Hello, Statesboro!
Isaias has moved on. The weekend's weather pushed the Eagles' kickoff back 40 minutes Saturday night and kept the tailgate lots closed until noon. What it left behind is a dry week: sunshine every day, highs in the mid 80s through Friday, and then a real cool-down on Saturday.
Two things for your calendar before anything else. Early voting for the November 3 election starts Tuesday. And Halloween is 19 days away, on a Saturday this year, so we built you something for it. That is the first item below.
In the news: the city manager laid out $1.3 million in possible cuts, and Downtown Live and the Christmas tree lighting are on the list. Ogeechee Tech opens a nearly $30 million robotics training center on Thursday. And the plan to widen Burkhalter Road now has an engineer and a timeline.
Also in this edition: the Eagles lost by a crossbar, Portal won in overtime, Statesboro High volleyball won its region without losing a region match, and Tasting Statesboro is Thursday.
Let's get into it.
🎃 Your Halloween Guide Is Ready
We put every Halloween event we could confirm in and around Statesboro on three printable pages: six trunk-or-treats, the Haunted Forest, the Haunted Lazy River, fair week hours and prices, a free fall festival on Halloween day, and trick-or-treat hours for Halloween night. Dates, times, addresses, and what is free.
It is called Halloween in the Boro, it costs nothing, and as a subscriber you are getting it first.
One line from it you can use right now: trick-or-treat hours in Statesboro are Saturday, October 31, from 6 to 8 p.m., as reported by Grice Connect.
Know a parent who is still piecing this together from Facebook posts? Forward this email. The guide is free for them too. And if you are hosting something we missed, hit reply with a link and we will add it to the next version.
📰 TOP NEWS
The City Manager Listed $1.3 Million in Possible Cuts. Downtown Live and the Tree Lighting Are on It.
In September the City Council voted to keep the property tax rate at 8.625 mills instead of raising it to the 9.60 mills staff had recommended. On Tuesday, City Manager Charles Penny told the council what that decision costs: about $1.3 million, according to Grice Connect's account of the meeting.
Nothing was cut Tuesday. Penny gave the council an early look and said a formal budget amendment will come back at a future meeting. But the list is specific enough to pay attention to.
By department, his figures were $340,138 from Public Works and Engineering, about $179,456 from the governing body, $103,420 from Planning, Code and Inspections, and about $27,006 from the City Manager's Office. Employee holiday bonuses, $180,000, are on the list. About $100,000 would be transferred from Solid Waste to help.
Then there are the things you would notice. Penny discussed suspending the 2027 Downtown Live concert series, Youth Connect, the Christmas tree lighting and the Longest Table, along with out-of-town retreats and the 2026 annual report. He also recommended holding some vacant jobs open and proposed no salary adjustments or pay-for-performance raises in fiscal year 2028.
Why not just use savings? Penny cautioned against it. Covering the whole gap from reserves would take the city's fund balance from about $6.5 million to about $5 million. City policy calls for reserves equal to 25 percent of the General Fund, which he put at roughly $8 million. The city is already below its own target.
Mayor Jonathan McCollar and Councilmember Ginny Hendley both pushed back on cutting community programs outright. McCollar asked that Youth Connect, Village Builders and the tree lighting stay funded, and proposed running Downtown Live on a $50,000 budget instead of suspending it. Hendley asked whether programs and employee spending could be trimmed instead of eliminated.
What it means for you: the tax rate you were billed at is not changing. What is still open is which of these the council decides it can live without, and that vote has not been scheduled.
Ogeechee Tech Opens a Nearly $30 Million Robotics Training Center on Thursday
Students have been in the building for a week already. Classes at Ogeechee Technical College's new industrial systems and robotics training center, off Highway 301 South, started October 5 while construction crews were still finishing up. The public unveiling is Thursday, October 15.
The building is 39,777 square feet with 12 labs. The college's industrial systems program had been working out of about 12,500 square feet. The new center has room for 200 to 300 students a day and up to 14 instructors.
"There is no other facility like this at any other technical college in the state," Jan Moore, the college's vice president for economic development, told the Statesboro Herald.
