dog trainer, on 12 counts: three of theft by conversion and eight of cruelty to animals, plus one count tied to a dog's death.
Duncan ran a training business called Southern Edge K9. The indictment alleges he took between $2,000 and $4,500 from clients for training he never provided, and that dogs in his care went without adequate food, water, sanitary conditions, or ventilation. A Labradoodle died.
The Bulloch County Sheriff's Office first arrested Duncan on Jan. 27, 2026 on eight misdemeanor animal cruelty counts, then again in March on the felony theft charges. He resigned from his law enforcement position with the Candler County Sheriff's Office after the second arrest. Judge Matthew Hube is assigned to the case.
Raising Cane's Opens Aug. 24, and Walk-In Interviews Run Through Sunday
Raising Cane's has set Monday, Aug. 24 as the opening date for its first Statesboro restaurant, at 24087 U.S. Highway 80, the old Applebee's site in front of Lowe's.
The part that matters this week is the hiring. The company is filling 165 positions, cashier, customer service associate, and fry cook among them, with pay starting at $15 an hour. Interviews are running daily through Aug. 16 at the Holiday Inn, 455 Commerce Drive, from 9:30 a.m. to noon and again from 1 to 6:30 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome. Applications are also at jobs.raisingcanes.com.
"We are excited to continue growing our presence in Georgia, and Statesboro is the perfect place for our newest Restaurant," said Restaurant Leader Joey Baylor.
Opening day will include giveaways and a drawing for free Cane's for a year for early arrivals.
School Board Sets the Final Tax Rate Thursday
The Bulloch County Board of Education takes its final millage vote Thursday, Aug. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Office on Williams Road.
The number on the table is 10.125 mills for maintenance and operations, tentatively adopted unanimously at the board's July 23 work session. That is down 0.275 mills from last year's 10.400, and it is a full rollback, meaning it cancels out the inflation in assessed property values rather than quietly collecting more at the same rate. Because it is a rollback, no public hearings were required, but public participation is still on the agenda Thursday night.
The Burn Ban Is Still On, and This Week Will Not Change That
The emergency ordinance commissioners passed on July 31 took effect Aug. 1 and stays in place until drought conditions improve and commissioners formally vote to rescind it. No such vote has happened.
Nothing in this week's forecast is going to force one. Rain chances sit in the single digits through Tuesday and only reach 40 percent on Saturday, with highs between 95 and 99.
The rules have not changed: 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 properly attended cooking fires in grills and fire pits. Maximum penalty is a $1,000 fine or 60 days.
📅 THIS WEEK'S EVENTS (August 10 to August 16, 2026)
Bulloch County Board of Elections and Registration
Monday, Aug. 10 | 1:30 p.m. | Board of Commissioners Room, North Main Annex, North Main Street | Free and open
Statesboro Line Dancing Group
Monday, Aug. 10 | 5:30 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library, 124 S. Main Street | No cost listed
Adult Craft Activity
Tuesday, Aug. 11 | 11 a.m. | Statesboro Regional Library | No cost listed
Teen Craft Activity
Thursday, Aug. 13 | 4:30 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library | No cost listed
B.Y.O.B. Book Club
Thursday, Aug. 13 | 5:30 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library | No cost listed
Bulloch County Board of Education Regular Session
Thursday, Aug. 13 | 6:30 p.m. | Central Office and Transition Learning Center, Williams Road | Free and open, final millage vote
Family Dinosaur Dungeons and Dragons Adventure
Friday, Aug. 14 | 1 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library | No cost listed, runs Fridays
Operation Move-In
Friday, Aug. 14 | Check-in from 8 a.m. | Recreation Activities Center, 1939 Akins Blvd | Volunteers welcome
Genealogy Program: Honeybee Day
Friday, Aug. 14 | 4 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library | No cost listed
Main Street Farmers Market
Saturday, Aug. 15 | 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | 222 S. Main Street, behind the Visitors Center | Free to browse
SHE Women's Expo
Saturday, Aug. 15 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | The Venues at Ogeechee Technical College | Free, about 70 exhibitors, free health screenings, presented by the Statesboro Herald
Georgia Southern Fan Day
Saturday, Aug. 15 | First Flight 5 p.m., Eagle Connection 6:15 p.m., open practice and scrimmage 7 p.m. | Allen E. Paulson Stadium | Admission and parking free
Splash in the Boro
Saturday, Aug. 15, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 16, noon to 6 p.m. | 1388 Georgia Highway 24 | Weekends only now through Sept. 6
🦅 GEORGIA SOUTHERN UPDATES
Operation Move-In Is Friday, and the University Is Asking for Help
Roughly 4,000 students move into the residence halls on the Statesboro campus Friday, Aug. 14, most of it inside a few hours. Check-in runs out of the Recreation Activities Center at 1939 Akins Blvd starting at 8 a.m.
Georgia Southern is asking local churches, civic groups, nonprofits, and service organizations to volunteer: greeting families, answering the same six questions three hundred times, watching elevator traffic, unloading cars. Groups that want to serve together can each sign up online and then email a name list to [email protected], and Housing will try to keep them on the same shift. The Housing office number is 912-478-5406.
If you are not volunteering, the practical note is the same as every year: Akins Boulevard and Fair Road are going to be slow Friday morning. Leave early or go around.
Classes Begin Wednesday, Aug. 19
Which means next week is when the Boro actually feels full again. Lunch lines, parking, and the Fair Road left turn all reset on the 19th.
