Hello, Statesboro!
Last Thursday afternoon, at the dedication of the new family wing at Open Hearts Community Mission, the temperature sat in the upper 60s at an hour when most of this summer it would have been past 90. Hold on to that memory. Highs climb back to 89 this week, and the weekend brings the best rain chance we have seen in a while.
The week also brings a break at the pump: Georgia's gas tax comes off at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. The two owners behind the Burkhalter Road data center sat down with the Statesboro Herald and said they are moving ahead despite the lawsuit. And Visit Statesboro asked the city to raise its hotel tax.
Also in this edition: Bulloch County's graduation rate beat the state's for the fifth year running, Academy Sports opened on Northside Drive, Portal won a 39-38 thriller on homecoming night, and Saturday is Catface Turpentine Festival day in Portal.
Let's get into it.
📰 TOP NEWS
Georgia's Gas Tax Comes Off at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, for 30 Days
Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency Monday and suspended Georgia's motor fuel tax from 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, September 29, through October 29. That removes the state's 33.3 cents per gallon on gasoline and 37.3 cents on diesel.
It comes with prices high. AAA put the statewide average for regular at $4.19 a gallon Monday, and diesel at $6.25. The Herald tied the climb to the war with Iran, and reported the break will cost the state about $200 million a month, likely covered out of Georgia's surplus.
The order also lifts state weight limits on commercial trucks during the emergency, which is meant to hold down shipping costs on things like groceries. Farmers are a big part of the reasoning. Diesel runs harvest equipment, and this is harvest season. "This announcement means immediate relief for Georgia families struggling to afford gas and groceries and Georgia farmers facing diesel prices that have more than doubled in recent weeks," Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said.
What it means for you: on paper, 33 cents a gallon is about $5 on a 15-gallon fill-up. Grice Connect points out that the full amount does not necessarily show up in the price at the pump, so watch the signs rather than assume. If you can wait until Tuesday to fill up, it is probably worth waiting.
This is the state's third suspension this year. Lawmakers approved a 60-day suspension in March, and Kemp ordered two more weeks in May.
The Data Center Developers Say They're Moving Ahead, and a Judge May Decide How Fast
Last week we told you eleven residents and the nonprofit Coastal Communities United had asked Bulloch County Superior Court to void the Burkhalter Road data center rezoning. This week the developers answered.
The two publicly identified owners of 4AM Development LLC, Bobby Bagwell of Appling and Charles Way of Savannah, walked into the Statesboro Herald office Tuesday morning for an interview. Their message: they intend to build. "We're preparing for whatever legally we need to do to combat it," Bagwell said. He was not surprised by the challenge. "Every data center that I'm aware of coming online now, groups are meeting them with legal challenges," he said, naming projects in Columbia County, Augusta and Effingham County.
Here is the part that matters for timing. The August 18 vote, 3-2 with Mayor Jonathan McCollar breaking the tie, only rezoned the nearly 27 acres at 6539 Burkhalter Road. Under the city's data center ordinance, a data center in an office and business zone still needs a special use permit, and the council has to approve that separately. That application has not been filed yet. The petition claims the lawsuit freezes everything connected to the rezoning under state law. Way said they are not sure that is true. "If it is required to go to a judge for some sort of ruling before we proceed with the special use permit, then we will push for that as quickly as possible," he said.
The plan has not changed: a two-story building of about 230,000 square feet, with a closed-loop cooling system as the ordinance requires. The owners have applied to Georgia Power for up to 99 megawatts, though they said the actual supply could come in lower. The city has asked them to redo their water study to include irrigation.
The city says a deputy served it with the summons Monday, September 21, and it has 30 days to respond. WTOC reports the petition makes six claims, including due process, equal protection and inverse condemnation, and also asks the court to declare the city's data center ordinance unconstitutional. The case number is SUCV2026000219.
Visit Statesboro Wants the City's Hotel Tax Raised From 6 to 8 Percent
At the September 15 council work session, the same day as the tax rate vote, Visit Statesboro asked the city to raise its lodging tax, the tax on hotel stays, from 6 percent to 8 percent.
The pitch from Justin Samples, the bureau's vice president of marketing and operations, came down to one line: "This is visitor paid only. This is not for local citizens, but it does benefit local citizens." Based on the city's audited 2025 collections, the extra 2 points would bring in about $531,117 a year, taking the total from roughly $1.59 million to $2.12 million if hotel demand and room rates hold. The money would stay in tourism, mostly marketing.