What they teach there is how to keep a factory running: maintaining machinery, troubleshooting electrical systems, programming the controllers that run automated lines, and operating industrial robots. A regional workforce survey found industrial maintenance was the hardest job to fill across eight counties. The Hyundai Metaplant is 32 miles away.
"And suddenly the center wasn't just a nice thing to have," said Benjy Thompson, CEO of the Development Authority of Bulloch County. "It was almost a critical need."
The state put in $26.5 million. The development authority donated land valued at $595,000, and Bulloch County committed $663,500 toward an access road.
If you read last week's story about ShaloTek sending 24 employees through this center, this is the other half of it. There are two ways in. A four-semester Industrial Operations Technology diploma started this fall with about 12 to 15 students, and Moore said employers are already asking about hiring them before they finish. Companies can also send current workers for single classes or training on specific equipment.
Burkhalter Road Has an Engineer, a Roundabout in the Plans, and About Two Years to Wait
If you sit in the line at Burkhalter and Fair Road on weekday mornings, this one is yours. On Tuesday the City Council and the county commissioners, meeting separately on the same day, both approved a $1,195,700 contract with the engineering firm Kimley-Horn to design improvements on Burkhalter Road. The council voted 4-0 and the commissioners 5-0.
The design covers widening Burkhalter, probably to three lanes with curbs and storm drains, from Langston Chapel Road to east of Herman Rushing Road. It includes a roundabout at Cawana Road, traffic signal and intersection work at Georgia Highway 67, which is Fair Road, and what the contract calls "non-motorist accommodations."
The city and county are splitting the cost evenly, $597,850 each, paid from their shares of the transportation sales tax. They had budgeted $1 million for design in February. The price came in $195,700 higher, so both boards amended their agreement to cover it.
Now the wait. This contract pays for drawings, surveys and studies. Asphalt comes later. According to the schedule the Herald reviewed, the engineers get their notice to proceed this Tuesday and hold a kickoff meeting October 27. A public open house is not slated until August 26, 2027. Preliminary plan approval is set for August 15, 2028. The Herald puts construction about two years away.
This is the same corridor as the proposed Burkhalter Road data center.
📋 LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS
Early Voting Starts Tuesday. Here Is Where and When.
Early voting for the November 3 election runs Tuesday, October 13, through Friday, October 30, at the Bulloch County Annex. Weekday hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are two Saturdays, October 17 and October 24, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The last day to request an absentee ballot is October 23. One change for Election Day: Statesboro Precinct 11 has moved from the Old William James Complex to the Jones-Love Building at Luetta Moore Park, 585 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Check your precinct and see a sample ballot on the state's My Voter Page, or call the Board of Elections at (912) 764-6502.
The County Named Its Data Center Committee, 3-1, and a Commissioner Says He Was Kept Off It
Bulloch County commissioners approved a 15-member Data Center Committee on Tuesday after an executive session. The group will advise the county on future data center rules. Commissioner Nick Newkirk said before the vote that he asked for a seat and was denied. "I'm the one that's going to vote on it at the end of the day, and I felt like I needed to be on the committee so I could hear everything that's going on," he said.
The County Is Studying Solar Panels for the Jail Campus
At the same meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to let a firm called GRP/WEGMAN do the detailed engineering for about half a megawatt of ground-mounted solar at the county correctional institution campus. The sheriff's office, jail and correctional institution spent about $238,575 on electricity last fiscal year. The firm's early estimate is a $2.5 million project, about $1.7 million after a federal tax credit, saving roughly $117,000 in the first year and paying for itself in about 13 years. The vote does not approve construction. Firm pricing comes back to the board later.
Feed the Boro Got $25,000, and It All Goes to Groceries
The J.A. Grifols Foundation gave Feed the Boro $25,000 on Thursday at the Biomat USA plasma center on Fair Road, which opened five years ago. Don Poe, the food drop's recently retired chair, said that covers about 10 months of food at roughly $2,500 a month. Nobody at Feed the Boro is paid. Poe said he gets to the drop site at 2:30 in the morning and usually finds 100 to 150 cars already waiting. "By 8 a.m. there'll be at least 800 cars in that line," he said. "These are people who need food, period, end of the conversation." Lisa Sampson is the new chair. To volunteer or give, go to feedtheboro.com.