🏈 SPORTS & CAMPUS EVENTS
Fan Day Saturday Night at Paulson, Free
Georgia Southern Athletics and the Division of Student Affairs open the season Saturday, Aug. 15 at Allen E. Paulson Stadium, presented by Optim Orthopedics and Vallant Bank. First Flight welcomes students at 5 p.m. At 6:15, Director of Athletics Chris Davis hosts the first Eagle Connection open to the public, in the Eagle Club on the home concourse, where fans can ask questions directly. At 7 p.m. the team holds an open practice and scrimmage, and after that there is an on-field autograph session. Concessions are open on the north concourse. Admission and parking are free.
Preseason camp opened Aug. 5.
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 Aug. 21
Statesboro High opens at Southeast Bulloch on Friday, Aug. 21 at 7:30 p.m. County rivalry, first game of the year, and the kind of Friday night that tells you summer is actually over. The Blue Devils host Burke County Aug. 28 and Emanuel County Institute Sept. 4, both at 7:30.
🍽️ RESTAURANT SPOTLIGHT
Bull and Barrel Steakhouse, 30 W. Main Street
Move-In Friday means a specific kind of weekend in this town: somebody's parents are here, they have just carried a mini fridge up three flights of stairs in 99 degree heat, and they would like to sit down somewhere nice before they drive home. This is that place.
Bull and Barrel sits right on West Main downtown, in the block you walk past a hundred times without registering that the good steakhouse is in it. The concept started in the summer of 2018, when three friends, Jason Franklin, Jim Peery, and John Adam, decided after two decades in food service that Statesboro should have a restaurant taking food and service as seriously as the places they kept eating at on the road. They traveled, they took notes on rooms and plating and how staff handled a table, and then they built it here.
The menu is a Southern steakhouse menu, hand-cut, and it changes with the season. Steaks run smoked prime rib in 12 and 16 ounce cuts, ribeye, bone-in ribeye, Cajun ribeye, center cut filet, crowned filet, New York strip, and New Zealand lamb. If you are not doing steak, there is pan-seared salmon, blackened grouper, low country crab cakes, and Romano-crusted chicken. Start with the deviled egg flight or the smoked pork belly. The crispy brussel sprouts and the prime rib sliders are also on that list.
The thing a lot of people in town still do not know: they do brunch. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles, prime rib benedict, an apple pie biscuit. If you have out-of-town family here for move-in weekend, Saturday brunch downtown is a better play than fighting the lunch rush on Northside.
Hours: Closed Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday 5:30 to 9 p.m. Friday 5:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday brunch 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday brunch 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Phone: (912) 259-9990
Reservations: Yes, and on a home game or move-in weekend, make one.
🌤️ WEATHER ADVISORY
A hot, dry week with the heat index doing most of the damage. Storm chances do not get interesting until Friday night.
Monday: High near 95, heat index up to 104, mostly sunny, rain 13 percent
Tuesday: High near 95, heat index up to 105, sunny, rain 6 percent
Wednesday: High near 96, slight chance of storms after 2 p.m., rain 23 percent, less than a tenth of an inch expected
Thursday: High near 98, sunny, rain 7 percent
Friday: High near 99, slight chance of storms after 2 p.m., rain 22 percent
Saturday: High near 96, chance of storms after 2 p.m., rain 38 percent
Sunday: High near 96, chance of storms after 2 p.m., rain 25 percent
Two practical notes. Friday is Move-In Day and it is the hottest day of the week at 99 with overnight lows barely under 77, so if you are volunteering or carrying boxes, water and shade are not optional. And nothing here breaks the drought: even Saturday's better chance produces scattered afternoon storms, not the soaking rain the Forestry Commission said the county needs.
Forecast pulled from the National Weather Service Charleston office at 6:17 a.m. ET Monday, Aug. 10. Afternoon storm timing shifts. Check weather.gov before outdoor plans.
👀 LOOKING AHEAD
Thursday, Aug. 13: School board sets the final millage rate.
6:30 p.m., Central Office on Williams Road, on the proposed 10.125 rollback. Public participation is open.
Friday, Aug. 14: Operation Move-In.
About 4,000 students, starting at 8 a.m. at the RAC. Volunteers still wanted.
Saturday, Aug. 15: A full day.
Farmers market 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., SHE Women's Expo 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Ogeechee Tech, Fan Day at Paulson beginning at 5 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 16: Last day of Raising Cane's walk-in interviews.
Holiday Inn on Commerce Drive, 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 18: City Council public hearing on the Burkhalter Road rezoning.
5:30 p.m. This is the vote on the 26.94 acres, and public comment is part of the hearing.
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.
Tuesday, Sept. 1: The county data center text amendment is back on the agenda.
Tentatively, per the 30-day table.
Saturday, Sept. 5: Eagles home opener.
Charleston Southern at Paulson, 7 p.m., ESPN+.
Friday is Move-In Day. What's your plan?
Friday is Move-In Day. What's your plan?
✉️ THANKS FOR READING!
That's Edition 44. Week two of school, a ban that stalled, a rezoning that advanced, dozens of neighbors on a sidewalk on a Saturday morning, and 4,000 people about to arrive at once.
If the data center is the thing you keep thinking about, mark Aug. 18. That hearing is where the applicant answers the water and noise questions on the record, and where anyone in the room gets to ask them. Sept. 1 is the county's turn again. Two rooms, two weeks apart, both open.
Until then: drink water, leave for Fair Road early Friday, and the burn ban is still on.
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