Visit Statesboro made its case with comparisons. Vidalia, Sylvania and Swainsboro charge 8 percent, and Metter charges 7. Statewide, 8 percent is the most common rate, used by 122 of the 298 Georgia communities that collect the tax. Visitors spent $174.2 million in Bulloch County in 2024, according to state figures in the presentation, supporting about 1,850 local jobs. The bureau's last big ad campaign ran on one-time pandemic reserves, and that money is gone.
This is not a quick decision. The city attorney said the council would likely need to pass a resolution asking the local legislative delegation for the change, and the General Assembly returns in January. No vote was taken, and the idea could come back at a future work session.
It is this week's poll question. Tell us what you think below.
📋 LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS
Bulloch County Beat the State's Graduation Rate for the Fifth Year in a Row
Numbers released Monday by the Georgia Department of Education put the Class of 2026's four-year graduation rate at 89.92 percent, up 1.38 points from last year and above the state's 88.5 percent. It is the district's highest rate in five years, and all three high schools improved. Portal Middle High led at 96.10 percent, Southeast Bulloch came in at 94.18 percent, and Statesboro High at 86.39 percent.
Open Hearts Opened a Wing for Families, and a Newborn Is Moving In
Open Hearts Community Mission dedicated a new wing Thursday with three family suites, raising the shelter's capacity to about 46 people. Board members estimated the wing took about $300,000 in cash and donated work. Executive Director Delia Mobley said the mission has served about 1,100 people since it opened in 2017, and that a resident's baby, born last Tuesday, will be among the first to live in the new rooms.
Academy Sports+Outdoors Is Open on Northside Drive, With a Grand Opening This Weekend
The store opened Saturday in the University Commons space that was a Publix from 1994 to 1998 and had sat empty ever since. It has 39,000 square feet of floor space and 82 employees for now. The grand opening weekend runs Friday through Sunday, October 2 to 4, with a ribbon cutting Friday morning and free gift cards for the first 150 customers 18 and older. Hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.
No Credible Threat at Southeast Bulloch, the District Says
A Southeast Bulloch High student was taken into custody last week after an alleged verbal threat against the school. Reports kept coming in through the anonymous tip system and social media after that, and law enforcement determined there was no credible threat to the high school or middle school. Both ran on a normal schedule Friday with extra officers on campus and counselors available.
Buy a Pothole: The Smokehouse AA Building Needs a New Parking Lot
The Smokehouse group of Alcoholics Anonymous has met at 409 S. College St. since the building went up in 1965, and its 4,000-square-foot parking lot is worn out. The nonprofit that owns the building, Bulloch County Twelve Step Club Inc., is raising money to redo it. Gifts are tax deductible. Mail checks to Bulloch County 12-Step Club, P.O. Box 614, Statesboro, GA 30459, or call Larry Davidson at (912) 531-4629.
Headed to Savannah? More I-16 Lane Closures Through Saturday
GDOT's 16@95 work continues with intermittent lane closures on I-16 between I-95 and I-516, through Saturday, October 3. Daytime closures run 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. westbound and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. eastbound, and nighttime closures run 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. in both directions. Check 511ga.org before you go.
📅 THIS WEEK'S EVENTS (September 28 to October 4, 2026)
Table Games and Activities
Monday, Sept. 28 | 3:30 p.m. | Bethany Community Commons Building, Gesmon Neville Lane | (912) 225-7204
Family Constellation Craft
Monday, Sept. 28 | 4 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library, 124 S. Main St. | All ages | (912) 764-1341
Tuesday Social
Tuesday, Sept. 29 | 3:30 p.m. | Bethany Community Commons Building, Gesmon Neville Lane | (912) 225-7204
Coming Home Revival with Bishop Sharma D. Lewis Logan
Tuesday, Sept. 29 to Thursday, Oct. 1 | Statesboro First UMC (Tue.), Pittman Park UMC (Wed.), Brannen Chapel UMC (Thu.) | Kids' camp and nursery provided | Times at statesbororevival.com
Genealogy Program: Starting Your Family Tree
Wednesday, Sept. 30 | 3 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library, 124 S. Main St. | Ages 16 and up | (912) 764-1341
Teen Sewing Circle
Thursday, Oct. 1 | 4 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library, 124 S. Main St. | Ages 12 to 18 | (912) 764-1341
Kids' Craft Activity
Thursday, Oct. 1 | 4:30 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library, 124 S. Main St. | Ages 6 to 11 | (912) 764-1341
Tractors & Tunes
Friday, Oct. 2 | 5:30 to 8 p.m. | East Main Street, downtown Statesboro | Free | Farm equipment, farm animals and The Mud Road Band
Academy Sports+Outdoors Grand Opening Weekend
Friday, Oct. 2 to Sunday, Oct. 4 | Ribbon cutting Friday morning | University Commons, Northside Drive | Free gift cards for the first 150 customers 18 and up
Main Street Farmers Market
Saturday, Oct. 3 | 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | 222 S. Main St., behind Visit Statesboro | Free to browse
45th Annual Catface Turpentine Festival
Saturday, Oct. 3 | Parade 10 a.m., vendors 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., street dance with The Goodtime Buddies 7 to 10:30 p.m. | Turpentine Still, 112 First Ave., Portal | Rosin potatoes and turpentine soap for sale
Bulloch Together: Faith & Blue
Saturday, Oct. 3 | Noon to 6 p.m. | Mill Creek Regional Park | Hosted by the Sheriff's Office and the Sheriff's Foundation
Etta May
Saturday, Oct. 3 | 7 p.m. | Emma Kelly Theater | Tickets at averittcenterforthearts.org or (912) 212-2787
High school football moves around this week: Statesboro plays at Groves on Thursday, Southeast Bulloch hosts Harlem on Friday, and Bulloch Academy is off. Details in Sports below.