Sheriff Brown Defended License Plate Cameras and Denied Jail Allegations
Speaking to the Kiwanis Club of Statesboro, Sheriff Noel Brown called the Flock Safety license plate camera system "a wonderful tool" and said he is concerned about possible limits on it from state lawmakers. He also addressed allegations on social media about the women's housing area of the county jail, calling them unfounded. "We're not mistreating anyone," he said. Brown said complaints against deputies can be filed through the office's formal process and are reviewed against audio and video recordings. He told the club deputies will be at the fair next week.
A Statesboro High Teacher Will Lead the State's Business Educators
Melissa Anderson, who has taught at Statesboro High for all 21 years of her career, was chosen by the Georgia Business Education Association to serve as its president for 2027-2028. She is president-elect this school year. Anderson taught business and finance for 18 years and now teaches Workforce Ready skills.
Headed to Savannah? Watch I-16 at Night
This week's state road work advisory lists nighttime lane closures on I-16 eastbound in Bulloch County between mile markers 112 and 119, Sunday through Thursday, for concrete slab replacement. In Bryan County, single lanes close on I-16 eastbound between mile markers 143 and 146 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Check 511ga.org before you go.
📅 THIS WEEK'S EVENTS (October 12 to 18, 2026)
Habitat for Humanity Pumpkin Patch
Daily through Oct. 31 | Monday to Friday 3 to 7 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sunday noon to 4 p.m. | 101 S. Main St., beside Statesboro First United Methodist | No entry fee
Bulloch County Board of Elections and Registration
Monday, Oct. 12 | 1:30 p.m. | Board of Commissioners Room, North Main Annex, North Main Street
Early Voting Begins
Tuesday, Oct. 13 | 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Oct. 30 | Bulloch County Annex
Adult Craft Activity
Tuesday, Oct. 13 | 11 a.m. | Statesboro Regional Library, 124 S. Main St. | Ages 18 and older | (912) 764-1341
Tasting Statesboro the United Way
Thursday, Oct. 15 | 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Anthony P. Tippins Family Training Facility, next to Paulson Stadium | $35 in advance, $50 the day of | Advance sales close Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.
Bulloch County Board of Education Work Session
Thursday, Oct. 15 | 6:30 p.m. | Central Office/Transition Learning Center, Williams Road
Georgia Southern at Old Dominion
Thursday, Oct. 15 | 7:30 p.m. | Norfolk, Virginia
Senior Bingo
Friday, Oct. 16 | 11 a.m. | Statesboro Regional Library, 124 S. Main St. | Ages 55 and older | (912) 764-1341
Southeast Bulloch vs. Liberty County
Friday, Oct. 16 | 7:30 p.m. | Brooklet
Wicked South Haunted Forest, Opening Weekend
Friday, Oct. 16 and Saturday, Oct. 17 | Gates open between 7 and 8 p.m. | 3001 Lawrence Church Road, Pembroke | $15 to $30 online, $5 more at the gate | Scary
Main Street Farmers Market
Saturday, Oct. 17 | 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | 222 S. Main St., behind Visit Statesboro | Free to browse
Saturday Early Voting
Saturday, Oct. 17 | 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Bulloch County Annex
Fixing the Boro Fall Festival
Saturday, Oct. 17 | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. | The field across from the Fixing the Boro clinic, 200 Donehoo St. | Free | Kids' activities, vendors, food trucks and adoptable animals
The Halloween calendar starts this weekend and fills up fast from here. Fair week, the Haunted Lazy River and the first trunk-or-treat all land next week. Every date is in the free Halloween in the Boro guide.
🦅 GEORGIA SOUTHERN UPDATES
The Regents Approved Georgia's First College of Optometry, and It Will Be in Statesboro
The Board of Regents on Thursday approved a Doctor of Optometry degree at Georgia Southern, which clears the way for the state's first college of optometry. The state has already set aside $29.8 million to renovate the university's Highway 301 facility in Statesboro into classrooms and a training clinic. The approval lets the university start hiring: a dean first, then eventually 25 faculty members and 12 support staff. The first class is expected in fall 2029. The program still needs sign-off from the university's accreditor and is in the first stage of optometry accreditation.
Trick-or-Treat on Greek Street Is Wednesday, October 21
Georgia Southern's fraternities and sororities open their doors to trick-or-treaters along Olympic Boulevard on Wednesday, October 21, starting at 5:30 p.m. It is free, there are games, and the street closes to cars so kids can walk it safely. It is the first of the six trunk-or-treats in our Halloween guide, and a good costume test run.
The Planetarium Has a Public Night on October 23
The Georgia Southern Planetarium will show "Space Aliens," an all-ages presentation on the search for life beyond Earth, on Friday, October 23, at 6, 7 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 and have to be bought online ahead of time. The planetarium is in the Math/Physics Building. Get there 10 minutes early. Nobody is seated after the doors close.
🏈 SPORTS & CAMPUS EVENTS
The Eagles Lost to Unbeaten James Madison by the Width of a Crossbar, 27-24
With 47 seconds left Saturday night, Blake Ford's 52-yard field goal to tie the game was on line, hit the crossbar, and fell short. James Madison left Paulson Stadium 6-0 and with its first win in seven trips to Statesboro.
Georgia Southern led 10-6 at halftime. The Dukes took over in the third quarter, and twice scored touchdowns on fourth-down passes, including a 57-yarder on fourth and one from their own 43. Down 27-17 with about five minutes left, the Eagles drove 82 yards in 14 plays for a touchdown, forced a three-and-out, and got the ball back at their own 15 with 1:47 to go.
"It felt like a heavyweight match out there and JMU did a great job of playing clean football," coach Clay Helton said. The Eagles had two turnovers and two missed field goals.
Max Johnson completed 26 of 38 passes for 343 yards and three touchdowns, his third straight game with three touchdown passes. Josh Dallas caught eight passes for a career-high 111 yards. Aaron Sears had 11 tackles. The game started 40 minutes late because of weather, and the Herald described the stadium as fairly empty.
Georgia Southern is 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the Sun Belt. It is a short week: the Eagles play at Old Dominion on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Statesboro High Volleyball Won the Region Without Losing a Region Match
The Blue Devils hosted the Class 5A Region 1 championship on Saturday, swept Wayne County, then beat Richmond Academy in three sets for the title. Statesboro finished 8-0 in the region and 22-19 overall. The state tournament begins Saturday, October 17.
Portal Won in Overtime at Claxton, 26-20
The Panthers trailed for most of the night. K.J. Hunter's second touchdown and Hayden Scott's extra point tied it at 20 late in the fourth quarter, and the defense then stopped Claxton on fourth and goal from the 10 to force overtime. Hunter scored his third touchdown in the extra period and the defense held again. "We've been in this position a lot this season and we just told the guys to have faith that we could get it done," coach Jason McEachin said. Portal is 6-1 and hosts Montgomery County on Friday.
Around the County: Bulloch Academy and Southeast Bulloch Won Big, Statesboro Did Not
Bulloch Academy beat Savannah Country Day 34-7 behind four Connor Perry touchdowns and is 7-1, and 1-0 in its region. The Gators go to St. Andrew's this week. Southeast Bulloch forced four turnovers, two of them Orion Williams interceptions, and beat Windsor Forest 33-7. The Yellow Jackets are 3-4 and host Liberty County on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Statesboro got inside the 25-yard line four times in the first half at Richmond Academy without scoring and lost 41-14. The Blue Devils are 4-3 and off this week.
🍽️ RESTAURANT SPOTLIGHT
Nonna Picci Wood Fired Pizza, 807 S. Main St.
Nonna Picci is on the list of more than 40 restaurants handing out samples at Tasting Statesboro on Thursday. If you do not have a ticket, the restaurant is easy to find the rest of the week. It is on South Main, directly across the street from Georgia Southern.