🦅 GEORGIA SOUTHERN UPDATES
A French Professor Found a Forgotten Revolutionary War Soldier, and Now He Has a Street
Olga Amarie, a professor of French at Georgia Southern, picked up a travel brochure downtown that mentioned a French immigrant as the first owner of the land that is now Mill Creek. When she went back for it, the brochure was gone and nobody knew what she meant. So she went to the library.
The man was Nicolas Anciaux, who joined the Continental Army, served as his regiment's paymaster, and fought at Yorktown. He was given 1,200 acres in Bulloch County for his service and died in 1810 at 67. He is buried somewhere on that land, and nobody knows exactly where. On September 1, with some of his descendants in the room, the city council voted unanimously to name a street near City Hall Nicolas Anciaux Lane. "He embraced the United States with his whole heart," Amarie said.
A Senior Is Tracking Microplastics in Coastal Water
Biology senior John Petronis, who works full time while in school, spends his lab hours with Jianzhou He, Ph.D., analyzing water for microplastics, much of it from Tybee Island and the Savannah River. A sunlight simulator lets them see in minutes what 3,000 hours outdoors does to plastic. The equipment comes through Georgia Southern's partnership with Shimadzu. "There are currently no regulations or standards that monitor the amount of microplastics in our environment," He said.
Georgia Southern and Shimadzu also host the second Forensic Science Symposium Wednesday, with Interim Statesboro Police Chief Jared Akins and District Attorney Catherine Sumner on the panel. It filled up, and registration is closed.
Five Georgia Southern Fraternities Are Under Conduct Investigation
Georgia Southern's Office of Student Conduct is investigating five Interfraternity Council chapters, according to the university's website, as WTOC reported. Kappa Alpha Order and Sigma Chi are under interim suspension of all chapter activities. Pi Kappa Phi and Phi Delta Theta are under interim suspension of new member activities. Sigma Nu is still under investigation, but the university lifted its interim suspension of new member activities. The university said each chapter goes through the standard conduct process, including notice of the allegations and a chance to respond, before any decision on formal charges.
🏈 SPORTS & CAMPUS EVENTS
Houston Scored on Its First Six Possessions and Beat the Eagles 42-28
The first Power 4 team ever to play at Paulson Stadium, coached by former Eagle head coach Willie Fritz, went up 14-0 in the first quarter after a Max Johnson fumble. Georgia Southern answered with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Alex Taylor, recovered an onside kick, and tied it at 14 on a Ty Cummings run. Then Houston quarterback Conner Weigman took over. He accounted for all six Cougar touchdowns, and Houston converted 8 of 9 third downs.
Johnson went 26 of 38 for 284 yards and three touchdowns, which Clay Helton called his best game as an Eagle. With leading receiver Ashton Hollins out for the season after shoulder surgery, Taylor caught six passes for 119 yards and two scores. "Our kids are fighting and still have everything in front of them as our new season starts next week," Helton said.
The Eagles are 1-3 and play at Coastal Carolina Saturday at 7 p.m.
Portal Won It 39-38 in the Final Minute, on Homecoming Night
Blackville-Hilda went up 38-31 on a two-point try that was first ruled no good and then overturned. Portal got the ball back at its own 21. Omod Thomas hit KJ Hunter for 20 yards, Hunter ran the next play in from 20, and the Panthers went for two and got it. Rasheen Jackson intercepted a pass on the next possession to end it. Macy Chester was crowned homecoming queen at halftime. Portal has won five straight and is 5-1.