The draw is what the restaurant calls southern wood-fired pizza: a light crust, cheese grated fresh, baked in a wood-fired oven. The kitchen is open to the dining room on purpose. "We chose to feature our kitchen so that you can feel a part of the process while we make your meal by hand," the restaurant says on its website. Everything on the menu is made from scratch.
Outside there is a lighted patio with cornhole, live music on weekends, and room for kids and dogs. Behind the restaurant is Nonna's Garage, with an outdoor stage, a tiki bar and an arcade. It stays open until midnight.
One thing worth knowing if you run a club, a team or a PTO: Nonna Picci hosts fundraiser nights, and for Georgia Southern organizations it gives back 10 percent of the sales your group brings in.
Hours: Open daily, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Nonna's Garage: Monday to Friday 5 p.m. to midnight, Saturday and Sunday noon to midnight.
Phone: (912) 681-1900
🌤️ WEATHER ADVISORY
The storm took the rain with it. No day this week has a rain chance above 6 percent.
Monday: High near 83, sunny
Tuesday: High near 85, sunny
Wednesday: High near 86, sunny
Thursday: High near 87, sunny
Friday: High near 87, sunny, low near 58 Friday night
Saturday: High near 70, mostly sunny, low near 48 Saturday night
Sunday: High near 68, sunny
Overnight lows run 59 to 63 through Thursday.
Pulled live from the National Weather Service forecast updated at 8:32 a.m. Monday. No active alerts for Bulloch County at that time. Check weather.gov before you commit to an outdoor plan.
The number to notice is Saturday. A front comes through Friday night and takes 17 degrees off the high. Saturday night's low near 48 would be the coolest of the season so far. If you are going to Wicked South or a Friday night football game, the hoodie can stay in the car Friday. Bring it Saturday.
Thursday evening looks ideal for Tasting Statesboro: sunny, upper 80s in the afternoon, dry.
On the drought: the U.S. Drought Monitor map dated October 6, drawn before the storm, still had all of Bulloch County abnormally dry and 16.29 percent of it in moderate drought. The next map comes out Thursday and will be the first to count the weekend's rain.
What is your Halloween plan this year?
👀 LOOKING AHEAD
Monday, Oct. 19: the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair parade, 5 p.m. through downtown. The fair runs through Saturday, October 24. Tickets are $12 online and $15 at the gate, and kids 5 and under are free.
Monday, Oct. 19: the Haunted Lazy River opens at Splash in the Boro, 9 to 11 p.m. nightly through October 25.
Wednesday, Oct. 21: Trick-or-Treat on Greek Street, Olympic Boulevard at Georgia Southern, from 5:30 p.m.
Around Wednesday, Oct. 21: the city's response to the data center lawsuit is due.
Friday, Oct. 23: the last day to request an absentee ballot.
Saturday, Oct. 24: the Love Thy Neighbor: United in Pink 5K, 8 a.m. at the Georgia Southern Recreation Activity Center Pavilion, followed by a free health resource fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 29: the Bulloch Rec trick-or-treat at the Ag Arena, 5 to 7:30 p.m., free. Also the day the gas tax suspension ends.
Saturday, Oct. 31: Halloween. Trick-or-treat hours in Statesboro are 6 to 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 3: Election Day, including the District 2 special election for City Council.
Friday, Nov. 20: Dancing with the Statesboro Stars, 6:30 p.m. at Connection Church, benefiting Safe Haven. Eleven teams, one show. Tickets are on sale at dancingwiththestatesborostars.com.
Everything Halloween between now and then, with addresses and prices, is in the free guide.
✉️ THANKS FOR READING!
A storm went by, the sun came out, and the back half of October showed up all at once: early voting, fair week, and 19 days of trunk-or-treats and haunted trails. We tried to make that last part easier. If the Halloween guide saves you one evening of scrolling Facebook for a start time, it did its job.
Got a tip, a correction, or a Halloween event we missed? Hit reply. We read every message.
Know someone who'd love the Statesboro Brief? Forward this to a neighbor, a coworker, or the parent who always asks you what time trick-or-treating starts. It's the single best way to help us grow. See you next Monday!