Statesboro Lost to Ware County 45-14, and Plays at Groves on Thursday
Beckham Jarrard's touchdown pass to DJ Brooks tied it at 7 early in the second quarter, but Ware County scored four straight touchdowns and led 35-7 at halftime. Jhaden Perkins scored his first touchdown of the season with 39 seconds left. The Blue Devils are 3-2 and still looking for their first region win. The Groves game moved up a day to Thursday, October 1, at 7 p.m. Grice Connect lists it at Groves High School but says the site could change, so check before you drive.
Bulloch Academy Rolled, Southeast Bulloch Was Shut Out
Bulloch Academy beat Strong Rock Christian 42-7 in Locust Grove for its third straight win. B.J. Smart ran for two touchdowns and Case Woodrum has made 14 straight extra points. The Gators are 6-1, have a bye this week, and host Savannah Country Day October 9. Southeast Bulloch lost its region opener 21-0 at West Laurens and punted on every possession. The Yellow Jackets are 2-3 and host Harlem Friday at Fred Shaver Field in Brooklet.
🍽️ RESTAURANT SPOTLIGHT
Jim 'N Nick's Community Bar-B-Q, 24106 Highway 80 East
If you go downtown Friday night for Tractors & Tunes, you will see Jim 'N Nick's name on the sponsor list. It is a good week to pay them a visit.
The restaurant opened on Highway 80 East, next to Harbor Freight and across from Parker's, in January 2024. It smokes its meat over hickory: pulled pork, brisket, ribs and chicken, plus burgers. And there are cheese biscuits. At the Statesboro grand opening, in the rain, company president Brian Lyman told the crowd, "Despite the rain, we have sunshine and cheese biscuits." That same morning the restaurant gave $2,500 to the Statesboro Food Bank.
It is counter service, with a covered patio, a bar, a drive-thru and catering. The company started in 1985 in a converted pizza shop in Birmingham, opened by Jim Pihakis and his son Nick.
Hours: Sunday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Phone: (912) 567-0454
🌤️ WEATHER ADVISORY
Summer comes back for four days, then the rain we need. Tuesday through Thursday are sunny with highs near 89. Storm chances start building Friday afternoon, and Saturday is the wettest day of the week.
Monday night: Low near 59, mostly clear
Tuesday: High near 89, sunny, rain 11 percent
Wednesday: High near 89, sunny, rain 11 percent
Thursday: High near 89, sunny, rain 9 percent
Friday: High near 89, mostly sunny then a chance of storms, rain 37 percent
Saturday: High near 87, showers and storms likely, rain 60 percent
Sunday: High near 85, a chance of showers, rain 51 percent
Pulled live from the National Weather Service at 7:50 p.m. Monday. No active alerts for Bulloch County at that time. Check weather.gov before you commit to an outdoor plan.
Saturday is the crowded day, with Catface in Portal, Faith & Blue at Mill Creek, and the farmers market downtown all outdoors. Go early and bring a rain plan. Tractors & Tunes Friday evening has better odds.
We need the rain. The U.S. Drought Monitor map dated September 22 has all of Bulloch County, 100 percent, abnormally dry, up from 85.44 percent the week before. The share in moderate drought held at 16.18 percent for the sixth straight map.
Visit Statesboro wants the city's hotel tax raised from 6 to 8 percent. Should the council ask the legislature for it?
👀 LOOKING AHEAD
First week of October: the county data center working group is expected to begin meeting.
Thursday, Oct. 8: the Board of Education regular session, 6:30 p.m. at the Central Office/Transition Learning Center on Williams Road.
Saturday, Oct. 10: the Statesboro Family YMCA's "A Place to Dream" bed delivery. Volunteers are asked to sign up in pairs.
Thursday, Oct. 15: the 16th annual Tasting Statesboro the United Way, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Anthony P. Tippins Family Training Facility next to Paulson Stadium.
Around Wednesday, Oct. 21: the city's response to the data center petition is due, 30 days after it was served on September 21.
Saturday, Oct. 24: the Ogeechee Riverkeeper's free fall community day, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Ogeechee Crossing Park in Louisville.
Thursday, Oct. 29: the gas tax suspension ends.
Tuesday, Nov. 3: the District 2 special election. Loletta Donaldson Elliott, Maleek Jones and Kathleen "Katie" Keehner are on the ballot.
Tuesday, Nov. 17: the tabled Zetterower Road rezoning comes back to the council.
✉️ THANKS FOR READING!
Last week was about what the city charges us. This week it was about what the state stops charging for 30 days, and what the city might charge people who sleep in our hotels. Watch the pump signs Tuesday, and tell us in the poll what you think of the hotel tax.
Got a tip, a correction, or an event we missed? Hit reply. We read every message.
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